Jon Hoff’s Teaching ICT (PGCE year)

I have spent the last six years (Sept 2002-July 2008) outside broken Britain (as The Sun likes to brand it). After travelling post graduation for twelve months and after a couple of months I was back on the plane to Asia,  to teach English (the slightly directionless and bored ex-student means of escaping the iron chains of society – but it worked). With intentions of ever returing home to live entirely diminished, I went to have a look around Saigon and satisfy some strange desire to live in a big Asian city whilst increasing my marketability through a TEFL certificate. It was here that a young lady named Chi was to start a new chapter in my life. Some 18 months later in October 2006 Chi and I were married at the Majestic Hotel in Saigon, Vietnam. This Novemeber, we are expecting our first child, a daughter. During my three and a half years in Vietnam I have played and captained a football team (The Saigon Raiders), written for Travelfish on Saigon and many surrounding areas, contributed to the guide book To Vietnam with Love, and last but not least started a business with Chi called Connections Vietnam.

Teaching wise, I worked in English language center ‘Cleverlearn’ for 6 months teaching teenagers and adults ESL. Later, I moved onto a Korean government school in Saigon’s southern district 7, teaching Grade Four students Math, Science and English. After a year and a semester, I took a break and eventually ended up working at a very young school, AIS. The American husband and wife principal/vice principal partnership had hand picked a wonderful faculty to prepare students for life in an all-English educational environment through the summer immersion program. During this program I had the privilage of working with these kids and teaching classes in Journalism & I.T and Speaking and Drama. With September and the first academic year of AIS’s life looming, I secured a position as I.T teacher.

A year later and with a whole host of wonderful memories and experiences (not least being in charge of implenting a House system for over 300 pupils), I now find myself at Southampton University studying for a PGCE in ICT.

I am interested in blogging and using Web 2.0 apps / technology as classroom tools. 

Have a look at all the old posts from the original blog I started in Vietnam in 2005, to be found here. These o posts document life in Saigon over three years. This year I moved the blog to www.itsthefinalword.com and it will focus on the experiences of being back in England and becoming a father.