Due to Blogger's upgrade, combined with Laura's and my technical incompetance, the CETP newsletter / blog has moved. As you brainy people can surely figure out from the URL, this is the old version. Visit the new (and frequently updated) version at:
cetpnewsletter.blogspot.com
Thanks,
Emily
Monday, March 05, 2007
Monday, December 11, 2006
I Love the Coffee!!!
One of my teacher friends sent this email to me the other day. It happened to be on a day when I was a little down. I was struggling to remain positive, and was looking at only the down falls of my day rather than seeing the good I had accomplished. Also every time we get together we often talk shop (Kat's term I stole it), when we do this often times we are reflecting on our struggles more so then our great adventures. This story hit me just right that day so I hope it also is encouraging to you as well.
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eying each others cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. "The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eying each others cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. "The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."
Becky's Interview
Sara Noel was nice enough to send this to me. It is an interview that Becky was asked to take part in. It was given to me about a week ago and I am sorry it took this long to make the blog.
Becky was interviewed by this expat website http://www.xpatloop.com/interviews_list_detail.php?id=261
Becky was interviewed by this expat website http://www.xpatloop.com/interviews_list_detail.php?id=261
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Donna's Spicy Roasted Sausage and Vegetables
Spicy Roasted Sausage and Vegetables
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes or so
Temperature: gas mark 7, 220 C, 425 F
Ingaredients:
8 oz. sausages – you choose what kind
1 tsp cumin (I used pepper, paprika and parsley instead of the spices the recipe calls for since it was what I had!)
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 clove garlic
3 medium to small potatoes
1 red onion , quartered
2 carrots, cut into this chunks
6 large mushrooms cut into halves or quarters
Place the sausages into a roasting pan.
In a small bowl mix together the spice ingredients, if you have them.
Place all the vegetables into a large heat proof bowl.
Cover with boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Drain. (I just dumped them into a pan of boiling water and then drained them.)
Return vegetables to the bowl and mix with the spices.
Place the vegetables into the roasting pan with the sausages. Drizzle a little olive oil or whatever kind of oil you have over them. Maybe 4 Tbsp.
Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or a little longer.
Serve with bread and butter.
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes or so
Temperature: gas mark 7, 220 C, 425 F
Ingaredients:
8 oz. sausages – you choose what kind
1 tsp cumin (I used pepper, paprika and parsley instead of the spices the recipe calls for since it was what I had!)
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 clove garlic
3 medium to small potatoes
1 red onion , quartered
2 carrots, cut into this chunks
6 large mushrooms cut into halves or quarters
Place the sausages into a roasting pan.
In a small bowl mix together the spice ingredients, if you have them.
Place all the vegetables into a large heat proof bowl.
Cover with boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Drain. (I just dumped them into a pan of boiling water and then drained them.)
Return vegetables to the bowl and mix with the spices.
Place the vegetables into the roasting pan with the sausages. Drizzle a little olive oil or whatever kind of oil you have over them. Maybe 4 Tbsp.
Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or a little longer.
Serve with bread and butter.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Lost Island (to practice must, mustn’t)
This a good lesson to practice “must” and “mustn’t,” which my 7th graders learned from their grammar classes this week. They get to draw a little bit and use their imaginations, and they all seemed to enjoy the lesson.
First, divide the into groups of 3 or 4 students. Don’t let them pick their own groups, because there will inevitably be one group that finishes in 20 minutes and one that uses up the entire 45. Mix them up.
Give each group a piece of paper, or have them use one of their notebooks. Tell them to draw a map of an island. It helps if you have one that you’ve drawn as an example. The island can include beaches, mountains, hills, forests, lakes, rivers, natives, or whatever (side note: some groups will get really creative - one of my groups drew a candy island, complete with ice cream hills, cotton candy clouds, and a river of vanilla. Another group drew a nightmare island where children who get bad grades are tortured by some of my school’s stricter teachers and made into zombies, who then go and torment good children).
Give them 5 or 10 minutes to complete their islands. As each group finishes, explain to them that this island is like the island in the TV show “Lost” (they all know “Lost,” if you don’t just click the link), and that their group is lost together on this island. Have them write 20 rules, using must and mustn’t, to help live on the island. Examples: We must look for food. We mustn’t drink the ocean water.
When they finish, have each group pick their most important rules and share them with the whole class.
If you have extra time: have them write short stories of how they got to the island, or how they got home.
If they’re really into Lost, and have learned future tenses: have them write what they think will happen this season (meaning in the 2nd season, which is playing in Hungary right now).
First, divide the into groups of 3 or 4 students. Don’t let them pick their own groups, because there will inevitably be one group that finishes in 20 minutes and one that uses up the entire 45. Mix them up.
Give each group a piece of paper, or have them use one of their notebooks. Tell them to draw a map of an island. It helps if you have one that you’ve drawn as an example. The island can include beaches, mountains, hills, forests, lakes, rivers, natives, or whatever (side note: some groups will get really creative - one of my groups drew a candy island, complete with ice cream hills, cotton candy clouds, and a river of vanilla. Another group drew a nightmare island where children who get bad grades are tortured by some of my school’s stricter teachers and made into zombies, who then go and torment good children).
Give them 5 or 10 minutes to complete their islands. As each group finishes, explain to them that this island is like the island in the TV show “Lost” (they all know “Lost,” if you don’t just click the link), and that their group is lost together on this island. Have them write 20 rules, using must and mustn’t, to help live on the island. Examples: We must look for food. We mustn’t drink the ocean water.
When they finish, have each group pick their most important rules and share them with the whole class.
If you have extra time: have them write short stories of how they got to the island, or how they got home.
If they’re really into Lost, and have learned future tenses: have them write what they think will happen this season (meaning in the 2nd season, which is playing in Hungary right now).
Monsters (body parts and ‘have got’)
This is a lesson I did with my fifth-graders this week. They are currently learning body parts and reviewing “has/have got,” so this tied in perfectly. In most classes it took the entire 45 minutes or slightly longer.
Start by drawing on the board a chart three boxes across and 10 (or 12 or 15) boxes down. Label the rows 1. to 10. and label the columns body parts, adjectives (melleknévek) and numbers. Fill in the first few lines as a class to get them started:
body parts / adjectives / numbers
1. eyes ------ fat ---------- 8
2. nose ----- blue -------- 3
3. foot ------ dirty ------- 12
After the students have filled in their charts, have them write sentences with the form “My monster has got 8 fat eyes. My monster has got 3 blue noses / 12 dirty feet / etc.” Point out that they should use the plural form of the body part.
Final step: have them draw the monster. My students really enjoyed this, especially the sillier combinations like “14 happy legs.”
Almost every student finished the writing part; about half finished the drawing. I told the other half to finish it as homework. Make sure to leave 5 minutes at the end of class so that the students who are finished can show their monsters to the class.
Start by drawing on the board a chart three boxes across and 10 (or 12 or 15) boxes down. Label the rows 1. to 10. and label the columns body parts, adjectives (melleknévek) and numbers. Fill in the first few lines as a class to get them started:
body parts / adjectives / numbers
1. eyes ------ fat ---------- 8
2. nose ----- blue -------- 3
3. foot ------ dirty ------- 12
After the students have filled in their charts, have them write sentences with the form “My monster has got 8 fat eyes. My monster has got 3 blue noses / 12 dirty feet / etc.” Point out that they should use the plural form of the body part.
Final step: have them draw the monster. My students really enjoyed this, especially the sillier combinations like “14 happy legs.”
Almost every student finished the writing part; about half finished the drawing. I told the other half to finish it as homework. Make sure to leave 5 minutes at the end of class so that the students who are finished can show their monsters to the class.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Vocabulary Review Game
All month I have been teaching my students new vocabulary with the use of flashcards. We are getting very good at it, and I can use the same set of flash cards with all levels, excluding some for the 1.a and 2.a classes. To review we played BINGO.
Listening Skills and Following Directions
I hand out a piece of paper to each student. Listen carefully, fold the paper in half the long way. Now do it one more time. I would like you to now fold this in half, now again, and you are finished. (The paper will be folded to make a small square, when opened it will reveal 16 small boxses, this is your BINGO BOARD). Everyone take a black pencil and draw in the lines.
Making your own BINGO boards takes up time and gives the students a quick refresher on the vocabulary before the game starts. It helps those who fall a little behind as well.
Depending on the age, I have the students write or draw certain vocabulary words. Again I use listening for this. If you are a boy draw a king, if you are a girl draw a queen. If you are 12 years old draw a monkey, if you are not draw a goat. If you are wearing red draw a rose, if you are not draw a boat. If you have a brother draw a.....you get the picture. I do this until every student has filled in all 16 boxes.
Then we play BINGO...I made them all fill every square to win, and I just had them take a red pencil and put an X on the word I called out. When they had BINGO they recieved a sticker. Wow, they love stickers!!! This time mine were fruity smelling stars!
Listening Skills and Following Directions
I hand out a piece of paper to each student. Listen carefully, fold the paper in half the long way. Now do it one more time. I would like you to now fold this in half, now again, and you are finished. (The paper will be folded to make a small square, when opened it will reveal 16 small boxses, this is your BINGO BOARD). Everyone take a black pencil and draw in the lines.
Making your own BINGO boards takes up time and gives the students a quick refresher on the vocabulary before the game starts. It helps those who fall a little behind as well.
Depending on the age, I have the students write or draw certain vocabulary words. Again I use listening for this. If you are a boy draw a king, if you are a girl draw a queen. If you are 12 years old draw a monkey, if you are not draw a goat. If you are wearing red draw a rose, if you are not draw a boat. If you have a brother draw a.....you get the picture. I do this until every student has filled in all 16 boxes.
Then we play BINGO...I made them all fill every square to win, and I just had them take a red pencil and put an X on the word I called out. When they had BINGO they recieved a sticker. Wow, they love stickers!!! This time mine were fruity smelling stars!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
A Thanksgiving Idea
I hate teaching all of the Holidays, but some of the schools like it when we do so....Na. With my older grades 7th and 8th we have been discussing Native Americans and their lives. It has to be pretty basic because their language level is lower, but we can talk about basic things, like how they lived, how they live, and what kinds of things they did.
Bean Counting Game
If you were an Iroquis Native would you play games of chance?
The Iroquios loved these kinds of games. They would often bet on the outcome of any contest. One favorite was a game played with beans made of polished elk horn. Ther were about an inch in diameter and burned on one side to make them dark-colored. You'd put eight in a bowl and toss them. If six turned up the same color, you got two points. Less than six, no points; seven, four points; all the same color, twenty points. There was a pile of extra beans on the side. The winner received a bean for every point.
A similar game was played with six peach stones blackened on one side and shaken in a bowl. The peach stone game was often played on the last day of the Green Corn, Harvest, and New Year's Festivals.
First: I had the students read this out loud to work on their pronunciation.
Second: We discussed the reading to make sure all of us were understanding it.
Third: The students got into pairs and I handed out 8 beans and a sharpie to each group.
Fourth: They colored one side of each bean.
Fifth: I also handed out nuts and dried fruit as money to bet with, the students loved this. We had a great laugh on how teachers never have real money!!
Sixth: The students played the game until they ran out of "money".
Bean Counting Game
If you were an Iroquis Native would you play games of chance?
The Iroquios loved these kinds of games. They would often bet on the outcome of any contest. One favorite was a game played with beans made of polished elk horn. Ther were about an inch in diameter and burned on one side to make them dark-colored. You'd put eight in a bowl and toss them. If six turned up the same color, you got two points. Less than six, no points; seven, four points; all the same color, twenty points. There was a pile of extra beans on the side. The winner received a bean for every point.
A similar game was played with six peach stones blackened on one side and shaken in a bowl. The peach stone game was often played on the last day of the Green Corn, Harvest, and New Year's Festivals.
First: I had the students read this out loud to work on their pronunciation.
Second: We discussed the reading to make sure all of us were understanding it.
Third: The students got into pairs and I handed out 8 beans and a sharpie to each group.
Fourth: They colored one side of each bean.
Fifth: I also handed out nuts and dried fruit as money to bet with, the students loved this. We had a great laugh on how teachers never have real money!!
Sixth: The students played the game until they ran out of "money".
Thanksgiving Email
I am sorry to say that I, Laura, do not have all of your e-mails so I am putting this on the blog, so hope you check it!!!
Hajni is away on a little journey to Spain. She has called all of your head masters in order for you to have Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday off. So eat well, enjoy yourselves and in the words of Hajni, Be Safe.
Hajni is away on a little journey to Spain. She has called all of your head masters in order for you to have Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday off. So eat well, enjoy yourselves and in the words of Hajni, Be Safe.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
10-minute time filler: The longest sentence
Today, my 8th graders completed their worksheet on relative clauses ten minutes before the end of class. To keep them occupied, I challenged them to write “monster sentences.” On the board, I demonstrated how to divide a normal sentence into parts and extend each part:
The man gave his mother a flower.
The man / gave / his mother / a flower.
The young, good-looking man who had red hair and lived in a gray house / sweetly gave / his old, sad mother, whose other children never called nor visited her, / a bouquet of yellow flowers to show how much he loved her.
That’s 39 words. The winning sentence in my class, with 58 words, was this one:
The woman watched TV with her cat. -> The old, retired, nice and kind woman, beloved by everybody, watched the old, black-and-white, huge, loud TV with total affection with her big, heavy, fat, striped, red, Persian cat which was eating small fish from his painted green catplate which was bought in the newest and biggest supermarket opened on the corner of Mary Queen of Scots Lane.
The man gave his mother a flower.
The man / gave / his mother / a flower.
The young, good-looking man who had red hair and lived in a gray house / sweetly gave / his old, sad mother, whose other children never called nor visited her, / a bouquet of yellow flowers to show how much he loved her.
That’s 39 words. The winning sentence in my class, with 58 words, was this one:
The woman watched TV with her cat. -> The old, retired, nice and kind woman, beloved by everybody, watched the old, black-and-white, huge, loud TV with total affection with her big, heavy, fat, striped, red, Persian cat which was eating small fish from his painted green catplate which was bought in the newest and biggest supermarket opened on the corner of Mary Queen of Scots Lane.
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