10 October 2011 / by Radmila Gurkova

Friday Meeting 07/10/2011

 

A busy start to the month but here's little update for the week. Last week we spoke about the classes at the gym and the new S1 course. Feedback has been generally good in both areas but we there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

‘Learning Capsules’ – as mentioned last week these are 30 minute learning capsules that will take place at a well-known gym in Barcelona. Several levels were taught this week (S1, P3 and P4). This precise way of teaching for s1 did not work because the S1 students are still at a level where they are learning basic vocabulary. However, the P3 and P4 class at the gym were really successful, staring off with Quick Questions (QQ), 2 structure activities and finishing off with a vocab and topic activity. Having mentioned this it is important to take into account that the Quick Questions need to be done for both 30minute capsules.

As for the S1 course, we had positive feedback mentioning that class 1 was really good, easy to follow, teacher friendly and interactive rather than repetitive. The flashcards have been updated, more pictures have been added and there is a clear guideline for the Teacher to follow. 'Building Blocks' is a work in progress...Well done guys!!

Lastly, everyone will have an extra current affairs topic for P4 starting next week. The reason for this new development is that we need to keep up-to-date with current news. We’ve decided to call this ‘breaking news’ and as this will be printed a week after, students will have the chance to read about it and have enough information to engage in the classroom.

Next week we will discuss news stories that we think would be interesting for the students.  One of the teachers will post videos related to the activities, giving students the chance to listen to news stories before the actual activity is taught.

Hope everyone has a nice week!

 

 

19

October 2011
Current News - Republican Presidential Debate
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl-Ppk6oN0s "The near-weekly ritual of Republican presidential debates took a raucous turn Tuesday night as the unsettled field of candidates ganged up on one another in a series of attacks more intense and personal than any in their previous appearances together." "The first to feel the assault wa...

17

October 2011
Current News - Spain's Duchess of Alba ties the knot for the third time at 85!
by Radmila Gurkova
The Duchess of Alba, one of Spain's richest and most flamboyant women, has got married again at the age of 85 to a civil servant 24 years her junior.  However it hasn't been easy for her, as she is reportedly giving away her personal fortune in order to do so. httpv://youtu.be/k31NvQJfqao...

14

October 2011
Friday Meeting 14.10.2011
by Radmila Gurkova
How can we teach vocab activities?  What is the best way to teach vocabulary? Before speaking of vocabulary activities it is imperative that we distinguish between a Topic and a Vocab activity. A topic activity...

13

October 2011
Blackberry's message goes missing
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI For the makers of the device whose name became synonymous with messaging, it was a deeply embarrassing 36 hours. Untold numbers of Blackberry users, first in Europe then in much of the rest of the world, found that their email either slowed or ground to a halt and the BBM service became unavailabl...

12

October 2011
Oxbridge TEFL - Eddie Izzard on Language...
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hJQsvoY6VU Seeing as today is a holiday we thought it would be good to post a fun video of the comedian Eddie Izzard talking about language. Enjoy... ...

11

October 2011
David Cameron: we will never join the euro...
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8zRxbJQLy8 There have been tough words from the British prime minister at the annual Conservative Party conference, where David Cameron defended his government's economic policies. "The threat to the world economy and to Britain is as serious as in 2008 when world recession loomed. The euro zone is in cr...

10

October 2011
Steve Jobs 1955-2011
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izjtud9qbJ4&feature=youtube_gdata_player RIP Steve Jobs - his ideas and vision brightened millions of lives and the world of technology will be a poorer place without him. Here's to the crazy ones......

10

October 2011
Friday Meeting 07/10/2011
by Radmila Gurkova
A busy start to the month but here's little update for the week. Last week we spoke about the classes at the gym and the new S1 course. Feedback has been generally good in both areas but we there’s still plenty of room for improvement. ...

10

October 2011
Current News - Food Labeling
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f9m0JmCGeE Sell-by dates should be removed from food packaging to help cut waste and save shoppers money, ministers say.  The UK throws away about £12bn of edible food each year and critics say confusing packaging is partly to blame. Read the whole story and watch a video on the BBC News website: ...

10

October 2011
Current News - Are you Healthy!?
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJFrI5srZVI Denmark has introduced what is believed to be the world's first fat tax - a surcharge on foods that are high in saturated fat. Some scientists think saturated fat may be the wrong target. Click this link to read more: Denmar...