Word of the Day: Turn over a new leaf

Word of the Day

The idea for this post came from the image of Lady Gaga at the MTV video Music Awards wearing  meat  and just in case wearing a dress meat was not enough, her hat, boots and purse were also made of meat and also, just in case her attire went unnoticed  she asked Cher, who was giving her the award, to hold her meat purse.

But what does the expression to turn over a new leaf mean?

It means to make a fresh start, to change one’s conduct or attitude for the better as in

Lady Gaga promised her fans she was going to turn over a new leaf and stop wearing fur coats

But what’s a leaf?  This is a leaf → 

So playing with the meaning of the expression “turn over a new leaf ” and the word “leaf” the rather provocative group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ) has launched a campaign seeking to stop the cruelty of the fur industry and has prompted designers to stop using fur in their designs. The photos below are part of this  campaig . I have put together images of Lady Gaga and models volunteering for PETA. You choose, the options is always yours!

Writing can be fun

Writing, Writing skill

And this is another superb site I strongly recommend. There are lots of sites that help you improve your listening skills but Writing Fun by Jenny Eather is one of the few sites I have seen that really helps you improve Writing. Poor writing skills is an issue almost everyone tries hard to overcome but we find it really hard because we never seem to have enough time to go through all the steps that good writing requires and that’s where Writing Fun helps you. Let’s see how to use it

♥Choose the type of text you want to write:narrative, description, persuasion, letters,emails,invitations…

♥Read the different examples mousing over the tips on the right to see the examples

♥Print it  or

♥Write online with the help of the text organiser.

Isn’t it just great!!

You’d better stop…

In the Computer Room, Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, Listening, Music, , ,

I angrily whispered to one of my new students.
Stop is the title of a song by Jamelia (I have to confess that although I had often  heard the song I didn’t have a clue about the singer)… anyway .. the idea for this post comes from this change of career I’m experiencing. I must admit that I’m not used to teaching teenagers;  well, you can hardly call them teens as some of my students are about 12.
In a week at a high school I’ve accumulated more anecdotes than in my whole life teaching adults.
Apart from the innocent “Teacher: Do I have to draw a title?”,” Can I go to the toilet? or What-d’ye -call-him said I was an idiot”, you have the not -so -innocent teens who try to challenge the teacher’s authority to show the other classmates the extent of the power of their arrogance and bad manners. It ‘s to one of these students that ,on the second day of my new experience at a high school, I had to say in a very low voice loaded with venom…. You’d better stop!! The amazing thing is that she … because a “she” she was…. Stopped!!. It must’ve been the tone of my voice that led her to think that I wasn’t one to be played with. Anyway, too bad!
Another anecdote but on the funny side of the story is when I asked my 12-year- students to stand up, mingle and do a communicative activity and one of the shiest students in class came up to me and whispered.. “Teacher! V…. has pinched my breast!!”” What?” I asked absolutely astonished! “Yes, teacher !He has just done the same to me ! “cried another. I looked at the so called V… and he blushed and answered that he wanted to feel if they were stuffed with cotton … Gosh!! What a mightmare! What do you think? Will I survive my students ?
Anyway , this and the reference in a reading text to Jamelia gave the idea of using this song a more serious classes where they’d appreciate the structure You’d beter+ infitive, which , as you know, in used to give very strong advice. Enjoy this beautiful song and if you want to do a “fill in the blanks” exercise ( elementary/pre-intermediate students) click on the button

The eye test

Funny Stuff

Count every ‘ F ‘ in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC
STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS…

How Many?

There are 6 — no joke!
Read it again!
Really, go back and try to find the 6 F’s before reading on.

The reasoning behind is that the brain doesn’t process ‘OF’.

Incredible or what? Go back and look again!!
Anyone who counts all 6 ‘F’s’ on the first go is a genius.

Three is normal, four is quite rare.

Newsy- the video news you can easily understand

Audio, Listening, Resources, , , , , ,

I just can’t wait to share this amazing site with you. It’s so very much what any teacher teaching advanced levels has ever wished for. It not only presents the world’s news coverage through two or three minute video segments but it also gives you the transcript. Wow! Amazing …! no more playing and replaying to get the transcript for the piece of news you want to bring to your classes and definitely,a chance also to improve pronunciation by reading the news at the same time as the presenter.

http://www.newsy.com/

Now, watch this video about Lady Gaga  getting 13 awards at the VMAs. The video you can see here is embedded so you won’t be able to see the transcript. To see it, click here http://www.newsy.com/videos/lady-gaga-dominates-vmas/. Ready? Enjoy!!!