TED-Ed: Lessons Worth Sharing

I've been a fan of TED Talks ever since learning about the program a little over a year ago. You may be familiar with Sir Ken Robinson's widely shared talk on changing educational paradigms. This animated version was created by RSA, which has a channel on YouTube. RSA has several animated Ted Talks, making already stimulating subject matter more engaging with stop-motion hand-drawn cartoons to paint a mental image. I think that these are great to use with teenagers to start a discussion in class, and they have worked particularly well with English language learners aged 14 to 18. Another great RSA animate is Philip Zimbardo's "The Secret Powers of Time"- it usually inspires a good discussion about understanding differences in perspective and the problem with stereotypes.

Another cool new project to come out of the TED program is TED-Ed, a website dedicated to sharing lesson plans based on short video lectures on various topics. One very cool new video explains two of Shakespeare's most famous insults (from Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet) and the importance of language used to create specific moods in literature. There are lots of other subjects, including science and technology, with lesson plans built in that feature comprehension and discussion questions, and extension activities with related content. There is even an option to "flip a lesson" when you register with the site. This way, teachers can modify and create their own versions of the lesson for videos they want to share with students. I love using videos and websites in class- if only we could make lessons like this every day!

May Day Weekend: Varna and Balchik

This week was shorter because of the four day vacation that extended through Tuesday, May 1st. May Day, or International Workers' Day, is officially celebrated in many countries around the world- but not the United States. From what I remember, this had something to do with a general fear of the popularity of socialism in the early 20th century. Americans celebrate Labor Day in early September.

But to get back to Bulgaria, we had a nice long weekend and I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous summery weather and visit my friend L in Varna, on the Black Sea.

It was a much-needed break. I am feeling a little overwhelmed by deadlines and the end of the school year quickly approaching with too many things to finish, so it was great to go to the beach and relax. I was joined by our friend A, who is also living in Sofia, which made the whole trip felt like one big extended sleepover party (fun!). We dipped our legs in the still-freezing water, worked on our tans/sunburns, enjoyed lots of delicious food (Varna has an amazing Thai restaurant and a sushi place, not to mention great seafood) and took a day trip to the botanical gardens in Balchik.

Here are L and A enjoying a beachfront meal of mussels, fried fish, calimari and beer.

The botanical gardens in Balchik are on the grounds of what used to be Romanian Queen Marie's residential palace. It was built during the interwar period when Southern Dobruja was under Romanian control. It is now part of Bulgaria, and the gardens are maintained by Sofia University. Fun fact: the queen's heart was buried in a special part of the gardens, but were transplanted to Bucharest after the region was returned to Bulgaria in 1940. 

One of the most distinguishing landmarks of the palace is this minaret, which looks like what you would find attached to a mosque. This building, however, was neither designed as a mosque, nor has it ever been used as one. Apparently Queen Marie had it built as a symbolic gesture to the architecture of the region. She also professed her belief in Baha'ism, which explains the coexistence of Islamic and Christian symbols in this part of the complex.

I returned to Sofia on Tuesday night feeling well-rested, but the rest of the week was a blur. I guess that happens when the working week is only three days long: you feel much more exhausted afterwards than you would normally! 

Deaf Awareness Week

Next week (May 7-13) will be Deaf Awareness week in the UK. I received an email today about the launch of an online platform for students and teachers to learn more about communication with deaf people, particularly teenagers: "Look, Smile, Chat" aims to improve understanding and communication between deaf and hearing teens. I thought it would be an excellent topic to explore with my 8th grade students. Tomorrow morning, I will use parts of the lesson plan (available for free download here) to get students talking about and recognizing the steps everyone can take to improve communication with deaf people. The website has several videos which would also be very interesting to use as discussion starters for students of any age.

Because we don't have have access to a multimedia projector in the classroom, I printed worksheets out for students to complete in pairs with the "Mythbusters" section on deafness and an unlabeled diagram of the human ear. After working on the worksheets in pairs I will have students try to lipread short statements read silently by their partner. After that I will ask some of the pairs to act out everyday communication tasks, such as simple questions and praise, in front of the class without speaking to see how easily we can understand them without words. I also printed out four posters with tips about communication, and we will discuss these as a class, including how we can incorporate each of them into our everyday communication with others.

I am really excited about using these resources in the classroom and very thankful to the NDCS for making them available!