The Diary Of John

Saturday, May 10, 2003

Our world is lost & stagnant

I had two great conversation classes yesterday :-). The first one i used some question cards i had adapted from some Tofl stuff ans all the students said that they really enjoyed them.... nice right? lol. The second one in the evening they watched a film called Minority Report which was really good and they all liked that too. The idea behind the video is to give students more contact with the english language. To study in a classroom twice a week isnt enough so i have been trying to get more conversation classes up and running and it looks as though they are beginning to pay off i hope :-). Hmmmm now i have to think of some more stuff to do with them lol...

One of my students Ariel has been discovering american and english groups and singers lol. Here they seem to restrict the amount of foreign music that enters the country to protect Brasilian music. They hear on the radio etc but to buy cds is hard so i will lend her some of my cds. Eminem and stuff like that will open her eyes a little, well if they understand the lyrics :-). I have to get some more english cds to use in class with the students and some english films as well as these work really well in the extra classes. Will have to see if my brother can buy some in the UK for me and post them to me

I got searched by the police last night on the way home lol. I got out of the taxi and walked straight into the Policia Civil who were obviously looking for someone and i had to stand there emptying my bag full of school and text books and have a body search too. Was a new and interesting experience lol. Having someone waving a loaded pump action at you is definately something that will not catch on as a new way to relieve stress ;-). They werent there when adriana got home so i guess they must have found whoever they were looking for or gone to try further down estancia.

I have to prepare some stuff for class this afternoon, hmmm what they are going to do though i have no idea yet. I think i might take an idea from one of the teachers and teach the class outside in the sun for something a little different but will see what the weather is like and how the students feel too and then decide i think. Oh the fun of being a teacher lol

Okay im off to do something and get ready to go downtown to have a look at a new pc store i discovered there :-)

posted at 7:24 AM by john |

Wednesday, May 07, 2003

"God definitely exists in what you create, or in the magic that you discover within yourself. And I think Christ was a magician in that sense, and someone that I found I could really relate to, in his being a revolutionary and sacrificing himself for it."
-Marilyn Manson

I had a bit of a problem with my weblog the other day and got to try out the support section of blogger called Bloggercontrol. Wow its great and got my problems sorted out straight away. I love the idea that we have a human to talk to if we have problems. Too many places such as tripod or yahoo have their automated help section where i have never once managed to get through to a human being and a BIG thank you to Blogger for making sure we can always reach out for help to real people :-)

**Listening to Eminem lol**

I like listening to the lyrics of these songs, the language is strong but he talks truthfully about his life etc. Sometimes though i have to get the lyrics from the net so i can understand what hes saying lol

Today i think i will do something a little different with my mec 2 group, i like i will try out the quiz card game so i can see how it works. They have good levels of english so will be good to see if they enjoy and find it funny. If it goes okay then i will use them on friday with my conversation classes. I have two on fridays now as i found out today lol. Itll give me something to do on fridays :-)

Okay time to eat, then time to get my arse over to sobradinho and prep for my groups there :-)

posted at 10:33 AM by john |

Tuesday, May 06, 2003

"Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism."
-Isaac Asimov

Well today i am supposed to be preparing some stuff for my classes and also for a private student that i picked up on sunday but as you can see i have got nothing done yet as im here online lol. Thursday is my first lesson with him and im still toying with exactly what i am going to do with him on his first class. Probably something just to see how much english level hes got and then a trip down to SBS to see what material they have for his level. I like Sbs but you wouldnt believe how much stuff is from there. Books for teachers tend to be very expensive so i look on anything i buy there as an investment :-).

Bright sunshine here today at the moment :-) i am debating whether to go and get some more photocopies done for my students as i need some done for wednesday or thursday and also saturday too. I will nip there on the bus in a few minutes i think as later i have classes and wont have time to get them done on the way there. Its a shame they dont have a photocopy machine at work to save me having to pay all this money to get them done, we cant even get the cost of them all back either but its for the students so i guess i dont really mind.... much lol.

I fell asleep watching videos last nite and now i feel dog tired, i think ill go get some coffee and get showered and go get the copies done while i have my eyes open lol

posted at 8:26 AM by john |

Sunday, May 04, 2003

"All religions, with their gods, demigods, prophets, messiahs and saints, are the product of the fancy and credulity of men who have not yet reached the full development and complete personality of their intellectual powers."
-Mikhail A. Bakunin

Just back fro the fair here in Planaltina.. the most beautiful city in district federal.... NOT!!!!!! lol. I had to get some photocopies for my students and also to drop off a video and collect another one for later tonite after i get back from downtown. I hope they have something decent on at the cinema this afternoon, i dont really wanna have to see anything boring even if it is in english :-). At the fair i managed to get a couple of music cds, an Eminem one and also a mix of rock too that they created by downloading mp3s from the net and burning them onto a cd :-). Total cost R$10 which is less that $3 for two cds lol. How about that mr RIAA??

The students have been doing this questionaire at work about the teachers and school etc but i dont think much will come from this thing as they have the same questionaire every year and i was told nothing changes apart from the teachers get alot of complaints about it. I guess then i will do pretty badly as they hate the fact i dont speak portugues in class. This isnt really my fault though as i dont speak any portugues just very bad pórtugues lol. Still not to worry right? :-)

I am trying to think of some games i can play with the students in both the class and also in the conversation classes. I tried the internet but only got a couple of ideas there and i had already thought of and improved on those ones lol. The hot potato game really isnt any good for my advanced students so the reason for the new music cds :-). I will find something with music i can do with them and use lyrics or something. Hmmm well maybe not lyrics with eminem although they really wouldnt know what those words mean anyway lol. I will only teach the students those expressions when they get to high mec levels lol. I will ask my friend later on and see what he suggests.

Okay time to get showered and eat lunch before getting ready to go over to sobradinho to go to the movies :-)

posted at 10:15 AM by john |