Unit 4 Going to School.doc

Unit 4 Going to School ()Part Getting readySSam CCounselorS: I wont be able to do the exam tomorrow. I just dont feel that Im ready.C: You say that you dont feel ready for tomorrows examwhat do you feel like right now?S: Well, Im angry with myself because Im going to have to quit the exam and, well, I guess Im anxious. Yes, I feel very anxious.C: When you think about this anxiety, what image do you have of yourself?S: Well, I see myself trying to explain to my Dad why I didnt make the grade on this courseand I see him getting angryand, well, I start to feel Ive let him down again.C: You dont feel ready for your exam, you feel anxious and you dont want to let your Dad down again. Tell me about the last time you let your Dad down.S: Oh, well, it was a year agoHed entered me for a chess competition and I got knocked out in the first matchhe was angry because hed told all his friends how good I was.C: What did you tell himas an explanation when you lost the chess game?S: I told him that I wasnt ready to play in that league.C: And now you are preparing to tell him that youre not ready to sit this examination?S: Yes, I suppose I am.C: OK. Sam, so what you are saying to me is that you feel reluctant to take the exam tomorrow because you do not like the thought of having to explain a poor grade or a failure to your father. Is that right, Sam?S: Yes. Thats exactly it.Steves First MorningSteve was rather nervous about his first day of the polytechnic. He didnt know any other students and he didnt know his way round the building. At 9 oclock, he was at the main entrance with a crowd of hundreds of other students. All of them seem to know what to do except Steve. Then he found a notice. There was a meeting for all the first-year students. He found them all waiting in the large hall. First, the director of the Polytechnic welcomed them. Then the head of students services, and finally the head of physical education.Head of physical education: Im here to tell you about the sport you can do at the Poly. Here in Edington, we have a fitness room where you can do exercises to keep fit, and weekly you can do all sorts of sports, such as tennis, football, hockey and badminton. But there are also many other activities. You can go sailing. You can go down-caves. You can go climbing and many more. We hope all of you will take part in at least one of these. If you want to join, come on weekly on Wednesday afternoon. Any questions?A student: What about swimming?Head of physical education: We dont have our own pool. But you can swim in the public pools in Hanksy or Muston Ferry.After the meeting was over, Steve looked at this timetable. His first class was business studies, and was in Room 316. but where was Room 316?Steve: Excuse me. Do you know where Room 316 is?Male student 1: Oh, I havent a clue mate.Steve: Do you know where Room 316 is?Female student 1: No, do you?Steve: Im looking for Room 316.Male student 2: Oh, not another first year. Look at the notice board.Steve: But where is the notice board?Male student 2: Dont ask me.Steve: Could you tell me where Room 316 is?Female student 2: You mean business studies for Catering students.Steve: Thats it.Female student 2: Oh, Im looking for it for myself. Youre a first-year?Steve: Yes.Female student 2: So am I. Lets see if we can find it together.Questions:1. Where was Steve at 9 oclock?2. How many people made welcome speeches at the meeting for all the first year students?3. Who are they?4. What kinds of sports are available in Edington Polytechnic?5. What was Steves first class?6. Where will he have the class?7. How many students did Steve ask when he tried to find his class?8. Did he get the answer?Part The teacher I remember best(Part )Yes, the teacher I remember the best was a teacher I had for French when I was at schoolererMany years agomore years than I care to remember, Im afraid. Yes, I studies French with him for, um, ooh, let me see, it must have been five years, because I had him when I was in my first year there, when I was thirteen, and he was the main French teacher till I left. It was mainly because of him that I went on to study languagesFrench and Germanat university. I mean, French was really the first language I ever learned. Well, I dont count Latin, because I never managed to speak any Latin at all. Er, well, thisthis teacher didnt make it easyhe didnt make it easy at all, but I found that with him I really learned a lot.When I think back, Idont really know why I liked him so much, because he was very strict with us. He made us work very hardI mean, lots of grammar exercises, vocabulary tests, that sort of thinger, and he wasnt very friendly either, for the first two or three years. Oh, as well as that, he didnt really try to make the classes interestingI mean, nono video, of course, in those days, no cassettesbut, er, we had a few films in French every term. No, in fact, the only time we really practiced trying to speak French was, er, was with the wife of one of the music teachers, who was French, er, and she gave us an hours conversation class every week. But, you know, because of that mansome people might say in spite of himno, that wouldnt be fair, nobut quite a lot of us began to like France and the French a lot, and, er, to visit France in the summer holidays to see it for ourselves.(Part )Yes, I think with him I learned that when you learn a foreign languageits itwell, its like opening a door or a window into a foreign country. And thats good for you, I think, because you begin to see that the way they do things and think in your country is, um, isnt necessarily the only way or, indeed, the best way.Its funny, I still have a very clear picture of that teacher. He was English but he didnt look English somehow, he had very, very black hair and very dark eyes, and he wore glasses with black frames, but you could see his eyes very well, and everyone in the class always had the feeling that he was looking at them. And he had very thick bushy eyebrows that made him look very, er, very serious.Yes, I remember he was very musicalplayed the piano very well and sang. Now, he was quite a good rugby and tennis player. Great family man, too. He had three children, and a very interesting wife. I suppose he must have been in his thirties when I knew himCserious, friendly, learned a lot, strict, work very hard, interesting, France and the French, languages, university, foreign language, opening a door, a window, foreign country, do things, think, only way, best wayPart Teachers and pupils(Part )Presenter: Christine teaches in a secondary school. What does she enjoy about being a teacher?Christine: I enjoy the fun you have, I enjoy theerthe unexpected, the things thatthat you cant plan for. When we were at college I think the only thing that theythey kept on about was planning lessons, and we used to have to make these lesson plans up and they always seemed to me like the great works of modern fiction, the lesson plans, because real lessons arent like that, they dont work out the way you plan them and thats what makes it really interesting is that you just go in, thinking that youre going to do thing A and it turns into thing B, depending on what the students do and say.And theyre also so funny, yeah, I mean students are terribly entertaining atheyre just a hoot. And theythey come out with all these amazing things and they tell you things. And if youre any good at that they will trust you as a person. And so what youre teaching them in English is much less important than what youre teaching them about “the big world” and the world theyre going into, and about relationships and values and things like that.I think the only downside is that its terribly hard work and its awfully tiring physicallyand emotionally at times. Butumchildren are just such nice people, and if you treat them properly then theyll do anything. You canyou can turn them into anything you want if you treat them well and you develop appropriate relationships with them. Then theres very little that they cant learn and cant do, and a good teacher can take children into a whole world which is magic and exciting.(Part )Presenter: What changes have taken place in the relationship between teachers and pupils since she was at school?Christine: I think that there has been a real change in the quality of relationships, I think theyre much more open, more relaxed, less formal. Some people would say that implies a Ia drop in the standards, I would disagree violently with that. I think that quality relationships bring quality work. And familiarity does not breed contempt, care and control are not opposites. If you care for children you manage your classroom well, and it is a well-ordered classroom, it doesnt mean it is not a relaxed classroom, its not a friendly classroom, its not a supportive classroom.What matters is thatthat its athere is a good quality of relationship between the teacher and the student, and the student trusts the teacher as an individual and vice versa. And I think teachers have become more human and more open with their students and are more prepared to allow the students to know more about them as individuals. Students are involved much more in their own progress and their own assessment, they have a voice in their programs of study and their progress. And that voice has always been a vital voice and the teachers who failed to take that on board, who didnt listen to student feedback, were losing out on a whole valuable resource for planning and developing work: its how the students are receiving the work.And I think one of the big changes has been the handing over of some of the responsibility in the classrooms to children. But it does, I think, demand more skill not less. I think its much harder to take risks with youngsters, to be open, to be relaxed. Its easy to run an authoritarian classroom, its easy to rule using tffear and punishment and threat. But winning and earning the respect of children, and earning aa relaxed relationship and relaxed classroom, thats much harder. A relaxed classroom isnt about low expectations, its about purposeful quality work. And its very very hard to achieve, its much easier to bully them into submission and shout at them.Part More about the topic: Computers and University Lifecolleges, universities, brains, information, libraries, solve, problems, reports, letters1000 million, 900 million, require, own, givee-mail, communicate, receive, friends, family, research, learn, grades, sign, classes, comecommunications, organization, English, history, 5000, 1985, information, day, night, requirements, professor, students, much, more, two, three, four, admits, limitscomputer-based, older, job, family, 40%, non-traditionalPart Memory test: Children of a DecadePpresenter JJack SShirleyP: In this edition of our series “Children of a Decade” Ill be talking to Jack Thompson, who was born in 1940, and to Shirley Sutton, who was born in 1930. First of all, Jack, thanks for joining us. PerhapsJ: Not at all.P: Perhaps youd tell us about your memories of your first holiday away from home?J: Ohyesumat age ten I think it was, yes, I went to stay with an aunt at the seaside. Well, it wasnt a very happy experience. I felt very homesick at first.P: Mmm. And what about your first day at school, can you remember that?J: Yes, I can. ErerI was five years old and I wanted to take all my toy with me buterthey wouldnt let me. In the end it was agreed that I could take my teddyerbut only on the first day.P: Oh, I see. Your school days, were they happy ones?J: WellerI didnt have a very good time at schoolI wasnt very bright you see. And the teachers didnt seem to like me, buterI made a lot of friends and some of them I still keep in touch with. One of them I married.P: Oh, thats wonderful. Well, did you have a favorite teacher?J: Miss Robinsonor was itno, it was Miss Robson. My first teacher, thats righ yeahvery kind. Marvelous storyteller.P: And who was your worst teacher?J: Mr. Goodman, thats right. We used to call him “Goody”. Yeah, he pulled your ear if you made a mistake or talked in class. Yeah, my left ear is still bigger, look.P: Ha ha. Perhaps you can tell us about your last day at school?J: My last day, oh yeah, thats emblazoned on my mind. Oh, I wanted to get my own back you see on old Mr. Goodmanthe chap we used to caller “goody” so I put this bucket of water over the classroom door but it fell on him and he got soaked, you see. Ha ha. Ive never seen anyone so angry. Oh, it was a good one, that.P: Thank you very much, Jack. And now Shirley.S: Yes.P: Now, can you tell me about your first holiday away from home?S: Oh yeseryeserat the age of eight it was. We went on holiday to the Lake District. We stayed at a little guest house, just me and my parents. ErI remember we haderhoney for breakfast witherthe toast andoh