I hope today´s post finds you in good health and high spirits. On Sunday Boris Johnson announced easing the lockdown restrictions here in the UK so we´ve got the chance to spend more time outdoors and people in certain professions can go back to work as long as social distancing is maintained. Primary schools look likely to stay closed until 1st June.
How is the situation in your country?
I don´t know about you but I´ve been living with the “notion” of COVID-19 since the beginning of January when the virus broke out in China. Most of my students come from this country so I was able to witness how their lives were suddenly turned upside down.
The world does not seem to be the same anymore and most of us are talking about heading towards a “new normal”.
How do you interpret “the new normal”?
For the last couple of months quite a few of my lessons turned inevitably into long discussions on what the pandemic is teaching us and how we see our lives after it.
Here is a collection of positive thought-provoking resources that I have used with my students (teens and adults) which explore the topic of coronavirus.
1. The Great realisation
This is a great video which explores life before/during and after the pandemic. Before I played the video, my students and I talked about what their lives were like before COVID-19 and how it has affected them. The story told in the form a poem puts a positive spin on the current situation and mentions some of the miracles that I´m sure you´ve also seen- numerous acts of kindness, clapping for the health service or windows adorned with colourful rainbows.
After we watched the video and discussed its message, my students were eager to share with me the positive changes they have noticed in their lives.
*family afternoon walks in the park
(I´ll never forget one of my teenage students saying quite excitedly “…and this has NEVER happened before!”
*kids working out with their parents
*cooking for the first time
*more “laughing” time, YAY!
They seem to have created so many memories while being in isolation that I came up with the idea of creating a special TIME CAPSULE which will contain their pandemic keepsakes. The students were excited to design something for posterity which will be informative and fun. They doodled, drew pictures, one of them even attempted writing a poem.
2. Here´s another video which was sent to me by one of my Zumba buddies, who happens to be an ESL teacher as well. It is called THE POWER OF LETTER and shows how the coronavirus has affected our lives transitioning from negative to positive.
3. Last but not least I would like to share a wonderful story called THE SPARK OF LIGHT which I have used with my intermediate young learners and teens. The story is about Kairos, the God of Time who finds a way to heal Gaia, the Goddess of Nature. It is a beautiful interpretation of what we are going through now.
What positive resources have you been using with your students?
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Until we meet again, be blessed
Marusya Price
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