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First of all, i �d like to say: Wonderful!
Just fabulous to see the creative juices flowing again in the forum. I was
craving for it to happen �
I
didn�t start with any rules with my kids (though they are on the agenda). I decided to start totally twisty and spontaneously
with a song! I chose it to be �Let�s twist again� and
the
whole school is doing the twist now. It was fun to watch them �wipe themselves
with a towel� while �putting out a cigarette butt� with their toes. I have made
some vids but I want someone else to see them first.
Anyway,
here�s an activity you might want to do with your student(s) some time in the
future. It is all in the description of the video itself, so if you�re
interested, take a look and leave a comment. Positive criticism is welcome.
P.S.
Initially, we meant to even video the scenes, but the girl has started school
now and doesn�t have that much time. Neither do I. So this will do for the time
being.
I started my schoolyear with a PowerPoint Jeopardy. The topic: Do you really know your English teacher?
I had so much fun seeing them trying to guess my shoe size, favourite food, vegetables, books, age...I gave them hints with the questions. They thought they knew me after 4 to 6 years but they did not.
Marshmallow, yes i did start school year with Let �s twist again and i twisted along with the ss. It was great exercise and so much fun. I felt so at home with them.
The girl, Andjela, is 8th grade. She �s been learning english for 6 years in a public school, knows all grammar rules, knows how to do exercises on worksheets and in course books, but when it comes to expressing her thoughts, she �s stuck for words. This is her first, and hopefully not the last, feat. When she first heard the tune, she was indifferent, she even said she hated it. She is used to teen pop music. Then i started analysing the tune together with her in the way i described it in the video and soon she grew to like it more and more. I wanted to finish the project the other night, so i rang her to come for about 20mins and so she did. She missed 20 mins of the birthday party she was supposed to go to ... which tells you a lot how much it meant to her.
Well done, Ivona and Andjela! Imaginative and creative indeed. I bet she was excited with the final product! Did Andjela choose the pics in the video herself?
Here �s an activity my students enjoy a lot. I pick up a news story (usually a funny or weird story I find on BBC or other online newspaper sites). I take some words from the story (around ten) and I write them on the BB. After explaining any words they don �t know, I ask my students to make up a story trying to include all these words. I tell them they can make their story as crazy as they like. I �m always surprised at how imaginative their stories can be. I �ve also noticed that the students who participate most actively and are most fluent (despite their mistakes) are exactly those students who don �t usually do very well in tests and grammar exercises. After they have told their stories, they ask me to tell them the real story, which I do. And you know what, most of the times they are a little disappointed as their stories had been more interesting and fun than the real one.
And Serene, I still remember my tenth-grade English(for native speakers) teacher giving us an assignment where we had to write a paragraph using some words she gave us. At first it didn´t go over too good with the students and we weren´t too motivated. We had to find the definitions of the words in order to use them. I still remember two of the words were "droll" and "dogmatic". So I wrote something about what a person should do when a "droll, dogmatic English teacher" gives you such an assignment. She absolutely loved it and got a good laugh from it (she seldom smiled).
When I think back, that was 30 something years ago and I often reflect back on it. Mrs Hirons (who may not be alive anymore) probably never realized how much she had motivated me and sparked my interest in creative writing and "thinking outside the box" that day. I owe a lot to her--she wasn´t the best like teacher, but she TAUGHT her students and made a difference.
I love being a teacher, even if I may never know the real effects my teaching has had on someone.
Ivona, you are lucky enough in this case to get experience it first-hand -- Good Job teacher!
Hi Ivona..have not posted for a while here. I looked at ur vid and I think its great. Keep up the good work. You are so imaginative in all that you do and I can see that you do it with a wonderful passion. Maybe I will try something like that but I do not think I can ever catch up with you hehehe. btw..thanks for all your help with the ws
You didn �t really want to start school again, did you?
