Hi girls, how are you? How's your week going? Are you anxious for your finishing your career? =)
Today I want to share with you something that I experienced yesterday.
On Moday, during our Language Term - Test, I started having a severe sore throat. It was difficult for me to speak but I managed to say some things. After the test, I went back home and I had a private student for an hour. But, the problem was, that I was starting to lose my voice and, the following day, I had to teach a class at school for my Practicum. So, I began becoming really nervous but, specially, really frustrated since I am finishing with my Practicum and the use of my voice is MORE than ESSENTIAL!
So I took all the home - made medicine: Lemon juice, honey with oil and lemon juice, some vick vitapirena teas, EVERYTHING!
The following day (Tuesday) I had to teach. I didn't wake up feeling that well. But I still taught. I had planned a class in which I would show students half an hour of a movie for them to work on it. I had already booked the T.V., the DVD Player, the necessary cables and all. But, something HAD to go wrong with technology!!
First of all, I was given the remote control of the DVD Player with NO batteries!! And I didn't have any batteries myself! Then, the cables that connect the T.V. with the DVD Player apparently missed one cable, which was the one used to make the sound be heard.
Fortunately, I had brought my laptop to the class and some speakers. I had to have a Plan B.
However, I have 40 students in that class and, a laptop, is not enough for such an amount of students. So, not all of them were really capable of watching the movie. And what about my voice? I could almost NOT speak!! I had to ask for Nadya's help many times because my voice didn't want to respond to my commands and it was almost impossible for me to say anything. Fortunately, our students are absolutely great and they really behaved and made a huge effort to understand whatever I said and to be as silent as possible!! (I love those students, they're amazing, really!!)
After the class finished and when I went back home, (a little bit disappointed, by the way) I had lunch and then I took a nap. When I woke up, guess what happened? I had NO voice. I was really worried because I had to teach again the following day (that is, today) so I got up, and I went to the doctor. I was diagnosed with laryngitis and so I was prescribed to rest for five days. And I actually cried for being in that state, since these are supposed to be my very last lessons and for the last two weeks some negative things have happened (such as technology not wanting to work properly or my voice fading away).
So, imagine that you would have been in my situation, tell me, wouldn't you have been frustrated? Or annoyed? What would you have done in such a case?
Have a nice week and weekend!! Thanks for reading all my posts and sharing with me what you have to say in your posts!! You have been really great classmates!!! =)
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Saturday, 2 November 2013
The Most Emotive Thing I've Ever Seen!!!
Hi girls, how are you?
Today I had the need to write, before my feelings go away and then it is not the same anymore, he!
This week I happened to watch a video that a friend of a friend posted on her wall, since she has recently become a mom! What I experienced when I watched that video is something I cannot explain much with words!!!! That is why I'll let you have your own experience and then I'll tell you my conclusion, but, before you read, you HAVE TO WATCH the video!! You won't regret it, believe me!!! =)
Today I had the need to write, before my feelings go away and then it is not the same anymore, he!
This week I happened to watch a video that a friend of a friend posted on her wall, since she has recently become a mom! What I experienced when I watched that video is something I cannot explain much with words!!!! That is why I'll let you have your own experience and then I'll tell you my conclusion, but, before you read, you HAVE TO WATCH the video!! You won't regret it, believe me!!! =)
Isn't she cute? I've watched this video like 10 times and I don't get tired of it. Plus, everytime I watch it I cry over and over and over again.
Apart from the cute baby and her eyes full of tears, I couldn't help having one thought coming and going in my head: how amazing music is!
You all know that I love music and, yes, I know that I owe you singing a little bit for you. But, apart from that, it really calls my attention how music breaks all boundaries, barriers, languages, race, age! And here's the proof! This little girl was ten month old when recorded while she listened to her mom singing. Of course, her mom has a really beautiful voice! But, anyway, I think that many people have a beautiful voice and they do not make their babies cry out of emotion! Do they? In my opinion, this child has music in her blood, running in her veins.
If you pay attention, she is not crying because she is hungry; she is not crying because her diapers need to be changed; she is not crying because she fell and hurt herself somehow. She is, indeed, suffering but, her suffering is connected to how much she can feel that song, how much it gets her and there is how amazing music is.
I think that all of us have music in our veins, some of us more than some others. However, who does not listen to music when feeling sad, happy, upset, angry? I believe that we all do turn to music as a therapeutic resource.
So, what do you think about it? What does music do in your life?
Have a nice weekend!! =)
Monday, 28 October 2013
The End of the Road!
Hello girls! How are you doing today? How was your weekend?
Well, I took some time to write because, to be honest, I actually did not know what to write about. Nothing really interesting happened to me this previous week and I did not react towards anything, either, haha!!
But yesterday night something kept coming to my mind and so I decided to share that information with you. This something that kept coming was this fact that I'm less than a month away from finishing the career! When I realized about it I could not believe it! And, I started having flashbacks and recalling events and I could not help going like wow!! And asking myself: is this for real? Or am I dreaming?
For you to understand why I am so amazed, I'll tell you my story as regards this career:
I started studying the Teaching Training Programme in the year 2005 (long ago, right? ha!) I didn't sit for my entrancy test here at the IFDC, in fact, I was about to study in another province.
When I finished high school, I do not know how I convinced my parents to let me go and study English in San Juan. I had a sister living there. So in the summer, in February, I travelled to San Juan and stayed there for about three weeks. I attended the entrancy course and I sat for the exam, which was a qualifying exam. We were 100 students, more or less, and the ones who passed the exam at once were 20 (me included), the rest of the students had to sit for a make - up test. After I passed, I had to wait 20 days or so for classes to start, so I came back to San Luis. In those 20 days, I decided I did not want to study in another province (even when I had already looked for an apartment in San Juan and, well, that part of the story is a mess, let's skip it! haha!) and classes at the IFDC were about to start and I was accepted there. I had to present my entrancy exam certificate and I was not tested again. I started my classes just like any other first year student.
Unfortunately, I was not able to finish the career in turn because of many reasons. One of those reasons is that I started working (even though I never dropped my studies, I may have gone slower, but I never dropped the career). Another reason is that I sat for final exams and did not pass, and I sat again, and I didn't pass and that became an obstacle for me to keep on going.
In these 9 years (if we also count the year 2005) I went through many things, many feelings. I got angry because I couldn't progress; I got ashamed for not finishing when I had to and seeing all my classmates finishing before I did. I got depressed, since many times I did not believe in me and in my capacity to be an English Teacher. I got angry towards the Institution and for many years, the mere building of the IFDC made me feel really bad, until I could finally adopt a different attitude towards it all. And now I see myself on the edge of becoming an actual English Teacher, I see myself at the end of the road and, I cannot believe that is really true.
I may not be the best student, I may have not fulfilled all my assignments in time; there are still things that I consider hard to understand or overcome, things that I am not 100% positive about in relation to the language and to things we've been taught. But, regardless all those aspects and things mentioned, I think that my best virtue in relation to my studies was and is my perseverance. Even when last year I did not pass my Practicum (which brought me really down, since I was not having a good time in my life due to some family problems), somehow and, with the help and wise words of some people, I managed to continue attending lessons and to continue fighting for my degree.
So, we are there girls (most of us, and the rest of you as well!!) And it's something worth celebrating!!
Well, I took some time to write because, to be honest, I actually did not know what to write about. Nothing really interesting happened to me this previous week and I did not react towards anything, either, haha!!
But yesterday night something kept coming to my mind and so I decided to share that information with you. This something that kept coming was this fact that I'm less than a month away from finishing the career! When I realized about it I could not believe it! And, I started having flashbacks and recalling events and I could not help going like wow!! And asking myself: is this for real? Or am I dreaming?
For you to understand why I am so amazed, I'll tell you my story as regards this career:
I started studying the Teaching Training Programme in the year 2005 (long ago, right? ha!) I didn't sit for my entrancy test here at the IFDC, in fact, I was about to study in another province.
When I finished high school, I do not know how I convinced my parents to let me go and study English in San Juan. I had a sister living there. So in the summer, in February, I travelled to San Juan and stayed there for about three weeks. I attended the entrancy course and I sat for the exam, which was a qualifying exam. We were 100 students, more or less, and the ones who passed the exam at once were 20 (me included), the rest of the students had to sit for a make - up test. After I passed, I had to wait 20 days or so for classes to start, so I came back to San Luis. In those 20 days, I decided I did not want to study in another province (even when I had already looked for an apartment in San Juan and, well, that part of the story is a mess, let's skip it! haha!) and classes at the IFDC were about to start and I was accepted there. I had to present my entrancy exam certificate and I was not tested again. I started my classes just like any other first year student.
Unfortunately, I was not able to finish the career in turn because of many reasons. One of those reasons is that I started working (even though I never dropped my studies, I may have gone slower, but I never dropped the career). Another reason is that I sat for final exams and did not pass, and I sat again, and I didn't pass and that became an obstacle for me to keep on going.
In these 9 years (if we also count the year 2005) I went through many things, many feelings. I got angry because I couldn't progress; I got ashamed for not finishing when I had to and seeing all my classmates finishing before I did. I got depressed, since many times I did not believe in me and in my capacity to be an English Teacher. I got angry towards the Institution and for many years, the mere building of the IFDC made me feel really bad, until I could finally adopt a different attitude towards it all. And now I see myself on the edge of becoming an actual English Teacher, I see myself at the end of the road and, I cannot believe that is really true.
I may not be the best student, I may have not fulfilled all my assignments in time; there are still things that I consider hard to understand or overcome, things that I am not 100% positive about in relation to the language and to things we've been taught. But, regardless all those aspects and things mentioned, I think that my best virtue in relation to my studies was and is my perseverance. Even when last year I did not pass my Practicum (which brought me really down, since I was not having a good time in my life due to some family problems), somehow and, with the help and wise words of some people, I managed to continue attending lessons and to continue fighting for my degree.
So, we are there girls (most of us, and the rest of you as well!!) And it's something worth celebrating!!
Have a nice week!! =)
Sunday, 13 October 2013
The Victims of Insecurity
Good Morning everyone!!!
As I believe you've seen this week in the news, there had been a strong search for this girl Araceli who disappeared when she went out of her house for a job interview and never came back. The suppositions are many but there are some things that haven't been clarified yet.
Anyhow, this girl was found dead last Friday, 11th. Apparently she was strangled and the people who are investigating this criminal case still don't know whether she was raped or not.
Her case, as well as Ángeles case and many other more, where innocent, fragile and helpless women, adolescents, girls, children (most of them referring to the female sex) got me thinking in what a crazy society we are all living in.
I still cannot understand the minds of those criminals. I don't get this idea of them finding pleasure in kidnapping a girl and beating her to death or keeping her captive. I still do not understand the point for all that. How can those men (if they can actually be called "men", since, for me, they lack the dignity of such a title) be so perverted and twisted - minded so as to commit those crimes? How would their mothers feel when hearing that they have children whose lives are extremely immoral and who deserve a severe punishment for them to learn? Even though in this country, there are no severe and fair punishments for those outlaws.
I cannot imagine what Araceli, Ángeles and the rest of the victims of overuse of power might have felt when forced to be fallen apart from their families, their houses, and to "obey" the orders of this mentally ill men. It might have been really harsh for them to fight against their abusers and killers. Maybe they could not even have the strength to fight back and do something so as to escape and try to remain alive. It is absolutely unforgivable what these perverts have done and not even the Judicial Power has the necessary tools to provide the families of the victims at least some sort of peace. Who will bring those girls back to their families and back to life? Nobody, and that is just the saddest part of it all and what causes such anger towards how our Justice System functions.
I really want to believe that in the near future (if it is possible to say near future) there will be changes, positive changes, where homicides, rapists, perverts, paedophiles, etc will be fairly punished and will not be wandering freely in the street where they can attack again. I want to believe that good will prevail and that Justice will be plausible and tangible for us all. I want to believe that there will be a better world but, first, we should start by our own society, our country and visualize the changes in there.
As I believe you've seen this week in the news, there had been a strong search for this girl Araceli who disappeared when she went out of her house for a job interview and never came back. The suppositions are many but there are some things that haven't been clarified yet.
Anyhow, this girl was found dead last Friday, 11th. Apparently she was strangled and the people who are investigating this criminal case still don't know whether she was raped or not.
Her case, as well as Ángeles case and many other more, where innocent, fragile and helpless women, adolescents, girls, children (most of them referring to the female sex) got me thinking in what a crazy society we are all living in.
I still cannot understand the minds of those criminals. I don't get this idea of them finding pleasure in kidnapping a girl and beating her to death or keeping her captive. I still do not understand the point for all that. How can those men (if they can actually be called "men", since, for me, they lack the dignity of such a title) be so perverted and twisted - minded so as to commit those crimes? How would their mothers feel when hearing that they have children whose lives are extremely immoral and who deserve a severe punishment for them to learn? Even though in this country, there are no severe and fair punishments for those outlaws.
I cannot imagine what Araceli, Ángeles and the rest of the victims of overuse of power might have felt when forced to be fallen apart from their families, their houses, and to "obey" the orders of this mentally ill men. It might have been really harsh for them to fight against their abusers and killers. Maybe they could not even have the strength to fight back and do something so as to escape and try to remain alive. It is absolutely unforgivable what these perverts have done and not even the Judicial Power has the necessary tools to provide the families of the victims at least some sort of peace. Who will bring those girls back to their families and back to life? Nobody, and that is just the saddest part of it all and what causes such anger towards how our Justice System functions.
I really want to believe that in the near future (if it is possible to say near future) there will be changes, positive changes, where homicides, rapists, perverts, paedophiles, etc will be fairly punished and will not be wandering freely in the street where they can attack again. I want to believe that good will prevail and that Justice will be plausible and tangible for us all. I want to believe that there will be a better world but, first, we should start by our own society, our country and visualize the changes in there.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
An Extremely Touching Movie!
Happy weekend everyone!
The introduction of her class was by showing us a fragment of a movie. Of course, my classmates and I wanted to keep on watching the movie, since it seemed to be really interesting! That is what motivated me to search the net and try to watch the movie online.
When I watched the movie I couldn't stop thinking about some questions that kept coming to my mind, and one of them was: why are we, human beings, so prejudicial and so mean? Something else I kept on thinking was: why do we assume so firmly that someone who has a certain kind of desease or who is handicapped or suffers from special needs is incapable of succeeding in life? Why do we shut the doors for them?
My post today is going to be about a movie I saw the other day.
Since most of you know, I am attending the Practicum together with some of you, my classmates. In the theoretical classes, we have been dealing with the topic of children with special or different needs. For that reason, three different teachers have given us classes in order to explain us how to teach a subject to these children, which has been very interesting.
One of the teachers who shared with us her knowledge and wisdom is a teacher who also works at the Teaching Training Programme (but in another career). She gave us different definitions as regards the topic mentioned and, also, she talked about specific cases in which she has helped those children have a life as normal as possible.
The introduction of her class was by showing us a fragment of a movie. Of course, my classmates and I wanted to keep on watching the movie, since it seemed to be really interesting! That is what motivated me to search the net and try to watch the movie online.
The name of this breath-taking movie is "Front of the Class". After looking for it for about an hour and a half, I could finally find it on YouTube.
"Front of the Class" is a movie that talks about a true story of a guy, Brad Cohen, who suffers a desease: he has got "Tourette Syndrome". Maybe most of you do not know what that Syndrome is about, neither did I until I watched the movie. But, for you to have a clearer picture of it, it is a desease that affects the brain. In the case of the main character of the film, this desease causes him to make some strange noises with his mouth as well as have some tics on his body which he cannot control. The most astonishing thing about this man is that he knows for certain what he wants to do in his life, and here comes the main issue of the whole movie. Brad Cohen wants to be a teacher.
During the whole film, this man faces many prejudicial looks and he is, somehow, mistreated by society in general. He is seen as a "weirdo" and he is left aside, discriminated. He wants to teach in Primary School and spends a lot of time trying to get a job, going to interviews and waiting for phone calls. In every single interview he has to give explanations for his "funny noises" and talk about his Tourette, due to the fact that nobody understands how such a handicapped man could be possibly capable of teaching anything to children. Eventually, he succeeds and gets a job and some perspectives towards him get to be changed.
When I watched the movie I couldn't stop thinking about some questions that kept coming to my mind, and one of them was: why are we, human beings, so prejudicial and so mean? Something else I kept on thinking was: why do we assume so firmly that someone who has a certain kind of desease or who is handicapped or suffers from special needs is incapable of succeeding in life? Why do we shut the doors for them?
While I was watching "Front of the Class", in many occasions I dropped many tears and felt helpless. It made me angry to realize how insensitive we all are and how cruel we can be towards others who may even be better than us for the hard work and effort they put in their own lives so as to be someone and achieve their goals. Instead of discriminating them, we should learn from them. We should fight our own ghosts and we should try to knock down the obstacles we encounter in front of us and to do our best so as to obtain what we desire.
As a final reflection, I have to say that this very moving and spectacular movie made me see some things differently and encouraged me to stick my mind to the following thought: we cannot let anything, not even a desease, get in our way for us to achieve whatever it is we want to achieve in life!
Here I share with you some pictures from the movie and its official Trailer! I hope you enjoy it! =)
Sunday, 29 September 2013
The Performance!! =)
Hello everyone! How did your weekend go?
Well, if you remember, last Friday, my students had to perform the song "When you're Gone" from Avrile Lavigne at School "Paula Domínguez de Bazán".
The idea was for them to perform at around 10:30 in the morning. So, I decided to go to school earlier (even though I do not work on Fridays, but, it was a special occasion). I arrived at school at 9 a.m. and checked the Hall where students had to sing and tried to see which devices and elements I could count on for the performance. Fortunately, there were two microphones and the Projector so as to display the Power Point Presentation with the lyrics of the song.
Since one of the girls didn't want to sing, I gave her the task to be my assitant and to push play on the track when the girls sang, along with the Power Point Presentation. I looked for that girl for both of us to have everything ready for later in that morning. She had to find another computer to be able to display the PPP. In the meantime, I went upstairs and practised the song with the rest of my students for about twice or three times and then, I told them to go downstairs and get ready.
The Hall was full, a lot of students and teachers were there so as to see the different presentations carried out there. After about 20 minutes, it was my students' turn to sing. I had to introduce them and introduce myself as well. So I grabbed the microphone and I don't know how, but I could speak without being scared. Then, I called my students. They were all nervous and didn't want to go inside the Hall. Once they did and saw how many people there were there, they got even more nervous.
I could finally manage to make them go upstage and separated them a little bit because otherwise the PPP was not going to be seen by the audience.
Finally, the lights were switched off and the song started. Some students were demotivated because the students who were in the Hall were talking and the acoustics got lost because of it. But I encouraged them to continue singing.
The Final Outcome:
My students' performance was great!! I felt really proud of them! They followed all my guidelines and they sounded perfectly tuned! They didn't make any mistakes and even though their voices were a little bit low, they were homogeneous!! Some teachers told me that they sounded beautifully!!
But... The story does not end there...
After they finished singing and after the people's applause, my students didn't want to go downstage. I didn't know what was going on with them. They stood still were they were. And then, after a minute or two, to my surprise, the student who was my assitant went upstage and gave me a gorgeous bouquet representing the entire course!! I was astonished!! But I loved their gesture!! They were happy and I was happy as well!!
Here I share with you the picture that I took with my students and a picture of the beautiful bouquet they gave me!!
Well, if you remember, last Friday, my students had to perform the song "When you're Gone" from Avrile Lavigne at School "Paula Domínguez de Bazán".
The idea was for them to perform at around 10:30 in the morning. So, I decided to go to school earlier (even though I do not work on Fridays, but, it was a special occasion). I arrived at school at 9 a.m. and checked the Hall where students had to sing and tried to see which devices and elements I could count on for the performance. Fortunately, there were two microphones and the Projector so as to display the Power Point Presentation with the lyrics of the song.
Since one of the girls didn't want to sing, I gave her the task to be my assitant and to push play on the track when the girls sang, along with the Power Point Presentation. I looked for that girl for both of us to have everything ready for later in that morning. She had to find another computer to be able to display the PPP. In the meantime, I went upstairs and practised the song with the rest of my students for about twice or three times and then, I told them to go downstairs and get ready.
The Hall was full, a lot of students and teachers were there so as to see the different presentations carried out there. After about 20 minutes, it was my students' turn to sing. I had to introduce them and introduce myself as well. So I grabbed the microphone and I don't know how, but I could speak without being scared. Then, I called my students. They were all nervous and didn't want to go inside the Hall. Once they did and saw how many people there were there, they got even more nervous.
I could finally manage to make them go upstage and separated them a little bit because otherwise the PPP was not going to be seen by the audience.
Finally, the lights were switched off and the song started. Some students were demotivated because the students who were in the Hall were talking and the acoustics got lost because of it. But I encouraged them to continue singing.
The Final Outcome:
My students' performance was great!! I felt really proud of them! They followed all my guidelines and they sounded perfectly tuned! They didn't make any mistakes and even though their voices were a little bit low, they were homogeneous!! Some teachers told me that they sounded beautifully!!
But... The story does not end there...
After they finished singing and after the people's applause, my students didn't want to go downstage. I didn't know what was going on with them. They stood still were they were. And then, after a minute or two, to my surprise, the student who was my assitant went upstage and gave me a gorgeous bouquet representing the entire course!! I was astonished!! But I loved their gesture!! They were happy and I was happy as well!!
Here I share with you the picture that I took with my students and a picture of the beautiful bouquet they gave me!!
Saturday, 21 September 2013
A Song to be Performed =)
Hi everyone!! How are you??? Happy Spring's Day and Student's Day to all of you!!! =)
As many of you know, I'm working as an English Teacher at Paula Domínguez de Bazán School, Secondary School, in two courses, both are 5th Year. In this school they have a week (actually, three days) in which the different teachers of the three languages taught (English, Italian, French) present something with their students related to the languages studied. You can choose many of your courses to present something, or you can choose just one. In my case, I chose just one course and my idea was to present a song, since the theme this year is "Music Through Time".
Well, the song I chose is "When you're Gone" (actually, students chose it) from Avril Lavigne. It is a beautiful song and it is not that difficult. I taught my students the pronunciation of the words and we changed the pitch of the song since it was way too high for them. We've been rehearsing these weeks because we are presenting it with just the music, which is more challenging, since they have to know when to start singing. It sounds really well, so far.
But, here's the thing: last Thursday, after classes, I started to get a little nervous! We have to present the song next Friday to the whole school and people in general who go to the school and see the students' presentations. I became nervous and anxious because I am the one who has to be even more aware of when the students have to start singing and I have to direct them and even though it's a nice thing we are doing, it is also a little bit overwhelming, haha!!
So, wish me luck for next Friday and, if you're interested, I will tell you about the outcome of the Performance!!!
Here I publish the song, for you to listen to it!! =)
As many of you know, I'm working as an English Teacher at Paula Domínguez de Bazán School, Secondary School, in two courses, both are 5th Year. In this school they have a week (actually, three days) in which the different teachers of the three languages taught (English, Italian, French) present something with their students related to the languages studied. You can choose many of your courses to present something, or you can choose just one. In my case, I chose just one course and my idea was to present a song, since the theme this year is "Music Through Time".
Well, the song I chose is "When you're Gone" (actually, students chose it) from Avril Lavigne. It is a beautiful song and it is not that difficult. I taught my students the pronunciation of the words and we changed the pitch of the song since it was way too high for them. We've been rehearsing these weeks because we are presenting it with just the music, which is more challenging, since they have to know when to start singing. It sounds really well, so far.
But, here's the thing: last Thursday, after classes, I started to get a little nervous! We have to present the song next Friday to the whole school and people in general who go to the school and see the students' presentations. I became nervous and anxious because I am the one who has to be even more aware of when the students have to start singing and I have to direct them and even though it's a nice thing we are doing, it is also a little bit overwhelming, haha!!
So, wish me luck for next Friday and, if you're interested, I will tell you about the outcome of the Performance!!!
Here I publish the song, for you to listen to it!! =)
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