Awareness leads to better choices, and better choices lead to better results. So why not be aware of our quality traits that shape our future and help create personal mastery? Grit, one of the keys to success and happiness. The person who perseveres is the one who will surely reach the goals. "Success does not come from giving up, it comes from believing in yourself and continuously working towards the realization of a worthy ideal," - says the author of Grit, Angela Duckworth.

Last Friday evening SARGOI community members were more than happy to learn about the power of grit through an episode from TED talk: Grit: power of passion and perseverance by Angela Duckworth.

“Grit is a combination of two things: perseverance over the very long term, and then passion,” says Duckworth. “So, not only working on something very hard, and being resilient in the face of setbacks, but working on something that’s meaningful to you about which you can say, “I LOVE this. I’ll never be bored by it.”

Watch the TED talk here

Here are some more powerful ideas worth spreading from Angela Duckworth:

"In education, the one thing we know how to measure best is IQ. But what if doing well in school and in life depends on much more than your ability to learn quickly and easily?"

"We studied rookie teachers working in really tough neighborhoods, asking which teachers are still going to be here in teaching by the end of the school year, and of those, who will be the most effective at improving learning outcomes for their students? We partnered with private companies, asking, which of these salespeople is going to keep their jobs? And who's going to earn the most money? In all those very different contexts, one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasn't social intelligence. It wasn't good looks, physical health, and it wasn't IQ. It was grit."

"Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint."

"To me, the most shocking thing about grit is how little we know, how little science knows, about building it. Every day, parents and teachers ask me, "How do I build grit in kids? What do I do to teach kids a solid work ethic? How do I keep them motivated for the long run?" The honest answer is, I don't know."

"What I do know is that talent doesn't make you gritty. Our data show very clearly that there are many talented individuals who simply do not follow through on their commitments."

So what quality traits will help us identify how gritty we are? Forbes offeres to consider 5 characteristics:

1. Excellence versus perfection
2. Courage versus fear
3. Resilience:Optimism, Confidence, and Creativity
4. Conscientiousness: Achievement Oriented vs. Dependable
5. Long-Term Goals and Endurance: Follow Through

Read more about 5 characteristics of Grit here and about overall ideas how grit work

Watch more video from Angela Duckworth here

Do not ever give up on what you want most. You know what you truly want. Believe in your dreams and goals, be persistent and focused, and take daily consistent action in order to make your dreams a reality.

In the photo: SARGOI members while brainstorming ideas what grit is and after the session.

SARGOI expresses gratitude to 5 participants from Speak & Go programs who, together with other students from 28 countries, joined global online intellectuals" competition Owlypia and presented Ukraine.

The competition was organized by Perceptum Education, SARGOI partner based in Ukraine. The aim of Owlypia project is to boost curiosity to learning among teenagers.

To watch the video with testimonials, follow the link.

To read more about TIC competition in Cambridge, follow the link.

Congrats to SOVa and their founder Lana Sushko on the 5 th anniversary which they beautifully connected with the 4th SOVa conference. The event took place on February 24th 2018 in Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics.

SARGOI expresses gratitude for creating such a fascinating event where about 300 educators across Ukraine could benefit from co-learning and co-development as well as get inspiration through sessions in 6 different tracks - from teaching kids and teens, to teacher development.

The conference started with an inspiring welcome speech from Lana Sushko who willingly shared the numbers of great achievements and happy victories SOVa has obtained for the last 5 years.

F​ollow the link​ to read SOVA's victories in numbers​

Anastasiya Rybak, SARGOI founder and Director of Studies proceeded to give the talk where she shared her professional and personal experience of starting SARGOI from scratch and explored the question of how to stay motivated in the time of fast changes, dramatic distractions, and uncertainty. In this talk called "ITE: Changing Mindset while Teaching" she also introduced a new international programme Inspiring Teachers of English, which is a joint project from SARGOI and SOVa, and invited the educators to join the program. ​

To read Anastasiya's talk, follow the link

To read ITE broshure, follow the link

More details about ITE project here​

Jane Mitchel, language educator from RMIT English Worldwide was the next to involve the participants into the amazing world of flipped learning through a Skype meeting.

To explore more about flipped class while learning languages, follow the link

Anna Shovkaliuk from Cambridge University Press ELT Ukraine gave a number of practical hints how to learn and practice vocabulary​ in an exciting way.​

Kateryna Protsenko, Director of Studies from International Language Centre gave a session about Dogme and engaged teachers into three primary aims of the approach: teaching through conversation, taking out external input such as course book and technology and letting the lesson content be driven by the students rather than being pre-planned by the teacher

To explore more about Teaching Unplugged by Scott Thornbury and Luke Meddings

We are grateful to every single teacher performing by calling and treating her/ his work like craft,​ who​ never stops learning and sharing, looking for the ways to become authentic, professional, and inspiring. ​

SARGOI educators are inviting you to a little reminder that ​ ​"​​The quality of an educational system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers and principles, since students are the product of their craft.​"  

February 23 Bohdan Budzan came to meet and greet SARGOI students, colleagues, and friends. We talked about life values, self-management, self-discipline, parents and children rapport as well as life-work balance.

Bohdan also presented from his end "12 calls to become a high-status Personality."

To read 12 calls from Bohdan Budzan

To read more about Bohdan's biography and interesting facts from his life

Meet & Greet Event about EDUCATION ABROAD opportunities, challenges, and strategies with Nataliia Chudnovska at SARGOI International Community on Nov 17th. 2017

• Why people decide to study abroad?
• How do they benefit from short-term language programs and why life-long learning is getting more and more popular nowadays?

Because people:

• want to broaden their mind
• are ready to develop global thinking
• determined to meet new people, face new challenges and opportunities
• become "possibilitarians" who get important projects
• are willing to refine their talents
• start learning to be autonomous

And the list may never end. So we invited Nataliia Chudnovska, a global educator and study abroad expert to tell SARGOI learners more about the challenges students face when they choose a country and /or a programme.

To learn more about the Meet & Greet event, read here

To read the presentation, follow the link

• How do we help very young learners to develop literacy skills?
• What are the main approaches to develop reading?
• What are advantages and disadvantages between sight reading approach and phonics reading approach?
• What are the best ways to help kids learn how to spell?

Nov 22 we had a three hour training course from Lana Sushko, teacher trainer and founder of SOVa centre.

Read more here

In the photos: Lana Sushko inspiring SARGOI teachers and others visitors to express their brightest talents while teaching 5-6 year old kids

The international conference, organized in National Pedagogical Dragomanov University on October 30-31 2017, was designed for educators, administrators, and professionals who are directly or indirectly involved in teaching.The conference was to provide a platform where Ukrainian educators can learn more and reflect on the educational issues and practices in Western Europe.   SARGOI International Community was represented by Anastasiya Rybak (teacher trainer and DoS) who talked to many Ukrainian teachers about opportunities and different ways to develop learner's autonomy. The participants of the workshop were looking into the following questions:

• what makes a responsible learner and an autonomous learner?
• why are teacher-centered classes less effective?
• why is intrinsic motivation stronger than external?

See the presentation here

Read more about ISL Conference in Cambridge

In the photo: the keynote speeches and workshop on October 30/31 2017.

On October 27th the students from Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics ( foreign languages and IR management department) met Anastasiya Rybak, teacher trainer and DoS of SARGOI International Community. The purpose of the seminar was to talk about student-centered approach while teaching foreign languages, developing students autonomy, and how to create memorable and bright context while teaching vocabulary and grammar. A special thank you note for bright, thought-provoked questions to the students as well as the foreign languages department of the university for the invitation and willingness to cooperate. Read more here.