MY LIFE IN QUOTES - CHOOSE KIND

“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind”  -  Wonder by R.J. Palacio

                                                                                                                                            

Driving through the narrow  streets of my town on my way to school,  caught in a long, slow serpentine of vehicles, I focus on the beautiful song coming  from my phone, it's one of my Youtube lists. Sufjan Stevens  Should Have Known Better  casts a hopeful glare even to the very grey sky above. 

Here we are. Two endless processions of teenagers flow on both sides of the street. They procede slowly but, anyhow, faster than my car.  Ok, patience, not yet there, but almost there, the school is not that far. A quick look at the car clock: 8:01 I’m supposed to be giving my first lesson of the day in 14 minutes. Will I make it in time?

Sufjan Stevens is now singing Futile Devices and I wish I could stay in the car listening to music all morning long. But that’s not me, no, not really me. I’m not lazy, I love my job, I can’t wait to see my students. What’s this sudden wish of having nothing to do or nobody to see?

I  really don’t understand what  happens to me sometimes. For example,   why  have I  been obsessively listening to the same songs these days?  I should stop and I blame them for  my recent exceptionally moody mood.  But they are just beautiful love songs and my mood must certainly have some other reason to be. I decide I  don’t actually want to know.

OCTOBER WATCHING, READING, TEACHING, LIVING

1. WATCHING - Don't you love Sunday nights?

Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark

Most people hate Sunday nights since the weekend is over and the idea of starting a new working week is not easy to tackle. But I'm lucky enough to have found not one but two perfect antidotes in the recent weeks and I don't mind sharing them with you. This is how I face the ugly truth: Monday you do not scare me!  I prepare all my lesson plans and do my paperwork in advance, which I usually do at night, so that I can sit as comfortably as I can, turn the TV on and 1) enjoy Poldark's 18th century Cornish adventures on BBC 1 then 2) swoon on Victoria and Albert's 19th century royal romance on ITV +1. The result is I head to bed something like this  ...

... mesmerized! And who cares it'll be Monday in few hours!

Why are these series such safe havens? Too long to explain, but I'm sure you can understand. I am so grateful to UK TV for giving us such great period drama series.

MY KIDS GROW UP AND THEY ARE PRETTY SPECIAL: VERONICA & THE BEST CONSEQUENCE OF STUDYING

Veronica and her Erasmus mates in Innsbruck

To grow up and find your own place in the world is never easy, especially because that is something you start doing when you are a teenager, which is a very complicated moment in everybody’s life. Well, complicated as well as exciting.  This series of posts dedicated to my former students and their after-school experiences has the aim to help my present students to become more aware of what expects them out there once they leave the safe environment of high school and to give them suggestions and advice on how to brace themselves.

Today it is Veronica’s turn. She’s had quite a brilliant academic career so far. She can be a model,  an inspiring example with her will strength and unsatiable curiosity. Recently, she was even awarded a very special prize by the President of the Italian Republic,  Sergio Mattarella. 

Hi! I’m Veronica and Mrs Spila was my English teacher, though only during my last year at grammar school. I spent a nice period there and I was really satisfied. My school career was quite brilliant and I got my degree with the highest grade… but not because I love studying… just thanks to my willpower.

In my life I’ve often changed my mind about what I wanted to do in the future. When I was in  middle school, my dream was to become an archaeologist. This is why I chose grammar school. But I loved also literature, reading good books and writing, too. So I thought “why not a journalist?”. Yes, good idea. But I loved cinema, as well. So I decided I might have been a film critic.
 Actually,  I’ve always loved lots of things,  but none was my “true love” and, in short, after leaving high school, I decided to study Economy at University.

You maybe wonder why. At that moment it was a very simple decision actually, because I knew exactly what I wanted in my life: I wanted to be a manager. Not an easy goal, but that  was my ambition.

MY KIDS GROW UP AND ...THEY'RE PRETTY SPECIAL: MARIA SOFIA

Maria Sofia and two of her little friends in Bethlehem

Maria Sofia was in a peculiar class I only taught for one year, in their final year, in preparation of their school - leaving exams. It was back in 2008. What was peculiar in their group? It was made up of really motivated, hard-working young people. I can assure you,  that is rare, precious experience for a teacher nowadays. 
I have often written about teaching, about my students and the ups and downs of a difficult job here at FLY HIGH! But, as I told you in "And then they come back", sometimes it is meeting students after they leave school that makes me understand how important our work was and is. That is the moment I can sit and learn from them. This is why I decided to introduce a few of them to you. Because we all can learn something from these young people. 

Hello, my name is Maria Sofia and I am one of Mrs Spila’s former students.

When I left school I wanted to discover the world, to travel, to meet people; for this reason I decided to study Arabic Language and Culture at Rome University "La Sapienza". The Arab world is so close to us, geographically speaking, but it can be considered so far for the misleading idea that we, the westerners, have of it.

So during my studies in Rome I had the opportunity through the Erasmus Mundus Project to spend eight months in Cairo, in the aftermath of the Revolution,  then ten months in Irbid, a Jordanian town located 30 km from the Syrian border. These experiences gave me the chance to know several people, to learn and understand their culture, to discover, that despite the different religion and traditions, we have more in common than we can imagine. I noticed more similarities between Italy and Arab countries than between Italy and Northern Europe, we are Mediterranean people after all!

After graduation,  I was not completely satisfied of my achievements; I had learnt the language  and studied the culture of Middle East and North Africa, but the chances that the University could offer me did not match my expectations.

So I decided to sign up to a Master in Cooperation and Development in Pavia.  I wanted and I still want to do my part to improve our world, I want to contribute to the creation of a beneficial change and have a positive impact on people's lives. Development is freedom, as my wise professor says, so I like to think that I’m working for freedom in the world.

MONEY, FAME & YOUTH

Young people, money and fame

Ask young people about their top life goals and the answer is clear, resounding and a bit worrying: they want to be rich and famous. Worrying for me as an educator, as an adult. To be ambitious is not wrong a priori, of course. I constantly work  at stimulating teenagers' wills to set goals and reach them, to set them high and do their best to pursue them. But I'm also sure that money and fame are not naturally connected to happiness. I am convinced that "money doesn't buy happiness"  is not just a popular saying, but an old truth. This is something my students and I often discuss about but it is not so easy to convince them since they are sent hammering messages persuading them that the opposite is true: money and fame are the keys to happiness.

DISCOVER YOUR TALENT, DO WHAT YOU LIKE - YES, I'M LUCKY ENOUGH TO DO WHAT I LOVE (PODCAST)

When my American friend, Don Hutcheson, asked me to join him on skype for an audio interview I was puzzled: what could I possibly tell him which could sound interesting? And, especially, how could an English - speaking audience appreciate anything uttered in my awkward English? I know my accent is definitely foreign to mother-tongue speakers' ears, so I was worried and a bit scared and couldn't make my decision easily. Once he sent me his questions and the description of the aim of his new podcast site, I was even more worried and more scared. 

Discover Your Talent ~ Do What You Love is a daily podcast series hosted by Don Hutcheson. Every day of the week Don interviews someone from around the world who has discovered her true talents and abilities and figured out how to use them doing work she loves.

 The podcast series is designed for people of every age and background who are looking to build a life and career that uses the best of who they are to enjoy a life of success, satisfaction and freedom.

Don has been a pioneer in the field of education, career and life planning for 35 years as an inventor, entrepreneur, author and coach:

"Every one of us is born with unique talents and gifts. They are hardwired into us. We don’t learn them and we can’t ignore them. They are just a part of who we are—our DNA.

“Some of us discover our talents at an early age, some much later in life. Whenever we discover them and use them in our lives and careers, we do not merely survive, we thrive in every way possible.”  

THE GOOD AND THE BAD OF BEING A TEACHER

In the latest days I have been writing two very different pieces which contain reflections connected to my job. They are about students and teachers, not about methodologies or technicalities. In fact,  what I am most interested in in my job is the chance we have to build relationships, to communicate and interact with young people. 

The bad or ... they say it is because they are bored

My husband comes into the kitchen, sees my laptop on - I'm writing final reports for the end of the school year - and he just drops there: when you have a moment, google "baby doccia" (Italian for "baby shower"). Why? What is it? I ask, but he takes his coffee and goes away without adding one word more. He knows me well. I immediately stop, whatever I'm doing, and google those words apparently meaningless together. I click on the first link and I'm immediately disturbed by the picture. I don't want to see a video of young people having sex in a toilet! But I start reading the article and it announces a TV programme about teens and sex...at school. Ok, now I understand my husband's suggestion.  I work with teens and he knows how interested I am when it comes to school and education.
This is a shocking report from a woman journalist which will be on a Sky Tg 24. It's not the first one, there have been similar ones recently.  It's the story of a few girls (14-year-olds),  going to a private school in Milan and having sex between lessons in the toilets with any boy who asks them via txt messages. Baby prostitutes, not for need but for their own choice, for fun they say, because lessons are too boring. Not enslaved, nor bullied, nor forced.

BACK TO SCHOOL: MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN OUR FAVOUR!

Back to work, which  in my case is back to school, of course. Honestly, I can't remember what it meant for me as a student. My memories, influenced by the nostalgic mood typical of the middle-age syndrome, makes me recall my teenage self as longing to go back after an endless boring summer. But, perhaps,  I was nothing like that. Maybe I was just like them, my half-resigned, half-bewildered, totally "I'm happy but I mustn't show it" students. Poor kids (they are not exactly kids, but they are to me)! What do we want? Do we want them already alive and kicking after coming back from the summer holidays country,  where night is day and day is night? You know, jetlag can be tough to deal with. 

AND, THEN, THEY COME BACK ...

I know,  I've been often very critical to my students here at FLY HIGH! Who can forget my disappointment while in Dublin or Malta on school trips! There are posts here and there about school and about my constant sense of frustration or disillusionment, if you click on the tag school. To be honest, there are also rare ones in which I write about successful moments, lessons or activities, but as I just said, they are pretty rare. 

What I want to discuss today is a part of my job I still feel quite uncomfortable with. To be a teacher includes a very stressful task,  which is to  assess  and evaluate, and that is what makes everything so complicated in terms of relationship. If only I could give my lessons and avoid tests, marks, reports and final decisions that would make my job perfect. Education without evaluation. This must sound irrational or utopian to many of you,  but that would make everything much, much easier, you know. Will the students learn, anyway? I'm sure they will,  somehow.

TEACHING SAROYAN, READING CASSANDRA CLARE

Teaching Saroyan

I’ve been flustered and terribly emotional these last few days. What’s going on? Is that the “getting older” mood? “I’m going soft in my old age”. This is  a quote, but I can’t remember where I heard it. It was a TV movie or series, can’t tell you more.   OK.  Add "has bad memory" to "gets flustered and emotional". 

These last days I have been giving my last lessons to my last year’s students (doesn't that sound really final?) reading them a couple of chapters from The Human Comedy by William Saroyan,  which I had chosen to say good-bye and wishes good life to them. And what happened?  I just couldn’t avoid it: my voice went broken,  my  eyes filled with tears.  Problem is they were all so silent and so focused on me and some girls had tears in their eyes too. Boys? They must be tough, you know.  But they were not giggling, nor being distracted. They looked, let’s say,  surprised?

This has actually hardly ever happened to me before. Not that it was a bad experience, it was just … weird. That’s all. Here are the “guilty” words:

ALIVE ALIVE OH, ALIVE ALIVE OH ... IN DUBLIN, THAT IS.

Dublin - Grafton Street

Were you curious to know more about my trip to Dublin? Well, I thought it was better to wait on. I didn't want to write on the heat of the moment. It would have been rushed and unfiltered. Time always sweetens, softens and smooths the excesses. I've waited and waited but now I've decided it's rather time to confess the truth, nothing else but the truth. Gosh, I'm being quite melodramatic. Too much if you think I have no crime to confess, only my disillusionment. Yes,  if you expect an enthusiastic report,  don't read further, just stop here.

I had promised myself  "never again" after this experience back in 2011. Instead, here I am,  I did it again. I'm a repeated offender, so no clemency for me.  I totally agree.

Where can I start from? Do you want to know what Dublin was like, my friends? Let's start from the few positive memories.
I posted pictures on my facebook and twitter and they were incredibly sunny and colourful, weren't they? In fact, we were blessed with good weather,  which anyone who has been to Ireland at least once knows it is so rare.
Dublin was as lively and welcoming as I had expected it to be. Dubliners were hard-working,  helpful, kind, talkative though a tiny bit loud and out of control on Friday and Saturday nights. There was always music and a festive crowd in the city centre, though St. Patrick's day was yet to come (quite soon,  since we were there from March 5th to 11th).

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - KEROUAC, THE BEATS, TRANSGRESSION AND REBELLION

Daniel Radcliffe as young Allen Ginsberg - Kill your Darlings (2013)

For once I didn't want to open the new school year talking about Early Romantic Poetry or reading passages from Gothic novels, Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott. Students in their last year at High School are supposed to read authors from the 19th and 20th century in English Literature and even authors from Anglo-American literature can be read. What usually happens is that following a chronological order, we manage to study many texts from the 19th century and only a few the the 20th, and the last ones in a hurry, when the final exams are approaching. First of all, my syllabus this year - since I can pick up which authors, themes and texts to include -   doesn't follow a chronological order, then I've also divided authors and texts according to short theme modules. 

The first theme I wanted to discuss with my oldest students (18-19 years old) is Rebellious Youth,  starting with J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, then reading pages from Jack Kerouac's On The Road as well as a poem by Sylvia Plath, Daddy,  and the conclusion of this set of lessons will be a movie my students haven't seen so far: Dead Poets Society.

IT IS FAR MORE HONOURABLE TO FAIL THAN TO CHEAT ... AT SCHOOL AND NOT ONLY THERE.

Respected Teacher,

My son will have to learn I know that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.

It will take time, I know; but teach him, if you can, that a dollar earned is far more valuable than five found.

Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy winning.

Steer him away from envy, if you can.

Teach him the secret of quite laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to tick.

Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books... but also give him quiet time to ponder over the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hill –side.

In school teach him it is far more honourable to fail than to cheat.

... BUT YOU MUST KNOW THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO AN UNRIGGED RACE ...

I have been having a nightmarish time these days with some of my best colleagues and my best students. Everything we had  taught our pupils and we strongly believed in was betrayed. 

We have always insisted in teaching them that rules exist and must be followed to guarantee everybody's rights. 

Together we have witnessed how many people just don't share that  fundamental belief. 

One of my colleagues wanted to share with our sweet,  very disappointed, hardworking students (girls) these words by Miriam Mafai (Italian journalist, writer, politician) which I totally agree with and I'm going to translate for you all:

CONQUISTARE IL SUCCESSO SENZA TRUCCHI NE' COLPE 
To achieve success  without tricks nor faults

Corri, bambina, corri, tu che hai buona la testa, le gambe e il cuore.
Run, little girl, run, you with a good head, good legs and heart
Corri senza rallentare davanti agli ostacoli, alla stanchezza, alla nostalgia
(che pure talvolta ti coglie) 
Run without slowing down before the obstacles, the tiredness, the nostalgia (which yet sometimes you feel)  
del tempo della lentezza e della protezione.
for  the time of slowliness and protection 

ON ROBIN HOOD, HISTORICAL ACCURACY & BOOKISH MEDIEVALISTS

Those of you who have been following  my activity online for a while, are well acquainted with the fact that I am a teacher, that I love my job, that I also run a blog for my students and what I usually do is teaching English as a foreign language or English Literature to Italian students.  What I want  to share and discuss with you today is something which happened to me on LearnOnLine, after posting a lesson  with video clips taken from BBC Robin Hood, addressed  to  a group of 15-year-old students to whom I teach grammar and language, as well as to a second group of 16-year-old students to whom I teach grammar and language but also "pills" of literature (from the origins to the Elizabethan Age). 

It was not the first time I used those materials, as I usually don't teach my younger students literature or history in a very academic way. My approach is rather  focused on what teenagers may like more than on the accuracy of information (which I respect as much as I can). I may be wrong, but this is what I generally do. They are not really interested in sound devices or rethoric figures at their age, they hate being forced to memorize facts and dates which they consider useless. They do like stories, legends, heroes and myths. They also like when the lesson is not merely listening to the teacher speaking or reading in front of them. That is why I use videos and music, multimedia tasks and sources quite often in my lessons.

That happened also in my lessons about the medieval popular ballads. I don't want to bore you, but I'd like you to understand before I ask you to join me in the discussion.

THIS YEAR'S WRAP - UP WITH SHAKESPEARE: DRAMATIC EFFECTS ON MY STUDENTS AND ... HUMAN BRAIN

Joseph Fiennes - Shakespeare in love

To wrap up this year's lessons on Shakespeare's work, which I had started in October introducing Elizabethan Drama, I decided to involve my students in the controversial question of the authorship.

It's been a long series of lessons about Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Macbeth, some of the sonnets finally ended with reflections on  the theories opposing Stratfordians to Anti-Stratfordians. My goal was not to instill doubts in their minds but to reflect on the fact that such extraordinarily huge quantity of extraordinary poetry has risen so many doubts in scholars,  also as a consequence to the fact that there are very few traces and evidence  supporting the theory  crediting William Shakespeare from Stratford -  son of a glove-maker later  actor in Elizabethan London -  for its authorship. 

Anonymous 2011

It's been a fascinating theme, which brought about interesting debates,  especially after watching Roland Emmerich's 2011 movie Anonymous with my students. That movie supports an anti-Stratfordian theory: the Oxfordian hypothesis believing that Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote what we appreciate as Shakesperean masterpieces. 

Whoever wrote them, these works are still unbelievably modern. Proof is how interested even contemporary teenagers are if introduced to those plays without being scared with the complexity of the language. They must be helped and they'll enjoy and appreciate. 

THREE COMMON BOOKS ASSIGNED FRESHMAN YEAR TO GET EXCITED ABOUT - GUEST BLOGGER MELISSA MILLER

If you are just starting your first year in college, or if you are preparing for this experience next year, trust me, you have much to look forward to. Not only will you be experience an independence of sorts for the first time in your life, you'll me meeting new friends, living in a new town or city, and just generally coming into your own. For those of you who are bookworms, college will be the best time of your life. Even if you are more interested in contemporary fiction, here are some classic books typically assigned your freshman year of college to look forward to. Although they were written in a different era, they still resonate for many.

      Huckleberry Finn

Although Huckleberry Finn may not sound like the most appealing book, it's packed with adventure, humor, and perfectly encapsulates the urges and

IN SEARCH FOR HOPE WHILE THE EARTH QUAKES AND INNOCENT GIRLS ARE SLAUGHTERED OUTSIDE THEIR SCHOOL

Melissa Bassi, 16, died in a bomb blast last Saturday

The news from Italy have been terrible this weekend. I guess they got to you all somehow. It has been a tragic, terribly sad end of the week for all of us, though not directly involved in those tragedies.

7:40 a.m. Saturday 19 May  - One student has been killed and seven others injured in a suspected mafia bomb blast at a school in southern Italy. Her name was Melissa Bassi. She was only 16. 

I shared my thoughts on facebook as soon as I heard about it: "As a mother and a teacher I'm stunned, speechless, horrified. It's been a long time since I last felt proud to live in my beautiful difficult country. When   was it? Why was that? Today I must feel sorrowful and ashamed again. Please don't tell me there are crazy people everywhere. I know that."

FRIDAY NIGHT MISCELLANEOUS POSTING - ON LOVE LETTERS, ANGELS, POETRY AND MORE

It's been a while since my last miscellaneous post. But, today has been such a full day, so intense and tiring that ...I can't simply stop now, nor close my eyes and sleep yet,  though it's nearly midnight. So, maybe to share some of my thoughts and emotions of the last 24 hours can help me to relax. 

Let's start from ... last night, more or less this time last night.

I'd been quite unwell yesterday, a virus's conspiracy against my poor digestive system has knocked me down for a while and being in bed all day but not fit enough to read or write, I re-watched some old stuff (ehm... not saying what, try to guess) and watched the latest episode of a new ITV1 series. I turned off my husband's iPad just at midnight, after the episode finished in fact. 

I started watching this new series because it was set  in York and I was curious to see the beautiful city I visited in July filmed on TV. Then,  I went on watching it trying to understand whether I liked it or not. 

Eternal Law is the title of the series, have you seen it? Sam West, Orla Brady, Tobias Menzies, Hattie Morahan are the other reasons why I got to see last night's episode too. However, I'm still undecisive on my response after 4 episodes. York is stunning, the cast is of first quality but ... the storyline hasn't convinced me, hasn't won me. Written by the same writers as Ashes to Ashes, though it features extraordinary winged beings like angels ... it doesn't fly. I'll watch the next two episodes and then ... the verdict, your Honour.  

MY LESSONS ON NORTH AND SOUTH - IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN

It's that time of the year again, when in my lessons to my older students in their  final year at school, I introduce the Victorian Age and read pages from novels I deeply love. This year I've decided to work on short module dedicated to the Industrial Novel (or social-issue novel) including Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton and North and South, Charlotte Bronte's Shirley and Charles Dickens's Hard Times.

I've posted two lessons with notes, videos and analysis about North and South in the latest days and we have worked in the lab with two of my classes.

They seemed quite interested, the reactions were warmly positive. They particularly appreciated my visual aids: clips from BBC series with Mr Armitage and Ms Denby-Ashe. Now these materials (links below) should help them to study and revise at home. If you want to have a look, promise, no tests for you!

1. Elizabeth Gaskell and the Industrial Novel: Mary Barton (1848) 
2. Studying and Watching North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (1855)
3. Masters & Workers. Mr Thornton and Nicholas Higgins, the ideal relationship according to Mrs Gaskell