Diogenes and the Wise Man

Last month we read the short story Diogenes the Wise Man, by James Baldwin and that  inspired us to talk about who we would have liked to be if we weren´t ourselves. The result of this debate made us realize that we all had had a mentor that had made a difference in our lives.

The topic coincided with a unit of the course book entitled INSPIRED. Throughout the pages of this unit, we read and discussed about where people might take or might have taken - Leonardo Da Vinci, for instance- their inspiration from.

Therefore, at the end of the unit, we decided to write about our personal “Muses” -or sources of inspiration- that would lead or have already led us to become an improved version of ourselves.

We would like to share them with you.

If I weren’t myself, I would be Norberto Pelizza.  He was in charge of the discipline at my boarding secondary school.  I admire his wisdom, simplicity and availability.  Unluckily, he died due to cancer two years ago.

Jeremías Brandi

 
A person who has really inspired me since I was a child is my godfather.

He is a fantastic and talented journalist who has based his whole life on growing in his job but also making a family. I can remember several times that he gave me life tips on what to study at university and “how to get on well with my sister,” as well as politics and geography.

He is such a great and adorable father, son, husband, uncle and of course, godfather, that I’d like to be like him in my future.

Aranza Castillo

Who inspires me?

Someone who inspires me is my pet, Ramona.  She is still a puppy, and she is cute and easy-going, so she transmits me her quietness and makes me feel comfortable when I’m with her.  She also inspires me because I’m certain that she trusts me.  Besides, when I finish working with whatever I’m doing that needs inspiration, she knows I take her to the park, so it’s convenient for her to stay with me and looking at me as if she were insisting me on finishing.

Ayelén Calvet

 
At school I’ve learnt a lot of things: mathematics, languages, history, etc. Unfortunately, there are very few teachers that can teach you these kinds of things and, at the same time, make you learn how to manage in life.

I was fortunate to have one these teachers. My inspiration nowadays is called Laura, and she is my teacher of Language. She is a gorgeous woman, extremely friendly and tolerant person that cares more about our moral and good manners than about our marks. Laura always places being a good friend, companion and student first. There’s no need to be rude to be respected. It’s a question of knowing what to say and how to say it. Always with good manners and education.

Lucía      

 

Many writers have inspired me but one in particular: Eduardo Galeano.  I find him original, creative and extremely witty.  Through his writing I could know about him.  I love his simple way of expressing controversial issues like religion, politics, gender, etcetera.

Thanks to Galeano’s influence I can say that now I am more tolerant and respectful of others’ beliefs.  I really consider myself and open-minded person.

Also when I ponder on about myself, on how to be, I realize that the feeling of freedom I have, has been influenced and fed by this great man.

Teacher: Patricia Zorio

Class: FCE 'L'

My Fave Bookmarks

I asked my group to bring colour cardboard, a pair of scissors and sticking glue for the following class. They probably thought something was wrong with the teacher! To prove them right, I also brought old mags to cut out bits and pieces in case they might feel like a collage. The next class I asked them to join in pairs or groups of three and read a story in class. This time everybody read “The Shepherd´s Daughter”. Then, I asked them to design a bookmark related to the story. They spent 40 minutes in their design and then presented their bookmarks to the rest of the class, explaining the connection between the bookmark and the story they had read. They voted for the best bookmark. A different class altogether where everybody worked in a relaxed atmosphere with inspiring background music.

Teacher: Juana Nicemboin

Class: FCE 'D'

Grabbing Blurbs

Teacher: Mariana De Biassi

Class: CAE 'B' 

Putting values at the heart of learning

Valuing self, others and the environment through the consideration of an ethical values is at the heart of learning in our classroom. Students are encouraged to model values and to engage in reflective practices so that they are empowered to become effective learners and good individuals. These practices help our learners to develop holistically, nurturing a secure sense of self, respect for self and others.

We read "Diogenes and the Wise Man", a story which shows that "all that glitters is not gold" and that, sometimes, even a great king like Alexander  might like to be a beggar. We paid special attention to  the last line of the short story, where Alexander says:" If I weren´t Alexander, I´d like to be Diogenes".

The aim was to think about why a king would like to be a down-and-out and  who or what the students in First Certificate 'M' would like to be if they weren´t themselves. We got very interesting ideas which were later symbolized in a collage.

We have also read 'Dazzler' by Suniti Namjoshi, a fable whose central characters are a sunbird and a duck- each of them with distinct sets of values. Here the questions were: Are you more of a sunbird or a duck? Why? What qualities do you have? Answers were then represented in an artistic drawing.

As a corollary of both short stories, the group chose to leave an imprint of the the values that are at the heart of their learning through ART. 

Put value to reading! Together we can make the difference!

Teacher: Patricia Zorio

Class: FCE 'M' 

Making thinking visible

Many times what we learn mirrors what others are doing around us. We watch, we imitate, we adapt, we construct from there, we develop. Now imagine learning to dance when the dancers around us are not visible. Strange as it may seem, something very close to it happens all the time when learning to think. Thinking is pretty much invisible.

What we did in our group was try a way of making thinking visible through the use of art. The learners browsed through a menu of short stories and they chose the one that attracted them most. Yes, each learner can choose what to read and yet be in the same class as peers who have taken different reading decisions and paths. 

First, the learners decided what to read and I made sure that more than one student would read the same story from the menu.

We followed the several-stories-but-same-task approach. When the time came to discuss the stories we left the classroom and went to the place that speaks volumes about books: the library, which accounted for a big portion of the successful outcomes.  There the students gathered in different corners with the like-minded partners who had read the same short story.

The task I set was very simple, the thinking they engaged in was not: they were asked to say what was meant by the title and to select powerful quotes so as to discuss their implications. Next came art and that was when their thinking became visible.

These are the posters they designed to encourage others to read their short stories in our school:

All this flowed from rendering thinking visible. However, the first step is to overcome the problem of invisibility. Part of the challenge lies in the invisibility of thinking, which is in itself invisible. We are so used to thinking being invisible that we do not notice how easily thinking can stay out of sight. As educators then the first task is to see the absence, to hear the silence, to notice what is not there. A journey of one thousand miles, the Chinese proverb says, begins with but a single step. Seeing the absence is an excellent first step.The second making thinking visible through art.

Art invites thinking, encourages visual literacy, fosters different learning modalities, develops forms of thinking that are vital to grow as individuals. The positive payoffs of the experience? Thoughtfullness, accomplishment, enjoyment, ownership, and above all a dream come true: a bunch of adolescents staying 20 minutes after the class was due, handling books and gathered around the librarian to borrow one!

Teacher: Analía Dobboletta

Class: CAE 'C'

Reading Marathon

Throughout the year, some students approached me asking how they could enhance their knowledge and improve their skills to be better equipped to face the demands of the course. Apart from mentioning attending Self Access and handing in homework, I insisted on the importance of reading - a habit which, frequently because of lack of time, we neglect.

On Sep 30th, Fundación Leer launched the 9^th National Reading Marathon. Students, teachers, relatives and volunteers gathered to enjoy reading at schools, libraries, clubs, etc. I thought it was a good opportunity to remind students of the importance of reading, so we celebrated this event in the library, devoting part of the class to reading for the sheer pleasure of it. After the initial surprise (students did not expect to have a class in the library!), they chose some short stories and sat down comfortably in the armchairs. When they finished reading, they made their recommendations on “literary emoticons”, and shared their comments about the stories with other students. 

As a follow-up activity, the students designed a poster combining images and their quotations on reading. We all participated enthusiastically and benefitted greatly from the activity.

Listen to CAE 'D' students' comments:

Teacher: Laura Gieco                     Artículo en Español
Class: CAE 'D' 

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