12 September 2014 / by John Shepherd

Transmitting in the Classroom. What we can take from classical music.

 

Whether it be listening to a film director talking about his new blockbuster creation, or watching a protestor stand at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park and tell us about what is wrong with the world, we are transfixed by the same common denominator, passion.

Used correctly, passion can transfix an audience, leave a crowd mesmerised and wanting to know more, even the most mundane topics can be brought to life by an injection of passion.

Transmitting in the classroom is therefore one of our biggest responsibilities. As Teachers we are passionate about the English language,we are passionate about people, we believe that our language provides the key to enable a brighter future for those we teach, therefore, we have to transmit it.

We always transmit. We transmit when we are passionate about something and when we detest it, when we are certain about something and when we are doubtful, when we are happy and enthusiastic and when we are tired and under the weather. As teachers we will always try to project the best of us to our students. Again, the more we understand our subject, the better we will transmit and the better we prepare, the more self-confident we will appear in front of our students.

Transmitting in the classroom should be an easy task, rather than keeping a lid on the energy and passion we have, our passion for the English language should be released into the classroom to be shared with our students. Our students have a shared interest in the English language, that's why they attend our classes, so if we can fuel this interest a student has in our language, with our passion to teach it, we will create a blossoming environment to learn.

Watch the video of Benjamin Zander on classical music above, for me, classical music is one of the most lifeless art forms, yet Zander illuminates classical music with his passion, creating an artistic masterpiece that I cannot take my eyes off. A perfect example of how transmitting can have such an influence.

Transmitting in the classroom is key to our success.

 

 

17

January 2013
Morgan v Jones - Guns in America
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XZvMwcluEg Was it a debate? A BERATING? A SURREAL televised ''stunt''? Alex Jones, a radio presenter in Austin Texas and a believer that everyone has a right to own a gun went on Piers Morgan’s CNN show the other week. Jones has started a petition to deport Morgan back to the UK for expressing his views on g...

10

January 2013
American GLOBETROTTER travels a million miles in 2012
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpI2L_OQnZo Tom Stuker, 59, passed the million mark on a flight from London to Chicago on December 6. Mr Stuker works as a car sales consultant and has to fly all over the world. He frequently JETS OFF to Asia and Australia, and has taken about 400 flights so far this year.He always uses the U.S. ai...

08

January 2013
Bottled Water Ban?
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6S0_7OU7G4 The U.S. town of Concord in Massachusetts State has banned stores from selling water in bottles that are smaller than one liter. Stores who sell the water will have to pay a $50 fine. The new law is the result of a three-year campaign by local resident Jean Hill. Ms Hill first told peop...

02

January 2013
Music to my ears...
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSrdQ8DeaLI 'Happy Birthday' is one of several numbers Cath Gamester, 84, hears on a constant loop throughout the day. The grandmother from Liverpool has musical ear syndrome, where the sufferer has auditory hallucinations...Since it started in 2010, she said she had heard songs including God Save T...

25

December 2012
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
by Radmila Gurkova
...

19

December 2012
What happened in the Newtown School massacre?
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5J0NecLhLA On Friday morning, December 7th, 27 people were KILLED in a SHOOTING at an elementary school at Newtown, Connecticut, USA. The victims are 20 children, six adults, and the shooter. The shooter was Adam Lanza, 20 years old. ''We can't tolerate this any more,'' President Obama said. ''These tragedie...

19

December 2012
Will we survive the end of the world?
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXLDO8twt8I "Don't come to our 'safe' village for the end of the world" says mayor Believers say the world will end on December 21, 2012, the end date of the ancient Mayan calendar, and they see Bugarach as one of a few sacred mountains sheltered from the cataclysm. December 21 marks the end of an ...

14

December 2012
Monkey Business!
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mExgZggwFJw Apparently a monkey was CONFISCATED by animal authorities after it was found WANDERING ERRANTLY around Ikea car park on Toronto Canada. The five-month old Resus monkey was taken to an animal shelter but was warm and SNUG in a SHEEPSKIN jacket. There would be no action taken against the...

14

December 2012
Little Baby Hashtag
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5DoDSijMz0 There are an awful lot of BIZARRE names around nowadays. So it takes something really special to make us stop and do a DOUBLE-TAKE. But this is something really special. Ready? It appears that a proud new Mum has named her baby daughter 'HASHTAG'. Well, that's what she announced on Facebook anyway....

07

December 2012
Gangnam Style...
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0 How often do you watch YouTube music videos? Have you seen the recent Gangnam Style video? If so, then you are one of around 971m other people! The video to the global smash hit song Gangnam Style has become the most-watched clip in YouTube's history. It is now moving quickly tow...