Christmas countdown...with a twist!

Countdowns are not particularly my favorite thing. I also find a bit discouraging the fact that many people decorate their houses for Christmas since early November or even October!  I always start decorating the school in December because students love it and I don't have the heart to deny them the joy of helping out and hanging ornaments on our Christmas tree.

I don't like the bitter reality of an extremely consumer's society, already gone bad and spoilt. Recession brought some harsh realizations; during the last decade or even more, the thought of "no money = lousy Christmas" has been the prevailing one.

Fortunately, many people have commenced another way of thinking. Most of us really appreciate the gift of good health, or the fact that we still have a job, no matter how underpaid or hard it is. Perhaps, this was one way to come to a realization of how blessed we are.

So, after taking a sip of coffee and frowning at the thought of having to undig the Christmas tree, ornaments and decorations, I had the usual thought of printing a pattern of an advent kind of calendar I've been using for many years now so the students can have fun while they wait for their next class.

And then I actually said it out loud: "Boring!"
I always think that if I probably find an activity or an exercise -or anything else for that matter- boring, what will the students think about it then!? (And that's why I turn every course book upside down!)

All of a sudden, it hit me! I love having students creating word walls, bulletin boards and presenting projects. Santa's beard will be there, but since Christmas is a great holiday, what about doing something meaningful.

Starting tomorrow, every student will have to post a report on their daily good deeds! They must do something kind and demonstrate their sense of altruism once a day or more times if they wish to. Subsequently, when they come at school, they must take a piece of paper, write down what their selfless act was and pin it on our boards.

It shouldn't be complicated and the students should focus on simple every day actions, such as helping at home, grabbing the opportunity to take a glass of water to their parents or their siblings, offering to help in class either their teacher or one of their classmates. On the other hand, if they are the recipients of a good deed, they should always savor and taste the words "thank you" and really mean "thank you" when they say it. But even when they perform a good deed, they must understand that not everyone will be grateful; in this case, they should just be happy they helped someone and this is the most satisfactory part! And why not? An excellent way to show Santa who's been naughty or nice!

I hope to post a happy, full of kindness wall, by Christmas. Until then...

Competition!

COMPETITION!

The Disabled Access Friendly campaign has teamed up with ELT Teacher 2 Writer and Burlington Books to bring you this opportunity to use your worksheet writing skills to inform students about issues affecting people with mobility disability.

All suitable entries will be published online on Disabled Access Friendly’s site, which is visited by ELT colleagues from over 120 countries.

There will be three prizes:
200 Euros towards the cost of professional development, such as an online writing course or participation at an ELT event (kindly sponsored by Burlington Books)
100 Euros towards the cost of professional development, such as an online writing course or participation at an ELT event (kindly sponsored by Burlington Books)
A set of six ELT Teacher 2 Writer modules:
How To Write Vocabulary Presentations And Practice
How To Write Reading And Listening Activities
How To Write Critical Thinking Activities
How To Write ESP Materials
How To Write Graded Readers
How ELT Publishing Works
What is the Disabled Access Friendly campaign?
Disabled Access Friendly is a voluntary campaign that provides ELT teachers with online material that raises awareness about mobility disability. All this material is completely free. The site has lesson plans, reading texts and video clips at all levels that can be used as supplementary material, for projects and examination practice. The material allows teachers to provide insight and information about life as a person with a mobility disability, thus building pathways for caring and action. By stepping into someone else’s shoes, the students explore their own and other people’s attitudes and become aware while learning English.

What is ELT Teacher 2 Writer?
ELT Teacher 2 Writer is a database of ELT teachers who want to write. Publishers search this database when they’re looking for writers. It is also a series of training modules designed to help teachers write better ELT materials, either for publication or to improve the quality of their self-produced classroom materials.

What are the competition guidelines?
1. You choose the mobility related topic, language area and level. For ideas we suggest you look at Disabled Access Friendly’s reading texts, video clips and lesson plans, and read disability blogs and published articles.
2. Find the full writing guidelines here.

Who are the judges?
Adir Ferreira, teacher, teacher trainer and content writer
Disabled Access Friendly campaign
ELT Teacher 2 Writer
How to submit your entry
Entries should be submitted electronically as a word doc. attachment to:
disabledaccessfriendlycampaign@gmail.com

Please save your file as follows:
Your surname, Your first name. Title of worksheet e.g.
Smith, Susan. My wheelchair friend
Deadline
Entries to reach us by the closing date of 16th December 2013

This is the actual link . 

Just like you, just like me. A follow up note.

I had the great honor to offer a small contribution to the Disabled Access Friendly Campaign website. Last March, my students and I dedicated about two weeks of our learning time to educated ourselves about disabilities. 



Then, this past September, I grabbed the opportunity to talk about it to quite a few colleagues and school owners at the IP Book Exhibition of Thessaloniki. I quickly discovered that many of them were interested in finding out more about this wonderful campaign. I cannot express the sense of joy and pleasure I felt when I got the good news that more and more teachers got interested in the campaign. 


Please, visit the site and borrow ideas, lesson plans and useful advice on how to improve the facilities of the school you own or you work in. Take a small step towards a meaningful course of action which will not only help and educate our students, but also ourselves!


Now would be the time to try and make a difference and really offer a round-up education to our students, and what would be a greater opportunity than begin with this one?! It won't be easy at first, but the acceptance will most certainly surprise you! Give it a try and you will not regret it!

Just like you, just like me.

It’s been an amazing week the one dedicated to disabilities at our school. We discovered, read, analyzed, comprehended and felt so many emotions about every type of disability. Everything has been plausible thanks to two wonderful people and their creation: Paul Shaw and Katie Quartano and their “baby”, the http://www.disabled-accessfriendly.com/  site.

Teachers can find lesson plans, videos, worksheets and ideas for any level and any occasion! There is a truly great variety of material that we had to extend our themed week for more five days! And what days they were!

We learnt a lot, that is the truth. So many wonderful thoughts and feelings came out through the lessons. Nevertheless, the most astonishing fact was that almost every student shared something of their lives that they normally wouldn’t do so.  So many have a person in their lives, a relative, a friend or a member of their immediate family who is disabled.  It was an opportunity to share and teach to everyone else, including teachers, their knowledge on the subject.

Try it and you won’t regret it! Both teachers and students can take a break from the usual course book lesson plan and be free to express themselves! Creativity really flew in the classroom, for instance, students had many ideas about projects and homework! 

The following notes were written by some of the students. 

Ioulia:

Many people are disabled. They are people like us, though. They aren’t like children or aliens from another planet. They are exactly like us. They understand like everybody else and they feel things. Act normal around them!

Konstantinos:

I learned a lot about disabilities. I had already known a lot about them, because one of my classmates is disabled. However, I never knew how to properly talk to them. I always thought that offering to help them makes them feel happy, which isn’t true! It makes them feel kind of unable to do things on their own. Don’t be afraid of them so they won’t be afraid of you! I learned that I shouldn’t stand over them, or pat their heads and their shoulders as if they were little children. The disabled are not different. All people are different because they are unique!

John:

Ask before you ‘help’ a disabled person. You should always ask for permission before you do something. They don’t need our pity. They need us to show them we don’t care about their disability and behave normally.

Helen:

We need to behave in a normal way. Don’t talk to disabled people like they’re children or stupid! They’re not! My brother is dyslectic, my uncle is missing an arm and one of my schoolmates is on a wheelchair. But it’s good for some people to learn how to behave to them, because they behave in a stupid way and they make the disabled people upset.

Theodora:

It doesn’t matter how beautiful you look on the outside, but how beautiful you are inside. 

Vasso:

Don’t underestimate disabled people. They don’t need either our compassion or our pity. At least, no more than anyone else. I think we must share with everyone our happiness and our sadness. Don’t ask them what their problem is. Do you ask anyone you see if they have a problem?

Anna:

We aren’t different. We can do the same things we do also with disabled people. Don’t make them feel bad or awkward about their disability. Respect everyone at any time if you want other people to respect you!

Please, visit the site and get inspired! It’s never too late to do something different in class!