Keeping Calm and Carrying on in Prague

This is a copy of the Facebook post I wrote soon after returning, safe & sound, from Prague on 11.11.13

So. Leaving Prague this morning did not go quite according to plan. It was an excellent opportunity to practice the classic British Motto: Keep Calm and Carry On.
My car could not be opened. The key buttons functioned for the boot and locking mechanism. Just not the opening mechanism. After half an hour and help from hotel staff, we found the key hole into which the real key (from inside the techie electronic key) could be inserted. Door open! Alarm set off... Fixed that. Exited parking garage. Checked with navi for location of Gaby's hotel. No satellite reception. Decided to drive straight up road and finally found Gaby (who has her own hotel disaster story to tell...) Satellite found by Navi, directions to Germany plugged in. 5 mins down the road, flagged down by fellow motorist - flat, almost-to-the-rim tyre!!! Luckily McDonald's and petrol station just round next corner. Calmly called ADAC; while giving details of life history since birth, random man watching us suggested it was a simple case of temperature change causing natural deflation of tyre. Cancelled call to ADAC guy and let random (very nice & friendly) man inflate both front tyres. He declined our offer of a thank you coffee and went on his way. 

Meanwhile, the indomitable trio (Gaby, Patty & me) went for coffee at McD's keeping car in our sight at all times having been too nervous about locking it in case problem no.1 recurred. Exiting the establishment, we decided tyres had remained inflated and that it would be safe to carry on our way. Destination reached a mere 2 hours later than original schedule.
Thank goodness we had each other and were able to see the funny side. But if I ever catch the B*****d who let the air out of our tyres and messed with the alarm system on the car, I shan't behave quite so British-like.

Spontaneous Conference Inspired Lesson

Today I was all at sea! No time to prepare for my round of Tuesday lessons. Having grabbed a stack of possible ideas on the way out the door this morning, I felt neither focused nor motivated.

On arrival, I had a flash of inspiration. Get my two learners (the first group is often a small one!) to guess where I'd been and what I'd done this past weekend. (If you saw the FB post I wrote Monday evening, you'll have an inkling of what transpired...)

As I was suggesting this idea, my brain was racing one step ahead calculating how much I could get out of it and what learning could be achieved. Here is the lesson which evolved and which I consequently used for the ensuing 2 more lessons.

Aim of Lesson:
1.) to review question forms in simple past and present perfect
2.) to practise talking about where people come from - what their nationality is.

Process:
1.) Twenty Questions - learners have up to 20 questions to figure out where the teacher was and what she did at the weekend.
2.) Having guessed - In Prague at a business English teachers' conference - learners guess which nationalities were represented at the conference. Nationalities not represented were written down in a separate column.
3.) Go back and look at questions posed in first part - at least one person in every group asked "Where have you been at the weekend?" And other present perfect structured questions. We looked at why this tense does not work when asking about what someone did last weekend.

Outcome:
1.) Learners found out more about the exciting world of BE teachers!
2.) Reviewing the difference between simple past and present perfect was a very useful (and seemingly necessary) exercise. Equally, checking the difference between closed and open questions and how small talk can be helped or hindered.
3.) It was fun thinking of so many different nationalities - keeping a close eye on how to say them in English.
4.) A group talk sharing "Have you ever....?" experiences.

With each group, I was able to refine the "lesson plan" and adapt to the higher levels. Where the first group benefited from a fresh, spontaneous idea, the last group benefited from a more structured and thought-through lesson. I was happy to share my story and to know my learners had a solid reminder of some important grammar in a context that was a change from their everyday experience.

PS: If you didn't catch the FB post I wrote, I've copied it into the next blog post, with a photo of my fellow travellers ;-)