The Teacher's Extra Mile

A short time for reflections

2011-07-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

Between terms, a two-week break...

A good time to get some rest and to think about what comes next...

This July, I took the chance to get some R&R at Chapada dos Veadeiros - a wonderful place, with nature at its best, a place I would recommend to all my friends...

Next week, back in business, ready for a new mission!

EIP 2010

2010-07-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

Just unforgettable! EIP 2010, the English Immersion Program sponsored by the U.S. Embassy, was way better than what anyone could have expected. A week of interaction, learning, sharing, growing, and making new friends.

Thumbs up for all the participants! Great kids, community leaders, always ready to learn more and to do the right thing. With such a great audience, the job of the teachers has been made easy...

I really hope these teenagers go back home with a great feeling and being sure of how great they really are, for success is just ahead of them! As for me, I felt really honored for having taken part of the program as a teacher and as a group leader. Looking forward to doing this over and over!

Another new term

2010-02-13T15:25:00.000-08:00

Well, time has come and here we go for a new term...
Always great to meet new students, set working plans and get started...
I feel anxious and excited about predicting what this term is going to be like.
Hopefully, great new experiences are just yet to come.
Goood luck to you all!

2009-11-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, Brazil

EVERY POSTCARD TELLS A STORY

Come and join us on this great world of postcards! You are invited to send us a postcard of your favorite place. Just follow the instructions:

1. Imagine that you are at your favorite place in the whole world;
2. Take another look at the types of postcard senders (The Culture Vulture, The Joker, The indecisive type, The Arty type, The totally tasteless type) on page 74 of Inside Out, and try to identify yourself with one of them;
3. Based on your previous decision, search the web (Flickr, Google Images,Google Maps, your own picture files, other sources) for a great picture (or a selection of pictures) of this place.
4. After finishing the "image" work, write a postcard message describing how you're spending this time at the place. Remember to mention what's best about the place, how long you're staying and how much you miss your classmates.

Thank you in advance!

The citizenship pocket manual

2009-11-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

Just outstanding!
Words fail me to describe the quality of such a great report issued by the Brazilian Veja Magazine on its issue # 2137.
Under the title of "Pequeno Manual de Civilidade", the report describes the little advantages of some underestimated virtues, along with analysis from famous sociological cientists.
I would like to recommend its reading to everyone, so all of us can get excellent explanations about important concepts such as honor, integrity, politeness, tolerance, self-control, honesty, among others, all of them so important for the making of a good citizen.
Don't miss it!

http://veja.abril.com.br/041109/pequeno-manual-civilidade-p-108.shtml

Class 559 Lake outdoors

2009-10-26T17:58:00.001-07:00

Class 559 Lake outdoors
Originally uploaded by carlos ortiz alt

There's a lot of runnning around the most adequate material in class preparation. We should remember that we can only search for second best - if lucky - for the very best material will always be provided by the students themselves.
All it takes is listen to their stories, call for their opinions, ask them to explain their thoughts. Once we've managed that, addaptation is the only thing that's left. By working with real material (the one that comes from the students), all we need is to direct them into using the new vocabulary or the grammar point that is being taught. And the results are really striking. They will remember everything more easily and participate on the debates much more actively.

Homework

2009-09-28T16:32:00.001-07:00

Homework
Originally uploaded by carlos ortiz alt

Web2.0, Chat Rooms, Skype, Posterous, Diigo, Blogger, RSS, Google Reader, Flickr... and more yet to come. Here I am, getting familiar with all these tools and this whole new universe - but for a very good cause!

Flickr

2009-09-28T07:38:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

A Great Lesson in Sociology

2009-09-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

This just had to come first. It's unforgettable!
Mrs. Rosângela Oliveira, who was my Sociology teacher in 2000, taught this class at the end of the term, and I managed to addapt it to ESL classes successfully.
At the very beginning of the class, you tell the students that they will have to keep their eyes closed for a few minutes. During this time, they can talk freely (just choose the subject). However, when told to open their eyes, they cannot speak at all. While students have their eyes closed, make a small mark on each student’s forehead with some watercolor. Mark three or four students with white, two or three with green, following the procedure with different colors according to the number of students and, finally, mark only one with black. Next, tell them that they will open their eyes and, right after that, they have to FORM GROUPS (say just these two words) using body language, gestures etc but they cannot say a word. Wait and see what happens: in a few minutes, they will have formed groups of students of the "same color"... The one with the black mark will be alone. They will probably be curious and excited about their groups...
This is the time when the teacher explains the goals of the class. First, when they were told to form groups, they didn’t have any specific instructions so, by instinct, they grouped themselves based on the color mark on their foreheads (you can talk about sense of equality, need for acceptance); next, the student with the black mark ended up alone (prejudice, racism, not accepting the difference). Finally, you have them in groups of 3 or 4 to have a debate on why these things are so common and what should be done to improve this situation in society.
In all the times I’ve done it, the results were nothing but great, giving students not only an opportunity to speak about important matters but also a chance to reflect upon such flaws on people’s behavior.

My personal view of the "Extra Mile"

2009-09-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

I've been a teacher of English for over twenty years. One can say you get plenty of experience through this time, especially when you get to really enjoy doing what you do. In an attempt to display the highlights of my "before-teaching" life, I'd thank my grandfather for having taught me the strongest citizenship and moral values; also, the time I spent in the Army is something I'll never regret, for it was then that I learned outsdanding guidelines in discipline and adequate behavior.
All that considered, and throughout my teaching career, I decided that I would put my energy and dedication not only on the language teaching job itself, but also on setting the best example of citizenship to all my students. Although one could easily tell me that it is not my job, the fact is that I have made it my job. I see my students as a person before a student, as a citizen before a 2nd language learner. Considering the fact that our students are surrounded by bad role models everywhere and all the time, I'd say I have to enter this game and fight back: I'll be the one to set a good example. And that is what I call "The Teacher's Extra Mile".