This year is the first year that I work with plays in my English lessons. I suggested the idea to my 9th grade students and they accepted the challenge. At first, I was a bit scared to do this kind of activity because I was not sure about the way in which teenagers were going to react. Contrary to my own prejudices, they were eager to do it. What is more, they took an active role in the organization.
They also adapted the play and gave it a different ending with their own ideas.
The play was familiar to them in Spanish so that helped a lot. The story of Little Red Riding Hood is very famous in the Spanish Literature. In this way, they felt free to make some changes to it.
One big barrier that students had to overcome was stage panic. In most cases, they did not want to act in front of students from other courses. I said it was compulsory so they were oblished to act.
We have a big stage at school so everybody could look at the play. Some parents were invited too and the school authorities as well.
What I enjoyed most about this activity was the fact that the students used English naturally and learnt new vocabulary and language expressions. And above all, they had fun doing it. So I strongly recommend this type of tasks. Teachers will not regret it.
Monday, 4 June 2007
Memories
Last Saturday night, some friends from high school and I got together in a bar to have some drinks. We do this whenever we have time because most of them are working or studying or something of the sort. In my case, high school time was the best time ever. My friends and spent wonderful moments. We shared some bad ones too. But we grew up together and so knew each other well.
We used to make jokes aboutour teachers. Boys were really terrible. they misbehaved all the time. They did not study much either. I think that the best time came when we travelled to Brazil. We only went 11 and we were 40. All the same we had a lot of fun. We danced a lot, visited new places.
We still remember those moments and we wish to live them again. When we go back to the past, it seems that we still are those noisy teenagers that filled the classroom of a public school at 7.30 in the morning. The best time ever!
We used to make jokes aboutour teachers. Boys were really terrible. they misbehaved all the time. They did not study much either. I think that the best time came when we travelled to Brazil. We only went 11 and we were 40. All the same we had a lot of fun. We danced a lot, visited new places.
We still remember those moments and we wish to live them again. When we go back to the past, it seems that we still are those noisy teenagers that filled the classroom of a public school at 7.30 in the morning. The best time ever!
A Little Love
I am fond of working with songs with my students. Today, we worked with a song called A Little Love by Brian Adams. It is a beautiful song indeed. The main theme of the lyric is the fact that a little love can change things, even the worst moments in life.
A little love would have prevent countries from going into war some of my students concluded after they worked with it. And it is true. The hole world would change if instead of killing we devote more time to loving one another. There are times in our own life that we think we are in the darkness but there is always a light that shines through, and it helps us go on. And that is love.
I was happy today when I saw that teenagers are eager to change the world a little bit. After all, they are the future generation. I hope we encourage them enough to do it. And we teachers have the power to do this in our classrooms.
Teaching Practises
Now that I am working as a teacher I can see the way in which our teaching practises affect students. Today, I went into the classroom and I started to speak in English but they seemed lost in the horizon. They did not get a word of what I was saying. And I felt frustated. We went to a seminar on Saturday and a repetitive topic was mentioned. Namely, that we have to speak in English all the time because the students need to receive input.
I hope that my students get used to the use of English in the class because this is the only environment in which they can be in contact with the language. And this is the only way in which they will learn it.
Whenever I have the chance, I go to other teachers´classrooms and I am amazed to see that they use very little English. The students only know how to greet the teacher and ask for permission to go to the toilet. I thought this is so because most of my collegues are a bit old and do not care much about the fact that students need to hera English spoken in class.
But then a sudden thought goes into my mind, and that is: I am going to be old some day too. What about my students at that time. I truly beleive that this profession is a vocation. And teaching practises should be on a constant change. Moreover, teachers in any department should work together, not in isolation. For instance, in my department we are four teachers. Two are old and two are younger, and the younger are working with plays and shotstories that the old have about because they do not want to take the time to prepare it. So, they miss the chance of teaching them many other things apart from verb to be.
As Esteban Cresta said in his Saturday talk, in our trainning teaching career we learnt about History, Geography, Literature. We have to transmit this knowledge to our students too.
And in this way, we teachers can work in accordance with teachers from other subjects as well.
Working as a teacher demands a lot from a person but a teacher receives much more than a poor salary once a month.
I hope that my students get used to the use of English in the class because this is the only environment in which they can be in contact with the language. And this is the only way in which they will learn it.
Whenever I have the chance, I go to other teachers´classrooms and I am amazed to see that they use very little English. The students only know how to greet the teacher and ask for permission to go to the toilet. I thought this is so because most of my collegues are a bit old and do not care much about the fact that students need to hera English spoken in class.
But then a sudden thought goes into my mind, and that is: I am going to be old some day too. What about my students at that time. I truly beleive that this profession is a vocation. And teaching practises should be on a constant change. Moreover, teachers in any department should work together, not in isolation. For instance, in my department we are four teachers. Two are old and two are younger, and the younger are working with plays and shotstories that the old have about because they do not want to take the time to prepare it. So, they miss the chance of teaching them many other things apart from verb to be.
As Esteban Cresta said in his Saturday talk, in our trainning teaching career we learnt about History, Geography, Literature. We have to transmit this knowledge to our students too.
And in this way, we teachers can work in accordance with teachers from other subjects as well.
Working as a teacher demands a lot from a person but a teacher receives much more than a poor salary once a month.
A Secret World
Once upon a time, there was a small village near the Atkinsons mountains. In there lived few families. The villagers knew each other well. They shared meals, jokes as well as sorrows and pain. The best time of the week was Sunday´s picnics. They gathered together in the woods and contemplated the beauty of nature. Laughter and joy invaded the scene.
One day, one of the families decided to make a trip to the city. They wanted to see the world. A world which was unknown to them. The departure came and so they went. When they arrived to the city, they were amazed to see all the people there were. But there was something that called the attention of these visitors, and that was the fact that people came up and down but they did not know each other. And the faces were filled with a seriousness that provoke strangeness.
As they were walking by a group of women, they heard that they were arguing on some things that some other peolpe did and they were passing judgement, and more importantly, they talk without measuring the consequences of the lack of love. They said to themselves that they had to accept others. Not matter what they did.
After a few days, this family decided to go back to the place they called HOME. As soon as they arrived, they started to tell the other villagers what they have seen in the city. They said that citizens lived differently because they did not have time to share with others, that they talked about the actions of others as if they knew everything about the other person´s life. And that what was more frustating was that the faces of these people did not have a smile. Friendliness was not around.
All the village families concluded that the way in which they lived was a bit better than the city life. Not only because they had so many things to share but also because they cared about living.
(This little "shortstory" was written by me. The place and the characters are completely fake) I am a frustated writer. Please, understand me.
One day, one of the families decided to make a trip to the city. They wanted to see the world. A world which was unknown to them. The departure came and so they went. When they arrived to the city, they were amazed to see all the people there were. But there was something that called the attention of these visitors, and that was the fact that people came up and down but they did not know each other. And the faces were filled with a seriousness that provoke strangeness.
As they were walking by a group of women, they heard that they were arguing on some things that some other peolpe did and they were passing judgement, and more importantly, they talk without measuring the consequences of the lack of love. They said to themselves that they had to accept others. Not matter what they did.
After a few days, this family decided to go back to the place they called HOME. As soon as they arrived, they started to tell the other villagers what they have seen in the city. They said that citizens lived differently because they did not have time to share with others, that they talked about the actions of others as if they knew everything about the other person´s life. And that what was more frustating was that the faces of these people did not have a smile. Friendliness was not around.
All the village families concluded that the way in which they lived was a bit better than the city life. Not only because they had so many things to share but also because they cared about living.
(This little "shortstory" was written by me. The place and the characters are completely fake) I am a frustated writer. Please, understand me.
Sad Faces
As I was walking by last night, I saw something that called my attention. There were a group of three boys sleeping in the street. Their only bed was an amount of papers and some other stuffs. Not heat at all.
Since then, these three kids from the street are in my mind. I do not know why.
With the cold weather and the poor conditions in which they are living, I started to think about how do they survive. What is the future ahead of them.
I also thought about responsibility. Mine and others. Is it society´s fault or is it their parents´fault? Does the government see this reality? I do not know much about governmental policies to take these people out the streets. What I do know is that w have to do something. These are kids who do not go to school, who have not enough food to eat, and, more importantly, who do not have a family to live with.
Once I heard a mother oblishing their children to go into the street to ask for money. She was sending her children to beg and she was sitting with the rest of her kids waiting for money to appear out of the blue. I was so angry that time and I wanted to go back to her and tell her that what she did was wrong. But I could not because I was going to get into troble because these kind of people do not listen.
Sometimes, you do help children who are on the streets but you know that the money goes somewhere else. Parents do not want to work. They only want to receive money for doing nothing. And put the heavy load on these innocent victims who are not the ones to blame. They are not responsible for having being born in this kind of world.
Anyway, I wish this changes some day. Childhood is the best period in a person´s life. And kids deserve to live it the best way possible. They need to play and have fun. NOT WORK.
Since then, these three kids from the street are in my mind. I do not know why.
With the cold weather and the poor conditions in which they are living, I started to think about how do they survive. What is the future ahead of them.
I also thought about responsibility. Mine and others. Is it society´s fault or is it their parents´fault? Does the government see this reality? I do not know much about governmental policies to take these people out the streets. What I do know is that w have to do something. These are kids who do not go to school, who have not enough food to eat, and, more importantly, who do not have a family to live with.
Once I heard a mother oblishing their children to go into the street to ask for money. She was sending her children to beg and she was sitting with the rest of her kids waiting for money to appear out of the blue. I was so angry that time and I wanted to go back to her and tell her that what she did was wrong. But I could not because I was going to get into troble because these kind of people do not listen.
Sometimes, you do help children who are on the streets but you know that the money goes somewhere else. Parents do not want to work. They only want to receive money for doing nothing. And put the heavy load on these innocent victims who are not the ones to blame. They are not responsible for having being born in this kind of world.
Anyway, I wish this changes some day. Childhood is the best period in a person´s life. And kids deserve to live it the best way possible. They need to play and have fun. NOT WORK.
Our Planet shouts for Help
I work near a sugar cane factory. It is terrible to see all the waste that is sent into the air because they do not have filters to prevent this from happening. During the active period of harvest, the air is filled with dirt. I think that government should do something about it.
Global warming is affecting us also, as we contribute to the pollution of the planet.
Businesspeople do not want to invest in new startegies and ways of avoiding thrush to go out. But this is a pivotal need for the welfare of nature and of us too.
I read in The Economist yesterday that one of the ideas to encourage enterpreneurs to pay taxes based on the amount of CO2 they produce. Personally speaking, the same idea should be apply in our country too. Otherwise, this trend will continue to grow and the life expectansy will start to decline as contamination rises.
Global warming is affecting us also, as we contribute to the pollution of the planet.
Businesspeople do not want to invest in new startegies and ways of avoiding thrush to go out. But this is a pivotal need for the welfare of nature and of us too.
I read in The Economist yesterday that one of the ideas to encourage enterpreneurs to pay taxes based on the amount of CO2 they produce. Personally speaking, the same idea should be apply in our country too. Otherwise, this trend will continue to grow and the life expectansy will start to decline as contamination rises.
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