WRITING BIOGRAPHIES

Hello everybody and welcome to school year 2007-08.
Today I want you to look for information about a known person and then write a biography.
Please, click on one of the names below and read about the person you´ve chosen. Then write a comment telling who you have chosen and why.
Paul Auster
Cormac MacCarthy
Bill Gates
Aung San Suu Kyi
Oliver Sacks
Marisa Monte
Felipe González

WORKING WITH SONGS

My dear students of 1º Bachillerato - A,
When you read this, it' s supposed you have just listened to the song (Sittin' on) the dock of the bay and done the activities. So now it´s time to evaluate it!
Did you like the song? Why?
Did you like the activity?, Was it interesting?
Name some facts you read about the 50s and 60s that you consider shocking, interesting, funny...

Welcome to school year 2006-07

Hello everybody,
Now we have started the school year and everything seems arranged, it´s time for us to start working on our projects and reporting our suggestions, feedbacks, evaluation and so on to this blog.
Perhaps the first thing to do is to briefly comment about the beginning of the year: How you feel,your first impressions...

Greece

On 30th March, I went to Greece on a school exchange trip. We are involved in a european project which implies meeting our partners twice a year for a week.We were a team of three teachers and four students eager to know more about Greece and the Greek.
First we stayed for two days in Athens. We went to the Acropoli , saw the change of the guard, went for a walk to the Pireo and wandered around the Flea Market.
Then, we took a train and went to Thessaloniki. There we met our Greek and Polish partners.The four students were hosted by families. We went to school, worked for a while, toured around and socialized.
It was both a holiday and a working time. It was a short visit, but also exhausting as we tried to asimilate as much as we could and didn´t want to miss neither their architectonical wonders, nor the opportunity to learn more about their school system, nor the chance to experience their love for their music and dances...It was amazing, at least for me, to see how young people enjoyed their free time listening to and dancing their traditional music.
When I came back, our Easter holidays started so I could rest...and do nothing. I read a lot, listened to music, went for walks by the seaside, cooked for my family...So, this year I feel I had a great Easter holiday: I´ve travelled, I´ve learnt a lot of new things, I´ve rested and now feel ready to start the daily routine again.
What about you my students? Have you had a good holiday? What have you done?
I´m looking forward to reading about your holidays...

A Virtual Trip to the Grand Canyon

My students of 4º ESO have just finished their webquest for this term: A Virtual Trip to the Grand Canyon.
Now it' s time for them to evaluate the activity in this blog.
I've asked them to write comments evaluating if it was interesting or not, if it was difficult to do, and if they think it was worth doing it.

Project Work

My students of 1º Bachillerato have been doing project works using ICT in order to improve their oral and written skills.Also,a very important target for this kind of activities is to develop their abilities in group work.
During the first term we tried a web quest activity,"A Virtual trip to London",while in the second term we have been doing a music project.The students had to do all the tasks asked,do a final written work and an oral presentation of it.Finally they were asked to evaluate them.

To all my students: I´m waiting for your comments!!!

Taking part...a motivating tool

As a teacher I´m always aware of how others motivate their students and try to learn from them.Here , in Santa Cruz de la Palma, there´s a School of Music which develops, I think, really motivating methods.They make their students take part in projects, performances...and make them feel main actors in their personal development: they are much more eager to learn music , but , at the same time, they develop other skills as persons. As they take part in group tasks, they learn how to deal with others, how to share , how to appreciate others work and efforts...Don´t you think the main point in teaching is to involve our students and make them take an active role in their learning process?
Ardiel, my eldest son, 14, is learning how to play the violin. He also belongs to the String Quartet and the Symphonic Orchestra in that school. Dailos,11, attends percussion lessons. He belongs to the Batucada group and the Symphonic Orchestra.Imagine how they feel when they are given the opportunity to play with proffesional musicians, as for example last year when they played with a tenor and a soprano; or when they are taken for a tour to other islands...Of course I know they have to learn a lot, but I also check that studying music is not a duty but a pleasure for them...Wish I could get that with my students!In addition, their teachers take advantage of that and try to develop some important attitudes in life. Last December , for example,the youngest students played in the streets, wearing football T-shirts...each one wore their favourite team´s and played their hymn...but at the end they all together played a beautiful song called " Friends forever" and changed their T-shirts...just a symbol?