Lesson Download: Terry Fox, Canadian Hero

The road at the bottom of our street has had the signs posted for days: SPECIAL EVENT.

The Terry Fox Run has been a part of my life since the early 80's, running in school runs and then, joining my sons in theirs. Stretching and warming up on the basketball courts at the front of the school—the principal shouting through a microphone that nobody could hear while the kids shook out their sillies and challenged each other to 100 laps. To me, hands down, Terry is the Great Canadian Hero, not least because he continues to inspire and motivate generation after generation of young Canadians.

I almost fell off my chair one spring when a class of Chinese students from the Maple Leaf school network in China out-fact-ed me on Terry Fox. Guess what: these kids have been running for Terry too. For years. For Terry. (For Cancer). In China.

Because the Maple Leaf schools use British Columbia's curriculum (a unique and special partnership), these middle and high school students not only knew about Terry, but deeply respected him. We had some fun that week! To you, Terry. Thank you.

An oldie-but-goodie blog post about Terry can be found here: Fiona's Other Blog and the ESL lesson I developed for that class can be downloaded here:



(Even if you aren't teaching ESL, it's a great blended-learning lesson that incorporates some very moving listenings from CBC and a YouTube video that will have you reaching for your tissue.)

Out of Office Reply

This month marks the four-year anniversary since I stepped foot in an ESL classroom. One day I was a teacher and then. Well, then I wasn't.

I felt sick one Friday afternoon.

So. There I was, not a teacher, but a patient. A scared, medically-illiterate newcomer patient who no one had time to teach. There was no time.

And then I was a recovering patient, in isolation at home for weeks and months, starting to walk again, trying to digest what I'd been through. Angry for what I had and had almost lost. Grateful for my life but mostly angry. Angry because the doctors had failed in their duty. Angry because the life I had known was altered forever. But mine isn't a story of loss or anger. Nor is it a story of new beginnings. It is a story of starting something fresh and different from a familiar foundation—seeing and doing from a new perspective.

When the anger fog cleared and my strength improved, I still wanted to teach, but, more than anything: I wanted to unite my students with their community. The missing link for me as an adult educator in a domestic ESL environment was that the wealth of cultural and global knowledge my students possessed and shared was locked behind the classroom door at the end of day. My students had so much to give to the community and no one was listening—or took the time to listen.

The safe, inspiring, creative space we had built together allowed so much. Confidence. Language acquisition. Skill development. Cross-cultural awareness (if you've never seen a true example of multicultural diplomacy and negotiation, just watch a group of students from 6 different countries/cultures/language groups complete a project together). I've said it before: the ESL classroom is the shiny pearl of the Great Canadian Multiculturalism Project. It is no accident.

But the Project isn't complete and that inspiring space lacking if it doesn't touch the wider community. As I write this, I think: I'm an evangelist. And that's o.k. You see, when the fog cleared, I decided to bring the stories of these gifted, brave, multi-faceted, skilled, educated "ESL students" to the community. I decided to help them speak and write their knowledge and experiences (in English, of course—I'm an ESL instructor for goodness sake!). I decided to take everything I knew and the incredibly massive amount of things I didn't know—graphic design, publishing, marketing, public relations...the list goes on—and create a new space beyond the classroom door. A space where newcomers and immigrants can say: Hey! I'm here, and this is my story, my background, my culture, my knowledge. And a space where those more established in Canada can say: Welcome! Let me tell you a bit about me, what I know, and about our community.

That awesome space is HERE! MAGAZINE* and I'm proud to say that not only has my classroom door burst wide open, but the students are leading the lesson. Just as it should be.

*launched in 2013 from the impossibly beautiful city of Victoria B.C., Canada

Lesson Download: November 11 - Remembrance/Veterans/Armistice Day [RE-POST]

The day is almost upon us and regardless of what you call November the 11th or how you commemorate it, it is an important day of reflection. In the adult ESL classroom, the subject of war can often be considered taboo, as our students have come from such diverse backgrounds. Some of our students have done obligatory military service in Korea, Brazil, Mexico, or elsewhere. Some of our students have been victims of war and endured horrors we can only imagine and that have scarred them and their families forever. Some of our students still bear the pain and, somewhere deep, the grudges of their parents or grandparents who fought in the World Wars. Some students may be reluctant to engage with peers who hail from countries that were once (or may still be) considered bitter enemies of their own country. It is a complicated topic, fraught with landmines of fear, pain, and distrust. Every once in awhile, though, it's important to open the door to discussion, to conflict, to the taboo, if only to take a look and see if we're ready to go there. To grow a little. To understand ourselves and each other a little better. Peace is up to us.

With that, I leave a lesson on November 11, Canadian-style. It's meant to open up discussion and give us all food for thought. I didn't include discussion questions for the song and cloze because I thought it might be nice just to let the students do a private journal reflection after the song. You might get the students to create their own doves at tagxedo.com. Enjoy the lesson - copy it, share it and let me know how it went and what reflections emerged!

If you are curious about the poppy (pic above) and Canadian customs around the poppy, here's my blogpost: "What to Wear - The Poppy (Red is the New Black)"

Amazingly-awesome other thing I do!

Yes, it's true, I have a double life. Actually, more of a 1/4+ life, because it's eerily similar to my *real life*. Confused?! Me too! Full disclosure: not only am I a materials developer extraordinaire (?), I also design, develop, and edit a digital and print magazine for newcomers to Canada called: (wait for it...)

Here! Magazine

Lucky you, reader, teacher, learner, friend—we have just launched our first fully-interactive digital edition! And here it is:

and if the iframe doesn't work, click this image:

This is a special edition celebrating newcomer entrepreneurs. Our regular issues include ESL lessons, Canadian Literature excerpts (with audio from the authors!), and citizenship and history quizzes! Check out www.heremagazine.ca to access all resources!  

p.s. some of the lessons are here on the blog under the tab "Here! Magazine!"

Lesson Download: Understanding Slang...?

Yes, another lazy lesson post...but a fun, lazy lesson post AND one with great QR audio built in—ready for scanning or clicking! This particular content makes me feel very old but grateful to have young folk around to tell me what's up. Totes rad!

Click on image or here for pdf download with answers!

p.s. this is from Here! Magazine's amazing Summer 2014 Issue, full of all things language, education and culture. PLUS almost every feature and column includes authentic QR audio to supplement the content. Great for listening and reading practice. Teachers: just pop it up on your classroom screen and let your students click or scan with their own devices! Learners: use your phone or tablet to listen along!  Full digital issue here.  

Lesson Download: At The Gym

You will probably be unsurprised to hear that launching a new magazine takes up a great deal of TIME. Loads and loads of time. Issue #2 - www.heremagazine.ca -  is winging its way all over Victoria B.C. Canada as I type this. Hurrah for the Here! team. The community feedback has been incredible!

So...please forgive me as I substitute a new blog post with a second Here! Magazine language lesson, created with personal trainer and word mentor, Sharon Jacobson. Images for Pinterest and viewing, link is to pdf download for personal or classroom use. Enjoy!  (p.s. check out the QR code for direct audio clip - sooooooooo cool.)

AT THE GYM - a beginner's workout

Click here for link to pdf download

Lesson Download: All About My Family Doctor

It's me! I'm back! Oh, you weren't wondering where I've been? Ah, that's o.k. I'm tough, I'm an ESL teacher...

Actually, my teacher hat is on the hook for the foreseeable future as I wrestle my new project to the ground: Here! Magazine - a language and culture quarterly for women new to Canada. The last six months of building and launching have been inspiring and challenging as I forge new relationships in the newcomer community outside of the classroom and learn the ins and outs of the magazine world. 

One of the mandates of the magazine is to help make language and culture accessible to new Canadians; another is to build cross-cultural understanding through a mutual exchange of knowledge and experience - a two-way welcome wagon, if you will! You can learn more about the content and our vision at www.heremagazine.ca. In the meantime, here is the language lesson from the launch issue of Here! Magazine. It's yours for the classroom, private study, or wherever you need it. Enjoy!

Click here for link to pdf download

Lesson Download: "Canadian Languages"

Although I'm still crying from laughter, thanks to @SSavides' tweeting of "Learn English with Ricky Gervais", here's a new, fabulous project-based, blended-learning lesson on "Canadian Languages" that helps explore the Canadian census findings on our official languages and the growth of the allophone! Sounds complicated but it's great fun, I promise. Free for you to use and share, courtesy of yours truly and Camosun International.

It's so Canadian, eh? though!

Oh, Daniel - you were such a great student: curious, gregarious, witty, and kind. Something always bugged me though. You would suddenly interrupt class with a shout: FIONA, YOU SAID IT AGAIN!

I didn't mind though because I knew your keen linguistic mind was at work, whittling away at grammar rules and English language patterns.

I was stymied, though, because however often I tried to explain and answer your questions, you stared back at me, mystified and suspicious that I hadn't quite told the whole story.

So, for you, my former, fabulous student. Here is the whole story. The Story of Though, Canadian-style:

Though began life as an "although", sometimes an "even though", burdened with awkward spelling and sharp competition. Though is tight with his cousins, "however", "but", "despite", "in spite of" and especially close with "that said", though the family resemblance is sometimes hard to spot on first sight. Though often prefers to be fashionably late and make a statement. I doubt he'd admit it, though. I must confess, I like Though quite a bit.

Is Though particularly Canadian?! Though I like the suggestion, I'm not so sure, and though I hear him all around me and often from me, I haven't yet seen research that substantiates such a claim. I would like that, though. I detest the tag question, eh?, which supposedly defines the "Canadian" dialect.

Though is more concession than contradiction. It's the word you can turn to when all your thoughts have been exhausted.  Though is a gentle reprimand or hopeful encouragement. If its ubiquity is courtesy of Canada, then that's just perfect.  Don't bring it up at the G20 though; they might not have a clue what you're talking about.

Though this might not clear it all up for you, Daniel, I hope you have enjoyed the story. I sincerely hope you "got it" though because I can still see your accusing bright eyes across the classroom tables.

quick reference guide for Daniel and other travellers to Canada:

though=although=even though

as in: Though/Although/Even though I like Canadians, they smell too much like maple syrup. FOCUS: Canadians are smelly

starring *though* as its wonderful self:

1. I had a great time in Tofino! We went surfing in the most incredible waves and stayed at an awesome hotel. It rained everyday though.

(hint= Though/Although/Even though Tofino was great and we surfed in the most incredible waves and stayed at an awesome hotel, it rained everyday) FOCUS: It rained. Boo.

2. Omigod! That Canadian guy was super-creepy. He talked to me all night and when his phone buzzed he didn't even check it. He's like some engineering student or something. Anyway, he blabbed on about Canada and pipelines and how important they were. He wanted to know who I voted for in the last election. As if! He was cute though.

(hint=....?) You tell me. Seriously. Write your answer below.

Is Though your friend too? Look forward to your comments.

Arab Spring Maybe but It's a Saudi Summer in Canada

It was a violent and tense spring in much of the Arab world and in Syria and Libya in particular, it promises to be a hot, even more tenuous summer.

With so much of the Middle East flung into a tempest of revolution and counter-revolution, many are wondering why the citizens of the absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia aren't throwing their hats into the ring.

In fact, there are those, especially in the so-called western world, that aren't just wondering, but encouraging Saudis to join their Middle Eastern compatriots in revolt against their oppressive dictator. Barack Obama has even been criticized by Americans and others for his seemingly passive attitude towards Saudi Arabia and King Abdullah.

In the same vein, thousands have taken up the cause of Manal al-Sharif, a Saudi woman made both famous and infamous (depending on your geography) by the online publishing of a video of her driving a car in Saudi Arabia. The video was filmed by Wajeha Al-Huwaider, a prominent Saudi feminist who made a similar video of herself in 2008. Not surprisingly, a Facebook group or several have sprung up in support of al-Sharif and her bid to have women permitted driving licences in Saudi Arabia.

I get all of this, especially the driving bit, but as they say, perspective is everything. My perspective, well, it's widening.

Did you know that in 2005, King Abdullah introduced a foreign Scholarship Program for his citizens to study at post-secondary institutions overseas? Did you know that three months ago, not only did he pledge more money for the Program but he offered grants to those who were already studying here and paying their own way. Did you know that this year, 2011, will see more than 45,000 Saudi men AND women come to study in the U.S.? While the numbers in Canada are elusive, my boots on the ground suggest they are significant and comparable.

And before you go somewhere spectacularly weird and conspiracy-minded, these Saudi students are not enrolled at flight-training schools, nor are they all under-30 males. In fact, this immense student body is made up of men and women, some wives and husbands, some sisters and brothers, even young families, and they are studying everything from English as a Second Language to medicine to journalism. Egads. Education? For men and women? Overseas? King Abdullah, exactly what kind of dictator are you?

I'm not suggesting that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is perfect, nor that it doesn't violate some of the basic rights we westerners consider non-negotiable. I am just conceding that perhaps my western perspective is just that: mine, and western.

You see, this summer I've returned to teaching after seven years and my initiation has included a class full of Saudi students. Male and female. Young and medium. Niqab-ed and not. They are smart and funny and engaged and, while they feel uncomfortable discussing current affairs in Syria, are eager to share their culture and language.

They're not embarrassed that they don't vote. They're not mad that my city bans smoking but not short skirts and booze. They laugh uproariously when the textbook instructs them to repeat: Q: How often do you eat ham? A: I sometimes eat ham. But they repeat it nonetheless, in their best Canadian accent. Perhaps it is the indoctrination.

Saudi Arabia or King Abdullah's record may be questionable and perhaps I am ignorant to the human rights abuses that have supposedly been perpetrated but the King has sent his serfs forth and they seem about as oppressed as I am. My widened perspective comes from the front row and not the front page.

There is a chance that Obama is not hedging nor dodging but instead marvelling at King Abdullah's war on terror. This dictator is educating his people and winning hearts and minds, home and away. This is my kind of revolution.