viernes, 18 de septiembre de 2015

El 26 de septiembre celebramos el Día Europeo de las Lenguas con ACEIA





ACEIA (Asociación de Centros de Enseñanza de Idiomas de Andalucía) www.aceia.es se unirá el próximo sábado 26 de septiembre a los actos de celebración del Día Europeo de las Lenguas, que viene organizando de manera conjunta el Consejo de Europa y la Unión Europea desde el año 2001. La asociación representativa del sector de la enseñanza privada de idiomas en Andalucía viene a sumarse a las actividades que se realizan de manera conjunta en 45 países con el objetivo de destacar la importancia del aprendizaje de idiomas, promover la riqueza de la diversidad lingüística y fomentar el aprendizaje permanente de las lenguas.

Para ello, ha organizado un acto principal en Sevilla, que tendrá lugar en Las Setas de la Encarnación, un lugar emblemático de la ciudad, y jornadas de puertas abiertas en Córdoba, Granada y Huelva (http://www.aceia.es/dia-internacional-de-las-lenguas ). En este sentido, está previsto que un total de 11 centros asociados abran sus puertas para realizar pruebas gratuitas de nivel de idiomas para adultos, destinados a comprobar el grado de conocimiento y manejo del idioma; así como múltiples actividades para niños, como face painting (pintacaras), storytelling (cuenta cuentos), un taller de lectura en inglés, gymkanas y otros juegos destinados a fomentar el conocimiento de las lenguas de una manera práctica y divertida. Del mismo modo, está previsto la confección de un pequeño photocall en cada escuela donde –a través de los dibujos de niños y niñas- quedará reflejado bajo el hashtag #Followmyworld qué es y qué representa el mundo y la diversidad lingüística para los más pequeños. La jornada se animará con regalos conmemorativos, gracias al patrocinio de Trinity y Cambridge.

Del mismo modo, se entregará a los asistentes una Guía para el consumidor con claves para elegir un centro de idiomas que reúna todas las garantías posible y que ha sido elaborado, con la colaboración de la Unión de Consumidores de Andalucía, como continuación a la campaña iniciada el pasado año destinada a informar al consumidor y evitar las denominadas “academias fachada”, es decir escuelas que enseñan sin garantías ni refrendo de los organismos examinadores y que están causando denuncias por parte de los ciudadanos.


En total, participarán 11 de los 15 centros escuelas adheridos a ACEIA en Córdoba, que contarán con un equipo de 80 docentes. Se calcula la asistencia de unos 1000 niños y niñas que podrán participar en las actividades desde las 10 hasta las 14:00 horas. Los centros de Albany que mantendrán sus puertas abiertas son Albany Zoco School y Albany Aeropuerto School 

¡Os esperamos!

viernes, 17 de julio de 2015

ENGLISH&SPORTS: Último día del curso

Hockey, the castle, wet statues, music, presents, diplomas... ¡El último día lo hemos pasado genial! Muchas gracias a todos: profesores, padres y alumnos. Happy summer!!!




martes, 30 de junio de 2015

IRELAND JULY 2015: primera mañana de configuración de grupos y paseo por Killerny




Este es el momento en el que los chicos están haciendo las pruebas de nivel para la organización de los grupos de clase. Las clases son por las mañanas y se desarrollan en las instalaciones de tres colegios distintos. 

Aunque todos los alumnos realizan las pruebas en St. Brendans, se les asignará el colegio según sea su edad: Group Kids, Group St. Brendans, Group Monastery. 






lunes, 22 de junio de 2015

End of year party

"Love is a fruit in season of all times, and within reach of every hand."-Mother Teresa


This is probably one of the happiest and nostalgic day at the same time of the whole school year. Students come for their last reports, share their summer plans with us, and finally we say goodbye; another year has passed. We've seen them grow, learn and mature. They will come back in September with new experiences and stories to tell.

1. Fruit sticks
There is one part of this final day that you can make it really fun. Instead of bringing sweets, chips and soda, tell students to bring fruit. Yes, fruit! I know at the beginning they might say this is no fun at all, but believe me, everything can turn into an activity they all enjoy.


lunes, 15 de junio de 2015

End of year game

"Play is the highest form of research"- Albert Einstein

With the end of our school year approaching and all exams finished, our students feel more and more connected to playing games and having fun.

It is said that " for a small child there is no division between playing and learning; between the things he or she does just for fun and the things that are educational The child learns while living and any part of living that is enjoyable is also play"- Penelope Leach

 Here are some ideas I want to share for next week:

1. Blow a plastic cup competition
  
This is a very simple but fun game. All you need is a long table, 2 plastic glasses, straws for all students and a finish line. Students play it in pairs and they have to use the straw to blow the plastic cup to the end of the table.


miércoles, 27 de mayo de 2015

Cordoba Fun Fair

"We believed in our idea-a family park where parents and children could have fun together"-Walt Disney


Cordoba fair is the largest and most important annual amusement park here in our city. The fun fair is taking place at the end of May. Every year, tens of thousands of people are attracted by the fun fair. It offers attractions for every taste. Thousands of lights illuminate the fairgrounds.

In Albany we shared some activities related to the fair and children were enthusiastic with the idea. It's definitely one of their favourite holidays.

1. Flamenco dress design

My Basic 6 students created these beautiful designs using plasticine and some pieces of a sharpened pencil. We've learned about colours and polka dotted patterns, hair buns and ruffles.


miércoles, 20 de mayo de 2015

Teachers' workshop on games

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from a serious learning. But for children play is a serious learning. Play is the work of childhood."-Fred Rogers


On our last Friday meeting our DOS Hyatt, Ana and Beatriz have reunited teachers from different centres who participated in a very active workshop on the use of games in class.

We have explored games as a means of enriching and developing communication. They create a need to ask, examine and assimilate certain skills and content areas. In English acquisition through games, learning becomes effective.



jueves, 23 de abril de 2015

Earth Day Celebration!

"You cannot get through a single day without an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make"-Jane Goodall



Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22 in more than 190 countries. This is the largest civic event in the world, in which people of all backgrounds, faith and nationalities take part.

What can we do for Earth Day? The possibilities for getting involved are endless! Volunteer. Go to a festival. Organize an event in your community. Change a habbit. Help launch a community garden. Do something nice for the Earth, make a difference. Communicate these ideas to your students and Earth Day can be any other day! Commit and protect!
This is a series of activities and crafts done in class yesterday:

lunes, 20 de abril de 2015

Teaching Time

" Watches are so named as a remider-if you don't watch carefully what you do with your time, it will slip away from you."-Drew Sirtors


Telling time can be difficult for some students, so it is important that they have a strong grasp on numbers before teaching time. It's possible that they might not have learnt to tell time in their native language. In this case, we use time reference like "in the morning" or "at night", "today" or "tomorrow". With very young learners we often use the classical song " Hickory Dickory Dock" which goes up to 5 o'clock.

Start by showing students famous clocks around the world and see how many they know.



A: Big Ben (London)
B: Astronomical clock (Prague)
C: Musee d'Orsay (Paris)

lunes, 13 de abril de 2015

Working with Words

" Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied. Even the interpretation and use of words involves a process of free creation."- Noam Chomsky

1. Words in a row

When working with words, there are lots of different possibilities. Challenging students to work in a collaborative way is also motivating. One activity that students enjoyed is finding words written on a 3 metre-tape. It's just another way of engaging them in being familiarised with spelling, from a postion that is not the typical chair-desk. All you need is a masking tape, space to put it on the floor, and a marker to previously prepare the activity.
 

lunes, 30 de marzo de 2015

Easter Crafts

"Easter tells us that life is to be interpreted not simply in terms of things, but in terms of ideals."-Charles M. Crowe

With Easter around the corner, here's a list of crafts our little students have made in the class during this week.

1. Paper grass egg holder

We've used some green cardboard to make these egg holders for our chocolate eggs.



sábado, 21 de marzo de 2015

March crafts and activities

"Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. "-Rainer Maria Rilke


With spring around the corner, and exams and evaluations recently finished, there is a wide range of activities that enhance creativity and learning. This is one part of the term that most students enjoy. There is more time to dedicate to what they really like, enjoy nature and make the most of it.

Here is a series of activities that had been done during March. It can be an inspiration for this month's activities.

1. Spring bracelets 
Children love bracelets. It is a new fashion to wear all kinds and all materials. This one uses a paper roll cardboard and it recycles it into various bracelets that can be decorated as pleased.



martes, 3 de marzo de 2015

Message on a T-shirt

"It's a new era in fashion-there are no rules. It's all about the individual and personal style, wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels, and up-and coming designers all together. " Alexander McQueen


This activity came to my mind after seeing how much English is being used nowadays on clothes. Children's clothes are the most prolific at showing funny or positive messages. They are almost always colorful and in fashion.



lunes, 16 de febrero de 2015

San Valentine's Day


"Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love"


These are two of our crafts done in class both with  younger students and older ones. The result can be used as a bookmark and a reminder of this day.



jueves, 5 de febrero de 2015

Yoga for Kids

"Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are." 
Jason Crandell


When teaching young learners, one way of involving them in language recognition is also by making them aware of their bodies. I am using a sequence of animal and plant yoga postures, and I believe it is a wonderful resource to start the class or warm up, and it can be expanded further on. 



"The cards can support the development of focus and attention by encouraging the child's awareness of their body and helping them to regulate their emotions."-Dr. Jedda Graham.




miércoles, 4 de febrero de 2015

Workshop for Teachers: Motivation, the Nature of the Beast


Workshop for Teachers

Motivation: The Nature of the Beast

“We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it.”
Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909 –  2005)

How important is motivation for you in your life and in your work? Is your motivation how you would like it to be? How important is it for your students? What is our role as educators in empowering and maintaining their motivation?


Date: 13th February
Time: 11:30 to 13:00
Place: to be confirmed
How to sing in: Please send an email to HR (janina@albanyschool.com) before Monday 9th February

Limited places assigned in order of registration

jueves, 22 de enero de 2015

Guess How Much I Love You

"I love you to the moon and back"


Guess How Much I Love You is a British children’s book written by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram and published in 1994.





More than 28 million copies have been sold worldwide and it has been translated into 53 languages.






Guess How Much I Love You has been published in several different formats, suitable for children from 1.5 to 8.

It has been adapted as a television cartoon in the US.





This is the story of two Nutbrown Hares, Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare. The two are never stated to be father and son in the original storybooks, though are reffered to as such in the narration for the animated television series. Little Nutbrown Hare asks Big Nutbrown Hare the titular question, “Guess how much I love you?", and the book continues as the two use larger and larger measures to quantify how much they love each other in answer to the question. The story is simple, but effectively shows the love the two share for each other.





This book helps young children express their feelings, share their care, and develop their own selfesteem. It also works with guessing structures, comparatives and sequence of actions.

You can find the book in our store: http://www.albanybookstore.com/tienda/
Enjoy!
Alexandra

domingo, 11 de enero de 2015

New Year's Resolutions

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream..." C.S. Lewis


Imagine with all your mind,
Believe with all your heart,
Achieve with all your might.

A new year has just began, a new school term to start, and new things to learn. As a first activity in class we've shared our own resolutions for 2015.