The end of the course has finally come and it’s the beginning of ,what I think will be, a nice summer.
This blog is also going on holiday but I hope you’ll come back and visit me again in September . I leave you with a story with moral and trust me on this, I’ll make sure I am sitting really high
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, Can I also sit like you and do nothing?
The eagle answered, Sure , why not?
So the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested.
All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
When I first saw this video I thought, Wow! Isn’t he cute?
At first , I could only see his pulling faces and peering at the camera with inquisitive eyes but soon I realized that the message he wanted to send was crystal clear . Then, I got into the car and drove off to work but as I was driving to school his words came back to me (as the echo in the video) Are you going to be my teacher? You can’t be my teacher! You can’t be my teacher if you don’t know how to use a computer or the Internet , if you don’t know how to teach me to be safe on the Internet, if you refuse to learn how to use technology.
And it dawned on me that he’s absolutely right. I’ve got two children and I realize now ,more than ever ,that what they need to learn is much more than I needed to , because they have more opportunities and more easy access to the kind of information we could never get and only at a click away.
Our children need teachers ,and even parents , who know… who know how to teach them get the best of new technologies , who know how to help their children in their never ending quest for information , who know how to make them safe on the Internet because Internet is not a passing fad , it’s here to stay and our children , in every single school , everywhere in the world have to be ready for life, for the world they have to live in when they finally leave our classes. It’s our duty as educators to make an effort to keep up with the new technologies, to know how to help students use the Internet and the fact that our generation is not a digital native is a very lame excuse for , at least , not trying.
And I’m not saying that the traditional way of teaching is no longer valid… I don’t believe textbooks are a thing of the past, not yet , at least. I believe in a combination of the old and the new, of trying to achieve the right balance between what is useful in both methods.
If we can’t, at least, make the effort, we should maybe consider, making room for someone who wants to try.
This is what our children need and I want to conclude with the last words in the video ” Do you really think it’s possible to be an educator in the information age and not understand and use the Internet?Continue to pretend the internet is just a fad.”
Now that you are on holidays and with plenty of time to spare , do you fancy playing some word games? There are
tons of them in the Merriam-Webster word games ,from spelling games to word Sudokus , but my favourite is Scrabble. Have you ever played this game? I’m sure you have in Spanish, so why don’t you give it a go now in English? It’s highly entertaining and it’ll help you not to forget English.
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
Written by Jenny Joseph (born 7 May 1932), an English poet
Unfortunately , that’s the word I have most often heard today.
Used as a verb - if a river floodsan area that is usually dry, it becomes covered with water
The Nalon river hasflooded its banks, making some roads impassable
The Nalon river has flooded whole villages
The relentless rain in Asturias has caused the Nalon river to flood
Used as a noun - An overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry
Fortunately nobody has been killed in the floods in Asturias
The west of Asturias has been badly hit by floods Tomorrow the floodwater is expected to recede
And that’s where I live, Pravia . The picture was taken 3 hours ago.
Como seguramente sabeis,Photopeach ( la herramienta que utilizo para hacer los role-plays) ha decidido hacer limpieza general justo ahora , por lo que los videos creados antes del 6 de junio no se podrán ver durante algunos días. Pity!!
Ahora mismo, de los publicados solo podeis ver :” at the train station” y estos que acabo de hacer.
This is part of the lyrics of a song by Dolly Parton and it has never been truer.
Photopeach, the tool I have been using to create the role-play videos has decided to take a one-or-two -day maintenance break , just now. I can’t believe it!!
This is what they say on their website so hopefully tomorrow it will be working again
Meanwhile, you can enjoy the Dolly Parton’s song the title of this post makes reference to
The oral exam is just round the corner and I thought it might be a good idea to have a look at some of the posts I have published that can help you revise , improve or practise. Remember the more you practise ,the easier you’ll find it and the more fluent you’ll become.
vozMe- This converts text into speech. You can type any word and even a text ( use the copy and paste option ;-) ) and then choose a male or a female voice.( If you want to know my opinion , the female voice is clearer). The text will be read to you. Read the post here
Howjay.com- I just love this dictionary!! You enter the word and you submit it. When it appears in pink , mouse over it to hear it spoken as often as you want. You don’t have to wait a second as it is individually pre-recorded!!
You can translate the word into Spanish or any other language using the Google Translate and then get the definition for the word Read the post here
Fotobabble- Great to practise picture description. Upload a photo and record yourself describing it. Listen to your own description and work on how to improve it. Read the post here.
Listen a minute- Want to improve pronunciation and intonation? Dedicate one minute to listening and reading along . Read the post here
Role-plays- a selection of role-plays for the elementary level aimed at the oral exam.
Click on the photo and it’ll take you there!
Sorry but I’m up to my eyes in exams and I haven’t been able to dedicate one single moment to my blog. But I promised I’ll try to publish some more role-plays and I won’t go back on my word. So here’s a new one: At the train station. Click here if you want to see the instructions about how to study with this video or if you are used to them , stay on the blog and just watch the video. I have introduced a new feature: the role of the examiner, which you’ll clearly see as it is being introduced by the photo of a teacher. I hope this helps!
justo ahora , por lo que los videos creados antes del 6 de junio no se podrán ver durante algunos días. Pity!!
