Posts

Getting Christmasy

It’s that time of year again. That time of year when you and your students need a break. But you are the one who probably needs it more. After the first semester is over and because of too many unanticipated hours of marking, sleep deprivation and lack of sunny days, the last thing in the world you truly want to do is design another last set of activities for the pre-Christmas session most (if not all) teachers have to bear. I’ve always dreaded the idea of having to come up with something super cool for the Christmas season at school. So, what I’ve done most of times is google something up and see how it goes with the groups. Usually you come across myriads of webs and grab-as-much-as-you-can-take sort of lesson plans ready to be used. Yet, none has ever seemed to tickle my fancy really, so I’ve always had to make do with bits of everything I found. This time, however, I’ve decided to do the complete opposite: I’ve made my own lesson plan just to try something different, so...

Funny Valentine: A Lesson Plan

Days have come and gone, yet Valentine’s hangover remains. And though things seem to have changed (bettered, some would dare say), the essence of a festive and romantic celebration echoes customs and folkways from the past.  Valentine Day, or February 14, not only serves the means of myriad blighted couples’ so-called eternal flames to revive, to reignite for at least a couple of hours (mostly minutes!); also, it proves substantially beneficial to promote big companies to spread the message and send their finances soaring. Chocolates, postcards, sparkling wine and love songs on radio stations are among the top picks of the day. However, there is an increasing number of dissenters (seen on FB, for example) who are at odds with V Day and feel an urgent need to stop the nonsense.  I have stood on both sides ever since I started dating. Back in the days, Valentine Day used to be a perfect excuse to eat out at a fancy upmarket restaurant or just to grab some takeaway...