IN Magazine January 2015 by IATEFL Slovenia

IATEFL Slovenia Magazine Winter issue 2015, no. 63

in Win TW

! n o d ! n n o o L d n v o i L t v e i l t z i le i i iz oddlilčičnn a 12, 1000 Ljubljana Twin, Zemljemerska ulic 1025, 040 187 830 080 20, 28 280 01 : Tel. www.twintur.com e-pošta: twin@siol.net,

Večkrat sem brska la po vaši spletni str ani, bila do nedavnega še zastarela, s progra a je mi izpred let, ko sem še sama spremljala uč ence v VB. Danes pa sem na d prenovitvijo navd ušena! Svetovala bi vsem uč encem, dijakom (ki še niso potovali s Twinom) in njihovim staršem, naj se za tovrstno izkušnjo čimprej odločijo. Re s je, da takšno po tovanjenajvečji* V Sloveniji organizator potovanj oz. tečaj nekaj sta neta, a je vredno vsavke VBga za vp šolsko mladino. Že od l. 1995! lačan ega centa. Investicij znanje (pa av naj bodijaki * učenci, in aj učitelji 183 slovenskih to teč jezika ali zgolj spšol oznavanje dežel so že nami – Veliko Britanijo med e, potovali njenih zna vad inskoraj kultuvsak re) konec je edine letom obiščemo naložba, šolskim ki se sp lača. LONDONA Sama sem tedna. Obisk je zauč mnoge ence (kot učitelj sprem ljevalec) sp rem nepozabno doživetje – z nami je lja la dvanajstkrat, pa mi je žal, da nis potovanjeem varno, poučno in začzanesljivo, ela že pre j. Kdor ima rad anglešči no, je Pridružite seno nam. Svoje učence zabavno! učence pot v nje ma tičvsaj no10 deželo neizbežna. Kospremljate že pri že pri vsaj 10 pa te debrezplačno žela premami, ko vzl njeno kulturo in udeležencih. Ponudite svojim jubiš blagozvočnost jezika učencem/dijakom »angleško izkušnjo«, izkušnjo«, , se vedno znova vra čaš. Tojejebrez kotVas ljune bebi bilo! zen . Sedaj sem v po koju, najbolj kiod m r.co vsega pa pogrešam intu tovanja z učenci. Ni : twin@siol.net • www.tw po5 • 040 187 830 • e-pošta lepšega kot poslušat : 01 280 28 20 • 080 102 Tel. • vd i nana uše blja ne Lju 0 sta 100 rše, ko jim njihovi otr TWin Poljanska cesta 22 oci ob vrnitvi iz VB po prihodu še do ker jim pripovedujej lgo v noč ne dajo spati, o o svojih izkušnjah. Turistična agencija TWIN se s kulturno-izobraževalnimi potovanji ukvarja že 18. leto. da, da ne obstajajo programi za starejše. ŠkoKer v Veliko Britanijo potujemo pogosteje kot večina ostalih slovenskih organizatorjev LP

potovanj, ponujamo odlično in preverjeno izvedbo. Naše cene tudi že vključujejo javni prevoz in obvezne vstopnine. Cene so odvisne predvsem od termina odhoda in vaše fleksibilnosti pri odhodu.

Pavla Štepic, Zagorje

ob Savi.

Zakaj s Twin-om v London: 1. 2.

cen dobaviteljev, goriva, manjšega števila prijavljenih ali drugih razlogov v drobnem tisku.

Pogosti in redni, zagotovljeni odhodi v London. Twin organizira šolska potovanja v London že 18 let, v povprečju imamo na mesec vsaj 3 zagotovljene odhode v London. Odlično vodstvo. Pri Twinu se zavedamo, da je odlično poznavanje običajev in turističnih znamenitosti Londončanov le prvi korak k odlični izvedbi. Naši vodniki imajo dolgoletne izkušnje pri vodenju šolske mladine, zato odlično poznajo vse sestavine programa, saj jih sami pripravljajo. Tudi zato je vodenje/izvedba toliko bolj fleksibilna glede na želje skupine. Naj še omenimo, da boste v Sloveniji težko našli vodnike, ki v London vodijo tako pogosto kot Twinovi vodniki. Nastanitev, ki presega običajno turistično kategorijo. Pri Twinu se zavedamo, da je dober spanec pomembna sestavina izleta. Vsi naši hoteli so hoteli s 3* in pri večini udeležencev presežejo njihova pričakovanja. Kot specialist za London lahko zagotovimo vsaj en bogat angleški zajtrk (običajnih zajtrki v Londonu so skromni kontinentalni).

4. Nikoli naknadno ne spreminjamo pogojev. Naša cena je vedno

znana že ob prijavi in se nikoli ne spremeni zaradi spremembe

5. Vedno ponudimo kakšno dodatno storitev – brezplačno. S pro-

gram zagotavljamo minimalni obseg storitev oz. ogledov, vendar nikoli ne izvedemo samo minimalnega obsega – vedno, pri vsaki skupini dodamo nekaj posebnega, kar ni zapisano v programu. Prav tako v naših programih nikoli ne zapišemo “če bo čas dopuščal”, kajti vse naše programe vedno v celoti izvedemo. In ker si London zelo pogosto ogledujemo, poznamo tudi optimalno zaporedje ogledov brez nepotrebnega hitenja.

Vsaj 183 osnovnih in srednjih šol je že potovalo z nami. Več kot 50 šol potuje vsaj enkrat povprečno na vsaki 2 leti. Če želite neobvezujoče vzpostaviti stik z organizatorjem na eni od šol, ki je že potovala z nami, vam bomo z veseljem posredovali kontakt.

7. Ponujamo 4-dnevni program, kjer je zajamčeno potreben le en dan izostanka od pouka.

Več informacij na www.twintur.com ali na brezplačnem telefonu 080 1025 ali v poslovalnici na Zemljemerski ulici 12 v Ljubjani.

To be up-to-date with what is going on, visit our website: www.iatefl.si

IATEFL Slovenia Magazine Vol. 15, No 63, Winter issue 2014 Published by: IATEFL Slovenia, p. p. 1677, 1001 Ljubljana Email: info@iatefl.si www.iatefl.si tel: 041 907065 IATEFL Slovenia President: Lea Sobočan Vice president: Sandra Vida IN editor: Mojca Oblak Language editor: Oliver Sims Printed by: Design Studio, d.o.o. Graphics: Petra Turk Articles, letters and other contributions should be addressed to IATEFL, p. p. 1677, 1001 Ljubljana Email: info@iatefl.si

Dear readers, Time really flies, doesn't it? We are already half way through the school year! Our students are getting their mid-year marks and we teachers are getting bags under our eyes.  Tiredness is kicking in and there’s no shame in feeling overworked in these stressful times. This issue of IN offers you some fresh ideas on how to bring English closer to your students in a fun and different way. You can catch a glimpse of what it’s like teaching English to the blind, and the insights of a first-time conference goer. In this issue we are also sharing some of the stories from this year’s 8th-grade English competition. Reading them will offer a glimpse into our students' vivid imagination and rich language. To stay on track and give our students all that they deserve, teachers sometimes need to stop and take a deep breath; to relax, unwind, see things from another perspective and perhaps learn something new. We have the perfect solution for you: our 22nd International IATEFL Slovenia conference is approaching fast. Join us from 5 to 8 March at Terme Topolšica and dive into a pool of ideas – literally!

IATEFL Slovenia Board Members: Janja Čolić Nataša Meh Mojca Oblak Doroteja Podgrajšek Lea Sobočan Sandra Vida Front-page photo: Boris Oblak ISSN 1855-6833

We’re looking forward to seeing you there! Mojca Oblak, IN editor

Teaching English to the Blind by Doroteja Podgrajšek ..........................................................................................................................

Sunny Poland in September by Mija Selič ..........................................................................................................................................

Time for a Change by Nataša Meh ....................................................................................................................................................

International IATEFL Slovenia Conference 2015 ...............................................................................................................................

Outside the Classroom by Danny Singh . . ........................................................................................................................................... 10 A Lesson in Your Pocket by Danny Singh ........................................................................................................................................... 13 The »WOW – effect« stories (8th Grade Competition) ......................................................................................................................... 14 IATEFL Saturdays by Tadeja Helena Andoljšek ................................................................................................................................... 16 Ivy Smith ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 A Review and an Activity (or three) English for the Zombie Apocalypse, by Lindsay Clandfield and Robert Campbell Published by The Round by Lea Sobočan ............................................................................ 18

To be up-to-date with what is going on, visit our website: www.iatefl.si

Teaching English to the Blind by Doroteja Podgrajšek There is absolutely no reason why a blind person should not learn English as a foreign language. Listening and speaking skills, for example, have rarely been a problem in my experience of working with the blind. In fact their listening skills have generally been somewhat better than average, possibly as a result of their disability. As far as speaking goes, one of my blind students performed particularly well during the shows we put on as part of our English theatre group or when staging short plays for one of our school projects. It almost seemed that while other students were merely reading their lines, she had already memorised them, which can perhaps be seen as a case of memory compensating for the visual disability. It has to be said, however, that a teacher of visually handicapped students has to be extra careful when pronouncing words and sentences in the classroom. And he or she also has to be aware of the various degrees of blindness: the student may have some vision left which might enable him or her to see certain contrasts or stronger colours, for example. In my experience, one of my blind students, who has 5% of her sight remaining, can follow a movie to a certain degree if she puts her face close to the screen, while the other student is not able to see anything at all, so most films seem like a waste of time to her unless she has a special aide sitting alongside her describing the visual elements of the plot along the way. All of the visual clues in our coursebooks, workbooks and other teaching aids thus have to be converted into a verbal descriptive form, so that the student is able to tackle the tasks successfully. When explaining the concept of colours, for example, I remember using an analogy to sound and different wavelengths to make things a little bit clearer. The main challenge begins when working with reading and writing skills. But here too we have tools at our disposal, the Braille writer being one of them. One noticeable difference between a Braille writer and a normal keypad is that a Braille writer may have as few as seven keys, one for each dot of a sixdot Braille cell plus a space key. It has to be said that it is quite time-consuming attempting to convert a longer text into this format, so for this reason lessons (especially reading) and all kinds of tests or competitions should be planned well ahead. The Braille display is another vital tool. Braille displays are hardware that enable users to read in Braille the text displayed 4

on a computer screen. Using this device, blind people can navigate through the computer’s desktop, create and edit documents, and browse the internet. At this point I would like to express my thanks to the publisher which provides us with our coursebooks, as they were kind enough to send us the electronic version of the coursebook so we were able to adapt it for the Braille display, and then eventually the Slovene Association for the Blind and the Visually Impaired produced proper paper coursebooks re-typed into Braille, which certainly makes it more of a level playing field for the blind students. The second key tool blind students use is the JAWS (job access with speech) software. This is a screen-reader for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse. JAWS provides speech (audio) and Braille output for the most common applications on the personal computer (on-line dictionaries being one of them). It is actually difficult to imagine this kind of teaching and learning without the use of modern technology. Another example of this is data storage. All of the relevant documents and texts in electronic form can be stored in a Dropbox account, for example, and this makes it easier for students, parents and teachers alike to have access to any relevant information at any time. Language is linear and as such it is presentable to the blind in a learner-friendly way, so I would say that learning foreign languages is one of the areas of knowledge where the blind should be able to do well and even excel. At this point let’s let my two visually handicapped students have their say in this short interview I conducted with them: Teacher: How would you compare your current school with the lessons at the Association for the Blind and the Visually Impaired? Did you have any English lessons there and if so, what were they like? Student 1: It’s really different. Here it’s much better for me. The teachers are friendlier here and other people too. But we did have English lessons at the Association for the Blind and the Visually Impaired too, and I liked them. I remember when we started to talk about family members at our new school. The teacher brought in dolls, one for each member of the family. I think we learned faster, because we had more imagination, but I’m not sure. That’s just my opinion.

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Student 2: In my opinion my current school is great. I learnt some English at the Association for the Blind and the Visually Impaired when I was younger, but it was more like a game and wasn’t obligatory, and then I had English again in 4th grade but didn’t do very well. My grades were quite low. Teacher: Describe your first English lessons at your current school and what caused you the most problems and who helped you the most? Student 1: My first English lesson at this school was great. We talked about ourselves, for example how old we were, what our names were and so on. I didn’t have any big problems. I only had some trouble with writing. My biggest helper was my mom, but I think one of my big helpers was time too. Student 2: I remember being very confused during my first English lesson, because the teacher at my old school was using a different coursebook and I think the curriculum was also quite different. I struggled with the vocabulary from the 4th grade. It was mostly unfamiliar to me. I would say I got the most help from my new English teacher and my councillor from the Association for the Blind and the Visually Impaired. Teacher: How do you learn English outside the classroom? Do you have access to the internet, books and so on? Student 1: For learning English I don’t often use the internet. If I don’t know a word, I just ask somebody for its meaning. I learn a lot of English by singing, too. I have to know the words in the texts I’m singing, so I often ask for a translation of them. Student 2: As far as the notes, homework assignments and other similar things are concerned, I can access everything through Dropbox. I also need internet access. At school I normally use the coursebooks in Braille and I take them home if I need them for my homework. The materials are also available in PDF, but I am not very good at using this format. If there are words that I need translating I can use a dictionary, like Pons for example. Teacher: Describe your most positive experience about learning English here. Student 1: I really like the English lessons this year, because we’ve started to talk in English all the time. I find I learn a lot when I talk. Student 2: There have been so many it would be difficult to name only one. The most interesting for me are the language games that we occasionally play. Teacher: How do the classmates and the teachers treat you? How was it at the beginning? Student 1: I think teachers treat me the same way as the rest

of the students. Well, I have special adjustments, but the things I do, I have to do as well as the others. I remember the first day when I got to this school. It seems like yesterday. My classmates were fascinated by me. I suppose they had a lot of respect for me. They wanted to know everything about blindness and about me too. Now I’m just a normal student for them, but they are still aware that I need help so they help me whenever I need it. Student 2: My relationship with the teachers is quite good. I have to admit to making a few mistakes, but I hope that there aren’t any feelings of resentment. I also get on reasonably well with my classmates. When I first arrived at my new school I had to work hard on my personality, because the situation (and no offence to anyone) at the Association for the Blind and the Visually Impaired can be pretty damaging sometimes. One could tell that I used to be in a class with two boys and one girl and after that, in the 4th grade, with three boys who were all older than me! Teacher: What would you recommend to other blind or visually impaired students who want to go to a regular state school? Student 1: They have to be confident and listen to their own instincts, no matter what other people say. They have to take it easy. In short, don’t worry, be happy and live your life the way you feel. Student 2: I would tell them not to expect too much and not to think they’re going to fit in immediately. But it all depends on the individual, of course. I would definitely recommend going to an ordinary state school such as this one. Teacher: Finally, what are your plans and wishes for the future and do they include English or other languages as well? Student 1: My biggest wish is to become a singer or an actress. Maybe you might think it’s stupid or impossible, but everything is possible when you believe in it. I want to move to the USA, so I’ll need to know a lot of English. If I become a singer (and I hope I do) I think I’ll sing all my songs in English or French, because I don’t like Slovenian very much and I’m not ashamed to admit it! I love learning languages and I’d like to learn French too, because I think it’s really important to know more than one foreign language. Student 2: I’d rather not talk about my plans at the moment, because they are still pretty vague. I guess I’ll go to a grammar school. It all depends on the grades I get here. Teacher: Thank you both for your answers and good luck in the future. Finally, here are a couple of useful links where visually handicapped students can get some further language practice: http://www.dictationsonline.com/ http://www.spokenenglish.org/talkbr01.html

To be up-to-date with what is going on, visit our website: www.iatefl.si

Sunny Poland in September by Mija Selič Almost straight after the wettest summer vacation on the Croatian coast arrived an IATEFL invitation to all members: ‘Why not attend the Poland IATEFL Conference? We’ll help with the financing!’

turning the city map in all directions trying to make some sense of it). But the focus of my world here would be the conference venue. Even though the language around me was mostly Polish, the responses to me were in English. But of course!

I replied to the email thinking, ‘As a first-year member of IATEFL Slovenia, I probably won’t qualify...’. But I was wrong: they were happy to accept me and I was really on for an adventure. On my own. No children attached! And so it came to pass: the four-and-a-half-hour ride to Vienna, the night spent on a sleeping car to Warsaw, the tight squeeze on the train to Lublin… And never-ending nie rozumiem from every single Polish person on my way, from the lady at the information desk to the shop assistant. My Slavonic language proved to be very helpful in those encounters!

The beginning of the opening ceremony was, in truth, a bit of a disappointment. Well, at least for the first half hour, when the speaker welcomed and congratulated the organisers and some important local celebrities in Polish. True, I got the gist of it (my Slavonic language proving itself again), but when the whole audience laughed on one or another occasion, the blank expression on my face and my confused smile proved I was lost in Polish immersion.

Arriving on Thursday left me enough time to explore the town a bit. Apart from the beautiful park, which was immaculate (even the British would be envious), nothing was much different from Slovene towns: greyish, dirty-yellowish and brownish houses with the unmistakable touch of Communist architecture. The flowers hanging from the balconies were trying very hard to brighten the spirit; the drizzling weather, however, made their efforts in vain. But a huge caffè latte and the fact that I was free to do whatever I wanted made my saunter pleasant and kept my tiredness at bay. The city centre itself was not too busy. The most crowded places seemed to be McDonald’s and KFC – how very different!

But after that the fun would begin.... Well, nearly! Being the only Slovene and knowing nobody left me somewhat isolated from the rest at first. I stood awkwardly in the middle of the happy get-together party, pretending to be deeply involved in reading the brochure!

The new day broke in sunshine and the clear sky lasted all through the weekend. Not very typical of Poland, I was told. Nobody complained, though – as long as it was sunny and hot…

Luckily the first speaker was on shortly after the opening ceremony. The ‘one and only’ – as he was presented to us by the Polish organisers – Ken Lackman, Celebrity No. 1 at Lublin 2014. And his speech was great. He was really into a new way of teaching reading, and his grasp of this was impressive. Even though my field of expertise is teaching young learners, even very young learners, I could easily find direct links to teaching them in what he was saying. I had some of my own materials with me and wanted to discuss them with Mr Lackman, so when the session ended I plucked up the courage and approached ‘the one and only’, half expecting to be ignored.

The conference started at 1 p.m., so I had time to repeat the stroll through the park and the city centre. The sun had turned some of the dull and colourless façades into brighter shades of yellow and the flowers had finally managed to do their job. And some of the people seemed to have discovered their hidden language knowledge, asking me in English if I needed any help (after seeing me

I was totally taken aback when he friendlily suggested having a chat with me after he had collected all the mess from the session. For a second, which I thought lasted for ages, I could not utter a word. In the end everything went really well. He was very interested in the material and asked for some specific information about the approach to teaching young learners reading

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and writing. He even suggested I should present the material in Manchester 2015… Later at the conference there were many sessions on foreign language learning, but I mostly attended those focusing on kindergarten or primary school teaching. There was one live lesson with seven-year-olds that I attended. Considering the circumstances, Maria Ogonowska and the children did an excellent job drawing a monster through storytelling. Anna Lesinska-Gazicka then demonstrated various teaching aids for very young learners. She believed they could be effectively used in a classroom with three-year-olds, though many of the participants who had their own kindergarten classes thought that the tasks might be difficult with groups of more than four three-year-old children. Later we were motivated to try out a few games, competing in pairs or groups of four using the materials presented, with the winners supposedly to be rewarded with a free sample thereof. I was one of the winners, but when it was time to collect my prize at the stand, the party had already gone, leaving only their e-contact behind. Thanks! There was also a session about a very interesting and effective approach to learning with young children in groups, very close to CLIL, which could also be easily tailored to cooperative learning. Agnieszka Kruszynska focused it on developing learners’ independence through various activities. One of the few sessions that I attended which focused on students rather than young children was the one held by Hugh Dellar, who discussed a bottom-up approach to learning grammar with a special focus on collocation and colligation. While Hugh applied the methods to teaching students, the bottom-up approach to learning grammar, or the so-called lexical approach, can also apply to young learners. With some adaptation and modification, of course. Another interesting session was that on ‘structured drama’ led by David Fisher. Read a story first and then try to put it on stage; introduce the main characters and focus on the dialogues that are important…. Well this is totally what structured drama is not about! When talking about structured drama we deal only with ‘hotseating’, still pictures and characters on the wall. In other words – improvisation. Breaks were filled with talking shop. They mostly focused on the never-satisfyingly-answered question ‘How do we put all

those ideas into practice with all the red tape which seems to be our bosses’ priority?’ Another interesting topic was what the non-Slavonic teachers had found in common when they started teaching in Slavonic countries. This was the fact that no student was willing to speak or ask questions during the lessons. We (the Slavs) believed it was because in the strict Communist regime, asking questions was unheard of and was even considered an insult to a teacher, implying his or her lack of clarity. Apart from the interesting sessions, there was another thing that really made me feel these IATEFL conferences are well worth visiting, if only just as a participant. Never mind the ‘celebrities’, they are full of very friendly and open human beings. The organisers whom I had contact with, Marta Bujakowska and Anna Rogalewicz-Gałucka, were great hosts. They invited me to dinner with all the other representatives from other countries. Despite the slight inconvenience when the table was full of food but no plates and cutlery were yet available, the get-together ended up in cheerful laughter and full stomachs. To sum up the whole event, I can say that the sessions I attended were great. They enriched me with plenty of new practical ideas. Very comforting was the feeling that after the first few sessions I attended, I was never alone anymore. Partly because I engaged myself in every discussion and partly because I didn’t forget to mention I came from Slovenia. ‘Wow, Slovenia!’ was the usual response, on a few occasions continued with ‘Where is that again?’… The sessions went on until Sunday, when I had to leave the conference early in order to catch the train back home. But not before I had my last amusing encounter with a Polish taxi driver. Knowing that the Polish generally do not speak English, I made a nice sketch of a train with ‘15.00’ next to it. I also performed a rather authentic imitation of a train sound. But nothing could enlighten the taxi driver as to what I actually wanted. His nie rozumiem was repeated over and over again. I finally gave up and called a Polish colleague who was standing nearby and asked her for translation. In the end I was not late for my 15.26 train to Warsaw, and then another night in a sleeping car, and then a five-hour ride to Celje… And I would happily do it all over again!

To be up-to-date with what is going on, visit our website: www.iatefl.si

Time for a Change by Nataša Meh I’ve been a teacher for a few years now, but lately I’ve been feeling it was time for a change. I wasn’t thinking about changing my career, I just needed something more. Joining IATEFL Slovenia and getting more actively involved was just the challenge I needed. The first weekend in October was the first time I’d visited Hungary and also when I attended my first IATEFL conference. Appropriately, the title of the 24th IATEFL Hungary conference was ‘English for a Change’. As was mentioned in the official brochure, English today is at the centre of our rapidly changing world. The language itself is changing through globalisation and technological advancements. Our students are exposed to the English language from an early age and new technology is becoming more and more accessible to them and also to us teachers. How do all these changes affect us teachers and ELT professionals? I was looking forward to getting some new insight into the matter. I myself am a fan of gadgets. I admit I can hardly imagine my life without my smart phone or my tablet. But on the way to Veszprem (the town where the conference was held), I can honestly say we should have used an old-fashioned road map. Four Slovenian teachers of English were driving on the Hungarian highway. Blindly trusting the GPS system, we were following the instructions when all of a sudden the pleasant female voice announced, ‘Stop the vehicle and board the ferry’. Our eyes widened and the conversation came to an abrupt stop. It was 10 o’clock in the evening as we arrived at the empty ticket booth for the ferry that crosses Lake Balaton twice a day. Not the best way to start our Hungarian adventure, but after only a half-an-hour delay we arrived safely in the lovely university town of Veszprem. I spent Friday morning browsing through the programme, highlighting the workshops and the plenaries I was planning to attend and experiencing the familiar tingling feeling in my stomach that I get every time I am really excited about something. When we arrived at the venue I was a bit afraid I might feel out of place not knowing anyone, but I was pleasantly surprised by the warm atmosphere and the friendly people. One thing that I found different from the usual seminars I attend was actually getting to know the presenters. I found it refreshing that after being impressed by someone at a workshop, I could actually sit next to them at another workshop and exchange ideas and opinions. I was also very impressed by the Slovenian team – Nina Jerončič, Lea Sobočan and Sandra Vida all held amazing workshops attended by plenty of people. Nina showed me how I 8

could spice lessons up using ‘memes’ (images, videos, bits of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that are copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations), and after a month of having fun using the meme generator, I can honestly say that my students are looking forward to the next witty image or catchy phrase. In her workshop, Lea reassured me that even low-level students are able to produce short texts with the help of technology and various apps. And Sandra’s workshop on Sunday morning was all about music, which did not come as a surprise after hearing her at the Saturday karaoke night! Philip Saxon led a workshop on the ‘Six Thinking Hats’, which is a powerful, flexible concept that can be applied to role plays, process writing or project planning. What this means is that while planning a project or having a discussion, thinking aloud must strictly be separated into six distinct roles. Students are given roles and they must talk accordingly: the white hat calls for information and facts, the yellow hat is the optimist and looks for the positive ideas, the black hat signifies caution and critical thinking, the red hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition, the green hat focuses on creativity and new ideas, and last but not least the blue hat is used to manage the thinking process. During the practical part we had some problems choosing the roles, and I would say that in the ESL classroom it’s probably safer if the teacher does that. It was easy enough to choose the role that suits your character best, but at the same time it was challenging to debate a topic from a point of view that is completely out of your character. During the workshop I was secretly watching the other teachers and got the feeling that they too were contemplating using this idea in their next speaking lesson! Rakesh Banot is an interesting speaker and impressed me with his positive energy. Thanks to him I wrote my first haiku during the evening haiku competition, and in a half-hour workshop he made me think about something that has been bothering me for some time. The thing I fear most in my classroom is the silence, and in some classes that means that I do most of the talking. Rakesh suggested dOING iT tHE oTHER wAY (DITOW). He reminded me not to be afraid to let go of the teacher’s control and not to feel uncomfortable if my students were not talking. So how has this conference changed me? I think that for me the most memorable quote was that learning is change and that we never stop learning. And what about now? Well, I am sure I will adopt the changes, adapt them to suit me and my style of teaching, and by doing that will hopefully improve my teaching. With this in mind I cannot wait for the upcoming IATEFL Slovenia conference at the beginning of March with the title ‘Adopt, Adapt, Improve’, where I will be able to greet some of the people I met in Hungary and most definitely make new friends, learn many new things and have as much fun as I had in Hungary.

International IATEFL Slovenia Conference 2015 5th to 8th March 2015 Terme Topolšica Adopt, adapt, improve Beat that winter blues! Do something for yourself, for your profession, for your body and your soul! Join us at our 22nd International IATEFL Slovenia conference in March and take part in the plenary in the swimming pool, more than 60 workshops, a pub quiz and publishers' exhibition with lots of pleasant surprises for everyone. You will have the pleasure of listening to a past TESOL president, the IATEFL Acting Vice President, one of the most loved Slovenian teacher trainers, a fantastic Pilgrims teacher trainer, the flipped soul of SOL, the inspirational haiku author and many more. All details are on our website and FB page.

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Outside the Classroom by Danny Singh Danny Singh, born and raised in London, but now based in Rome, gives creative English language lessons and teacher training courses all over Italy and abroad. He also offers stimulating monthly presentations on language related issues at Rome’s biggest international bookshop and is visible on web TV www.inmagicartwebtv.eu with a series of interactive English video lessons. He regularly attends Pilgrims TT summer courses as a Guest Speaker. Website: www.laughnlearn.net e-mail: singh_danny@hotmail.com

Menu • Why outside the classroom? • The first lesson • A noisy pub • We’ve missed the plane • What students want • Conclusion

Why outside the classroom? Like many of the best things in life, it was almost a series of fortuitous circumstances which contrived to lead to what is now my most popular and in-demand English course. I had been leading a successful course in a cultural centre at 9pm in the evening, where we had a decent enough space to do my laughnlearn activities, English through the mind and the body, doing laughter exercises, grammar exercises, pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary, role-play and much more all through the body, combined with multi-sensorial activities, helping students to become more aware of their individual senses and how they worked. I had students coming from various parts of Rome, specifically for that course, and not just any language course! However, the chairman of the cultural centre declared that he wanted “an English course where students didn’t laugh”. This left me no option but to move on, as it would go completely against my principles, but moreover, asking people to do lessons until 10.30pm and return home by public transport, while looking miserable is not something I would wish on anybody. 10

While contemplating how and where I would find another location, I met another teacher, Stefano Roganti, a young Italian man, who asked me if I was interested in working with him. I often receive requests of this nature, largely based on the fact that I am positive and successful, as opposed to an interest in my methodology. When I then ask these people what they have in mind, they often have no idea. In this case, Stefano seemed far more creative and dynamic. He had some ideas, but there was something else nagging me. He wasn’t a mother-tongue teacher, would it be a problem? My prejudices told me it would, but I allowed his enthusiasm to win me over and decided we had nothing to lose by giving it a go. I told him about my recent experience in the cultural centre and how we needed to find another location. His reply was very clear. We don’t have a classroom, so we’ll do the lesson outside the classroom! Outside the classroom? What exactly do you mean? He proceeded to recount his recent experiences at a summer school in the UK, where he had not only been allowed, but indeed encouraged, to take his students out of the classroom, into the town centre to try out several activities, interviewing people in the street, visiting museums, shops etc. I could see where he was coming from and more importantly, I could see where we were going! We brainstormed a list of places where we could theoretically hold our lessons. Naturally, we would have to check out a lot of places in advance to see what the pros and cons were, assessing the noise levels and comfort of different locations, not to mention keeping an eye on the weather. It would be an experiment and we would “learn by doing”, which became our slogan for the courses. After a lot of thought and planning, we began our first English outside the classroom course! The first lesson Of all the lessons we did outside the classroom, the first one was without doubt, one of the most memorable. As part of the promotional campaign, and as we knew we would be learning hands on, we decided to give them two hour lessons, instead of ninety minutes, all at an extremely low price. In our pre-lesson research, Stefano had found a wine bar, which had a special offer on Wednesday afternoons, the day of our lessons. For the first hour, we could taste various local wines from the Lazio region and we also received some small snacks to munch on. This was completely free and was a special promotion, as we would have to pay for food and wine there, on any other occasion. It was settled that we would begin the lesson there, so students would loosen up

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with the taste of wine on their tongues, while we did some getting to know you activities. On my journey around Rome, I had found an art gallery which was literally five minutes from the wine bar. There were various exhibitions which you had to pay for, but also a couple of free ones. I checked out one of the free ones and saw what I have to say, were some of the worst paintings I had ever seen in my life. Despite this, there were lots of colours, so I somehow managed to create some stimulating questions to test the students’ multi-sensorial skills, linking the pictures to music and sounds. Importantly, the closing time of the exhibition was at the end of our lesson! Perfect! What could go wrong?

What had seemed like a simple way of passing the time with no real linguistic benefit, turned out to be one of the greatest discoveries of all time! Thanks to these students, I learned something which I possibly knew, but had failed to take note of. Men adore their football team more than their favourite woman and the feeling of ecstasy when their team scores a goal is second to none! What my students observed was that as the English team came close to scoring, all the English men rose from their chairs and made the same sound, ohhhhhhhhh! This contrasts with the Italian men who made a slightly different sound when their team came close, ahhhhhhhhhh! This tells us something about the importance of sounds in language, as opposed to the simple translation of words to express meaning!

We gathered the students together for the first lesson, took them to the wine bar and encouraged them to taste as much wine as possible, while we gave them instructions. Initially, it seemed to be going well, although later, a strange man came and sat at our table, as there were few vacant tables left. He appeared to be an established drinker and spoke like one too. I told him that we were doing an English lesson and that if he talked in Italian, our students would not respond. Naturally, he then started talking in a strange alcoholic English, which we ourselves had trouble understanding.

We’ve missed the plane As these courses became successful and we became more assured in dealing with the situations that arose, we decided to offer lessons outside the classroom in the UK too. This makes sense, as there are even more opportunities to practice English in an English speaking environment. We did several courses in the UK, predominantly in London, but also in other smaller towns nearby. They met with varying degrees of success and satisfaction, both on our part and that of the students.

We somehow got our activities done and decided after a while that it was time to go to the exhibition. When we arrived at the gallery, we had a shock! We were told that that exhibition was now closed for the day, as nobody appeared to be looking at those pictures, so the security man had been sent home. I could not believe it, after all the time I had spent preparing with those bloody awful paintings, but more to the point, we now had a problem. More than an hour to deal with eight students, high on wine! Plan B! Be flexible and adapt to the situation! So we found an area in a noisy street, with the colosseum visible in the distance and I proceeded to do some of my laughnlearn activities there and then! Laughter exercises, grammar and pronunciation, through the body. The students enjoyed it, remembered most of the language that we had input into the lesson and we had done a decent enough lesson, although it didn’t quite go the way we had planned. A noisy pub We have done an array of memorable lessons, but one that sticks in the mind is the following. Those of you who have read my article, Let’s make love in English, may recall the events at a pub, which I recount in that article. Just to remind you, the lesson was almost finished, however, the Champions League matches were about to start, and about seven different TV volumes were turned up full blast at the same time. The noise was deafening! Conversation was out of the question! I kept calm and told the students to walk around, look carefully at the different people, observe and meet me and Stefano outside the pub. I had no idea what observations they would make, it was just an idea that came into my head and it would pass the time.

The most successful trip we did to London in terms of student satisfaction, was almost a disaster. When we decided to meet students at the airport, there was always at least one person in the group who would have everyone waiting on tenterhooks. As a consequence, we were always on edge and rushing everyone to the gate as fast as possible. On this occasion however, every single student was on time. This perhaps tells you something about the people in the group! For the first time, I felt far more relaxed and got them to do getting to know you activities. One of them asked me about the gate! Don’t worry, I replied, we have lots of time to spare! Eventually we arrived at the gate, knowing from previous experience, having taken the same plane several times before, that it would take off at least twenty minutes late, but we got there half an hour before, more than sufficient. To our immense horror, the lady standing at the gate started shouting at us, claiming that an announcement had been made indicating that our place would be taking off twenty minutes early, and that we were too late. There were ten of us and not one had heard the announcement! Is that possible? I doubt it. We all had hand luggage only, so the plane had decided to take off without us! We all stood there aghast! Stefano, I and our eight students. One woman started screaming and arguing with her husband, others were shouting at the lady who said she was going for a coffee break, others were in deep silence! I wanted to cry, give up teaching, become a bank manager and live life as a normal person! Well, for no longer than ten minutes, anyway! We went back to the airline, got our tickets changed for a later plane and paid the difference, 80euro each! We

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then sat down, as we had six hours to spare. Stefano had done his bit in not panicking and knowing exactly what to do when you’ve missed a plane! Did he have previous experience in this, I wonder? It was now my turn to get them in a positive mood again, so I tried to convince them how lucky we had been, getting a seat for only 80euro each. The plane might have crashed, we might have been sitting with terrorists. In addition to the psychology, there was a language element here, which if we hadn’t experienced this situation, would never have occurred. I had enough time to teach it to them and I did! When you all return home on Monday, your friends will ask you how your trip to London went. You won’t say, it was OK. You will begin with, well, you won’t believe what happened, but... Before we had even reached the gate for the second time, they seemed happy again. It was a weekend, where both Stefano and I worked furiously, bearing in mind the disaster, which in part, was of our own making. At the end of the course, when we asked them for feedback, every single student said, excellent, something which had never happened before on any of our previous English trips, where we had always caught the plane on time. In case you are wondering, not even one of the students asked for the 80euro back for the ticket change! What students want By now, you’ve probably understood many of the benefits of teaching and learning outside the classroom, however, it is quite easy to fall into the pattern of making life easy, both for yourself and the students. You find a nice pub, where the staff are pleasant, the prices are good, the seats are comfortable. Why should you go anywhere else? Why not do all your lessons there? Good service after all deserves your custom! When I find a place that offers quality service, I’ll make a habit of taking different students there, or maybe going there twice during the same course, but not every lesson. If you do that, students lose their fear, teachers lose their fear and the lesson becomes predictable. The great thing about this course, is that you need to have at least three or four plans and that you are never 100% certain what will happen! This means that you as a teacher are learning all the time and what could be better?

The proof of this fear factor, as illustrated in another of my recent articles, Outside the comfort zone, is that when students are asked which activity they dislike or fear of all the things I ask them to do, the reply is often the same! No, it’s not laughter yoga, it’s far worse! Most students dislike having to interview people in the street. It’s something that they wouldn’t dream of doing, even in their own language, let alone in English! However, when you ask them which activities they believe are most beneficial to their language learning, the response is overwhelming! Interviewing people in the street. They are practicing the most basic and common form of language communication. It not only changes their approach to language learning, but to communication in general. Stefano has since returned to the Marche region of Italy, where he hails from and I am left to continue the Outside the classroom lessons alone. This brings me back to an earlier point. Why don’t I find another colleague to replace him? After all, doing the course with someone, has far more advantages I’ve discovered, than doing it alone! The fact that he is not a mother-tongue speaker was not a hindrance, indeed, in some areas it was a benefit, as he could observe things from another perspective, as an “ex-learner” of the language himself. I have known many mother-tongue teachers over the years, who are so fixed in their ways and lacking in desire to try anything new or which demands responsibility, that I am very selective as to who I choose to work with! The fact of being a non-mother-tongue is in no way a detriment, as a language learner, my only concern would be the question of pronunciation! I have found that despite not being a native Italian, my presentation and public speaking skills in Italian are far greater than that of most Italians that I have come across. The question is not my or their knowledge of Italian, but the way in which it is expressed. A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to take my students to a famous art shop, where we could examine decent paintings, photos and posters and discuss them. I arrived a few minutes early as usual, just to survey the situation, when I discovered that the art shop had closed down. Oh dear! Plan B time!

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Before I had a chance to put Plan B into action, I discovered that a new shop had opened nearby, an interesting Danish shop that sells all kinds of strange things and has the names written in English! Perfect! So, I took my students there and they were more than happy! Deciding where to take students is something that you evaluate as you get to know your students. You know if they are happy to spend money on food and drinks, if they insist on eating, if they are open-minded and wanting to experiment, or just following the course by chance! There are some places where I have only ever taken one group of students, other places where I have taken most of them. You get to know their tastes and wants and you try to balance that with some discomfort, what they need! Conclusion Teaching outside the classroom began almost by accident and may seem strange as a concept. The evidence shows us however, that the worst place to learn a language is indeed, in the classroom. I have done Outside the classroom courses in Italy, the UK and Slovenia so far, and in reality, it can be done more or less anywhere, if you have any kind of creativity. Both my students, my colleague and friend Stefano and I myself, have learned so much from this kind of teaching, much of which I have tried to illustrate here. To teach effectively in this way, you need to be well organised and prepared, but more importantly, you need to be flexible and able to adapt to all situations. Some of the best learning has taken place during a Plan B activity, or when there appears to be a difficulty or crisis! Outside the classroom and outside the comfort zone is the most effective way of learning. No two courses are identical, as all students are different and those needs must be taken into account, so the courses are interesting and varied. The difficult situations which often occur, reflect the idea that learning is not just what happens at school, but life itself!

A Lesson in Your Pocket by Danny Singh This simple and easy to use activity essentially gets students moving around the classroom, as well as getting to know each other. It came from Hania K. (Pilgrims teacher trainer and editor of hltmag) back in the summer of 2005, during an afternoon workshop on the university campus in Canterbury. What a memory I have and what a summer that was, in more ways than one!! Basically, one student approaches another and asks basic questions to find two things that they have in common. Do you like football? Can you swim? Once the two things in common have been found, the student makes a note of that student's name, then moves on to another student and repeats the process, until he/she has spoken to everyone. However, you cannot use the same things in common with more than one student. The larger the group, the more exciting this activity gets. I tried it in Madrid in October, the very first time that I tried using Laughter Yoga in a lesson and after the 15minutes of LY with a group of 35 tired-looking students, the students were totally re-energised and revitalised!

I would like to thank Stefano Roganti for the important part he has played in this Outside the classroom journey and for the continued friendship and inspiration he continues to provide.

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The »WOW – effect« stories (8th Grade Competition) At this year's national competition, the eight-graders were asked to write about an imaginary holiday – a traditional Slovenian Thanksgiving. They had to think about the origin of the holiday, the way Slovenians celebrate it, about the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, etc. They did such a great job we decided to publish some of the stories which made us go »WOW«! And don't forget – these were written by 8th grade students!

Slovenians erican Thanksgiving, buttany floods Am in ns igi or its s ha ich no the rivers if there are a holiday in Slovenia wh Slovenian Thanksgivingenist reason. On Thanksgiving, we give our thanksertodisasters like fires and earthquakes. celebrate it for a differnk to the nature in general if there aren't any oth're celebrating it are big floods that that year. We also thaholiday is a rather touching one – the reason weuntless people lost their beloved homes. The story behind this a couple of years ago. Rivers went wild and co use the rivers took everything they had. happened in Slovenia kids and they were absolutely desperate beca ve their lives. Therefore, we celebrate usually Many of them had littled to escape like the bats out of hell in order to sa On Thanksgiving, peoplear their homes d. re cu ha oc s o od als flo m ng the ini of y ru ne Man ing« every year since the who don't have any riverdus ring the week, the »Slovenian Thanksgiver and pray for a year without floods. Peoplefis on that day or even gather at the nearest rivives or friends. A custom is also not to eat any behlieve that the rivers get angry if we take usually join their relatr is supposed to be fish-free. It's because people ng that lots of people also do is arranging so a traditional dinne dinner is usually meat with some vegetables. A thi their fish away, so the the place by the rivers. ceremonies really work. the all if ow kn n't do I t ay with a nice purpose, bu be any floods in the future. n't wo re I think it's a nice holidur the pe ho I d an t is brigh Anyway, I think its fut e

giving is only celebrated in Many people believe that Thanks celebrate it too. In the 15th America. But in Slovenia, we s robbing and raiding countless century the king of Turkey wa However, there was a small villages and cities in Slovenia. they just couldn't reach. But village in the west of Slovenia ved out of that area, the village when the Austrian soldiers mo t d. The king of Turkey saw tha became unprotected and expose ian diers to raid the Sloven as an opportunity and sent sol a small group of people hid village. Many villagers died, but hungry soon and they started in a castle on the hill. They got found a hidden compartment to argue. But luckily, the priest room was full of cooked in the basement of the castle. The Lord because they were saved. pork. The villagers thanked the celebrate this as a holiday. Nowadays, people in Slovenia ke a festival in their city The tradition is that people ma songs. They also eat a lot of and sing traditional Slovenian e in God they also pray. Those cooked pork and if they believ venian Thanksgiving dinner. who celebrate at home, eat a Slo American version, consists of This dinner, to differ from the her than turkey. I think that cooked pork and vegetables, rat at and should be celebrated Slovenian Thanksgiving is gre ether. Unfortunately, I do because it brings the family tog in the future because it is not think it will be celebrated already dying out. 14

Today is the Thanksgiving in Slovenia. Since it is a lit bit different from the tle Am er ica write about it. The holiday n version, I decided to issues with poverty and hu was made up due to huge Slovenian Parliam passenger in Slovenia. The d the act to finan the Thanksgiving dinneenr tfor the lower paying clace sses. On the day of the celebratio – the soldiers who ght forn, we remember the Partizans Slovenia's freedom. We visit their graves anfou g traditional patrioti There are also somedofsinold c carrols. Partizan- themed pla the theatres. ys in The official Thankg ng din ner is also a little different. We eat beef soup wiivi th no od les pasta. For the main dish we or different kinds of oven baked and glazed aft have stuffed reindeer meat, er it's done. Ad wine, children and no n-alcoholics tea. ults drink For the dessert, gr as make potica (nut roll) or more modern spiritanchdm oc olate fudge cake with mous a mascarpone and powdered se, day's morning, we usually cocoa on top. On the next and orange juice for an en have cooked eggs with thyme ergy boost. In my opinion, the holiday poverty and hunger, furthe is an excellent way for solving rmore, it helps people reme our ancestors that fought for ber our state pays a part of it is us. In addition, the fact that holiday will evolve through definitely a big plus. I hope the countries and help their inh Slovenia and even into other abitants respect their ancesto rs.

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Some would as the one Amsaery our Thanksgiving is the sa the case. Our th ica celebrates but that is n me anks are given to ot president a he sa ved Slovenia frothe newest it had been sdro m the crisis wning in. We celebra of the Presidteentht'is holiday by standing in fr »Thank you« an s house holding up signs saont d chanting bits o speech. f his liberatiyinngg Later that d It could seemay,quthe traditional dinner takes Slovenians appreite offensive to some, but u place. part of the nerciate it very much. The m s ain is pork. It symbo the previouds in li ze s p th o e li ti pigs ci a ns were. The po heavily spiced a rk is u n su d ally sm a ll details are add one of them bein ed , g ev a sy m b ol. Baked potato ery also an imp es are some vegetaobrtleasnt factor. Some also like to add o n to the p the meat and po tatoes. late, but most stick to I like this h the Presidenotliwdahy a lot because it is a salute a cosy life again o made it possible for us to to going far into th . I think the celebration wil live to celebrate it eve future since everyone is exl keep start celebrating ery year and some people cited even it as far as two m advance. onths in

Tekmovanje za osmošolce Letošnje tekmovanje iz znanja angleščine za osmošolce je minilo in z veseljem sporočamo, da imajo najboljšega v angleščini v letošnjem šolskem letu na OŠ Antona Martina Slomška na Vrhniki. Učenec Gregor Gajič se je že lahko razveselil tudi bogate nagrade, ki jo podarja STA Potovanja, http://www. stapotovanja.com. Udeležil se bo namreč enotedenskega angleškega tabora Camp California v Pakoštanih, http://www.staljubljana.com/kids/camp-california. Nagrad, mednarodnih ISIC izkaznic, pa se bodo razveselili tudi vsi ZLATI in SREBRNI osmošolci tekmovanja iz angleščine. Tudi te podarja STA Potovanja.

lebration. love related ce g like this: a y ll ca si a b in Slovenia is ne it somethin Thanksgiving ows why but I can imagi kn Nobody really e only anybody. Ther d ed v lo y od ob an en a country wher ody appreciated one another I can Slovenia was h ob ic h N w s. d rudenes for them – existed hate an ked anyone for being there ve. But one day a boy lo an nobody ever th there was no such thing as completely changed if he d fully undrstan as born. When he grew up, had to share his w he named Thomas as so lovig and caring that e like him. w m e ca H be y. tr on so the coun ne. Everybody yo er ev h it w thoughts d Thomas ing us happy an friends ak m r fo es on s, ed as our partner thank our lov Therefore, we ow to love. We all dress up ate of Thomas sh ct d for teaching u er, we don't know the exa ll celebrate sometime ev ea or family. How ntry into a better one so w u co changing the y in December. y, dressed as m e il m fa y m h it sgiving w e food that th ent my Thank ner we ate th in d or F o. This year I sp to y no typical cting like her, o there's reall d cheese S t. os m e th mum. I was a n ed ssed up as lik es macaroni a ntre person we dre sgiving food. My mum lov ce ty ci e th ent to ank Slovenian Th y plate. After dinner we w aped and colourful m sh so that was on by the beauty of the heart yed the fireworks, ed z en a we jo and were am the town. As p u g in n te gh ns. fireworks bri different reaso r fo er h ot ch we thanked ea gether for bring people to 'll it e op h I d n is holiday a I truly love th ars. many more ye

nsgiving is, in fact, The traditional Slovenian Tha s only celebrated once a brand new holiday, that wa g holiday because it last year. It is a very interestin It shares the name has spread to us from the USA. y behind it have but the customs and the histor completely changed. back to the 16th The history of the holiday dates precise. On that day, century, to the year 1550 to be ks which changed our Primož Trubar wrote two boo dnik and Katekizem. history. Those books were Abece venian. In fact, if it Because of them, we speak Slo bably not be a united weren't for them, we would pro thanks. nation. And for that, we give sed and so are On that day, the schools are clo htout Slovenia, the companies and malls. Throug ple hang the Slovenian celebrations are organized, peo by the president. In flag and a great speech is given from the begining his speech, he also reads a quote of Abecednik. ing dinner is composed A typical Slovenian Thanksgiv h various sauces and of a big chicken and potatoes wit Slovenian wine (not spices pork chops, beef steak and many fruit, among them for the children). There is also the typical apple. so far, I believe the Based on the fact it has spread expand throughout holiday will spread, grow and be many versions of it. the world and that there will

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IATEFL Saturdays by Tadeja Helena Andoljšek What is your role as a teacher? What can you do in the classroom to develop and encourage learning? It is the teacher who gets the workout while the learners are looking for a way out? Lessons where teachers are doing all the talking are lessons where teachers are doing all the work. Learners know the rules of this game and they can smile, nod occasionally and go to better places in their minds while taking the odd note. In short, they power down. I attended IATEFL Slovenia’s October Saturday seminar for teachers in Velenje to get some fresh ideas. I was amazed by the first workshop on teaching very young learners. The excellent Mija Selič and her group of learners showed us how to engage very young children in learning English. Her live lesson was amazing. Learning a foreign language at a very early age just isn’t stressful! Mija convinced all the participants that learning is fun. And just because something’s a game doesn’t mean it isn’t serious too: her pedagogical principles really work. Mija is also a great resource developer. I have been blown away by her doodles and CoolHouses. These are actually picture dictionaries in a form of a house containing handy flashcards which cover the most covered topics. The flashcards can be used to play various games, introduce and practise vocabulary, and consolidate and encourage children to learn how to read and write through play activities. Alenka Gortan also presented teaching material for practical use in the classroom. Her storytelling talk motivated the audience to delve deeper into the topic ‘decadence of Victorian life’ or ‘how (not) to be an ideal husband’. Irena Šubic Jeločnik, meanwhile, led a workshop based on learner autonomy. She gave us many ideas and practical tips on how to implement this pedagogy. The concept revolves around how to learn a language without the intervention of a teacher. Learners design lessons and materials. Project-based learning and curriculum-based activities give the opportunity to actually do something with a language in order to learn it. Learners thus take more responsibility for their own learning. They keep a diary of their learning experiences, and the learning becomes more meaningful and more focused in the process. At the end we all got involved in discussion and Irena spoke openly about some of the problems she had to face at the beginning. 16

In the second part of the seminar we were involved in a HarrogateOnLine-based discussion on what happened during the Sugata Mitra plenary. Why was this important? Well, Sugata’s ’Hole in the Wall’ experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other. He dug a hole in a wall in a slum in New Delhi, installed an internet-connected PC and a hidden camera and left it there. Soon the computer-literate but non-English-speaking children were teaching one another how to use the internet and download games. Three months later they were using some English words and asked him for a computer with a faster processor and a better mouse! According to the educational researcher, who won the 2013 TED Prize, children can teach themselves and each other, as long as they’re motivated by curiosity and peer interest. The cause for much controversy lies in his suggestion that teachers are no longer needed. Some are still digesting his radical ideas…. At the end of our session, Sandra Vida gave us plenty ideas on how to use ‘rods’. Teachers’ increased confidence in their ability to engage learners ultimately contributes to a positive attitude about using rods as a great teaching tool which makes English visible. The rods are a learning aid that provides a hands-on way to visualise grammar, using story-telling in an enjoyable and creative way. In short, it motivates learners to speak. The key to success is to shift students from passive observers to active participants. Feeling a little bit reserved at first, we peered cautiously at the big pail of colourful wooden sticks in the middle of the table. Then Sandra picked up the tall black one and asked, ‘Who’s this?’ And you should see how the simple rods came alive. I still remember the whole group story-telling. Our imagination ran wild. The plots thickened…. We were like screenwriters brainstorming a new series, not forgetting to involve all aspects of life. There was drama, tears and laughter. All in all, it was a great day for sharing and exchanging new ideas, a day for creativity, discussion, learning new tricks and meeting other teachers in a warm atmosphere. The other participants were a joy to be around and made learning fun. The IATEFL October Saturday seminar sparked my interest and provided endless opportunities to reflect on my own teaching. And who knows – maybe, just maybe, I will become a ‘Skype granny’ one day….

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Ivy Smith by Tjaša Lemut Novak

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A Review and an Activity (or three)

English for the Zombie Apocalypse,

by Lindsay Clandfield and Robert Campbell Published by The Round by Lea Sobočan Reading the above title, many of you may have had the same initial reaction as I had: “That can’t be a proper book can it?” Well, it is! Not only that, it is both an activity book that deals with real language and actually quite a pleasure to read. I have a soft spot for zombies and other monsters, so I jumped at the chance to review the book when it came out and try out some of the activities with my students. Our monthly newsletter had a full review of the book, so here is just a short recap. The units are straightforward language practice with dialogues, useful phrases and activities at around pre-intermediate level but adaptable if needs be. It reads as a story, but the units can be used in any sequence with minimum additional input. There is a fun vocabulary activity, called “A–Z of Zombie Apocalypse”, after each three units. I didn’t try these out with my students, but I had tons of fun reading them, mainly because of the wonderfully dark definitions, for example: If you can’t hide and there are too many zombies to fight, then do this. (Run), (page 17)

My students found the accompanying audio a bit artificial, but perhaps your students might enjoy making their own dramatic re-enactments. There is zero blood and gore, if that’s what you’re expecting, but there is quite some drama to keep the students on their toes! I especially enjoyed Unit 9, “Making someone do something”, which I also tried out in class. The setting is very dramatic: one of the characters had been bitten by a zombie and the question is whether you should let them live. The phrases practised in the unit were a nice twist on the modal verbs exercises we are all quite tired of, and the moral dilemma provided us with more than enough speaking material. The final task in this unit, preparing a dialogue in which Student A wants Student B to do something, can be taken in any direction and can be a very fluid tie-in to your regular course book task on modals. As the language in the book was quite low level for my students, here are a few of the activities that I added in order to make the language more challenging.

1 Have the students analyse their school for its suitability as a base camp in the event of the apocalypse. Groups can make plans for how to improve the school’s safety

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and where they could stockpile their supplies. If a group finishes earlier, have them discuss what kind of a place would be ideal. The activity will undoubtedly bring lots of new language as well as existential questions of the type: Can zombies swim?

2 Divide the class into groups of three and have them come up with a list of five supply items that would be most useful in the apocalypse. Once they have their ideas, write all of them on the board and vote for the five best from the collection of suggestions. Then you might supplement the activity with a grammar exercise for conditionals: e.g. “If I take an axe, I can use it for chopping firewood and defending myself against zombies.” 3 What should a proper Zombie Survival Guide contain? My students came up with the following: first aid basics; how to protect important resources, such as cabbage crops; equipment and tools for protection against zombies; zombie anatomy; survival strategies, and many more. My students were kind enough to go through the book with me and they agreed that the following units of the book were the most useful:

• • • •

Scavenging for food and weapons Make someone do something Give and react to warnings Do not give up hope.

They were especially adamant on the last one, stating with the true seriousness of grizzled veterans of zombie wars that if you don’t have hope, there is no point fighting at all! In Unit 8 you are supposed to talk about the past. The students didn’t like that idea very much, partly because they said it would be a bit painful for them to remember the times when life was good, though I suspect irregular verbs also played a part! On the other hand they did seem genuinely keen to explore the book with me, and they also had suggestions for additional topics. These should cover technical words for garden tools and weapons, names of body parts – so you know which parts of the zombie you should be aiming for! – and sign language, so you don’t attract the zombies’ attention. All in all, the book has enormous potential to be a very valuable classroom resource and my students and I will be looking forward to the next installment: English for the Upper-Intermediate Zombie Apocalypse!

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The bag lady

Activity 1 True or False Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)

by Chris Cavey

1 Rebecca Hosking is a TV presenter F 2 The birds had died because they had eaten plastic. 3 Rebecca made a film on the island. 4 The asked shopkeepers to use fewer plastic bags. 5 Rebecca was surprised by the shopkeepers’ answer. 6 Other towns followed Modbury’s example.

Activity 2 Who says it? Who do you think might say each of these sentences? Rebecca A shopkeeper The Hebden Bridge women 1 ‘I felt so awful when I was on that beach that I knew I had to do something.’

At this point, most of us would have felt sad and helpless but Rebecca decided she had to do something. Back at home she thought about what she could do to help solve the problem of throwaway plastic. In her home town of Modbury in the south west of England she showed film from the island to local shopkeepers and asked them if they could do one thing to help. She asked them to stop using plastic bags in their shops. Rebecca expected the shopkeepers to refuse. Plastic bags are used everywhere in Britain – every supermarket, every corner shop – and customers expect to be given something to carry their shopping in. The numbers are amazing. Britain uses

To Rebecca’s surprise, the shopkeepers agreed and Modbury became the first plastic-bag free town in Britain. Shops offered reusable cotton bags or biodegradable bags. People in the town got used to taking a shopping bag with them to the supermarket – just like their grandparents had done before plastic bags were invented. In the months that followed, other towns in Britain followed Modbury’s example. The small town of Hebden Bridge in northern England became the second plastic bag free town when four women there saw Rebecca’s film and decided to act. Like Rebecca, they expected opposition from shopkeepers but found that they were pushing an open door. ‘It’s a no-brainer’, says one of the Hebden Bridge ‘bag ladies’, ‘Plastic bags are not greatly loved. They’re useful but we don’t really need them and people are happy to help try to change things.’ More and more towns around Britain and around the world are becoming plastic bag free. It won’t solve all of the world’s environmental problems but it shows that people are becoming active and starting to think about how the little things in their daily lives can have a big effect in the world. It also shows us that when we watch the news and feel helpless there is something we can do and that one person can make a big change with a strong enough belief.

Activity 2 1 Rebecca 2 The Hebden Bridge women 3 A shopkeeper 4 Rebecca 5 A shopkeeper 6 The Hebden Bridge women

Activity 3 1 differently 2 accidentally 3 greatly 4 well 5 happily 6 slowly

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2 ‘We were inspired by what she did and wanted to follow her example.’ 3 ‘It’s good for business. Our customers like it that we care about the environment.’ 4 ‘I was very nervous about the reaction when I first showed them my film.’ 5 ‘One or two people complained but now people bring their own bags with them.’ 6 ‘We were the second town to go plastic bag free and we hope there’ll be hundreds more.’

Activity 3 Adverbs Complete these sentences from the text. 1 Rebecca Hosking however thought ________. 2 The birds had died because they had _______ eaten some of the plastic. 3 ‘Plastic bags are not ________ loved’, says one of the women. The missing words are adverbs. They describe a verb. Complete these sentences with one of the adverbs in the box. happily

slowly

well

4 She speaks English very _______ . 5 The children played _________ in the sunshine. 6 He walked _______ across the room towards me.

Activity 4 Think about What do people use to carry their shopping in your country? Do people use a lot of plastic bags.

Word of the week A no-brainer is a decision that’s very easy to make because the correct choice is so obvious.

Answers

Rebecca is a wildlife camerawoman and she was filming a documentary for the BBC in the Pacific Ocean when she saw something that made her cry – hundreds of dead birds that had died because they had accidentally eaten some of the tonnes of plastic that is thrown into the sea each year. Beaches in Honolulu and other Pacific islands that should have been some of the most beautiful places in the world were covered with plastic toys, drinks bottles, keyboards, pens, cigarette lighters – every plastic thing you can thing of. As well as seabirds other animals were suffering – whales, dolphins, seals, turtles – Rebecca saw the suffering that was being caused by thrown away plastic.

nearly 17 billion plastic bags each year. That’s 300 for every man, woman and child in the country. And the bags can take hundreds of years to break down because they are chemical rather than natural so each year the sea and the environment become more and more polluted.

Activity 1 1 F (she’s a camerawoman) 2 T 3 T 4 F (she asked them to stop using plastic bags) 5 T 6 T

Watching news about the environment on TV can be depressing. Whether it’s climate change or the disappearance of another animal species, it seems as if there’s nothing we can do to change things. The problems seem so big that it’s difficult to imagine how we as individuals can do anything about them. Rebecca Hosking however thought differently and her story can be an example to all of us.

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