Lessons have finished ...

A picture I took in Lisbon. Lisbon is so wonderful. I am glad I revisited it ....

It has been a while since I last wrote in this blog. However, I have been so busy, I couldn't find the time or motivation to write.

Lessons have finished, but that doesn’t mean that the work at school has finished. Students in the 11th and 12th are still doing national exams and many meetings are taking place. Nevertheless, the work now is different and less stressful. Students demand a lot from us and we always need to be in a good physical and mental state. They give us no break. Moreover, temperatures are extremely high (above 30 degrees) at the moment, so it would be very difficult to make them work under such conditions.

It´s time for us to write all the reports we are supposed to write at the end of the school year, evaluate our work and prepare the new school year.

Right now I need a break so I am dedicating myself to reading a novel ...

Teens: a group work

This week my students have had their listening and written tests on the topic: young people in a global era.

Next week they are going to present their group works. Each group is going to talk about one of the following topics.

• Peer pressure
• Relationships
• Alcohol
• Drugs
• Smoking
• Eating disorders
• Bullying
• School pressure
• Generation Gap
• Teen pregnancy
• Depression

My students are expected to talk about causes, consequences and possible solutions to these problems.  The aim of this group work is to make them think about these issues and find possible ways of handling with them.
I have also been searching about these issues and I have recently discovered the site, Radical Parenting, which I find much useful because teens write about their own issues.

An article which deals with the question whether peer pressure is always the reason for starting an addiction/bad behaviour:
http://www.messengersindenim.org/2011/05/peer-pressure-isnt-always-reason-for.html

An article about teen pregancy:
 http://www.radicalparenting.com/2011/05/24/teen-pregnancy-fad-still-going-strong/

It's all for now. I have much work. I have to correct my students' tests.