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Internettet er helt vildt!
OK, jeg indrømmer det. Min begejstring er 25 år forsinket, men begejstret er jeg altså. For 25 år siden jublede alle over internettets potentiale; det gjorde jeg også, men jeg gør det sandelig også nu i december 2016.
Mine elever er vant til total autonomi i deres engelsktimer. De arbejder på deres selvvalgte emner, vælger selv samarbejdspartnere og bestemmer selv, hvilket produkt de vil lave. De kan vel ikke ønske sig mere? Og dog! For nogle uger siden hørte jeg et oplæg om ”21st learning skills”. Oplægsholderen (Mikkel Hjorth) mente, at skoler har en tendens til kun at stille spørgsmål, hvortil der findes et svar. Og hans pointe var, at i den fremtid, som vi uddanner vores elever til, er der ikke en facitliste. Vi skal give eleverne lov til at udforske og være kreative og innovative. Eleverne skal kunne gå i uforudsigelige retninger.
Det gav mig en idé. Mine elever finder oftest et bestemt emne, som de vil arbejde med. De søger på Google og finder information om emnet og fremlægger et lille projekt. Det er i virkeligheden meget tæt på det, man gjorde for mange år siden, da man lavede en planche over et emne. Det er nok mere spændende i dag, og de mange forskellige digitale medier kommunikerer i et sprog, som en gammel lærer ikke har adgang til. Eleverne lærer meget fra hinanden, og motivationen er generelt høj, da stoffet er selvvalgt. Men, inspireret af Mikkel Hjorths oplæg, vil jeg prøve at gøre deres søgning mere uforudsigelig. Så jeg har stillet som krav, at eleverne som en del af deres igangværende projekt skal komme i kontakt med en engelsktalende ”ekspert” som en del af projektet.
Hvis jeg skal være helt ærlig, var mine forventninger til udbyttet ikke store, så stor var min overraskelse, da eleverne begyndte at få svar.
To piger i 8b laver et projekt om katolske nonner i lukkede klostre i England. De skrev til et kloster og fik et slags standardsvar. Jeg roste forsøget, men nogle dage senere kom et meget spændende svar fra en ung nonne, som fortalte, at hun allerede som 13-årig ville gå i kloster. Hendes forældre, som ikke var katolikker, var stærkt imod hendes valg, men hun gjorde alvor af det. Hun fortalte også om, hvordan det at give afkald på at få børn, var meget hårdt, men at hun holdt fast.
I parallelklassen 8a har jeg to piger, som arbejder med “Homeschooling in the US”. De er kommet i kontakt med en jævnaldrende amerikansk pige, som selv er homeschooling-elev.
En anden gruppe i 8a arbejder med ”Death row” i USA. Jeg havde set en artikel på BBC's hjemmeside om en mand, der var blevet fundet uskyldig og løsladt efter mere end 20 år på ”Death row”, og nævnte det for gruppen. De opsøgte ham via en e-mailadresse, som de fandt og skrev til. De fik intet svar, men en af eleleverne fandt hans Twitter-konto, og efter det tredje tweet beklagede manden, at han ikke havde set deres mail, men at han straks ville kigge på den. Det gjorde han, og de fik svar på deres spørgsmål om livet på ”Death row”.
En gruppe, der laver projekt om Guantánamo, skrev til nogle af vagterne, men fik ikke noget svar. Så fandt de en lille amerikansk organisation, som fører kampagner for at få lukket Guantánamo. De var meget begejstret for en ”dansk” henvendelse og har bidraget med nogle spændende svar.
Og så var der et mærkeligt emne, som jeg ikke kendte noget til på forhånd: ”Las Vegas tunnel people”. Hvis man er hjemløs i Las Vegas, er varmen et problem, så de hjemløse søger læ i servicetunnellerne under byen. Gruppen fik kontakt med en forfatter, som selv har tilbragt tre år i tunnellerne og udgivet en bog om det.
Jeg har før skrevet, at vi sproglærere skal nedbryde klasseværelsernes vægge/mure og komme ud i den virkelige verden. Internettet giver os mulighed for at smide tekstbøgerne og forlagsportalerne i skraldespanden. Internettet er en engelsklærers mest fantastiske redskab, og mine elever har fået den ”rus” at blive taget alvorligt af ”alvorlige mennesker”, som går i dialog med dem om alvorlige emner samt oplevelsen af en succesfuld, autentisk kommunikation.
Herunder kan du se de svar, som eleverne fik.Øverst på formularen
Death row
Okay lets do this... Been so busy sorry...
Send me your questions
Thank you so much!
We only have one simple question actually.
We would like to know how the enviroment
was in •the death penalty"
It is the most dehumanising feeling. I was just
21 years old and l. Felt like the whole world
wanted me dead. The on y thing that I coud
think of doing was to learn to love who I was
so that it did not matter it they killed me
I tried to be nice and kind even in hell
Wow, really inspiring, thank you so much for
taking time to answer us. We appreciate it
alot!
Las Vegas homeless
Dear Matthew O’Brein. We’re three boys from Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark. We’re making an English project about the Las Vegas tunnels, and we’d like to ask you a couple of questions in this email, if it is possible. Our questions: How is the environment and the conditions for the homeless people? Is the problem getting worse or is the population in the tunnels falling? Greetings from a cold but sunny Copenhagen. Can you tell me a little more about your project? Matt Dear Matthew O’Brien. First of all, thank you for answering. We are making a movie. The movie contains informations about Las Vegas itself, and we want to go into depth with the tunnels, as it is our main topic. So we believed it could be absolutely fantastic to get an interview from a specialist, and we want to know about your experience with the homeless people. Greetings, Tobias, Simon and Sebastian. The environment in the tunnels is pretty bleak. They are dark and, in some cases, dank. However, the people down there prefer the tunnels to living homeless aboveground in Vegas, because of the heat, the cops and other issues like that. (To get a better idea of what it is like in the tunnels, read my book Beneath the Neon or just Google the subject.) The population in the tunnels is getting a bit smaller, I think. More organizations, like US Vets and HELP of Southern Nevada and my community project Shine a Light, are getting involved in the issue and helping. Of course, Las Vegas doesn't have the resources to help all the people who live in the drains, but they have more options than they did 10 years ago, I think. Matt Dear Matthew O’Brien We’re very thankful for your great answer. Greetings, Tobias, Simon and Sebastian
Catholic Nuns
I hope it isn't too late to respond to your three questions about nuns for your school project. 1. How did your family react when you said you wanted to be a nun? My family is not Catholic, and I became a Catholic on my own at the age of 16. My parents are of Protestant backgrounds. So, when I first announced that I was discerning becoming a nun they really did not understand at all. The only nuns they knew of were those in the movies! They thought that it was a teenage phase and would pass with time, but after I continued to visit convents and monasteries over a few years time they could see that I was serious. When I first entered the monastery they were very upset and could not understand what I was doing at all. However, after many visits to see me happily living as a nun, and meeting my religious sisters they have grown to accept and to some extent even support my path in life. They still say that they don't understand, but that they are just happy that I am living happily. 2. Why did you choose a life without a family and children? I am a very family-oriented person who absolutely loves children, so sacrificing the opportunity to have my own family was difficult for me. However, I have always wanted to live for something much greater than myself and have always been consoled by remembering that I am seeking to live entirely for God and that my life of prayer has a positive effect on humanity. Being free of taking care of a family allows that energy to be channeled into prayer and the spiritual life. 3. How did you get the idea of becoming a nun? The idea first occurred to me when I was about 13 and I was reading about nuns and saints. I realized that we human beings were created "to know, love, and serve God" and that was exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to live entirely for God, and the saints that I was reading about had done that by living in convents and monasteries. Many blessings to you in your class project, Sister Mary Therese
Home Schooling
My name is Camilla and Im 14 years old and I live in Denmark. I have your e-mail from Toby Lauren Burgess from Facebook. I my class in my school (english lessons) we have a project about homeschooling and I have some questions and hope you will reply to me :-) A) Do you like your homeschooling B) What is the best thing about homeschooling C) Why dit you/or your parents chose homeschooling for you Thank you so much if you will reply to me. Kind regards Camilla Kirketerp from Denmark Hello I'm Ireland. I'm 11 and I would be happy to answer your questions . A) Do you like your homeschooling? Of course! It's really fun. B) What is the best thing about homeschooling? Well personally, I like it because you can spend more time with your family and I get to learn things I want to learn instead of what I am being told to. C) Why dit you/or your parents chose homeschooling for you? At first it was mainly to do with my brother. He didn't like leaving my mothers side. So we started doing homeschool. Right after that, we found out we both had types of disabilities, such as Dyslexia and Tourettes, which made it easier for us to do our learning at home. Thank you! I hope this helps. Nederst på formularen
