A couple looking for a sweet home...

There is our Vlog!
It was a little difficult to uploaded!
so you can see it in Youtube!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

I hope you enjoy it!

Regards!

Where to live?

It is a really tough decision to choose a place to live. So I think England is a great country to begin. I’ve found a great place to live in London, which has two extra large double bedrooms, and two bathrooms, one of them en-suite. I love en-suite bathrooms because you can have all your personal things in those. It has a large balcony with great overviews, where I can drink a coffee looking at the park. Also, it has a storage closet which I love the most, because I’m just mad about clothes. The flat is located near London downtown. I’m imaging to live there; it will be like a dream comes true!

“London Craigslist” Craigslist 1995-2007. Online. 15 June 2009
http://london.craigslist.co.uk/apa/1222118737.html

I don’t think that every single county in England it’s a great place to live because I won’t live in Essex. It’s small town in East England and I’ve never liked towns. The flat that I have found in Essex is one bedroom apartment, and I don’t get used to a small places. I just can’t stand the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room all together in one place.

“Essex Craigslist” Craigslist 1995-2007. Online. 15 June 2009
http://essex.craigslist.co.uk/apa/1226642265.html

Motivation!

Generally speaking, the motivation to learn is one of the most important teacher’s helper in a classroom. Because you, as a teacher, are working with the student’s desires, so you can do more productive things with them. In fact, the motivation is the teacher’s responsibility, I mean; he/she has to make up classes which can to be interesting to the children and in this way can learn more with the classes.

To be honest, in the classes you can have a very special link with the students, and some of the teachers can not make a good use of it. Personally I think that to be a teacher is the most rewarding experience that a person can have, because you can have a big influence in the students for the rest of their lives. To put in another way, teachers have to do their best while they are teaching, because they are in charge to people, who can be great if they have the best teachers.

Dave Eggers' wish: Once Upon a School...

Dave Eggers created a Tutoring Center, which give to the students a one-on-one attention. To this center go students who have troubles with their reading and writing English. Most of these students come from families where English is not spoken at their homes, so for them is more difficult to learn it. During the process, the tutors realize that the students improved their reading and writing skills. They even create a book, which publish the students’ work at the center. Nowadays this project spreads all over USA, and now the tutors are working at school hand by hand with teachers.

I think it is a great project and Chile has to copy, because we know that some of the teachers in the chilean education have a lack of sense of duty with the students. So, it’s really hopeful to know, that in the world are people who care about the others, and want to do a better world.


Dave Eggers. “Talks Dave Eggers' wish: Once Upon a School” TED, March (2008). Online. May 12th 2009.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html

"Swine flu may be more infectious than we thought"

It is a worrying situation that we are not prepared to face it. The Scientifics are trying to find a vacuum, but the searching is turned more difficult. The illness is getting more transmissible, the Scientist`s Community is really concerned about it.
Fortunately, in Chile are not anybody with flu-like symptoms, but it’s impossible to think that we are save, because of the globalization, every single day arrives to Chile people from all the world. So, the authorities have to be aware to face this imminent pandemic.
The people, who is infected with this illness, is being told to stay at home to avoid infecting other people, because if the flu spreads, it will become more severe. In Mexico, the Swine Flu has killed 42 people and it has 1,112 confirmed cases. The lasts 5 cases were found in Argentina and Brazil.
Some ones think that the end of the world is closer; others think it’s just a new illness, like the Influenzavirus A (Bird Flu) and we are going to face it like the other sicknesses. I hope, as human beings as we are, we can overcome this terrible situation.

Sarah Boseley, “Swine flu may be more infectious than we thought – health chief” The Guardian UK (2009), May 9th 2009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/08/swine-flu-who-advice

Grammar!

It’s difficult to correct our mistakes, because we are in the same process of learning. But the most common mistakes are the grammar ones. We don’t pay attention to past tense and when we have to use it. It is the same problem with other grammar tenses. I think all of us know how to use grammar, as I said before; we don’t pay attention to our mistakes, we don’t correct them. Another common mistake is we don’t improve our vocabulary; we use the same words all the time, we need to use the vocabulary that we learn at classes. Our blogs are good chance use and improve it!

Classroom Swap!

Is the title of the video, that I watched in www.teachers.tv . This video is about how two secondary English and Drama teachers organize a classroom. They have to exchange classrooms for the day. The teachers are Ilma Hammond, who teaches at Heston Community College in west London, and the second one is Georgina Stephens, who teaches at Greenford High School. Ilma Hammond tries to incorporate to her classes movements, and drama, but its difficult to her, because she doesn’t have access to the drama studio, and she has to do her activities in the classroom. A completely different way to teach, it has Georgina Stephens, she organizes the room, in a way that the students can help each other. In this video, we have the opportunity to look at their different styles to organize a class, and they pick good ideas about organization from the other teacher. I think it’s really interesting to know, how a colleague do his/her job, because you can learn from him/her. A teacher told me, very single classroom have a different way to communicate. They have different dictionaries. So it’s good for us, as a teachers, know different classroom realities.

http://www.teachers.tv/video/4935

What about Libraries!

Dear Minister Monica Jimenez:

I am going to introduce myself, my name is Lorena Galvez, and I am an English pedagogy's student of Universidad Alberto Hurtado. This year, I had my first Laboral Experience, in Liceo Alberto Hurtado. When I arrived to the school, it was just like I imagined it… without English materials. The library had only two dictionaries for more than one thousand students. I do not think that two dictionaries are enough. If you want to reform the program of English, and does it better, you have to reform the libraries too. Give to the students the chance to experiment with the language. If they do not have materials to practice what they learned in classes, how you pretend that they can be bilinguals! I hope you can understand my doubts about English’s program that you have recently reformed and propone us some solutions to resolve it.

Yours faithfully

Lorena Galvez R.
Student of English Pedagogy
Universidad Alberto Hurtado

Rude People!

I really hate bad manners, because I don't have it. What exasperates me is when no one gives the sit to a pregnant woman in the bus, even the sits which are designed to people with physical disability. I’m the one who always have to give the sit to these people, because the others just ignored it. I think it’s a very rude, because we have to help each other. If we can do something good to others, I asked me why not. The society is too individualistic; they only do something to their own benefit. Sometimes, when this situation happens in the bus; I say to myself: Don’t give the sit… you are tired too… Wait, other person has to give him/her the sit… But I always have to stand up and let the sit, because they are ignored. I don’ think that this situation changes, because it’s about conscience and respect. Most of the society doesn’t know what these words mean.

School bullying in Japan...

I'm amazed, because bullying has been increasing in our society. It's one of the most important reasons of suicide among children. Sadly, the authorities don't do anything to change the situation. In Japan, five children killed themselves because of bullying. It's worrying, because there’s no way to stop it. There were a lot of projects to stop bullying at schools, but nothing works. I can’t imagine how the five children could feel to take the decision to commit suicides. Here in Chile is the same, about 10.000 adolescents tried to killed themselves because of bullying. It’s hard to imagine how difficult it could be to face this as teachers. Because it’s in our hand to change the reality and make it better for our future students. Now, the school isn’t safe for the students, and it’s a pity because nowadays our children are safe only at their homes.

Chris Hogg. "School bullying in Japan" BBC learning English (2006). Online. 29th March 2009.

Hi Girls and Boys!

I'm going to introduce myself... My name is Lorena Galvez and I'm 22 years old. I live in Maipu, but I don't like to live there because it's too far away from Santiago Downtown. I'm an olny child... So as you think, I'm a spoiled girl. I consider to myself a lover of many things, one of them, they're films. I'm a fanatic of movies, specially alternative ones. Last year, I started with my boyfriend a kind of collection of our favorites films, now we have 25 or 30, I'm not sure! There aren't so many, but I'm proud of them. Another one of my passions, it is music, my favorites bands are Portishead, Oasis, Blur, The Mars Volta and Radiohead. And my favorite singers are Bjork, Morrissey and David Bowie. I just love them! Well I love the arts in general, I mean, music, paintings, films, etc. What else about me? I was working last year in a Call Center of Lan. It was great experience, I have the chance there to practice my english and understand differnt kinds of accents. I met excellent people too, and I made very good friends. I met my boyfriend there. But I ended the last year and I started this exhausted, because I worked very hard and I slept almost nothing. I grew up a lot with that experience, because work and study, it is a huge responsibility! Honestly, I try to get possitive things of everything that it happens to me.

THAT’S IT!