Pre-Primary teachers in Oxford. Day 3 and 4

Good night from UK!

We've lived two hard-working days plenty of activities in and outside of the school.

On the one hand, yesterday we talked about developing personal language skills. The content of the lesson included phrasal verbs, idioms and a huge variety of new complex vocabulary. However, the teacher managed efficiently the rhythm of the session. We also compared the British Education System with our educational laws and we could made a review about their differences. Finally, Catherine Weller provided us with some interesting websites and links in which we can find many useful resources for young learners.
                                                           

                                                       
In the afternoon, we enjoyed a walking tour guided by the Lake School Social organizer under the rain in a very typical English day. We absolutely felt over the moon admiring historical buildings, colleges or the famous Bridge of Sighs with its distinctive design. This skyway is a city landmark.

                                         

On the other hand, today we've already developed our literacy skills. The anecdote was tasting "Marmite". We've eaten this English product for breakfast but it hasn't had a good approval by the international students. It has a really weird flavour! It has been a productive day to increase our vocabulary. The exercises enhanced us to share words and learning new ones.

To finish the day we've discovered the Oxford University Christ Church College, also known as "the House". It's home to the students while they are in Oxford. This is where they study, live and eat. Although Christ Church attracts many thousands of visitors each year, its purpose remains twofold: the pursuit of learning and the worship of God. In this sense it preserves education and spirituality. The architecture of this College inspired books like "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" or films like "The Golden Compass and Harry Potter".

See you soon!

Ana Maria & Helena 1st August Canterbury

Hello bloggers,

We didn't mention that what made us choose Canterbury was its location and all the history you can admire here. Canterbury cathedral has been a pilgrimage place since 12th century after Thomas Becket was murdered there. Next to this astonishing monument the pilgrims visit St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church which are part of the pilgrimage route.

Every afternoon at 5 p.m, Evensong is held in the Cathedral. Fortunately, we had the chance to join in. The choir delighted us with their angelic voices!

St. Martin's Church

St. Augustine Abbey

Apart from this sightseeing, in the morning we did hadwork at school coping with appropriate English (the English which is actually used by native speakers) and the importance of learning vocabulary to speak a language (collocations, chunks). In the afternoon, we  met our lovely teacher Isabel. With her, we did a very interesting and attractive activity to deal with PPP(presentation, practice and production) approach. Amazing!!!

Pre-Primary teachers in Oxford. Day 2

Hello again!

This morning walking to the school we found an interesting place, the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaelogy, founded in 1683. It's the world's oldest public museum with incredibly rich and diverse collections ranging from Egyptian mummies to Pre-Raphaelite paintings to contemporary art.If you have an interest in architecture, a trip to this museum is not to be missed.

The second day of the course our teacher focused on communication in the Primary classroom. We learnt a several activities to help our pupils to increase their speaking skills. Some of them are really available for the children age range we work with. Through funny  games we can encourage the students to use this second language. These strategies give children lots of opportunities to listen to the teacher and respond non-verbally. This is non-threatening and builds up children's familiarity with listening to English in a natural way. You can vary the instructions to fit in with whatever you are teaching and you can also increase the challenge by varying the type or instructions.

We had free afternoon  for sightseeing and we made the most of our time. We visited the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The museum is housed in a purpose-built Victorian Gothic building. The principal collections include skeletons of dinosaurs and skulls of our ancestors. A collection of rocks, selected to represent the most important in the British Isles, is also built into the fabric of the building - each delicate pillar round the gallery is made of a different stone. There's also a stuffed cheetah which children can stroke, and a bee colony you can observed through glass.

We finished the day by doing punting. This is the favourite past time for visitors, residents and students alike. At Magdalen Bridge you can hire a punt and sailing leisurely upstream or down river, trailing fingers in the silky water, admiring the wildlife or picnicking on a river bank. But if you are a beginner like us, you also can drift!

                     

Goodbye friends!

Helena & Ana Maria 2nd August Canterbury

Hi everyone there!

Here I'm again to keep on telling you the latest news from Canterbury!!! Today it has been a great day except for the rain...there's nothing we can do about it.. Can we?

Today Patrick dealt with probably the most boring skill for students...yeah...I'm referring to writing. Well, Ana Maria and I have been offered a new vision about it and it can be a good fun. Basically our students hate it because it's hard work, it takes too longer,it's very visible and they need a control of the grammar and vocabulary or topics are not of their interest. OK then, so let's change that!!! We can use a 10 min. writing at the end of a lesson as a consolidation of what they learnt or just throw a question to them and they write the answer down.They can also work in pairs or groups to create a whole (which I'm glad to say, we already do at school!!!),they can produce authentic materials, jokes,comics.Apart from that and many examples more,we cannot forget that we are preparing our students for academic purposes...so we need to guide them in the process with short tasks of planning the writing such as brainstorming, coherence, cohesion...for this, we used chain writing which was very funny, pictures to discuss,free writing... 

After that, we worked on storytelling in the classroom and we practised some of the many ideas he offered to us(dice story, story generator, skeleton story, pictures...)He also mentioned one thing we already do in our lessons and for that reason, we feel very proud:4min talk!!! So we are on the right way!!!

In Patrick's lessons

In the afternoon, we had lessons with Isabel!!! She's so dynamic! We all love her! She always begins the lesson by having a short conversation with us...and contextualizing what she is about to teach us. This way we get engaged to the lesson without realizing. We dealt with guided discovery at higher levels and the role of the teacher in it. We worked on phrasal verbs and conditionals in a very different way. To finish the day, we solved a Crime!!! It was hilarious and we were using the modal verbs in the past without knowing that this was a grammar practice. Loved it! We were learning by playing to be detectives...Elementary, dear Watson.

            Isabel's lessons

After lessons, we did some shopping and after my dinner and daily chat with Melvin (the man of my host family)we met Charlie and other Concorde programme students to play a Pub trivia quiz. It was about British history,music,science,culture and of course, we had half pint of cider!!! Cheers to everyone!!!Good night!

The Jolly Sailor Pub.   

¡Hola!
Hoy hemos tenido unas clases muy relajadas. La primera ha sido sobre Project Work y la profesora ha remarcado la importancia de hacer proyectos para que los alumnos se diviertan y se involucren. Hemos hablado largo y tendido sobre los proyectos que cada uno hacía en los diferentes países. En Polonia van un paso por delante en este aspecto y me han dado muchas ideas y páginas web para ayudarme a seguir avanzando. Cuando he explicado el tipo de proyectos que hacemos en nuestro colegio han quedado maravillados y me han pedido que les diera detalles de los temas, el tiempo empleado, la evaluación, las rúbricas... La verdad es que me han hecho sentir orgullosa del trabajo que estamos realizando. ¡Adelante teachers!
La segunda sesión sobre Exploiting the Internet ha sido lógicamente en el aula de informática y hemos podido investigar y movernos por las diferentes páginas que nos han aconsejado. Hasta hemos entrado en C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency). Ya os contaré...

La tarde de hoy nos la han dado libre en la academia, por lo que a las 12 ya estábamos disfrutando de la vida maltesa y comiendo al lado de St. George's Bay; después de comer no ha podido faltar una visita rápida al Hard Rock Café de Paceville y un paseo relajante por los Serenity Gardens de Santa Lucija. Es un parque con un ambiente zen, con templos, lagos, fuentes y cascadas, donde las peques se han recreado viendo patos, tortugas y peces.
Nos hemos aventurado a bajar a las St. Paul's y St. Agatha's Catacombs en Rabat, un laberinto de corredores y cámaras mortuorias de unos 3km cuadrados. La tarde ha acabado en la llamada "ciudad del silencio": Mdina. (Aunque lo del silencio con las tres niñas es una utopía). Esta ciudad fue capital del país hasta la construcción de Valletta en 1571. La catedral es un edificio barroco y en el interior el suelo está todo cubierto de lápidas de mármol de muchos colores. Mdina conserva en sus estrechas calles, una vida misteriosa que parece proteger a sus iglesias, palacios y conventos.

"Bonswa" o lo que es lo mismo Buenas noches en lengua maltesa.

Hi everybody!
It has been an intense but productive day.
The first two sessions have been hard work: collocation and dictation. We have practised a wide variety of activities to teach collocations. They are pretty hard for the students (and sometimes for us, too). We have come to the conclusion that it's much better to reinforce some of the collocations they know and try not to overwhelm them.
We have been speaking about the Dictation Revival. Valerie suggests adding an element of competition in some of the proposed tasks and exercises in order to encourage students and get them actively involved in the process of learning. We have done rich and varied exercises: listening to riddles, drawing, telling crazy stories...
The high point has been the last session, my favourite one: songs and their learning potential.
I strongly believe they are great resources. In fact, songs can help us to reinforce grammar, to wide vocabulary, to speak about the main topics or simply to have fun.
We have learnt to the rhythm of Elvis Presley, Avicii or Bette Midler.

I didn't tell you that I'm living this experience with my family. For that reason, in our free time we have to find a balance between their demands and our interests. Surprisingly, sometimes they coincide, like today...We have had a different and lively afternoon: the enjoyable visit to the captivating Popeye Island Village in Mellieha. It is a place for the young and for the young at heart.

• "I yam what I yam and tha's all what I yam." -- Popeye the Sailor

Good night! 

María Teresa

Buenas tardes,

   Hoy, mi segundo día de clase, ha sido genial pero intenso. Ayer, las presentaciones fueron muy cortas porque sólo somos cinco en clase, todos mis  compañeros son de Swansea y mi profesor Dr. George Gazi, como no podía ser de otra forma, es  griego.
Sin nigún tipo de precalentamiento, ayer  empezamos  a traducir a Eurípides y hoy hemos continuado. My mind is like a machine, I have to think very fast because I have not only to translate but also to interpret the meaning of the text. I can´t  have a break time:)

    Las clases terminan a las 16:00 y después a las 19:00 hay programadas distintas actividades académicas, ayer acudí a la charla impartida por el Dr. Stephenson Harrison sobre Hellenistic World y hoy iré a ver una película Monty Python´s Life of Brian. Me siento como una universitaria,otra vez, con homeworks incluidos.

                                           

     La Universidad de Swansea  ha sido elegida como la mejor Universidad de Wales en 2017 . Me recuerda mucho  a la Universidad  de Alicante, porque es un Campus, llena de jardines, zonas verdes para pasear y un gran espacio deportivo. Se divide a simple vista en dos zonas, una con edificios más antiguos y la otra con facultades más modernas. Mi clase está situada en este edificio, por dentro es muy moderno no os preocupéis, no hay fantasmas. 

El tiempo sigue igual , como ellos dicen, sunny day with rainy showers, es decir, sale un rayo de sol y a continuación cae un chaparrón.

  Bueno hasta mañana, si me funciona el wi-fi, porque viene y va, parece el mar que tengo enfrente, que desaparece dos veces al día.