domingo, 29 de abril de 2012

SIR KEN ROBINSON: DO SCHOOLS KILL CREATIVITY?


1.    Introduction

3 themes through the conference which are important:

-         Human creativity, its variety and its range

-         Unpredictable future for our children

-         Extraordinary capacity for innovation that children have although we squander them

 He introduces that he wants to talk about education and creativity.

2.    Give some examples.

-         The girl who wanted to paint the picture of God

-         The story of his son performing the Nativity at school

What he pretends with these stories is to tell us that children are not frightened of being wrong. ¨If you are not prepared to be wrong, we´ll never come up with anything original¨. And by the time they get adults, most kids have lost that capacity. We are running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make. We are educating people out of their creative capacities.

-         Picasso once said that all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.

3.    Educacional system

-         He moved to Los Angeles and then he realized that every education system on earth has the same hierarchy of subjects. At the top mathematics and languages, then the humanities and at the bottom are the arts. And even there is a hierarchy within the arts: art and music are normally given a higher status than drama and dance.

-         Education is focus on their heads. The whole purpose of the educational system is to produce university professors. And they are just a form of life.

-         Our educational system lies on the idea of academic ability because it was invented in the 19th century to meet the needs of industrialism. The hierarchy is rooted on two ideas:

1.    The most useful subjects for work are at the top: mathematics and languages. Music? You are not going to be musician. Art? You are not going to be an artist.

2.    Academic ability, which is confusing the view of intelligence. This is killing highly talented, creative people. In the next years, more and more people will be graduating through education but suddenly degrees are not worth anything. Before, you had a degree and you had a job, but now, more degrees are required to apply for a job. It is a process of academic inflation. We need to rethink our view of intelligence.

4.    About intelligence

3 things:

-         It is diverse: visual, sound, kinesthetic, abstract, movement.

-         It is dynamic: it is interactive. It is the process of having original ideas that have value.

-         It is distinct. He explains how Gillian Lynne, the choreographer of Cats and The Phantom of the opera, discovered her talent. Finally, she had a wonderful career at the Royal Ballet.

5.    Conclusion

We should adopt a new concept of human ecology, new conception of the richness of human capacity. The education system has mined our minds for a particular commodity, and for the future, it will not serve us. We have to rethink the fundamental principles on which we are educating our children. Quote by Jonas Salk: ¨If all the insects were to disappear from the earth, within 50 years all life on earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the earth, within 50 years all forms of life would flourish¨.

TED celebrates human imagination. See our creative capacities for the richness they are, and seeing our children for the hope that they are.

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Personal opinion.-

-         In our educational system students are valued for their marks in the exams, and they are treated all equally. Teachers, in general, do not value their effort, from where they start, till they arrive. It only rewards students for their achievements in terms of results, marks, in some cases, the effort throughout the time is not considered. Education is based, therefore, on simple numbers. We are confusing education with academic ability.

-         Our education system turns its back on creativity. It does not let people think out of the box but only follow some concrete patterns of behaviour. In many cases, teachers are not prepared for real creative education. I think teachers, as parents, should not push children into any direction, just let them explore their inner capacities, to give them the possibility that they discover themselves their own capacities, likes and skills.

-         I agree with Sir Ken Robinson that the purpose of our educational system nowadays is to produce university professors or/and, generally speaking, people with a university degree. It is supposed that a degree gives you the knowledge to cope with that job, but it is certainly the contrary. University curriculum is not practical at all, but the contrary, they only feed the universities themselves, in other words, they produce their own professors and that is all.

-         And what about the wrong idea by which many people think that the more degrees you have, the more intelligent you are?

miércoles, 18 de abril de 2012

LETTER OF APPLICATION

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to apply for admission to the eight-week intensive English Course offered by your college which will take place on May/June 2.012.

I am a 25-years-old Spanish citizen, currently living in Granada. Since I got my degree in English two years ago, I have worked for several companies as translator or in charge of the international department. Suffice it to say that these jobs have provided me with a wide knowledge of the English language.

As well as a degree in English, I am a holder of an important English certification such as the
Certificate in Advanced English (CAE). Furthermore, I am currently preparing the following level, in other words, the Certificate of Proficiency (CPE). By this I mean that I am always investing my time and effort to ameliorate my knowledge of English. I am due to take my final examination in April.

I believe that I would be an ideal candidate to attend this course since I have the qualities and
qualifications required. The main reason to apply for this course is because, in spite of having a high level of the language, what I need is to move to an English speaking country for a period of time to practice the language. I think this course is a great opportunity to increase my range of vocabulary as well as become more fluent in English.

Your college has an extremely good reputation in the field of teaching English to foreign students. Moreover, I am fully aware of your familiarity with the new teaching approach.

Please find enclosed a copy of my CV, giving further details of my educational qualifications and work experience. I hope you will consider me for admission to your college and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,
Rocío Martín

lunes, 16 de abril de 2012

LETTER OF APOLOGY

Dear Mr. Hogan,

I am writing to offer my apologies for the unsatisfactory service and quality of food that you and your customer received at our restaurant last Friday evening.

First of all, I would like to give you an explanation with regard to the quality of food. Unfortunately, two of our three cooks fell ill and as a result, due to we were too short of staff, we could not handle the orders as we normally do that specific day. We were unable to contact another cook and, therefore, we were forced to manage with only one person leading to a worsening in the quality of food.

As regards the service, I insist on apologizing again since it was the first working day for the waiter and as he was concentrated on the job not to mistake, he spent more time not only in taking the order but also in bringing the dishes.

I appreciate your remark on overseeing the preparation of food personally but due to the circumstances pointed out above, lack of personnel, I was forced to deal with an emergency and, therefore, I was not able to look after the food. But, needless to say, that this was an isolated incident.

This is truly a regrettable occurrence. Please allow me to offer you the price refunded of your dinner by way of compensation. In addition to this I would also like to offer you complimentary tickets for you and your customer at a time most convenient for you. I hope this offer will make up for the inconvenience caused, and will restore your confidence in our restaurant.

Once again, I apologise for this inconvenience and I look forward to hearing from you to arrange a suitable date for our courtesy dinner.

Yours sincerely,

Rocío Martín
(Manager)

viernes, 13 de abril de 2012

LETTER OF REQUEST

Dear Sirs,

I am writing in my capacity as chairman of the children´s home of our town to request volunteers to help at weekends. Volunteers should be young, competent and with a very responsible attitude towards children.

The planning of every weekend will be as follows. Volunteers are requested to be in the children´s home on Saturdays at breakfast time 08.30 a.m. to share and help the children with their breakfast. Throughout the morning sports activities will be organized by the volunteers together with the children till lunch time at 13.00 p.m. From 14.30 p.m. till dinner time children will have free time but volunteers should be in charge of them. I would suggest also that during the night volunteers stay in the house in case an emergency happens since children are minors. Food and accommodation will be provided for the volunteers.

On Sundays, the same schedule for breakfast will be followed. Then volunteers and children will go for a stroll in the vicinity of the house and will take a picnic to have lunch outdoors. After lunch, it will be up to the children whether to go to the swimming pool or to have a rest in the house. Volunteers will have finished by dinner time.

I feel it is appropriate to explain to you some of the ways that both volunteers and children might benefit from such a project. Young people involved in taking care of the children can be the future workers of our children´s house. They can also enjoy outdoors together with the children the sports facilities and the swimming pool.

In addition, children might benefit from being with different and young people during the weekends instead of staying alone while the staff which works from Monday to Friday takes the weekend off.

I would be most grateful if you could publish the vacancies required in your local newspaper. Thank you in advance for your kind cooperation and your time in this matter. I look forward to receiving your reply as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully,

Rocío Martín

miércoles, 11 de abril de 2012

DESCRIBE A PERSON FROM YOUR PAST YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE AGAIN, AND EXPLAIN WHY.

- Marco, the person I would like to see again, was both my boss and my working colleague and friend. The day that he opened the door of his brother´s office at Goes, I knew that it was the beginning of a lasting friendship.

- Although he considered himself not to be very tall, he was 1.75 meters tall and a man with a strong build and a slender figure. His piercing blue eyes and soft blonde hair was a sign of his Dutch origin. As far as I remember he had a hooked nose, typical of people from the north of Europe. His face, with its warm and friendly expression, was very attractive. Marco, who must be now in his late forties, used to dress in smart suit and without tie.

- First quality that attracted people´s attention was how sociable and chatty he was, the type of person who always had something to say, no matter the topic, and enjoyed meeting new people. In addition to being very smart and witty, very adaptable to changes and different environments, he was also assertive and ambitious, the sort of person who might run a large corporation, and this is exactly where he worked when I first met him. Maybe he came across as conceited, but to me he simply was self-assured.

- He dedicated his life to his job and his family. He was not only committed to his four children, but also a successful businessman. In spite of being very busy, he always had time for his children. But what struck me the most was his ability to learn languages and the gift for changing
from one language to another. Till the moment I saw him for last time he was able to speak fluently Dutch (his mother tongue), German, English, French and Spanish.

- He had a very intense and busy lifestyle. His profession enabled him to fulfill one of his dreams: to travel. He travelled all around Europe visiting customers and suppliers; fortunately, he could
combine his interests and career. He was convinced that the secret of a successful business was to run it with humour and fun! As a result, work was never boring when he was in the office.

- The main reason for what I would like to see him again is because we had a close friendship and, due to our job in the same company, we used to have good time together. Since I left the company we have not met again.

- Another reason is that to me he was an example of an enthusiastic person who, in spite of the difficulty of running a large corporation, knew how to give his employees the freedom to work without pressure and enjoying their jobs.

Sneak Peak of James Blunt on Sesame Street

lunes, 2 de abril de 2012

A CHANGE IN PLANS...


This happened 5 years ago, the first summer I was guiding a group around Italy, from Milano to Roma. We were supposed to arrive to Roma on 14th August and stay in the city two days before coming back to their respective origin cities. Then the official tourist guide from Roma phoned me to inform that, as every year, on 15th August everything in Italy was closed, in fact it is a festivity day called ¨Ferragosto¨ because all places, included The Vatican, are closed. As well as on 15th August, The Vatican usually closes also on 16th August. As a consequence, the group could not visit it since they were flying back on 17th. Taking into account that this is one of the most expected visits in Roma for some people, although, by the way, not the most exciting in such a fantastic city, people got very disappointed especially because the visit was included in the package. Of course I was not responsible for that change in plans but the travel agency which sold the package holiday. The travel agency compensation was to offer them an alternative trip in the city such as The Coloseo or The Catacumbs, or simply to get their money back. But in my opinion the travel agency was not honest, I think on the moment they sold the package holiday they knew in advance that this particular group was not going to enter The Vatican and they left this information out. If people had known it, they would not have bought it in those dates but maybe in other ones. This is how some business work and make profit..