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.

Teens' problems

My students have been preparing a goup work on a chosen teen's problem.

Here in this site you can find very interesting information about some common teens' problems.

Relative clauses rephrasing

Below you can find some links so that you can pratise your relative clauses.

http://www.xtec.es/~ogodoy/sac/rephrasing/relclex2.htm


http://www.xtec.es/~ogodoy/sac/rephrasing/relclex3c.htm

http://www.xtec.es/~ogodoy/sac/rephrasing/relclex1c.htm

http://lucalasalle.blogspot.com/2009/02/relative-pronouns-rephrasing.html

Teenage years

A lesson I prepared about the topic: Young people

1. I’ve brought to school some quotations of famous people who wrote about being young. Then I asked my students to comment on them.

“It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it”. William Sommerset Maugham

“I'm youth, I'm joy, I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg.”   James M. Barrie

“Youth comes but once in a lifetime”      Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Youth has no age.”Pablo Picasso

2. After this last quotation, we saw the video clip: Young forever by Jay-Z and Mr. Hudson and spoke about the activities young people were involved in.

3. Then we listened to the song again and completed the lyrics, gap filling exercise.

4. At this time I started preparing my students for a text we were about to read next. This text dealt with the advantages and difficulties of being a teenager these days

5. Before reading the text, I asked my students about teens’ hopes. These were my students' answers:

• Going to university and taking a degree;
• Having a successful career;
• Having a nice family;
• Having enough money to have a comfortable life;
• Being rich and famous;
• Being happy;
• Finding the love of one’s life;
• Travelling a lot;
• Doing something unique and outstanding.

Then I asked them about their worries:

• Being unable to have a fulfilling career;
• Being unemployed;
• Not having enough money to pay one’s bills;
• Dying young;
• Being rejected;
• Not having a fulfilling relationship;
• Being alone;
• Having no real friends;
• Being unable to fulfill one's dreams;


6. Finally, we read the text: Do parents know their kids?

Expressing wishes

We have been studying the grammar topic: expressing wishes and regrets in English.

We have already done many different exercises during lessons, but I have found some more on the web.

Try this: http://www.better-english.com/grammar/wish2.htm
Try this: http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/wish/menu.php

Another one: http://www.adrformacion.com/udsimg/ingles4/2/Ingles4L2-3a.htm

An interesting video about Portugal!

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXw5fMIYGqg

Portugal is in a great financial crisis and we need the help of all the European Union countries. It seems Finnland is still unsure whether to help Portugal; consequently a video about Portugal was made to show how great Portugal is.

I liked the video so much that I decided to share it with you.

Young people in a global era

We've started a new topic: Young people in a global era.


Firstly, we did a brainstorming exercise. My students presented all the words they associated to: young people, such as:

- going out
- friends
- trying new things
- relationships
- love and dating
- changes in humour
- hormones
- acne
- body changes
- teen pregancy
- addictions: drugs, alcohol, smoking, computer games, etc.
- body image
- eating disorders
- bullying
- depression
- generation gap
- peer pressure
- school pressure
- uncertainty about the future
- desire for freedom

As we can see above, there are good and bad things about being a teenager.
Teenage years can be the best or the worst time of people's lives.
Teens' family, friends and teachers play a very important role during this time because they can help teens overcome the difficulties they may face.

Read more:
Some tips

The 25th of April: Freedom Day in Portugal

The 25th of April is a national holiday in Portugal. We celebrate the fall of the dictatorship and the birth of democracy. This event took place in Lisbon on the 25th April 1974.

It is known as the Carnation Revolution " a Revolução dos Cravos" because it was a very pacific revolution and there was no bloodshed.

Songs associated to the 25th of April

Grândola, Vila Morena- Zéca Afonso
E Depois do Adeus-  Paulo de Carvalho

Read more

" The Carnation Revolution (Portuguese: Revolução dos Cravos), also referred to as the 25 de Abril (the 25th of April), was a left-leaning military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance. These events effectively changed the Portuguese regime from an authoritarian dictatorship to a democracy, and produced enormous changes in social, economic and political structures of Portugal, after two years of a transitional period known as PREC (Processo Revolucionário Em Curso, or On-Going Revolutionary Process), characterized by social turmoil and power disputes between left-and right-wing political forces.

Despite repeated appeals from the revolutionaries on the radio asking the population to stay home, thousands of Portuguese descended on the streets, mixing with the military insurgents.

The military-led coup returned democracy to Portugal, ending the unpopular Colonial War where thousands of Portuguese soldiers had been conscripted into military service, and replacing the authoritarian Estado Novo (New State) regime and its secret police which repressed elemental civil liberties and political freedoms. "

Source: Wikipedia

Easter in Portugal

Easter is a very important celebration in Portugal. Since Portugal is a country where the catholic traditions are deeply rooted, Easter has acquired a great importance in our society.

Braga, the city where I am from, is particularly known for the different festivities that occur during the holy week, in Portuguese “Semana Santa”. People throughout Portugal and from abroad come to Braga to appreciate and experience this season.

Moreover, people take the opportunity to refresh and renovate their houses. The countryside is covered with flowers, which exude a marvelous scent. Birds are seen everywhere. Spring time is so good ….

Many people also seize this opportunity to travel and visit other places. If the weather is good, the beach is a preferred destination for many.

On Easter Day, families traditionally join together. A group of people come to people’s house carrying the cross "o compasso" and wish everybody a happy Easter. Godfathers and godmothers give presents and chocolates eggs to their godchildren.
 
It’s a time of joy and sharing ...