A CHRISTMAS STORY

Christmas my child is love in action.   

                        

Every time we love, every time we give,

it's Christmas...

See this video

LOADING...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

My warmest wishes...

     
      "...Celebrate life, celebrate the life, nothing is saved, everything gives you... and if someone cheats on you, saying, "I love you", put more wood on the fire and start again.Do not let your dreams fall to the ground, the more you love, the closer the sky...

                           Don't miss that song, here

HOW CREATIVE CAN YOU BE?

      A recent survey of employers found that when it comes to recruiting young people, they value creativity and adaptability above paper qualifications.

      The Common European Framework for education outlines competences, rather than the knowledge as the aim of education. It’s not so important what you know, but rather what you can do, so we have a duty to ensure our students practice the sorts of skills they’ll be needing in the future as well as teaching them a language.

      To read more, here

POKER CHIPS

Parents, Teachers...

                   have you ever thought about this?

MY BEST WISHES...

   MERRY CHRISTMAS...
         AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM eTWINNING

FAMOUS PLACES IN LONDON

      London may not be the best place in the world to live (apparently that’s Vienna or perhaps Sevilla or Cádiz), but it is one of the most interesting to visit.

      An exercise in pdf, here

      Even if you’ve never been and have no intention of going, you can’t escape its influence on world history, culture and language. English language materials our students are exposed to (and I don’t just mean course books, but newspapers and other media) will contain cultural references.

      For more information

THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS

     

      Each year, Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. Most families follow traditions begun on the first Thanksgiving, but many have their own traditions that they follow each year. Here are some of the common traditions associated with "Turkey Day."     

      One of the best things about Thanksgiving is spending time with family. Many people live far from family members and travel long distances by car, train, or plane to be with their loved ones. Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year!

      More information, here

ROUTINES EXIST IN ALL CLASSROOM

Thinking Routines   

 

      Routines exist in all classrooms; they are the patterns by which we operate and go about the job of learning and working together in a classroom environment. A routine can be thought of as any procedure, process, or pattern of action that is used repeatedly to manage and facilitate the accomplishment of specific goals or tasks. 

      Classrooms have routines that serve to manage student behavior and interactions, to organizing the work of learning, and to establish rules for communication and discourse. Classrooms also have routines that structure the way students go about the process of learning. These learning routines can be simple structures, such as reading from a text and answering the questions at the end of the chapter, or they may be designed to promote students' thinking, such as asking students what they know, what they want to know, and what they have learned as part of a unit of study.

      Much more here

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS

Somalia: MSF treats tens of thousands affected by crisis

© Yann Libessart / MSF - Rajo camp in Mogadishu

      Even for the long-suffering Somali population, the events of the past year have been challenging. The conflict that began two decades ago continues, and its consequences are exacerbated by drought, one of the worst on record in the country.

      Thousands of people have been forced to flee Somalia and are seeking humanitarian aid in refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. A measles epidemic is spreading. The lack of infrastructure and services is worsening the population’s vulnerability.

      In recent weeks, civilians have endured new military offensives launched in southern Somalia and the capital Mogadishu.

      To read more

EDUCATION FOR CHANGE

Study of the Impact of eTwinning

      EfC has been has been commissioned for a 21 month study of the impact of eTwinning on pupils, teachers and schools.  The study will also be an analysis of the factors which contribute to, or hinder, successful participation in eTwinning.

      eTwinning Partnerships is an activity under the Comenius sub-programme of the EU Lifelong Learning Programme. It was launched in 2005 with the objective of enabling school twinning as an opportunity for all young people to learn and practice information and communication technology (ICT) skills, as well as promoting awareness of the multicultural European model of society. The European Commission foresaw that eTwinning could be a major catalyst in intensifying the sorts of cooperation already underway among schools. Since the launch of the new platform in 2008-09 visits to the eTwinning portal have increased by over 300%, indicating a steep rise in interest among teachers. Registration continues to rise, and there are currently almost 100,000 registered eTwinners in 73500 schools.

      The impact study will look at participation in eTwinning and what hinders or helps it success, specifically:

•    the networking of schools and teachers across Europe and their capacity to build social capital, and the way in which eTwinning is managed and promoted

•    the perspective of participating teachers

•    the impact of eTwinning on pupils, teachers and others at school level

•   the overall impact of eTwinning within the context of the Comenius Programme

                                                                                                   To read more

IMAGINE

Peace by Peace....  It's possible!!!!                 

Structures of Peace, here

THE EUROPEAN CHARLEMAGNE YOUTH PRIZE

       ´The European Charlemagne Youth Prize´ aims to encourage the development of European consciousness among young people, as well as their participation in European integration projects.

      The Prize is awarded to projects undertaken by young people that foster understanding, promote the development of a shared sense of European identity, and offer practical examples of Europeans living together as one community.

      ´The European Charlemagne Youth Prize´ is awarded jointly and annually by the European Parliament and the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen.

     Apply here

MULTILINGUAL eTWINNING

What languages are you learning in eTwinning?

What languages are you using in eTwinning? How do your pupils learn languages on the platform? Learn about how teachers see their relationship with languages in eTwinning.

      eTwinning is very much a multinational and multilingual initiative: having the portal in 24 languages is already a good indication of the importance we give to multilingualism. However, some might say that the lingua franca of eTwinning is nevertheless English, and unless you master this language you may not be able to contribute actively to the variety of opportunities offered by eTwinning.

      In order to check the truth of these assumptions, we recently asked eTwinners some questions about the languages they use and learn. The poll ran on the eTwinning Desktop for a couple of weeks, and we received more than 1,600 answers from teachers involved in projects.

      To read

LOOP LABS

      Loop Labs is a free service from Club Create for creating your own music mixes using existing music loops and your own recordings. 

      To get started using Loop Labs select from one of nine sound loop libraries. Within each library is a selection of base instrumental sounds. Browse through your chosen library until you find a sound you like. When you've found a sound you like click the "+" icon to add it to your mix. You can continue to add sounds until you have enough for your project.

      To have a sound played in your track just click on its timeline to hear it. Wherever you click on its timeline that sound will be played. You can also add a voice recording to your track or import sounds from your computer by clicking on the "record" button. 

      Your finished project can be saved to your online Loop Labs account or downloaded as an MP3 file.

eTWINNING PRIZES 2012

ELIGIBILITY

      To join the competition, projects must have been awarded the European Quality Label in any year of the project’s lifespan. Only the partners of a project who have received the European Quality Label can apply and win a European Prize. All projects must demonstrate that they have been active in the 2010-2011 school year.

      Projects can only apply once for the eTwinning Prizes; however, projects that have demonstrated a significant improvement over time can apply a second time under the National Support Services’ discretion.

      The deadline for submissions is 30 November 2011.

      More information, here

PARENTS, WE ARE ALWAYS EDUCATING

Be careful!!!

Dad, Mum, someone is watching you...

                                                   Click here

FOUR TYPES OF TESTS

      As teachers, we probably have to set and mark tests within our school as well as prepare candidates for external exams. There are many ways of evaluating learner performance and level, but here we’ll look at four types we may be involved in with our classes.

Here you are:   

                           1.- Placement

                           2.- Diagnostic

                           3.- Achievement
                           4.- Proficiency

                                                                          

                                                       To read more

AN OPINION ABOUT HOW MUCH SLEEP ADULTS NEED

      Experts disagree on how much sleep adults need, but it’s becoming clear that too much sleep may be just as dangerous to your health as too little.

      Like diet and exercise, sleep is vital to well-being. It plays a role in regulating emotions as well as in learning and memory functions. Those who suffer from sleep disorders may experience decreased alertness, mood swings and reduced physical stamina.

      Today’s common belief is that adults need eight hours of sleep per night, although experts would caution that individual needs can vary greatly. In fact, sleep research conducted at Harvard University in 2007 indicated that the optimum amount of shuteye for adults is 7.2 hours, not eight.

      There are some easy ways to determine.

      More information, here 

LEARNING BY HEART

     

      What I’m interested in here though is the heart part – the seat of the emotions.

      While we can all to a greater or lesser extent remember information, if there is an affective as well as a cognitive element –if what you are reading touches your feelings together with your understanding, if the meaning is more important than the mechanics, then you may interact with the material and make it yours (possibly for life).

      To read more

      Here’s something you might try with higher level / age groups. Give them some of the phrases in groups (don’t do them all in one session) and ask them to come up with ways in which these sayings might or might not be true and whether they agree with them. This can lead to a whole class discussion. The activity helps develop the six elements of critical thinking that will help improve reading comprehension:

* Interpretation
* Analysis
* Inference
* Explanation
* Self-regulation

                                                            Some phrases here

 

HALLOWEEN CORNER

Welcome to the Oxford Halloween Corner!

Get ready to SPOOK your class with haunted teaching resources for Halloween, including:

• Ready-to-print activities
• Classroom ideas and projects
• Useful Links
• ... and much more!

Enter if your dare and choose the level you teach to access all the free resources
that are waiting for you in the Oxford Halloween Corner.

Link here

LISTEN-LEARN-WATCH

This is the link: Welcome to Dream English!       Children's songs for singing, sharing and learning!       Download free mp3's of children's songs and chants for learning English, kindergarten songs, sing-a-longs, flashcards, worksheets and more! All free song pages include lyrics.

HURRICANE SAFETY

     

      Each year, thousands of people come to live in the Gulf States or along the East Coast of the United States. They have never been in a hurricane. They do not know the many kinds of danger.

      Many of the newcomers do not speak English well. They may not get local news in their own language. They may not know how to prepare.

      This booklet was written for them.

      To read more

SONGS FOR TEACHING

     Creative teachers can use music to teach content across the curriculum – to students of all ages.

      Mathematics

      Science songs

      Early Childhood songs

      Seasons and Holidays

      Special Education songs

             and more, here

LET ' S READ !!!

JOSEPH CONRAD

Do you want to read...?

   - Heart of Darkness
   - The Secret Agent
   - Lord Jim
   - The nigger of the Narcissus


Link here and choose one of them

PHONICS FOR ALL AGES

"Practice makes perfect, so perfect your practice" P.F.

 

Book 1: Beginning consonants

Book 2: Ending consonants

Book 3: Consonant Clusters

Book 4: Vowels Part I

Book 5: Vowels Part II

NEWS AND FUN FACTS FOR KIDS

     

      He may have faced some of the planet's deadliest animals but even the bravest of presenters would be scared to face Leah's quiz.

      Does a goldfish really have a two-second memory?

      What do you get if you cross a labrador with a poodle?

      Find out the answers and discover what happened when CBBC's Steve Backshall was put on the spot with some quickfire animal questions.

Click here

WHAT IS A WORDLE?

     

      Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

                              To see what's possible, here

TONGUE TWISTERS

     

       Here is an alphabetical selection for classroom fun. They also practice pronunciation as students try to get their tongues around the sounds. For best results of the single – liners, say each one 5 times in quick succession. Some of the seemingly simplest are the most difficult to repeat – try Greek grapes or Irish wristwatch!

      Link here

CREATING WORD GAMES USING THE TEACHER'S PET

      Ask your class what they’d like to read about next lesson, and they’re highly unlikely to mention content from their coursebook. Yesterday’s catastrophe, today’s celebrity gossip or tomorrow’s technology stand a far better chance of appearing on the classroom wish list.

      Thankfully, if you have a connection to the internet and Microsoft Word or Open Office Writer (available for free from www.openoffice.org), then you can create exciting classroom materials based on any topical issue of your choice in a matter of minutes.

      The Teacher’s Pet is a toolbar for your word processor created to eradicate coursebook fatigue by providing teachers with easy-to-use tools which can transform texts into stimulating activities. It can be downloaded for free from Teacher´s Pet.

      For those who are not familiar with the toolbar, I’d like to show you briefly how quick and easy it is.

      Once you’ve downloaded the toolbar and found a text, the next step is to copy and paste it into a new document. To ensure that unwanted formatting from the website, such as tables or links, is not included, you can paste by clicking Edit > Paste special > Unformatted text.

Now the fun begins!

      There are twenty-four macros to play with, many of which perform simple changes to the text, such as removing letters, spaces or punctuation and jumbling letters or words. Others can create more complex content, such as pair-matching exercises, crosswords, word search puzzles, bingo cards and flashcards. They are all free except the last four, which can each be used three times on a trial basis.

      The best way to learn about each macro is to dive in and give it a go. If you are unsure about how to use a macro, just click on it and you will either be asked to confirm whether the text is formatted properly or given a pop-up message explaining what you need to do. For instance, you may be prompted to make minor changes, such as adding plus signs (+) to mark important locations in the text.

      To illustrate just how simple it is, the following crossword was created using the Teacher’s Pet with vocabulary from this article in under five minutes.

How much do you remember?

                 Follow this link to complete the crossword with words from this article.

abcTEACH

     

      A user-friendly educational site that provides quality printable materials for immediate use by teachers, education majors, and parents.

      Yo can find a lot of resources, so click here

SIMILES AND FEELINGS

Lesson in brief: Students will explore anger using similes.        

      Introduction: Explain that this activity will foster creative thinking by asking students to make connections between things they don’t usually think of as connected. Review or explain the meaning of simile: a figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared.

1. Ask the students to name the following:
three machines or appliances (e.g., television, car, computer)
two things found in nature (e.g., birds, rock)
one activity people like to do that ends in ing (e.g., swimming)
2. Record their responses on chart paper.
3. Beginning with the first machine, ask “Anger is like a _____________ because ______________.”
4. After receiving several responses from students for the first machine, go on to the second, and so on.

                                                                                             To read more

RESPIRATORY AND CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS

 CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

      You can see an interesting video, here

RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

And what happens when you breathe?

 See this one, here

THE FIRST STEP TO A BRIGHTER, HEALTHIER BRAIN

Your Personalized Plan   

      Tell us a little more about your goals and we'll build you a customized brain fitness plan with targeted exercises designed to help you reach your cognitive potential.

      Link here

INTERACTIVE eBOOKS

     

    Imagine you’re a young teenager. You’ve got home from school. Something to eat might be a good idea. You need time to settle and reflect on what’s happened over the last hours. Maybe you chill out watching TV or catch up on your social networking. You may even talk with your family. Do you have anything to do later – another lesson, a meeting with friends? Oh. What about the homework? It’s often the last thing you want to do, following that well known maxim: never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after tomorrow.

      Now you’re a parent. You like your kids to do homework; it consolidates what they’ve done in class (and keeps them quiet). You’ve bought all these companions, grammar books and workbooks – so they have to be used. Maybe it gives you a chance to share with them, as you speak English and can help them. You can get an idea of their progress through their homework marks.

      As a teacher, you may be under pressure from your school to set regular homework tasks and even have a scheme of work to follow that explicitly states which pages or tasks to set. You may have to collect in work and spend a considerable amount of time marking. Alternatively you might start lessons by going through the homework, perhaps with students marking each others work. This can take up valuable time.

      To read more

SOME WORDS BEING STUDIED

Shedule or skedule?   

      How should we pronounce “schedule”? How do you pronounce it – with a hard “k” or a soft “sh” sound? Well, in a study by the British Library, interim results suggest a third of Britons taking part now adopt the American-style “skedule” over the traditional British “sh” pronunciation. Other US pronunciations taking root, according to researchers, are “pay-triotic”, in place of “pat-riotic”, and “advertISEment”, instead of “adVERTisement”.

      The research, which is ongoing, is part of a series of projects connected to the British Library’s Evolving English exhibition. It involves volunteers using the library’s website to submit a recording of themselves saying six prescribed words and stating where they are from.

      Britons are also creating a new way of saying controversy which hasn’t traditionally been used in Britain or the US. Three quarters of Britons taking part say “conTROversy”, with the emphasis on the middle syllable, rather than the previously conventional “CONtroversy”.

Other words being studied are:

- “garage”, which Britons are more likely to pronounce as “garridge”, over the more French sounding “garaarge”, which is universal in the US.

- “attitude”, where there is no sign of the British adopting the US “attitood” over “atti-chewed”.

– “neither” – despite the impression given in the George Gershwin song “Let’s call the whole thing off”, there is no clear divide between Britons and Americans, with “nee-ther” and “ny-ther” used on both sides of the Atlantic.

– “scone” – which Americans all rhyme with “bone”, but which many British rhyme with “gone”.

TEACHERS: OUR HOLIDAYS ARE NEARLY FINISHED

      Now is our time: back to school in early September!!!

      And remember...

      "A teacher teaches us a lesson first, then takes the test.

      Life takes the test first, then teaches us a lesson."

TEA IN ENGLAND

     

      Tea, that most quintessential of English drinks, is a relative latecomer to British shores. Although the custom of drinking tea dates back to the third millennium BC in China, it was not until the mid 17th century that the beverage first appeared in England.

      The use of tea spread slowly from its Asian homeland, reaching Europe by way of Venice around 1560, although Portuguese trading ships may have made contact with the Chinese as early as 1515.

      It was the Portuguese and Dutch traders who first imported tea to Europe, with regular shipments by 1610. England was a latecomer to the tea trade, as the East India Company did not capitalize on tea's popularity until the mid-18th century.

      Click here

ME AND MY MOBILE

TEACHING IDEAS...

     Pupils will:

• Look at their own consumer behaviour and begin to understand how they are targeted by companies
• Begin to understand the global effects of their decisions and explore the concept of 'interconnectedness'
• Examine the dangers of e-waste and the idea of sustainability. They will hopefully begin to realise that their own actions have far reaching effects

      This scheme of work is divided into three lessons, each of which is accompanied by a PowerPoint. The lesson plans are as follows:

      Lesson Plan 1: Whats in a phone?

      Lesson Plan 2: Mobiles, mining and gorillas

      Lesson Plan 3/4: Thrown Away- Where is 'away'?

      More information and materials, here

YOUTH UNITE TO CHANGE THE WORLD: WYD MADRID 2011

                                                                                                                   

  WORLD YOUTH DAY, MADRID 2011 

      

     World Youth Alliance, an international organization dedicated to promoting human rights and solidarity among youth, recently emphasized the global importance and positive effects achieved by World Youth Day. 

      Van Blauwen´s testimony further emphasized the role of religion as a positive contribution to the European Union: 

      “It seems to me that he, and Benedict XVI with him, encouraged us young people that we can make a difference, that the future is up to us, not by being revolutionaries but by doing what God calls us to do, studying for the one, working for the other, taking up social and political responsibilities in small town organizations and on a higher level.”

Visit the website

WHERE DOES THE NAME BEEFEATER ORIGINATE FROM?

      The guards at the Tower of London are called Yeoman Warders. In principle they are responsible for looking after any prisoners at the Tower and safeguarding the British crown jewels, but in practice they act as tour guides and are a tourist attraction in their own right. There are twelve Yeomen Warders.

      While their role is usually confined to the Tower of London, the Yeomen Warders do take part in one State ceremony. At Coronations, they form a guard of honour inside the annexe at Westminster Abbey.

      Their nickname is Beefeater.

      To read more, here

GREAT MISTAKES, GREAT DISCOVERIES

GREAT MISTAKES: FROM PENICILLIN TO CRIPS.

      After inoculating several dishes with the bacterium staphylococcus, Alexander Fleming forgot to cover them up before going on holiday. On his return, one of the dishes had grown mould. Fleming observed that the bacteria around the mould were all dead, thus discovering that the mould Penicillium had antibacterial properties.

      In 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail westwards intent on discovering a new route to Asia. Miscalculating the Earth’s circumference meant he actually landed in America, opening up trade links between the old and new worlds.

      In 1839 Charles Goodyear accidentally dropped some India rubber mixed with sulphur on to a hot stove, discovering the vulcanisation process which made possible the commercial use of rubber.

      Chef George Crum invented crisps in 1853 when a customer at a restaurant in New York, returned his fries to the kitchen. In anger, Crum sliced them as thinly as possible, over-fried them and doused them in salt. The customer was delighted and the crisp was born.