Class 8b's blog on
Hi there,
today I would like to talk about a topic that made the news yesterday afternoon when the secretary of education and cultural affairs of Schleswig-Holstein, Ms. Prien announced that there wouldn't / might not be any final exams in Schleswig-Holstein's secondary schools this year. As you've quite probably heard or read by now, Ms. Prien back-pedaled today after she and her colleagues had exchanged views on that very topic. As matters now stand, the final exams are taking place – more or less – as – planned. When I heard about Prien's move yesterday, it was both her plan, and, quite probably even more so, her announcing her plan publicly that astonished me. I do think that there are good reasons for calling off the exams but I still don't think that there was one good reason for blaring out a plan like this (in a situation like this) she knew – or had to know – would be extremely controversial, not just because other states' exams had already started (yes, education is the responsibility of the states but one state's actions do have repercussions for the other states), but also because Germany's federalism has been (mostly) under attack ever since the beginning of the pandemic. So I'm still not just puzzled by her course of action but also by her motives. Did she want to make a name of herself for being go-getting, and decisive like Mr Söder was able to do during the first weeks of the crisis? Was she so convinced of the rightness of her plan that she ignored the risks and took the shot no matter what? What do you think? And do you believe that calling off the final exams is justifiable or even the right thing to do? I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts!
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On routines, "self-optimization," and leisure
The first week of homeschooling is over and I’d like to share two experiences I made during the last five workdays. The first has to do with structure. Because what I’ve noticed is that from the very beginning of that time at home, I was very keen on restructuring my days, and on establishing new routines (or reviving old and abandoned ones) reflecting and reinforcing that new structure. On Tuesday I downloaded and started working with a new notepad app, and the first thing I did was starting to-do lists. And sure, I first added only important jobs to the new lists most of which used to be or should have been on my old lists from the other app. But once this was done, I wrote down a catalogue of things that were far from important and far from being reasonable to-do list candidates: Soon my new lists had items on them like, “Watch this or that video on YouTube” or “Read this or that article. And this had nothing to do with the quality of the video or the importance of the article, but it had all to do with putting jobs on the list for the sake of putting them there. Quite probably because the number of tasks (some of them rather projects or little reminders of starting this or that routine) gave me the impression of having so many things to do that boredom – and everything boredom entails, especially in a situation like ours – seemed as far away as its omnipresent potential cause. The second observation complements the first one because some of my new lists’ jobs, far from being trivial and meaningless, were things I wanted to write down because I was convinced that I should write them down and should get them done – working out, watching online lectures, finding out about new teaching tools, following a healthy diet or reding that book I had been ignoring for too long and whose presence therefore had felt weirdly judgmental. And no, this did not feel, and still doesn’t feel like I pressurized myself into writing these jobs down and getting them done. On the contrary, I felt good, perhaps even proud of myself doing both – of being self-controlled and reasonable enough to seize – well – this moment! More than once I caught myself thinking thoughts like “This could the time you need to get back into shape!” or “Finally you have time to catch up on the reading list or to finally be able to play this or that tune!” Right now I’m ambivalent about my reactions. On the one hand, I feel repulsed both by the strength of my urge to “self-optimize,” and by the self-centeredness of my way of looking at this situation which is – at least in parts – caused by that urge. On the other hand, I feel that my reacting to the situation is reasonable and that this situation might indeed teach me something of importance –the importance of leisure which is more than free time, and something entirely different from self-optimization. Have you established new routines or revived old ones? Have you even felt that urge to re-structure your days? Bye, Jo Hi there,
one of the things that I have come to - well - like about the situation is that I have enough time to explore topics, websites, apps and other things I have been ignoring or neglecting for too long. So I've finally tried out websites students can use to improve their English skills on their own. Here I'd like to recommend three of them, two for improving students' reading skills, one for improving their listening skills. The second best thing about them – the best thing is that they're free – is that all of the texts can be read / listened to at three different levels, meaning that students can make sure that the texts match their skills. Here they are: Tools for improving reading skills: https://www.newsinlevels.com/ https://breakingnewsenglish.com/ Both of these websites feature news articles. And, although their designs are not that spectacular, I think they are very useful. Tools for improving listening skills: http://www.elllo.org/index.htm Ello does not only feature audio tracks, by the way – it also has videos. So try them out if you're bored, and tell me what you think about them! Bye Having read Mae's comment on yesterday's post - thanks Mae – I'd like to talk about (not) following the news in times like these.
Mae said she's stopped following the news because for her they seem to generate hysteria – at least that's how I understood her comment. And some friends of mine - and my father as well - have told me the same thing: They've been ignoring the news ever since the virus and its impacts dominated the articles and reports. I've reacted differently. The first thing is that I catch myself following the news may more often than I used to before - and I'm talking about news on the phone as well as news on the radio or on TV. The second thing is that I've been following local news now. This is something that I didn't do before – at least not on a regular basis. (And yes I felt bad about it). The third thing is that the news - even their frantic updates on breaking news, their death tolls, and line graphs – don't make me panicky or hysterical. They soothe me. I don't really understand why this is. But I think it has to do with understanding, and an impression of being in control that you get when you think you understand a situation a bit more than you used to. And for me the strangest thing about my reaction is that I have it even though lots and lots of reports and articles are about us not understanding the situation, and about us not being able to control it. But perhaps then what soothes me is that now I think I know that I don't have to worry about missing out on info that could help me understand the situation more. So tell me: Are you still following the news? Have your media / news routines changed? If so, how? See you tomorrow Jo
Hi guys,
first, thank you for all your replies, and comments. I think that most of you still seem to be OK with the situation we're having. I've also noticed that most of you seem to struggle with the same things. Let me try to help you: First of all, when you have problems with the tasks you're charged with, you can do more than one thing. a. Call or text your co-students. They can help you. Calling them might be even better than texting because then you can hear their voices and the communication might be a bit more personal and meaningful. b. Ask the teachers who've charged you with the task, to help you deal with them via the Iserv messenger. You find the messenger on your Iserv page. c. Send your teachers a friendly e-mail asking them for help. Second, some of you have been wondering about class tests that were scheduled but that you cannot sit now. The first thing that you have to know is this: The class tests will only have things in them that you've talked about in class. So things that you have had / or will have to learn all by yourselves aren't going to be part of the class tests. The second thing that you have to know is that you are not going sit as many class tests as you would have to sit if the school year would be normal. For example, we're only going to write one more English class test because we don't have time for another one. I hope this info can help you. If not, feel free to ask questions in the comment section or via e-mail or via the IServ messenger. Another thing that I wanted to share is a cool video about a situation some of you might know: jumping from a 10-meter tower at a swimming pool. Perhaps you're wondering how a video about such a thing can be interesting - but I liked the video quite a lot. I'm very interested in your opinions on that video: Would you jump? How would you feel standing there? I think I would jump now because I've tried it as a kid. I'm not so sure whether I would go for it if I hadn't tried it before because 10 meters seem way higher when you're actually standing thereā¦ So here it is: So how has homeschooling been going for you?
Monday felt like a normal day because we teachers had to be in school for the first lesson to find out what we should do now. We were told to send tasks to students, and to communicate with them via Iserv. But back it home, it was strange because although I knew that I didn't, it felt as if I were having a holiday. What I liked, however, was having enough free time to practice the guitar or to read. What about you? I'm looking forward to reading your ideas. |
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