With your support, I hope I'll be able to do even better in 2011.
Happy New Year to you and yours.All the best for 2011 :)
About Me
- Teacher Alex
- Portugal
- I am from Coimbra, Portugal, and am currently teaching in a school in Soure, about 30 km away from Coimbra. I have been a teacher of English for over 20 years and have already taught different levels and age groups. After all this time I can say I love working with adult groups because there are no coursebooks and I can create my own resources. I am an avid reader, a blogger and very curious about free tools and their implementation in the classroom.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Year in Review
As the year draws to a close, there are more and more year-in-review videos, slideshows and stories available.
Start by watching this video and see how the World Searched with Google's 2010 Zeitgeist:
This year-in-review infographic from http://jess3.com/year-in-review-infographic-2010/ is great to visualise "2010’s biggest stories, broken down into 4 categories: Inspiring Acts, Natural Disasters, Good Sports, Financial Uprisings, and Survivor Stories".
On December 26, BBC also published an interesting audio slideshow: WE REMEMBER...IN 2010 recalling the people who passed away this year including "the deaths of sporting legends, Hollywood stars and political heavyweights". It takes around 8 minutes but it's worth watching and listening here.
The Guardian's year in review is really good: it allows us to see how the year unfolded month-by-month and even day-by-day but even better is the fact that teachers can build their own year in review or, obviously, ask students to do it. As they put it "add a story per month to create a personalised interactive to share with others." Try clicking on "Add story to your 2010" above the pictures and you'll have a calendar with the 12 months. Then, on your right, there are arrows you can click on to search for your story for each month. Easy, right? This way, we / sts can choose the month story we / they consider most relevant, present it to class and explain why.
As usual, such materials don't contain much information - usually topics - but are great for end of year quizzes, for news reviews, to refresh our memories thus providing food for thought... for discussion and research.
when Time Magazine published their 2010 "Person of the Year" - Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, the founder of the famous social network FACEBOOK awarded "for connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them, for creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives".
Start by watching this video and see how the World Searched with Google's 2010 Zeitgeist:
On December 26, BBC also published an interesting audio slideshow: WE REMEMBER...IN 2010 recalling the people who passed away this year including "the deaths of sporting legends, Hollywood stars and political heavyweights". It takes around 8 minutes but it's worth watching and listening here.
The Guardian's year in review is really good: it allows us to see how the year unfolded month-by-month and even day-by-day but even better is the fact that teachers can build their own year in review or, obviously, ask students to do it. As they put it "add a story per month to create a personalised interactive to share with others." Try clicking on "Add story to your 2010" above the pictures and you'll have a calendar with the 12 months. Then, on your right, there are arrows you can click on to search for your story for each month. Easy, right? This way, we / sts can choose the month story we / they consider most relevant, present it to class and explain why.
As usual, such materials don't contain much information - usually topics - but are great for end of year quizzes, for news reviews, to refresh our memories thus providing food for thought... for discussion and research.
Bearing this in mind, let me tell you what I did in class last week as a way of "year in review".
I have an amazing class of false beginners and was reviewing Past Simple (to be, regular and irregular verbs)
when Time Magazine published their 2010 "Person of the Year" - Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, the founder of the famous social network FACEBOOK awarded "for connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them, for creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives". 
After collecting some info and images I came up with a worksheet which included the cover of Time Magazine some biodata in topic form, and real pictures of the young billionaire as a child. As I didn't have much time I even provided them with his BIOGRAPHY based on those topics but we could /should certainly have done it in class together also using the infos collected orally when eliciting information about the picture. As a follow-up activity, sts can build groups with the other Runners-Up , do some research on them and present what they have in class in order to boost a debate each defending their runner-up for the award (or just ask them to write a biography!); sts can also choose a person from a previous year (1927-2009) or simply choose someone they admire and, based on the topics suggested (to prevent simple copy and paste), write his / her biography.
Well, Time Magazine and Facebook also give us a unique
opportunity to picture ourselves "Person of the Year", by creating and sharing our own cover on Facebook!!! Click here! I guess sts would love doing something like this :))))
After collecting some info and images I came up with a worksheet which included the cover of Time Magazine some biodata in topic form, and real pictures of the young billionaire as a child. As I didn't have much time I even provided them with his BIOGRAPHY based on those topics but we could /should certainly have done it in class together also using the infos collected orally when eliciting information about the picture. As a follow-up activity, sts can build groups with the other Runners-Up , do some research on them and present what they have in class in order to boost a debate each defending their runner-up for the award (or just ask them to write a biography!); sts can also choose a person from a previous year (1927-2009) or simply choose someone they admire and, based on the topics suggested (to prevent simple copy and paste), write his / her biography.
 |
| Myself - PERSON OF THE YEAR! (don't know which, though :)) |
Well, Time Magazine and Facebook also give us a unique
opportunity to picture ourselves "Person of the Year", by creating and sharing our own cover on Facebook!!! Click here! I guess sts would love doing something like this :))))
If this topic interests you, don't miss the movie "The Social Network" recently released. I really enjoyed it but got a strange feeling of Mark Zuckerberg and kept thinking about a book I read called "The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time" by Mark Haddon whose main character had Asperger's Syndrome and lived in his own world...
wikipedia.org also has loads of infos both on Mark Zuckerberg, on previous editions of "Person of the Year" and the history behind it.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2036683_2037109_2037122,00.html - a video with the History of Social Networking; looking at everything from cavemen to the ancient nerds of yore to Facebook, Odd Todd takes you on a journey through the history of social networking.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2036683_2037109_2037113,00.html - a one minute Video on Facebook.
wikipedia.org also has loads of infos both on Mark Zuckerberg, on previous editions of "Person of the Year" and the history behind it.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2036683_2037109_2037122,00.html - a video with the History of Social Networking; looking at everything from cavemen to the ancient nerds of yore to Facebook, Odd Todd takes you on a journey through the history of social networking.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2036683_2037109_2037113,00.html - a one minute Video on Facebook.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
After CHRISTMAS
 |
| Christmas Homecoming, by NORMAN ROCKWELL |
Still in the aftermath of Christmas, consider watching one or two videos on Christmas at History Channel, for example, the history of Christmas, its evolution or the evolution of Santa Claus. There are also nice collections of pictures from Christmas and Santas around the world - check these:
http://blogs.sacbee.com/photos/2010/12/santa-claus-sightings-2010.html with 33 pictures or
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12078559 a slideshow of 11 images.
Friday, December 24, 2010
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Christmas
 |
| Statue of J. Betjeman at St. Pancras Station |
The bells of waiting Advent ring,
The Tortoise stove is lit again
And lamp-oil light across the night
Has caught the streaks of winter rain
In many a stained-glass window sheen
From Crimson Lake to Hookers Green.
The holly in the windy hedge
And round the Manor House the yew
Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge,
The altar, font and arch and pew,
So that the villagers can say
'The church looks nice' on Christmas Day.
Provincial Public Houses blaze,
Corporation tramcars clang,
On lighted tenements I gaze,
Where paper decorations hang,
And bunting in the red Town Hall
Says 'Merry Christmas to you all'.
And London shops on Christmas Eve
Are strung with silver bells and flowers
As hurrying clerks the City leave
To pigeon-haunted classic towers,
And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.
And girls in slacks remember Dad,
And oafish louts remember Mum,
And sleepless children's hearts are glad.
And Christmas-morning bells say 'Come!'
Even to shining ones who dwell
Safe in the Dorchester Hotel.
And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall ?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me ?
And is it true ? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant,
No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare -
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.
The Tortoise stove is lit again
And lamp-oil light across the night
Has caught the streaks of winter rain
In many a stained-glass window sheen
From Crimson Lake to Hookers Green.
The holly in the windy hedge
And round the Manor House the yew
Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge,
The altar, font and arch and pew,
So that the villagers can say
'The church looks nice' on Christmas Day.
Provincial Public Houses blaze,
Corporation tramcars clang,
On lighted tenements I gaze,
Where paper decorations hang,
And bunting in the red Town Hall
Says 'Merry Christmas to you all'.
And London shops on Christmas Eve
Are strung with silver bells and flowers
As hurrying clerks the City leave
To pigeon-haunted classic towers,
And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.
And girls in slacks remember Dad,
And oafish louts remember Mum,
And sleepless children's hearts are glad.
And Christmas-morning bells say 'Come!'
Even to shining ones who dwell
Safe in the Dorchester Hotel.
And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall ?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me ?
And is it true ? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant,
No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare -
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.
John Betjeman in I like this Poem (ed. Kaye Webb) Puffin Books
 |
| Google Doodle paying tribute to the festive season |
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Reading? Yes, please!
Though with loads of work waiting to be done (including school meetings, classes yet to prepare) this wintry weather with temperatures well below normal is an invitation to stay indoors by the fireplace, don't you think?
Sooooo, why not make the best of the situation by staying in and reading (more)? Have you bought or ordered any books for yourself or to offer this Christmas? Books are really great gifts but if you don't know what to read next or to offer, try this:
Hurry up - we are running out of time till Christmas and always remember...
"TV. If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six. Open your child's imagination. Open a book." Author Unknown
It certainly applies to all people of all ages and walks of life...
Friday, December 10, 2010
A date to remember...
Today marks a very important date in History: in 1901 the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in Sweden and today Liu Xiaobo, jailed in China, was honored in absentia by the Nobel Committee who had awarded him the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
Today is Human Rights Day, a day celebrated annually across the world on 10 December. For this landmark the date was not chosen at random but to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights.
As for Literature, Emily Dickinson, an American poet, was also born on this day in 1830 but, in spite of such relevant events in different fields and around the world, this is also a date to remember for my myself and, above all, for my 6 phenomenal women who successfully completed their EFA course. Indeed, it marks the end of these longgggggggggggggg and very hardworkingggggggggggggg two years for my AE 3 ladies: ALICE, ANA, ISABEL, FÁTIMA, M. CONCEIÇÃO and OLINDA are to be congratulated for having finished their training as TÉCNICAS DE ACÇÃO EDUCATIVA. It was a pleasure to have worked with such a committed and dedicated group; it was the smallest class but, truth must be said, the most hardworking and generous group. It was a privilege to be in charge of such a class and I'm really proud of all of them!
Congratulations and all the best, ladies :)
Some final thoughts...I wouldn't like to finish this post though without a thank you word to all my colleagues and member of the school board who took the time to join us and celebrate this date - some even had to travel long distances, so: many thanks to all!!!
Today is Human Rights Day, a day celebrated annually across the world on 10 December. For this landmark the date was not chosen at random but to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights.
As for Literature, Emily Dickinson, an American poet, was also born on this day in 1830 but, in spite of such relevant events in different fields and around the world, this is also a date to remember for my myself and, above all, for my 6 phenomenal women who successfully completed their EFA course. Indeed, it marks the end of these longgggggggggggggg and very hardworkingggggggggggggg two years for my AE 3 ladies: ALICE, ANA, ISABEL, FÁTIMA, M. CONCEIÇÃO and OLINDA are to be congratulated for having finished their training as TÉCNICAS DE ACÇÃO EDUCATIVA. It was a pleasure to have worked with such a committed and dedicated group; it was the smallest class but, truth must be said, the most hardworking and generous group. It was a privilege to be in charge of such a class and I'm really proud of all of them!
Congratulations and all the best, ladies :)
Some final thoughts...I wouldn't like to finish this post though without a thank you word to all my colleagues and member of the school board who took the time to join us and celebrate this date - some even had to travel long distances, so: many thanks to all!!!
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