sparkles #9
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To new beginnings...
choice of the best books, songs and films that came out last year. There will also be a few words on Chinese New Year and some weird festivals celebrated in January and, of course, a few treats for both, students and teachers, as well. Finally, what is January without New Year's resolutions? You'll find quite a few inside and ours is very simple: to be even better in 2014. The last two pages are devoted to one of the best professional experiences we’ve ever had - 1st State Conference for English Teachers in Pula. It is impossible to summarize all of it - you really should have been there.▪ I.P.
Nelson Mandela 2
Events of 2013 4
DIY 5
NY’s Resolutions 6
eTwinning 7
PULA 8
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
ISSUE
09/14
Another year gone by. Whether it's been good or bad - we'll leave up to each and every one of you to decide. However, whether it's been a significant one of not, is out of question. 2013 was the year Sparkles© was born, which was the greatest novelty in our professional world. We've provided a safe haven for all those aspiring to be writers and given a chance to everyone to show us what is going on in their schools. Some of you have seized the opportunity, others haven't. We'll do our best in the future as well to prove to you it is worth your time and effort. This issue of Sparkles© pays tribute to Nelson Mandela who passed away in December since we believe the rare few have left such a trace in the fight for human rights, freedom and democracy. We also bring an overview of 2013 - the key events from our perspective and your
January
2014
Monthly newsletter for and by English learners and teachers
Editors:
Maja Ivanović, prof. Komercijalna i trgovačka škola Bjelovar
Irena Pavlović, prof. mentor Srednja škola Čazma
email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sparkles.newsletter
DID YOU KNOW?
CHINESE NEW YEAR
CONTRIBUTORS TO
THIS ISSUE:
Ivan Lukovečki, cartoon artist
Silvije Devald,
eTwinning Ambassador
for Croatia
Martina Šturm,
Senior advisor, Education and
Teacher Training Agency
Izabela Vujučić Capar,
Administrative school Zagreb
Vedrana Dujnić Petrač,
High school Čazma
At Chinese New Year celebrations
people wear red clothes, decorate with
poems on red paper, and give children
lucky money in red envelopes. Red
symbolizes fire, which according to
legend can drive away bad luck. The
fireworks that shower the festivities
are rooted in a similar ancient custom.
Celebration continues with the lantern
festival held on the fifteenth day of the
first lunar month. People hang glowing
lanterns in temples and carry lanterns
to an evening parade under the light of
the full moon. In many areas the highlight of the lan-
tern festival is the dragon dance. The
dragon—sometimes a hundred feet
long—is typically made of silk, paper,
and bamboo. Traditionally the dragon
is held aloft by young men who dance
as they guide the colourful beast
through the streets. ▪ I.P.
The new Chinese year 4712 begins on
Jan. 31, 2014. It is the longest and most
important celebration in the Chinese
calendar. Each month Chinese begins
on the darkest day of the month as
they are reckoned by the lunar calen-
dar. New Year festivities traditionally
start on the first day of the month and
continue until the fifteenth, when the
moon is brightest.
In China, it is customary to take weeks
off to prepare for and celebrate the
New Year. The year to come will be
the year of horse. Why? Well, legend
has it that in ancient times, Buddha
asked all the animals to meet him on
Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and
Buddha named a year after each one.
He announced that the people born in
each animal's year would have some of
that animal's personality. Those born
in horse years are cheerful, good with
money, perceptive, witty and talented.
In 1958 he married a social worker Winnie
Madikizela and they had two daughters. The couple
divorced in 1996. When he and his colleagues were
acquitted in the Treason Trial he went underground
and planned a national strike.
He also helped to establish the armed wing of the
ANC. In 1962 using the adopted name, he left South
Africa secretly and travelled around Africa and visited
England to gain support for the armed struggle. He
received military training in Morocco and Ethiopia.
He was arrested in a police roadblock and charged
with leaving the country illegally and inciting workers
to strike.
He was convicted and sentenced to five years
imprisonment which he began serving in Pretoria.
“He no longer belongs to us, he belongs to the ages.” Barrack Obama, December 5, 2013
Page 2
THIS MONTH’S BUZZ
Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Mvezo, Transkei, on
July 18, 1918. His father died when he was 12. At
primary school in Qunu his teacher Miss Mdingane
gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the
custom to give all school children “Christian” names.
His university studies were cut short when he was
expelled for joining a student protest but he
completed his BA by correspondence and graduated
in 1943. He registered to study to get a degree in
law, but didn't graduate until 1989 while in the last
months of his imprisonment, he obtained an LLB
through the University of South Africa.
He only joined the African National Congress in 1944
when he helped formed the Youth League. In 1944 he
married Evelyn Mase and they had two sons and two
daughters one of whom died in infancy. They divorced
in 1958. In 1952 he and 19 others were convicted for
their part in a civil disobedience campaign and
sentenced to nine months hard labour suspended for
two years. With a two-year diploma in Law he started
the first black law firm.
He was arrested in a countrywide police swoop in
1955, which led to the 1956 Treason Trial. He was in
the last group of the acquitted in 1961.
If you are interested in having a lesson about Mandela, visit the DOTSact workspace and find the ideas and
teaching materials.
http://moodle.dots.ecml.at/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=209
Page 3
In 1963 he joined ten others on trial for sabotage in
what became known as the Rivonia Trial. Facing the
death penalty his words to the court at the end of
his famous ‘Speech from the Dock’ became
immortalized:
“I have fought against white domination, and I have
fought against black domination. I have cherished
the ideal of a democratic and free society in which
all persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for
and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for
which I am prepared to die.”
In June 1964 he and seven others were convicted
and sentenced to life imprisonment. His mother
died in 1968 and his eldest son Thembi in 1969. He
was not allowed to attend their funerals. He was
finally released in February 1990.
In 1993 he and President FW de Klerk jointly won the
Nobel Peace Prize and in 1994 he voted for the first
time in his life.
On 10 May 1994 he was inaugurated South Africa’s first
democratically elected President. On his 80th birthday
in 1998 he married Graça Machel, his third wife. He
stepped down in 1999 after one term as President. He
continued to work with the Nelson Mandela Children’s
Fund and established the Nelson Mandela Foundation
and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation.
Nelson Mandela never wavered in his devotion to
democracy, equality and learning. Despite terrible
provocation, he never answered racism with racism.
His life has been an inspiration to all who are oppressed
and deprived, to all who are opposed to oppression and
deprivation. He died at his home in Johannesburg on 5
December 2013 at the age of 95.
adapted from
http://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography
In February Pope Benedict XVI resigned and was succeeded by Pope
Frances a month later. Pope Frances became the most prominent per-
son in 2013, suggesting a new era for the Catholic Church. A few days
after the resignation, meteorites injured hundreds in Russia. The Chely-
abinsk meteor that hit the Southern Ural region had the speed almost
60 times the speed of sound and its light was brighter than the Sun.
Apart from the tragedy, this has great scientific importance and is bound
to be followed by many conspiracy theories. Margaret Thatcher died at
87 in April and Nelson Mandela at 95 in December. With the two of
them passing away, the world is bereft, having lost some of the most
prominent political figures of the 20th century. Scientists successfully
cloned human stem cells, thus offering hope to numerous patients
around the world. Autumn witnessed the US government shutdown,
proving that money really makes the world go round and before the end
of the year China Moon Rover landed on the Moon.▪ I.P.
Major World Events in 2013
As promised… You had fun with some Christmas tasks, so we’re
presenting the winner!
Page 4 STUDENTS’ CORNER
Late December and early January are the
time to look back at the year that has just
gone by and think about the events that
made it memorable. In our bleak world
chances are people will only think of the
negative things that happened, forgetting
those beautiful moments that took our
breath away. Anyway, some events are
more important than others on the great
scale and we have to think about them as
well. A great example of such a retro-
spective is Google Zeitgeist with exten-
sive lists of people, things and events
most commonly mentioned in 2013.
Here's the list of things we believe can be
dubbed major world events in 2013. Let
us know if you agree.
THE BEST OF 2013—
YOUR CHOICE
BOOK
Dan Brown, Inferno
SONG
Justin Timberlake, Mirrors
Rihanna & Mikky Ekko, Stay
FILM
We're the Millers
In England, Christmas is more important
than Easter or Guy Fawkes Night.
For young people in England, Christmas
Eve is a time for going out with friends.
On Christmas morning, there is a sermon
for practicing Christians. Roast turkey is
a typical main course on Christmas day.
Christmas pudding is a typical dessert.
If you stand under the mistletoe, the
host has to kiss you. Young children hang
their stockings for Santa to fill with pre-
sents. People leave refreshments for
Santa. Jingle Bells is a popular Christmas
song. The day after Christmas is called
Boxing Day.
1 Father Christmas and Santa Claus are
two names for the man who brings chil-
dren presents at Christmas.
2 Most families have a small pine tree – a
Christmas tree – which they decorate with
baubles.
3 Santa Claus puts the presents for chil-
dren into their stockings.
4 In Great Britain, children open their
Christmas presents on Christmas morning.
5 Christmas dinner usually consists of
roast turkey, roast potatoes and Christmas
pudding.
6 Christmas pudding is a sweet dish made
with dried fruit.
7 What do we call special songs sung at
Christmas? Christmas Carols
8 It is very prestigious to be number 1 in the
British pop charts at Christmas.
Bob Geldof’s Band Aid made it in 1984 with
a song to help the starving of Ethiopia. The
name of the song is Do they know it`s
Christmas?.
By: Petra Dragojevic 1.B
DIY— A book of love...
You’ll need it soon enough! Page 5
CHECK IT OUT! Have you heard this? Have you seen this? Have you read this?
Tribute is the debut album by John
Newman, a young English singer and
musician. It was released in the UK
on 14 October 2013. The album
includes the singles "Love Me
Again", "Cheating" and "Losing
Sleep"." All the songs peaked on the
UK Singles Chart and soon became
hits all over the world. The unique
timbre of John's voice makes his
songs recognizable from every
verse, and the music and lyrics
make you want to dance. We love
it! ▪ M.I.
One Hundred Names, the new
novel from the bestselling author
Cecelia Ahern, tells us a story about a
journalist whose career is being
destroyed by scandal and she's faced
with losing her mentor and friend.
Before her friend dies she asks her
what the one story she always wanted
to write is. The answer lies in a
mysterious list of 100 names with
nothing to explain what the story is
or who the people are. She has to
track them down and meet them to
find out how they’re all connected. ▪
M.I.
The Butler is a historical fiction
drama directed by Lee Daniels.
Loosely based on the real life of
Eugene Allen, a waiter and butler
who worked for the White House
for 34 years, the film stars Forest
Whitaker. In 2008, an elderly Cecil
Gaines recounts his life story, while
waiting in the White House. As Cecil
Gaines serves eight presidents during
his tenure as a butler at the White
House, the civil rights movement,
Vietnam, and other major events
affect this man's life, family, and
American society. Amazing cast! ▪
M.I.
It's just a deck of regular
playing cards with holes
punched in them, held
together with two key rings. But inside are
w r i t t e n a l l t h e
wonderful things you
want your loved one to know...
Try it out!
NEW YEAR`S RESOLUTIONS
NEWS FROM SCHOOLS
DECEMBER—THE MONTH OF GIVING AND HELPING
The students and teachers of High school Čazma raised
funds by selling their hand-made Christmas decorations
and jewlery to help an 8th grader suffering from
muscular dystrophy get a special
vehicle to be able to attend
school. The whole town
participated to help this worthy
cause.
A New Year's resolution is a promise that you
make to yourself to start doing something good
or stop doing something bad on the first day of
the year. Apparently, the tradition is very old: the
ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods
at the start of each year that
they would return borrowed
objects and pay their debts. The
Romans began each year by
making promises to the god
Janus, for whom the month of
January is named. Medieval
knights took the "peacock vow"
at the end of the Christmas
season each year to re-affirm
their commitment to chivalry
while many Christians prepare
for the year ahead by praying
and making these resolutions.
But the concept, regardless of creed, is to reflect
upon self-improvement annually. Not a bad one,
we may add.
Lea Matošević
1 Everyone will get what they deserve.
2 Devote more time to myself.
3 Don`t waste time on irrelevant people.
4 Don`t panic.
Maja Bundović
1 Get a driver's license.
2 Learn more for school and graduation.
3 Take my homework more seriously.
4 Spend more time with my family and
friends.
5 Get out more.
6 Start exercising.
Marija Jurina
1 Read the Holy Bible
(this time all 1026 pages).
2 Force myself to study.
3 Try not to drive myself crazy.
4 Stop being so addicted to movies and
read a book for a change.
Nives Pleše
1 More studying.
2 Less partying.
3 Stop being such a lazy person.
4 Help people more than I usually help.
Of course, if there's a day to celebrate New
Years and to make resolutions for the upcoming
year, then there should be a day to ditch those
resolutions. That day is celebrated on January
17th. The reason is simple: New Year's resolu-
tions are never easy to ac-
complish. If they were, we
wouldn't need special
preparations to stick to
them. So, for the majority,
New Year's resolutions are
hanging heavily over their
heads. They have become a
burden, and perhaps were
not such a good idea after
all. (The others, those lucky
few who stick to them even
after Epiphany are well
along the way to accom-
plishing them.) If you belong to the first category,
if you haven't accomplished, broken, or given up
your New Year's resolutions so far, January 17th
is your chance to get out from under them. ▪ I.P.
Commercial and trade school Bjelovar bought and
collected food and other household supplies and made
packages for underprivileged families whose children
attend the school and
delivered those packages to
their homes. Many of those
families wouldn’t have been
able to celebrate Christmas
otherwise. Page 6
Page 7
eTwinning projects offer a new
environment for teaching. Pupils are
encouraged to communicate with their peers
from other European countries, they do the
work at home or online, learn about European
cultures and learn in an informal way. Using a
computer for learning, especially with younger
learners is something new and attractive and
they gladly take part in such projects.
Apart from helping to enrich your
teaching, eTwinning also provides an array of
CPD opportunities for teachers: there are
learning labs, groups and professional
development workshops available to all
eTwinners and an annual conference for
winners of national prizes for best projects. ▪
S.D.
www.etwinning.net
– a European Dimension in the Classroom
eTwinning is an Internet portal started by the European Commission in 2006 with the goal of promoting online European cooperation in education using foreign
languages and ICT tools.
The portal functions on three levels:
Portal, Desktop and Twinspace. The portal is a
rich resource bank with numerous examples
and incentives for cooperation. The Desktop
serves as a social network; you set up a profile,
search for prospective project parners, keep a
list of professional contacts. The Twinspace is a
work area, a place to publish your project
work, check the progress of the project and
collaborate with your parners. A feature that
differentiates eTwinning from anything else is
that it a safe online environment; all teachers'
identities are verified by their national agencies
and all pupils there have been invited by their
teachers.
TEACHERS’ CORNER
Education and Teacher Training Agency
organized a State Conference for English
Teachers entitled Development and
improvement of professional competences
of English Teachers, which lasted from
January 7 to 9, 2014 in Pula. The aim
and the guiding principle for the
organization of the Conference was to
enable the participants to expand their
knowledge and skills in teaching the
English language beyond the practical
and methodological competences they
already have.
Apart from the three plenary lectures -
TEFL in Croatia today: Something old,
something new, something borrowed,
something blue, Stres učitelja i nastavnika
and Kako čovjek uči?, participants were
given a choice among eight workshops
to pick four to attend. The topics were
diverse - Rad s učenicima s teškoćama u
učenju, Prezentacijske vještine, Stvaranje
uvjeta za poticanje i razvijanje kritičkog
mišljenja, Vještina slušanja govora, Njega
glasa i izgovora, Hrvatski jezik za svaki
dan, Listen to my body talk, Građanski
odgoj u nastavi engleskoga jezika - which
gave everyone a chance to find
something for themselves.
PLENARY LECTURES
Stres učitelja i nastavnika prof. dr.sc. Majda Rijavec
Kako čovjek uči? mr. Predrag Pale
TEFL in Croatia today: Something old, something new, something
borrowed, something blue prof. dr. sc. Jelena Mihaljević
Djigunović
I would like to take this opportunity
to share my gratitude for moral and
practical support in organizing this
three-day event to Irena Pavlović and
Maja Ivanović. Girls, you’re the best!▪
M.Š.
Martina Šturm, prof. Senior Advisor, Education and
Teacher Training Agency
I was so happy to have the opportunity to attend State Conference for English Teachers in Pula from 7 to 9 January
2014. Apart from attending three great plenary sessions,we had the chance to participate in 4 different workshops (among eight) and these are the ones I have chosen.
I couldn't have started better; the first one
was “Njega glasa i izgovora“ by dr. sc. Gabrijela Kišiček who showed us some
excellent exercises which can improve our voices and help us save the most precious
tool for our job. I enjoyed all the tasks and it was really funny when we had to repeat different tongue twisters.
Then I joined many others who chose
another workshop called “Stvaranje uvjeta za poticanje i razvijanje kritičkog
mišljenja“ held by Eni Surić Faber. This teacher's workshop was also very useful
because it refreshed our memory when it comes to critical thinking. I loved working in groups, discussing humanistic approach in education, comparing our school system
with what we read during the workshop.
The third workshop “Hrvatski jezik za svaki dan“ was something
completely different and according to the latest Croatian
ortography. After this workshop I know what (not) and how I have to write in Croatian – I'm greatful to
you, (should I put a comma here?!) Nikolina Huđber Mesar!
And the last workshop just beautifully brought it all to a
perfect end: Irena Pavlović and Maja Ivanović, both English teachers in secondary schools put
a lot of enthusiasm into their workshop “Listen to my body talk“.
Working in groups, acting and enjoying it all – we went through
accepted non verbal behaviours and those we should try to avoid.
Once again all my colleagues proved not only to be just teachers but actors,
singers, players, mimers and much more as well. I only hope we'll all meet
soon again. ▪ I.V.C.
There were three lectures and eight workshops organized for us to attend, but there was time for only four workshops, so we had to choose. I chose the following: Working with pupils with learning disabilities, Presentation skills, Voice as a nonverbal sign (voice care and vocal exercises) and Citizenship education in the teaching of English. Working with pupils who have learning disabilities was a
very interesting and motivating workshop. The lecturer, Jadranka Bjelica, reminded us of our impor-tance in the classroom and how great our influence on our students is. She talked a lot about class management and the right kind of communication – assertive one. She stressed the fact that we should look at our students with learning disabilities as challenges, not problems, and we were given a handout with motivating strategies when
working with children who have learning disabilities and another one with the symptoms of dyslexia and some general advice on how to work with them. Presentation skills was an impressive workshop held by Željka Kamenov. In a very dynamic and interesting way she taught us how to give successful presentations. She warned us of the five biggest mistakes people make in their presentations, like too much information, no clear message, a lecture which is too long… We heard about the qualities of a good presentation and got a handout with the tips how to be successful in our presentations.
Gabrijela Kišiček had a very useful workshop where she talked about voice as a nonverbal sign and showed us how to take care of our own voices. She convinced us we had to do it in order to: prevent vocal disorders, achieve better communication and better expression and because of aesthetics. She showed us we could do it by working on our awareness of voice, knowledge of voice production, good vocal techniques and vocal hygiene.
Then we all stood in a circle and tried some vocal exercises. We were also given handouts with those exercises so we could do them at home. The last workshop I attended was Citizenship education in the teach-ing of English held by Jasna Kraljić Cmrk. She talked about her school which is in the experi-mental programme introducing citizenship education into our school programmes. She also talked about how we, as teachers of English, can and should do it with our programmes and through our classes. We worked in groups and made a lesson plan with a topic related to citizenship education. This lecturer as well gave us a detailed handout with examples of how to integrate citizenship education into English classes and all the useful resources. ▪ V.D.P.
1st State Conference for English Teachers in Pula
TEACHERS’ CORNER