In spite of everything...

"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good at heart"
 (Anne Frank)


So do I.

Learning English with films

Speechyard is a site where you can learn English watching your favourite films  (or reading books). There are complete films  or simply scenes from films with English subtitles. Using Speechyard you have the opportunity to improve your vocabulary translating and adding words from subtitles. You  can also have conversational English practice with learners. 

Download the app and enjoy it on your iphone.

Click here and have a look:  Speechyard

Mmm yeah yeah

I must say this song by Austin Mahone and Pitbull isn´t the best one to learn English, but it´s terribly catchy and leaves you with a good taste in your mouth. 

I´ll tell you a secret...Pitbull usually helps me  when I´m tired, sad or very hard housework is waiting for me. I usually cook, do the washing up or iron with his music. It´s not good music, I know, but it can sometimes be pretty effective.

[Pitbull] 

Austin man keep doin yo thing 

Let these boys keep slippin mane 

I’m not into gymnastics but I’m into flippin things 

I told these women that it’s all about the team, 

Jordan and Pippen mane 

So if you wanna join the team 

Now tell me up in this thing 

Dale! 

[Austin Mahone] 

When I saw her 

Walking down the street 

She looked so fine 

I just had to speak 

US states and capitals

Can your students situate Minnesota on this map? Nevada? Perhaps California or New York?

Maybe with a little help...

 Do you want them to name all of the states and put them in the right places?

Try this: Click on   Interactive US map http://www.yourchildlearns.com/us_map.htm

What about their capitals?

Click here and get some practice  http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/uscapitals

Well, we´ll also  need some strategies if we want them to be successful...

• Show them the map and divide it in four sections drawing a cross on it. For visual-spacial learners, seeing the actual space on the map will make more sense as they memorize these places.

• Create a list with the states the students already know and any information they give about them. Continue adding states incrementally -- teaching them some interesting fact about each of them.

• Break the information of the 50 states into categories they can remember (accordng to climate, economic resources, size etc)

• Create posters and boards. Study each state one by one and complete a craft that highlights what is unique about each state. For instance, study New York and stick a picture of the Empire State Building or  the Statue of Liberty. 

• Assign one state to each student or two states per student. Ask them to find and give you information about each state, their highlight and landmarks or attractions in each area. 

• Use review activities such as a Jeopardy-style game to fix the states and capitals in their mind.

• Play Bingo with states and capitals.  You can have the states on the cardboards and read the capitals. Sure they will enjoy it.

By the way..

Geography and art can be good friends, did you know?

La zona de confort

Imprescindible leer esto para entender muchas veces el comportamiento y la actitud de nuestros alumnos, de los que tanto nos quejamos. Seguro que nos vemos nosotros mismos reflejados y vemos el reflejo de muchos.

Nuestra tarea cada día como profesores no es explicar, es enseñar, y enseñar bien es tan difícil como construir un puente (de hecho de eso se trata). Tenemos que inventar más y corregir menos. Nosotros también somos ingenieros...de la educación.

Docente, ¿hasta cuándo vas a permanecer en tu zona de confort?
(Escrito por Santiago Moll Vaquer en su blog, "Justifica Tu Respuesta")

¿Qué es la zona de confort?

La zona de confort no es más que un estado en el que te sientes seguro porque tienes un dominio de lo que haces así como de tus acciones. Y son cómodas porque son conocidas. Lo malo es que aunque sean cómodas, muy probablemente muchas de ellas no te gusten y no haces nada al respecto para cambiarlas.

Tres ejemplos de lo que entiendo como zona de confort.

1. Libro de texto. Para mí es el mayor enemigo que existe para el docente en la actualidad. El libro de texto represente la falta de libertad, el hecho de que estás a merced de lo que dice un libro en lugar de ser tú el que decide qué y cómo enseñar. Si quieres salir de la zona de confort debes replantearte seriamente qué te aporta un libro de texto, cuál es el precio que pagas por la comodidad de que te den todo hecho. A continuación hazte estas preguntas:

Sherlock Holmes

Sometimes a fictional character becomes more famous than the person who creates it. This is what happened with Sherlock Holmes, a fictional Scottish detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930). Holmes,  always in the company of his friend and right-hand man Doctor Watson was incredibly skillful solving the strangest mysteries. 

Watch this video a learn a bit more about Conan Doyle and Holmes. 

I´m sure you´ll like it.






























A Trivia about Sherlock Holmes? Click on the link below.



http://www.squidoo.com/quiz-sherlock-holmes

Mayan multiplication

Whenever I have some minutes to spare and relax with my students or  they look tired, I use these moments to tell them amazing short stories I know, challenge them with a riddle or a quiz, play games or just tell them about something curious that most of them may ignore. 

A good way to link Mathematics and English and get their attention at the same time could be the explanation of basic Mayan Multiplication  by the use of a graphics system with  lines and dots,  The teacher can solve a very  simple operation or two on the blackboard or use a  video like the ones below, and ask one student to explain his/her conclusions about how this method works and solve one more operation as an example.

At last I can say...

It´s been a long year...school year, I mean. Teachers always count the years of our lives in school years, never from January to December. 

Managing stress has been the most difficult challenge for me this year. Too much work, too little free time. However, it´s time to switch off and have a break now, but not from English. There is always a reason and a way to improve your English, even in summer: songs, films, books, magazines or newspapers, reading blogs, chatting in English, using Skype with English speakers, meeting people from foreign countries and talk to them in English...

Read the lyrics of Michael Buble´s song and look up in a dictionary the words you don´t know. This way you ´ll have improved your English a bit more today.

 July 18th, my first day on holiday. It´s a beautiful day, isn´t it?

One Direction at Vicente Calderón Stadium

10th of July, family trip to Madrid. One Direction performing alive at Vicente Calderón Stadium. Girls queuing for hours (my daughter too) and some of them for days, weeks  and even months (not my daughter, thanks God). Hot weather, excitement, collective hysteria, but I must recognise these boys look and sound  great.

Refresher Course in July: Speaking Skills.

The refresher course I´ve taken these days has provided me, as an English teacher,  not only the opportunity to up-date my English and improve my communicative skills and methodology bul also the possibility to exchange experiences with other teachers. 

I´ ve been very lucky to meet teachers from other schools who enjoy teaching English as much as I do. "We Can" team, "C" team, it was really nice to meet you.

Thanks, Adam, for your help with English, your sense of humour and your patience. We´ve learnt a lot from you and we´ve had great fun at the same time. We´ll always be your "busy bees" :)