The rules enacted

Today each pair performed their two scenes of the rules of conduct of our school. The rest of the students had to try to formulate the rule in words. The pair had to accept the explanation as being in accordance with the original rule and then write the rule on the board. We then had a brief discussion of why the rule is there.

You did a good job of illustrating the rules, I think. :)

Tomorrow the remaining presentations will be performed and there will also be a written quiz. Please be on time since we only have 45 minutes at our disposal.

Rules of conduct

Today we looked at your blog posts on good manners. It seems like many of you believe that good manners are fading away. If that is true, it's kind of sad, really. Maybe the ideas of what is good manners are slowly changing? But, as Feri pointed out, older people have always considered the younger generations to be impolite and badly behaved in general. I agree, a part of being young is about breaking the rules you know are there.

... and this leads us into our next task: in pairs you will perform a role play where you enact the rules of conduct at our school. Each pair has been given a rule and in tomorrow's class you will plan how to act out two separate scenes; one where you break the rule and one where you act in accordance with the rule. The rest of the group will guess what your rule is and thereafter we will have a discussion about the rule and its implications.
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Please note that your homework has been pushed until Wednesday 27 October instead of Tuesday. What homework? See post below.

Wednesday's Class

Today we checked our answers to the exercises we finished yesterday. The translation turned out to be a lot more funny than I initially thought.

I have temporarily opened up the anonymous commentary option again for those of you who were unsuccessful in creating a Google account. Please create a Google account as soon as possible. We will use your comments on Monday in class when we prepare for a role play.

Don't forget the homework for Tuesday. See post below.

Today's class

Today we did the exercises on p age 67 - 69 that go with the chapter My Near-Death Experience. Tomorrow we will check your answers together in class. Please respond to the post on good manners below.

Your homework for Tuesday 26 October is to study the chapter My Near-Death Experience and be able to summarize it + explain words and expressions from the text in English.

Good manners

What is considered "good manners" may differ in different countries. What would you say are good manners nowadays? Have they changed?

Write a comment to this post where you explain what you think are good manners today.
Here are some ideas to help you:

Do you say hello to the bus driver when you step on the bus?
Would you say hello and goodbye to the teacher at the beginning or at the end of a class?
Do you use please when you ask for something?
Do you think a man should let a woman go first through a doorway?
Would you give up your seat for anyone on the bus?
Would you spit in public?

Book issues

Today we experienced some book issues in class. Bringing your text book is required for each class unless I specifically tell you that we will be doing something else. Last week I told you to bring your books for the upcoming classes and I also reminded you here on the blog. If you know that you will not have time to get the book from your locker in-between classes, make sure you plan ahead and bring both books! It's simple, really, and the rule applies to everyone. Hopefully everything will run smoothly in English class from now on. We don't want to waste our precious time, right?
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In class we read the chapter My Near-Death Experience (p 63-66) together. We also started discussing the questions "check your reading" on p 67. We finished questions 1-6 and will start question number 7 tomorrow.

Please read the chapter once again at home so that you are well prepared for tomorrow's class. See you then.

My response

I have now read and marked what you wrote on Dead Poets Society. Some of you will receive your response via e-mail and some of you tomorrow in class. I had this idea that I was going to print them all, but my printer jammed somehow.

See you guys tomorrow!

Today's class

Today we wrapped up our discussion of Dead Poets Society. We also talked about the moral responsibility a person has to try to stop something bad from happening when he/she sees something coming, for example a person who may try to commit suicide.

We also did a quick word check on the words related to Dead Poets Society.

We started discussing the theme for the next chapter in our book which incidentally is about having a near-death experience (page 63 in your book). It turned out that a few people in the class have had a near-death experience, or something quite scary, happen to them. We will talk about this more on Monday.

Please bring your textbooks then.

Questions, Dead Poets Society

Today we finished watching the movie and I gave you four questions to answer.

Please bring your text books again for tomorrow's class. See you then!

Change of settings

Like I said last week I have now changed the blog settings so that the anonymous commentary option is no longer available. To be able to comment you need a Google account. Either activate the one you received at the start of the term or create a new one here.

Movie + homework for Tuesday 12 October

Today we watched Dead Poets Society again. Since we only had a 45-minute class we had to save the ending until Tuesday next week.

On Tuesday, 12 October I will give you some questions on the movie to answer individually. Make sure you know the words below as well.

Homework: Words from Dead Poets Society

Please make sure you know the following words for Tuesday, 12 October:
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solemnly = högtidligt
alumnae = f d elev vid skola
elderly = äldre
distinguished = framstående
smugly = självbelåtet
dorm = studentboende
remote = avlägsen
scholarly = vetenskapliga
aisle = mittgång
dedication = hängivenhet
quiver = darra
lean = luta
campus =universitetsområde
banner = banderoll
shuffle = blanda (t ex en kortlek)
affectionate = tillgiven
chuckle = småskratta
extracurricular = fritidsaktivitet
annual = årlig
shrug = rycka på axlarna
clenched = sammanbitna
approach = närma sig
barely = knappt
demerit = anmärkning

Today's class

Today we read another chapter from Dead Poets Society. We read the part where the new teacher Mr Keating asks the students to tear out a page, or rather an entire chapter, from a course book. The book explains how to study poetry according to a certain formula, a way of studying that Mr Keating objects to. The students are reluctant at first, but proceed to finally tear out the pages from the book.

We have a feeling that this idea of teaching free thinking that Mr Keating has will not go over well with the other teachers nor with the students' parents.

Tomorrow we will start watching the movie in class.

Your homework is to activate your Google account using the login you have received already for Google apps or create a new one using the link in the previous post. I will close the anonymous blog commentary shortly.

Google accounts

Hi everyone!

I believe it will be a good idea for us to post on the blog using a Google account from now on. That means I will close the "anonymous" commentary option and everyone has to log in to be able to comment. Once we all have Google accounts we will know who is posting what on the blog.

If you have access to Google apps you may already have a Google account. If not, you can easily create one here. Please make sure you pick a password that you will remember...

We will talk about this tomorrow in class.