ESL etc.

First time? Check out the site overview.

The Smithsonian’s Forces of Change online exhibit has lots of accessible information on various changes taking place on the Earth, especially those related to the climate. It has sections on the Arctic, the atmosphere, El Nino, and soils.

If I were using this in my class, I would probably first look under the “media library” heading in each section. Here, you can find lots of information presented in very visual ways. The Arctic section also includes a closed captioned documentary. This documentary is an eyewitness narrative of Yup’ik people directly affected by climate change, reminiscent of this article that I mentioned yesterday.

Another potentially useful part of the Forces of Change website is the short biographies of many of the scientists involved in the research. Biographies can be a great way to make abstract issues more personal.

The summer 2009 issue of Rethinking Schools is based around the theme of environmental justice, and lots of the articles are available free on their website.

Highlights include The Big One an article by Bill Bigelow (author of Rethinking Globalization) on teaching about climate change. The article includes a description of several climate change activities, and materials are also available. One of the activities is a roleplaying game, which seems like a neat way to bring the issue into the classroom.

There is also an article on using first-personal narratives to teach about climate change. It includes a video of students in a small Yup’ik fishing village in western Alaska whose lives are already being profoundly affected by the changing climate.

Finally, there is an excerpt from a new book by Linda Christensen. She wrote Reading, Writing, and Rising Up, a book of activities for activism and literacy that I really like. Her new book is called Teaching for Joy and Justice.

I’ve been pretty busy at work the past couple of weeks, so I’ve got a backlog of things I want to post, but I wanted to quickly share a bunch of resources that I’ve found for teaching about the protests in Iran.

As usual, Larry Ferlazzo has pulled together a lot of great links in his list of The Best Sites For Learning About The Protests In Iran. There is a lot of information on these sites, including a lot of photos, videos and slideshows.

I also found a good collection of articles on the World 727 email list:

Iran’s Supreme Leader silences the oppositionby Farhang Jahanpour
Iran’s stolen elections, and what comes next by Farhang Jahanpour
Are the Iranian protests another US orchestrated “Color Revolution”? by Paul Craig Roberts
Are you ready for war with a demonized Iran? by Paul Craig Roberts
The Iranian elections and the faith-based media by Anthony DiMaggio
Why U.S. neocons want Ahmedinejad to win by Stephen Zunes
The Iranian uprising is homegrown, and must star that way by Stephen Zunes

Finally, this collection of Top 10 Protest Symbols from Time Magazine starts with a screen capture of Neda Agha-Soltan and includes a variety of other protest images. Some of the images are a bit hard to stomach, but perhaps it would be OK with adults or older students.

If you develop any lesson plans on this that you’d like to share, I’d love to see them.

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting series of graphics on walls and other barriers throughout human history. This could certainly be part of a discussion activity on why we build so many walls. There is also a story, slideshow and video on the walls currently being built around slums in Rio.

via Larry Ferlazzo’s blog

I came across this very disturbing story today in a post by Bill Templer on IATEFL’s Global Issues Ning.

Yala, Thailand - Suspected Islamic militants shot dead a female Buddhist teacher in Thailand’s troubled south Tuesday in a spiraling uprising against central government authority, police said.

The 56-year-old elementary school teacher was shot in a drive-by attack in restive Yala province as she rode to work on her motorcycle, they said.

The killing comes amid a recent upsurge in violence in the Muslim-majority region bordering Malaysia, where more than 3,700 people have been killed during a bitter five-year insurgency.

The victim was the 117th teacher shot dead since the unrest began in the volatile provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani in January 2004, said Boonsom Thongsriplai, head of a southern teachers’ confederation.

full story

The fact that 117 teachers have been killed in this province in just 5 years is absolutely mind-boggling, and I absolutely agree with Bill Templer that “solidarity with embattled teachers everywhere is imperative”. He also refers to violence against teachers in Gaza and Afghanistan. I’m not sure how and when to bring these issues into classes, but their importance is enormous. When people are no longer safe to teach and learn, there isn’t much left.

Bill also posted an interesting lesson on conscientious objectors in Israel that uses a video clip and discussion questions.

Update: Human Rights Watch just posted an official condemnation of the killings.

A couple of years ago, in Hawaii, I worked on making my IEP more environmentally responsible. Now that I’ve been at my new job for a little while, I’m trying to get involved with some similar things here.

First of all, let me say a little about the context. My IEP is housed within a university, so things like paint and cleaning supplies are beyond our control. Similarly, we have no say over building materials or climate control, as our classes and offices are in large multi-department buildings.

Here is a list of what we have done / are doing so far.

1. Environmentally-Themed Content - One of the first things I did here was to create and teach a global issues class. I reflected on my experience and shared new materials here, and I used a lot of my global issues activities, including the individual action project.
2. Powering Down Monitors - As technology coordinator, I’m responsible for a computer lab with over 40 machines. For some reason, our lab profile has the monitors go to a screen saver instead of turning off. Figuring out who to talk to about getting that changed has taken a while, but the ball is finally rolling. Hopefully, our monitors will be powering down in the very near future.
3. Paperless Surveys - We would really like to reduce the amount of paper that we use. Most people here are pretty conscientious, but we still go through a ton. Starting this semester, we’re going to do our mid-term and final course evaluations on Survey Monkey. I’ll bring them from there into FileMaker, making it entirely paperless. In the past, every student filled out a printed survey for each of their five classes, twice a semester.
4. Electronic Documents - Similarly, we’re trying to make more and more of our student files electronic. Instead of photocopying passports, visas, I20s, etc., we would like to start scanning them. We’re somewhat concerned that our database might soon get so big that it becomes unwieldy, but we’re trying to figure this out.

We also do a lot of sharing of electronic documents via our network drives, and keep most of our course materials as digital files as opposed to hard copies. Several groups of instructors are also using Google sites for various projects, which is a great paperless way to collaborate.

5. Minimizing Color Printing - I’ve helped a lot of teachers change their default printer settings away from color, so that we don’t waste color toner. Unfortunately, some folks still seem to want to print everything in color, so there is still progress to be made.
6. Greener Disposable Paper Goods - In the past couple of months, our breakroom napkins and paper plates have become “greener” versions. It would be better to see more reusable plates in the lunchroom, but this is a step in the right direction.
7. Flexibility for Cyclists - People here are pretty open towards cyclists. There are three of us that bike in regularly (as far as I know) and a couple of other folks have been experimenting with it, which is great! I’m able to keep my work clothes in my office, and have somewhat flexible hours, so it’s pretty convenient.
8. Eco Mini - Last, but hopefully not least, we’re planning to launch an eco mini-institute next summer. It will be a short (probably 2 or 4 weeks) program that will teach English with an environmental theme and lots of field trips. I’m hoping that we can make it truly environmentally-minded. We’ll see!

That’s it so far. If you have other ideas for making an IEP more environmentally responsible, I’d love to hear them!

IATEFL’s Global Issues special interest group just launched a social network (using Ning). I have found this group’s email list to be a tremendous resource, and I look forward to seeing how this site develops. Thanks to Nik Peachey for setting it up!

The New Internationalist has a collection of global issues articles written specifically for learners of English. They have articles on globalization, the environment, human rights and war. They haven’t updated the articles for several years, but the topics are still very relevant.

One example that I like is a series of 5 stories told by child laborers. They are powerful, and simply told. I would certainly consider bringing them into a class activity on globalization or consumerism.

via IATEFL’s global issues SIG

Teach English, Teach About the Environment is an ESL textbook by the EPA. It’s available as a free PDF, and features a variety of lesson plans at three different levels. It is focused almost entirely on solid waste (reduce, reuse, recycle) and is designed for adult learners of English.

One thing that I really like is the fact that the lesson plans include Civic Integration Activities and Home Support Activities, encouraging students to get involved and take action both in their community and at home. If I were doing a unit on waste or consumption, I would certainly look in this PDF for some lesson plans.

Via Larry Ferlazzo’s blog

Bloom offers a collection of actions that individuals can take to reduce their contribution to climate change. It’s visually interesting, and features actions in categories like food, shopping, travel and water. The language is fairly accessible, although some of the action explanations are not as clear as they could be. This would be a nice way to introduce a list of actions in a unit on climate change.

via Larry Ferlazzo’s blog