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Democracy.
In honour of today's first session of the new Bundestag I'll show you what it looks like at night:
We don't have a new government yet - the coalition talks have just started - and this is the building where all the Members of Parliament have their offices:
( Here: )
We don't have a new government yet - the coalition talks have just started - and this is the building where all the Members of Parliament have their offices:
( Here: )
School shopping.
So there I was at the local branch of an international chain selling office supplies because I wanted to buy something I'd seen in their advertising. Yes, I know but the item I was after was a ring binder so ugly that I needed to get it - it is for a special purpose.
Of course the store was swarming with people - school starts here tomorrow or the day after (if it's your first day at school) and there were these confused groups of parents with lists in hand looking for their children and for the various items that they will need for their first day of school. ( Blue is for boys... )
Of course the store was swarming with people - school starts here tomorrow or the day after (if it's your first day at school) and there were these confused groups of parents with lists in hand looking for their children and for the various items that they will need for their first day of school. ( Blue is for boys... )
Kindergarten party.
( Pictures of old-fashioned entertainment )
(Germans would never dream of calling kindergarten 'school', but I know that other countries do, so I've used the 'school' tag on this.)
(Germans would never dream of calling kindergarten 'school', but I know that other countries do, so I've used the 'school' tag on this.)
Up the mountain, down the mountain.
Childless weekend meant fun for grown-ups: a party on Friday, Iron Man 3 on Saturday and time to do some work for school. I'd promised myself to resume posting holiday pictures only after I had made progress on my to do list. (It's still full, but I've got several important things done.)
So, that's why you had a bit of break in my Mallorca spamming.
( Here's more: )
So, that's why you had a bit of break in my Mallorca spamming.
( Here's more: )
Entry tags:
Holiday.
So, why Good Friday?
The online etymology dictionary says it's from good meaning holy in Middle English.
German wikipedia claims it's all Martin Luther's fault, but don't provide a source. I remain unconvinced especially as Germans call the day Karfreitag and not Guter Freitag, not even as an unoffical title.
I grew up Protestant, though I'm not an expert on all things Luther, but there is a tendency to attribute word usage to him, because his translation of the Bible was so groundbreaking and thus a first source for many expressions.
A quick internet search has given me the following quotation from Dr. Martin Luther̓s sämmtliche Werke: Homiletische und katechetische Schriften
"Wer den stillen Freitag und den Ostertag nicht hat, hat keinen guten Tag im Jahr"
a rough translation of which would be
Those who don't have the quiet Friday and the day of Easter, do not have a good day in the year.
This reminds me of the joke about what to do with 360 used condoms (the punchline involves the name of a famous tire manufacturer) but it is definitely not evidence for Martin Luther coming up with Guter Freitag. Quiet Friday maybe, but that hasn't caught on much either.
Google books gave me this which has pre-Luther quotations and also says that there was similar usage in the north of France from the 13th century onwards. Thank you, Christiane Wanzeck and your book "Zur Etymologie Lexikalisierter Farbwortverbindungen: Untersuchungen Anhand Der Farben Rot, Gelb, Grün und Blau". Apparently that whole week used to be called "Good" as was every single day.
So, definitely not Luther.
And with this not so fascinating fact I'll leave you and return to my marking pile!
The online etymology dictionary says it's from good meaning holy in Middle English.
German wikipedia claims it's all Martin Luther's fault, but don't provide a source. I remain unconvinced especially as Germans call the day Karfreitag and not Guter Freitag, not even as an unoffical title.
I grew up Protestant, though I'm not an expert on all things Luther, but there is a tendency to attribute word usage to him, because his translation of the Bible was so groundbreaking and thus a first source for many expressions.
A quick internet search has given me the following quotation from Dr. Martin Luther̓s sämmtliche Werke: Homiletische und katechetische Schriften
"Wer den stillen Freitag und den Ostertag nicht hat, hat keinen guten Tag im Jahr"
a rough translation of which would be
Those who don't have the quiet Friday and the day of Easter, do not have a good day in the year.
This reminds me of the joke about what to do with 360 used condoms (the punchline involves the name of a famous tire manufacturer) but it is definitely not evidence for Martin Luther coming up with Guter Freitag. Quiet Friday maybe, but that hasn't caught on much either.
Google books gave me this which has pre-Luther quotations and also says that there was similar usage in the north of France from the 13th century onwards. Thank you, Christiane Wanzeck and your book "Zur Etymologie Lexikalisierter Farbwortverbindungen: Untersuchungen Anhand Der Farben Rot, Gelb, Grün und Blau". Apparently that whole week used to be called "Good" as was every single day.
So, definitely not Luther.
And with this not so fascinating fact I'll leave you and return to my marking pile!
Frost and snow.
Last week I was convinced that spring had sprung and I planted things and now they're buried under the snow.
I lugged around my big camera while I was driving or cycling to visit students on work experience, but somehow the pictures didn't come to me. There hasn't been much photography this year so far and I don't think that the Photo Bingo will go anywhere.
Planting and taking pictures are not the same, but the common ground seems to be that I'm not very successful in my creative endeavours.
The mobile phone camera has been in use somewhat and there are some pictures that I'm willing to show. The theme seems to be frost.
( Ice and snow. )
I lugged around my big camera while I was driving or cycling to visit students on work experience, but somehow the pictures didn't come to me. There hasn't been much photography this year so far and I don't think that the Photo Bingo will go anywhere.
Planting and taking pictures are not the same, but the common ground seems to be that I'm not very successful in my creative endeavours.
The mobile phone camera has been in use somewhat and there are some pictures that I'm willing to show. The theme seems to be frost.
( Ice and snow. )
Today.
Not necessarily in the correct order:
Someone else is using the computer in the staffroom and I need to print out something for the next lesson.
"Your pupil missed an important exam. Do you know where she is and is it okay if I try to phone her house?"
"No, miss, I'm not talking, I'm reading my book", he says and doesn't notice that he is holding it upside down.
Migraine.
"I've had the mother on the phone and she wants help in finding another school for her daughter because she says she is being bullied again. She has agreed to a meeting at school and I want you to organize that."
"It's always me! The others are chatting, too. It's always me who gets the blame."
"No, don't throw the bottle. Put it in the bin."
"I hate Valentine's Day."
"Do you have a glass with water for the rose that I got?"
"Listen to the tape and tell me how Hannah communicates with her listeners. Take notes!"
"Please put that push-pin back into the noticeboard."
"No, I'm not talking to her with her mother there. It's a thing between us girls and I'm not even the one who had a fight with her so don't go blame me."
One of the photocopiers is out of toner and the other is in use.
"Whatever she says, it won't change our decision. My daughter won't come back. That girl will just say what you want to hear and then next week it will start all over again."
"Read the document from the Potsdam conference and find out what the allies wanted and where there is room for interpretation in those goals."
"Why can't Nana Seven get a new body? When does she come back?"
"It's just because she snogged with that boy and everybody knows it. The kids in Year 10 keep asking us about it."
"Do you have time for a crisis meeting with two of my pupils and a mother? At 8.40?"- "I can make it 8.45."
"Miss, is a 3 [1 is best and 6 is F] a good mark? Will my dad be proud?"
Two new documents on mass storage: ThemenLernplakateNS and SpellingArticlesFalseFriends
"Songs. I want to listen to songs on your computer!"
"I'm afraid that's impossible. We've got a meeting at another school at 9." - " I will try to arrange a different slot with our social worker and call you back."
The printer in the computer room needs convincing to print out a single page because it is nearly out of toner.
"Then it has to be in the afternoon. Half past two?" - "Yes, that's fine."
"Goodbye Miss. Have a nice day!"
Read and marked: Students' notes on documentary about Nazis.
Someone else is using the computer in the staffroom and I need to print out something for the next lesson.
"Your pupil missed an important exam. Do you know where she is and is it okay if I try to phone her house?"
"No, miss, I'm not talking, I'm reading my book", he says and doesn't notice that he is holding it upside down.
Migraine.
"I've had the mother on the phone and she wants help in finding another school for her daughter because she says she is being bullied again. She has agreed to a meeting at school and I want you to organize that."
"It's always me! The others are chatting, too. It's always me who gets the blame."
"No, don't throw the bottle. Put it in the bin."
"I hate Valentine's Day."
"Do you have a glass with water for the rose that I got?"
"Listen to the tape and tell me how Hannah communicates with her listeners. Take notes!"
"Please put that push-pin back into the noticeboard."
"No, I'm not talking to her with her mother there. It's a thing between us girls and I'm not even the one who had a fight with her so don't go blame me."
One of the photocopiers is out of toner and the other is in use.
"Whatever she says, it won't change our decision. My daughter won't come back. That girl will just say what you want to hear and then next week it will start all over again."
"Read the document from the Potsdam conference and find out what the allies wanted and where there is room for interpretation in those goals."
"Why can't Nana Seven get a new body? When does she come back?"
"It's just because she snogged with that boy and everybody knows it. The kids in Year 10 keep asking us about it."
"Do you have time for a crisis meeting with two of my pupils and a mother? At 8.40?"- "I can make it 8.45."
"Miss, is a 3 [1 is best and 6 is F] a good mark? Will my dad be proud?"
Two new documents on mass storage: ThemenLernplakateNS and SpellingArticlesFalseFriends
"Songs. I want to listen to songs on your computer!"
"I'm afraid that's impossible. We've got a meeting at another school at 9." - " I will try to arrange a different slot with our social worker and call you back."
The printer in the computer room needs convincing to print out a single page because it is nearly out of toner.
"Then it has to be in the afternoon. Half past two?" - "Yes, that's fine."
"Goodbye Miss. Have a nice day!"
Read and marked: Students' notes on documentary about Nazis.
One of those days.
Sometimes these things just happen and you can't quite believe that they are real:
A group of older students hang around in front of the school gates, smoking and discussing fisting. One girl loudly asks: Have you seen this video where a woman has stuck her whole arm up another woman's pussy? Do you think that's a fake?
I was reminded of Chasing Amy, but I think there the conversation wasn't quite so public. On a set of swings?
Curiousity in these sorts of things is quite natural and as to access to porn videos? That's what the internet and smartphones are there for, right?
But what really had me banging my head against the wall is the group of immature boys who somehow think that doing Hitler salutes and shouting Sieg Heil is intrinsically funny. It's bad enough inside the school, but you certainly should not do this standing at the fence to the rival school next door during a big snowball fight.
I can't.
A group of older students hang around in front of the school gates, smoking and discussing fisting. One girl loudly asks: Have you seen this video where a woman has stuck her whole arm up another woman's pussy? Do you think that's a fake?
I was reminded of Chasing Amy, but I think there the conversation wasn't quite so public. On a set of swings?
Curiousity in these sorts of things is quite natural and as to access to porn videos? That's what the internet and smartphones are there for, right?
But what really had me banging my head against the wall is the group of immature boys who somehow think that doing Hitler salutes and shouting Sieg Heil is intrinsically funny. It's bad enough inside the school, but you certainly should not do this standing at the fence to the rival school next door during a big snowball fight.
I can't.
You don't need to tell us about this. We're not stupid.
Dear students:
Having ask.fm accounts in your real names (sometimes with picture, city, age and physical description) is one of the most stupid things I can think of for people who in the next year or so are going to send out their CVs to prospective employers. The sort of brainless and x-rated stuff that you write there isn't going to convince them to take you on as apprentices.
Also, if you have a youtube account in your real name, yes, people can google your name and then find out that you made a video of yourself eating strawberry yoghurt with ketchup and paprika powder.
Remember when six months ago you all told me that you NEVER used your real names online? "Because we're not stupid. We know that it's a bad idea." That no one could find you? That you didn't need any lessons on internet safety?
We know that you keep googling your teachers' names. I only googled yours because when we were in the computer room one of you was shocked that her youtube account meant that there were pictures of her on the internet. Guess what: you put them there!
Your teacher whose curiosity is now entirely sated.
Having ask.fm accounts in your real names (sometimes with picture, city, age and physical description) is one of the most stupid things I can think of for people who in the next year or so are going to send out their CVs to prospective employers. The sort of brainless and x-rated stuff that you write there isn't going to convince them to take you on as apprentices.
Also, if you have a youtube account in your real name, yes, people can google your name and then find out that you made a video of yourself eating strawberry yoghurt with ketchup and paprika powder.
Remember when six months ago you all told me that you NEVER used your real names online? "Because we're not stupid. We know that it's a bad idea." That no one could find you? That you didn't need any lessons on internet safety?
We know that you keep googling your teachers' names. I only googled yours because when we were in the computer room one of you was shocked that her youtube account meant that there were pictures of her on the internet. Guess what: you put them there!
Your teacher whose curiosity is now entirely sated.
Freedom to teach:
In my wanderings around the internet I stumbled across the case of an American school teacher who was suspended for three days (two without pay) for playing a YouTube video in class. It appears the school's administration and the school district were unhappy because it was a hiphop song about marriage equality and they don't approve. Well, I think that's stupid, and even the school district knows that so they got the teacher on a technicality: She showed the video without pre-screening it herself (which can be problematic if you cannot trust the student who suggests a clip) and because she didn't "submit a completed form about the proposed clip to a building administrator for approval" as required by the staff handbook.
Paperwork about every material I use in class? I'd go crazy and it would seriously cramp my teaching style. Colleagues out there: Is this policy where you teach? How much freedom do you have in selecting material and how much influence do you have on the curriculum?
Paperwork about every material I use in class? I'd go crazy and it would seriously cramp my teaching style. Colleagues out there: Is this policy where you teach? How much freedom do you have in selecting material and how much influence do you have on the curriculum?
Entry tags:
Sunday language linkage.
If I manage to do it twice in a row, does it become a tradition?
Again a link to LanguageLog which this week gave us two vintage postcards and the commenters breaking the code used by the original writers.
There are also the Word of the Year lists going around - with Separated by a Common Language looking for words migrating between British English and American English. Leave your nominations over there.
I've also decided that there needs to be an International English Word of the Year and it has to be YOLO, because my students keep using it, not only in English lessons, but also thrown into German conversations. I'm convinced the trend will be short-lived - they will soon be embarrassed about writing it on their knuckles and all over their books, but its spread has been spectacular. In his Word column in the Boston Globe from August Ben Zimmer explains it to those over 25 (who don't get into regular contact with teenagers, I should add).
Again a link to LanguageLog which this week gave us two vintage postcards and the commenters breaking the code used by the original writers.
There are also the Word of the Year lists going around - with Separated by a Common Language looking for words migrating between British English and American English. Leave your nominations over there.
I've also decided that there needs to be an International English Word of the Year and it has to be YOLO, because my students keep using it, not only in English lessons, but also thrown into German conversations. I'm convinced the trend will be short-lived - they will soon be embarrassed about writing it on their knuckles and all over their books, but its spread has been spectacular. In his Word column in the Boston Globe from August Ben Zimmer explains it to those over 25 (who don't get into regular contact with teenagers, I should add).
Entry tags:
*head desk*
Taifun - I chose this name for a reason - is a whirlwind of pent-up aggression.
When he returns from his English lesson, he comes into the room with a bucket full of soapy water and a rag. "I've been cleaning the floor upstairs where we have our English lesson. It's cleaner now than it was before."
Someone informs me that a bottle of a famous sugary soft drink (red label/white writing) exploded all over the floor. As those bottles do. All by themselves.( Read more... )
When he returns from his English lesson, he comes into the room with a bucket full of soapy water and a rag. "I've been cleaning the floor upstairs where we have our English lesson. It's cleaner now than it was before."
Someone informs me that a bottle of a famous sugary soft drink (red label/white writing) exploded all over the floor. As those bottles do. All by themselves.( Read more... )
You know what? If I want comments, I should ask!
Whether you come at this from the perspective of a student or an educator, I'd like you to look into an old post (dreamwidth link) of mine:
I'd value your input (livejournal link) - whenever you get round to it - about your experiences with special needs students at your schools and whether they are/were integrated/included in any way or whether they lead a segregated existence from the regular students.
Just a "works in my experience/it's complicated/it's a disaster" would be great.
I'd value your input (livejournal link) - whenever you get round to it - about your experiences with special needs students at your schools and whether they are/were integrated/included in any way or whether they lead a segregated existence from the regular students.
Just a "works in my experience/it's complicated/it's a disaster" would be great.
Them and us.
This is not a well-researched post. I'm just throwing out some observations:
At school we've been discussing the fact that German schools are way behind in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Currently the federal states are writing laws to make sure that parents can send their children with disabilities to mainstream schools. Of course this also means closing lots of the special schools (most children with disabilities attend highly specialized schools) and possibly saving a little money in the long-term. ( Rambling )
At school we've been discussing the fact that German schools are way behind in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Currently the federal states are writing laws to make sure that parents can send their children with disabilities to mainstream schools. Of course this also means closing lots of the special schools (most children with disabilities attend highly specialized schools) and possibly saving a little money in the long-term. ( Rambling )
Omertà.
Schools are full of mafiosi. Whenever something happens that the teachers don't like or when someone breaks the rules and it's not immediately clear whodunnit there's a massive wall of silence.
It needs a lot of pressure to break through it and you don't always succeed.
There are sweet wrappers on the floor? No one dropped them, no one saw anything and no one ate the sweets. No one is responsible for the mess.
Ultimately it doesn't matter who caused the litter, but guess who puts it in the bin? Most of the time it won't be the person who dropped it.
It doesn't matter whether the infraction is minor or major, you just don't tell on others. Being a rat is considered lowest of the low.
That's the theory, but there's one big factor that means it doesn't always work: everyone loves gossip, too, so if it's something juicy, the truth will out.
And when it's out, all the culprit wants to know is who ratted them out. "If I find out I'm gonna kill them."
It needs a lot of pressure to break through it and you don't always succeed.
There are sweet wrappers on the floor? No one dropped them, no one saw anything and no one ate the sweets. No one is responsible for the mess.
Ultimately it doesn't matter who caused the litter, but guess who puts it in the bin? Most of the time it won't be the person who dropped it.
It doesn't matter whether the infraction is minor or major, you just don't tell on others. Being a rat is considered lowest of the low.
That's the theory, but there's one big factor that means it doesn't always work: everyone loves gossip, too, so if it's something juicy, the truth will out.
And when it's out, all the culprit wants to know is who ratted them out. "If I find out I'm gonna kill them."
Fighting for your country.
Ugur and Ali have a lot in common: Their families are originally from Turkey, but both were born in Germany. They are friends. Well, most of the time. There is one thing that stands between them: Ali keeps teasing Ugur about being a Kurd: Wer nichts wurde, wurde Kurde. Telling him that he doesn't even have a state to belong to.
At the jobfair all was forgotten and they agreed that the Bundeswehr had the most interesting jobs on offer. That would be the German army. "They only take German nationals", I tell them, keeping all my other thoughts about an army career to myself.
Ugur is unfazed, he wants to apply for a German passport as soon as he can anyway. Ali is suddenly quiet, but not for very long: He tells me he wants to do his next work experience with the police.
At the jobfair all was forgotten and they agreed that the Bundeswehr had the most interesting jobs on offer. That would be the German army. "They only take German nationals", I tell them, keeping all my other thoughts about an army career to myself.
Ugur is unfazed, he wants to apply for a German passport as soon as he can anyway. Ali is suddenly quiet, but not for very long: He tells me he wants to do his next work experience with the police.