Open a bottle of champagne (or anything else you prefer) to celebrate our first web-based activity! Cheers!!!

Since this is an “olympic year” and we’re all looking forward to the first ever Chinese Olympics, I’ve decided to start off with a webquest about the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Here is the task:

2008 Beijing Olympics Webquest

Introduction

The 2008 Beijing Oympic Games are just a few months away.  The countdown has begun, the torch has been lit and the runners are running. As an investigative journalist you’ve been asked by a sponsor to create a newspaper article about the recent events which have shaken up the Olympic Games. Lucky for you, other newspapers have already started reporting on those events. Your sponsor wants you to look at international newspapers to find out what other countries are saying about the games.

Task

This might be the most controversial Olympics in recent years, so use your skills as an investigative journalist to discover what issues are affecting this year’s Olympics. All eyes are on China as the torch draws closer to its final destination.

Using the international newspapers websites listed below, find out what people around the world are saying:

www.chinadaily.com.cn – “China denies media war over coverage of Tibet”

www.hindustantimes.com – “Tibetan protestors gathering in Delhi for torch protest”

www.news.bbc.co.uk – “Olympics ‘worsening’ China rights”

www.nytimes.com – “Calling China”

www.new.com.au

www.dailyspain.com/world_news.php

www.russiatoday.ru/news

http://home.kyodo.co.jp

www.ssinformer.com

www.worldpress.org/americas.htm

www.canada.com/vancouversun

After you’ve looked at MORE THAN 5 SITES, start writing you own newspaper article based on the topics you think are the most important.

Process

Step 1: Research you story

From the links in the Task section choose a website to start searching; in the search bar on the website type in “2008 Olympic Games” to find articles related to the Olympics; look at 2 OR MORE articles in each website; take notes while you research so that you can write you article later; look at 5 OR MORE different newspapers in order to get a broad perspective and have a balanced view of the facts.

You must include at least one photo on your article, so look for them at the same time as you read the newspapers (you can also use www.flickr.com).

Step 2: Writing the article

From the notes you took, decide what subject you want to write about (it could be about the Tibet issue, or about the environment impact on the games, for example); your article should mention WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY IT’S IMPORTANT, and it should have AT LEAST 3 paragraphs; write everything in Microsoft Word (if you want, you can copy and paste it into Microsoft Publisher later); make sure you sign your article.

Conclusion

By the time your newspaper arrives on your sponsor’s desk, you should know quite a lot about what the world thinks about the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Your sponsor is going to want to talk to you about the issues you wrote, your personal views on it, and what the other newspapers said about it.

Now you’re the expert, what do you think of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games?

Sending:

You should SEND your article to gisaboo@yahoo.com.br until 23/06/2008 - I’ll answer right away to confirm that I’ve received it. Then, I’ll correct and revise it and I’ll send it back to you until 27/06 and you must PRINT it and BRING it to our class on 30/06.

I hope you have fun doing this webquest…

See you later, Gisa

The text below is something I composed last week while I was invigilating the CAE (Certificate of Advanced English, an exam from the University of Cambridge). The paper took two whole hours, so the text is quite long… I hope you enjoy reading and I’m looking forward to getting your comments!

See you, Gisa

It’s amazing how much some people worry about and entertain themselves with other people’s lives (or whatever they think others’ lives are like)… I wonder what would happen if they (or at least most of them) were to stop watching over others’ lives and start focusing a bit more on their own lives instead and I get to imagine that one of two possible outcomes would result from that change in perspective for each person: either they might feel extremely frustrated and paralised with depression and cowardice; or, from a hopeful point of view, they could realise that paying more attention to and investing their energy in their own lives might lead to having greater control over their decisions and choices, and therefore end up in common sense happiness (in spite of all the hard work and suffering involved in the process).

But all of this depends on several factors which are quite hard to manage and control: from social and cultural background to financial condition, among many others. For many people I guess it’s much easier to simply sit back and watch and comment on their neighbours’ lives (“neighbours” in general, including celebrities) as well as complaining about their own situation, instead of actually doing something to change it. I understand that taking an active attitude towards life is often frightening and demands a brave heart, still, I think taking risks and facing their results is worth the chances; after all, choosing not to make your own decisions or delegating them to other people have their consequences too, which might not be that much better or easier than when you’re responsible for the choices. On the other hand, dealing with several options can be even more stressful than having “no option”, especially if you’re indecisive (and this is a kind of cowardice) or too greedy (hey, it’s NOT possible to have everything you want, just accept it and get over your ego).

In order to illustrate all the philosophical ideas I’ve exposed above, let me tell a true story: it’s about my mother’s oldest sister. My mum’s parents were extremely poor at the time they moved to São Paulo and this situation continued up to the time my mum became an adult (and she’s the youngest of five siblings). In order to survive and get on with life, both my grandparents had low-salary jobs as a result of lack of qualifications (they were almost illiterate). Because neither were at home during the day, it was my aunt’s duty to take care of her siblings and also manage the house, all that since the age of 10. So, it’s easy to conclude it must have been a “pain all over” for her to carry such a heavy burden from very early on in her life. of course it must have generated tons and tons of hatred and rebelliousness. But, instead of making her move forward in life so that she could escape from that horrible situation, those feelings actually made her enter a vicious circle of cursing and paralysis. So, in this case, my aunt isn’t at all interested in other people’s affairs, but she resorted to complaining and blaming her parents, thus trapping herself into a passive and depressive state.

I think nobody can truthfully say they’ve had no opportunities for improvement in life, and certainly neither can my aunt. She got married when she was 24 and divorced four years later; about a couple of years after she had divorced her first and only husband, she had the chance to go to Brasília (the capital of Brazil and a growing city at that time) to work as a maid, and so she went and stayed there for an entire year. One may think this kind of experience could have been the desperately craved for opportunity to change her life, but then one would be totally wrong… Well, I guess that when you put yourself into such a tight psychological cage as she did, not even the Lord can force you out (forgive the blasphemy). And so, to sum it up, if you ask me about her, I’d tell you that nowadays she still lives with my grandmother (in my grandma’s house); she’s never had any children (although I must say she helped my grandmother take care of me, my brother and some cousins for about 5 years when we were little); and she has always kept her terrible habit of complaining about and cursing her life as well as blaming my grandmother for her fate. I think it must be too hard for her to admit her own share of responsibility for what has come out of her life.

Anyway, what happened to my mum was so different that my own situation diverges 180° from my aunt’s. But what I’m deeply concerned about and also what keeps me moving is the awareness of my duty to make it right where they made it wrong and make it better where they got it right – as far as possible for myself, of course. This is my motto.

This is a things & thoughts educational blog, that is, I (that is, teacher Gisa) will  post my thoughts and everything else I find interesting about various topics, especially stuff related to English (my current job and hobby-to-be) and personal development (which is my main interest at the moment).

Also, there’ll be various activities for the Teen Intermediate 3 group (1st semester 2008) from Cultura Inglesa Curitiba (Brazil), which is UPPER-INTERMEDIATE level. The activities are FREE for anyone who wants to use them, but they are part of the course for the TI3 students (which means they’re part of your HOMEWORK, guys).

I honestly hope you find it all reasonably interesting and helpful/useful for your English language practice and, even more hopefully, for your own lives.

See you around, Gisa