A...for Attachment

I browsed through the guide to check if the file attachment feature had been at last enabled. But no!

'tis a pity, though. I really miss it. I know that video attachments, links, feeds and all that stuff should be enough, but an educational blog needs file attachments too!

Glossary

to browse=navigare

file attachment feature=funzione allega file

to enable=consentire

stuff= roba

H for Hope

I'm going to read the blogspot guide to check if attachments have now been enabled... That would really make of blogger the best blog around!

B for Beloved

It's been a year since I last wrote in this blog. Yet, I still remembered the account and password to access it, because among the many educational blogs that I have opened this is my favourite...All in all, it is my MY FAVOURITE, period!

Glossary

yet=eppure

still=ancora

among=tra (+ di 2 persone/cose)

all in all=in generale, nel complesso

period=punto, punto e basta.

Bring on the Mud Tub!

Our school is very well equipped, as far as computing labs are concerned. There's just one little problem, there's only one language lab. This occasionally creates some problems to the teachers who would like to access it with their classes. We have to take turns and sometimes that disturbs our work schedule.

That's just what happened yesterday. The day before I had booked a time slot for two of my classes. It should've been ok, because apparently nobody else had booked in and the laboratory timetable was still being sorted out. But yesterday morning, as I was walking into the lab, I was stopped by one of the lab computing technicians who told me that the lab timetable had just been sent out and I was not on for that class. I protested that our arrangements had been made the day before and that I could not see why they should be changed without any notice. No way, the colleague who had arranged the timetable would not give in and she was taking one of her classes.

Later that morning I met her in the school corridor and I tried to persuade her to let me access the lab with the students I had booked in for the last class.

"Sorry", she said, "it's not your turn. I'm taking another class of mine". My students urged me to stand up for our rights but I told them: " Look. I'm not having a Mud Fight for something like that! "

This morning my colleague explained to me that she needed the lab for school admininistration work and to fix something which had gone wrong in the master switchboard. I'm afraid I had not taken in that part...or perhaps she had not pointed it out very clearly yesterday!

Glossary

to bring on!= fare entrare

mud tub=vasca di fango

to be equipped=essere attrezzato

computing=informatica

computing lab(oratory)=laboratorio di informatica

language lab=laboratorio linguistico

to access=accedere

work schedule=programma di lavoro

time slot= buco /porzione di tempo

timetable=orario

to sort out=sistemare, mettere a posto

No way!=niente da fare

to give in=cedere

to urge=incitare

to stand up (for something)=difendere/combattere (per qualcosa)

master switchboard=centralino/quadro/postazione dei comandi

Hi, how are you doing!!!

Me, not so well...it'll pass. Hopefully! I'm writing from an Internet Point because I've been having dialling problems. A thunder-storm damaged my twin set cordless phone and that affected my modem connection too. I've changed the modem master card but that does not seem to help... Plus, I'm moving houses and there's a lot to do. I'll keep in touch!

"N" for NOTICE

This summer I'm going to work on the grammar and glossary pages. So gradually, by the beginning of the next school year, this blog will start developing its school teaching side, too. At the moment it is more of a personal school journal, but I don't mind.

Yes, I would like more participation from my students, but hardly everybody knows that this blog exists. And those who do, choose to take no notice of it! Never mind..."The Less we are the Better we Feel" I will say, quoting the title of one of Renzo Arbore's shows!

P.S. Renzo Arbore is one of the best Italian entertainers: shows author, presenter, singer, musician and what not!

Glossary

• to choose-chose-chose= scegliere
• to take no notice of something=non fare caso (a qualcosa), non registrare (un fatto)
• never mind=non importa
• to quote=citare
• what not= chi più ne ha più ne metta

"W" for worried...

Dear Students,

I'm talking to you, IIIrd Level students....to you who are preparing to sit for your final exam. Are you worried? Are you nervous? Are you tense! DON'T! Worrying has a bad influence on the learning and memory processes....RELAX.

I wonder who might be the person who is lying on the hammock by the sea. Will it be a boy or a girl? I bet it is a girl....What do you think?

Glossary

to be worried= essere preoccupato/a

to be tense=essere teso

to wonder=chiedersi

hammock=amaca

by the sea= in riva al mare

to bet=scommettere

"K" for kiss...to myself!

Isn't my blog pretty?! I love it!!! I'm SO pleased with myself!

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

Myself (me stesso)

Yourself (te stesso)

Himself (lui stesso)

Herself (lei stessa)

Itself (esso/essa stessa)

Ourselves (noi stessi)

Yourselves (voi stessi)

Themselves (loro stessi/stesse)

Here comes the end...

...of the 2006/2007 school year. The exact date is June 9, but many of my students have already stopped attending, particularly those of the Ist year courses. Namely those of the Commercial and Hotel courses. Actually, I should point out that some of them hardly ever attended!

I wonder...These people did enrol to get a High School Certificate. It normally takes a high school student 5 years' attendance to get one, but this being an abbreviated evening classes course, they are only required 3 years' attendance to sit for their final exam.

Most of our students are adults who hold a regular job and attend classes on a regular basis. However some of them are younger boys or girls who have failed to make it through at the day courses. These are the tricky ones...

They have little or no motivation at all, and their school attendance is very poor or non-existent. Usually they start attending late when the summer season is over, and stop by mid April when it is in full swing. We could put up with that. The problem however, is that these people do not attend or work seriously through the late autum, winter and early spring periods either!

All year round they shun you when they meet you in the school corridor...But when the end of the school terms approaches, they are back! And expect to be questioned ON THE SPOT, and...to get GOOD MARKS, of course!

Glossary

to attend =frequentare

to point out=specificare

hardly ever=quasi mai

attendance=frequenza

namely=per la precisione, vale a dire

to enroll=iscriversi

to sit for (an exam)=sostenere un esame

to hold a regular job= avere un lavoro fisso

to fail to make it through= non riuscire a farcela, a superare

tricky=difficile, problematico

very poor= molto scarso

to be in full swing= essere in pieno svolgimento

to put up with= accettare, sopportare

to shun=evitare, girare le spalle

to be questioned=essere interrogati ( a scuola e al commissariato!)

"B" for Beach, or by the Sea

Jesolo is a small town, on the North Eastern Coast of Italy. Before being moved to its new, larger, more comfortable establishment the school was hosted in an old building by the beach, surrounded by a park. The building was owned by the local priests who let it out to the school. The premises were most unsuitable for a school, but from its top windows you could look out at the sea. And from mid-April, looking up from your books and away from your students you would see the colourful beach umbrellas lining the beach down below, and people strolling by in their swimming costumes....

Glossary

to move to= traslocare, trasferirsi

comfortable=comodo

establishment=complesso, struttura, edificio

to host=ospitare,

to surround=circondare

to own=possedere

to let out=dare in affitto

premises=locali, edificio

unsuitable=inadatto

to look up=alzare lo sguardo

to look away=distogliere lo sguardo

beach umbrella=ombrellone

to line= disporre in riga

to stroll by=passeggiare senza fretta

swimming costume=costume da bagno