Yesterday I spent about 2 hours cooking, as I had had groceries delivered three days before, and they were on the way to being expired. So I made stuffed peppers, quick pickled cucumbers and “squash caviar” (кабачковая игра, have no idea what to call it in English).

While slaving away (I do enjoy cooking, mind you), I recalled a fun activity I did a couple of years ago.

We all know that quite often the topic FOOD at lower levels goes hand in hand with the indicative and instructions. And a long time ago I stumbled upon an amazing video entitled

“Exact Instructions challenge”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNbzNyZcm-Y&t=225s

In the video, a father asks his two children to instruct him on how to cook instant noodles. The thing is, he follows the instruction exactly as they are given. It’s hilarious! 🤩

The first year I did this activity, we watched the video, discussed it and then I had the kids write me exact instructions on how to cook noodles, or sandwiches. And filmed the videos. Let me assure you, the kids loved it!

The second year, I picked only one set of instructions to follow randomly (ok, that was not random, I picked the student whose instructions sounded the funniest).

The third year, I had them exchange instructions and film a video.

You can see how I was having less and less free time. Or just getting lazier… 😅😅😅

Here is a link to the complete video https://disk.yandex.ru/i/KCSgqwJLumOR8Q of me making a sandwich as per my student’s instructions.

✅ Pros: It’s fun and interesting, motivates both the students (to make good or deliberately bad instructions) and the teacher (to find creative ways to misinterpret the instructions).

✖️ Cons: Takes time. But the con is mitigated if you have your students make their own videos.

#lesson_ideas #lesson_materials #activities_ideas

Awww, so cute! 🥹🥹🥹

The 9th graders have invited their teachers to go to the ceremony where they will get their first educational certificates.

Yours truly will get a chance to go on stage to give these documents to some of them. I am so stoked about it! But it’s really tough to make a 1-minute speech genuine and unusual…

I’ll do my best though! 🫡

Will I cry? Who knows...

#work #work_at_school

Ogre-like Gigantic Exam (it’s not really)

Obviously Grumpy Elephant

Obnoxiously Gregarious Engineer

Which one would you pick to describe OGE?

This year I got to help my 9th grade with exam prep. For context: these guys are really good! So we did do a lot of work cleaning up some of their fossilized mistakes, and worked on the exam format, but otherwise it was relatively easy.

We started prep in October with 45-minute consultations once a week. Then, in March, we mixed groups ending up with 2 OGE groups and 2 GE groups. And had a whooping 2 hours a week dedicated strictly to OGE.

Even though I knew my group would pass with flying colours (spoiler: all 9 of them got fives), I didn’t know how high those colours would be flying. In a very good-natured manner (trust me) I threatened them that if they have less than 60 points out of 68 – I don’t know them. If you don’t know, 5 in English OGE starts with 58. So there was a small margin, really.

I reiterate, but I was sure they would pass… The only thing that could pull them down would be nerves. And I decided to tackle that issue in our last consultation on Monday, right before the exam.

Do you want to know how I did it?

Well, I am gonna tell you either way… 😏


Огромный грустный эдельвейс (это цветок такой, если кто не знал)

Фантазии на русском у меня гораздо меньше, поэтому закончим на этом)))

Итак, ОГЭ. В этом году готовила 9ый к экзамену. Для контекста: группа достаточно сильная. Так что мы почистили (или ДОчистили) их речь от старых ошибок, обсудили формат экзамена, но в остальном было довольно просто.

Подготовку начали в октябре, с еженедельных 45-минутных консультаций. Потом, в марте, поделили группы и сделали 4: 2 для ОГЭ, 2 – общий английский. И целых два часа в неделю были отданы на ОГЭ.

Несмотря на то, что я знала, что мои ребята точно сдадут хорошо (спойлер: все 9 сдали на 5), насколько хорошо – было непонятно. В какой-то момент я им пригрозила, что если сдадут меньше чем на 60 – я их не знаю (в шутку, конечно). Для тех, кто не знает, 5 по английскому начинается с 58.

Повторяюсь, я знала, что они сдадут. Единственное, что могло им помещать – нестабильное эмоциональное состояние. В день перед экзаменом, на последней консультации, я решила попробовать митигировать этот риск.

Хотите знать, что я сделала?

Ну, я все равно вам расскажу… #exam #OGE #work #work_at_school

I promised (or threatened) to tell you about the way I tried to lower my students’ anxiety levels before OGE and here I am, delivering on that promise a week later… Amazing! 😅😅😅

The exam was on Tuesday, and on Monday my students came for their very last consultation. Of course, we started off with revising grammar and brushing up on some of the common spelling errors and what-not…

Then they invited me to go to the nearby church to pray… Well, I wasn’t expecting that…. I told them that it would be impolite and not very nice to do so in jest, so we abandoned that idea. Though they did try to pray in class, then realized that praying in Russian wouldn't do them any good, so they went for repeating the English alphabet as if it was a prayer. It was like watching a train wreck, no way to either look away or to stop it.

After they had calmed down, one of the girls asked me if I have any tricks to settle their nerves to share. We chatted about that for a while, and then, somehow, I ended up surrounded by kids with vitamin C tablets cheerily bubbling in their water.

Basically, it was Felix Felicis (or a potion of good luck, patience and calm, if I have forgotten some of the properties, please, do let me know). So we drank the “potion” and I though that would be the end. The kids started getting their stuff to leave.

However, one of the girls was still kind of distressed, so I offered her a hug (which she gladly accepted) and started petting her head while telling her how amazing she is.

Can you guess what happened in the end? You are all very clever, you totally can. Everyone got a hug. And, finally, they all went home.

What is the moral here? Firstly, emotional support, in my opinion, is as essential as support in actual learning. Secondly, if my students remember anything from their OGE exams down the road, I am pretty sure they will recall the potion and the hugs, and might forget the hard work we had done before that.

Emotions are something that sets us, real teachers, apart from any possible future AI teachers. And that’s our USP (unique selling point).

What do you do to settle your students' nerves before exams?

#exams #work #work_at_school

Pro-Self Conference 2024

This (or is it last?) Saturday was my first Pro-Self Conference, and let me assure you, definitely not the last. Why? ‘Cause I loved it! I loved every single thing about it: the atmosphere, the people, the speakers, the organizer (Kate Panfilova, who is simply amazing!) 🤍

Every time I meet new people in the ELT sphere, I am flabbergasted by how interesting and varied we are! And everybody is genuinely fascinated by each other's experiences even if their work areas don’t overlap in any way. Wow!

I’ll do my best to try to actively participate in Kate’s incredible community https://t.iss.one/proselfpro from now on.

#conference #teachers #teachers_community