As many of you already know, the past year has been a very tough one. Oliver Gould (our systems architect) and I (Learning Manager) have held the English360 fort which meant taking on extra responsibility without being in full control of invoicing and finances. Out of friendship and trust, for the past 12 months I have stood by Cleve Miller (CEO) during his illness to ensure platform stability and business as usual for all clients using our services. I am no longer able to sustain this salary-free support so as of tomorrow 1st November 2018, I will no longer be the English360 go-to person.
As the heart and soul of English360, it’s been both a brilliant and extremely challenging decade. It’s been wonderful interacting and bouncing ideas around with very special educators from all corners of the world. A special thanks to all the wonderful clients that made every day so unique. My momentous gratitude goes to all the illuminating colleagues I have been lucky to work with over the past nine years: thank you Nergiz Kern, Nick Robinson, Jeremy Day, Alison Ramsey, Brian Anderson and Frances Amrani (to name just a few in this short space) thank you for your inspiration and professional contribution. My full appreciation to all the contributing authors who dedicated their time and energy to the concept. Let me take this opportunity to acknowledge that English360 let you down and the business model did not provide sustainable income for those committed to increasing the online resource bank. Interestingly the easier the online tools became, the more clients based their courses on their own user generated content rather than the pool provided. Lots of lessons learnt there. Loads of reflection and notes to write up as critical analysis to help feed the industry forward into the next generation of online sharing.
What at first seemed devastatingly like the end of an era to me, has fast become the beginning of a new epoch!
With my zero-mile philosophy on life, it was natural to focus on local first so recently I got involved in some very cool blended teacher education projects for the Ministry of Education. I have also been whirl-winded into teaching on pre-school and primary school European funded courses sprinkling me with new energizing joy and that extra-ordinary buoyancy that young learners are naturally oozing with. I am now going to spend the rest of the autumn designing personalized online training programs for the hospitality industry here in Italy and then want to explore new channels to promote more sustainable and ethical educational projects. So although tomorrow vale@english360 will no longer be online for e360 projects, I will still be blending courses, life and Italian coffee…
October 31, 2018 at 9:36 pm
Sounds like a great step! Next time I make it over to Italy we must try to meet uo!
Laurie
October 31, 2018 at 9:43 pm
It’s kind of sad to me to know this is the ending of vale@english360. I have always associated you to the platform and the platform to you. I can only imagine how hard this can be to you, I have seen you pour into English360 everything you could give and I am proud of you mom no matter what. You are an amazing educator (workaholism is your only flaw), loving mother and caring friend, so I’m sure the future has many great surprises for you. And I will always support you, like you always support me in everything I do.
I love you mummy,
Sophie
November 1, 2018 at 9:44 am
Valentina, I just wanted to say what a honest post to write. You have been such a pillar of strength for English 360, but strength is also knowing when to wrap things up and walk away. It is the end of an era indeed, but it is also heartening to read of the lessons you’ve learnt and the experience you’ve gained.
All the best to your future endeavours, Valentina! And here’s raising a glass to you being so brave!
(Will I be seeing you at IATEFL Liverpool?)
xxChia
November 1, 2018 at 1:02 pm
Ever onwards Vale. With your indomitable spirit and overall brilliance, kindness and warmth, the future must be rubbing its hands in glee at what comes next for you.
Looking forward to hearing how you shape this new chapter.
Michelle x x
November 1, 2018 at 1:30 pm
Thanks Laurie, keep in touch, it would be great to meet up in Italy. You must come further south next time 🙂
November 1, 2018 at 1:32 pm
Dedication and commitment aren’t always equal to workaholism!
And I’ll focus on not letting anyone down from now on…
Love you too 🙂
November 1, 2018 at 1:34 pm
Thanks Chia, it’s uplifting to read your words. I think focusing on gains rather than losses always helps us move forward. Looking forward to meeting up soon, if not at Liverpool and one of the next events. Hugs to all the family, Vale
November 1, 2018 at 3:46 pm
Dear Vale,
Your hard work and dedication are second to no one.
So, even if this door closes, a new and a better one is waiting for you.
I know for sure that your love and passion for education, together with your unique charisma, will stay with you as you are moving on to pastures new.
I am proud to be one of your many students. Even if we don’t see each other as often as we would like to, we will always be good friends as we have been for nearly 30yrs. Good luck on your future venture, I’m sure it will be a great one and I can’t wait to hear all about it! xx
November 1, 2018 at 5:55 pm
Thanks Fabrizio, how sweet to read your comment. I was proud to have such a unique student.
How time flies when you are having fun! Hope we can meet up face to face in 2019,
Vale
November 1, 2018 at 5:58 pm
Wow Michelle, I cringe at the praise you spray me with, thanks for your thoughtful words and encouragement.
Hope to see you soon,
Vale
November 3, 2018 at 9:24 am
That sounds like it was an incredibly tough decision for you Valentina but It sounds like you have found the professional light at the end of that tunnel. I would love to connect. In fact I have a new podcast starting on Nov 22. where we talk and learn about how to communicate better and be more interculturally aware, perhaps yo u could share some of your learnings if you feel ready. If not, let’s connect anyway, you sounded great from the post but the comments assured me – this is someone I need to get to know closer.
Excited to hear about your next moves, on air or off
November 3, 2018 at 3:59 pm
Hi Corinne, thanks for dropping by and adding your thoughts. I’d be very interested in connecting and helping with the new podcast episode. I’ve spent almost 15 years online and it’s interesting indeed to analyze and improve online synch/synch communication across countries and teams. Looking forward to finding out more. I’ll send you a PM 🙂
November 10, 2018 at 7:05 pm
This is both sad news and an opportunity for something new. I had been wondering what had been happening as things seemed to go a bit quiet. You did a brilliant job and it was a pleasure to work with you and the rest of the 360 team.
Keep in touch and hopefully we can work together again soon. There are several interesting projects on the horizon.
November 13, 2018 at 3:37 pm
Hi Frances, thanks for reading and replying to my post! Hope our paths cross again soon. I’ll send you an PM or DM or whatever they call it 😉
November 16, 2018 at 10:28 pm
All the very best for the future – you have always been my inspiration not just in my career path but also in my personal life – I know that whatever you do you will do it with total dedication and outstanding humanity, intelligence, empathy, creativity and more energy than anyone else I know!
November 17, 2018 at 7:39 am
Thank weetie! It’s reciprocal admiration:-) it’s wonderful having such a rich and varied PLN, thanks for being in mine.