Expedition to Scotland

Our annual expedition to Scotland is approaching and once again we are in full speed of preparation… Places we will visit: 

Edinburgh 

is the capital city of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and the seat of the monarchy in Scotland. 

Edinburgh Castle

 is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since the Iron Age (2nd century AD), although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century. From the 15th century the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison. Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite Rising of 1745.

OLD TOWN and The Royal Mile

is the name given to streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan.  Together with the 18th-century New Town, it forms part of a protected UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE Site. 

Castle Rock 

a volcanic plug in the middle of Edinburgh. The rock is estimated to have risen some 350 million years ago.

Inverness 

is a city in the northern Scotiush Highlands.

The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising on 16 April 1746. The conflict was the last batle fought on British soil forever making Scotland part of the British Empire.

Cawdor Castle 

is set 16 km east of Inverness. The castle is built around a 15th-century tower house, with substantial additions in later centuries. 

Loch Ness 

is a large, deep, freshwater loch extending for approximately 37 km.  Loch Ness is best known for alleged sightings of the famous “Nessie”.

Urquhart Castle 

sits beside Loch Ness. The castle ruins date from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though built on the site of an early medieval fortification. Founded in the 13th century. 

And many many more.......

International Experience

Without a doubt keeping students interested in learning English and paying attention can be sometimes a bit of a challenge J hence, when opportunity arises that someone else can do the job I jump to the occasion.

Such occasion came up last month when our school was visited by a group of 25 or so students from Turkey. They were divided into 3 smaller groups and attended each of the classes. Immediately, it became obvious that the Czech students had a higher level of English than the Turkish students and some students worried about “how will they communicate” issue. I eagerly matched a Czech student with a Turkish student and asked them to find out 10 things about each other. Of course, I got questions “but how when they don’t know the words”… I smiled and said “Just try”.

Results: Fantastic! A bit of google translator, a pen and paper and 45 minutes went by in a flash. The students got their 10 facts and even managed to learn some Turkish words including some very important school items like bir kalem and kâğıt, or even otobüs, okul and their favorite ödev!

Thank you to our Turkish students for having the courage to talk to us….

 Great reason to use a phone in class - google translator (at least that is what they told me) 

Who said learning can't be fun- smile! 

Tomas is learning to pronounce Turkish words - should I add them to the next test? :-)

and a little bit of grammar....

Samual - determined to get the info....

To whip or not to whip- that is the question

Today I asked the students to tell me the difference between Czech Easter and American Easter. I assumed it was a semi important topic as there is a slight chance that such a questions might pop up on the maturita exam… oh and tomorrow is the first day of Easter holiday for the school.

Result: lots of “hmmmm’s”. So after 40 minutes of a discussion we came up with this:

We (Czech Republic)

• ·         Celebrate it on Monday (an extra free day is nice)
• ·         Color eggs (nice and fun for kids)
• ·         Eat eggs (not as much fun if you are eating them for a week after)
• ·         Whip girls (…hmmm…no comment on this)
• ·         Drink shots of vodka while visiting neighbors (…hmmm… I hope they don’t drive afterwards)

YOU (United States)

• ·         Celebrate on Sunday ( no extra free days)
• ·         Search for eggs (lots of extra work)
• ·         No eating of eggs (the ones left by Easter Bunny are plastic)
• ·         No whipping (probably a rule about harassment)
• ·         No drinking (it’s a Sunday and most states forbid the sale of alcohol)
• ·         Oh, there is the Easter Bunny who brings mini gifts and well… is imaginary…

So conclusion… The students will be more than glad to go whip some girls and drink on Monday rather than come to school! 

Happy Easter Holidays

Dream Big- Maserati GrandCabrio?

Recently, I've asked my students to write a short essay on “the advantages and disadvantages of going to school”. I mean after all, as a parent I know exactly why I send my kids to school: as soon as the kid leaves the house for school I ditch the business suits for a bathing suit and head for the water park, to return home in time to change clothes before the kids return. I need my free time, right?

Well… maybe there is more to it. After all (let’s exaggerate a bit), and imagine a well-meaning teacher complete with elbow-patched jacket who stands in front of the even rows of school chairs and desks… He attempts to be inspirational, encourages the students to dream bigger dreams and reach for the stars.

Dutifully, students begin to envision where they want to be. (Truth be told, most students envision when lunch break begin – but let’s still exaggerate.) Mental pictures of vacation homes and fancy cars dance in their minds. They start to believe: if you want big, just dream big.

WRONG

Let’s be honest… our head is positioned above our heart and although one doesn’t work without the other there is a reason why our head stands firmly on our shoulders.  And the student’s dreams and goals are not to be just imaginary visions or day dreams, but rather note-worthy goals set on intelligent collection of facts and knowledge acquired somewhere- life…? Yes, but school is part of life.

The school bell will ring for the final time in every student’s life, and the task of translating education into living will be thrown upon them. Their dreams and goals will be fulfilled not because they one day took few minute of their class time to day-dream about a nice red Maserati  but rather because they learned to communicate, work hard and well…know what they want and how to get it –( ok and maybe how to calculate a good loan for a Maserati GrandCabrio :-) ) .