Normally on a Thursday, I post up the She-in-ELT series...
Normally at the beginning of a month, I work on producing my monthly wrap-up of the blogosphere...
My S-i-E posting for this week didn't arrive in the in-tray. DN... am awaiting the posting on Daff.
The wrap-up is a double-monther this time 'round: was awfully busy at the beginning of Nov' however after leaving a rather long and detailed comment on Gavin's latest blog posting on Twitter and the VIPs... I went back to wading through the most interesting and earnest articles for the most informative, the most innovative, the blog postings from the newbies to the 'sphere... but sigh... it's taking me a while to fit them all together under the theme of teachers being under construction...
Hmm...
And then I figured - it was a brain wave, really - I happen to be in that kind of mood tonight:
I know! I'll lower the tone instead.
It is end-of-year nominations month, after all.
Grammys round the corner, ELTons submissions sneaking through the Twitterdom, EduBlogs asking us to send in lists.
Sidestep for a wee bit o' fun:
Who is the man you just can't wait to see up there on that podium in 2010, pontificating on his latest book, his newest learning theory or the best pedagogical practice for language acquisition?
Normally at the beginning of a month, I work on producing my monthly wrap-up of the blogosphere...
My S-i-E posting for this week didn't arrive in the in-tray. DN... am awaiting the posting on Daff.
The wrap-up is a double-monther this time 'round: was awfully busy at the beginning of Nov' however after leaving a rather long and detailed comment on Gavin's latest blog posting on Twitter and the VIPs... I went back to wading through the most interesting and earnest articles for the most informative, the most innovative, the blog postings from the newbies to the 'sphere... but sigh... it's taking me a while to fit them all together under the theme of teachers being under construction...
Hmm...
And then I figured - it was a brain wave, really - I happen to be in that kind of mood tonight:
I know! I'll lower the tone instead.
It is end-of-year nominations month, after all.
Grammys round the corner, ELTons submissions sneaking through the Twitterdom, EduBlogs asking us to send in lists.
Sidestep for a wee bit o' fun:
Who is the man you just can't wait to see up there on that podium in 2010, pontificating on his latest book, his newest learning theory or the best pedagogical practice for language acquisition?
- The knowingness of the wise and done it all?
- The deepest thinking methodologist?
- The techiest of the cyborgs?
- The brainiest academic/critical thinker?
- The bookiest of the business and ESP?
- The hottest comedian & entertaining orator?
So girls (and gay men)... it's all PeopleMagazine meets The TEFL VIPs on my blog this month.
Part one:
Nominate a devastingly sexy man in ELT. Please do not nominate yourself.
Part two:
We'll do a poll, a little fairer than Clandfield's faux pas - I might let you vote for more than one person.
Part three:
New year posting... an award?
Who knows, maybe I'll even land an interview detailing his hobbies and interests, marital status and how he got into ELT... and if you're lucky, an Obamesque beach scene.
Best,
Karenne
p.s. for those of you who'd rather not be known by all of blogosphere for saying that Mr So and So is hotter than a jacket potato, might I most kindly draw your attention to the anonymous function when adding comments but for the rest of you: don't hesitate to stand-by-your-man.
p.p.s. if you've any photos - perhaps taken at a recent TESOL/TEFL conference(?), don't hesitate to pop those in an email.
Posts
Karenne,
That's a brilliant idea! :)
Anita
God darn. Now I see what the use in all these conferences is. If only I went to a few more I'd be sure to be up there in the running.
Aw shucks! :D
Lindsay Clandfield, Paul Drummond and Jamie Keddie.
I think Jeremy Harmer is sweet and interesting.
Thanks Anita, Anon & Anika... are you all the same person, LOL?
Seth - you thought it was just for the education? ;-) Shall I nominate you?
That Gavin Dudeney gives me the horn
Actually I have a good friend who while doing a plenary at BrazTESOL one year, dedicated the whole talk to his father who had just died. The female attention he got for the rest of the conference was completely out of this world. It was an incredible sight.
I'm not sue if that makes him sexy or not, but I have never seen anyone in ELT acquire a coterie of groupies before or since
OOOhhhh, well that certainly lowered the tone. Thanks Andy.
Andy, who... who... (re BrazTESOL) we girls need names.
Jamie Keddie ofcourse!
Good looks, sense of humor and brains what a killing combo!
Andy,
Thanks so much for the nomination - you have no idea how much that means to me. I would have tweeted that, but of course I can't really...
Gavin
'Anonymous said...
Jamie Keddie ofcourse!
Good looks, sense of humor and brains what a killing combo!'
How about the sexy accent? :)))
This post is hilarious - keep laughing since the morning! :DDD
Pleased to note that your invite just to women and gay men to send nominations has been ignored. I'd like to nominate the wonderful JJ Wilson, who looks like Barack Obama's better-looking younger brother, is smart (in both senses of the word), engaging, thoughtful and a joy to talk to. He lives in splendid isolation in New Mexico with his Brazilian wife, who he met when she came to one of his talks.
my vote goes to Nik Peachy of
http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/
and
http://quickshout.blogspot.com/
he's a babe, look at that twinkle in his eye, and the earring... and his promo photo always makes me want to reach round and push that tag back inside his jacket <3
Introducing Gavin D into the conversation is lowering the tone? Seems a little harsh. Fair, obviously, but harsh.
Not sure if I should reveal the BrazTESOL plenary speaker. It seems like crossing some kind of line. Not sure exactly what kind of line, but it does seem to be there.
Nominations:
First place: Jamie Keddie
(close) second place: Jarosław Kawałek - Vice President of IATEFL Poland.
Hey - let's do the same for the ladies, shall we? Sexiest ELT Lady?
Great idea - may I nominate Mr Henry Emery of Aviation English fame...
Henry Emery photo here:
http://www.macmillanenglish.com/aviationenglish/aviationenglish-authors.htm
Oh Henry Emery - delicious... had the pleasure of attending one of his workshops last year, definitely on the dashing side.
Anonymous5(?)... when Jamie shaves... btw, any photos of Jarosław Kawałek about?
Hirondelle - am heading to go find out exactly what tag Nik needs tucking in... (btw, I like the earring too)
Ken - wowze - holy wowze - talk about your straight man picking out the hottest hottest of the hottest... I've bookmarked your tweeted photo and am so looking forward to sharing JJ Wilson with the rest of TEFL crowd.
Gotta be Michael Swan, surely?
I'm a straight man too, but that JJ Wilson is an incredibly good looking bloke.
A photo of Jarek Kawalek -
http://www.tesol-france.org/Images/Jarek.jpg
We've taken a closer look at Nik's photo with my colleague and he sure looks hot :D
Never heard of JJ Wilson but he is awesome as well :)
I guess it makes sense to vote for people you've actually met so my votes go for Jamie Keddie and Lindsay Clandfield LOL
Vile sexist filth! I'd nominate myself, but ... I'm a lesbian.
So I'll go for Alex Case. I have a very cute piccy of him from yesteryear. Fully-clothed, though. Any good to you, Karenne?
Karenne! I cannot believe you have had the guts to do this. And I was away so I have not seen any buzz on twitter. Hmmm.
I mean, I tried to do a harmless little most influential poll and I still wear the scars.
Well, good luck with it! :-)
Nik has an earring? OMGOD!
Little Miss Bossy, I like your style (I saw you on GD's post the other day too, you're gr8 fun!) and ta for the link to Jalek: nice eyes.
Sandy, Yes please do send photo of Alex.
Lindsay, you're racking up the nominations - slightly behind Jamie but there's no accounting for taste, really.
Me.. my favorite has only had one vote so far but I really must remain unbiased... I must remain unbiased...
Have spent the best part of the last hour googling these guys to find photos of them. Have never met any, I sure agree with Seth that I have to go to conferences more. Hope to meet some of them in Harrogate next year!
After serious consideration Jamie Keddie has my vote too.
Karenne you're a star for doing this!
I read Anna Varna's 'googling these guys' as 'go ogling these guys'. Never noticed that possible reading of 'googling' before.
Is it too late for nominations? Can I add Kenny Christian (Englishprofi)?
Karenne - thx!
I guess I was called Little Miss Bossy for a reason :D
A friend of mine (the one with whom I was staring at Nik Peachey's photo) thinks Ken Wilson should be nominated as well btw :)
I'd like to nominate Mr Jeremy Harmer, Mr Scott Thronbury and Mr John Allison.
Definitely! I was wondering where Ken Wilson's nomination was, and Scott Thornbury's - thanks Edith and Anita!
Btw, Anita - popped over to your blog, nice! Will comment soon -I'd tried and then my computer froze!
Do we have to met them face to face to vote?
Without wanting to spoil the fun I was just checking some team members photos on cardiff online http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2009/cardiff-online-team and realized that there are NO women anyway on the tech team pages so good you picked men, hey?
I think they should be allowed to vote for themselves.
Anyway the guy I was looking for ain't on that list so I'll get back to you...
Hmmmmm.... I am still thinking....
It's rather odd that some of the boys are hemming and hawing about these nominations.
Don't think we don't know you've been checking out all the she-elt babes too...
Don't think we haven't noticed the look in your eyes when you're posing for those snapshots...
And you thought we believed you were happy because of the wonderful methodological awareness of the ladies? May be we gals wish you were - or do we? - and Karen, well done me little darling for doing this post!
Ha, ha... Ken, am definitely accepting nominations for Kenny Christian.
Nominations accepted until 15 December.
Polling 16 - 31 December.
Winner announced 1 January.
Interview with winner sometime in January if I can be utterly charming and write a nice email to convince him...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Blogger Bethany Cagnol said...
Ok. I can't not post something here. Brilliant idea, first. Bravo!
To use a popular theater term, ELT has its fair share of “triple threats.” In the theater world that’s someone who can sing, dance and act. In ELT, a triple threat could be someone who can teach, write and sell. ELT triple threats in my book include: Jamie Keddie, Ken Wilson, David. A. Hill, Lindsay Clanfield. Ian McMaster, and many others.
Then there are the ones with that extra special “swoon factor.” Based on what I’ve observed at the conferences we’ve organized here in Paris: Jamie Keddie gets top “swoon factor” marks. He was quite popular.
Kenny Christian and Jarosław Kawałek also turned heads when they were here. And of course Ken Wilson gets my vote cause I was properly bribed with a bag of chocolate Flakes. May the best ELT Man win!
Yes,
All lots of fun and all that, but not only does it trivialise a profession that many people value, ensuring that the 'pretty boys' continue to get invited to do plenaries (regardless of talent), but it is also something that a man could not have got away with had he proposed a similar contest for the 'sexiest woman in ELT'.
So whilst I suspect you'll either not publish this comment, or will write it all off as a bit of harmless fun, it's encouraging this kind of thinking that plays exactly into the hands of the conference organisers who hire pretty young boys because they think that's what the predominately female audience wants.
Wrong and wrong, sexist as trivial. Jolly good fun and all that, but the trivialised, sexist nature of our profession does not need any more fodder!
Angry of London
Angry of London,
It's a tough world. We live in it. We learn from it. We play with it.
Thank you for stopping by and thank you very much for contributing your thoughts and they are appreciated: you're probably not the only one who thinks this so you've been able to give the dissenters a voice - thanks again.
Unfortunately, I'm not of the same opinion (obviously) and I simply don't take this posting or these "nominations" that seriously... hoo... and hmmm...
really, conference organizers take into account the female attending population and how man-pretty the presenters will be (somehow just don't remember a photograph being part of submission policy) but I hear your points.
Long live biology and actually too bad no man's brave enough to unleash the female version into the blogosphere, my vote would go to Özge, a brilliant and creative Turkish teacher who is as committed to her profession as she is pretty.
Ok, Karenne, time to rock n'roll!!! Since this post came up, I've been googling ELT hunks. Tough call, but here go my nominations:
Ken Wilson cos he's got the charm!His tweets always make me smile.
Gavin Dudeney cos he's got the legs! I hear he does a mean impression of Tina Turner in Private Dancer.
I think once the nominations are official and before we start voting, you should post some sexy photos of the guys!
Anna
I don't believe you have allowed men to nominate other men! Michael Swan? OMG!!!!
What was Alex thinking about?
I second that. I can speak for conference organizers that we just don't have the time to Google everyone.
Presenters take note: thanks to user-friendly sites like YouTube, TedTalks and Twitcam, "auditioning" speakers will become more common among conference attendees. Public speaking 101 isn't only about what you say, but how you say it.
And yes, maybe we should do the same for the ladies. My vote goes to Burcu Akyol from Turkey. She's gorgeous to the point of it being unfair.
Um, nominating yourself for this kind of thing is, like, not allowed, right?
I mean, it's, like, not the done thing.
Or rather, it's somewhat akin to tweeting your own post twenty times or doling out thank-yous for RTs :-P
Screw it, my nomination for Sexiest Man in TEFL goes to...me!
I mean, if I don't toot my own horn, who else will? (ooh, that sounds kind of strange, doesn't it?)
Gotta say, Karenne, on first glance I did concur with Sana Hannam's comments about this on her blog: what if the tables were turned, etc., etc.
But I don't really have any business playing PC police with anybody, so if it's all in good fun, go ogling away, ladies(and gents)!
Before I begin: I have made this comment anonymous becuase I think it's more fun. If any of the men mentioned below have an inkling and want to ask me, go ahead! Make my day!
SOOOoo, first response, like those who've gone before, was Mr. Keddie - for all the reasons mentioned. PLUS the fact that he will tease us ladies with that cheeky little bit of man fur that he displays by leaving the top button undone......but THEN, for his own sake, I decided to reconsider. Too many votes could inflate a man's ego beyond repair and we all know there's nothing more unsexy than that. How many nominations can you make, BTW?
Nik - Peachey by name, peachy by nature. Yum. And, unlike most men, can rock an earring.
Sean Banville - only seen B&W caption of part of his face, but there's a definite glint in that man's eye.
Gavin the dude. Humour's the way he does it in his dulcit tones.
(That Tamasz Lorincz looks quite a hottie, too).
And last, but by NO means least, Ken Wilson. Two words. Silver. FOX.
Just as well I'm anonymous. No one will know who spelt dulcet wrongly ;)
What's not sexy about an ELT man who is also into technology? I nominate Eric Baber and Shiv Rajendran.
Lyle Bachman. Instead of a serious picture on the fly cover of his book – suit in the study – there is a picture of him on a fishing boat off the coast of California nursing a martini. I am not sure but this may be the picture:
http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/al/bachman/main.htm
I will vote Ken Wilson because .......... he has the same surname as me :)
Amanda
..... re: the surname thing .... I did choose the option to post my name but it didn't let me reveal! Guess it's not hard to work it out!!!
re Lyle Bachman - he is the nearest thing to Bing Crosby I have ever met - charm, the voice, everything. But I think that pic of him on the boat might not be that recent!
Karenne,
Now you know I can't just pick one because there are so many I haven't seen, yet and I'd like to see them live!
The key is "see" for me because I've been fortunate to see some of your nominees present, Ken Wilson who I've heard described as the James Bond of ELT ;-), Gavin Dudeneye who literally had several women sign "aaahh" out loud in his presentation, Lindsay Clandfield, Kenny Christian who I hear is like the Lance Armstrong of ELT, and Jamie Keddie.
Others I want to see live have also been nominated Jeremy Harmer who's poetry reading actually made the interviewer swoon in this interview , Scott Thornsbury, and Nik Peachey (guess seeing him in SL doesn't really count, eh?)
Then I was going to nominate Tamas Lorincz but he's been mentioned as well. Although a dear friend of ours even likes Tamas' SL avatar and said it looked like Patrick Swayze!
Therefore, I'm adding to the ballot Sean Banville see his Pecha Kucha, Neal Chambers who is like a Japanese anime character, and Russell Stannard who knows his way with videos.
You can spot most of their Pecha Kucha videos here to see what these guys look and sound like!
By the way, if you did a Sexy She in ELT my list would probably be longer and you'd be on it!
All mine seem to have been chosen too!!
Kenny, Tamas, Ken, Gavin, Russell, Sean, Shiv, Jeremy, Nick,
Mark Powell and Chris Cotter
and finally, two brains over brawn Noam Chomsky and David Crystal
Whoa... recap... who do I have to answer first...
Vale - am looking forward to your return... you don't happen to mean Julian, do you (I remember him from the forums)...
Marisa - am with you on that one: we've noticed the glints! and winks! But Alex must have been joking or he's got strange taste.
Bethany - I shall tell Ken off, tsk, bribery...
Re Gavin and legs, I will beg for a showing of these (by video, youtube(?), so I can share...)
Strictly Nicky - I saw your Edublogs nominations, LOL,... and as you've taken this in the good humor it is meant, I allow you and you alone to pitch yourself... bcz you're hot.
Anonymous 5001, (I should have made you number yourselves)...peachey by nature, eh... that's sounds rather fruity.
But Gavin and humor? Surely you mean Gavin + brooding bad mood: he's a Mr Darcy if I ever did see one.
Glad to see Tamas listed, thanks! That's one gorgeous daddy-o.
And well - another nomination for ELT's Silver.Fox. All I can say, is Sean Connery. Richard Gere...Know whadda mean?
Anonymous 5002 - nice nominations! Eric is another earring wearer (is Peachey losing novelty) and Shiv is most certainly any geeky girl's gelato.
Wow! On the Bing Crosby look alike! Had never heard of him before so will be on the look-out if he crosses over to this side of the pond.
Shelly - am so off to follow that link to Jeremy Harmer's poetry making the girls' swoon: you know me and my literature ;-).. plus kudos for adding our Japanese matie to the list.
And finally, Berni, what can I say? It's actually very nice to see some brains being added to all the brawn above... and they do say sexiness happens 90% in the brain.
Karenne, well done. Definitely need to make a big announcement as to the winner. Consider sending him an official letter and requesting a YouTube acceptance speech?
I don't think I'd be able to get away with promoting this through the official Pearson Longman FB page or Twitter stream, but I know there are a ton more teachers who would like to make nominations and vote. We'll see about getting the word out.
Well I'm going to nominate some other tech guys to add to the already fast expanding list and fun :-)
So here goes. If we we are playing then I reckon we need some gamers! So let's please include:
Graham Stanley and Kyle Mawer from http://digitalplay.info/blog/
And seeing as I'm in Cambridge and have just met some other colleagues face-to-face and we are nominating "twinkle eyes" then I just have to add Brian Anderson from English360 team ;-)
Eric is already there so we don't need to repeat?
Gavin's legs are a must-have to our general sanity... definitely YouTube production.
Many of the others have already been nominated so may the voting begin. LOL, Karenne, you still amaze me (on a daily level!).
John,
Love it -ta very much for sharing this post (even secretly) could we have some Pearson Longman stationery for the official announcement? Pretty please?
Vale...
Now how do I go about finding a video of GD's legs, these do keep cropping up... and many thanks for not forgetting Graham and Kyle!
Simply heavenly the plethora of amazingly sexy guys on the ELT scene - what lucky girls we are...
K
Strange that none of you girls has mentioned one of the most fascinating, endearing and clever guys in ELT, Pete Sharma.
Maybe he's just too much of a nice guy and not pretty enough for you fickle lot? :-D
Even as a straight guy I know that he'd be someone I'd definitely tune in to watch a YouTube acceptance speech from.
Ok. Since we're bringing in English360 and eye twinkling, then I must add Cleve Miller to the pot. He's got a swing and a suaveness that spells sizzle.
Another "ELT triple threat" too.
http://soe-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/preset_1/cleve_avatar_0.JPG
So, like, are you gonna hold a "Sexiest Man in ELT" Auction at IATEFL? Highest bidder gets a _________.
This will be the most interesting gap fill yet!
How about Philip Kerr?
I nominate Mark Powell and Carl Dowse. Smart, sensitive, substantial and charming.
This is fun :)
Karenne, this is such a gas!
Thanks Ken for the nomination! My wife says I can no longer attend conferences with you! LOL I wish a few ladies could have beaten you to the punch. ROFL
The hardest thing about turning heads are the chiropractor bills people send you ;-)
Where will this go next...
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Too many insubstantial pretty things in here for me.
Glad to see someone nominating Phillip Kerr, possibly the cleverest man in the business at the moment.
I'd also have Gavin - the eyes do it for me. That and a fantastic sense of humour and something to say for himself.
And that Andy Hockley - he's funny and god to talk to.
But of courseit's all terribly sexist and stuff...
Anonymous you just beat me to it. I was going to say Pete Sharma as he certainly does seem like a lovely guy and looks like the warm teddy bear type that would be super to cuddle up to on a cold night.
Hot stuff in ELT
Pete Sharma.. OMG is he hot! And the voice!
Gavin Dudeney...yum... another soft sexy voice..
And if you have not caught on to the fact that looks ain't just enough but we need other "gifts" too... you should...voices do it for me... and a wicked sense of humour, the biggest turn on.
A man who can make you laugh is a truly precious thing.
And Ken...ooooh he's hot! And fun! And naughty!
Sizzle sizzle... that's my list!
Karenne,
Greetings from Maidenhead - can't say more than that or everyone will know who I am.
Lots to choose from here, and a fun end of year activity.
I can't think of anyone new, so I'm going to plump for Jeremy Harmer, who has always inspired me, Julian Wing (British Council) - a really nice guy, and Gavin Dudeney, who has helped me out by email a few times and never says no.
I like that in a guy! LOL!
SW
Karenne,
I don't know if you'll insist on men in the here and now but how about Mario Rinvolucri about 40 years ago. That podgy Che Guevara look works for me. If not, how about Jason Renshaw - although he has just put a despicable, sexist poll on his blog.
From his tiny twitter pic I can't really see what he looks like but any man covered with cute kids in hats just has to be sexy.
I'm going to trust, Catherine, that you really are Catherine and aren't Jason back in disguise, LOL...
SW... so you're into the Mr Darcy's of this world too, eh! Elizabethes unite!
So glad to see Pete Sharma's rack racking up the points here (finally) she sighs in relief.
Mario... Mario... that's going in the Michael Swan category. Good thing love's blind and sexiness entirely subjective - I accept your nomination with applomb.
Hello Kraenne!
I found your blog when I searched for Scott Thornbury because I also found his blog yesterday and I'm already leaving comments there too!
This is a very funny page and I like it very much. I don't know too many of the people here but I will look into them with Google later!
Many years ago I studied in International House Barcelona and Scott worked there and so did Gavin so I can only nominate them because the others I know, nobody here knows, I think.
Will you have pictures of all the people to see? I personally don't think it's the good looks, but other things - the intelligence, the good voice, if the man is nice and if he is good and helpful teacher and many other things like if he is caring.
It's true the looks don't last and beauty is only the surface. What is inside is the most important, don't you agree?
Marta Torres
Secondary School Teacher
Barcelona
Hi Marta,
Am working on getting the very best photos possible... ;-)
Here are the votes of the London jury:
Love the way the nominations have got past the eye candy to the substance: sexy voices, intelligence, opinions, people who care.... oh yes indeedy.
'Sexiest' isn't about blue-eyed, blonde haired youngsters, it's about style and grace, intelligence and learning, teaching and helping, challenging and informing and all the rest...
So, the London jury say:
Philip Kerr (voice, brains)
Michael Swan (brains)
Gavin Dudeney (voice, humour, brains)
Pete Sharma (voice)
Jeremy Harmer (voice, humour, brains)
I could go on!
Da London Cru
Da London Cru... this isn't the new blogger over at Mac Dictionary, is it? I have a thing about the written voice and think I recognize something... maybe...
;-) nice nominations.
Oh dear, it's supposed to be the sexiest man in ELT surely?
Well, that has to go to Stephen Nicholl at Pearsons. None of the above even approach him! If I can work out how I'll add a photo.
I'd like to nominate Cotter Hue a really hard working individual and a nice guy. Larry Ferlazzo is also amazingly resourceful.
I just interviewed a nice looking, extremely intelligent gentleman in ELT. Unfortunately it was not a face to face interview. Photo here: http://edition.tefl.net/guest/dr-simon-borg-discusses-the-eltons/
I hope to meet him one day!
Jason Renshaw's new Twitter profile pictures is also adorable.
It would be nice to see a photo line up.
James, swoon, thanks for the photo!
And I'm officially making my first nomination, for you ;-). (Or wait, there was Seth Dickens too at the top of the page).
Anon, thanks very much for Chris Cotter nomination too - we're all very pleased to see his happy face when he pops up on the twitter stream!
Oh, JJ Wilson times several hundred if it's just on looks.
But Jeremy Harmer if it's on personality, conversation and sense of humour.
(Sorry Jeremy, but you know how I feel about JJ.)
Just came across this, not literally, and it's quite old. Time to update with new ELT conference talent....Nick Robinson, Russ Mayne and Jo Sayers?