Sunday, November 15, 2009

Almost done with the first Unit

Hi All,

So, busy lately. I've been slogging through my first run-through of my unit with my two new schools, which means I've had to spend most of my evenings lesson planning and prepping and tweaking. Gah.

I'm two days from being done with the first unit for my morning school, which means that when we start back over again with a new class, I can keep my lesson plans, and just make small edits. A lot easier.

The second, afternoon school is about half-way done, but it's becoming less painful. Having finished one unit will make the going less rough for them, too.

Unfortunately, I had to fail a lot of students in my afternoon program. I can see the argument: better that I do it now, than when they get to University and the professor cans them for plagiarism, or for a lack of English ability. There were some really strong students whom I fought to let through, since it was just a matter of time before they reached their full potential, but for some of the others... it wasn't fun.

Failing students isn't why I got into this business. As an ESL teacher, one gets used to doing everything one can to help them--I don't just let people pass, mind you, but the most important thing to me is their ability to use and make sense of the material we teach. If they can do that, but they have a bad test score, so what? I've had bad test scores, but last time I checked, I know how to communicate in English, and in French.

What can you do?

Saw District 9, and Valkyrie, finally, this weekend. It's funny how many movies we didn't bother watching, since we were abroad.

I thought Valkyrie, ironically, was the better of the two. Yes, it was Hollywood-ish, and yes, it was a Tom Cruise vehicle, but take away his eye, and one hand, and suddenly he acts a lot better. There were dozens of brilliant British actors in the show, and it was well-put-together.

District 9 is as subtle as a brick thrown at your head. It's well-done, if low-budget, and yes, it asks some important questions, but it really is blunt. That's part of the point, I suppose, but I can understand why it generates such polarized responses.

All the best,
Chris

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