Y EAR 1, Nº 0
N OVEMBER 2009, C ONCEPCIÓN - C HILE .
WELCOME! Hello fellow future teachers! Some of you may have been handed this and most probably you will look it at and do one of two things: either throw it away or use it as scrap paper. Before you do, STOP! Carry on reading because this little piece of paper you're holding is going to become your best friend! Don't believe us? Read on... Some of you may already know us, we are a couple of students like you, and a Teacher, who one day had the bright idea of producing a magazine. Our criteria was this: to create something by students, for students in the EFL field. We wanted to produce a professional, informative and lively account of university life, news and events, current affairs, jokes, interviews, tips, basically everything an up and coming student and future EFL teacher would need to know about. Let's face it, take a look around there isn't a lot of journals or
I NTERVIEW
magazines aimed at us is there? We're hoping to be the first and best of this kind! So, our pledge to you, our fellow students (and teachers) is to provide you with a monthly magazine with lots of useful and informative information, stuff you will really need to know about and stuff that may even make you laugh once in a while. This feature packed lite edition comes before you go off and enjoy the summer holidays but do not fear as we will return in the new year bigger, better and with loads of interesting things to read about. In the meantime please enjoy this, our first attempt at putting a smile on your face. Remember the magazine will be completely free so put away those coins; however if you really like it and would like to donate money we'll be more than happy to accept any amount of contributions you make. (We promise not to spend the money at the pub!)
B Y L ILIAN F LORES
On November 9th, in the auditorium of the Faculty of Economy, the Spring 2009 Talent Show took place. There were many performances, but there was one that really caught the attention of the audience. The drama club performed a typical day in class, impersonating most of the English teachers, such as Mr. Vega, Mr. Dhillon, Miss Fuica and Mr. Sinclair among others. But the performance which brought down the house was the impersonation of Miss Iris Roa. Green Go caught up with Emilio Lara (AKA Ms. Roa) and star of the Talent Show for an interview. Read on to see what he said!
1. How did you prepare for your performance? Well, when I joined in the drama club, I never knew what they wanted to do, so when they said “We want to present something different, we want to imitate some professors” I knew in that exact moment that I wanted to impersonate Miss Iris Roa, because she has gestures and phrases which are very representative of her. I prepared the performance looking at her classes closely, also writing down some phrases and practising all her gestures, tone of voice and her glance at home (in front of the mirror), besides asking my classmates.
Happy Reading, The Editorial Team ( Mariana Alarcón, Lilian Flores, Mr. Amardeep Dhillon) PS: Any comments or suggestions will gladly be accepted so get please get in touch with us if you have something to say. PPS: Our webpage will be up and running where you can find out further information and leave comments too!
L EARNING
WITH
L ILY
Idioms and proverbs are part of your daily speech and you need to know about them in order to understand a language better. If you say “the cat’s out of the bag” instead of “the secret is given away” you are using an idiom. The meaning of an idiom is different from the actual meaning of the words used. “He who laughs last laughs better” is a proverb. Proverbs are old but familiar sayings that usually give advice. Many are very old and have interesting histories. Do we have an equivalent in Spanish?
2. Why did you choose to impersonate Miss Roa? She is really lovely but, as I said before she has a lot of gestures and phrases which are very easy to imitate, at least for me; so I chose her because I knew that I could pick up the most important things of her behaviour in classes, outside classes, in the surrounding area of Tomas Moro building. I really liked to rehearse being her and I enjoyed my performance in the talent show. The most important fact of choosing her was that I knew, I don’t know why, that she wouldn’t be upset with me after the presentation. 3. Do you think that your relationship with Miss Iris has changed after the presentation? Yes, it has changed a lot but in a good way. She was delighted with the performance; I noticed that she laughed a lot during the show. The day after the talent show I had grammar classes with her and she spent a lot of time in her class talking about the drama club performance, especially mine. Now she tells me that she loves me more than before.
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Listen Up! By Mr. Amardeep Dhillon Editorial Team work: Mariana Alarcón Lilian Flores Mr. Amardeep Dhillon e-mail: da.green.go@gmail.com
HUMOUR
PATIENCE
A GOOD TEACHER SHOULD BE
PATIENTE IS A VIRTUE WE ALL NEED
ABLE TO SEE THE LIGHTER SIDE OF
AND AS TEACHERS THIS IS ONE
THINGS IN THE CLASSROOM AND
CHARACTER WE NEED A LOT OF! SO
IN LIFE
.
VERSATILE
WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE SHOUTING AND YELLING, BE PATIENT. IF THATFAILS, ROOM!
TIME
TO THINK ON YOUR FEET AND
US IN THE WEB
WWW. THEGREENGO. CL.TC
TEACHER?
(A JOKE OF COURSE!)
PLAN YOUR TIME
F IND
characteristics of a
THROW THE STUDENTS OUT OF THE
THIS MEANS THAT WHEN THINGS CHANGE, YOU HAVE THE ABILITY COME UP WITH A SOLUTION.
Do you have the
MOTIVATION
CAREFULLY
AS TEACHERS YOU NEED TO TAP INTO YOUR STUDENTS' MINDS
AND AIM TO BE
COMMUNICATION TO COMMUNICATE & EASILY.
IDEAS EFFECTIVELY
THERE FOR
AND BRING OUT THE BEST IN
YOUR
THEM.
STUDENTS.
The list could go on and on, but the most important thing to remember is that your characteristics will evolve over time and will determine (establish) your behaviour which will in turn determine your character. This will lead you to the teacher you will eventually become!
Chilean Teachers on Strike! By Mariana Alarcón On October 23rd, The National Teachers Association (ANP) voted to start controversial strikes which brought classes to a stop for almost an entire month in public schools (primary and secondary). This has caused possible flunks and a low final grade for students of 4th grade who will take the PSU this December. The government however is determined to end the school year with the marks already in place, thus closing the books and allowing the students to end a little more prepared for the PSU and the next year.
complaining for the payment of a debt which exists since the municipal administration system was outdated.
The reasons of the strike are not unknown to us all: the bono SAE, the historical debt and other important issues, which were all summarized in a better to the union. Everything we know about the strike was seen on TV or heard by others, but how was this experience seen in the eyes of a person who has suffered its consequence?
I think that it’s not my role to complain about this after they always supported us with our previous walkouts made since 2006. Besides, these are consequence of our education in Chile.
Green Go provides you two brief interviews with secondary student, specifically a 4th grade student and one of our classmate who give us their experience during this process. Do you know the reasons of the teachers' strike? Well, what I know is that they’re
Do you agree with their petition? I agree with them, because their demands are totally valid, but I think that they should have complained about other topics which are more important such as: complaints against the LGE and the need for the government to take over the job. Do you think that it was fair that you had had to lose classes for this matter?
Do feel prepared to take the PSU? No, in my high school there are eleven 4th grades, but only 2 of them are strongly prepared for the PSU, obviously they are students with the best marks, students that were selected to represent my high school in relation with the statistics. Do you feel that your teachers are interested in money or in students? There are some teachers interested in both, as any professional
would, however there are also some others whose real interest is only the money. On the other hand, we can’t criticize teachers and call them “gana pan” (people who don’t do a god job, interested just in a personal satisfaction and not the improvement of others), while in this country the law permits teachers to teach formal subjects only.
Maximiliano Alarcón, 4th year student, EMG.
Do you think that some teachers took the strike as holidays? Well, in a group of people you always find a variety of behaviours, in this situation it is the same, some teachers are committed with their activities , and some teachers are not. Are you for or against the teaching evaluation? I agree with the teaching evaluation, because if you want to be a good professional you have to know your weaknesses and strengths, and in that way to polish your work and to have good development.
After you have graduated, would you like to be a member of the teachers' college? I consider that in this moment my knowledge about the teachers college is poor, so it is not part of my interests at the moment. How has this strike affected your teaching practice?
I was affected by the strike in the case of my micro teaching, because my school was on strike for two weeks, and now I just have two lessons to fit in with my teacher. Now, would you prefer to work in a public school or in a private one? I would like to work in a public one because it’s more of a challenge. There, people need more help and dedication, and I want to be s o me b od y w ho m a ke s changes in a positive way. Gabriela Bravo, teaching Practice IV, UCSC
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