A new school year has just kicked off and we are about to open up a new term full of unexpectedness and, of course, willingness to learn. It is high time for both teachers and students to pull up their socks to reinvent themselves for their lessons. Motivation is key!
As usual at the beginning of the course, I have been figuring out how to welcome my C1 students as we arrive in class. I have even been scanning previous posts looking for a flash of sheer inspiration and I have been lucky enough to bump into it! I am going to re-use an activity I did a couple of years ago to re-think the classic getting-to-know-each-other idea. Hopefully, my students will be able to set their own learning goals together to progress over the next ten months. Although it looks like a long time... time does fly! So, let's get ready to give the new school year our best shot!
This opening activity is called "The Compass". You can download it here! I have asked students to use their creative skills to identify their goals for the new school year by drawing. It took them a while to design their own compasses, but, after done, they managed to guess what their classmates' goals were by figuring out the meaning of their pictures.
It was quite an inspirational activity that sparked a lot of interesting discussions so do not hesitate to try it!