And miles to go before I sleep...

When times are hard, when you're overwhelmed with work, and despair takes over you...one just feels that maybe "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, / I took the one less traveled by, /..." (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-road-not-taken/)
I hope better times will come but, the truth is that right now, I see everything pretty bleak (is it also a reflection of the weather???). For this week, let me just leave you a poem...
Also by Robert Frost, here is another text I love and whose last lines make so much sense for me at the moment:

Credit: www.biography.com

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though:
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse may think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening-2/

More Students' Readings

Another book recommendation.
Another talking photo.
Another photobabble.
Catarina, a 15-year old student of mine and one of my tenth graders' avid readers, has read a heartbreaking book, based on a real story. She liked it so much that she would like to tell us about it. Listen:

Soon it will be available in our school library as it is included in our PNL (Plano Nacional de Leitura).
So, what do you think about this one?

Fotobabble - talking photos

By Christmas I left you this post, namely a talking photo, my personal Christmas card to all of you. To do that I used Fotobabble a very easy tool to use. After registration, 

1. Upload a picture

2. Choose Theme

3. Give it a title

4. Write tags

While one does not necessarily need to follow this order, I did leave the recording for the end. Just click on Record (Orange Icon) and then stop in the end. To check it, click on Play. After all steps, don't forget to save (right corner, below)! Easy, fast and FREE!

We can use it in classes for a listening activity; students can do it as well and share their recordings with the teacher and fellow mates and all can be embedabble into blogs – tutor blogs, class blogs, whatever. A great tool for students to develop fluency, to engage and attract!

My latest Fotobabble was to promote a book / reading for the school library ;)

The student didn’t want her own picture and therefore I just uploaded the book cover and then recorded her voice with my own computer. Please listen:

So, what do you think?
Two remarks: a bit fast, yep, I know, but the student "read" instead of simply using the info ;). The book cover is in Portuguese because I couldn't find any in English ):
Let me know what you think, will you? Thanks.