February 4 is World Cancer Day.

No matter whether you teach adults, teenagers, or young(er) learners, I’m sure you could spare 5 to 10 minutes to raise awareness on the importance of cancer prevention.  As a matter of fact, it just perfectly fits most syllabuses, e.g. healthy habits, food, body parts, conditionals, making suggestions, giving advice… even colours.

Here are just four suggestions, primarily for teenagers and adults:

• A2-C2: Watch the 2-minute video by Stand Up To Cancer and list five things you can do to help prevent cancer.

• A2-C1: Watch this 1-minute video by Stand Up To Cancer and try to remember 3 numbers and what they are about.

• A2-C2: In 2 minutes time, try to memorize 10 pairs:  cancer of a body part and the colour of the matching awareness ribbon. (Source of images: http://www.choosehope.com)

• A2-B2: Match cancer types to the prevention methods and general advice. (Developed based on UICC brochure.)

4 FEBRUARY – WORLD CANCER DAY – Match Prevention To Cancer

***

Needless to say, be rather tactful, as chances are that at least one of your students has lost somebody or has somebody fighting cancer.  But this is exactly the reason why everybody, including English teachers should act on: Raise awareness about cancer prevention. Help the fight for more birthdays.

Today 30 – 40 % of cancers can be prevented, and one-third of cancers can be cured through early diagnosis and treatment. Do something.

Related articles

• World Cancer Day (cdc.gov)

Another real treat awaits us:  the second module of the “Kultura u učionici – učionica u kulturi” accredited seminar at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad on 11 March 2012.

We all know that one cannot truly master a language without getting to know its culture, but as is the case with many languages, the question is how to do it and how many (sub)cultures does a language ‘have’?

Image via Wikipedia

At this seminar, teachers will have an opportunity to learn more about intercultural communication and take part in activities that can help our students appreciate integrating cultural aspects in their learning. In addition to understanding other cultures, our students should also be able to explain elements of their own culture.

Special attention will be paid to various microcultural contexts. The participants will also have an opportunity to investigate the cultural aspects of successful business communication. Language correctness and stereotypes are other areas that are both fun and a must to know.  Something new in teacher development in Serbia is also learning about the environmental contexts that may hinder or foster our communication.

Registration deadline: 25 February 2012

Event: “Britansko veče – British Wonderland”

Organized by: The Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management - The Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad

When: Thursday, 26 January 2012, starting at 8 pm

Where: Ribarac restaurant in Novi Sad

Please note that this is also a charity event.

It has certainly made me think. And then think again. Start drafting. Then reorganize, feel at a loss, start over, take some photos, and plunge into it.

Here is an overview of the manifesto (a trailer?), created using Animoto. It is called the Copycat Me Manifesto because it is organized around well-known mottos (white font used), which served as the basis for highlighting some key things (no copycatting here) that I genuinely care about in my classroom when it comes to my students.

Below is the longer version. It contains a lot of I shalls, as it has been created also so as to help me stay on track.

Typically, only after finalising the image, I realised that it can be only a draft, as it fails to communicate or hint all those things that make me tick. As a consolation, I might claim that some of these issues, such as going green and raising consumers’ awareness, are embedded in the ‘relevant and topical issues’. Then again, I have been around for too long a time to have but few things that make me tick.

I am a language teacher. We teach how to communicate, how to think, react and express ourselves using words, body language and more – how to interact with the world. No wonder that a greater part of my manifesto is not about language structures. And this is something I really like about my job, my profession, my calling.

The single home-grown presenter at the conference is Zoran Milojevic, who will familiarize the participants with an E-learning training program for teachers. I am sure many of us teachers in Serbia are grateful to him for being a resourceful and most helpful  beacon.

The quest for the holy grail of educational technology continues, with Shaun Wilden, who will provide some insight into adopting a technological approach to homework. (Yes, Virginia, homework can be varied, interesting, purposeful, motivating and engaging.)

The attendees will also have the privilege of listening to The Michael Swan of Grammar and English Usage, who will present some golden principles involved in the design of grammar-teaching and practice materials.  Grammar doesn’t have to be grey, especially if you can find Oxford English Grammar Course at the end of the rainbow.

If you are one of the many who love Dominoes graded readers (my students do!), you are certainly familiar with Bill Bowler. His session will examine “the benefits of extensive reading, and look at ways in which we can make ER an attractive proposition for today’s students by meeting the digital natives half-way”.

The lucky ones attending the event shall receive an Oxford Professional Development certificate.

Don’t forget the 20% discount on purchases of all OUP titles with a special discount for Oxford English Grammar Course at the The English Book book display.

***

Bonus good news:  New coursebooks are being accredited for the next school year.  Can you guess which ones?

The time is always right to do the right thing.

― Martin Luther King Jr.

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday in the US observed on the the third Monday of January. (He was born on 15 January 1929.)

Even if we are pressed for time in our classrooms, the least we could do is to share some of his quotes.

A message so important for today’s fame-hungry teenagers: “Not everybody could be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service.“

Let us teachers never forget the following: “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically… Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Always avoid violence.” – A must if we are to make the dream come true.

***

FYI.

Coincidentally, the following comic strip by Joe Schuster appeared on 16 January 1939.

(source: http://www.thespeedingbullet.com/daily/ep01_15/ep1.html)

Related articles

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes: Honoring His Legacy (faith-dream.com)
• Inspirational Lessons from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (inspirationalperspective.com)

The forthcoming holiday season may be fruitful in so many ways. If you got the time, you could browse through the photos of your previous visits to British soil. Why?

Citizens of Serbia who have visited the UK and there captured a moment spent in a sports environment, on a playground, at a stadium, a tennis court, in a gym, etc., are invited to submit their photos and seize the opportunity to win a trip to London!

The deadline to submit up to three photos with descriptions is 1 February 2012.

“Britain As I Remember It” sports photo competition is organized by the British Embassy in Belgrade. It is also a nice way to connect with the 30th Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in London and the global sporting spirit.

The other day I just cut off the label from my son’s new pair of trousers and was about to throw it away when I discovered its unorthodox contents:

YES!  Recycling and reinforcing clothes and other everyday items vocabulary can be extended to practicing (creatively and fun) related verbs (good old -ing in disguise).

Scenario 1:

Students design similar labels for e.g. umbrellas, paper tissues, chewing gums, …

Scenario 2:

Students try to match the item with the label.

Scenario 3:

(It’s up to you to decide.)