Tag: school

When you’re aiming for the moon…

Beresheet may have crashed, but for a moment we raised our eyes to the heavens.

The headline of the Times of Israel article  (first in links below) couldn’t help but grab my attention. I wondered what the article would say about ‘raising our eyes to the heavens’ and began to read.

I was so glad I did. Quite frankly, I was blown away.  Five big life lessons jumped out at me, lessons that if applied consistently and wholeheartedly, have the power to change a life, a community, even the world.

#1. Look beyond. – There is so much more to life than our own little existence and circumstances. In fact, there are infinite possibilities if we look for them.  When LunarX held a contest to land an unmanned spaceship on the moon (with a twenty million dollar prize for success), Israel seized the vision.  Though SpaceIl’s efforts were unsuccessful, and the project closed in 2018, the scientists kept working.

#2. Aim for the moon. – Dreaming and imagination is limitless, and it’s included in the package deal of being a human being. Why not go for it? The dream took root in 2010, when three friends dreamed of making Israel the fourth country to have a space craft land on the moon. As the flag in the widely published photos of the Beresheet craft nearing landing proclaims: Small country, big dreams. Why not?

#3. Invest in your dreams. – If we want to see dreams come true, then our ideas require action, and action requires means. Put your money where your mouth is. It took over 100 million dollars to finance the TeamSpace IL dream.

#4. Expect the unexpected. –  Life happens and it can be messy sometimes. We can’t always prevent the upsets, but we can learn from them and work better. The Beresheet space craft landed on the moon, but certainly not in the gentle fashion the team had planned.

#5. Failure means you tried. – As the saying goes: It is better to have tried and failed, than to have failed to try.  Journalist Melanie Lidman concluded that perhaps the greatest lesson of all was that the space endeavour united millions of people around the world in a collective dream to reach the moon. Although they failed within 150 meters of the moon’s surface, Buzz Aldrin (1969 US Apollo astronaut) tweeted the TeamSpace IL team, saying: ‘Your hard work, team work and innovation are inspiring to all – never lose hope‘. Indeed!

Five huge life lessons from an apparent disaster. I had just learned about constructive journalism this week, and so it was amazing to come across a piece that so effectively explained and exemplified how an apparent failure can be reframed into a powerful and uplifting life lesson.

Instead of taking a victim mindset and describing at great lengths the heartbreaking failure, disappointment, and loss of so much work and so many millions of dollars, the journalist focused on the lessons learned and left the readers feeling hopeful, not devastated.

Recently re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared: ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try again. We’ll try again, and next time we’ll just try it more gently.’

Optimism  – and humour – to boot!

It got me thinking: which is more important in the pursuit of dreams: the process or the final product?    

What do you think? I’d love to hear your ideas on this in the Comments.

Sweet dreams!

– Claire  :o)

 

LINKS: https://www.timesofisrael.com/beresheet-may-have-crashed-but-for-a-moment-we-raised-our-eyes-to-the-heavens; https://www.timesofisrael.com/buzz-aldrin-to-inspiring-beresheet-team-after-moon-crash-never-lose-hope/; https://nationalpost.com/news/world/israel-lands-on-the-moon-but-not-in-the-way-we-wanted-to-as-spacecraft-crashes-in-history-making-journey.
[Photo: Shutterstock/Ruslan Ivanslov]

The Flipside of My Un-March-Break (or: How to translate 3 great québecois expressions of enjoyment)

For primary and secondary school teachers and students (and many of their parents!) in the Quebec City area, it was the March Break this past week. A delicious week of rest and relaxation to sleep in, go skiing, skating or tobogganing, or take in a movie, visit a museum or just plain stay home and be a couch potato.

This is the first time in fifteen years, that I didn’t have the March Break.  That’s because I left the school system last June and now teach in the business environment.  Since, I have a trip planned for May, taking a week off now was out of the question.

What to do? I wondered how I was going to ‘survive’ the week that for so many of my friends is a hard-earned perk of being a teacher. Well, I am happy to say it was great! And I figured out how to translate a trio of tricky expressions while enjoying it!

Expression 1: Décrocher (as in: J’ai besoin de décrocher!)

This expression is invariably used within the same breath as the word ‘vacation’. It means ‘to unwind, relax and take it easy’. In other words, chill! How did I do that this week? Check out the following song:

Let me tell you, the corporate environment, and your colleagues dancing in their chairs, beating their pens on the conference room table or humming are to provide a momentary slice of tropical paradise – right in class!

 

Expression 2: Se changer les idées (as in: Il faut que je me change les idées!)

One of my students thanked me for getting his mind off of things (clearing his head) after a stimulating discussion on leadership, as a spin-off of a discussion about the Trudeau-Wilson-Raybould-SNC-Lavalin debacle of this week).

Another instance of mind refreshment took place when, instead of sticking to the program of review- -new point-practice-reinforce-production, I opted for a game fresh off of a webinar I attended this week. It worked like a charm and certainly motivated the students, who vied furiously against each other to win the remainder of the freshly-baked banana cake I had brought to class. I think it’s safe to say that despite the Arctic temperatures outdoors, the heat was on.

Don’t know about them, but for me, it certainly gave me an opportunity to get my mind off of things – like not being on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean!

 

Expression 3: Un bol d’air frais (as in : J’ai pris un grand bol d’air frais!)

This is such an interesting expression for anglophones who have recently arrived in Quebec. What? You took a bowl of fresh air? What a weird expression – yet how eloquent at the same time!  In English, we simply say: Enjoy the great outdoors (or the fresh air). It is also one of those examples of an expression that is so much better said in French than in English. It is much more poetic and visual!

I got my bowl of fresh air today when I sat outside (suitably dressed, of course!) to simply bask in the sunshine and catch some rays. I enjoyed the sounds of my neighbor frantically shoveling the snow around his garage, the chirping of a couple of song sparrows and the occasional airplane. Bliss!

So, there you have it: the flipside of my un-March Break. I was able to unwind, get my mind off of things and enjoy the fresh air, while still taking care of business as usual.

I guess it’s the little things that count the most, right?  How did you enjoy your Un-March Break, my faithful readers?

– Claire :O)

 

[Photo: Shutterstock/Song_about_summer)

5 Ways To Boost Your Child’s ESL Learning (and it’s not as hard as you may think!)

The question my student voiced was valid: How can I help my kids with their English homework? They just don’t seem to retain the words I teach them.

This father was echoing the very same concern I heard over and over again when I taught at a local elementary and high school.

If you are a parent, I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about. You know how important it is; you use English at work, as soon as you do a search on the Internet or when meeting clients from the US or elsewhere in Canada. You know that these days, you can’t get by without it.

And to bring things home, Secondary 5 students in Québec can’t get their high school diploma without demonstrating mastery in English oral and written skills.

So, how can you help your child? Neuroscience tells us that to develop the pathways (learning), it takes repetition and constantly having to retrieve the information at varying times and in varying contexts.

Here are my 5 top tips to keep your kids on their toes.

  1. Surprise them – Sing to the songs the radio station plays in English on the way to school or dance lessons. Switch up the program on Saturday morning, and choose an English show instead. Use an English-language family event calendar on the fridge.
  2. Play with them – Challenge them to play online games and apps in English for a set time before being allowed to game with friends in French. Even bath-time can be an opportunity to identify objects, colors, shapes, textures functions of basic, everyday objects. Why not? Get on the floor and play Lego’s in English.
  3. Model for them – Once a week, speak in English at dinner time, or while having a snack. When I was doing a practicum in teaching in a grade 5 class, we had Star Time, in which the students could only speak English. They would earn stars for their efforts. If they spoke in French, they didn’t get their star. A chart on the fridge could keep track (just an idea!) The idea is to show that English is used outside the classroom walls, and that the words they are learning in class are useful at home, too!
  4. Read to them – Reading a book to your child before going to sleep is an excellent way to feed vocabulary into your child’s brain so that it processes during the night. Once a week isn’t a chore, and your child will come to associate English with a quality time with Mom or Dad. Emotions are key to learning, and snuggling up for a read is sure to give an endorphin boost that will lower the day’s stress levels, and help you both sleep better!
  5. Be a fan – One last thing, that I just have to mention here. Keep the tone positive when talking about or to your child’s English teacher. Teaching thirty-some children, all at different language levels, with different learning styles and needs, once or twice (maximum!) a week, to speak a foreign language is no easy feat. You are your child’s hero, and if you think your kid’s teacher is awesome, then chances are they’ll think so, too. Personally, I remember the students whose parents had a super-positive attitude towards me and the work I was doing with their child. The child always made more effort to do the homework and made greater progress when the teacher-speak at home was positive.

You know, when you make the effort to speak English, even if you make mistakes, your child is impressed (even if they laugh at first!) They see that making mistakes is no big deal, not the end of the world, but the beginning of an adventure. What’s more, they’ll be much more likely to take the risk of raising their hand to answer in class because they understand that taking risks can mean making mistakes, but more importantly, it means learning.

And that’s when your child will start retaining and speaking in English. You, as parent, are the one that can give them that essential boost. What are you waiting for?

Have fun! – Claire :o)

[Photo: Shutterstock/Dmytro Zinkevych)