Postcard courtesy of Landsbankinn

Fourth in our series of Icelandic sayings –

One wave is seldom single.

Observe the sea for a short time and you’ll notice that waves come in series and sets, never alone.  Legendary Icelandic pessimism has applied this law of nature to misfortunes, never tiring of darkly enjoying the pluality of Murphy’s Law.  Yet the opposite must also be true, meaning that good things occur in series as well.

My Dad was a great fan of Murphy’s Law, and the closely related Sod’s Law!

Thanks to @Iris_Connect, you can now access some of the many TeachMeetTakeover sessions.

Click here for access to talks by @tomhenzley @dannynic @kevinmulryne @gvibe and @charte – and me- and to spot the highly amusing typo (you’re good, Mr Harte but not quite the Messiah!)

I’ve also put mine below ;o)

One Stop Shop for ALL NE Spanish Teachers – everyone welcome!

Venue: Gosforth Academy, Regent Centre metro

Date: Thursday, July 14^th 2011

Sessions:

Neil Jones: “Say it with feeling!” – raising attainment and cultural understanding in MFL.”

John Connor: “Digital Encounters” – looking at the use of Web 2.0 tools to promote/develop speaking and writing.

Rachel Hawkes:  “Creativity Talks”: lots of practical ideas to encourage more target language talk (planned and spontaneous) in KS3 and KS4 Spanish classes.

Joaquín Moreno: “Poesia para la clase de español” –  illustrating how we can make use of poetry to improve students’ intonation and pronunciation, but also to encourage reflexion and understanding of emotions in KS% classes.

Lisa Stevens: “Sorpresas y sonrisas” – tips and ideas on how to keep everyone engaged and enthused in the primary language classroom.

Shirley Kliment-Temple: “Spanish through the Media”  – a show and tell session on motivational  projects from KS2-KS4 using Green screen film making , Print Journalism, News days,  Pod casting, animation using a visualiser and Radio broadcasting.

Please contact Claire Dodd to pre-book your place! Claire.Dodd@gosforthhigh.newcastle.sch.uk

Exceptional value @ just £50 for members of ALL

Non-members can join on the day or in advance

£20 for student teacher / NQT members

including refreshments and lunch

Gosforth Academy is easy to find opposite Asda and is just a few hundred yards from the Regent Centre Metro station.

Image from gcouros on Flickr

This really struck a chord with me – I am definitely a glass half full type of person. I know that there have been times when I’ve stayed out of the staffroom, or have avoided certain members of staff as their negativity has dragged me down. And I can identify my worst periods in teaching as when I’ve sunk into negative thinking and lost all hope about my abilities, or those of my pupils. It certainly did my teaching no good and made my life rather miserable too.

So, now I’ve been reminded, I’m going to do my best to be Optimist Prime and encourage others to think positively. Tell me off if I don’t!

On Friday, I hit BETT in London.  I didn’t really see much on Friday apart from some wonderful presentations as part of TeachMeetTakeover which I was helping coordinate for the day.

TeachMeetTakeover is a sort of ‘organised flashmob’ idea where companies offer their stands for half hour / hour slots to be used by someone talking about free ideas that they’ve used in their classroom.  There were presentations throughout Thursday, Friday and Saturday – the variety of ideas can be seen from the wikispace, which also shows how many offered but didn’t get to take part.

Having snaffled a helium balloon from a stand, I taped the logo to it and flew it by presentations – it seemed to make people stop for that all important three seconds it took for them to be drawn into the presentations!

My presentation was on the Babcock4S stand – and I have to say a huge thank you to Dan and the team for their welcome – and the beer!

Below are the slides from my talk entitled ‘Free stuff doesn’t have to be pants!

A lady from IRIS Connect was videoing it – if it gets published, I’ll upload the link! UPDATE – blog post with link

And look!  Just found this photo on Flickr that was taken during my presentation – you can see my legs just under the banner!

From Foto’s Frans Peeters on Flickr

Postcard courtesy of Landsbankinn

Third saying is –

Everything is nice that is green.

Origins of this saying are slightly obscure.  Was its inception fuelled by the desire for glorious summer during the darkness and discontent of winter?  The absence of vegetation in the seemingly endless black lava fields and lifeless sandbanks?  Or blissful ignorance of the existence of radiating plutonium?  Who knows.  But since it’s an old proverb, it must be true.

Brussel sprouts?  Snot?  Mmm…..

Postcard courtesy of Landsbankinn

Our second saying is –

Everything is hay in hard times.

For centuries sheep fed, clad and shod the struggling nation.  Survival depended on having a sufficient supply of dried grass to sustain the all-important livestock through long cold winters.  Spoiled or depleted hay reserves meant making do with something – anything – else instead.

I wonder if there’s an equivalent English / British saying?

A tweet the other day about a visit to IKEA and the purchase of hats and things reminded me that I hadn’t shared my latest purchase from the great Swedish home of fun!

Those who have been reading ¡Vámonos! for a while will know that I am a great fan of IKEA for resources that can be used in teaching languages (and other things too!)

Last time I went I bought a fruit punnet and vegetable basket and this purchase continues on the food theme.

How might I use this IKEA breakfast set?

Well apart from naming the items of food e.g. pan, un huevo frito, salchichas, queso, beicon – if that’s how you spell it now ;o) – etc, you could use this set to work on negative sentences ‘Para desayunar, tomo un huevo frito’ Para desayunar no tomo salchichas.’  Or you could introduce phrases of frequency  e.g. ‘Normalmente, como pan tostado para el desayuno’, ‘A veces desayuno un huevo frito y beicon’, ‘Nunca como tortitas/panqueques’. Opinions would also work.

Alternatively you could use it for some intercultural understanding and comparison of eating habits. What is a typical English breakfast?  What would an American eat for breakfast?  And in Spain? France?  And that allows opinions too!

Think they need to add some yoghurt, cereal and some drinks to the set!

Wonder what I’ll find on my next visit?

Postcard courtesy of Landsbankinn

The first saying is –

To soak your head in water.

Water is paramount to growth and apparently soaking one’s head in water for a moment or two facilitates fruitful thinking. Don’t forget to hold your breath though!

I quite like soaking my head underwater – perhaps I should do it more often!

On our holiday in Iceland over Christmas I collected some postcards featuring Icelandic sayings from the airport (advertising Landsbankinn), and thought I’d share them with you over the next couple of months, starting today!

Come back at 6pm to see the first in the series!