(www.happynewyear2015quoteswishes.com)

Terrorist attacs

So, they have done it again, this time in Peshawar in Pakistan two days ago.

141 people killed - 132 of them school children. Taliban did it. Why? Why kill innocent children? Do you have the right to kill a child because his/her father is a soldier? "Us president Barack Obama said terrorists had "once again shown their depravity" while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said it was "an act of horror and rank cowardice."http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30491435 Both of them are right, the Talibs have no moral, they are evil, and killing children states that they are cowards. In addition, Malala said in her speech in the UN that a Talib doesn't know what is inside a book. In other words, they are illiterate and ignorant and afraid that literacy will hinder recruitment to their cause. And of course it will, remember "the pen is mightier than the sword."

58million kids around the world are deprived of their right to education - thank God we have persons like Malala Yousafzai (17) from Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi (60) from India. Today they will receive their Nobel Peace Price. Watch it all on NRK here. 

World Population Clock Live - Population of the World Today - The World Counts

World Population Clock Live - Population of the World Today - The World Counts

Is He Going to Make It?

The question is whether president Obama will manage to fix the USA's broken immigration system or not. Last night he gave a speech where he pointed out that illegal immigration was at it lowest since the 1970s. In addition, he told the nation what he intended to do to make the immigration system work. He mentioned three steps that he would take, one of them being, "Requiring undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who’ve been here 5+ years to pass a background check and pay taxes in order to temporarily stay in the U.S." He also asked Congress to pass the bill that they had delayed for one and a half year - he asked the members of the House of Representatives to not forget that "we are all immigrants". Listen to Obama's speech here.

A Break from Politics?

Let's take a break from politics, war and global challenges! Taking a look at how the English language has developed into a World Language, and why it is the most used lingua franca today will be a relief - or will it really? Is language politics as well? English rules in international education, international business and trade, in international diplomacy, in art and entertainment, and in science and technology.  It does so even though it is just number four on the list of top ten languages in the world by native and second language speakers (Access p 17). According to David Crystal, "A language becomes a global language because of the power of the people who speak it. It has nothing to do with the structure or the grammar (...) It's all about political power". So, it seems we'll have to deal with politics even though we are going to look at language! Check out week 47 in First Term.

An Unfair World!

I was shocked and just wanted to cry when seeing this - what is the point in killing these innocent people? What can I and you do to help? Well, one thing we can do is what Malin Henriksen did. Follow this link , find "A Case of Injustice" and listen to what she says.

November 5

English all day is coming up next week...what should we do? Here are some ideas,

1. Study large local businesses (Dalen, Fjellstrand, Elkem Bjølvefossen, Esso) with special focus on international contacts and the use of English
2. Watch one of "The Ten Greatest Business Movies"
3. Polish blogs for evaluation
4. Prepare an oral presentation on a topic from chapter 4 "A World in Transition"
5. Kahoot

International Week

During the international days at school a lot of information adequate for our curriculum was presented. We learned amongst other issues that in 2011 developing countries paid 464 billion to developed countries, whereas developed countries' aid to developing countries was 141 billion. Why this is so can be hard to understand because we like to look at ourselves as kind people giving more than we take. The following pages will help you comprehend why things are the way they are: Globalis will give you a lot of statistics, and at OD's you will find several informative movies. Finally, there is this page called slettgjelda.no  which is easy to understand on complicated issues. Enjoy!

Enjoying Life

This weekend I was supposed to do a lot of work connected to school, but I ended up doing nothing of the sort due to this novel called the other hand (2008) written by Chris Cleave. I just couldn't put the book down. When I opened the novel, the first thing I noticed was a note from Chris Cleave's editor, Suzie Doore who said, "It's an amazing novel - horrifying but hilarious, tragic but uplifting, hugely entertaining and highly intelligent." I couldn't agree more, in addiiton, it adds to my understanding of the issue we're dealing with at the moment, ie globalization. I'll bring the book to school - maybe you would like to read it some day...

Evaluation

Your blogs will be evaluated 14 November and 9 January this term. In other words, you need to polish your blogs before these dates. Remember that if you copy anything, you need to give the source (be it your friend, the Internet, or a paper). Check evaluation criteria or go to "Useful links" in the right column. I have also added a page about oral evaluation - you'll find it in "Pages".

Holidays

I just want to wish everyone a great holiday! So, "be at ease, chill out, take it easy, loosen up, laze, lighten up, put your feet up, hang loose, let yourself go, let your hair down, mellow out, make yourself at home, outspan, take your ease, relax and stop worrying." Isn't it amazing what affluence of words I-Finger equips us with? See you all in a week's time

 http://swappen.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Ferie-swappen.jpg (3.10.14)

Obama Speaks in UN's General Assembly

You just have to watch and listen to this speech! Obama mentions several of the issues you have talked about in your presentations, and he talks directly to young people! Do you remember Malala's speech? Do you remember anything about rhetoric? Check the page on my blog called "Rhetoric 1"!

Social Media in Iran

Did you know that social media such as YouTube, Twitter, and  Facebook are frequently used in Iran in spite of that they are banned and forbidden by their strict government. According to Bergens Tidende 16 July this year (a Norwegian newspaper), the president, Hassan Rouhani and his religious counterpart ayatollah Ali Khameini are both regular users of Twitter and Instagram, and they have thousands of followers… Still, six young Iranians were sent to jail because they had uploaded a video to YouTube showing the six of them dancing to P. William’s "Happy". Mark Zukerberg and his company have been accused of violating people's private sphere and asked to meet in court in the southern part of Iran… What's your guess, will he turn up?

Presentations

Post your presentation on your blog! Also add comments you are given about what is good, and what can be improved.

Schedule for 2014-15

Since I haven't received any comments on the plan I suggested, I take for granted that you all agree to it. Your presentations will take place Wednesday 24 September according to the following list:

1. Line: The Scottish Referendum
2. Jøran: Luis Suarez Biting Chiellini
3. Benetta: Ebola Outbreak
4. Andrea:
5. Eline:
6. Christina: Hurricane Odile slams Mexico's Baja California
7. Tone: Apple Launch

We agreed upon an informal grading this time (accepted/not accepted) with comments about what is good and what to improve.

When to Study What

I have looked at the aims in the curriculum and the calendar... What is your stand to the following?

• End September/October chapter 4 "Global Challenges"
• November chapter 1 "A World Language"
• December/January chapter 3 "Multiculturalism"
• January chapter 6 "A World of Literature"
• February Novel and "in-depth" study
• March/April chapter 5 "A World of Opportunities"

Communicative Styles

I just have to quote from Margit Krause-Ono's article (found in my link list) because she says, "No matter how similar news programs from different parts of the world might seem to be, they still have different communicative styles and different priorities in their content." After that she goes on and refers to Bolten (Bolten, J. "Kultur und Kommunikativer" 2002) who says, "communicative styles are in themselves cultural styles, subtly showing the values held important in a given culture."

Wednesday 10 September

Oops, I now see I forgot to post this yesterday - well, never mind here it is: wouldn't it be interesting to look at how different media present the same issue? Choose an issue and three different media and tell us about how they differ in their presentations - look for language (slang, informal, formal), photos, interviews, whose point of view is fronted? Try to explain the variety you find. Use quotes, photos and links to support your opinion, and post it all on your blog.

Monday 8 September

First we will look at your interviews - is it possible to draw any conclusions?
Next, we need to do point 4 on Friday's agenda. Also answer question 2 p 44. After that you should post everything on your blog including a summary of what we did Friday.

Line: Soon there will be an election in Scotland...find as much information as possible about what is going on, look here and check what your textbook says about devolution. Have in mind what you by now know about Scottish history. Make a presentation of your findings - five minutes.

English all Day Friday 5 September

This is what we'll do Friday:

1. Go to p 38, study the timeline, then do tasks 1a,b p39
2. Choose two issues from the list on p 39 that you want to find out more about - tell/show class your findings
3. Make a Kahoot together (the Kahoot is called "Media" if you want to play it again)
4. Listen to "Media in Motion"  (the text is found on pp40-43)
5. Decide which questions you want to ask teachers, students and people in Øystese about media use
6. Gather information
7. What can we learn from our survey (maybe we'll have to leave this for Monday)
8. The Social Network (watch in the video room)

Which Platform Should You Use for Your Blog?

Choosing a platform can be difficult because there are lots of options out there. So, before creating your blog, it's worth looking at this web page: https://blog.shareaholic.com/best-blogging-platform/

Talking about media, have you read about this police guy whose post on Facebook got him fired? Go to this address and check it up: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/29/us/officer-fired-ferguson/index.html?iref=allsearch

I was sorry to hear that our schedule was changed while I was at Finse. However, we'll do the most out of it this week having two lessons (Monday 3&4 and Wednesday 9&10) and a full day Friday. Hopefully you have all skimmed the first six pages of chapter two (pp 38-44) by now - if not be sure to have done so before class. We will then sum up what we have done so far, and go on to talk about and practice Listening strategies. You can read more about this here: http://annmichaelsen.com/2012/11/26/teaching-listening-strategies/.

So, tomorrow, ie Monday 25 August 09:35-10:45 I'll take you to Ann Michaelsen's blog and we will check out some of her tools, lesson plans and student blogs. Friday 5 September we have English all day, and this should help us all launching our blogs. We will talk more about this tomorrow - I really look forward to meeting you all!

Welcome to a new school year

I have been inspired by Ann Michaelsen, Sandvika vgs, to start using a blog in International English this year. So, I'm about to descend in deep water - where I trust my students will help me survive. http://www.udir.no/ will also be useful all through the year - here you will find all sorts of info about your curriculum and exams. The first lesson will mostly be a discussion where we will try to figure a way to meet upcoming challenges. Media - Multiculturalism - Global Challenges - International English - Working and studying abroad - are all Core topics