New student project

Well, this year we have not done much progress on the project area, mostly due to my load of work at the school - but I will never give up!!!

I 've had a couple of ideas on my mind and talked about them with my students.
The idea is to bring the little reporter out of them about things that interest them, thing that are happening in their lives right now...

So, the first thing that came to my mind was ... young people in Greece and everything that has to do with them:

School & Educational system
Trends
Grups
Music
Sports
Ecology

So I let them decide which subject they are going to choose and what they are going to do about it. It can be anything: interviews, pictures, videos, articles, research, with the one condition that it would be in the language they're learning.

I am looking forward to see the results of this one - I've never given them so much "freedom" before.
As always, I am not going to correct any mistakes...

Oxi day

Teaching...

Could have
Should have
Must have
Can't have
Ought to have....

Well yes! I have to teach grammar too!! I tried to explain the modal perfect to one of my classes the other day... impossible thing you'll say!
This gave me an idea - Maybe I could use them to present a "situation" of "somebody's" life???

Examples:

• This can't have happened to me!!
• I must have done something wrong but I didn't realize it until it was too late.
• He should have told me, but he didn't...
• I could have handled the situation differently...

Songs that match the grammar:




Το προσκλητήριο μου έπεσε απ΄ τα χέρια - όχι δεν γίνεται - δεν είναι δυνατόν : can't have (!!!)




I should have been dead on a Sunday morning banging my head!!!

I think that after these examples nobody will forget modal perfect!!!!

Watching soaps... can it help?

I was looking for interesting videos to use for conversational lessons with Alex the other day and I came across this site: http://www.englishbaby.com/ebaby_tv/soap_opera
It seems that these people created a "soap opera", giving out the dialogues and any unknown words as well! It's a great way to start talking, and I know that it can bring out the interest in young people, the subjects are about their life anyway!

Projects...

And let's go back to my teaching stuff!!!
This can be done in all language classes and it is a great idea for an intro or a second lesson.
The idea is to make students get to know something about the country whose language they learn.
The teacher can either bring pictures and info on the country or it can be assigned to the students to look for things in magazines, newspapers, internet, etc and bring them in class.
Then they can all make a collage like the one we did in my German1 class last week!

I am a...

Because I am not only a teacher...
I am all of the above!
Dedicated to the people I love and the ones who love me... As I am!!

Να παίξω κι εγω?

Με προσκάλεσαν σε παιχνιδάκι - συνήθως δεν τα κάνω αυτά, γιατί το ιστιολόγιο το άνοιξα κυρίως για τους μαθητές μου, αλλά μια και άρχισε να έχει πιο προσωπικό περιεχόμενο τώρα τελευταία, λέω να παίξω...
Με προσκάλεσε ο http://anemos5.blogspot.com/

Οι κανόνες του παιχνιδιού:

Βάλε Link (σύνδεση) προς το άτομο που σε έκανε tag.

Γράψε 7 αλήθειες για σένα στο blog σου, κάποιες κοινές, κάποιες περίεργες.

Κάνε tag 7 άτομα στο τέλος της ανάρτησης βάζοντας τα ονόματα τους και links προς το blog τους.

Ειδοποίησε τους ότι του έχεις κάνει tag αφήνοντας σχόλιο στο blog τους

Λοιπόν...

1. Είμαι workoholic. Αν δεν δουλεύω, χάνω κυριολεκτικά τον εαυτό μου...

2. Ειμαι εθισμένη στο Internet. Αυτό είναι ελλάτωμα και πρέπει να το κόψω!

3. Πίνω μόνο ζεστό καφέ, χειμώνα - καλοκαίρι!

4. Δεν ξέρω να μαγειρεύω!

5. Παραπονιέμαι συνεχώς και για τα πάντα! Όποιος άντεξε, άντεξε!! Για τους άλλους... ας πρόσεχαν!

6. Μετράω πάντα τις μέρες μέχρι τα Χριστούγεννα!

7. Το καλύτερό μου είναι να πηγαίνω με τα πόδια στο μάθημα ακούγοντας μουσική! (Μέχρι να με πατήσει κανένα αυτοκίνητο!!)

Δεν θα κάνω tag σε κανέναν - sorry που σπάω τους κανόνες! Όποιος θέλει ας απαντήσει!

Exam changes

Cambridge changes

In the Written Exams from December 08 it is going to be Paper 1,2,3,4 (Reading first) in all Cambridge certificates.

From March 09

KET and PET candidates who fail will get a certificate stating their CEFR level namely A1, A2

November 09

Computer Based FCE will be introduced internationally. It will start with 6 sessions per year and gradually it will go to one sitting per month.

The new ECPE Speaking Test

· The test will be effective June 2009 and it concerns students who will be attending our September to May 09 Michigan Proficiency courses.

· The test has been designed to elicit spoken language presentative to C2

· It will be lasting up to 25 minutes.

1. Introduction

2. Candidate interaction: summarizing given feedback and presenting arguments to each other.

3. Candidate Interaction: Reaching an agreement

4. Presenting chosen argument to Examiner

5. Joint task: Supporting chosen argument

Examiner 1: guides and gives instructions in Phase 1 to 4

Examiner 2: participates in Phase 4 and 5

Examiners are active only in Phase 1 and 5

There will be a five band rating scale A, B, C (pass), D, E (fail)

Students failing the orals of the ECPE technically fail the whole exam.

Strolling around the city... on Sunday

Lieblingsmomente (von Vasso)

· Ich freue mich sehr wenn ich früh aufgestanden bin und entscheide mich welche Klamotten zu tragen, um in die Schule zu gehen

· In der Schule bin ich begeistert, wenn wir Pause haben und wenn der Unterricht interessant ist.

· Am Wochenende, wenn ich mit meinen Freunden ausgehe, haben wir viel
Spaß

· Am Sonntag warte ich mir ungeduldig auf den Kampf meiner Lieblingsmannschaft

· Wenn ich Freizeit habe, suche ich Informationen im Internet und höre auch Musik

· Wenn ich Ferien habe, lese ich Bücher und Zeitschriften und es macht mir Spaß

· Ich bin auch begeistert, wenn ich ins Kino gehe und mit meinen Freunden einen Film schaue