Category Archives: Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate

You’d better stop…

In the Computer Room, Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, Listening, Music, , ,

I angrily whispered to one of my new students.
Stop is the title of a song by Jamelia (I have to confess that although I had often  heard the song I didn’t have a clue about the singer)… anyway .. the idea for this post comes from this change of career I’m experiencing. I must admit that I’m not used to teaching teenagers;  well, you can hardly call them teens as some of my students are about 12.
In a week at a high school I’ve accumulated more anecdotes than in my whole life teaching adults.
Apart from the innocent “Teacher: Do I have to draw a title?”,” Can I go to the toilet? or What-d’ye -call-him said I was an idiot”, you have the not -so -innocent teens who try to challenge the teacher’s authority to show the other classmates the extent of the power of their arrogance and bad manners. It ‘s to one of these students that ,on the second day of my new experience at a high school, I had to say in a very low voice loaded with venom…. You’d better stop!! The amazing thing is that she … because a “she” she was…. Stopped!!. It must’ve been the tone of my voice that led her to think that I wasn’t one to be played with. Anyway, too bad!
Another anecdote but on the funny side of the story is when I asked my 12-year- students to stand up, mingle and do a communicative activity and one of the shiest students in class came up to me and whispered.. “Teacher! V…. has pinched my breast!!”” What?” I asked absolutely astonished! “Yes, teacher !He has just done the same to me ! “cried another. I looked at the so called V… and he blushed and answered that he wanted to feel if they were stuffed with cotton … Gosh!! What a mightmare! What do you think? Will I survive my students ?
Anyway , this and the reference in a reading text to Jamelia gave the idea of using this song a more serious classes where they’d appreciate the structure You’d beter+ infitive, which , as you know, in used to give very strong advice. Enjoy this beautiful song and if you want to do a “fill in the blanks” exercise ( elementary/pre-intermediate students) click on the button

In Spanish

Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, , , ,

Como seguramente sabeis,Photopeach ( la herramienta que utilizo para hacer los role-plays) ha decidido hacer limpieza general 😉 justo ahora , por lo que los videos creados antes del 6 de junio no se podrán ver durante algunos días. Pity!!

Ahora mismo, de los publicados solo podeis ver :” at the train station” y estos que acabo de hacer.

At the police station  .

At the Antiques Market

 

Your passport , please!!

Role Play: at the train station

Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, , ,

Sorry but I’m up to my eyes in exams and I haven’t been able to dedicate one single moment to my blog. But I promised I’ll try to publish some more role-plays and I won’t go back on my word. So here’s a new one: At the train station. Click here if you want to see the instructions about how to study with this video or if you are used to them , stay on the blog and just watch the video. I have introduced a new feature: the role of the examiner, which you’ll clearly see as it is being introduced by the photo of a teacher. I hope this helps!

Blinkx: a video wall

Audio, Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, Resources, ,

Another amazing tool. Blinkx claims to be the largest  and most advanced video search engine. It is said to  have  an index of over 35 million hours of searchable video. Users can search for video content, create personal video playlists, or build a customized Video Wall .

This is the video wall  I got from typing the word: celebrities.

Related posts:

Lesson Plan: At the doctor’s

Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, , , , , , ,

Let this post be written in memory and as my tribute to my father, if not a good (I’m not the one to say), at least a well-respected doctor among his colleagues and patients. Let this post be a  far too late explanation of why I didn’t choose to become  a doctor when I/ we knew that it had always been my father’s dream.
During  my childhood and adolescence I lived surrounded by scalpels, syringes, pills,… several rooms in my house were dedicated to my father’s private  practice (there was not a Seguridad Social center ). I have seen  too much blood  and bleeding to last me a lifetime and it certainly took its toll on me. I’m going to save you the gory details but one of my earliest memories is knowing there was a piece of frozen lip in the kitchen freezer from one of my best friends’ brother ( a dog had bitten him). My father always dreamed of one of his children following his line of work but we all disappointed him. I wouldn’t like to be a doctor and the reasons are several.

• All my life I have seen my father being woken up in the middle of the night and leaving home in a hurry
• All my life I have dreaded the telephone ringing in the middle of our Christmas’s dinner and even sometimes we opened up our presents while my father was away healing somebody else
• All my life I have seen my father being verbally assaulted in the streets by patients who didn’t understand that he was not working and he, having the patient of a saint, answering all their doubts and above all, listening.
• All my life I have seen my father worrying to death about a patient
• All my life I have heard people criticising doctors for making mistakes, not prescribing enough pills or too many pills, seeing patients too fast or too slowly. I have seen my father cry over the death of a friend when he, who presumably, had the power, could do nothing to save him. Dad!! You were not God!

There’s a long etc of why I have never considered being a doctor but all my life I have seen my father dedicated to a job that he loved. A good doctor is more than academic excellence, it requires more than brain and skill it is also about compassion, kindness, humanity, tolerance, sensitivity and I like to believe that my father possessed all of them.

Here’s a lesson about Going to the doctor’s I have prepared for my pre-intermediate students. You’re warmly welcome to do it.

Click here