Трудно себе представить нашу жизнь без музыки. Она звучит повсеместно: в спортзалах, в супермаркетах, фитнес центрах, бассейнах, катках. Музыка помогает нам снять напряжение в конце рабочего дня, прогнать пнебоое настроение, а также при занятиях спортом. Именно об этом я и хочу поговорить, так как занимаюсь спортом, в частности делаю каждый день небольшие пробежки по 10-15 километров и без музыки никак не могу обойтись. Как-то немного скучновато получается. Согласно результатам исследований, правильно подобранная музыка улучшает результативность тренировок и выносливость организма в целом на 15%. Акцент при этом делается именно на ритмичную музыку, темп которой будет соответствовать сердечному ритму человека. В зависимости от темпа музыки и мелодии может учащаться или замедляться дыхание, меняться пульс, улучшаться настроение. Люди по-настоящему не могут жить без музыки, а спортсмены тем более. Сейчас даже те, кто предпочитает делать утренние или вечерние пробежки аналогично вставляют наушники в уши и слушают любимые композиции при этом, усталость происходит не так быстро, как раньше, так как мозг задумывается о чем-то другом. А как же заставить себя заниматься спортом? Кто-нибудь сможет ответить на этот вопрос?

Эх, давно не писал на форуме в блогах и вот все-таки решился написать несколько слов о моих попытках устроиться в компанию "Skyeng" на вакансии "Специалист по созданию учебных материалов" и "Учитель-методист - Kids". Оба раза, к сожалению, получились неудачными. Если у кого-то есть положительный опыт, то, пожалуйста, напишите в комментариях к посту.

08 сентября 2017 года (Пятница)

14.30 примерно, честно говоря, не помню, а отправленное письмо уже удалил, пишу на электронный адрес Skyeng, который указан на сайте study@skyeng.ru.

Спустя некоторое время (15.20) получаю ответ от HR- ассистента (HR-Assistant):

Добрый день!

Благодарим за проявленный интерес к нашей компании и позиции Специалист по созданию учебных материалов.

Данная вакансия предполагает выполнение тестового задания.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XCH4bXJzcBVGg7l5tZxcssSxs9eSzwIvGnJHpvHvW8g/edit

Срок выполнения тестового задания: 48 часов с момента получения данного письма.

К ответному письму просим прикрепить Ваше резюме.

Желаем Вам успехов!

Обратите, пожалуйста, внимание, что какие пункты в резюме нужно указать, не написано. Обычно некоторые работодатели говорят, что необходимо и, по их мнению, важно отразить в резюме.

09 сентября 2017 года (Суббота)

18.00 – приступаю к выполнению задания и в течение нескольких часов его выполняю. Поздно вечером (примерно после 00.00) отправляю ответным письмом на адрес HR-ассистента (HR-Assistant) с уведомлением о получении.

11 сентября 2017 года (Понедельник)

Утро, в пределах 11.00 – 12.00 (опять же отправленное письмо удалил и точно не помню время) пишу на адрес HR-ассистента (HR-Assistant) письмо, в котором спрашиваю о том, получили они мой материал или нет, так как уведомление не пришло.

13 сентября 2017 года (Среда)

09:31 – Приходит ответ от HR-ассистента (HR-Assistant):

Добрый день, Владислав! Ваше письмо получили. В течение текущей недели дадим Вам ответ! Хорошего Вам дня!

Обратите, пожалуйста, внимание, что до конца недели я получу ответ с результатом.

18 сентября 2017 года (Понедельник)

12.00 – Объявление результата:

Добрый день, Владислав!

Спасибо за интерес к нашей компании и проделанную работу.

К сожалению, на данный момент мы не готовы предложить Вам сотрудничество, поскольку приняли решение в пользу другого кандидата. Однако, мы сохранили Ваше резюме в нашей базе и обязательно вернемся к нему, если у нас откроется вакансия похожего профиля и Вам на тот момент будет интересно сотрудничество с нами.

Спасибо большое и всего наилучшего!

В ответ на это сообщение я поблагодарил HR-ассистента (HR-Assistant) за возможность пройти отбор и пожелал всего хорошего.

P.S.: Честно говоря, как-то странно. Обычно работодатели все равно указывают на недочеты или ошибки, которые были сделаны соискателем во время выполнения задания или прохождения собеседования, а в этом письме не было.

Этот пост посвящается моей второй попытке устроиться в Skyeng на вакансию "Учитель-методист - Kids".

ТЗ было следующим - разработать урок на 30 минут для дошкольников 5 - 6 лет.

После первой попытки, спустя несколько дней, я связался с преподавателем из Skyeng, с которой мы давно знакомы, рассказал свою историю, и она меня стала уговаривать пройти отбор на вакансию «Преподаватель». Вкратце написала мне в письме, что собой представляет собеседование и я начал подготовку. Я обычно основательно готовлюсь к таким мероприятиям, и уходит много времени, одна-две недели точно. Да еще начались онлайн-мероприятия (Autumn Skyteach Conference, Macmillan онлайн-конференция, вебинары от разных издательств), в которых мне очень интересно было принять участие. Так незаметно и время прошло.

05 ноября 2017 (Четверг) года получаю от своей коллеги сообщение, в котором она спрашивает, есть ли подвижки со Skyeng, на что я ответил, что начал подготовку к собеседованию, но приостановился пока из-за мероприятий, которые проходят.

17 ноября 2017 года (Пятница) я получаю от нее снова сообщение с очередным предложением пройти отбор, на этот раз на вакансию «Методист-Учитель – Kids». Читаю ТЗ и приступаю к его выполнению.

19 ноября 2017 года (Воскресенье) отправляю задание на электронный адрес, который указан в ТЗ. Где-то около 12.00 или чуть позже.

20 ноября 2017 года (Понедельник) получаю в 10.30 ответ от Контент-продюсера школы Skyeng Kids:

Владислав, здравствуйте!

Спасибо за отклик и своевременное выполнение тестового задания.

Направила его нашему главному методисту. Вернусь с обратной связью 22.11.

Скажите, пожалуйста, у вас был опыт проведения уроков по скайпу?

Пишу ответ, в котором благодарю за возможность пройти отбор и желаю всего доброго, отвечаю на вопрос. Опыт проведения уроков по скайпу у меня был небольшой, с подростками.

Обратите, внимание, пожалуйста, с какой категорией детей я работал по скайпу, не спрашивается.

21 ноября 2017 года (Вторник)

В начале 12-го или 11.35 – письмо от Контент-продюсера школы Skyeng Kids:

Владислав, здравствуйте!

Получила обратную связь от главного методиста.

Спасибо за выполненное в срок по договоренности задание.

Один нюанс – нам важно, чтобы курс весь был на английском, и речь учителя в том числе, для погружения в языковую среду, даже с начинающими. Мы принимаем работы сегодня ещё до 19, если у вас будет возможность оперативно поправить – будет здорово!

Я думаю, в этот раз должно повезти, и приступаю к корректировке плана-конспекта занятия для детей 5 – 6 лет. В 18.43 я его отправляю.

22 – 23 ноября 2017 года (Среда, четверг) – писем нет

24 ноября 2017 года (Пятница)

17.13 – результат:

Владислав, здравствуйте!

Спасибо за выполненное задание и оперативную корректировку. У вас получился отличный урок. Вы один из немногих, смелый и современный учитель.

На данный момент выбрали кандидата, у которого больший опыт в работе с малышами 5-и лет по скайпу. Будем иметь вас в виду и, как только откроется подходящая вакансия, обратимся к вам. Будем на связи.

Благодарю за участие и отклик!

Обратите внимание, пожалуйста, урок – отличный, а выбрали другого кандидата.

Как так?

Пишу ответ в 17.34:

Добрый день, …!

У меня к Вам несколько вопросов и попрошу Вас, пожалуйста, не игнорировать ответ на них:

• Как может набраться опыта учитель в работе с малышами, если Вы даже не даете ему шанс попробовать свои силы?
  
• Каковы параметры отбора на вакансию? Только по плану-конспекту и все?
  

Спасибо Вам за возможность попробовать мои силы!

Данный материал попрошу Вас не использовать в Вашей школе.

Всего доброго!

Владислав

И в 17.41 – заключительно письмо от Контент-продюсера школы Skyeng Kids:

Владислав, да, Ваши материалы мы не будем использовать.

Когда я буду готовить специалистов для работы с детьми 5 – 9 лет, я обязательно организую и пробы, и обучение.

На данный момент, для методиста и тех задач, что перед ним стоят, важен был опыт работы именно с детьми 5 – 9 лет по скайпу.

И вам всего доброго!

Еще раз спасибо за отклик!

Не получив конкретного ответа, пишу ответ с просьбой в следующий раз указывать в ТЗ, что конкретно должно быть в резюме.

Мне вот до сих пор не понятно, почему в этот раз я снова потерпел неудачу. Меня до глубины души задели фразы «Урок у вас получился отличным. На данный момент мы нашли кандидата…». Данный материал у меня до отправки проверялся учителем с высшей категорией, которая на протяжении 15 лет работает только с дошкольниками, и с ее стороны ко мне претензий почти не было. Единственное только – она указала на русскую речь и комментарии, но я ведь внес корректировки после того, как меня попросили доработать.

The International Museum of World War II: https://museumofworldwarii.org/

The National World War  II Museum (New Orleans): https://www.nationalww2museum.org/

IWM - World War II: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/second-world-war

Victory Day in Russia: https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/russia/victory-day

Victory Day Lesson Plan: https://skyteach.ru/2019/05/07/victory-day/

Victory Day Reading: https://www.yaklass.ru/p/english-language/24-klass/vocabulary-104181/holidays-291461/re-03fc4438-d8f4-4a38-b37c-f4fba135c074

Victory Day in Russia Video Activity: https://en.islcollective.com/video-lessons/victory-day

Russia Marks World War II Victory Day with Huge Parade in Red Square (2019): https://www.euronews.com/2019/05/09/watch-live-russia-marks-world-war-two-victory-day-with-huge-parade-in-red-square

2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Moscow_Victory_Day_Parade

Red Army Parade - 1945: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCWVM5bUZmE

The Day of Victory 2.0 (Soviet Songs in English): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTv64rjfW30

Fabulous Activities for the First Day of Class: https://busyteacher.org/3046-fabulous-ideas-for-the-first-day-of-class.html

Back to School EFL Teaching Resources and Lesson Plans: https://oupeltglobalblog.com/2017/01/04/back-to-school-activities-for-your-efl-classroom/

Back to School Free Printables: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Free-Printables-289587

Back to School / Getting to Know You / Find a Friend: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Getting-to-Know-You-Find-a-Friend-FREEBIE-743105

Back to School Desk Planner for Teachers:  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-BACK-TO-SCHOOL-DESK-PLANNER-1912587

First Day (First Week) Activities, Icebreakers, etc.: https://eslkevin.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/first-day-or-first-week-activities-icebreakers-or-introductory-activities-for-esl-classes/

7 Back to School Games and Activities: https://busyteacher.org/6921-7-back-to-school-games-activities-to-bond-students.html

10 Fun Back to School Activities and Icebreakers: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/10-fun-back-school-activities-and-icebreakers/

Grammar Practice Drawing Games

Discussion Circles

Poem Generator

Song-Based Materials from TEFL-ers Around the World

5 Golden Rules to Help Students Read English in Their Free Time

Добрый день, коллеги!

Совсем недавно мое внимание привлекли несколько детских книг, которые можно использовать при обучении младших школьников и дошкольников.

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes (Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgARdXE3Lac

Pete the Cat: Book Connection Activity:  https://www.prekinders.com/pete-the-cat-book-connection-activity/

15 Pete the Cat Activities: https://www.teachingexpertise.com/classroom-ideas/pete-the-cat-activities/

Pete the Cat Activities, Songs, and Educational Videos: https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/harperkids/pete-the-cat-activities-songs-educational-videos

И вот еще одна:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear? What Do You See (Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WST-B8zQleM

Brown Bear, Brown Bear? What Do You See (Video Song): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27z2RiN5aFI

Mrs. Bailey reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woqvUc0h8qE

Preschool Activities: https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2020/04/preschool-activities-for-brown-bear.html

Printables and Activities: https://www.homeschoolshare.com/brown-bear-brown-bear-printables/

Absolutely Adorable Activities for Brown Bear Brown Bear: https://4kinderteachers.com/activities-for-brown-bear-brown-bear/

Have fun teaching! 

Choosing your song

One word of warning – youngsters are increasingly sophisticated and critical and are exposed to all sorts of influences, so choose your song carefully. Repetition is a factor to bear in mind depending on the level of student you are dealing with. If a song has a snappy repetitive refrain, students will probably retain it with ease. Some songs are very serious

and merit discussion of content; others are just a bit of fun. You can use both types of songs in your teaching, just make sure you are clear about what you want to achieve by the end of the lesson.

Exploiting your song

Once you have chosen, what can you do with your song? Here are some ideas for exploiting a song rather just listening and following it through:

• Give students the title of the song and ask them to predict what type of vocabulary they are going to hear.

Ask them what type of song they think it might be;

• Make a transcript of the song then cut it up and jumble up the lines so that they are out of order. Students listen

to the song and simply tick the lines as they hear them;

• Once they have done this, students can try and number the lines as they hear them. You can make this more

or less difficult depending on how long you make the chunks of song;

• Give students a number of symbols that they represent the meaning of the song, but in the wrong order;

• You can use gap fills if you want students to listen out for particular vocabulary or grammatical structures.

Be careful not to have too many gaps too close together as songs move forward fairly rapidly!

• Give students a short list of words and ask them to note down how many times they hear each word;

• Split sentences from the song in half and ask students to match the sentence halves before they listen,

then to check their answers by listening;

• Give students a list of words and ask them to listen for the words that rhyme with those on their list;

• Spot the difference. This activity is best done after the song. Give students a version where some of the vocabulary

is wrong, but makes sense. Ask them to spot the rogue words and to change them back to the correct version

by listening to the song again.

Songs on the Internet

Here is one site where you can get hold of lyrics for English songs:

www.amalgama-lab.com

P.S. This material I found in my university`s notices.

Till recently in Indian cinema was only one and the same plot: a guy meets a girl, they fall in love and after some time they get married and live happily, everybody dances and sings.

Nowadays, the streets of Indian cities and towns are decorated with posters with ads of new films. A lot of posters have grinning faces, expressing fear, cruelty and aggression. It is strange to see such things in the country, where the main religion preaches nonviolence. The energy of cruel films influences so, that a schoolboy can take a knife and kill the rude classmate. Such things happen not often. Imitating the main hero of the film, a young man wants to be cool, to have the same muscles, the same costume, the same car or motorbike. A girl wants to look attractive too, to have expensive dresses and make-up.

A lot of Indians pay skeptical attention to the modern blockbusters. There are protest forums in Internet and also the whole public movements, trying to stop the production of the films, demonstrating the violence.

The film industry of the State of Karnataka lost over 100 millions rupees last year, because the spectators refused to go to the cinema. Nevertheless, the cruelty of Indian films adds speed, trying not to be inferior in the quality of torn dead bodies.

And there is the other danger, the most terrible. Watching one after another cruel films, the people change their world view. They forget, what is love and sympathy. Murders, explosions, violence, wars, terrorism. And what do you want? This is a very cruel world. But stop! It is shown on TV and the people believe in it, losing the habit step-by-step to react negatively to evil.

We have no choice to think, to what do prepare India Indian films? And to what do Hollywood`s action films prepare Americans, Hong Kong`s – Chinese, and Russian – us?

My career of teaching English began, when I was a student of the third course of the Pedagogical University. It was the most difficult course, because I must study two languages: German and English. I studied English from the first course and on the third course I continued studying it. There were no thought about work, I only thought about my study.

One day I was called by the dean of our faculty. She suggested me and my friend to work at the technical college. We had to go by bus two times a week there. The way took about 10 minutes. The dean was asked to find two students from our faculty by the director of the college some minutes ago before our meeting. Nobody agreed in our and other groups. And she decided to suggest us, me and my friend. I promised her to think one day and then to give her an answer. I took up all the variants of my future, how to connect work and study. Next day I agreed and my friend too. Our dean was very happy and we were very happy too.

My first day of working at the technical college began. I was so nervous before the lessons; I had different bad thoughts in my mind. I thought about the students, especially about their future attention to me. I had three pairs, 6 lessons. I had two groups. I began my lesson from introducing myself and asking some questions about students` knowledge in English. The students were very interested in me from the first minutes of the lesson. I was liked by them and I liked them too. We became friends. We met two times a week at our lessons and when we had a break from our lessons at the University we went by bus to meet our students. I worked the whole year at the college.

Then I changed my place of work, being a student of the fourth course. I wanted to work at school and I got this opportunity. I became a teacher of English of one of the town school in the town, where our University was situated. I had to go to school only one time and teach the pupils from the ninth form. They were such pupils, who didn`t want to study English. They used to mock at teachers. They didn`t have the constant teacher. All the teachers refused to teach them. I worked at this school over three month and then left it. I was so disappointed, I was sorry myself; I had a thought not to go to school to anymore.

Two months later my good friend, my teacher of German, she taught me at school, rang me and suggested to work at my school and I agreed. I came to an agreement with the dean of the University and began working. I taught German and English lessons were only as optional courses. The students were so curious they studied foreign languages with pleasure.

Nowadays, I continue working at my native school as a teacher of English and

I am the only one. I teach English for pupils from the second till eleventh form. I love my pupils very much and their parents too. The pupil`s parents help me in difficult minutes, giving advice.

As we know, movement can be used to great effect to reinforce language at all levels. At primary level, I have great fun with parts of the body and instructions to make a very good gymnastics pause. Here are some elements I combine to make my own gym pause.

Head, shoulders, knees and toes…

Introduce the words from the song. Practice them by repeating and touching. Vary the volume of your repetition – sometimes loud like a scary gym instructor, sometimes quiet like a little mouse. Get pupils to touch the part of the body you say.

When you feel the pupils are well practiced, sing the “Head, shoulders, knees and toes…” song. As homework, ask pupils to teach the song to someone at home.

When I see my pupils after the lessons, they remember this song and sing it for me. They also teach their friends. They sing it on the street, at home, by one word everywhere. They like it very much.

Holidays are a really important topic at the beginning of the school year. When talking about holidays, pupils need to be able to talk about past holidays. They should also show that they can operate in different tenses. The teachers are pupils` assistants with ideas and vocabulary.

Prepare a short presentation about a holiday you went on once. You can show them some photos to make your presentation come alive. Put these headings on the blackboard:

destination;

food;

lodging;

activities;

the best day;

Ask pupils to listen carefully and make as many notes as possible.

When you have finished see if you can all recreate what you said together. Write it up on the blackboard. This can be a model for them. Then ask them to prepare their own presentation about their holidays, using the headings and the model on the blackboard.

E.g.: I was in Nizhniy Novgorod to visit my relatives last summer. This city is situated on the river Volga, has a long interesting history, a lot of beautiful sights. I have stayed by my relatives for three weeks and I have really enjoyed my holidays and rest.

Every day I got up at 9 o`clock, greeted my aunt and then had breakfast. I had only a cup of tea with cakes. After breakfast I went shopping to buy food: bread, milk, and fruit. Some minutes later I went to dacha to help my uncle. In the evening I stayed at home, watched TV

or walked with my niece on the beach. There was a beautiful birch grove near the sea, where we liked to spend our time.

My best and unforgettable day was, when I visited the concert of the Moscow group “Banderos” for free. It was really cool.

Its age is about some thousands years. The imagination and elementary knowledge about the history can help to feel the depth of antiquity. Dance in Ancient India was a developed kind of art and took the special rule among cultural treasures. The excavation of Mohenjo-Daro is evidence of it. The image of girls-dancers in a little bronze plastic art is the evidence of the high status of the art of Indian Dance in those distant years.

This art was performed by Devadasi (“God`s servants”). The girls-dancers were called so, because they were dedicated to God. They were considered his earthy wives and were respected in this quality. Devadasi lived in temples.

The creator and the patron of the art of dancing in India is Shiva. He was one of the three great Gods of Hinduism. Dance was the form of prayer, ritualized gift to divinity and was developing only by temples for long centuries. It presented itself the religious dance drama. This art was closely connected with the temples` rituals and for the departure of the dance cult was erected the special construction near the main sanctuary of the temple. These altars for the gift of dance were called Nata Mandap and were presented itself the areas on the high pedestal, penciled under the roof. The highly sensitive décor of these constructions is still surprising. The fronts are decorated with the figures, poured in different poses of Indian dance. Some of the wonderful images were kept in the State of Gujarat and Modher, which are the source of inspiration of many performers.

The new century of the history of Indian Classical Dance is connected with Islam. The art of dancing had some serious changes. The aesthetics of dance and virtuosity of performers` began valuing more than highly religious treatments of plots, holy for Indians. The dance drama began reminding the choreography in a clean view. Dance became the palatial entertainment.

With the beginning of the English colonization, the ancient art of dancing, praised Indian Gods and penetrated by the exquisitive erotic was practically forgotten.

And in the 20 century Indian Classical Dance, thanks to many dancers, was renewed. The pleiad of brilliant names, such as Uday Shankar, Balasarasvati, Ram Gopal and hundreds of dancers recreated this art for future generations.

It was the main points of the history of Indian Classical Dance.

Every dancing style has its own history. There are seven styles of dance, which have recently become classical in India.

South styles are Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam, Kathakali; east style is Odissi; north style is Kathak; east-west styles are Manipuri and Sattria. The eighth style of Indian Classical dance was accepted Sattria

in 2000.

Classical Indian Dance is called so, because it is following by the canons, which are imaged in the old treaties “Natya Shastra” (“The Science About Theatre”), “Abhinaya Darpana” (“The Mirror of Actor`s Expressiveness”), “Nritya Vinoda”.

The feature of this art is the sequence of actions of different parts of the body of a dancer. Canon prescribes the special movements of a head, eyes, a neck, eyebrows, a nose, a breast, feet and body; different kinds of dance pa and poses; a famous language of facial expressions and gestures.

I went to school as usually by my quick steps. Before entering the school I got

a secret envelope, which was clued by the scotch on the school door. This envelope contained a sheet of paper with beautiful congratulation. When I entered the school I saw that it was so beautifully decorated. There were big posters with pupil`s congratulations, with teacher`s photos from their school years, notes from the teacher`s interviews. There was also the note on the teacher`s room “Inspiration”.

The lesson`s duration on this day was 30 minutes and after it there was a festive programme for pupils and teachers, where took part teachers and pupils. At the beginning of the programme the director congratulated her colleagues with Teachers` Day.

There was a very funny and exciting game “We Are All” between two teams. I didn`t take part in this game, I decided to relax from the performances. I took part in every school holidays. This time I wanted to be a spectator. There were pupils in the first team and teachers in the other. The teams’ names were “DUB” and “BUK”. This game consisted of some competitions; I only remembered some of them: “Dance”, “Poetic”, and “Musical”. This game was lead by two pupils from the 11th form. The judges were director and two pupils from the 11th form. The breaks between the competitions were filled by the humorous scenes, musical items of other pupils and teachers.

This game was won by teachers` team with one score to teachers.

And how is celebrated Teacher’s Day at your school?

Have you ever thought about visiting some castles in the UK, when you look at them at the pictures in your English books? I would like you to invite to visit the most famous сastle Rochester, sitting near your computer and reading my article.

Castle Rochester is situated in the city of the same name in the county Kent. It is one of the first stone сastles in England and the highest.

Rochester protects the way from the south to London. William the Conqueror presented lands of Eilesford to Odo in Kent. He was the bishop of Bayonne. In 1086 the ownership of the bishop is mentioned in the Doomsday Book.

In 1087 Odo rose against William Ruffus and William laid siege to Rochester. After taking Rochester and proscription of the bishop, from 1087 till 1090, a famous builder Gundulf, began the stone castle`s erection in the city. The walls were built in the city wall`s corner, kept from Roman times.

In 1127 the castle was given to William de Corbeille, archbishop of Canterbury by Edict of Henry I English with the order “to make the reinforcement or the Tower, which will keep the city for centuries”. William reinforced the castle`s donjon seriously and built four corner towers to it.

Castle Rochester`s donjon is a square 21x21 meters with a side building at the bottom and 34 meters tall. The corner towers are rising on 4 meters more. The wall`s thickness at the bottom is 4 meters and 3, 3 meters at the top.

The room inside is divided by the crosscut wall, which is going from the west to the east.

The donjon`s entrance is on the second floor-level, in a special penthouse. The stairs to the penthouse begins on the donjon`s west side, bends round its north-west tower and goes to the tower`s entrance. The access of the first floor is by winding stairs from the second floor. The first floor of the castle was used as a storehouse.

The Main Hall is on the third floor and the crosscut wall has a view of three arches. The Main Hall occupies two floors of the building and there is a gallery on the fourth floor-level.

The third floor of the penthouse is Chapel. There are private archbishop’s restrooms and private chapel.

In the 18th century the castle was planned to destroy, but in order to one accident, it wasn`t happened.

Now, the castle is clear, partly restored and opened for visiting.

My school is the most different from educational institutions of town social mediums. It is situated in the village Bor of Borskoye country settlement, in Tikhvinsky region, Leningradskaya oblast, in 15 kilometers from a very famous town Tikhvin. The first historical record of settlement`s territory is connected with the 16th century. From the end of the 16th century the inhabitants of this territory were busy themselves with ore and tanning trade. There are a lot of historical monuments on the settlement`s territory: burial mounds in Ust`-Shomushka, Shomushka, Yalgino and etc. There was one of the biggest agricultural enterprises “Tikhvinskoye” in Leningradskaya oblast in70 – 80 of the 20th century, which produced animal husbandry and vegetable-growing production.

1730 inhabitants are living in eleven villages on the settlement`s territory now. 1297 inhabitants are living in Bor.

There are eleven private enterprises of timber industry and one of metal working. These enterprises don`t have enough working places.

There are some institutions of cultural and healthcare orientation: two libraries, two medical centers, secondary school with infant school, sport-cultural centers in Bor and in another villages of settlement`s territory. There is a branch of musical school by N.A.Rimskiy-Korsakov in Bor.

My school is founded in 1975. From 1991 till now it has the status of the secondary school. The kindergarten was joined to my school from the 1st of July 1991 according the Resolution of the Head of Administration of Municipal Education “Tikhvinsky region”. There is a museum of history and local lore “The Pages of the History of the Native Region” at school. It is the only in our region and it has the material about the participants of the local wars.

The school is functioning as an educational institute, where there are eleven forms and three infant groups. The school gathering consists of pupils, who live on the territory of Borskoye country settlement, to be exact, from villages Bor, Sarozha and Kaivaksa. The pupils from these villages go by school bus to school.

I studied at this school till the eleventh form. I am working at this school now and I like it very much.

Grammar is not the most exciting subject at English lessons, but it is very difficult and very important. Grammar used to be taught using a language book, learning about parts of speech and other subjects of the language, doing exercises. Now grammar is usually taught with writing, and it is taught through mini-lessons. It may also be taught in literature ways when teacher discuss with students how an author writes or character`s speech pattern. When you teach grammar with these methods, students are more likely to remember the grammar rules and apply them to their everyday life.Instructions:1. Assess your students before you teach any grammar. If they already know what a noun or verb is, and their importance in the sentence.2. Teach grammar points while reading the book in the class or the students are reading themselves. You can discuss with them how the authors use grammar in their writing. Point out if a character has a weird speech pattern and discuss it. Discuss why that character didn`t use proper grammar. These discussions will be more meaningful than doing exercises. 3. Practice punctuation, some other grammar rules, capitalization with spelling sentences. Ask students to practice these skills with spelling sentences. They will show you if students are applying the grammar rules they are learning, or if students need more instruction and practice.And now one advice:Don`t make grammar boring. If you approach it with dislike and boredom, so will your students. Incorporate grammar rules and lessons into other subjects to make it more interesting and fun!P.S: I found this material in my student notes, seeing this topic on our forum and, of course, I decided to write about it in my blog. I think that for some teachers this material will be useful. I try to use some of these instructions in my teaching career. I also try to make my grammar lessons fun, not boring. It is very important for me. But for my present situation at school it is very difficult, because some students have a very low motivation to learning English.

Starting learning English, every person must begin with the basics to grasp the English vocabulary. That means he or she must start with the alphabet, keeping it requires regular practice. According to your students` abilities you know where to start. Children will obviously have limited experience with the English vocabulary, and adult students might come to you with some prior knowledge. Instructions: 1) Ask students to pronounce the words from flash cards or presentations in Power Point you made if you have such possibility in your classroom. You can also ask them to read aloud the words from the books or from the cards. You should make it in order to determine whether to begin with basics.2) Teach the alphabet. Students must know to identify and pronounce each of the letters in the ABC before they can understand how they work together. The useful way of practicing is flash cards or cards the teacher made.3) Then put the letters together into basic, one-syllable word, for example, “it”, “is”, “in” and so on. This method can help your students get started before reading large words. Of course, flash cards or cards the teacher made are useful here also.4) At last, always practice the material. No language can your students learn quickly and easy. Test their knowledge every lesson. You can also use different games in teaching the English vocabulary. I think, this article is the most suitable for young teachers, university students, who have not big experience in their teaching career.

Learning vocabulary is a very important part of learning a language. The more words you know, the more you will be able to understand what you hear and read; and the better you will be able to say what you want to when speaking or writing. Almost every day you hear or read many new English words. You can also find them in your dictionary. You can`t possibly learn all of these words, so you should choose the words, which are important for you, according to the subject you are studying. How to learn words: Once you have chosen which words to learn, you next have to decide how you are going to learn them. Here are a few ideas:• write the words in a notebook (with their translations or definitions) • write the words and definitions on small cards • say the words many times • put the words into different groups (you could use a graphic organizer) • make associations (in pictures or with other words) • ask someone to test you • use the words in your own speaking or writing Learning vocabulary by reading The way you learned very many of the words was by meeting them in the books and magazines you read. The context of a new word in a sentence or story was often enough for you to guess the meaning. Meeting the word again and again in your reading helped you learn it for use in your own speaking and writing. Doing lots of extra reading for pleasure – both fiction and non-fiction – is an excellent way to learn new English words, too. But choose books that you find quite easy to read. Difficult stories or texts that you struggle to understand will not help you to develop your vocabulary the natural way. But remember: to learn new words from reading you have to read a lot! The vocabulary you know can be divided into two groups - passive vocabulary and active vocabulary. Passive vocabulary contains all the words that you understand when you read or listen, but which you do not use (or cannot remember) in your own writing and speaking. Active vocabulary is all the words you understand, plus all the words that you can use yourself. Your active vocabulary, in English and your own language, is probably much smaller than your passive vocabulary. The more you work on learning a word, as suggested above, the more likely it is that it will become part of your active vocabulary.Things to know about the words you learn Usually the first things you learn about a new English word are what it means and its translation in your own language. But there are other things you need to find out before you can say that you know a word like a native speaker does. For example, you have to learn:• how it is spelled • how it is pronounced • how it is inflected (i.e. how it changes if it is a verb, noun or adjective) • other grammar information about it These ideas are from my own experience, when I taught my friend German. It was a difficult task to teach him, because he had no abilities to foreign languages. But he tried and then he was succeeded. Now he is living in Germany with his wife and he is very thankful to me.

Everyone of us thinks from time to time: What is destiny? Can we be destiny`s masters? One thinks that they decide everything by themselves,

the other are sure that it is predestined. Who is right? Where is the truth?

It can be somewhere in the middle. We make decisions every day, make actions and say the words, which influence on our and other people`s destiny. We often ask ourselves: What if…

If I did it or if I didn`t do something yesterday, I wouldn`t say this phrase. We change our destiny with all these things.

Sometimes something global happens what has not been expected in any way. It changes our life as minimum on 180 ° or on 360 °.

Perhaps these events have been sent to us from heaven. Are we able to do something in these situations, aren`t we? Nevertheless, it is definitely that these situations are able to change our life.

So we see that our destiny is a puzzle, consisting of milliard of pieces, and if some of them have been assigned their places by somebody from above us, we are able to combine the other by ourselves and take out them according to our discretion.

And what picture will be at the end, one day everyone can see one day.

Everyone likes songs. You just put on CD and press "play", don`t you?

Probably the most important thing is to choose a song in which the lyrics are clear. Choose a singer with a nice clear voice, like Frank Sinatra, for example. The recording should also be a good one.

There`s also the issue of whether or not the language is a suitable level-difficulty. And it is also a question od whether your students like the song.

What do you do with a song?

1. Do some listening exercises. In planning what you are going to do with a song you want to think about productive pre-, during- and post-listening tasks that are going to be language rich.

2. If you want to do some "fill-in-the-gaps exercises", please do it. But remember, you should do the exersice with the blanking words at the end of the line, but not the words that they rhyme with. It will be difficult for your students.

3. You could also try giving them, say, 12 chunks of the song, and get them to do it (before listening) as a "jigsaw reading" exercise, which they could then confirm during listening.

 I will not write this article more, please visit these sites and you will read by yourself about teaching English with songs:

How to Use Songs in the English Language Classroom - https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-use-songs-english-language-classroom

Using Songs: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/using-songs-0

How to Teach English Using Songs - http://genkienglish.net/eslsongs.htm

Using Music in the ESL Classroom - http://www.englishclub.com/teaching-tips/music-classroom.htm

Songs and Activities for English Language Learners: https://sandraheyersongs.com/lesson-plans-for-recent-hits/

Song Worksheets

Worksheeets with Songs: https://www.liveworksheets.com/worksheets/en/English_as_a_Second_Language_(ESL)/Worksheets_with_songs

English ESL Song Worksheets: https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/search/song

Teaching with Songs: http://www.isabelperez.com/songs.htm

My Worksheets: One Republic "Feel Again": https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/vocabulary/environment/onerepublic-feel-again/122614

Adele "Hello": https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/material-type/activities-songs-and-nursery-rhymes/adelle-hello/98326

Garfield "Cool Cat": https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/skill/listening/garfield-cool-cat/16164

Peter, Paul & Mary "Lemon Tree": https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/vocabulary/family/peter-paul-mary-lemon-tree/15317 

Keys: https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/level/upper-intermediate-b2/peter-paul-mary-lemon-tree/15318

Within Temptation "Ice Queen": https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/skill/listening/within-temptation-ice-queen/15220

My Video Lessons: Madonna "Power of Goodbye": https://en.islcollective.com/video-lessons/madonna-power-goodbye

Spice Girls "Mama": https://en.islcollective.com/video-lessons/spice-girls-mama

Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You": https://en.islcollective.com/video-lessons/whitney-houston-i-will-always-love-you

James Blunt "You`re Beautiful": https://en.islcollective.com/video-lessons/james-blunt-youre-beautiful

My students from the 5th form wrote some poems today. They are in Russian, because it is very difficult for them to write in English. But I was very glad to get it.

***

Мы знаем, что английский -

Родимый наш, не лишний!

А главное внутри

Та фраза - a,b,c,d,e!

***

Английский - самый важный

Его должен знать каждый

А кто его не знает,

Тот сам и погибает.

***

Сижу я на английском,

Учу словарные слова

Cat - bat, frog - dog -

Легкие слова.

И я выучу словечки, замудренные слегка

Я выучу английский!

Хоть это неспроста.

***

Английский, английский, английский dog и cat!

Знаю я английский и скажу вам bag

Английский мне хотелось,

Доучить бы до конца

Dog, bag, cat - вот то, что знаю я!

***

Английский должен знать каждый

Английский - очень важный.

Английский учат дети,

Дети все на свете.

***

Этот предмет никогда не понять,

Но все равно мы должны его знать.

Учитель английский, конечно же, знает

Мы бы тоже хотели, да "бы" мешает.

***

Пятый год учу английский

Он - самый лучший, хотя и скучный.

Он опыт нам дает большой,

Но кто-то там его не знает,

Тот будет в будущем смешной!