Thoughts of a teacher - My last 11 Blog Challenge


This is the 11 blog challenge for which I was tagged by my FB friends and bloggers Georgia Psarra, Yitzha Sawono Priscila Mateini Debora Tebovich  and Fabiana Casella

I'm truly happy to spend some time replying to some of their interesting questions. (Repeated questions will not be answered).  Thank you, my friends!

How it works:

1. I need to acknowledge the  nominating blogger
2. I share 11 random facts about yourself
3. I must answer the 11 questions the blogger who nominated me asked
4. I will list another 11 bloggers a
5. I must post 11 questions for the nominated bloggers I've chosen and let them know they've been tagged. 
6. I should not  nominate bloggers who nominated me.

New 11 facts about me:

1. I  can play the guitar and sing 
2. As I am 50 years old I wish I were a grandma already! 
3. I'd love to live in a huge house in cold weather, in a quiet neighbourhood,  near a very big and urban city. 
4. If I had this house, I'd have at least five dogs , different sizes and breeds 
5. I wish I could knit and embroider. 
6. I can cook very well. 
7. I am extremely demanding  about have in my house and things very organised.
8. Although I have presented in some international conferEnces before, I'll present for the first time at the IATEFL and I am very excited about it. 
9. I consider a lot of my PLN contacts to be close friends and I'd love to meet them ASAP to hug them and have a good time. 
10. I 'm very happy to be preparing my daughter's wedding with her. 
11. For the past 19 months I have discovered  I have some skills (as a professional ) I'd never imagined I had. 


Questions Georgia has asked me: 



1. What did you want to become when you were a child? 
OMG! ! LOL  ! A detective , a policewoman and a lawyer. Perhaps this is why my favourite TV series are CSI, Criminal Minds, Law and Order and similar !




2. Why have you become  a teacher? Because I was born to be a teacher and because my mother used to be a teacher . She inspired me! I loved watching her teaching private students in  our house when I was a child and also I used to study in the same school she taught. I loved seeing how much the students loved her and how many presents she got for the teachers' Day and for Xmas ( LOL) . Then when I entered the university to study Psychology, I started to teach a lot of private classes of English, Portuguese and Literature. After 5 five years being a psychologist and  already doing MA on PSychology, I was very unhappy and then I decided to give up , go back to the University and become a teacher. It's simply a passion!

3. Have you ever regretted  being a teacher? 
No! Never! I regret to have stayed away from the classroom for 6 years when I was the DOS of a language institute. Coming back to teaching is one of the best  decisions I've made in my life.

4. You avoid people who... complain a lot about everything and are not thankful for all the things they have around them, including their own lives!

5. Tell us about your biggest dream:
To see my adult children happy with the families they are about to start ,  to have a lot of grandchildren e be healthy enough to enjoy all this with my husband!

6. What's your favourite colour and why? To tell you the truth I don't have a favourite colour... Blue could be the one I like best because it's the colour of the sky and the sea, two things I'm never tired of  looking at.



7. Which city would you like to visit? OMG! A lot! At the moment I'm dreaming with any city in Greece, the country I'll definitely go for my next holiday abroad! I could start with Athens!

8. What's your favourite piece of clothing?
Dresses! Very girlish dresses!



9. Have you ever cheated on a test? From the bottom of my heart I don't remember cheating. I'm sincerely speaking. My home and school education , not to mention my religious values,  were very rigid.

10. Describe your desk:  Always organised, the computer is always on, there is a print,  a phone-fax,  and not  as much space as I wish to spread books, notebooks and teachers' stuff .

11. Who's your favourite character either in a book or a movie? What a hard question for an avid reader and cinema fan! Well, I still love Maria from the film " The Sound of Music" . She was brave and admirable! As for a book character... There are two women  from the same book:  Teresa and Sabrina from
" The unbearable light of the being". They are completely different but strong and fragile at the same time, each one in her own way.


Questions Priscila  has asked me: 


1. What's your favourite movie? 
It's such  a hard question for a cinema fan, OMG! However, I've elected Cinama Paradiso ,an Italian movie which I'm never tired of watching! 




2. What's / was the most challenging moment in your career?
When I had to run two branches of  an institution at the same time.  as the DOS.

3. Would you like to teach in another country? I'd love to! Perhaps  a country in Asia or Chile, Argentina, Italy , France or my dream, the UK!

4. What was the most memorable  moment in a conference that you had been? When I first met David Crystal in person, hugged him, had a conversation with him , took pictures with him and of him, and had him autographing one of his books for me.

5, What would you do if you had to teach in a public school in the countryside of your country?  
To be very sincere, I  don't  know. I'd have to receive a lot of training  beforehand.

6. What's your favourite band? THE BEATLES , forever!

7. Do you have a favourite song? OMG! I  can't say ! I love so many songs! One of my favourite is
 " João e Maria" sung by Chico Buarque and Nara leão.
8. How many languages do you speak? Just Portuguese and English

9. Did you have  a teacher who inspired you?  A lot of teachers inspired me! I still have many!

10. How many books dis you read in 2013? About 12 non-fiction books, apart from those regarding teaching and learning.

11. What's teaching from your point of view? It's like raising a child: You need a lot of  patience, dedication, time and wisdom , not to mention immense love for it!

Questions Yitzha has asked me:


1, Do you bring music to your classroom? In what ways? Always! To calm down my SS, to warm them up, to have fun, to teach  language and vocabulary and to generate speaking opportunities.

2. Writing or reading? Both!

3. Who could change your mind once you've decided something? My husband,  children or parents . But they'd have to convince me and it would be a very hard task! LOL

4. Music or movie? Definitely both! Preferably movies with very good music!



5. What was the weirdest food you've ever eaten and what was your reaction to it? It was otter meat. It was delicious! 

6. During school year who were you : a jock, a brain, a teacher pet, a rebel, or....  Apart from a jock, I think I was a little of the other ones. LOL!

7.  Do you prefer large or smaller groups? Why? Lager. I love the limit my school sets: 15 students. Its fantastic, it's exciting and SS interact better! 

8. What's your biggest obstacle in teaching? When parents don't help and spoil their children . 

9.  If you could hold a inner party of five . who would they be? But the guests  have to be one of the cartoon character, a world leader, one famous person (actor or singer ) and a member of your family.  Piece of cake! Here you are:  Batman ( I love his mysterious double life), Nelson Mandela ( If he was alive), Paul McCartney (of course! ) and my husband.

10. What's your favourite scent? The rain!

11. Please describe what you think of me in one word: Cheerful!

Questions Fabiana has asked me


1. What are three adjectives that describe you best? People say I'm mostly talkative, organised and cheerful

2. Who's someone you admire the most and why?  My dad because he had a very hard childhood,  he was very poor and was able to overcome all the difficulties in his life and raise a solid happy family and career.

3. Have you ever met a Hollywood Star ? Where? How? Yes, by chance in NY JFK Airport I could see George Clooney , not too close,  but it was him ( some people were kind of frenetic with his presence! )

4. The Beatle or the Rolling Stones? Definitely THE BEATLES!



5. Can you dance Tango? No, I can't! I'd love to be able to!

6. Do you think you are a connected educator? I think so! Do you think I am , Fabiana? LOL!  

7.  If you were offered to teach in a foreign country, which one would you choose? Italy! I love Italy!    



Questions Debbie has asked me:  



1. How often do you feel exposed to dilemmas  in education? How do you work them out?  What  deep questions! I'll answer this one as a blog post!  Can I, Debbie?

2. What plants and flowers do you have at home? Not many as a live in a flat . But I grow rosemary  and some small flowers such as roses and orchids.

3. Have you aver been stuck in an elevator? Yes, twice . It was one of the most terrible sensations I've ever felt in my whole life!

4. What's that lovely childhood memory that comes to you once in a while? OMG! Grandma cooking biscuits and I always around trying " to help"  I can feel the smell and the taste for real!

5. If English is not your mother tongue, do ever need to read subtitles when you watch movies in English? Not always, but sometimes I do.

6. What makes you laugh?  Family reunion , especially when the women cousins get together! It's simply fantastic!

7. If you could spend a year focusing on research, what would you research? Why? God!  Hard question! I think... ... perhaps I'd research on why some teachers are so resistant to PD and mentoring, (because I  believe teachers are forever learners).

8. How do you keep track of your digital files? Dropbox, Diigo, Pinterest and loads of backups on external HDs .

9. When was the last time you danced? Last Sunday (23rd Feb 2014) on a birthday party. SAMBA!


10. Who do you admire and why? A lot of people but I'd highlight my husband. He's the most friendly, patient,  sympathetic , lovely and understanding person I have ever met in my life.

11. Are you good at setting goals? Do you follow a certain process to set you goals? Yes, I am.  I plan, I  write lists, mind maps and follow routines very easily.  

4 comments:

Fabiana Casella said...

Beautiful to know you more and more, Roseli! BTW I loved the song by Marisa Monte!
Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions!!!
Hugs!

Roseli Serra said...

Dear Fabiana!

What a pleasure replying to you, dear! Thank you so much for your questions! I had a great time!

Warm hugs form Brazil!

Love,

Roseli

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