3 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

4 TELEVISION: SYNOPSIS OF TV SHOWS IS IT BAD OR GOOD INFLUENCE FOR CHILDREN?

6 ICT’S & EDUCATION

7 TODAY’S ELT

8 DISCIPLINE & ADOLESCENTS

9 BOOKS REVIEW

10 DICTIONARY CHILEAN SLANGS

11 HELTHY LIFESTYLE

12 HOT TIPS

13 TENDENCES

14 TOOLS

15 HOT SPOTS

CONTENTS PUBLISHERS AND

EDITORS

Gonzalo Gonzalez

Fernanda Muñoz

Sabrina Perez

Carmen Moreno

Do you thing television is a good

or bad influence for children?

I think television goes both ways. If you watch too much

television you forget about reality and the world that surrounds

you; however, there is infinity of educational TV programmers

that can provide you interesting and useful information. The

same applies to children. We know channels such as Discovery

Kids that help children developing certain skills -according to

their age- but there are some other channels that contain

violent shows and could be detrimental for children. In my

opinion TV has a bad influence if you abuse watching it and it

also depends on what you watch.

Camila Inostrosa.

I would say it depends on what children watch. With

sensible parental guidance and restrictions television can have a

very good influence on children, as they can learn loads. They

must be restricted from watching inappropriate things though.

Matthew Keating.

In my opinion TV is not a bad influence on children.

Parents tend to leave their own responsibility on TV, by allowing

them to watch too much time. This "helps” them when they are

tired or simply when they want to do something else. If parents

watched TV with their kids they would know what they´re

watching and would have a relaxing time in family. Children love

watching TV with their parents; it shows them how much they

care.

María José Bastias.

I think it depends on how much time they spend

watching TV, and if they study and do homeworks, it is not a

problem to watch TV, but I think that it must not be the only

activity they do, and also parents must be careful with what

children are watching.

Dear Editor:

As we know the Teachers´

evaluation system in Chile is a deception,

Teachers qualify as poor, is it a surprise?

For me, it is not

In my daughter’s school some

teachers are trying to convince the

students to help them to do a perfect class,

they give them a list of question that they

have to make in their class, because they

are going to be evaluated. The system

which controls teachers in Chile is awful,

simply because teachers know when they

are going to be evaluated so they prepare

“the” perfect class for that day. This is a big

lie; they have never done it before. On the

other hand there are lots of teachers who

pay others, usually, university students to

do their portfolio, so what is wrong? The

system? The government? Who is

responsible for this? With this kind of

“professionals” we will never have quality

education.

Pablo Sepulveda.

Dear editor:

There are a lot of battered pets in

our city, when you walk down the street

you see stray, sick dogs abandoned. This

problem is getting bigger in our society,

and nobody does anything to get over this

problem.

Many countries have created laws

for animals protection and each owner is

in charge of his/her pet, there is no

abandoned dogs, because the government

created laws to protect them. Why is not

Chile the case? Although there is a law

related to animal protection which was

sent to the parliament, people in Chile

continue committing crimes against

animals. Why do we help when there is a

big TV show like Teletón and do not we

help animals?

Claudia Contreras. By Fernanda Muñoz

RETRO 3

Reader’s Opinion

Television

You need to watch these programs …

Teachers is a British television sitcom,

originally shown on Channel 4. The series

follow a group of secondary school teachers

in their daily lives.

Why should you watch it?

As a teacher you need to be in contact

with all the events that can occur at daily

school; being prepared to deal with them.

Bullying, violence, sex and smoking are the

main themes presented in this show.

Click is a weekly BBC

television show covering news

and recent developments in the

world of consumer technology,

presented by Spencer Kelly.

Why should you watch it?

It gives you the most useful

and up to date technology tools,

with the purpose of training you as

a contemporary, didactic and

improving teacher. Nowadays it is

really necessary to have absolute

knowledge about these functional

tools.

RETRO 4

By Gonzalo Gonzalez

For many years this assertion has been a debatable and conflictive problem to discuss. And there are, obviously, people for and against this motion.

Why watching Television?

Television can be used for entertainment as well as for education.

It provides children some informative and educational programs, to learn about different cultures and how to do things. Besides it entertains them and helps giving you a routine of exercises.

Moreover, on the one hand it provides you for the opportunity of family bonds; all family gathered together watching some programs or movies, on the other hand it expands intelligence and memory; many shows or movies requires you to think deeply about them.

Why not watching Television?

As television provides you for a worldwide vision it brings several negative effects on children.

Television causes laziness and a waste of time, because children spend too much time in front of it and become dependent of this set. Therefore, it also can cause them to gain weight and to be entirely passives when they need to develop a strong sense of self and a purpose in life.

Furthermore, the most dangerous issue is that television shows too much “violence” in various programs, cartoons and movies. Hence, it incentive children to have violent behavior and to commit diverse acts of aggression like fighting with their classmates, friends and relatives; which finally leads to the idea of bullying.

By Gonzalo Gonzalez

Television: Good or Bad influence on children

RETRO 5

ICTs in

Education

By using a video, for example, the teacher is able

to add not only the information he/s wants to teach, but also can help students to make a relationship between the music and the scenes in the video. Besides, teacher can keep in mind more learning strategies, such as audio-lingual, visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc. Here are some of the benefits of ICTs in Education:

Are they really useful? Do they affect

student’s learning? These are some of the common doubts that we are going to clear up now.

ICT’s (Information and

Communication Technology) has

become one of the most difficult

teacher’s decisions at the moment of

contextualizing a class. But, the truth is

that more than disadvantages it has a

lot of pros concerning education. It can

contribute to universal access to

education, equity in education, the

delivery of quality learning and

teaching, teachers’ professional

development and more efficient

education management, governance

and administration.

UNESCO takes a holistic and comprehensive

approach to promoting ICT in education:

“Access, inclusion and quality are among the

main challenges they can address. The

Organization’s Intersectoral Platform for ICT

in education focuses on these issues through

the joint work of three of its sectors:

Communication & Information, Education

and Science.”

By using a video, for example, the

teacher is able to add not only the

information he/s wants to teach, but

also can help students t

By Sabrina Perez

RETRO 6

Teacher’s life is always a

circle; you constantly give and

receive information, from the

students, colleagues, etc. You

are in an endless feedback in

which ideas come up from

everywhere. I am always glad

to take them into consideration

and figure out a new way to

conduct the learning process.

That’s why I made a list of the

top 3 of the many important

points taking place today.

1. REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND

TEACHER LEARNING.

This is about teachers

questioning and exploring their

own practice of teaching. It is a

sort of systematic curiosity

about going beyond the edges

of what we know and do, to

find out how we could do

things differently or better. Of

particular interest are

questions like 'Is there a

discrepancy between what I say

I do and what I actually do?'

Action research might guide us

to try to become more aware of

our own beliefs and how they

frame the way we teach and

think about teaching.

2. NETWORKING

Children nowadays are

not the same as ten years ago.

Today they are used to work

with technology and teachers

are allowed to provide a huge

range of networking

possibilities including special

interest groups, support

groups, discussion and chat

rooms etc.

3. LEARNER NEEDS

Interest in learner

centred is pretty useful today.

This includes attention to

learner styles, self-direction,

self-evaluation, multiple

intelligences, affective factors

in learning, etc. This can be

hijacked in a number of

directions, for example by

methodologies that support

learner centredness (LC) at one

level, yet are highly directive at

another; or materials that take

a limiting view of LC, or so-

called learner training that has

been hierarchically determined.

By Sabrina Perez

Today’s ELT

RETRO 7

Even though society agrees that discipline is the key for

success, do we as teachers make all our effort to find out why

do teenagers act like that?

There are many resources which talk about discipline in

schools, but in Chile it is quite difficult because we have

different realities that are expressed in schools especially

related to the economical situation of the families.

Nonetheless, all teenagers have almost the same problems

like ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), emotional

problems because their parents work the whole day or

because they are out of work or food disorders. As teachers

we should be able to recognize what is going on with our

students and focus our attention on that.

Some useful tips are to make the students know about

you, use detentions to help them to socialize with other

students and include some important people from the

neighbourhood in the school activities.

Discipline & Adolescents BY CARMEN MORENO SOBARZO

RETRO 8

Writing Academic English

‘Writing Academic English’, Third Edition by Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue.

New York. Copyright 1991, 1999 by Adison Wesley Longman, 269 p.

To begin with, Writing Academic English is a

grammar textbook and workbook which its main aim is

to develop comprehensive rhetoric and syntactical

features of the English Language. Regarding to Alice

Oshima and Ann Hogue, 1999 “This is pursued in order

to help not only Second Language Students from

intermediate to advance level, but also for native

speakers of English who need to develop their basic

composition skills and sentence structure mechanics”.

Regarding its format, it is an enormously

interesting and useful book that helps you to expand

your skills in terms of writing and vocabulary. For

instance it provides exercises and activities such as

writing formal letters.

The book gives you the necessary tools for putting into

order your ideas in

an appropriate

academic style, with

accurate use of punctuation, and the most

important issue is what trains you to deal with

timing when writing.

Personally, I must say that it may look hard to

understand, but once you are familiarized with it,

you can comprehend all the contents properly.

In brief, after reading it you are going to feel more

comfortable using English in technical, scientific

and business contexts

Book Review

By Gonzalo Gonzalez

RETRO 9

Although Chilean social characteristics are reflected by food and surroundings, sometimes foreigners cannot

understand what people say because Chileans use slang words (used in informal registers) in their vocabulary.

Most of them come from different groups of people depending on age, social status and hometown.

Here there are some Chilean expressions that you should know.

Aperrado

A person who fights against difficulties

without complaining

Bakan (BKN)

Meaning fantastic, it is used to talk

about people and things.

Caleta (A lot of)

Used to refer to an amount of something.

Chato (Be) Be Fed up with something.

Despelote

It is used to talk about things and it means a

mess of something.

Irse al chancho

It is used to talk about people and it

means to exaggerate.

Impeque

It is used to talk about things and it means

perfect.

Patota

A group of friends.

What The Hell Did He Say? BY CARMEN MORENO SOBARZO

A CHILEAN-SLANG DICTIONARY

RETRO 10

Why Is a Healthy Weight

Important? By Fernanda Muñoz

Nutritionist’s Advice

We interviewed a nutritionist called

Marta Araneda who gave us a few

tips to have a good diet for people

who work 40 hours at a computer

or a desk per week.

Marta Araneda a nutritionist of

“Consultorio Chiguayante” said

that the best way of keeping fit and

having good health is a healthy

diet which contains vitamin and

mineral.

She gives some advice on how to

have a healthy diet which contains

vitamins and minerals: have a

healthy breakfast, eat 4 fruits a

day, cook with olive oil, reduce red

meats, increase vegetable protein

and drink 2 liters of water every

day.

Another important tip that people

should follow, it is do any kind of

exercise, for people who work a lot

they can go for a walk or ride a

bike during the weekends, join a

dance or yoga class, work in your

garden, play with your children.

The idea is to keep your body

moving and exercising and to be

physically active.

Overweight people are more

likely to have some diseases and

conditions, such as diabetes,

breathing problems, hypertensive

and other serious health problems.

Maintaining a healthy weight

also makes exercise and

movement easier. Exercise is also

important in maintaining a healthy

body and reducing the risks of

some diseases.

That is why maintaining a

healthy weight is so important: It

helps you lower your risk for

developing these problems, it

helps you feel good about yourself,

and it gives you more energy to

enjoy life.

Calculate the calories your body

needs according to the following

equation:

Woman: 655 +(9.5 x your weight in

kg) + ( 1.8 x your height in cm) + (4.7

x age)

RETRO 11

Tools for Educators

By Sabrina Perez

eing a teacher is not only to deliver

contents, but also to organize them

in a way that we would never be

unprepared. There are many tools that

can get to be really helpful to use

considering the context and the course,

here you have some:

Dice marker: is a worksheet wizard that

allows you to create dice with pictures,

dice with text or printable dice with both

images and text. You can make with the

topic you need or want, the thing is that

you need to organize it very carefully.

You can try something like this:

PICTURE FOLDER: it’s a good idea to collect

many pictures related to the whole lesson

plan you have made in your life and be sure

to laminate them. That will help you not to

think where to look up when you need them

and that way you save time.

COLOUR’S CASE: Some teachers

underestimate this tool, but what’s true is

that it can help you a lot to vary and avoid

using red marker, which is almost a

traumatic colour for students. Try to correct

test with purple, green or pink that

stimulates students to keep on studying if

they got bad marks.

Finally, we cannot forget our principal tool:

our voice. Be sure to steady your voice

before you start the class and use some

singer’s techniques to make your voice

stronger. Drink enough water to not to get

your vocal cords damaged. You can also train

your face muscles as a warm-up exercise.

B

RETRO 12

If you want to have a good time and a relaxed

dinner, the best place is “Fine Estampa Restaurant”,

one of the best Peruvian food restaurants. Also

offers a comfortable and elegant atmosphere. Visit

it at Angol 298, Concepcion. It is the best

combination of price and quality, you will not regret

it.

One of the best activities for family in

their free time is to go to Jorge Alessandri Park.

It is one of the most attractive places in Coronel;

here you can enjoy the fresh air and nature with

your family. The park covers an area of 11

hectares and it belongs to CMPC Company. This

marvelous park is located at kilometer 18 of

Route 160, road that connects the city of

Concepcion to the rest of the province of

Arauco.

To spare your time in sport activities

Concepcion offers places where you can go, like

Parke Ecuador. There you can enjoy running,

jogging, playing basketball, mountain biking,

touring alone, with friends or children. It is the

best way to liberate your mind and replenish your

energy.

H

O

T

T

I

P

S

By Fernanda Muñoz

RETRO 13

BY CARMEN MORENO SOBARZO

Over time fashion has become more and more

important because it seems that clothes represents

who you are especially at first sight. We as teachers

are role models, so we should understand that

clothes are an important issue for our students.

Stereotypically teachers lose their sense of

fashion because we are supposed to be part of the

classroom stuff, but we do not. Furthermore,

something that will help you to transform your

subject into a popular one is fashion. You do not

need to go for expensive clothes to look

fashionable, just try to learn how to combine the

things that you have. Polka dots are a very good

option, but also “vintage”.

Finally if your profits are not as good as your

boss, just try to build in the basics combining

different accessories and shoes with the same clothes to create new looks.

TENDENCES What teachers need to know about fashion

Once you begin to study the great stylists, certain trends will emerge that inspire and excite you. Go for it! Embrace the trends, but please, please look age-appropriate. We don’t, after all, want to be confused with one of our students!

RETRO 14

The coolest Places to Go in Chile By Gonzalo Gonzalez

The coolest Places to Go in Chile

H

O

T

S

P

O

T

S

The coolest Places to Go in Chile

ParqueAraucano Address: AvenidaPresidenteRiesco 5330, Las

Condes, Santiago Phone: (56-2) 212 4376

Closest Metro Station: Manquehue

This is a wonderful place to go, in order to relax and enjoy with your family and friends. Besides, it gives you the particular location to do exercises and sports.

There is a plenty of space to take your children to play around. And if you have pets like dogs you can go for a walk the entire park.

The environment is special for romantic dates. Furthermore, in front of this park is located the Large Parque Arauco shopping Mall with its boulevard where you can spend your time go shopping, eating, having fun, etc.

Viña del Mar Valparaiso, Chile. Phone:56-32 2269332 - 56-32 2269331

It’s an amazing and gorgeous city which has museums, some palaces and parks. Besides, there are many beaches to enjoy with your family and friends. The most well-known is called “Reñaca”.

If you visit this city during summer you will find the opportunity of enjoying the most significant musical festival of Chile in Latin America: “Festival de Viña del mar”.

Desierto de Atacama Atacama, Chile.

Phone: 56 (58) 313289

It’s located in the north of Chile and is considered the driest desert of the world. Here you can appreciate astonishing landscapes and the wonders of nature. And if you enjoy practicing sports here you can practice some like rally mainly.

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