HAVE FUN WITH ENGLISH C1

Hi, everyone! Welcome to another post on my English teaching adventures! Today, I'm excited to share an activity about understanding cultural nuances in the English language classroom. This idea sprang from a particularly inspiring experience I enjoyed a few weeks ago: the " II Jornadas de Escuelas Amigas " at EOI La Carolina, where I participated in many interesting workshops. These were not only enlightening but also deeply encouraging. So, I just can't wait to tell you! The workshops underscored the importance of motivating students and designing attractive activities... and here I am:  brimming with the new ideas I discovered then and eager to implement them in my classroom. Thanks to Cristina Cabal, Carolina Sáez, Olga Peláez, Marisa Rodríguez, Javi Rico and Ana Pérez for their inspiring sessions! I wish I had had the opportunity to attend many more! In fact, the activity I'm about to describe is a direct result of the inspiration I drew from Cristina’s metho...

 As you all know, I have been keeping my C1 blog up and running for a couple of years now. However, it is getting harder and harder to update it! My responsibilities as a head of studies at school, my blended level course, and the training sessions I keep on doing... are just getting in the way all the time! So, here I am! Trying to find out some time to tell you all about my latest idea, which I got the inspiration for from delpupitrealasestrellas.com .  The game is called " Vocal a la fuga " in Spanish. That is why I called it " The runaway vowel ". I simply loved the image of vowels flying all over our classroom! I intend to use this activity as a retrieval practice game for my C1.1 blended students to recall vocabulary from the first module in their course, where they have been learning personality adjectives. As most of them were revised at home, I found it very convenient and necessary to retrieve some in class.  Just follow the instructions on the card below ...

OMG! Time does fly! It has been ages since I last posted on my C1 blog. I have been as busy as a bee and had no time at all to devote to my facet as an amateur blogger. My apologies, everyone! Nothing can be done now but just... mend my ways! So, here comes a new update!💪 Going back to the grind in class after a holiday break (we have just enjoyed our Easter week!) has always proved to be challenging. Unfortunately enough, most students have got into the mood of getting away from their learning😉. That is why setting up the right class atmosphere on the very first session after the holiday is always on my top-priority list. No wonder some retrieval practice will do the trick!  So, I entered my classroom with a very positive mindset, determined to grab my students' attention and kick-start the lesson with a retrieval quiz. I designed it on @genially_es (I simply love it for quizzes!) to recall some of the expressions regarding fast fashion and social responsibility we had been work...

Most language teachers and students know that the Common European Framework of Reference has mapped languages to different levels. Wherever we are in the globe, standard levels have been set so that language learning is based on what speakers can do at each particular stage. That is, we know exactly what each learner can do at each specific level, no matter what language they might be learning. How about that? At school this year, my students are meant to be able to accomplish a wide variety of complex tasks effectively as they are already facing the advanced level. However, how effective do they think they might be? Have they joined the right course? As C1 is divided into two different stages, what can they do at each one of them?  As it is customary at this time of the year, I have just come up with a quick test to find out whether they have enrolled in the right course. Off to a running start! Let us see how it goes!

Now that we are about to finish Unit 2 , I would like you all to have a look at the wonderful pieces of writing my C1 students have submitted regarding the environmental impact of the travel industry. The instructions for the task were crystal-clear this time: First, students had to open the link below and do the necessary thinking before they started the writing process: How to write a problem-solution essay Then, they were also asked to include at least:  2 of the environment collocations they have learned in Unit 2. 2 of the comment adverbs we had previously discussed in Unit 1. 2 of the degree adverbs we had also discussed in Unit 1. 2 of the linking expressions on one of the photocopies we had worked in class.  As for the result, judge for yourselves!

It is that time of the year again and I have been racking my brains for an idea to welcome my students on their first day at school. In a flash of sheer inspiration, I just came up with this activity after recalling a video published by @esBritish  in January last year.  The start of a new year might be the perfect opportunity to set new learning goals and help students become more conscious about their learning chances. Let's give it a try! I will kick off by presenting this slide  to play the video a couple of times and, fingers crossed🤞, it will hopefully spark some interesting discussion. Students will be able to complete the first two questions by getting ideas from the video and some more debate will also come up regarding the last question on the slide. If everything goes as planned, some interesting learning tips will turn up! Once students are in the mood, I won't let this great opportunity pass by! They will have to take on some strong long-term commitment to t...

Hi everyone! We have been working hard in class on how to dress for success. Students have been gathering ideas about the most distinctive personality figures that successful leaders share. Collecting their answers using mentimeter.com has really come in handy. Answers having been submitted, we had the opportunity of spotting some mistakes and discussing a few synonyms in class. Good job, guys!  These are some of the things that came out during the lesson:  the right spelling is " tenacious " Notice that persevering  or persistent  are also equivalents for perseverant Communicative is the right adjective for "communicate"  An  all-rounder  is the best option for someone of great versatility or wide-ranging skills . Students tend to confuse that with well-rounded , an adjective that we use for someone that shows a wide range of experience in different areas . Mentimeter can be a great vocabulary booster, don't you agree?

We have kicked off our C1 course outlining the most crucial skills a C1 student must master. We went on discussing whether students in the class were supposed to have those abilities . This having been proved, I encouraged students to take a final step: how about actually needing to apply for a legitimate place at this school? Would they genuinely be the right candidates for the position? Are they sure they meet the requirements? With that idea in mind, I posted an ad calling for the inspiring C1 students I have always dreamed of. I asked students in my class to apply for the position, stating the reasons why they were eligible to a seat in this exceptional C1 team.  I have collected all their application letters in the online magazine below. And guess what? I believe they are just the best candidates ever! Lucky me!

As most language learners and teachers know, all our languages are mapped to CEFR ( Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ) levels, which means that wherever we are in the world, we have standard levels in common for learning a new language.  CEFR levels are based on CAN-DOs that describe what speakers can do at a particular stage of their learning process. So, we know exactly what we can undertake at each specific level, whichever language we might be learning. Isn't that cool?  At C1 , you are supposed to be able to accomplish a wide variety of complex tasks effectively. Yet, how effective do you think you are? Have you enrolled in the right course? What exactly can you do at this stage of your learning? Let's find out! 

During our school lockdown, we have been expanding our knowledge on how to interpret statistics. As usual under the current circumstances, with the instructions in mind, we stayed safe at home carrying on with the hard work. It was about time for a new mediation task using a line graph on mass media consumption habits in the UK. We shared all our ideas on a google drive document and worked collaboratively to come up with our final versions. De-escalation-made written mediation activities. Where there is a will, there is a way!

Unit 2 has been very fruitful. We have learned a lot of new vocabulary on environmental issues and focused on how to write a problem-solution essay. However challenging the task has proved to be, the results are amazing! Judge for yourselves! As usual, I have built up our composition collection for C1 students to use as a guide to revise and boost their writing skills! Thank you so much to all of them for their generosity when sharing their personal writing tasks!

My C1 students have been preparing earnestly to share their first writing with our online community! A cover letter. The tasks we did in class included learning useful expressions for cover letters, studying models and correcting their draft versions. Eventually, they shared their writings on google drive. I feel really proud of their work. No doubt more writings are about to make the scene, but far and away less challenging than the first one!

We have just had a great time in class. I always devote it to getting to know each other activities and a bit of grammar and vocabulary revision from previous years. At the end of the class, I asked my students to write some catchy headlines highlighting their opinion on the lesson. Read their own suggestions and let me know what you think! I assume this will definitely be a great starting point!