This is a blog I have created as a discussion assignment for my class; however, I think this can be a great place for English Language learners to obtain valuable information in the form of links to English material, discussions, videos, and more. I guess I should begin by saying a little bit about myself.
          My name is James Michael Powell. I am originally from the Boston area, but now live on beautiful Whidbey Island in the Northwest state of Washington. I became interested in learning a second language at the age of 40. That language is Spanish. I studied Castilian in Madrid for a year while becoming certified in the Superior Level of English with the Official School of Languages, also in Madrid, where I went on to teach English as a second language for 3 years.
          I relocated to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia where I continued to teach and tutor English as a second language for the next 16 years. Upon returning to the United States in Los Angeles, I soon realized that the credentials I had earned in Spain, which recognized me as an English professor, were not recognized in the United States. I decided to return to school so that I might someday qualify as a language teacher. I graduated in December of 2014 from Ashford University, Magna Cum Laude, with English Language Learner Studies as my major and Early Childhood Development as a minor. I began my Master's program in January, 2015 at the same university. My focus of study is in Teaching & Learning with Technology with a specialization in Online Educator. All of my university studies have been online and so I have become accustomed to this unique environment.
         I belong to a small, private discussion group of English as a Second Language teachers. Our teachers are made up of a global community with teachers from the United States, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Iran, and Israel. We are involved in daily discussion and it is a very close-knit, yet informal group. We share valuable information pertaining to the English language, and to the teaching and learning of the language. While we have unanimously decided to keep our discussion group small and non-commercial, I can, however, share the tasty tidbits that I acquire from our group. This is just the beginning of this blog and so I will have to give some careful thought as to what I can post to get the ball rolling.
Kindly, James