Barcelona Littleshell

Last Saturday I gave a talk at the  APAC ELT Convention 2019 in Barcelona  Thank you everybody for coming! :=) I made a point that we are all political either by action or by inaction, and I promised I would share some resources to deal with current issues in the class and encourage students to participate.  In the link (attention! it is case-sensitive and it is cc underline ) bit.ly/cc_APAC2019 you will find three folders:  General  Name pairs - to be cut - Give a name or surname to each student at random so that they work with different partner each time - customize as you wish. [Idea taken from Mario Rinvolucri] Pres. Card-  sample of a card to fill in on the first day - swap with a partner and ask questions International Days  Worksheets - resources to be used   November - Buy Nothing Day - [date changes every year] Relate to Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Blue Monday December 10 -   International Human ...

Come to my talk at the APAC ELT Convention 2019 in Barcelona  on Saturday 2nd February 12.45   - Campus Ciutadella, Universitat Pompeu Fabra -  Aula 40012 -  See my next post for resources shared at the talk “Man is by nature a political animal” said Aristotle. Everyone is political for action or for inaction. How can we bring political issues in the classroom without compromising our position as teachers and educators? We usually encourage our students to participate in class and by that we mean: have a say, do your homework, ask questions. Anyone may participate, but most students often do not, because participation requires training. Participation implies getting involved in the decision-making process and encourages a sense of personal and social responsibility. Those who are not interested or ignore issues are actually political in the sense that they let others choose the course of action and lead the group; in other words,...

Some time ago I attended a talk about blogging by Paco Elvira, a professional photographer from Barcelona, whose blog you can see here . Having wanted to write all my life and always finding other more urgent things to do, that talk was inspiring. I am at my most productive when I have deadlines to meet, I thought. What if I set myself some and made myself meet them? You are welcome to contribute to this blog in any of the languages I will write in. Why English? English is not my native language but my relationship with it started at an early age, maybe six. I went to a modern school and my first English teacher was young, had brown curly hair and wore metal glasses. So much I remember, and that his teaching us finished when he went to do his military service at El Aaiun when that African town was still part of Spain. After that, when I moved to my second primary school at the age of ten, they taught French but I somehow managed to keep my English active by attending private or semi...