Day 3: inventing stories

We started the morning remembering the words of the day before, the mural and extending vocabulary. Then, we begin to look for  5-4-3-2-1, which is to look for that number of objects in the classroom (five murals, four windows, three boards ...). Then, in pairs and in groups, discussed the best way to introduce grammar to students. The teacher, again, writes a series of letters: M-P-F (Pronunciation-Meaning-Form).





These correspond to initial Pronunciation-Meaning-Form. Introducing the vocabulary or grammar in a natural context for students to understand, explain its corrected form and pronunciation. For example, to teach the present perfect, the teacher shows two pictures, one a boy and one a girl.

 From these pictures, we make our own history. We put full name to each of them, studies, profession, hobbies, relationships ... and decided that today is the birthday girl. To surprise her, her boyfriend prepared a romantic dinner and made ​​the housework. When she arrives at night, everything is clean and nice with a decorated table with candles. Once we got to this situation, we began to develop the sentences using the appropriate verb tense: When she arrives, he's  cleaned the room. They are the students who create the story, which create a context they understand. In that context they prepare, find it easier to understand the meaning of this verb tense. The teacher is limited to explaining the results and correct pronunciation, especially in contractions (he has, he's).

 To verify that the student understand the explanation, students will have to prepare questions and answers appropriate to this situation.

                                                                           Book

 Finally, two creative activities, with a Johari window and another with drawings.

                                                                    The Johari Window

In the afternoon, a new seminar with Martin Parrott about changes in the teaching of English: Grammar, correctness and language evolution: what to teach in?

                                                                       Martin Parrott

At night, Touchable Dreams with Jeremy Harmer and Steve Bingham: combination of music and poetry. Do you know this issue?

Day 2: reading

On the second day of our course, we continue to do activities to know and to "break the ice". Today we have to ask our colleagues for their birth year to sit them from left to right, from the oldest to the youngest. Once we have assigned our site, we do is ask the person who is sit next to us  for her birthday more special then he or she have to explain of the rest of colleages. An activity as simple helps us to memorize the names of tod @ s and talk a little between us.

The second activity is to remember some of the words that we learned yesterday, discuss with the class and write it to stick it in one of the murals that we have in the class.

But today we are going to focus on contemporary English, on how the language is changing and creating new words that are supported by the  new speakers. Many of them come from the media and the people in the cases adopting their usual vocabulary. In this video, we hear some of them.

                                     

Comenius 2013: in Cambridge

Now, I am in my new home during these two weeks. Yesterday, we came to London (with kindness of Ryanair, no problems) at seven in the evening and after a short wait, take the train from Stansted towards Cambridge (over thirty minutes ride). On our arrival, we were surprised because when  we said that we are from Galician, everyone cared about the rail crash in Santiago de Compostela.

After this touching welcoming,  we found another student of the course in  Bell Teacher Campus, also Galician and colleague with whom I knew at my first job in the IES Lama das Quendas in Chantada. It is seen that the world is smaller than we think! Inspects the facilities of Homerton College and then we went to sleep because here people usually get up early.

Monday: we had to got up early because they serve breakfast at 7:30 pm. Then, a short presentation of what will be our program activities and meeting with leaders that we have in these two weeks. Our teacher is called Anna Young and was responsible for teaching us the different classes we have, from the library to the computer room.

Our group consists of 20 people from 8 different nationalities (Japanese, Russian, Italian ...) and this first session, the activities were designed to break the ice and introduce. First, we had to sit in alphabetical order by which this activity forced them to ask the names of our colleagues.

The next task was to put an adjective to the person who was beside us who started the first letter of her name. Then, in a sheet we had to write our name and our adjective, we took the folio on our back and the other person had to write him a question about our personal and professional lives to count ten questions. With our answers, we come to make a small group mural. Among four people, we had to write this information in a colorful cardboards and adorn with some designs to put on the wall. These activities appear in the book Being Creative, Chaz Pugliese.

The second part of the class focused on idioms in English. Once explained their meanings, once again we had to search among those attending the course, people who felt identified with these expressions. The phrases we use in this activity are included in the book English Idioms in Use, McCarthy / O'Dell and Check Your Vocabulary for Phrasal Verbs and Idioms, R. Wyatt.

In the afternoon finished our first class. Lunch break and then, at two o'clock we started the class. Hour and a half we did on a test of general culture on the UK (Group work - Intermeditate, Peter Watcyn-Jones) and at the end, we analyze the different activities we did today to be able to adapt to other circumstances. The truth is that the class passed quickly and the course looks like it will be interesting. Try to get the blog up to date but it will be difficult because we will not have much time.

                                                                      Our presentation

Comenius 2013 in Cambridge

Finally! I will travel to Cambridge to enjoy my English course for teachers which will take place in  Bell English (Language and Methodology Refresher Secondary / Adult)   this Sunday. I will spend 15 days at Homerton College, a student residence in downtown campus and all thanks to the scholarship that the EU Comenius have given me. I have it all planned: trip to Santiago to catch flight towards Stansted Airport in London and from there direct train to Cambridge. Classes begin at nine in the morning and every day I'll comment you this nice experience, and speak about the cultural activities (visits, trips ...) that have been organized since the Bell English.

Greetings in Galician language (with LivingJunction)

LivingJunction is a free tool that lets you create digital magazines and books. Although its configuration is in English, is a very easy to use. With it, you can write all the texts you need using different fonts and colors, as well as put them wherever you want and set the links you need. You can also upload your own photos or choose which offers the application from Bing (you will have to delete the link that appears on each of them to prevent jump to that page). Another option offered is to upload YouTube videos to supplement the information you want to present.

Once issued your magazine, book, unit ... you can reedit it whenever you want, expanding or reducing content. You can always vary the positions of the elements, making them larger or smaller, play with colors...The final result is open and that will depend on the imagination of its creator or creators because you can invite others to collaborate on your project.

This is our first test: a short introduction to the presentations and greetings in Galician.

En Galego: presentámonos

Galicia: your experience, your way...

Galicia: your experience, your way... is the title of our new and little magazine about this beautiful land. You can create your digital magazine with LivingJunction. You can choose videos, photos, texts and links and create your own book. 

We present Galicia in this magazine, its  four provinces (A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra), its main towns and villages and its capital, Santiago de Compostela, the end of way of St. James.

What do you know about Galicia?

What do you know about Galicia? is an interactive game in Blubbr. You have 20 questions with videos and information about this green land in Spain. Where is Galicia? What is an "hórreo"? Where do you can eat oysters and drink Albariño wine? Watch and play it!