English for All - Алексей Конобеев's Blog

Probably the most unexpected aspect of travelling abroad is culture shock. even when th eculture of the country you're travelling to is rather familiar to you, the chances still are that you are going to have a bit of a culture shock. And the less familiar the country is, the stronger the shock will be.

There are 4 stages(some people say there're 5) in any culture shock: the honeymoon stage, when you enjoy the difference and love every single moment of it. This stage normally lasts from several days to a couple of weeks, but then the excitement begins to subside. This is when the honeymoon stage gives way to rejection/withdrawal stage. What you loved at first - the different foods, the gestures, the customs - now begins to irritate you, because you now feel a bit like an outsider. The differences become more noticeable and less intriguing, whereas since you are not an insider, you are more likely to do something which will be offensive to insiders of the local culture or something which will be ineffective at best. This may lead to frustration and, in severe cases, a self-isolation from the frustrating experience.

If the rejcetion and misunderstanding is too strong, you can enter the next stage of the culture shock. At this stage (the depression and isolation stage) some people get so depressed that they decide to leave the country.

Fortunately, for those who do overcome the rejection stage, a new stage arrives sooner or later. This is the adjustment stage when you learn the intrinsic cultural issues and cease making blunders, and gradually begin to feel like at home in this new country. In a way it is a bit like the honeymoon stage because you enjoy the new culture again, but this time the enjoyment is not because the culture is new and different, but because you are becoming an insider, you do not make mistakes and you know your way about. Ideally, while teaching a foreign language AND culture we should be able to help our students learn to adjust, help them to see deeper and not judge a culture by only external, outward appearances, but rather understand why people do things in the way they do them.

When I was spending a year at an American university, I had excellent opportunities to observe culture shock and the adjustment process in different people. Since this was not my first time in the USA and I had had a lot of experience of daily communication with representatives of that culture, I was relatively free of culture shock. made quite a few friends among both the teachers and the students and could compare the first-time experience of my fellow-grantees without having to get distracted by myt own cultural struggles.

The two people I observed on a daily business was a young Russian woman from Uzbekistan and a young Azeri man from Azerbaidjan. To cut an otherwise long story short, I'll tell about the cultural shock and problems that the Azeri guy went through during that year. I will not name him to protect his provacy, though, and will refer to him as "the Azeri guy". Personally, we were friends and rented a flat together, but I have lost contact with him since that time and therefore cannot obtain his permission to give out his name in a comparative 'study".

1. Proxemics. The distance at which you stand from another person is culturally-dependent and differes in different countries. While Americans in smaller cities prefer to stand at least approximately 1.5 metres aways from each other while talking, the comfortable distance for Azeri guy was much shorter. He tried to stand closer, people would step back, so conversations often turned into a sort of a slow tango. Consequently, before he learned about distances and proxemics in general, Americans seemed very remote and cold to him. He, on the other hand, seemed to be constantly intruding on their personal space.

2. Dress code. Large university campuses are probably the most democratic and diverse places you can find when it comes to clothes. People wear what they like. I had a professor who is a big name in language testing, he used to wear shorts and a T-shirt to most of his classes, whereas some other professors would try to dress more elegantly than most of their students. An indispensable rule, however, is to wear something different every day, for example, if you're wearing jeans and a T-shirt one day, the next day you ought to wear a different T-shirt or different jeans/trousers/whatever. The Azeri guy, on the contrary, was used to dressing very conservatively and with little variation, so he wore the same suit and shirt for three or more days, although he did have enough other clothes.

3. Attitude to children. At a very early stage the Azeri guy was told to never touch other people's children. He was indignant, because in Azerbaidjan, according to him, when a man shows that he cares for children, it means that he is a sensitive and kind person. So in Azerbaidjan a man can pat someone else's child on the head or even give the child a kiss on the head, and this wins the man respect. In the USA such actions can lead to legal prosecution.

4. Visiting people. Once the Azeri guy was invited to an American family to Thanksgiving dinner. He asked me what would be a good present to take along, so I suggested he should take a bottle of wine or even some national dish that he could make himself so that the host family would be able to try something new and unusual. He made some dolma and when he returned, he was amazed and even shocked at how well the dish was received and how much attention was drawn to it. He explained to me, that in his country bringing food to other people's home can be taken as an insult to their hospitality, and if a man cooks something, this can be taken as an insult to his gender role.

The Azeri guy's honeymoon stage last for approximately two weeks, the frustration and adjustment stages took about 9 months and the "feeling at home" stage last only 2 months, which was way too short for such a long stay. At the end of the year he told me that he had only began enjoying himself and really learning something, because he had been struggling with culture shock all the time, seeing how people reacted in totally different ways from what he expected and how his best intentions were often misinterpreted.

Therefore I believe that having the potential culture shock in view while teaching, telling students how to overcome it can be an important part of language teaching and can help propel students' progress on their trips abroad, while culture shock can hamper it greatly. If you're interested, I could tell in more detail about some causes of culture shock in different cultures.

After you've lived in different countries or shared the flat with people from other cultures you pick up ideas as you go. One of the aspects of our lives in which we remain very traditional is cooking. Recipes are passed down from generation to generation and we learn to think within a specific framework. Thinking outside the box while cooking takes either a very creative mind, or some experience, as my case is. Perhaps some of you will be interested in the recipes I am going to share in my blog. I've learnt most of them from my foreign friends or in cafes in other countries. Most of these recipes are cheap to make and easy to cook. So here we go.

A Spanish omelette.

This is good for breakfast as it is quite nutritious and at the same time doesn't take long to make.

For 3 servings you will need:

3 large potatoes

three eggs

a pinch of salt

a pinch of black pepper

any vegetables (a couple of pepper cones, some green beans, onion, broccoli or similar will do just fine. If you're using aubergine or courgette, dice it).

Oil for frying

Preparation method:

Peel and wash the potatoes, slice them into circles. Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan and put the potatoes there to fry. When each side is slightly golden, put the vegetables on top. Break the eggs into a separate bowl. Whisk them up with a mixer or a fork (for me a fork has always worked just fine), add the salt and pepper to the eggs, pour the mixture onto the vegetables. Leave until the eggs are set.

What you get is a nice vegetarian dish, nutritious but not too heavy. Total preparation and cooking time is about 20 minutes.

Bon appetit!

This is a recipe I've learned from a good American friend who has spent some time in Italy and has never hesitated to adopt and adapt Italian recipes for her own family. I quite like this dish and often make it in summer.

Spaghetti Carbonara.

A legend says that the recipe was made up during WWII. When American soldiers in Italy were hungry, they'd give whatever they had - some bacon and an onion and a few eggs - to Italian women, who made a dish for them, mixing the ingredients with traditional Italian foods. However, there're plenty of very different legends about this dish, which may, or may not be true. Anyway, to make spaghetti carbonara Italian-American style, you'll need:

Ingredients:

two eggs

a large onion

a few rashers of bacon (I use 4 or 5)

about 80 grams of parmesan or any other hard cheese

half a glass of milk

half a glass of dry white table wine (if there's no wine, just use 1/2 glass of milk instead)

some chopped parsley

200-300 g. spaghetti

some salt to taste

Cooking method:

Chop the onion and the bacon. Stir-fry in a frying pan until slightly golden and soft, take off the fire.

Boil the spaghetti for 5-7 minutes. Spaghetti should be "al dente" - a bit hard.

Break the eggs into a bowl, add a pinch of salt (don't forget that the bacon is already salty), pour in the milk and the wine and beat with a fork to mix well. Grate the cheese. Add the cheese and the parsley, mix again.

Sieve the spaghetti and put them into the frying pan together with the onion and the bacon. Put the frying pan back on fire, stir, then pour the cheese-eggs-wine-milk-parsley mixture on top, stir it in and turn the fire off.

You will get a thick sauce, with a slightly meaty smell and it'll taste fresh and a bit cheesy. The wine adds a slighlty sour aftertaste. If you've used only milk, it won't taste sour at all. A great dish for a hot summer evening, to be served with a glass of cold dry white wine. And it takes about 20 minutes to cook.

This is something you can ask your children or students to make. Bread-and-butter pudding is a very traditional dish, it's cheap, easy to make and you don't have to supervise the entire process. I tried it in a small restaurant in Scotland and decided that this is a dessert I was going to make now and then.

To make bread-and-butter pudding you'll need:

White bread (what you call "baton" in Russian) - and if it's a couple of days old, it's the best

Butter (surprise-surprise!) - about 50 grams

Two eggs

1/2 litre of milk

a handful of raisins

sugar (brown sugar is traditionsl, although white would do too)

some vanilla essence, either liquid or powder

Procedure:

Slice the bread. The bread should be a couple of days old as it will create teh right texture. Butter each slice thinly.

Put the slices into an oven-proof dish in one layer.

In a bowl mix together the milk and the eggs, whisk them with a fork or a mixer, add vanilla essence and half a glass of sugar (or more to taste).

Sprinkle the buttered bread slices with raisins. Pour some sugar onto them. If your custard is already very sweet, do not put extra sugar on the bread. Pour the custard onto the bread. Sprinkle with sugar on top for icing.

Put the dish into a preheated oven, bake at 180 C until golden on top but still soft and fluffy in the middle. Serve hot.

Have you ever tried the famous Waldorf salad? It's just the right type of salad if you want a nice light meal. To make 2 servings you will need:

2 large red apples

2 sticks of celery

a handful of shelled crushed walnuts

a tablespoonful of mayonnaise

Procedure:

Core and dice the apples. Dice the celery. Add the crushed walnuts and the mayonnaise. Leave for ten minutes before serving.

Yes, it's simple as that. Do not overdo the mayonnaise, you need it only to make the salad smooth. The taste is very fresh due to the celery, and the sweetness of apples makes it a nice meal on its own. Just right for summer.

A frequent problem in communication with people from different countries is that we can misunderstand each other by misinterpreting gestures, attitudes and each other's expectations. many people learn the cross-cultural differences the hard way, by trial and error method. However, there are certain lines along which cultures differ, and if we help our students to realise these differences, this will enable them to be more successful in reaching their communicative aims while dealing with people from different countries.

So how exactly do cultures differ?

1. One of the greatest differences is whether a culture is explicit (or low-context) or implicit (high-context) one. In low-context 9explicit) countries you will find a nlot of information about everything. If you're driving along an American road, a sign signalling a turn will be repeated three times, so you can't really miss it. It's difficult to lose your way in the USA because there are so many signs that tell you much more than you want to know about each and every direction. In Russia... well, have you ever tried to find a specific building in the street? Does every building has its number written clearly so that it's easy to see from the street? The answer is 'no" - in most cases. The implication of this 'implicitness-explicitness" difference is that for someone from an implicit culture the abundance of signs may seem like an intrusion into private life bordering with insanity, and the absence of so many important pices of information will be absolutely maddening for a person from an explicit culture.

2. Degree of formality-familiarity, or formal vs egalitarian cultures. In a formal culture you have to address someone as "Mr. Jones" as oposed to "Tim". Again, in an egalitarian culture it is normal to be on first-name terms with your boss or going jogging with the boss, while calling someone by their first name after you've just met would be an insult in some other country. Compare it with the use of Вы and ты in Russia, vous and tu in France etc. An student who is unaware of these cross-cultural features may seem stand-offish and too formal while he/she is just trying to be polite, and vice versa, while using only first names with people from the 'wrong" culture, may seem too familiar and impudent.

3. Some cultures are monochronic (doing one thing at a time), while others are polychronic (many things may be going on simultaneously). Order is the top priority in a monochronic culture, so if you're paying attention to something else during an important talk or a lecture, this will be taken as a sign of your not being interested or not working hard. In a polychronic culture someone can excuse themselves to answer a phonecall during a meeting, or be signing some papers while listening to a colleague, and this is considered to be a good working attitude. When a person from a monochronic culture gets into a polychronic one he/she may feel slighted that the entire attention is not given to him/her, while for a representative of a polychronis culture such a claim for undivided attention may seem way over the top.

4. Attitude to time:"time is money" (time-precise) vs "you can wait" (time-loose) policy. People from some countries tend to be very pragmatic. "time is money" they say,. and your attempt to take up more of their time than is absolutely necessary will be regarded as an attempt to rob them of some very important and precious resource. For example, if you say to some Americans right before a lunch break "Why don't we have lunch together", they will take out their diary to check when they are free. In a more time-loose culture someone can be quite insulted by such attitude. Just the other way round, in a time-loose culture you will be expected to wait as people come late to meetings, they keep you waiting and they sincerely do not understand your frustration. Just imagine two people from these cultures trying to arrange a meeting!

5. Individualism vs. collectivism. In some cultures the individual is the utmost value, and the common belief is that you are personally responsible for everything that is happening in your life. Just think of the saying "A man is his own army". In other cultures the society is much more important than the individual, and everyone is expected to give up some of their privacy/money/resources for the sake of the 'common cause" (Один в поле не воин"). In an individualist country there is always a single person who is supervising a business and is responsible for it, while in the collectivist cultures there is shared responsibility. In collectivist cultures (for example in Japan) loyalty is more important that a person's professional qualities.

6. Attitude to past-present-future. In some cultures past is not really important. Past is way behind, and all effort is going into shaping up the future. People from such cultures just do not understand the store some other people set by tradition or history of relations and past offences and treachery. Other countries are very traditional, and among such countries you will find not only China, for example, but also Britain where you still have separate taps for cold and hot water not because this is convenient or comfortable, but because "that's how things are done here". A relatively small number of countries copncern themselves with the present day and think of short-term profits rather than long-term relationships.

All these differences may lead to severe cases of culture shock in students when they only begin to communicate with people from different cultures and do not really see any difference between British people and Americans on the grounds that they all speak the English language (well, sort of, you know). Some excellent insights into culture shock and ways of overcoming it, as well as very practical exercises can be found in "Enjoy English" book Grade 10, Unit 4 Section 4. In fact, you may use this information as a starting point for a project work to enlarge upon that section.

Well, here we start!

Blogging in ELT is a fairly new issue in Russia, therefore I am going to try and research its advantages, explore the opportunities it opens to students and teachers alike and try to fand ways out of potential problems and setbacks.

I intend to keep this blog in English as this will help to better achieve one of its goals, namely, practise English as well as share ideas on ELT methodology.

So, how can blogging be useful for students and teachers? First of all, it takes some workload off the teacher's shoulders. Instead of giving tasks to students, collecting those tasks and minding the deadlines, a teacher can just start a blog, post tasks there and write by what date and time the response has to be given. The students post their responses online, and the teacher can easily see the date and time of their response. In this way we can save ourselves and the students the trouble of writing their response on a sheet of paper, handing it in, carrying it home and bringing it back to school when checked. Also, a student's work cannot get lost in this way.

Grading students' work becomes easier through a blog. A teacher just posts a response and can copy and paste the phrases that have mistakes in them or just need to be paraphrased or corrected in any other ways.

Students can take part in peer correction or working on a topic/project together by collaborating online in the comments to a blog. Such a online discussion has the benefit of students'' having extra time to think, collect and present their arguments in a logical manner, and the teacher can easily assess each student's work as everyone contribution is visible and written down. By working with a blog each teacher can collect portfolios for her/his students without having to mess around with paper and cardboard or plastic folders.

Privacy may be one of the issues here. A teacher can screen or unscreen any comments to any posting in the blog at any time, thus making some of the writing visible or invisible as the lesson plan requires.

Blogging is a good way of making studies inclusive for students who are on a sick leave and cannot attend the class. We have been increasingly creating and developing materials for our lessons with computers, so it is just as easy to put some materials online for the students as well as bring them to the class.

Of course, not everything is perfect in this world. To be able to use blogs, both the teacher and the students need to have a regular access to the internet. However, more and mre students have such access these days and they are normally more motivated to do something on the internet rather than write anything by hand. Of course, the bulk of teaching still has to be done in class and sometimes in one-on-one lessons, but nevertheless, a blog can be an interesting expansion of the classroom work both for the teacher and for the students.

I would be very interested in reading your comments on these ideas. Has anyone got a personal blog on blogspot, or livejournal or elsewhere? How comfortable are you with putting your ideas online and providing access to them? Would you be willing to try this activity with your students? Here are some possible suggestions of what can be done using a blog:

1. Project work. Each of the students has to do his or her own part of the project. The task is put online in the blog. The students do research, find materials and publish them as comments to the blog entry. In this way the teacher can easily see how much of the project has already been done, and the students can see what else needs doing. Then as a separate entry, the project is put together and published online for every student to see it.

2. Written assignments. The teacher gives an assignment (e.g. "Write a letter" or "write an essay" ) with detailed explanation of what needs to be done, and the students post their responses as comments to the blog entry.

3. Discussions. Some students are very reluctant to participate in discussions in class, and some of them just haven't got enough time for it as they need more time to formulate their arguments or put their ideas in good English. Therefore a teachers can ask his/her students to present their arguments as comments to a blog entry. Each of the students can be asked to give only arguments for or arguments against. True, this is very much like what we do in class ever so often, but this "delayed" conversation gives students more time to think and do their research and deals with the stress of having to speak in front of the class. Besides, arguments can be edited at any time, thus leaving the way to perfection (or at least improvement) open for the student. Some of my colleagues who keep educational blogs, tell that this activity very quickly becomes a favourite with older students, and younger students like it because it allows them to be as creative as they like since this can be used as a preparatory stage for a big classroom discussion.

There are some other ways of using internet resources and ICT for teaching English at school, and I'll be looking into them closer in my next entries.

Стоя в очередях, можно увидеть совершенно поразительных людей. Мне нередко приходится стоять в очереди за билетами на поезд-экспресс. Времени остается очень немного, всегда есть те, кому билетов не хватает и кто просто не успевает купить, даже отстояв длинную очередь. Я и сам однажды не успел купить и едва не опоздал на запланированную встречу. Иногда поражает меня поведение людей в таких очередях. Стоят, нервничают, вздыхают, с тоской поглядывают на часы. Озираются по сторонам, подсчитывают сколько еще перед ними стоит народу, а потом оглядываются на длинный хвост из людей сзади. Ворчат. что кассиры медленно работают. Наконец перед ними стоит всего один или два человека. С лица постепенно уходит тревога, назад оглядываются уже с победным видом, словно победившие в невиданной конкурентной борьбе. Не слышат и не видят уже никого. Добираются до заветного окошка, и тут... тут начинаются вопросы. Сначала подробно выяснят какого класса билеты остались. Потом не менее подробно - чем вагон одного класса отличается от другого. После этого спрашивают сколько в какой класс билет стоит. Думают. Снова думают (вчера одна женщина, покупая билеты в последние минуты на экспресс Москва-Калуга на Киевском вокзале спросила: а) какой класс бывает, б) есть ли льготы для детей (прямо под табличкой "ЛЬГОТ НЕТ" спрашивала), в) а экспресс Москва-Калуга идет только до Калуги, или дальше тоже? После этого напряглась и взяла, кажется, один билет. Если в среднем кассир тратила на одного человека по 2 минуты (я тоже своей очереди ждал, смотрел на часы и успел подсчитать среднюю скорость и вероятность того, успею ли на поезд), то на эту женщину ушло минут 6. Получила она билет и давай пересчитывать деньги, совершенно не спеша, хотя уже надо было бы очень быстрым шагом идти на перрон. И почему-то таких пассажиров попадаются несколько каждый раз, как пытаюсь купить билет. К чему я это? Да к тому, что у таких людей в свое время явно не были сформированы метапредметные результаты ФГОС, то есть не даны в школе умения, необходимые для жизни. Стоя минут двадцать в очереди, обычно успеваешь не только увидеть и выучить наизусть таблицу "Льгот нет", но и услышать как покупают билеты стоящие впереди тебя, сколько билеты стоят, какого класса вагоны и сколько билетов осталось. К окну подходишь уже с паспортом наготове, а также в паспорт уже вкладываешь нужную сумму денег - или примерно нужную, чтобы очень быстро можно было взять сдачу, билет и посторониться, дав несколько дополнительных секунд стоящему сзади человеку, который уже спешит назвать свою станцию. Видя некоторых пассажиров, с тоской вспоминаешь всё то, чему стараешься учить школьников и студентов: прочитать объявления, посмотреть на расписание и вывещенные рядом цены, услышать и понять из беседы с кассиром стоимость билета и так далее. Мы всему этому учим на своих уроках. И каждый раз, каждый раз находятся те, кто полученные знания совершенно не относит к повседневной жизни - и мешают другим, и опаздывают сами, и винят в этом кого угодно, но только не себя. К чему я это? К тому, что есть множество приемов для того, чтобы научить человека быть если не более успешным, то более внимательным в жизни. Один из приемов - это active listening. Active listening - это не просто безучастное выслушивание информации, это реагирование на нее, запоминание и соотнесение с жизнью. Одно исследованеи показало. что мы запоминаем процентов 25 - 50 % полученной на слух информации. Это примерно означает, что из беседы в двадцать минут наш собеседник половину времени совершенно не обращает внимания на то что мы говорим. Можно ли с этим бороться? Наверное да. Можно попробовать использовать на уроках приемы active listening. Для этого при аудировании помимо заданий на собственно извлечение фактической информации можно давать попутные задания на понимание ситуации и чувств собеседника и степени собственного знакомства с предметом общения, например: Is the speaker experienced? Is the speaker nervous? What frame of mind is he/she in? What goal is the speaker trying to achieve through this conversation? Are you familiar with the sunject of the conversation? How can you show your understanding? Do you have any related experience? и так далее. Такие вопросы помогают не только более полно понять собеседника и запомнить содержание разговора, но также и более внимательно относиться к окружающему и, соответственно, более быстро и эффективно решать свои коммуникативные задачи.

It was somewhere in between late morning and early afternoon, and I didn’t have much to do, when I wandered into the Colonial Village, a part of Ames, Iowa, full of old-style wooden buildings, and suddenly stopped before a house there. There were thick trees around, and the sunny spots shone on the wooden walls, mingled with the deep shades of green and black from the leaves. I stood there, smiling, staring and felt almost like crying. I often feel like it when I see a small wooden house, because there are so many memories…

I remember playing in the garden that my grandmother didn’t really care for. It was a sunny day, and the flowers were tall among the tree-trunks. I must have been four years old or so, and the warm smell of the soil made me happy. Two years later the same garden looked so tiny to me, and grandmother said it had always been that way. “It’s high time your father cut down those trees” – she said, - “before they fall down one windy night”. I looked at the trees, wondering why someone would ever want to destroy their majesty, and astonished at how small the place seemed all of a sudden.

She was a very kind woman, my grandmother. I remember how one day I broke her favourite old plate, and there I was, expected to be told off for having done that. My mother would certainly tell me some home truths! But granny just looked at the pieces of glass and said: “It’s OK, it’s OK”. Next week, when I broke yet another plate, I came up to her, patted her on the arm and said “It’s OK” in the same reassuring tone. And she only smiled back at me.

I was too young to go to school, both my parents worked and I spent days with her. I needed to sleep in the afternoons, and she would lull me to sleep telling stories or just doing some housework. But she would always tell me that if she was not there when I wake I only needed to knock on the glass of the front door, and she would come. She always came.

Her house was about a mile away from ours, and there was a railway between. I was not allowed to cross it as sometimes people were run down by the trains. But one day, when I was about six, I left home and walked all the way, crossing the railway and coming into the small garden. “I’ve brought you some matches for the Russian oven”, I said, and grandmother was both worried and happy to see me come on my own. She had just baked my favourite cake that day.

Near the house she kept a kitchen garden where she grew potatoes. We all hated the weeding and the digging which we had to do, because she was growing too old for that. And we all enjoyed baking new potatoes in the ashes of an autumn bonfire. When we decided not to grow potatoes any more, grandmother could not understand how someone could leave the land waste. But there was nothing to be done about it.

When I was ten, my father died. My mother worked even more to keep the family together. Those were hard times for Russia, with little food in the stores, and few things that our money could buy. I still cannot understand how grandmother managed to save some money from her tiny pension to give it to me and my elder brother. I changed a lot then, being unhappy most of the time, and sometimes I wanted to be left alone. I refused to speak with anyone, and now I know how much it must have hurt her. She never mentioned it though.

I grew, and more and more often I would come round to help with the housework. There was snow to be cleaned off the path, the wood to be chopped for the oven, the chicken to be fed. She asked me sometimes who I loved more, her, or my other grandmother. How can anyone answer such a question?

The older I grew, the more I liked the small wooden house, with its smell of some old perfume, the leaves above my head in the yard, the already practically non-existent flowers and the gaggle of geese from the neighbours’ barn.

Soon after grandmother turned seventy-nine she started to plan her eightieth party. She did not want to invite many people, but she would be so happy to celebrate. It was then that my mother, who is my granny’s daughter and a doctor, told me that granny had cancer, and that an operation would be pointless and would only prolong the suffering.

On my twentieth birthday she was already very weak. She could hardly speak, and when I came into her room (of course she was staying with us then!) and told her it was my birthday she only managed to say “How… what…” and I knew she was worried because she had no present for me. I asked her to say “Happy birthday”, which she did.

Next morning I went back to the university, and five days later, when I was getting ready to go back home, mother phoned and said that granny was dead.

I did not cry. I was too old for that, and there were too many things to be done for the funeral. But I have never seen her house ever since. I don’t have the courage. It is owned by other people now, and I cannot believe that if I knock on the glass of the front door she will not hurry to me. She always did.

The morning was turning into the afternoon, and the sun was crawling higher into the sky. I did have a meeting later on, so I turned and slowly went away. But even on this continent, thousands of miles away from my home, I can not see a small wooden house and remain calm.

There are people who believe that traditional American food is burgers and hotdogs. There are also those who say that there is no national cuisine in the USA. None of these people are actually right. True, burgers are popular in the USA as a convenient way of having a quick meal, just about as popular as sandwiches are in the UK. Still this is certainly not the only dish that the USA can offer. In fact, there are several distinctly different regional cuisines in the USA. While people in the South, particularly in Texas, are famous for their fried foods, high in fats, someone from the North will offer you a very light low-calorie breakfast. Also, you eat differently in the East and in the West of the USA. Also, immigrants from many countries bring their own traditional recipes and open their restaurants everywhere. Buffalo wings, tacos, nachos, Cesar salad, all sorts of dips, fajitas, caramel apples, pumpkin pies, meatloaf - there are lots and lots of dishes that have a distinctly American flavor.

One of the easiest dishes to cook in Russia is meatloaf. There are many ways of cooking it and many families have lots of different recipes. Here's the one that I use:

To make meatloaf you'll need the following ingredients:

700 gr Minced meat

a can of sweet corn

some soy or Worcestershire sauce

some ketchup

one large onion

herbs (I use fresh parseley or dill, but dry herbs will do just fine)

one egg

breadcrumbs if the minced meat is too juicy

Cooking method:

Mix all the ingredients together to form a smooth substance that will keep its shape like a loaf of bread. Put it into a baking form and bake in the oven until ready. I sometimes line the form with rashers of bacon and cover the meatloaf with bacon too, but this is for those who like a crunchy meat crust on this dish. Tastes great with grilled vegetables or boiled new potatoes or just with boiled vegetables. Serve and enjoy.

The quest for "the perfect textbook" is an endless and futile undertaking. It is endless because there are numerous textbooks all over the world, some are better, some are worse, but every day more and more textbooks appear. It is futile because no matter how good a textbook is, the degree of its efficiency and ease of use will greatly vary in different classroom, with different types of learners and in different classroom settings. One thing that is important, however, is who the target learners of the textbook are. This is crucial because if the target learners are defined correctly, the number of hours, the methodology, and, most importantly, the content becomes self-evident.

Throughout my teaching career of 13 years I have tried many different textbooks. And very gradually I've reached a conclusion which, I think, could be interesting for those who are only beginning to teach.

A textbook can be a global one. This means that it targets learners everywhere, all over the world. Such textbooks are based on the assumption that people are more or less the same everywhere, notwithstanding their cultural differences, and that more or less the same things are likely to arouse their interest. Although the covers and the methodologies in such textbooks can vary, their content and topics are very similar. Indeed, every time students are supposed to talk about environmental issues, they discuss tropical rainforests and pollution from large cars. Every time they study adverbs of place, it is a British (or, more rarely, American) house that they describe, as well as a typical street in an English town. When they talk about history, it is mainly English history that is discussed (although here I've seen some very welcome variation). The problem I see with such textbooks is that the world is a much larger place than just Britain, or Europe, or the USA. And our students need not only to be able to receive information about the world, but also to share stories about their own country and about their own lives. And they need to get enough of comprehensible input, speaking in S. Krashen's terms, to be able to acquire enough language to do that.

True communication happens not when one person adjusts his/her linguistic behaviour to that of his/her interlocutor, but when everyone in the conversation remains standing on the cultural position of his/her country and pays due respect to the cultural features of the interlocutor. From this point of view. learning only about one or two countries during the course of study is pointless. A more "culturally-aware" textbook would need to be localised, it needs to contain at least some information about the pupils' culture, history and country, otherwise instead of being representatives of their own country, they will fall into the trap of 'cultural imperialism" and will feel that there is only one 'correct" model of behaviour, that only certain interests and presumptions are correct or just interesting.

when I was using global textbooks in my classroom, I always felt that my own country was dramatically underrepresented there. Indeed, what information about Russia will you normally find in a global textbook? The same trite stories about matryoshkas, the taiga and at best some mention of Russia's size. Is that the kind of information a pupil needs to develop his/her cultural awareness, to understand the differences and similarities between his/her own and the target language's country's culture? I doubt it.

I firmly believe that to enable out students communicate freely, represent our country and assimilate foreign culture rather than replace their own with it, we need textbook that would provide basis for comparisons and lead to a better understanding of students' own culture through the target language country's one.

How can it be achieved? If we take a look at the currently most popular Russian EFL textbooks, we shall see that there are different ways to do it. For example, "Happy English.ru" is based on a story, where the main characters are a Russian boy and his Scottish friend (as well as plenty of secondary British characters). The story takes place in Russia, in England and in the USA, thus enabling the students to compare the three countries, to see what communication problems can arise there unless we take the cultural features into consideration and how we shall be interesting interlocutors only when we remain ourselves. Another advantage of those textbooks is that they promote common values that Russian students hould be able to appreciate and share with their foreign peers: freedom, democracy, friendship, willingness to compromise and to help each other. I am sure that by teaching such values we as educators help to build a brighter future for us all.

A slightly different approach is used in the "Enjoy English" textbooks, which constitute probably the most popular Russian EFL course there is. There the authors take us by the hand and let us read about British museums, sights, schools, public services etc. But every time we read, say, about London, we turn to our own hometowns and discuss what we could show to our foreign friends, what is good and interesting about the places we live in etc. Thus we elicit a lot of student-generated content, which they can use later on. I remember how I was teaching a class in which the pupils told me that they have no idea where they could take a foreign friends in our small town as "there is nothing interetsing or good about our place", they said. I changed the question slightly and asked the students what they like to do in the summer or on week-ends. And they told me immediately, that they like to go on walks in the shadowy alleys, that they love swimming in the river, that they play football at their school's sports ground, that we have one of the largest sugar plans in the country (a sight!), that they like to walk along an ancient fortification (another sight!) etc etc. After this discussion I once again asked them to make the programme of a three-day stay for a foreign friend, and this time they started to protest that three days are not enough to show a foreign friend all there is worth seeing inthe town. This change of attitude was made possible only by the leaner-centered approach and the exercises and stance of the "Enjoy English" textbooks. This has enabled me to develop a lot of self-respect and interest towards their own as well as the target language's culture in my students.

Yet another popular course is "Millie-New Millennium English". This course tries to get across the idea that there is something interesting in every country and culture. When pupils learn to talk about houses in their first year of studying English, they learn about igloos as well as typical houses in other countries. When they learn to talk about toys, they learn about the customs connected with toys, taht exist in japan and are celebrated on father's day and Mother's day there. And every time students talk about such things, they keep discussing what good things they'd like to introduce in their own country and what good things they could share with their foreign friends. When children grow up a little, the focus shifts slightly. At this age critical thinking needs to be developed, by which I mean that students need to be able to distinguish between fact and fiction, between what is good for them and not so good, and decide what they can do to make their own lives and their world better. They read about heroes and role-models from their own country and from other countries too, they read about a successful project which helped to make the otherwise dull town a tourist attraction and immediately they try to design a project to improve their own hometown, they read about traditions of different countries, and those of their own take about 50 per cent of the texts. This helps us to ensurethat students do not take all good things for granted, that they realise that often hard work is needed to build on any country's rich cultural heritage, but that their own background allows them to improve their own lives and be their own masters with due respect to other countries and cultures.

This is what I can say about the cultural and informational advantages of local textbooks as compared with the global ones. One could also talk about how a textbook should consider the students' first language and arrange grammar and vocabulary teaching accordingly. Localisation, or even better, creation of EFL books in and for specific countries help to design a better, more efficient textbook which makes the task of teaching English and educating students much easier for the teacher.

I have a friend who lives in Portugal. He is still at school and this year he is very upset that Portugal has not been getting any snow at all. After I talked with him several days ago I thought of what it must be like to not have any snow when you want some, and I wrote this story. Of course, the character in this story has only a few things in common with the prototype: the real Ricardo is much older, although he also loves birds and takes beautiful pictures of insects and plants in his garden. When I was writing this story I rather had a younger audience in mind, my thought only spinned off a real person. That's why the language is fairly simple here, except for the couple of conditionals I've had to use. So here it goes:

In a very warm country in the south of Europe there lived a boy who was very fond of birds, insects and plants. He dreamed of becoming a biologist when he grew up, but now he was still at school.

There was a small garden near the house where the boy lived with his father, mother and younger brother, and every morning he would go into the garden to look at the flowers and take pictures of some of the butterflies and other creatures who lived there. The herbs and the flowers were much the same as those in the neighbours’ gardens, but for some reason butterflies preferred to spend days in the boy’s garden, and in spring thrushes and nightingales would come there too. The garden stood bright and green until winter, but in winter all was brown and bare.

In winter the birds would fly away to warm African countries, the insects would hide under the ground for their long sleep and only the trees would stretch their leafless branches above the dry grass. In winter the garden looked almost uninteresting, and when the frosts came, even the trees and flowers would go to sleep. However, the boy knew that the sleep wouldn’t last long and that very soon, in a couple of months, the garden will be full of life again.

Sometimes the boy felt worried about his plants in the garden. He knew that if real frosts came, many plants could freeze to death. His was a warm country and had no snow in winter, but now and then cold winds blew and brought biting frosts with them. Frosts without snow would just kill the garden.

So winter was not a very welcome season for him. But the boy loved snow! He saw it on TV so many times! He watched films where children made snowmen and played snowballs, where the first soft snow would fall ever so quietly and stay on the grass, and cover everything in a warm, white, sparkling and fluffy blanket. But he lived in a warm and dry country and no snow ever fell there. Sometimes he despaired that he would ever see snow before he grew up and started travelling. But when he grew it wouldn’t be the same then, would it?

One December evening the boy was sitting in his room doing homework. The TV was on, and the news presenter was telling about strong winds coming fast from the Arctic. It seemed that the neighbouring countries were getting their share of snow already. The boy looked out of the window, but there was not a cloud to be seen in the pale evening sky. It didn’t look like snowing at all. He sighed, shook his head sadly and returned to his textbooks.

On the next day the air grew cold. It was not freezing yet, but the chilly wind kept getting under the boy’s jacket and his hands felt so cold when he touched the rosebush in the garden. It looked like they were going to have an unusually cold day and a frosty night. And, same as yesterday, the sky was clear with no clouds in sight.

When the boy returned from school, it had already got very cold, maybe even too cold for some of the flowers. The bushes could be covered with plastic sheets or even with old newspapers, like first flowers are covered sometimes in early spring to keep the morning chills off. But there was no way the entire garden could be covered. If it got any colder, the sap would freeze in the trees, and the ice it would turn into would break the trunks from the inside. The seeds and the flower bulbs would die too, and so would many of the hibernating insects. And in spring, when the birds fly back, they’ll find only bare lifeless trees instead of their green blooming garden. The boy looked up. The sky was still clear. The sun looked dim and distant, and the cold wind was getting stronger. In fact, it had already got so strong that it began wistling sadly in the branches.

While helping his father decorate the Christmas tree, the boy was listening to the news. There were pictures of every single neighbouring country covered with snow. The longest spells of cold weather in 29 years were reported in Britain. Snowdrifts were causing traffic congestion in France and Germany, and Spain was shivering with cold, while children there were playing snowballs. Even Italy had some snow falling, and some schools were closed much to the joy of the children there. Flights were delayed, cars couldn’t run, only the big buses connected the cities everywhere but in the boy’s country. The temperature was still going down as more cold air kept streaming in from the distant ocean in the North.

The next day was Christmas Eve, so there was no school. Instead of sleeping through half of the morning as he normally would, the boy got up even earlier than usual. He looked out and saw the car the windows of which were covered in ice. The river that he could catch a glimpse of, didn’t look as dark as yesterday. Instead it sent up white sparkles. In the night it had frozen over and the ice, although still very thin, covered it from the one bank to the other.

The boy got dressed quickly and went out. The ground was unusually hard and he could hear his footsteps as he walked. The air was biting cold now, but still there was not a snowflake in the air. It looked like a fair, sunny, beautiful and entirely snowless morning. One more day like that, the boy thought, and his garden would die.

While his parents were doing their last-minute Christmas shopping and his little brother was watching cartoons, the boy spent the afternoon covering the bushes with plastic sheets. But he knew that that was not enough as it was growing colder and colder every minute. Only snow could save his garden now. It was already growing darker as winter days are so short, and the sky was red and clear in the west.

His younger brother spent the evening chatting about the presents he wanted to receive. AT dinner parents looked at their children and smiled, but when they asked the boy what he wanted for Christmas he said nothing. All the autumn he dreamed of a new camerato take pictures of his flowers and insects, but all he wanted now was snow for his garden. After all, if the plants and insects died, there’d be nothing to take pictures of in the first place, and what’s the use of a camera, he thought, if all you can photograph is people and landscapes?

That night, while the wind was howling outside, shaking the house by the roof, he did not dream of Santa Clause, Christmas trees or presents. Instead he saw dark forests, trees, lying on the ground with their roots in the air, dead flowers, carried by wind, and finally, when he felt he did not want to have those dreams any more, he saw a big snowman that was wearing Santa’s red hat. The snowman had a carrot for his nose and two large black coals for eyes. The snowman turned to the boy and seemed to wink at him encouragingly. For some reason this last dream was so peaceful and full of joy that he smiled and woke up.

All was quiet outside. The wind had ceased in the night. The boy pulled the curtains and saw that the ground was not black any more. It looked very soft and white as if covered with seagulls’ feathers. The sky was light-blue like yesterday, but now it seemed very deep and the rays of the rising sun were golden.

The boy put on his sweater and ran outside without looking at the heap of presents underneath the Christmas tree. In the garden it was cold but the frost seemed quite mild. The snow seemed soft to the touch and felt almost warm. The rosebushes looked like small white hills and there was not a blade of grass left above the snow. The boy smiled and looked around. There was smoke coming directly up from their neighbours’ chimney. All was incredibly quiet and the boy stood there, taking in the calm, for nearly ten minutes before he suddenly felt how cold it was. He turned back and slowly walked towards the house. After all, there WERE presents underneath the Christmas tree, and who knows, perhaps there was a camera waiting for him. A camera he could use right that afternoon when he went out to play snowballs with friends.

January 7, 2010

I've just spent two days at the Russian Exhibition center in moscow, attending the 22nd International Book Fair. I go there every year just for this event because this is where you can listen to popular authors, buy books at publishers' prices and on the whole see what new books and textbooks have appeared. This Book fair is also a good place to see some well-known people among the audience. usually there are many actors, singers, TV presenters etc walking along the rows.

This year there are over 800 publishers from many countries present. The Guest of honour is India, and there is a large Indian section where you can have a look at all kinds of books from India and listen to some live music performances. Bukgaria is another guest of honour, with many books present.

Surprisingly, this year it is next to impossible to find any English language textbooks at the fair. There was a number of university textbooks, some very specialised, like English for Hospitality Industry, English for medicine etc. At the huge stand of Logosphera trading company you can find plenty of fiction in English, a lot of excellent arts albums and only a few well-known books like "Pronunciation in Use", "Vocabulary in Use" and other "In Use" series. This year the only federal English language textbooks for schools at the fair can be found at Titul Publishers stand. Yesterday Klara and Marianna Kaufman appeared there briefly, but some people managed to get their textbooks signed by the authors, today Merem Z. Biboletova is at the stand for a while.

Other publishers did not present any federal English language textbooks for schools, the only non-Titul Russian textbook I saw was the textbook by N.A. Bonk.

I also looked at multimedia disks, but all I could find were some learning programmes by Random House and disks like Oxford Platinum and Oxford DeLuxe - something that I had known for years. Pity, because I was really looking forward to buying some discs for myself.

This year the fair is happening in a new pavilion, Pavilion 75, and it looks and feels much better than previous years. The pavilion is large, the rows between the stands are wide, the ventilation system is excellent, the speakers are great so you can easily hear each and every anouncement, and the coffe bars and food stalls are easy to locate.

Actually, the fair lasts till Sunday, so if you have a chance to get there, do - it is interesting.

Десять лет назад жизнь во многих деталях поменялась для всего мира. Я помню, как поздним вечером меня позвали знакомые, сказали. что в новостях что-то странное показывают. У них в то время гостил студент из США, Точнее, сам студент был родом из Южной Кореи, но он к тому времени уже несколько лет учился в США и работал там полицейским. Все сидели перед телевизором. На экране был виден пылающий небоскреб, а ко второму как раз подлетал маленький на фоне громады здания самолетик. Подлетал ближе, ближе и врезался в здание. Оттуда сразу посыпались обломки и повалил дым, а диктор в прямом эфире говорил, что это второй самолет, а третий подлетает к Пентагону. Смотреть на все это было жутко, потому что дым из первого здания уже застилал второе и было видно, как с верхних этажей начали спрыгивать крошечные фигурки людей. Кореец спросил правда ли это прямая трансляция, и вдруг начал аплодировать и кричать нечто вроде "Так, так, правильно!". Я никак не мог понять как человек, учащийся и зарабатывающий на жизнь в США так радуется гибели людей, происходящей на его глазах. Да и в сам теракт очень трудно было поверить, хотя все шло в прямом эфире. Из-за теракта многое поменялось. В аэропортах очереди стали длиннее, нужно теперь разуваться, а когда я летел из Вашингтона в Россию несколько лет назад, служащий в аэропорту сказал мне, что я обязан оставить чемодан незапертым на замок, потому что в противном случае замок сломают для досмотра. В США ввели в действие Patriot Act, по которому правительственные агентства получили право читать почту (в том числе и электронную) любого, кого они хоть в малейшей степени заподозрят в помощи террористам, а также получили возможность арестовывать таких людей. Появились инструкции, допускающие и регламентирующие проведение пыток... жить стало если не страшнее, то намного печальнее.Я впервые попал в США через несколько дней после того, как в Москве освободили заложников в театре на Дубровке (и так много людей погибло...). Помню, что больше всего меня поразило то, как эти события подавались в средствах массовой информации в США. На канале Fox News (как и на многих других каналах) ведущий прямо-таки кричал, что спецслужбы России совершили преступление, и что (цитирую) "если мистер Путин хочет. чтобы Америка и дальше продолжала позволять ему помогать ей бороться с терроризмом, он обязан сообщить какой газ использовался, иначе вся вина за гибель террористов и заложников ляжет на него персонально". Меня поразил контраст в отношении к своей трагедии и к нашей, в ожиданиях того, что все страны обязаны помогать США, но если что-то происходит в России, что Россия обязана каяться вне зависимости от того, что происходило. Сказать. что было неприятно смотреть такие передачи и читать похожие статьи в газетах - это значит почти ничего не сказать.С тех пор прошло много времени. В свое время я провел год в американском университете, я знаком с замечательными людьми - преподавателями, писателями,студентами, и знаю, как много среди них таких, кто искренне сочувствует неурядицам в любой точке мира, стремится помочь, интересуется тем, как живут повседневной жизнью люди в других странах (например, одна моя подруга-американка очень переживает за людей в Судане, тогда как большинство моих русских знакомых вряд ли вспомнят что там такое происходит). Для меня сейчас США - это не просто абстрактная страна, а конкретные люди, много хороших, людей, много умных, и несколько не очень. И все же когда речь идет об 11 сентября, я вспоминаю не столько кадры горящих зданий, сколько аплодисменты корейца, который до сих пор живет и работает в США - вспоминаю и не могу понять как такое было возможно. И как бы там ни было, но даже если мы не осознаем этого, события десятилетней давности повлияли и на нашу с вами жизнь, которая стала неустроеннее, более хрупкой и тем более ценнее.

Подсчитал сколько за 2013 год проехал по работе. Провел семинары в 25 городах (в некоторых по несколько раз), всего проехал 71199 километров, не считая семинаров в Москве. Это почти два кругосветных путешествия по экватору. Только в полетах провел 81 час. Личные поездки даже не считаю...Год, конечно, еще не кончился, еще впереди вебинары и несколько коротких поездок, но цифры уже существенно не изменятся. Для сравнения, количество часов в полетах у меня в этом году - как у военного летчика в Белоруссии, а вот еще цитата из новостей: "В 2003 году в российских ВВС средний годовой налет на одного летчика составлял от 12 до 44 часов. В 2007 году, благодаря улучшению снабжения авиатопливом и активизации боевой подготовки, среднегодовой налет заметно увеличился: в Дальней авиации он составил 80–100 часов, в истребительной – примерно 55–60 часов.". Хорошо, что я летаю исключительно с мирными целями! ;)/>

Знаете, часто в СМИ, от знакомых, да и здесь на форуме слышу высказывания о том, что учителям лень развиваться профессионально, ничего их не интересует, закоснели, ничего сами не знают не хотят знать. Такое ощущение, что этот стереотип старательно насаждается, затем подхватывается теми, кто не знает как обстоят дела в реальной школе, и дальше несется в народ как непреложный факт. Наверное, частично это объясняется тем, что в плохое многие верят легче и быстрее, да и плохие примеры есть, и они всегда заметнее хороших. Хороший учитель - это повседневный труд, который остается в стенах класса и выходит на публику только в случаях мелких или больших побед на конкурсах, но абсолютное большинство времени это все-таки кропотливая работа, когда не до саморекламы. Мне же везет: я каждый год встречаюсь с огромным количеством учителей, общаюсь с ними и вижу, как на самом деле они относятся к работе. Я подсчитал, что только в 2010 году по работе пролетел и проехал как минимум 78547 километров, был в 23 регионах, меня слушали только живьем (не считая вебинары) больше 5000 учителей. Большинство семинаров устраивалось не в рамках обязательных курсов повышения квалификации, а как открытые мероприятия, на которые приходило только желающие. И я вспоминаю, как в Перми собралось в зал, рассчитанный на 70-80 человек, 162 человека, как многие сидели на приставных стульях в коридоре, не видя экрана и только слушая мой голос, и оба дня за 4 пары практически никто не ушел. Сравниваю с собой: а стал бы я два дня подряд в таких условиях сидеть? Помню, как в июне я был во Владивостоке. с ужасной простудой и севшим голосом и спасал меня только микрофон. На мой взгляд, такой тембр слушать невозможно - но около сотни человек слушали внимательно, задавали вопросы, общались в перерывах. Вспоминаю большой актовый зал в Чечне, в г. Грозном. Учителя со всей республики. Слушают внимательно, серьезно, все женщины в платках, внимательные глаза... Потом вручение сертификатов, и очень многие выстроились в очередь чтобы я своей рукой вписал их имена, хотя гораздо проще было бы написать свое имя самим. Помню, как пару лет назад был в Иркутске и на трехдневный семинар приезжали учителя из Тайшета. В зависимости от поезда это 11 - 14 часов езды. Приезжали за свои деньги, только чтобы послушать. В сентябре в Красноярске подошла ко мне завкафедрой иностранных языков одного лицея и сказала: "я уже на ваших семинарах в третий раз. И дальше буду обязательно ходить, столько полезного для себя каждый раз выношу". И это самая дорогая оценка любой работы.Я уже как-то писал про замечательных учителей из Якутии, кажется, говорил о том, как в других регионах учителя сами, за свой счет, выезжая из дома в 6 утра, находя ночлег в городе, приезжают просто для того. чтобы узнать что-то новое в своей профессии. За пять лет этой работы я видел больше двадцати пяти тысяч таких активных, заинтересованных, очень профессиональных и хорошо разбирающихся в своем деле учителей. И теперь, когда мне говорят, что "учителя сами ничего не хотят знать", я вспоминаю лица слушателей семинаров, вспоминаю участников нашего форума, с некоторыми из которых знаком лично, и понимаю, что ничего не может быть дальше от правды, чем такое мнение. Абсолютное большинство учителей английского в России хотят узнавать новое, могут и умеют это делать и делают каждый день.

С начала года я провел больше 20 вебинаров, в которых в общей сложности приняли участие около 5500 человек. Организовал примерно еще столько же. В прошлом году тоже были вебинары, и постепенно набрался опыт организации и проведения вебинаров, которым не стыдно и поделиться. Возможно, кто-то попробует организовать методическое объединение в виде вебинара, кому-то так будет удобно проводить дистанционные занятия, а кто-то воспользуется идеями и придумает свою форму работы. Итак, вы решили провести вебинар, что для этого нужно?1. Определить тему. Это совсем не такое простое дело. как может показаться. почему? Потому что нередко лектору хочется говорить о том, что интересно ему самому. А для вебинара важно поговорить о том, что интересно и важно для слушателей. Поэтому сначала задайтесь вопросом: о чем по-настоящему полезно и важно будет услышать людям? Для своих вебинаров я определяю темы, опираясь на вопросы, которые мне задают участники региональных семинаров. 2. Сформулируйте тему максимально конкретно и понятно. Скажите о чем будет вебинар и на примерах чего вы собираетесь об этом рассказать. Я стараюсь избегать слишком наукообразных названий, сложные названия отпугивают и слушателей, и лектора. 3. Рассчитайте длительность вебинара. Очень тяжело слушать долгие выступления, сидя перед экраном компьютера, особенно когда интернет нестабилен и звук может прерываться. Если только вы не собираетесь говорить о чем-то крайне важном для слушателей, да еще таком, что вы знаете лучше всех, не планируйте слишком долгого выступления. Полтора часа с учетом времени на вопросы и ответы - это, пожалуй, максимум того, сколько вас захотят слушать. Конечно, бывают очень интересные темы или просто интересные лекторы, которые увлекательно могут рассказать о чем угодно, но все-таки вебинар, как любая лекция, должен быть динамичным и легким для восприятия, а это значит - не затянутым. Хотя нельзя не признать, что многое зависит и от attention span некоторых слушателей, для кого-то и двадцать минут - непосильная длина и они уже начинают спрашивать о сертификатах.4. Рассчитайте "информационную плотность" вебинара. Не стремитесь рассказать сразу все, что вы знаете по теме вебинара. Если у вас много сложной теоретической информации - обязательно разбавьте ее живым, желательно веселым практическим примером. Теорию стоит распределить равномерно по ходу вебинара и чередовать ее с практикой. Что приводит нас к следующему пункту:5. Соблюдайте баланс между теоретической и практической информацией. Теория без практики мертва, и чаще всего неинтересна. Я стараюсь, чтобы в моих вебинарах теории было процентов 25, а практических примеров - 75%. Впрочем, для каждого лектора и для каждой темы удачным будет свой собственный баланс. Кому-то важнее поделиться практическими разработками или находками, кто-то рассказывает о новых открытиях или требованиях, которые только-только начинают входить в повседневный опыт, и тогда имеет смысл показать возможные пути развития и применения новых теорий. Что касается теорий - в среднем для подготовки к вебинару мне приходится прочитать страниц 200-300 научных статей на русском, английском и иногда французском языках и законспектировать их. Так что подготовка к одному вебинару может занять несколько недель.6. Еще один важный момент - это взаимодействие со слушателями. Чат во время вебинара удобен тем, что позволяет увидеть, слушают вас или нет, согласны с вами или нет, интересно, наконец, то, что вы говорите, или нет. Поэтому я всегда стараюсь читать то, что пишут слушатели вебинара и быстро отвечать на вопросы, давать дополнительную информацию когда это нужно или опровергать высказывания, которые могут ввести в заблуждение остальных участников вебинара. Если же для вас такое взаимодействие не очень удобно (например, тема вебинара довольно сложная и нет времени откликаться на все комментарии), то тогда имеет смысл отключить чат и включить его ближе к концу, когда вы будете готовы отвечать на вопросы. Иногда участники вебинара могут захотеть поспорить с вами. Это нормальная ситуация, потому что позволяет всем еще раз обдумать то, что вы говорите и соотнести с собственным опытом. Никто не может быть прав всегда, но вы в любой момент можете сказать на чем, на каких исследованиях или опыте вы основываете ваше мнение. И точно так же можете попросить вашего собеседника сделать то же самое, после вас. 7. Любое использование ИКТ, в том числе и для проведения вебинаров, приводит к тому, что в это время вы зависите от работы техники. Бывает так, что у провайдера услуги происходит сбой. Может на время перестать работать сервер, с которого вы предлагаете скачать документ. Здесь есть только один совет из знаменитой книги и не менее знаменитого мультфильма: Спокойствие, только спокойствие!". ТО, что может быть отремонтировано быстро, будет налажено за несколько минут. А если что-то сломалось серьезно и надолго, то на хороший, интересный вебинар его участники придут снова, а из-за неинтересного не стоит и беспокоиться. Как сделать вебинар хорошим - см. советы выше.Конечно, эти советы очень общие, каждый находит свои пути и выделяет для себя что-то важное по-своему. Поэтому если вы напишите в комментариях что в моих вебинарах вам нравится, а что нет, то я очень постараьсю исправить то, что не нравится, и усилить то, что вы одобряете.

Давно убеждаюсь, что на человека, на его характер очень влияют даже те места, в которых он рос или провел важное для себя время, особенно те места, где он учился. Вчера раскладывал в голове по полочкам впечатления от XIV всероссийского семинара, на котором выступали ученые из Российской академии образования, Оксфордского университета, Тамбовского университета имени Державина, и вспомнил как учился сам. В свое время мне очень повезло попасть на стажировку в Northumbria University в североанглийский город Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Мне тогда было всего двадцать лет, и каждая деталь воспринималась не так как сейчас, а особенно остро, с особенным интересом. Нькасл - старинный город, его замок 9тот самый "новый замок", в честь которого назван весь город) был построен еще сыном Вильгельма Завоевателя, и замок этот (Сastle Keep) стоит в центре города посреди зданий 14, 18 веков и на фоне современных мостов и домов. В Ньюкасле есть и красивые старинные улицы, и совсем современные. а на метро, которое за городом выбегает на поверхность, можно за полчаса доехать до моря в прибрежные городки типа South Shields и гулять там в хорошую погоду. Сам университет основан в середине 20 века, но давно уже вырос, набрался опыта, и в тог год, когда я в нем учился, по английскому языку он был лучшим в Англии, обойдя даже старейшие университеты. Я до сих пор часто вспоминаю и классы, и занятия, и кампус, но все-таки на первом месте для меня город, волынщик, играющий туманным воскресным утром Memory, солнечные ноябрьские дни, зеленая трава и украшенные к рождеству витрины магазинов в декабре, старинная архитектура, оставшаяся не в воспоминаниях после Второй мировой войны, а живая, которую можно потрогать и где по-прежнему живут люди. да что там говорить, смотрите сами:Newcastle-upon-Tyne:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ux-iwNOls0Northumbria University:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELuCVMrcZak

"Вы так доброжелательны... Вы, наверное, в школе совсем мало работаете?". Мне эту фразу сказала одна слушательница после моего семинара несколько лет назад. А примерно год назад в одном городе подходит ко мне после семинара учительница и говорит: "А можно Вам вопрос задать? Личного плана. Вот вы так доброжелательно семинар эти два дня вели, так хорошо, спокойно и интересно. У Вас, наверное, в жизни всегда всё хорошо, никаких проблем не было, всегда всё получалось?". Конечно, когда такой вопрос слышишь, перед глазами пролетает много чего, но возможный ответ, как мне кажется, только один: "Да нет, всякое бывает, всё как у всех". Но что меня заставляет после таких вопросов задуматься, так это почему их задают. Похоже, в некоторых школах очень редко можно увидеть улыбающееся лицо или просто доброжелательное. Понятно, что жизнь учителя становится тяжелее год от года. Я это часто вижу: у многих школьников всё меньше фоновых знаний и порой чтобы объяснить материал, приходится устраивать непредвиденный экскурс в историю, географию, да куда только не устраивать. С каждым месяцем растет вал бумажной работы, отчетов, планов - и это в дополнение к тетрадям. которые тоже когда-то надо проверять. Я часто говорю: "Я это позже, на досуге сделаю". У меня спрашивают: "Как, у Вас еще и досуг есть?", на что я отвечаю: "А как же, ночью-то. все равно ночью делать больше нечего". И, что самое неприятное, учитель слышат все время: "Вы должны... вы обязаны... сделайте... дайте...". Вспоминаются слова императрицы Елизаветы Петровны из одного из романов В. Пикуля: "Все только и просят: дай, дай. Нет, чтобы хоть раз кто-то сказал: на тебе, матушка!". Всё это понятно. У меня тоже порой бывали моменты, когда смотришь на нежелающих работать учеников и бьешься, бьешься только чтобы хоть как-то разговорить их. В таких случаях выручали только разные ice-breakers и мелкие, но важные методические приемы. и. конечно, в такие минуты закрадывается мысль "А зачем мне это надо?". Но я немного не о том. Какие бы мысли ни были, какое бы настроение не сидело в голове, я всегда стараюсь оставлять его за пределами класса, кабинета, офиса, любой рабочей ситуации. Бывают. конечно, учителя (и я рад. что мне такие встречались), которые в класс входят как солнышко, сияя улыбкой, и дети бегут к ним почти как к родной матери. Те же учителя могут и недовольство показать, но дети не обижаются и относятся к ним как к членам семьи, которым все равно все прощаешь. Таких, правда, единицы. А почему-то часто попадались мне и такие учителя, которые входили в класс уже с недовольной миной, а ученики в ужасе наблюдали, пытаясь понять, что их сегодня ждет на уроке. Наверное, поэтому меня и занимает вопрос о том, насколько учитель может и должен показывать свое настроение в классе. Мне всегда казалось, что настроение должно оставаться за пределами школы/офиса и т.д. Настроение - не для работы, оно для личного общения. А на работе у меня перед глазами всегда пример Р.П. Мильруда, который в любой ситуации умеет создать психологически очень комфортную атмосферу и одним-двумя словами успокоить любое волнение в коллективе. Ну и. конечно, есть очень важное американское правило: keep smiling. Как мне сказал один знакомый, "пусть мне лучше откажут с улыбкой, чем сделают то. что надо, но при этом грубо обойдутся". И всё-таки, и всё-таки, насколько стоит учителю проявлять свое настоящее настроение на работе? Надо ли это? Помогает ли это или мешает7 Вообще, допустимо ли это?