Monday, April 30, 2007

Silence

One Day Blog Silence



This is not about country, skin colour nor is this about religion.. it is about you and me and what we can do to try and prevent these senseless killings.Why don't we start with a very simple gesture?We can start by being a.. Friend.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Today's private lessons

Foteini playing pantomime (reading)
George playing pantomime (playing the drums)

Kids playing memory!!!
It was a fun day today!!!!


Thursday, April 26, 2007

pics of the day



This is what I came across yesterday... I really have to take my camera next time...

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Foreign language teachers in Greece. Who is eligible?

Exams, exams, exams. I have noticed that more and more foreign language exams are introduced. Have you ever wondered why, especially in Greece we have an “exam-mania”?
The answer is simple. Whoever gets a C2 level certificate is eligible to teach at private language schools. You get a document called «επάρκεια» (= sufficiency) and you can actually teach!!!!
This law was introduced about 60 years ago, when private language schools could not find enough teachers to hire. Back then you could find only a few University graduates.
60 years have passed, there are more than 6000 certified English teachers, 5000 certified German and French teachers and so many native speakers with University diplomas living and working in Greece. I do not mention the state school teachers.
Aren’t these people enough? Why do proficiency holders still get hired?
The English teacher association has been to court many times in order to have this ridiculous law abolished. The German teacher association has joined them a couple of years ago. Unfortunately they, we, are not heard.
Language school owners insist that they need proficiency holders. Why? Because University graduates only want to get a position at a state school and leave private language schools without thinking. They want stability…
And my question is… who could actually stay ay a language school, with pay no more than 7-8 Euros per hour when they can get a decent salary?
More and more teachers graduate every year. Nobody can say that there is no efficiency.
I do hope that they will consider revising that ridiculous law.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Unforgettable photos

1957. The first day of Dorothy Counts at the Harry Harding High School in the United States . Counts was one of the first black students admitted in the school, and she was no longer able to stand the harassments after 4 days.

January 12, 1960. A second before the Japanese Socialist Party leader Asanuma was murdered by an opponent student.

1963. Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist priest in Southern Vietnam , burns himself to death protesting the government's torture policy against priests. Thich Quang Dug never made a sound or moved while he was burning.


1962. A soldier shot by a sniper hangs onto a priest in his last moments.



1965. A mom and her children try to cross the river in South Vietnam in an attempt to run away from the American bombs.





1966. U.S. troops in South Vietnam are dragging a dead Vietkong soldier.




February 1, 1968. South Vietnam police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan shots a young man, whom he suspects to be a Viet Kong soldier.






1973. A few seconds before Chile 's elected president Salvador Allende is dead during the coup.


1975. A woman and a girl falling down after the fire escape collapses.



1980. A kid in Uganda about to die of hunger, and a missionaire.



February 23, 1981. Colonel Molina ve military police seizes the Parliament building in Spain . The photographer did not expect the scene, and hid the films in his shoe.





1982. Palestinian refugees murdered in Beirut , Lebanon .




1987. A mother in South Korea apologizes and asks for forgiveness for his son who was arrested after attending a protest. He was protesting the alleged manipulations in the general




1989. A young man in China stands before the tanks during protests for democratic reforms.




1992. A mother in Somalia holds the body of her child who died of hunger.




1994. A man who was tortured by the soldiers since he was suspected to have spoken with the Tutsi rebels




1996. Kids who are shocked by the civil war in Angola .





2001. An Afghani refugee kid's body is being prepared for the funeral in Pakistan





2002. Soldiers and villagers in IRan are digging graves for the victims of the earthquake. A kid holds his father's pants before he is buried.




2003. An Iraqi prisoner of war tries to calm down his child


















Sunday, April 15, 2007

A day like summer!

A glorious day today, about 25 degrees and sunny! A wonderful day for a walk on the beach!
Back to work tomorrow! Can't wait to see "my kids" at the language school!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Way to work No3




I got back to work for a couple of days now, almost every teacher I know is still on holiday, but I had a lot of lessons to catch up due to my illness just before the Holy week. Anyway, today after having been around most of Eatern Thessaloniki, I ended up in Toumba. Having some time to spare, I went for a long walk through the centre of the area, watching people go by. The pics are awful, but it was the best I could do with my mobile phone.


Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Sue Grafton


I was first introduced to Sue Grafton’s books, when a friend of mine, Peggy, sent me a copy of a book called “D is for Deadbeat”. The copy was in German and when I started reading the book I really felt a bit strange, because it was all about an American female detective, in the 80’s, but the story was so interesting, that I couldn’t put it down. Kinsey Millhone, is investigating a murder…
After a few months, as I was browsing books at a big bookstore, I came across
“Q is for Quarry”, this time in English and I immediately bought it. This time Kinsey is trying to find information about a murder dated back in 1969. This was actually a true story which has not been solved yet.
I continued with
"S" Is for Silence, a missing person case and “R for Ricochet”, which I read just yesterday in just one day!!!
Although it is not philosophy, or anything “important”, Sue Grafton’s books are just the thing, if you just want to relax and enjoy a good detective story. It's just like watching a movie!! So simple!
I am planning on reading the whole “alphabet” series, whenever I find the time!!!

Monday, April 9, 2007

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Teacher Burnout

I read an interesting article about teacher burnout the other day and although I knew this term for a long time, I never realized that I might be suffering from it myself, lately.
When I started teaching, about 15 years ago, I was very enthusiastic, I made lesson plans, I studied new books, and everything was so new and so exciting to me. Unfortunately, then, not many people wanted to learn German. So my problem was that I didn’t have enough students to work with.
So, I changed directions. No, no, I would never leave teaching. I just changed the subject. I studied EFL. That was definitely more interesting. I just loved the fact that the EFL methodology was so developed in comparison to German “traditional” teaching. I had the pleasure of meeting some very interesting teacher trainers, like Olha Madylus, who really inspired me and showed me a new way of doing my job.
Everything I had learned, I also tried adapting it in my German teaching, which I had not quit. And everything used to go ok.
I tried using technology, games, songs, field trips, anything to motivate my students in both languages. And it worked. They were really learning.
But somewhere on the way, something happened. I started to get tired. All this demands a lot of work, a lot of time.
Yes, most the children were happy and motivated, but…
- Some parents do not like stuff that is not book or exam-oriented.
- Some students do not realize the need of studying and want to do only the fun stuff
- My work is not being appreciated!
- I do not get paid well enough – sometimes I have to pay from my own pocket for the
projects I organize
- Teachers in the private sector in Greece are not respected. Frontesterio-owners replace us very easily in order to save money…
- The wages are so low, you can hardly make a living
- Language learning in Greece has to do with passing exams only and this causes a lot of stress (we are good teachers only if students get their certificates according to our bosses)

So yes, after all this and some problems in my personal life, I feel that my teaching is not as good as it used to be.
So, what is the solution to my problem?
According to the article I’ve read
, I have to relax, take a break, find another job or change fields…
Unfortunately, you can do all this, only if you can afford to.
In my case… I will definitely take a break this summer! I just can’t wait!!

Friday, April 6, 2007

My student Elektra

'myspace

I decided to write this although some of my other students will get "jealous"!!!
There are few students that I can call my "favourites", although I've been working as a teacher for almost 15 years.
One of them is Elektra and this post is dedicated to her...
It was 8-9 years ago when we first started lessons. I had just moved to this neighborhood and she and her family had just moved from Germany. She needed English lessons to catch up with her new school. Not an easy task... We had less than a month to cover a whole year's material...
Elektra was 10-11 year old. A very witty child, with a real talent in picking up languages! We made it!
Nevertheless, we continued having lessons. She was very bright with a lot of interests, an excellent student, a good athlete, a sensitive person, a real delight to talk to. I remember, we used to talk about many things (in English of course) besides the boring grammar and vocabulary...
The years passed. Elektra passed her FCE exam, she continued for the proficiency exam. And although they moved, she kept coming over here for lessons, no matter that she was on the other side of the city.
She passed the proficiency exam with a very good grade. We stopped having lessons. It's been a couple of years now.
But... what I love about her is: she always gives me a call, to ask something or to see how I am doing. She even called me on my birthday!
Today she came to visit! She invited me to her highschool graduation!
Sometimes I consider myself a burnout teacher (with the things that happened to me personally and profesionally, sometimes I think about quitting). But at times like today I feel really proud. I feel really proud of being part of the "evolving" of some people.
Elektra, I feel really honoured to have been your teacher...

PS. The tribute to my students will continue!

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