A happy new school year!

My school

Hello!

School has started! I haven't posted anything recently because I have been very busy with the beginning of the school year. 

This year I have 81 students in the 11th grade and 45 students in the 10th grade (of a professional course).

I have been preparing new materials I may share with you later on.

Right now I am using these materials with my students. 

Best wishes,
Conceição

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 ...

Correcting students' tests

I have been very busy preparing and correcting students' last tests (written, listening and oral tests) and concluding the evaluation process.

After arriving from school, all the time I have is dedicated to correcting students' tests and assignments.

I am totally exhausted.

I don't even have time to blog.

It's time for lessons...

Lessons started on Monday. I ‘ve already had the opportunity to meet my new students (except for one class). It is going to be a tough year since I have a lot of students ( about 140).
For most of them this is a totally new school. They have come from many different schools in this region. This year they are starting their Secondary Education and consequently they feel a bit anxious. In fact, many changes are taking place at the same time.
Today I’ve presented the syllabus for this year and the evaluation criteria:
• Reading and Writing: 60%
• Listening and speaking: 30%
• Attitudes (behavior, commitment, punctuality, organization): 10%

They also had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the class and to the teacher. This activity helped me to know them and their language level. After doing this, they wrote a text about themselves, which they delivered to me.
Finally, we did a brainstorming exercise related to the word : Teens, and before we left we had the opportunity to listen to the song: "I still haven’t found what I am looking for" by U2.

P.S: Temperature are still high (above 30 degrees). The Summer doesn't want to leave us ...

Speaking about the summer, I had the chance to know wonderful places. Look at this photo!
Pego do Inferno-Tavira

Back to Work!

The new school year started on the 1st September 2010.In these first days of September many meetigs are taking place, so that everything is ready for the students' arrival on the 10th September. Lessons are going to start on the 13th September(a Monday).

This year I am going to teach students in the 10th grade (six years of English). I don't know how many students I will have, but they will surely be a lot. I don't know what sort of skills they will present, but I'll try to do my best to motivate them to learn and improve their language skills.

My school has changed so much! We have much more space and better conditions to work. We also have many more students than last year.

Last year was a very difficult one, because the school was under reconstruction. We had little space, much noise and dust, but everything turned out well in spite of the available conditons.

This year I hope to have more access to technologies, and consequently be able to do different things.

National exams ...

National exams are taking place in all Portuguese secondary schools for all the students who have finished their eleventh and twelfth grades.

The exams students are taking depend on the course they are attending. My science students are taking: Chemistry/Physics and Biology or Geometry. My art students are taking: Geometry and History of Art. Finally, my language students are taking: a foreign language and Geography.
Today was the day of the foreign languages: English, French, Spanish and German. Students arrived at school loaded with all sorts of dictionaries.

Below you have the links to some national exams. Try them ...

English Exam

Spanish Exam 1

Spanish Exam 2

French Exam

German Exam

Portuguese for foreigners 1

Portuguese for foreigners 2

I haven't forgotten you ...

Lately I have been very busy with the evaluation process. I had to prepare the written tests, the listening tests and the oral calls.

At the moment I am correcting all these tests and preparing lessons, so it's very difficult for me to get computer time.


Lessons will finish very soon; consequently I have to hurry up.

My students are going to have national exams in June. These exams are very important because they will determine students' entrance in university.

So it's now or never ...

A new school term is about to start ... as well as a new school (well, part of it)

Hello!
It’s nice to rest for a while, but the Easter break is almost finishing and a new school term is about to start. Are you ready? I can guess your answer, but do not forget that the summer holidays are not far away…

Part of our new school, in Vila Nova de Famalicão, is ready, so we are going to have some new classrooms and new materials. I am looking forward to having more access to technologies ...

I am preparing a new topic: The World of Work! I’m already searching for good texts, videos, songs, games and whatever may arise your interest.

I will welcome any suggestion that you may want to present.