ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SCHOOL UNIFORM

In  private schools it is compulsory to wear uniform, even in primary school, but do children and parents agree with the uniforms?


There are some arguments in favour of the uniforms. Especially the children’s parents agree with it because the children are very small and the parents have to prepare them the clothes every day.  But when the children are bigger, normally they prefer not to wear uniforms because the teenagers, for example, are always worrying about clothes. Sometime it is not appropriate that the boys and the girls go to school with the clothes that they choose because they can  wear clothes that are not appropriate for school.


On the one hand,  I think that wearing  the clothes that you want is better than the uniforms but it is necessary to wear appropriate clothes. On the other hand, I think that the small children should wear uniforms because it is more convenient for their parents.

My dad

I was in my bedroom when, suddenly, my dad appeared and I thought: "He is the person that I was looking for."

I asked him about  his life.

He was born in Granada in February 1966. He met my mother at high school.He studied Physics at Granada University and now, he is an experimented medical physic, and he is working at Inmaculada hospital.

He was working in Madrid in the 90s, that's why I am from Madrid. In 2000, when the century changed, we changed  city. 

Now, he is the father of three boys.

He likes reading, cycling and listening to Fito & Fitipaldis.

He doesn't like football, although he prefers Barça to wins. Nobody is perfect!!

MY AUNT LAURA (:

I think my aunt is the best, she is like my sister, she is incredible!!

My aunt´s name is Laura and she is only twenty two years old, so she is really young.

She is so crazy, she is always smiling and when I am sad, she makes me smile. I love her.

One day, in February, we were talking and I asked  her some questions: 

I asked her why  she is always happy, and she said: "You have to smile, if you smile yo can always be  happy!"

Then I asked her if she would like to live in Granada, and she answered that she would like to live in Motril, because her friends lived there. She thinks that Motril is a good place because it is a cute town.

Suddenly, my father appeared and asked us about our "love life", my aunt said to him that she did not want a boyfriend because she would like to live the present, and now she was really young. 

So I asked her: "Don't  you want to be a mum?" and she  said: "I do not know, I am young, I want to go to a party NOW!". 

We could not go out because we had been punished, but suddenly, she showed me a video and she said: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!". The video was fantastic, I was thrilled and I cried!

I asked her why  she had done the video for me and she said: "You are my bet friend and my sister, and I love you!" 

She hugged me and we went out all night!(:

A peg-top

We had expected we would receive a peg-top as the winners, but finally we will only get a diploma that declares we have been awarded an 'accésit' for our work in this blog.

VI Premio Edublogs 2012

Here is the story:
We have participated in Premio Espiral Edublog 2012 with HERE WE ARE. Our teacher gave the organization our names and sent them the link with this blog. She thinks keeping a blog like this is a very good way to make students practise their English out of the school. She would also like her students to think of Internet as a very useful tool for their education and not only for their free time.
As it seems many more people from all over the world have the same opinions and they have also participated in this experience about the use of TIC in education.
As they say:

•  El premio pretende valorar la importancia y repercusión de los blogs en la educación, como herramienta didáctica para el desarrollo de contenidos curriculares y motivación de los alumnos.

• Reconocer el trabajo de muchos profesores y profesoras en la red demostrando su utilidad pedagógica.
• Servir de escaparate motivador de una corriente educativa dentro de la blogosfera, que ayuda a la generalización del uso de las TIC en el aula.
• Favorecer cauces de opinión y debate sobre la necesidad de avanzar en el uso de los blogs en el entorno educativo.
• Ofrecer una selección de buenas prácticas que animen a iniciar o consolidar el uso en los blogs en entornos educativos, aprendiendo de experiencias de éxito

 So our accésit or 'second prize', as they say in  English, is a good prize. Although we haven't got the 'peonza',  we can always buy one at the Chinese store next door!!!

Say 'cheese'!!

 Here are the letters that we have received :
First Gemma wrote this e-mail:

Ante todo queremos felicitaros en nombre de la Asociación Espiral, Educación y Tecnología, de la Fundación Telefónica y de la organización del VI Premio Espiral de Edublogs por el reconocimiento de vuestro trabajo por parte del jurado que os ha llevado a ser uno de los premiados de la presente edición del Premio Espiral de Edublogs.

And then, we got this e-mail:

El VI Premio Espiral de Edublogs 2012 llega a su fin. Con 1.824 candidaturas procedentes de 19 países, esta edición ha supuesto un nuevo récord de participación, demostrando una vez más el gran valor educativo que supone el uso pedagógico de los blogs.
Hace unos días se conocía el fallo del jurado y, por tanto, los ganadores de las diferentes categorías, que se pueden consultar desde el portal de los premios. Para dotar de mayor emoción al acto de entrega, no se desvelará la posición final de los tres primeros premios hasta el día de la ceremonia, que tendrá lugar el próximo 2 de junio en el Espacio Fundación Telefónica de la Gran Vía de Madrid.

Our accésit!!

It 's a real pity we can not got to Madrid. Perhaps next year?!!

The Spanish Palace

Another presentation about Spanish food, The Spanish Palace,  prepared by five girls in the class,   María Q   Clara  María del Mar V María del Mar Q  and Irene, dedicated to our American guests!

Bon appétit 

Sierra Nevada

Now that the season is over and the snow is melting, it is a good time to remember the cold winter days when we could go skiing and enjoy the great winter resort we have in  Sierra Nevada.
Here is the presentation that four girls in the class prepared for the American exchange students. Better late than never!

My sister Alba

I think the person I admire the most is my sister. She is just twelve, but she is incredible.
I remember when I was four and I used to ask my mum for a sister to play with. When Alba was born, I was disappointed because I wanted someone who was five years old, like me, I could not play with a baby!
She is always saying I am an example for her, but it is the other way round:   she is an example for me. 
One day I asked her why she was always smiling, and she did not say anything, she smiled and then she said: ' you see? when I smile to someone, that person smiles too, that is the reason!'
I started laughing and then she said that I was crazy because I was laughing for no reason. Then I asked her what  she would choose if she could ask for a desire, and she said she could not choose because she had an endless list of desires!
She loves horses and cheese, and when she says something you can not say not to her, because she always tries to convince you.
People often say she is my 'clone', but we do not think so, we are very different!
We are always talking about running away from home and taking a flight to somewhere without programming! Alba is one of the most important persons in my life, I can not stay one day without talking and laughing with her, she is my sister, she is my example.

Carlos' interview

MY  DAD

I was sitting on my sofa thinking about who would be the best person for my interview and my father just appeared at the door and I thought he was the ideal person.

Well, my father was born in September 1956.  He studied at Maristas School and then he studied medicine at Granada University. He works as a doctor for the National Health Service. I think that one reason I have to become a doctor is to be like him. 

I started my interview asking him why he decided to be a general surgeon, he told me that his father had worked at the medicine´s world as a laboratory’s salesman and also my father had lots of friends who were doctors. 

Then, I told him to tell me about my mother and asked how he had met her. He told me that he spent summers in his village and one summer, in a local party, he met her at the disco and fell in love with her. I suppose that it was love at first sight. 

He was in a hurry so to finish I asked him what he was going to do when he retired. He told me that he hadn’t thought about it yet.

Sara visited Brussels and brought us this present

Sara brought some beautiful pics from her visit to Brussels.

Here is her presentation.  Thanks, Sara!!!

This is what Sara told us about her visit to this beautiful and historic city:

1- Brussels is the capital of Belgium, which is situated between France, Netherland and Germany. Here is spoken French and Flemish. It has been a main centre for international politics since the end of the Second World War. Now Brussels is where the principal EU institutions as well as the headquarters of the NATO are. It is also a multicultural place, where there are specially Spanish and Polish people.

2.- Brussels is specially famous because of its parks. The most beautiful and important park is the 50th  Anniversary Park. It was built in 1880 to commemorate the  50 anniversary of Belgium Independence

3- The Atomium is a very representative monument of Brussels and also of the country. It was originally built for Expo 58, the 1958 Brussels world 's fair, representing the iron crystal molecule. 
-Another famous place is The Grand Place which is decorated in summer with a lot of flowers in the ground as a carpet

4.- The Royal Palace is a wonderful place with a lot of gardens. It's the official palace of the king of the Belgiums in the centre of the nation's capital, however it is not used as a royal residence, now it  is used for offices and receptions destinated to royal activities

5. The typical houses of Brussels are called ' maisons de maître', which are high narrow houses that count with a back yard, you can see a lot of these houses in the city, as well as high new buildings.

6. Brussels is famous for its chocolate and for the beer, There is a great variety of beers in the country, and you can find a lot of bars just for the beer, that are always frequented by tourists .
There are other typical meals from here,  waffles for example. And people frequently eat a cardboard cartridge with chips and different sauces, called 'frites belgues'.

7. One day I went to Bruges, the capital of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish region of Belgium. 
Bruges is a wonderful place, is like a fairytale village. It is famous for its canals, it is sometimes  referred  to 'The Venice of the North' because of its canals.

7.  The last day I went to Paris, I loved that city, it is incredible!
.Brussels is one of the most beautiful places I have visited, and I'd love to repeat my experience.  I  would also recommend you to visit it too!

Does garlic-generated nitric oxide (NO) affect the physiology of pepper fruits?

Poster based on the experiment carried out by M del Mar Quesada and other students in IES P Manjon and IES F Ayala in collaboration with the Higher Council for Scientific Research in Granada (CSIC)

If you are really interested in knowing the answer to this question, you can ask M del Mar Quesada or any of the members of the group who have carried out their experiment on this issue during this 2012 edition of PIIISA Project. Or perhaps you can get more information in this blog:

Scientific Research by Young Students in Science, Technology and Humanities: PIIISA 2012

Some of the students who have participated in this project - Congratulations to all of them for their hard work!!

 Or tomorrow you can read the press where you'll find some photos and two or three articles about all the young people from many different High Schools in Granada who have participated in different experiments all enclosed in PIIISA project this year and who have received their prizes and diplomas at the Aula Magna (Science Faculty - Granada University) this morning.

Who are these important people sitting on the front row???

Or you can read their conclusions here:

Here is M del Mar, speaking in English,  and the whole group. She is thanking their teachers for their help. Thanks to you all!!!

Interview to my mother

My mom is a very important person in my life for that reason I decided to make an interview to her, she has influenced on my personality a lot and she is the person who has educated me the most.

Firstly I would like to know about the part that I do not know about her, her childhood. She said that when she was a child she had lived in Atarfe she had studied there and she had been always playing on the street. Then I asked her what she had wanted to be in life and my surprise was enormous when she answered that she had wanted to be a secret spy and she had invented a secret name "Lola". So I asked jokingly about her enemy and if she could give away secrets to him and she said very serious that her ?? her sister and the enemies were their elder brother. Every time that they shared a secret they had a big argument and my grandmother kept them without desserts for two months!

Finally I wanted to know something very important: Is it easy to work and be a housewife at the same time? She obviously said that it was not easy because women who had to work more than men. And for that reason my mom always spends more time with me and I have a lot of confidence in her.

After I thanked her for this and she hugged me. ^^ 

Segesta

Greek `Egesta´, ancient city of Sicily, located about two miles, (Three Kilometers) northwest of modern Calathafimi. It was the chief city of the Elymi a people for whom thucydides claimed a Trojan origin. They are archaeologically indistinguishable in the Early Iron Age( c.1000-c.500BC) from their Sicanian neighbours. Culturally Segesta was Greek but it generally took the Cartrhaginian side against his Greek neighbours, boundary disputes with Selenius, for instance were frequent from 580n BC. onward. When in 409 Hannibal, son of Gisgo, sacked Selenius Segesta became a Carthaginian ally.

Early in the First Punic War, however, the inhabitants massacred the Carthaginian Sarrison and allied themselves with Rome . Segesta was favourably detracted under Roman rule; it became a free city and the territory of Eryx may have been assigned to it.

On a hill just outside the site of the ancient city of Segesta lies an unusually well preserved Doric temple. It was built sometime in the late 5th century BC and has 6×14 columns on a base measuring 21×56m, on a platform three steps high.

 Several things suggest that the temple was never actually finished. The columns have not been fluted as they normally would have been in a Doric temple and there are still tabs present in the blocks of the base (used for lifting the blocks into place but then normally removed).

 It also lacks a cella and was never roofed over. The temple is also unusual for being a Hellenic temple in a city not mainly populated by Greeks.
The information about this temple in Segesta was found in Encyclopaedia Britannica by Alvaro, Jose ManuelSan and MariaQ - Thanks!

Bus 32

Maximo explains the temple

 

Sorry to disturb you!

My best friend.

She is my best friend, her name is Inés.
I met Inés 17 years ago. Inés is the best person in the world, and I love her so much. Our story is a really curious story. 

Our mums have been friends since they were at university, and they got pregnant at the same time. This is why we are best friends.

I wanted to ask Inés some questions about our friendship so I went to her house. Inés was doing her homework. I asked her if she could give me 5 minutes and she answered she could. Then I asked her if she remembered the first time she saw me. She was thinking for a moment and finally she said that it was impossible, because we'd met at hospital. 

In that moment, I was really excited, we've been friends all our lives! Only few people can say 'We've been friends all life'. This is why I told her that I didn't want to miss her ever, because she had become an essential person in my life. She gave me a hug and we started  crying. Finally we ended laughing. I reminded her that I love her and I thanked her for everything, she told me that I would always be her sister, no matter what could happen in the future.

Brian May

Looking at the stars with May

It was holiday and I went to Tenerife to see my cousins. They lived in a cottage in the country. And what a big shock it was for me finding Brian May in the night when I was walking near there. I said to myself it was possible, because he was probably on the island carrying out some research in the Astronomy Observatory.

Brian May (1947) was the founder and guitarist of Queen, one of the greatest bands in history, he has composed great hits like “We Will Rock You” or “I Want It All”, and he is also a doctor in astrophysics.

He is my favourite rock star and I could not miss the opportunity, so I asked him a few questions.

First of all, I wanted to know what of his life as a rock star he preferred. He told me that visiting places around the world was interesting and he had learnt a lot about different cultures, but his biggest satisfaction was to compose and play music for the people.

I was also interested in knowing how he didn’t have any problems with drugs. He explained that he had a very responsible mind, and the fact that his father was a long-time smoker and he had had lung problems had also influenced him.

I made him another question about why he defended the rights of animals (few people know this). He answered that it was just because he thought that if you respect nature, nature will respect you. He told me that he would rather be remembered as an activist than a rock star or a doctor.

Finally I thanked him for his attention and I asked him a final question. I asked him whether he saw me with any chance to become a rock star. He looked at my eyes and he said to me that I would rock them. 

My interview to Ramon Ortega

                         

    Ramon Ortega Quero is an oboist who was born in Granada. Ramon received solid training from Miguel Quiros early at the conservatory of his native city. Ramon became a member of the Andalusian Youth Orchestra as a twelve year old student. In 2003, the oboist cleared an important hurdle when conductor Daniel Barenboim accepted him as a member of the East-West Divan Orchestra. Since joining the orchestra, Ramon has remained an enthusiastic member in rehearsal and at many concert appearances. Gregor Witt, Principal Oboe of Barenboim´s Berliner Staatskapelle, took the gifted young man under his wing an acted as a mentor in his artistic development. 

  One of Ramon's finest hours was winning First Prize at the ARD Music Competition held in Munich in September 2007.

  Then I decided to prepare an on-line interview. First I asked him how he had decided to study oboe, then he answered me that his father and his sister were pianists and he had wanted to play a different instrument. After that I asked him how many hours in a day he played oboe and he told me that he played about six or seven hours in a day. I was surprised and I said it was too much.

  Then I wanted to know what he had felt when he had won the prize, and he told me that he couldn't believe his eyes and he was so excited and happy.

  Finally, I asked him what he was going to do after winning the prize and he answered that he had received a lot of offers from different orchestras from all over the world, and he was going to think about which one was the best to work in.

  Now he lives in Germany and plays in the Radio Baviera Orchestra. He organizes master lessons and students from all over the world go to those lessons because he is one of the best oboists in the world.

  In the end I want to say that I would like to be like him. 

  

A day with Sergio Ramos

Last weekend I had the best day of my life. It was Saturday, and Real Madrid was going to play here, in Granada, and I wanted to see the football players because Real Madrid have been my favourite team since I was a child.

I decided to go with a friend to the hotel where they were staying in order to see them. There were a lot of people around and it was impossible to see anything. Suddenly, I saw an open door behind the hotel, it was the exit gate.  So I didn’t hesitate and I went to it. I could not believe that I was inside the hotel. I walked along the corridor and I got to the hall! It was amazing, all the players were there, sitting on the sofas, speaking to each other and laughing, taking pictures of the hotel...

I was very nervous because there were so many international football stars in the same room that I was in! I couldn’t get closer to ask them for a picture because I was shocked. But, suddenly, one of them, Sergio Ramos, saw me and he walked to me. He asked me what I was doing there and I didn’t answer, then he tried to make me talk and I started to laugh because I couldn't believe that Sergio Ramos was speaking to me.

Spanish Selection

I told him I was a sport journalist and I started to ask him questions. I asked him how he felt after he had won the League and he told me he was thrilled. He told me what they did after the game, where they went, and what he was going to do after the game against Granada. He told me they went to the Cibeles fountain to celebrate the title and they had a big party in the centre of Madrid with all the supporters. 'It was an amazing day', he said to me. 'The best moment was when we saw Iker Casillas putting a Real Madrid scarf on the 'neck' of the Cibeles figure', he said absolutely thrilled. Finally I asked him about the next game, and he told me that they were going to win and have fun and then go back to Madrid to play the last game of the season against Mallorca. He liked Granada, because he is from Sevilla and he loves Andalucía. He seemed a very modest , familiar and funny person. After I finished my makeshift interview I took a few pictures with him and thanked him. Before I left, he told me that I looked too young to be a journalist and I said I was seventeen and that I had lied to try to see them. At first he laughed, and then he told me that I was very clever and he gave me two tickets to see the Granada-Madrid! I couldn't believe it. I thanked him many times and ran to my friend that was waiting for me outside. That afternoon we saw the great game, the result was 1-5 for Real Madrid. It was the best day of my life.

Here is one of his goals in the Spanish League.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHvLYXt11rI