the questions is: to teach or not to teach?

Some weeks ago I started preparing everything to teach my first graders things related to HALLOWEEN. They were extremely enthusiastic about the topic and they were waiting for the day to come. Finally, on October the 31st, we designed some cards that students ornamented with drawings of bats, witches, goblins and ghosts. They also designed pumpkin lanterns made of orange cardboards and decorated the borad with them.

We were all so enthusiatic. My students really enjoyed the tales I told them and then they made spectacular drawings illustrating them.
When we were drawing one student came and told me with dissapointment: "Teacher, I LOOVVVEEEEE Halloween with all my heart but my mom says I won´t celebrate it because it is not part of our culture".

Well, we all know Halloween is not part of our culture but, if it is a great excuse to teach tales, vocabulary and many other things then, what's the problem with it?
If we take a second to reflect, there are many things that are not part of our culture and we still take them.
Besides, I think we as teacher should teach not only the language  but also the culture and I believe our students should be aware of different customs in different parts of the world. That's does not mean being disloyal to our country as many people believe.

Sometimes there are people that seem to be close-minded and, in a certain way, I can see their point since Argentinians have a "special" negative conception about the English language (which of couRSE I don't share) because of historial issues. People should learn that Halloween is actually a Celtic tradition celebrated ALL AROUND THE WORLD and that, if that serves as an excuse to teach and learn, LONG LIVE HALLOWEEN! :)

glimmer of hope...

Last week I came across a piece of news that set me thinking about the families of people who remain in a comma for many years. I would like you to read it and see if you share my point or not... 

Crash victim wakes up after 20 years in a coma

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• Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
• The Guardian, Wednesday 9 July 2003 02.39 BST

An Arkansas man who went into a coma after a serious car crash during his late teens has awoken nearly two decades later as a middle-aged man with an adult daughter.

Terry Wallis was 19 and newly married with a baby daughter when his truck plunged through a guard rail, falling 25 feet.

He was left paralysed and in a coma by the crash in the summer of 1984. One of his companions was killed outright.

He remained outwardly unresponsive for years, and news reports yesterday described his recovery as all the more remarkable because Mr Wallis was never given specialist care.

His father, a farmer, was reportedly too poor to afford a neurological examination and state medical insurance was reluctant to pay for a man not expected to return to the work force.

But, according to the popular legend now taking root which promises to turn Mr Wallis into a hero for the pro-life movement, the family never gave up hope.

His parents and wife continued to hold one-sided conversations at his bedside, and brought him home from hospital on alternate weekends. Doctors now believe the stimulation kept his mind functioning.

A few years ago, he began re sponding to questions by blinking his eyes.

Three weeks ago, he spoke for the first time calling out for his mother.

"He just said, 'Mom'," his mother, Angilee Wallis, told CNN. "I like to fell over."

Since then, Mr Wallis's powers of speech have slowly returned, and he has been able to tell his family that he remembers snatches of the conversation from around his bedside.

However, his speech remains laboured, he has problems with short-term memory, and his entire frame of thinking is stuck in 1984, the year Ronald Reagan was elected to a second term as president, and Mr Wallis had his life-changing crash.

It really makes me happy to think that this fortunate man was able to wake up after being so many years in a coma however, my point is: these pieces of news shouldn't be spread out. Why? Well, imagine you have a relative in a comma but he/she hasn't any chances to wake up at all (and doctors tell you so but you don't seem to believe them and are optimistic about the future), what media actually does by spreading this is to give hope to those who live a pessimistic reality. One should be conscious that waking up from a comma is not a usual situation. I understand that people want other people to know about the case because it is absolutely unbelievable but I am against the spreading of this type of publications. I'm sorry if it sounds rough but that is how I feel every time I read something like this. 

taken from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jul/09/usa.suzannegoldenberg 

be pessimistic!

Many people tell me I am wrong and they do not agree with me at any point. But this is what I think.

                Imagine you are waiting for something very important to happen. For example, you are waiting to be told the results of the scholarship you applied for. The organizers are going to call you to tell you whether you were selected to travel to England or not.  What should you think in my opinion? Well, I think it is better to think negatively: “I´m not the one who will be selected, I won’t travel because I´m not really sure of my conditions, etc. etc. etc.)”.

So, what you might be wondering is: what for? Why should I be so pessimistic?

Well basically because if you are told you were not selected, it is as if you had prepared yourself for that response in advance and, therefore, you do not feel that bad!

Now, what happens if you are told you won and you are the one going to travel to England? Wouldn’t you be extremely happy and much more surprised? I think you would.

This is my theory and it has always worked for me! Now, what about you? Are you pessimist? Does it work for you?

For me, it does J 

A "salty" post

                Last night I heard there is a new kind of “law” or something like that, that forbids the owners of restaurants, bars and the like to put the salt shaker on the table. Apparently the reason of this decision is that people tend to add more salt to their meals and that some of them even do it before testing the food.  

                Of course I understand the reason, and I agree with the fact that adding too much salt to your food is absolutely unhealthy. However, can you think of eating salad without salt? What about “asado”? Some foods change their flavor completely if you don’t add salt. I know that, if in a restaurant, you ask any member of the staff serving at table to bring you the salt shaker, they will. Nevertheless, what bothers me in a way is the fact the THEY decide for you.  

                What I would say to authorities or to whoever created that regulation is:

“Thank you very much! I really appreciate your taking care of me and my health, but I am the one deciding on my life. I am absolutely conscious of the disadvantages and dangers of eating too much salt (I actually don’t eat much, really) but it is I who want to decide and what I decide is not to eat tasteless pieces of food. If you want to take care of people’s lives, teach them about the problems that consuming too much salt can bring, but do not take salt away from our food.” THANK YOU! J

To my mum :P

There is a saying that expresses the idea that if a man wants to know how his girlfriend will be like when they marry, he has to observe and pay special attention to the attitudes of his girlfriend’s mum.  In that way, he would know what to expect from his being not single any longer. Supposing this idea has something of a truth, it could be said that it is, in a way, predisposing a woman to be like her mother and, therefore, influencing the person’s behavior and attitudes.
“Oh! You are exactly like your mom!” “You resemble her so much that when I heard you say that, I thought they were your mum’s words.” (Haven’t you ever heard that?)
Well, I think there are two ways in which a girl can develop her personality when coming to adulthood and, especially, when having her own children. Either she tries (conscious or unconsciously) to imitate her mother and tries to keep in mind all the things she has taught her, or she creates an enormous gap between the way her mother is like and the way she is like.
What has happened to me is that I used to tell myself: “I will never do this or the other in the way my mum does” (this was usually thought when I got angry). However I shouldn’t have said “never”. There are many times in which I find myself using words which are characteristic of my mum’s vocabulary and, sometimes, I even behave like her and solve situations in the same way she would solve them.
 I think this happens, not because she is my mum or because there is a saying which says so but because I have been educated by her. I believe that, unconsciously and inevitably, when you live with someone, you start borrowing some gestures, ideas and attitudes of that person (call it mum, friend, boyfriend). Haven’t you ever met a couple that shares the same ideas, likes the same things and hate the same things as well? Well, I think it is because of that.
          So, my point is: never say “I will never do that in the way my mum does” because, believe me, you end up doing it! :P

And, to finish, some pictures of my mum and I J 

before 

  If she ever gets to know I uploaded that picture, she kills me! 

Four years ago

Say I LOVE YOU instead of GOODBYE

            This week I  saw a movie (whose title I don’t remember because it was one of those movies played at TELEFE) that set me thinking about an aspect of life I had not paid attention to before and that changed my viewpoint completely.       

         The movie was about a couple that had been arguing for economic reasons. They were finding it hard to come to an agreement and, consequently, the man decided to go for a walk in order to refresh his mind, take some air, and make his thoughts clear. The woman shouted very angrily at him while he was leaving home.  -She regretted those words for her entire life-   

             It was a rainy day. The man, jogging over the edge of a river, suddenly slipped in the wet ground and hit his head with a stone. He remained lying unconscious by the river for the whole day. Some hours later, police officers found him there and took him immediately to hospital where doctors told his wife he was in coma. He never awoke again.       

           What I learned from the movie is that I have to make sure my boyfriend leaves home knowing perfectly well that I LOVE HIM.           

     You can be really angry and you may want to say terrible things to the person you love, but, just before saying those terrible things which you know will hurt him, try to think that those can be the last words he hears from you. So, the reflection I got to after watching the movie is: never say I hate you (unless you really hate someone and you don’t care whether that person is dead or alive– it’s a joke, of course, you shouldn’t hate anybody -). Never say hurtful words. Instead, make sure your loved ones know you love them. Take a minute to kiss them and tell them how much you appreciate having them by your side. Do this with your mom, as well. Nothing will happen to you if you stop for a minute and tell her: MOM, I LOVE YOU.             

   SAY I LOVE YOU INSTEAD OF GOODBYE.

LOVE U GIRLS :) 

What is happening to us?

          

  

 Last night I went to the supermarket to buy some things I needed to make a cake (yes! me about to make a cake, awkward, isn’t it?). Well, as hard as it may seem, I was there, shopping and pretending to be the perfect housewife who compares prices at the supermarket gondola shelves and who knows exactly what is best and for what.

When I left the supermarket, I walked back home and, on my way, I witnessed something which: scared me in the first place, and set me thinking about our society.  

                I saw three boys (they were not older than my 12-year-old sister) running out of a drugstore. Right after them, the shop’s owner came out of the place. Of course the woman could not follow them since she couldn’t leave the store. The poor lady was crying and her cry resembled impotence more than fear.  The boys had stolen some sweets and some drinks (not much if we think about money and the cost of the objects, but a lot if we think of what they were doing at their age). I felt helpless.

                That night I couldn’t stop thinking of what it is that WE as a society, as a community, as human beings are doing wrong. Who is to blame for those children?  Is it government?, is it parents?, is it us?

                I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of guilt and shame for those little boys. I am about to become a teacher, and, when I saw those children I thought and imagined they could be my students.

                I really feel something should be done. I think some policies should be made to control the situation and to provide all children with their rights. Children like those should be at home, with their parents, preparing to go to school, being cared for, having a shower, having dinner; they shouldn’t be in the street, stealing. Many things came to my mind and now I’m wrapped in the feeling of guilt and shame.

 WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US? Where is our sense of prosperity, our sense of future? What can we do? Where do we start? For the time being, I will start by teaching my students not just English.

Overprotected

When an alligator wants to cross a lake and wants to protect her offspring during the crossing, she carries it in her mouth. However, if the animal feels hungry during the process, she eats the baby. 

This is what actually happens with parents sometimes. There are moments in which they want to protect their children so much that they end up "eating" them. 

Sadly, there are some children (and I've seen this with my students) who do not even have their own opinion. They are extremely and forcely attached to the opinion of their parents. 

I think parents should take care of their children but giving them enough space as to think, speak, act, and feel by themselves. They should give their children the opportunity to develop their OWN IDENTITY which might not have any similarity with theirs. They should understand that loving someone means being together and accompanying that person during the good and bad moments of his life. It does not mean deciding or influencing that person's feelings. 

There are times in which I've met parents who even answer questions I have asked to their children. 

ME: "Juanita, do you like going to the movies?"

JUANITA'S MUM: "Yes, she loves it" 

ME:  -.- 

JUANITA: Well, I like it because mummy says it is really fun.

I know I will have my own children eventually, and I strongly hope I can be the kind of mother who teaches her child to be him/herself. I want to be the kind of mother who teaches her son to act accordingly to what his heart tells. I hope I can be the kind of mother who understands that her child is not a continuation of her own feelings and desires but that he can think differently and dream about other dreams different from those of his mother.

I hope, I hope, I hope.

I hope I can be a good mother and protect my children without "eating" them.

and this is what happened...

Well people, look at the picture and it will explain what happened with the mother of my student this week... 

ha ha ha, No, I'm not serious, of course...

What really happened was that I explained to her that she shouldn't be so demanding... She didn't agree and told me that her child should study hard and that how could it be possible that she got an 8 if she had spent almost the whole night studying    :O

Poor Pili, I really feel pity for her..

Anyway, the kind conversation ended with me telling the woman that I would make Pilar feel I am ABSOLUTELY proud of her and that she never dissapoints me at all....On the contrary, I am proud of her 8!! 

If only people knew how strongly they can influence their child with their expectations (which are sometimes linked to their own and personal desires rather than their children's), I'm sure they would change many of them. It would be extremely sad if a child spends his/her entire life trying to fulfill not his expectations but someone else's.
How many times do you hear someone saying he wants to be a lawyer only because his dad is one? Well, that's what I mean.  Parents should let their children be themselves and, most importantly, think by themselves.

I hope this mother understands this point soon, otherwise his poor little child will pay the price of being the daughter of a frustated person who sets in her child goals that are not actually hers.

fan of the 10s

Just in case you don't know me, I have to mention I've been teaching English in a primary school for a year and a half. Most of the experiences I have had till now were really gratifying. However, this week, I had to experience something that made me feel speechless (as hard as it may sound).

I was giving back some test my 3rd grade students had taken a week before while I was walking around the classroom. When I finished handing them out, I stood at the front of the classroom again when I saw Pilar (a brilliant,respectful, and lovely student) crying desperately. When I asked her what had happened she told me her mom would be really mad at her 8.50 

Imagine my face... I didn't know how to console that poor little thing and, at the same time, I didn't know how to explain her that her mom was an absolutely ....................... woman (fill in the blank with the word that you think suits this woman better).    

I felt bad, sad, speechless. I could see my student's worry and she really looked pale. 

I got so angry I wrote a note to her mom telling her to come and talk to me -that talk will be next week-. So I've been thinking of all the things I want to tell her and to EXPLAIN her very respectfully :) 

If you want to know what I told her... you will have to read my next week's post. 

:P see u

Just do it.

“Steve Jobs never graduated from college”. Wow! That’s surprising, isn’t it? But who said only those who graduate are the ones who have all the knowledge? Is it that only a degree can prove and reflect your proficiency and your competence? Well, not really. Without getting a degree Steve Jobs could still amaze us all by changing significantly and amazingly our technological lives. Anyway, that is not what called my attention the most about his talk. What truly made an impression on me was the idea that many times we experience different situations in life and we are not truly aware of what the significance of those experiences is. How many times have we found ourselves doing things and not knowing the ‘what for?’ I think that we, human beings, are always looking for a reason. It seems we don’t do anything if we don’t get a reward (and it necessarily needs to be within a short term). We always need an explanation. We always need to connect the present to the future, and I think it is there where we fail since we won’t always find the connection. There is not always a ‘because’. Think of this for just a moment: we can perfectly do things without having the need to see their point , we can just act. What's the problem with it? I think there is nothing wrong because, as Steve Jobs says, we will find the connection, we will eventually find the answer to the ‘what for’ but, when we do, we’ll find it looking backwards, not forwards. That is why I fully agree with him on his idea of following our heart and doing what we think is good. There will come a day in which we’ll realize that everything we did, was worth doing.

Based on Steve Job’s talk: How to live before you Die. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

:)