Anti-Bullying

i teach advanced english at the local, catholic university here in santiago. it's a nice gig - flexible hours, good pay, air conditioning in the summer.

most of the time i like my students. sometimes i don't.

last semester i had a really excellent group of students and i was surprised by their compassion and thoughtfulness. i never, however, really gave them the chance to go further with some of the themes we'd been talkign about.

so this semester, when i got another amazing group, i wanted them to really use their english in deeper ways. i wanted them to take what we had talked about in class and create something from it.

it's the best thing about being an ESL teacher at this level. i don't teach a "subject" class, but english is just as important in that we have the opportunity to present a new point of view, to deepen conversations in an academic setting that maybe they are having in social settings.

one of the "topics" for this particular level is bullying. honestly, i never really paid too much attention to it, and focused on other parts of the unit that i felt were "more important." and then, i saw bullying really affect the family of a close friend of mine and wanted to get these students into a more meaningful conversation on how to stop it.

we talked. watched videos. read articles. more discussion.

and then i sent them home to "do something with this". really. that's what i told them.

be creative. make something. take this class and use it to send a message.

i received posters and essays and even powerpoint presentations.

and this.

this amazing video from jonathan vila, jesenia moya and dalma nunez.

such talent and insight.

enjoy.