Any suggestions?

Hi, everybody! How are you doing? I'm OK, though rather tired by now - and I still have more than a month, and all the exams, to go! If any of you have any ideas on how to stay focused even when exhausted, I'd really appreciate it...

Have a great weekend!

Linda

Wondering

Hi, everybody! How are you doing? I hope you're all keeping well, and enjoying your courses.

I got this poem by Dorothy Parker (better known as a short story writer) at a session by Alan Maley, at a conference. It's called "Unfortunate Coincidence".

By the time you swear you're his
Shivering and sighing
And he vows his passion is
Infinite, undying,
Lady, make a note of this:
One of you is lying.

Sarcastic, eh? But sometimes true, unfortunately!

Anyway, do try to touch base once in a while...
All the best for all of you,

Linda

Hi, Catburies!

Hi, everybody! How's life? I guess you must all be working hard... :-)

I went to the main ELT conference in Argentina a couple of weeks ago in Cordoba (Cordoba, Argentina, not Spain!), and presented a paper on Poems in class. Does that ring a bell? Among the examples I showed were several written by participants on my Pilgrims courses last summer. There were a few big names, like Jeremy Harmer and Alan Maley. It was a good conference (enormous, with about 1,200 people) but so intensive that almost as soon as I got back home I got ill, through exhaustion! (I'm OK now).

Spring is finally here, and I've been planting a few flowers in the garden. Next week I've got another conference, the regional one, and a friend is coming to stay, as she's been invited to do a plenary. Her name's Susan Hillyard, and she's written a book called Global Issues, together with Ricardo Sampedro. I recommend it!

Hope you all keep up the good work - and do keep in touch!

Linda

Back to school

I really appreciate Linda's contributions and invite the rest of the group to share their ideas at the beginning of school. Are you concerned about carrying out the techniques and class routines we worked on during the course? I really am. This year I'm going to teach 3º and 4º ESO ("Obligatory Secondary Education") and I am determined to adapt the lessons from the book and make them suit the class by designing engaging and effective lessons. That's the theory. Demanding?

At first, I want to provide opportunities for the students to speak and share information by interacting each other in pairs or small groups, thus setting up new routines focused on their behaviour and the acceptance of a more active role carried out in English language. Crucial. I'll let you know if I manage to get students on task, or, on the other hand, if we can't overcome regular classroom constraints and grammar approach based teaching and we are due to move towards a traditional teacher-centred style. Make the difference.

Hi, Catbury guys!

Hi, all!

Are you back from your holidays? I hope you enjoyed them, and are now VERY relaxed, and ready to start the new school year! You may have seen I sent you invitations to join LinkedIn, in case you're interested.

Ah! On www.topdocumentaryfilms.com there's a wonderful BBC mini-series (3 episodes) on Leonardo da Vinci. I recommend it, for yourselves if your students' level isn't good enough!

Have a lovely weekend, and keep in touch!

Linda

Tokbox

I go on trying to improve our blog and I thought it'd be a good idea to add a video chat application to let us talk over live video. Here's how it works: you go to http://www.tokbox.com, you sign up and they give you a link. When you want to talk with anyone, just give them the link - they click and you chat.(By the way, this is my link: http://www.tokbox.com/Santiago234) Fancy chatting?

Hi, everybody!

Hi from Canterbury! The blog's a really good idea. I've also received emails from several of you, and hope you're enjoying your holidays. I checked out the documentaries website Kasia uploaded, and it's great!
I'm off to bed now, but wanted to wish Santiago a very happy name day.

Hugs to all of you,
Linda

Of course, I like the blog!

Waiting for the other cats here:)

Voki

Play me!

English expressions and idioms explained

Hello everybody...dy..y,

The Catbury blog is a very nice, catty idea:) I hope you are all resting a bit now. Hugs

Hello everybody

Hello everybody. Did all of you have a good journey back home? I hope so. I thought it'd be an interesting idea to share a blog in which we could regularly write to keep in touch. Don't worry. I don't want you to discuss in pairs on the advantages of using a blog, although I must admit it sounds tempting. I just want to take advantage of new technologies and suggest a new way of meeting again. Feel free to post whatever you want and let me know if you like it.

 Be creative.