Archive for 2013

No teachers, no school



An interesting experiment is taking place in Hedenderson, a town in Minneapolis.“New Country school” is about a different school with no teachers.
Students don´t take lessons and they just work in an environment which looks like an office rather than a school.All the students come together into a big room, they sit at desks and they spend most of the day in front of their personal computers working on interdisciplinary projects .
There is no bell to interrupt what they are doing and they feel free to move around whenever they want.
There no teachers in the traditional way but “advisers”,adults who are seen as guides to learning.

New Country Principles:

• No classes. Students work on projects they select themselves. Projects are tailored to fulfill state curriculum requirements.
• No teachers. Students consult with "advisers" who are available through the day to guide their work. Advisers do not "teach" in the traditional sense. They guide students' work.
• No hierarchy. The school is run like an agricultural cooperative. Advisers are owners, rather than employees. There is no principal.
• No bells, no firm schedule. Time is set aside for lunch and for quiet reading. Other than that, students choose how to spend their time. If they fall behind, advisers help them get back on track.
• No walls. Students work in an open environment and can confer with other students and advisers as needed. There's no central office.
• And no janitors. Students clean the bathrooms and the rest of the school themselves.

What do you think? Would you like to go to a school like this one? What do you think education will be like in the future? Can you imagine a school with no teachers?


Now, watch the clip and listen to the song! I´m sure you´ll like it.



We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall. "Wrong, Do it again!"
"If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you
have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"
"You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddy!"


 Information from  DigiZen:Un blogfesor aprendiendo

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Interesting sites

Dear students,
the pages I talked to you about:

Lyrics training

An interesting site that will help you improve your pronunciation in an enjoyable way through the music.

Just, choose a song, select a level (Beginner, intermediate or expert), listen to the music and fill in the missing words. If you are right the video goes on but if you get stumped, then the video will stop playing until you write the correct word.


English Central

Another site to learn English while watching videos. It allows you to record your voice and get feedback on your pronunciation. It's great fun!



Well, I hope you find them interesting! See you in class!

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Horoscopes

This is an activity I like doing in the first term since it allows me to get to know my students a bit better. Besides, I find it interesting to see what opinion they have about themselves, what they think they are like.
As far as I´m concerned I´m not only worried about their academic side but also about their emotional one and I believe that sometimes things would run smoother if we tried to "humanize" our classes. By asking our students for their opinions, emotions, preferences and making them feel that they can express themselves openly, we will be creating a good atmosphere where to work positively.

Thus, we will be doing our bit to optimize results and get better students :).

The activity:

- Give each student a copy of the sheet about horoscopes (see below)

- Ask them what their horoscopes are and read them aloud. Are they accurate? Discuss it with them.

- Then, individually tell them to choose those adjectives that best describe their character




All the adjectives in the horoscopes are chosen at random but students always agree with the description they give about their personality. In psychology, it is called the Barnun effect, the descriptions are so vague or general that everybody can be realistic, artistic, imaginative, sensitive...and people accept them because they find personal meaning in statements that in fact, can apply to anyone.

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Education cutbacks



  1.  What's the video about?
  2.  What are the main cuts carried out by the goverment according to the video? 
  3.  What's your opinion about it?
  4.  If you were the government, what would you do?

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PodEnglish channel

Lots of English video lessons from beginner to advanced that will help you learn English.
I find them quite interesting and I hope you also will. Have a look!

Beginner Level
  1. Introductions
  2. Time
  3. Family
  4. Directions
  5. Grocery shopping
  6. Like, love, hate
  7. Food, cooking and catering
  8. New York
  9. Appartment
  10. Pictures
  11. Making a date
  12. Yoga
  13. Office talk
  14. Crime
  15. Talking about the past
  16. Food
Elementary Level

  1. Vacations
  2. Weather
  3. Pets
  4. Babysitting job interview
  5. Complaining
  6. Being ill
  7. Office party
  8. Clothes
  9. Office phone
  10. Planing a trip
Pre-intermediate level
  1. Climate change
  2. Job interview
  3. School friends
  4. Planning vacation
  5. Relationships
  6. Checking in
Intermediate Level
  1. Life story
  2. Business English. Negotiating solutions
  3. Flowers for your girlfriend
  4. Scuba diving
  5. Diet
  6. Lifestyle
  7. Trends and fashions
Upper Intermediate Level
  1. War films
  2. Fears
  3. Technology
  4. Religion
  5. Interview
  6. Computers
  7. Law and courts
  8. Travel itinerary
  9. Sightseeing
  10. Investor talk
  11. Getting help
  12. Office tour
  13. Studying English
  14. Sales figures
  15. Girl talk
  16. Book store

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Get that job

A very interesting site with lots of activities, quizzes and tips on things like how to find a job, write a good CV and cover letter or succeed at an interview.
You can go through it step by step, from "Job Search" to "Interviews" or you can go straight to the part you are most interested in.
Come on, have a look! It will be of great help to you.




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Europass

"Opening doors to learning and working in Europe"

If you want to enrol in an education or training programme, look for a job or get experience abroad, it is important to be able to make your skills and competences clearly understood.

Europass is a new way to help you make your skills and qualifications clearly and easily understood in Europe.

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Pre-job skills in Vocational training courses. Mind map

The main aim of giving classes to students taking Vocational Training Courses is to prepare them for a job in a  future. For this reason, it is important to bear in mind not only the skills regarding the job, but also, those ones which are going to help them get the job they want to apply for and are as follows:

1. Reading and understanding advertisements. The students must get familiar with the language related to job ads; what sort of job is being advertised, kind of applicant wanted and some other important aspects of the post, such as working conditions, where it is, salary etc.
2. Writing their CV/résumé. Some guideliness are given so that they can sum up their personal, educational and career history in a clear and concise way but as complete as possible.
3. Writing cover letters. They learn how to write formal letters.
4. Tips for Job interviews. They see what they should do when attending an interview and they learn strategies in order to succeed.

After it, we start working on job skills and emphasis is given on the main duties and responsibilities that the future job involves depending, of course, on the studies they have previously chosen.


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Live your life

Have a nice summer and enjoy !!



You've got the whole world in your pocket
But you just don't know
Everybody's smilin' at you everywhere you go
It's like you've got that secret
That everybody else wants to know

Anywhere you are is just like home to you
From the beaches in Manila
Down to Katmandu

Yeah you've got that secret
That everybody else wants to know
But you won't ever let it go oh

Everybody wanna hold your hand
Everybody wanna shine that bright
Everybody wanna say they can
Everybody wanna live your life

Everybody wanna talk like you
Only wanna do the things you do
'Cause they always gonna turn out right
Everybody wanna live your life

We take a whole room full of strangers
And we make them friends
We do it all around the world
Just so it never ends
It don't matter where we're coming from or going to
You're the only one that ever turns a grey sky blue
And everybody needs a friend like you

Everybody wanna hold your hand
Everybody wanna shine that bright
Everybody wanna say they can
Everybody wanna live your life

Everybody wanna talk like you
Only wanna do the things you do
'Cause they always gonna turn out right
Everybody wanna live your life

SOMOS CIUDADANOS DEL MUNDO, ASI
YO SIEMPRE A TU LADO Y TÚ JUNTO A MI
EL MUNDO ESTÁ EN TUS MANOS, NO LO SABES YA
COMO UN DIAMANTE SIEMPRE BRILLARA

Everybody wanna hold your hand
Everybody wanna shine that bright
Everybody wanna say they can
Everybody wanna live your life

Everybody wanna talk like you
Only wanna do the things you do
'Cause they always gonna turn out right
Everybody wanna live your life

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Molly Bloom's Soliloquy by James Joyce

Molly Bloom's Soliloquy by James Joyce 

 (By Susana Ledesma)

God of heaven theres nothing like nature the wild mountains then the sea and the waves rushing then the beautiful country with the fields of oats and wheat and all kinds of things and all the fine cattle going about that would do your heart good to see rivers and lakes and flowers all sorts of shapes and smells and colours springing up even out of the ditches primroses and violets nature it is as for them saying theres no God I wouldnt give a snap of my two fingers for all their learning why dont they go and create something I often asked him atheists or whatever they call themselves go and wash the cobbles off themselves first then they go howling for the priest and they dying and why why because theyre afraid of hell on account of their bad conscience ah yes I know them well who was the first person in the universe before there was anybody that made it all who ah that they dont know neither do I so there you are they might as well try to stop the sun from rising tomorrow the sun shines for you he said the day we were lying among the rhododendrons on Howth head in the grey tweed suit and his straw hat the day I got him to propose to me yes first I gave him the bit of seedcake out of my mouth and it was leapyear like now yes 16 years ago my God after that long kiss I near lost my breath yes he said I was a flower of the mountain yes so we are flowers all a womans body yes that was one true thing he said in his life and the sun shines for you today yes that was why I liked him because I saw he understood or felt what a woman is and I knew I could always get round him and I gave him all the pleasure I could leading him on till he asked me to say yes and I wouldnt answer first only looked out over the sea and the sky I was thinking of so many things he didnt know of Mulvey and Mr Stanhope and Hester and father and old captain Groves and the sailors playing all birds fly and I say stoop and washing up dishes they called it on the pier and the sentry in front of the governors house with the thing round his white helmet poor devil half roasted and the Spanish girls laughing in their shawls and their tall combs and the auctions in the morning the Greeks and the jews and the Arabs and the devil knows who else from all the ends of Europe and Duke street and the fowl market all clucking outside Larby Sharons and the poor donkeys slipping half asleep and the vague fellows in the cloaks asleep in the shade on the steps and the big wheels of the carts of the bulls and the old castle thousands of years old yes and those handsome Moors all in white and turbans like kings asking you to sit down in their little bit of a shop and Ronda with the old windows of the posadas 2 glancing eyes a lattice hid for her lover to kiss the iron and the wineshops half open at night and the castanets and the night we missed the boat at Algeciras the watchman going about serene with his lamp and O that awful deepdown torrent O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets and the figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes and all the queer little streets and the pink and blue and yellow houses and the rosegardens and the jessamine and geraniums and cactuses and Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.

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Asking for information



(By Jesús Calle, Patricia Guardeño, Mª Jesús Pozo and somaya Kallouch)

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The secret agent quiz


(By Eva, Lucía, Sara, Cande and Jesús)

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Invitations



(By Mª Carmen Córdoba, Nicolás Herrera and Charo Martín)

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Ghost stories

After reading The Turn of the screw by Henry James, my students wrote some ghost stories inspired by the book.





(By Marisa, Carolina and Natalia)

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The Turn of the Screw quiz

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The Waste Land: II A Game of Chess

        

(By Cristina and Susana)


THE Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Glowed on the marble, where the glass
Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines
From which a golden Cupidon peeped out 
(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)
Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra
Reflecting light upon the table as
The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it,
From satin cases poured in rich profusion;

In vials of ivory and coloured glass
Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,
Unguent, powdered, or liquid—troubled, confused
And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air
That freshened from the window, these ascended 
In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,
Flung their smoke into the laquearia,
Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling.
Huge sea-wood fed with copper
Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,
In which sad light a carvèd dolphin swam.

Above the antique mantel was displayed
As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale 
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues,
"Jug Jug" to dirty ears.
And other withered stumps of time
Were told upon the walls; staring forms
Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.
Footsteps shuffled on the stair.

Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair
Spread out in fiery points
Glowed into words, then would be savagely still. 

"My nerves are bad tonight. Yes, bad. Stay with me.
"Speak to me. Why do you never speak? Speak.
"What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?
"I never know what you are thinking. Think."

I think we are in rats' alley
Where the dead men lost their bones.


"What is that noise?"
 The wind under the door.
"What is that noise now? What is the wind doing?"
 Nothing again nothing. 
 "Do
"You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember
"Nothing?"
 I remember
Those are pearls that were his eyes.
"Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head?"
 But
O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag—
It's so elegant
So intelligent 

"What shall I do now? What shall I do?"
"I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street
"With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow?
"What shall we ever do?"
 The hot water at ten.
And if it rains, a closed car at four.
And we shall play a game of chess,
Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.

When Lil's husband got demobbed, I said—

I didn't mince my words, I said to her myself, 
Hurry up please its time
Now Albert's coming back, make yourself a bit smart.
He'll want to know what you done with that money he gave you
To get yourself some teeth. He did, I was there.
You have them all out, Lil, and get a nice set,
He said, I swear, I can't bear to look at you.
And no more can't I, I said, and think of poor Albert,
He's been in the army four years, he wants a good time,

And if you don't give it him, there's others will, I said.
Oh is there, she said. Something o' that, I said. 
Then I'll know who to thank, she said, and give me a straight look.
Hurry up please its time
If you don't like it you can get on with it, I said,
Others can pick and choose if you can't.
But if Albert makes off, it won't be for lack of telling.
You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique.
(And her only thirty-one.)
I can't help it, she said, pulling a long face,

It's them pills I took, to bring it off, she said.
(She's had five already, and nearly died of young George.) 
The chemist said it would be alright, but I've never been the same.
You are a proper fool, I said.
Well, if Albert wont leave you alone, there it is, I said,
What you get married for if you dont want children?
Hurry up please its time
Well, that Sunday Albert was home, they had a hot gammon,
And they asked me in to dinner, to get the beauty of it hot—

Hurry up please its time
Hurry up please its time
Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May. Goonight. 
Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight.
Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.

                       
                

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The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock


(By Jesús, Cande, Eva, Sara and Lucía)

  S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
  A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
  Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
  Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo
  Non torno vivo alcun, s'i'odo il vero,
  Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.


Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question. . . .

Oh, do not ask, "What is it?"
Let us go and make our visit.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,

And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

And indeed there will be time
To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I dare?"
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—
(They will say: "How his hair is growing thin!")
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
(They will say: "But how his arms and legs are thin!")
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
 So how should I presume?

And I have known the eyes already, known them all—
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
 And how should I presume?

And I have known the arms already, known them all—
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)
Is it perfume from a dress
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
 And should I then presume?
 And how should I begin?

 * * * *

(By Saida and Mª José)

Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets

And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? . . .

I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

 * * * *

And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!
Smoothed by long fingers,
Asleep . . . tired . . . or it malingers,
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet—and here's no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.

And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,

Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth while,
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To say: "I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all"—
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
 Should say: "That is not what I meant at all;
 That is not it, at all."

And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
 "That is not it at all,
 That is not what I meant, at all."

 * * * *


No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.

I grow old . . . I grow old . . .
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.





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Welcoming a visitor




Now, it's your turn. You are welcoming visitors from another country. Ask them about their journey, the reason for their visit, their job, their home town, and their first impresions.

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Learning languages


"Nowadays, learning languages is necessary for our lives. Every day, English is more and more used and spoken worldwide. 

In my opinion, English is essential for business. A lot of companies have employees from different countries, so English is the language used among them. In addition, a person who speaks different languages will have more advantages to find a job. Besides, there are many people who have to emigrate to get a job and they need to speak the foreign language fluently .
Moreover, English is important to communicate with people, when we travel abroad, we can speak in shops, hotels, restaurants…

In short, it is important to study languages. Learning a new language is fun. It doesn't have to be something stressful. It depends on your willpower and motivation".
                                                                                           
                                                                                     (By Patricia Del Pino)

What do you think?  Should everyone learn different foreign languages? Should we study them at school instead of subjects such as Religious Education, Music, Art, Physical Education...? What subjects should we study at school since we are children?

Image taken from Intef

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Holidays

                                               

   HOLIDAYS




                 4. CONFIRMING THE BOOKING
 
   5. VISITING GIBRALTAR 

                                                                6.  E-MAIL


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Life in Britain in the 20th century

Here my students' contributions to our collaborative project on the 20th century: videos on what British life was like in the twentieth century.

Medicine and new discoveries


Economic situation. How people used to live at that period.


Food and drinks.



The most important events concerning women.


    

Education.



 Leisure time.




Society




One of the main objetives of our project is to get students to become autonomous in their learning and be aware of what they are doing. For this reason we also recorded a video in which they tell us their opinion about their contributions.

(In Spanish)

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My best holiday

Another podcast by some students from Bachillerato so as to practice Speaking.

 

(By Amanda, Pedro, Patricia, Natalia, Maria, Laura, José, Susana, Mª José, Francisco, Sergio, Carlos, Rebeca, Sara, Ángel, Andrea, Jose Mª and Jessica )

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