How to use esl-lab

ye ye ye yeeeeee uuuuh

Are you made of candy? mmmmmm

What about this destination for a summer trip?

An unforgettable book

What was the most inspirational or important book you've ever read?

Please, tell us the title of the book and the reason why you loved reading it.

Can we break barriers through sport? Take a look at this composition before you answer.

Sports Traditions: Crossing the Gap (stageoflife.com)

I never thought sports were special. As a nerd, whose stereotypical enemy is the jock, I had a natural disinclination for sports. Still, I had to admit sports were fun; even nerds are amused by the simplicity of accelerating a ball with a racket. I started playing tennis early. At first I thought of tennis as just a way to stay fit and play with my friends. My father, an avid tennis player himself, loved to encourage me. He played with me nearly every weekend, and took me to the U.S. Open to watch the greats like Federer and Nadal play. He often tried to teach me the more advanced techniques of tennis, from kick serves to drop shots. We loved these bonding opportunities.

There was just one problem in this perfect father-son sports tradition: my dad had limited English, and I had limited Korean. Outside of the game, we didn't communicate much with the exceptions of chores and dinner conversations. We often misunderstood each other. My dad once congratulated me on being a National Merit Semifinalist in Korean. I responded that I had in fact put gel in my hair this morning. Other times, my father and I were frustrated by the fact that we couldn't convey with complete accuracy our thoughts. He had trouble explaining tips on average activities like shaving or driving, and I could not fully describe the exciting details of my school research. There was a gap between us that we could not easily cross.

But that’s where tennis comes in. The joy of playing three intense sets of tennis woke us up early every morning to play, despite wind, rain, and, once, snow. It allowed us to communicate through actions and not words. When I failed to make the tennis team my freshman year of high school, my dad just told me to pack my tennis bag. Through consistent practice with him, I made the JV team, and became JV captain the following year. When my youth and speed became too much for my dad to handle during our matches, he began to go to the gym every night to work out. Motivated to play me on equal footing, he became healthier and stronger. These are things we found very difficult to tell each other with words. Tennis gave us the means to express our thoughts, and it's positively influenced both of our lives.

Despite my earlier cynicism, tennis does in fact have a place in society. The simple actions of exerting a force on a pressurized ball of air to initiate a projectile motion (told you I'm a nerd) can indeed transcend communication barriers. Tennis allowed my dad and me to bond in a way that would have never been possible due to our language difficulties. As much as the nerd in me hates to admit it, there is some magic in a father and son playing tennis that cannot be explained in scientific terms. It's simply the love of the sport.

USA elections

Please click here if you want to know about the results in the elections in the USA.

Halloween song (thanks Marina 4ºA)

London

The history and story of Halloween

Obesity in USA (from stageoflife.com)

My Passion Issue: Why are American Children Fat?

Posted: martes, 25 de septiembre de 2012 19:33:05 Since the 1970s, childhood obesity in our country has tripled, and today one-third of American children are overweight or obese. Since President Barack Obama has come into office, he and his wife, Michelle, have taken a stand against childhood obesity. One in three children born in 2000 have a great risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. Many other children are likely to face obesity-related problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, or asthma. While a major factor causing obesity in children and adults is exercise and food intake, there are many factors in the environment that also influence obesity. We can work together, along with President Obama, to end this issue. Michelle Obama has taken it upon herself to create the Let’s Move! Campaign. Over the past year, the First Lady’s Campaign has brought together federal agencies, large corporations, and nonprofit organizations from across the country. Let’s Move! has helped Americans make healthy choices about the foods we eat and about how to exercise. In addition, the campaign helps us build heathy habits to fight obesity. A major factor in helping tackle this growing epidemic is the introduction of a new food pyramid, MyPlate. MyPlate was created to encourage balanced meals. MyPlate is a basic guideline to use when preparing meals and can be adapted per person based on different factors. The image displays fruits and vegetables over half of the plate, grains occupying a quarter, and proteins, such as meat, fish and poultry, covering the remaining quarter. On the side of the plate is a circle that is portrayed as a glass of milk but could be substituted for any dairy, such as yogurt or cheese. Desserts have been pushed to be ONLY dessert. Mrs. Obama had made a comment that “the icon is simple enough for children to understand, even at the elementary school level. They can learn to use this tool now and use it for the rest of their lives.” (cite?) It allows children to be healthy from the beginning, which will benefit them their whole lives. In December of 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act into law. The law says that children will be given healthier lunches at school. This allowed children to get the healthy food they need during the week. Although they may not have the best food choices at home, what they eat at school will make a difference. President Obama named September 2011 National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, and during the month the outstanding work of many businesses, communities and families was recognized. These people were responsible for helping meet the needs of youth to better their lives and create healthier lifestyles for children. If we don’t all work together and change our ways, this problem will most likely get worse. “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new report in which they indicated that an estimated 42% of Americans will be obese by the year 2030.”

The Corporation (documentary)

Have a look at this link and tell me what you think about this documentary.

Body language

Hello from Verín!

Hi there!

A new year has begun and I want to greet my new students at IES CASTRO DE BARONCELI in Verín.

I have only been here for a week but I think this will be a good year. I´m really looking forward to sharing many experiences with you in class. I hope we get along well and you are more than welcome to participate in this blog.

See you around!

Nacho.

Somebody that I used to know

Somebody that I used to know

Tonight we are young

USING MOBILES IN THE CLASS

http://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/how-teachers-make-cell-phones-work-in-the-classroom/

If you click on the web above, you´ll find a very interesting article on the use of mobiles as a tool for the class.

Urban word of the day

The title of this post is the name of a very useful tool for vocabulary learning provided by the web THE URBAN DICTIONARY. I strongly suggest that you start using it to build up your vocabulary in an effortless way. I´ve been doing so for a couple of weeks and I love it. Please, give me your opinion!

Ted talks on texting and other technology

The authentic king´s speech

Hi there my patient friends, I am back with a new link to a piece of information that I hope you find interesting. Click the link http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/documentos-tv/

Learn and enjoy!

English and mass media

Hi guys!

I would like to share one of my latest projects with you all. In one of my courses this year I was asked to create a didactic unit using a software programme called eXeLearning which has turned into a powerful tool as a content creator.

The unit is called English and mass media (click the link)

Since this has been my first time using it, I apologise if you don't find it interesting or if you consider that I could have done something better. FYI we are talking about free software so in case you like it, just google it and get it costless.

Have a look and give me your opininon. Bear in mind that the unit was aimed at 1 or 2 year ESO students.

See ya!

News from Russia in English

Hi everybody!

Long time no see you! How´s it going? I hope you´re fine.

I just want to bring you a new link to get access to world news from a Russian point of view. The first time I knew about this I was staying in a hotel. It was part of the satellite channels list and I quite liked it.

Give me your opinion after watching and reading. In case you had got tired of BBC red, here it comes RT green background.

Enjoy it!