About Me — Alexander Benesch

Teacher, activist, fellow traveller, polymath

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Jep, that’s me. Image by author.

You may have noticed that my full name is Alexander. But Alex for short is just fine. Even my parents address me like this. Not to mention friends and colleagues.

I am a teacher, an online tutor, and since recently, also a writer.

My blogging career is pretty short. I only started in early November 2021.
I did have a short stint with a personal blog back in 2005–6. I didn’t pursue it for very long. Mainly because I felt I did not want to put the time into it back then.

That does not mean, that I did not write since then, though.

Since then, I have been authoring the occasional article about pedagogy for websites and SoMe profiles of my previous school. And then there is, of course, the more technical writing.

Writing was a large part of my teaching job

What many probably do not realize is, how much writing many teachers do. Most teachers frequently author their own teaching materials, for instance. I did that a lot. Especially when I wanted to address more contemporary topics, for which no materials existed yet.

Then there are the mandatory student evaluations. Since I was working with special needs students, the amount of writing I had to do was insane. Because I had to not only report to parents and my supervisors, but also to social authorities, psychologists, school authorities, and whatnot.

Everybody wanted written reports on everything. It is also one of the reasons I ended up leaving the job. It started to feel like I did more administration than actual teaching.

What was clear, however, was that I enjoyed writing.

I have an abundance of stuff to share

Right now I write mostly here on Medium. And I have another blog at akoa.info. On that one, I write strictly about my tutoring activities and about education and pedagogy. Some selected articles you can also find here on Medium. Like this one.

Yes, our education system may be on the brink of collapse. That is not necessarily a bad thing

Here on Medium, however, you will notice that I have no clear niche. That is because I am interested in many topics. Kind of like a polymath. And I consider myself an activist for Social Justice and Planet Protection.

Last but not least, I am very interested in psychology, human behavior, and personal development. That is both a consequence of my profession, but also my own, personal journey through life. So you also find articles like this one.

I am an addict.

I intend to keep it this way. Most articles on becoming a successful writer advertise “finding your niche.” I will not. Maybe at some point, my niche finds me. Who knows.

Other things worth knowing about me

I play guitar

I love taking long walks in nature

I read a lot

I have a broad range of practical skills

I love being a teacher.

I love to travel and have not been living in my birth country since my early teens.

Getting in touch with me.

If you like to get in touch with me, there are several ways.

You can subscribe to my newsletter on Substack

You can connect with me on LinkedIn

You can check out my other blog

You can follow me on Twitter

You can follow me on Facebook

You follow me here on Medium

You can send me an email