"The Allegory of the Cave" got English, Literature and Philosophy together!

      According to our successful experience during the first quarter of the year, using two subjects in the same test, we have decided not only  keep doing it but also improve it by inviting another teacher to share it with us. And we got very thankful to our Philosophy teacher that promptly accept our proposal and contributed to a meaningful work. The test involved concepts of Philosophy that are also presented in Literature, displayed in a foreign language (in this case, English) and the result was a test whose subject just flows through it.

You learned that for a philosopher it is much more important to know oneself than to know the Works of others.

You could also learn that Philosophy is everywhere, including the Harry Potter books collection. According to Dumbledore, "it's our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

As we wrote on the test, teachers Ingrid, Renato and I wish that your learning could be effectively. May it be the light that guides you and that will guide you throughout your life. May you can learn what pleases you most and mainly what you really need to.

Post Question: What's your opinion about the test? Was it more difficult or easier than a split version (separated test)? What subjects do you think it would be a good combination to participate in this Project? What theme would you like to have in your next test? Would like to be a philosopher? Do you think you know yourself?

 

Tip: To consolidate the discussion and all the work done about this theme, take a few minutes to watch this video. You can add English subtitles to it.

It's a dog day! The guide dog day!

Human beings and dogs have made one of the most memorable partnership in history.
Dogs are loyal, friendly and a very good company.
Besides all that, they are wonderful to help us in many different ways, from the high altitude in the Swiss Alps to the subways stations. They are true lifesavers!
And we dedicate one day to honor these dogs, which work all days to assure you know exactly where you are going to: the guide dogs. And according to the poster, if you see one guide dog in any subway station, do not play or cherish it. They are cute and adorable, but they are working. If you play or cherish it, you may distract it and at that moment, do not forget, it must conduct blind or visually impaired people around obstacles safely.
The first guide dog training schools were established in Germany during World War I, to enhance the mobility of returning veterans who were blinded in combat and the first guide dogs in Great Britain were German shepherds. Today, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, and German Shepherds are most likely to be chosen by guide dog facilities. Even with more and more electronic gadgets and technology, nothing can replace the efficiency of a guide dog. And the most important detail, hug them is much more nice than any gadgets.

Post Question: Do you have a pet? What's its name? How old is it? How did you get it? Have you ever seen a guide dog around our city?

Tip: If you want to know how to help the institutions that trained the guide dogs, just click here. Let's help who has always helped us!

The Blood Moon Eclipse

      What a great event we will be able to see tomorrow! Eclipses have been fascinated people through all the years. Since the moment that human beings looked to sky and observed how beautiful the stars and the heavenly bodies are, their movements have intrigued scientists, astronomers and just curious to learn more about them and to have the opportunity we are going to have now - to see it with naked eyes!

       The name is very suggestive, "Blood Moon", but it's not related to violence or something like that. To understand it better, there is a video here (it's in Portuguese) that explains that the red color is just associated to the very border light that reaches the Moon, due to the shadow of our planet because it will be exactly between the Sun and the Moon.

Elizabeth Weise wrote an interesting article for the USA Today about the eclipse (it's very interesting for us because it can help us with the vocabulary used to talk about an eclipse - pay attentio to it).  According to her, the April 15 eclipse marks the start of a lunar tetrad. That event occurs when there are four successive total lunar eclipses, with no partial lunar eclipses in between, each of which is separated from the other by six full moons. Absolutely amazing!

These events together,  called "the lunar tetrad", are also on the same period of some traditional Jewish celebrations. Some people say it is a prophecy that is going to be fulfilled and others say it just an astronomical event. Whatever the meaning of it is, one thing is certain, celestial phenomena will continue to enchant humans because they are a very beautiful, magical and mysterious spectacle that nature is offering to us.
Let's enjoy it...while we can!

  

Post Question: Have you ever seen an eclipse? When and where? Are you going to see any of the Blood Moon Tetrad eclipses? Do you believe that the Blood Moon Tetrad has any special meaning? What does it means to you?

Tip: To read the complete article written by Elizabeth Weise, just click here. There is an interesting video about the eclipse and she mentioned the prophecy, as well.

EDUCATION

This post is about one of the most beautiful texts I have read so far. It's a very simple text, with very simple grammatical structures, but its message is unquestionable. I couldn't agree more! I hope one day we can really have the nation that is mentioned in the text.      

 

“When a man dies, it’s as if a whole library burns down.”

(old African Proverb)

 

If you have read so far, keep reading. For education. Because education is the only road we can all take to get ahead. Education is everything in life.

          When you say “good morning”, it’s education. When you learn to read or to fly, it’s education. When you plant a tree or stop polluting rivers and seas, it’s education. When you pass by a museum, a theater, a church or historic place and realize what they mean, it’s education. Education is the most important heritage you can have.

          For education is not just learning how to read and write. It is when you learn about your own country and about the world. And as you do, you also learn about yourself.

          It’s much more than that: education is when everybody learns about everybody.

          Education is when 165 million people ask who we are and where we are going. And when we discover the magic and power of the answers. With education we have much more than a country. We have a nation.

          And when a human being is born, it’s as if a whole library began to be built. It’s a never-ending process. A process called future.

          Education is everything.  

                             
(original text published in Portuguese in O Globo, April 2, 2000)

Post Question: In your opinion, are you an educated person? And according to the text, are you? What do you do (or don't do) to be considered an educated person? Are there uneducated people in your classroom (don't mention names, please)? Why do you think they aren't educated?

Tip: What can we expected about the Education process for the XXI century? Click here and check what UNESCO's educational objectives are. 

The Babel Tower test

          Where could you see Spanish, Albanian, English, Portuguese and Japanese language all together? The answer is very simple - in the English test! The students from the last year of high school went through a distinct experience - to complete a test with texts in many different languages, but focused in the abilities that are necessary to achieve comprehension when reading any text that is not written in your mother tongue. These abilities are also involved wish perception, and in this case, attention is an important ally. That is the reason the texts were used as a test and not as an activity. In fact, it could be as simple as an activity, but let's speak the truth: I want to have some fun too!!! But unfortunately, due to a health problem, I couldn't make it, so I missed an important part of the process (and I am not referring to my own fun). I missed the opportunity of observing my students' reaction when they received the test, when they were working on it and their comments at the end of the test. It may sound something quite unimportant (or even silly) not being there during the test, but during all these years, teaching for different grades, I've learned a lot with the messages that come to me by a non-verbal language and when we (my students and I) are talking in a very informal way, without any kind of pressure.          
          I know it is not the same thing, we are not "in the heat of the moment" anymore, but even though I would like to ask the students to write down comments (suggestions, critics, opinion, complaints) about the test.

          I also would like to thank you guys for doing it and to give a huge "thank you" from the bottom of my heart to the Physics teacher Thaís. Her help was crucial and it is exactly because we have friends we can count that life becomes much more interesting and easy to go on.

          And as an example of how the beauty of languages can be combined in a very harmonious way, look at this Multi-language sequence video from Disney's Frozen movie of the Music "Let it Go".

 

Post Question for students: What is your opinion about the test? How did you like it? What was the difficulty level of the test? Write an interesting and uninteresting point of your test. 
Tip: If you got interested and curious about learning another language, there two good suggestions that can help you. On the BBC website we can learn 40 different languages, including Albanian and  there are useful information about teaching yourself foreign languages on the How To Learn Any Language website.