sabato 6 agosto 2016

Friday 05/08

This morning was dedicated to discussing dissemination strategies. Much interest.

venerdì 5 agosto 2016

Thursday 04/08

Today we have done a Role Play activity. Divided into groups we have simulated we're sitting in a doctor's waiting room. For example I was Albert and are a fifty years old and married, and there are lots of things in mine life I'am non happy about. I must start a conversation with the person next me, and ask them questions about their life. During the conversation, I tell them about mine problems and regrets taken from a list. I must try to convince mine partner that mine problems are worse then his/her.

A very amazing situation and a test for first, second and third conditional.

giovedì 4 agosto 2016

Wednesday 03/08

This morning we had to work around the "Hobbies". We took brainstorm together starting from a general definitions and then adding specification.

A hobby is a activity that is done for enjoyment, during one's leisure time. Hobbies can include collecting items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports. A list of hobbies is lengthy and always changing as interests and fashions change. Participating in a particular hobby, one can acquire substantial skill and knowledge in that area. People who engage in hobbies are those who have an interests and time to pursue them. Hobbies are often pursued with increased interest by retired people because they have time and seek the intellectual and physical stimulation of a hobby.

In the second part of the morning we have done a dictate about hobbies and some exercise related to hobbies and sports.

mercoledì 3 agosto 2016

Tuesday 02/08

This morning was decided to visit the National Museum of Ireland with the focus on "The Bog Body & The Tara Brooch". The visit to the museum was very amazing: there are historical facts about a long range of time from prehistorical Ireland to the last century. I have looked at as many things as I could, but I was very impressed by the Bog Bodies. They are a recent discovery that was made in 2003. The human bodies, without any particular cure or treatment were preserved almost completely. For example I could see a complete untouched hand with nails! Nowadays we can guess a lot about how they died. The two major hypothesyes were that their death was due to a battle or was due to human sacrifice.

Passing to the other subjects, I saw in the museum many marvellous jewels. I found Tara Brooch a very interesting treasure. In particular I was impressed by a very little detail made of a silver chain made of plain wire attached to the brooch by means of a rotatable attachment. This picture is made of an animal head between two human heads.

In the late morning we went to the Science Gallery that at the moment is dedicated to "SEEING". The most impressive event, for me, was a computer made up of 3 robot artists and where the human model become the object. The process took about 30 minutes to finish and produce 3 different pictures. It was amazing to observe the 3 robots that painted the picture! It seemed to me that the robots were working without thinking of painting but surely that is not tru: there was a computer programme that controlled them and it knew how to produce a remarkable result!

In the afternoon we went to visit "The Book of Kells" exhibition that consists of a manuscript that contains the four Gospels in Latin. The majority of academic opinion now tends to attribute it to the scribes of Iona. The illustrations and ornaments of the Book of Kells are very extravagant and complex. I was delighted to see them. It is important to note that the book was produced with the focus on appearance becaus there are numerous uncorrected mistakes in the text.
The manuscript takes its name from the Abbey of Kells, which was its home for centuries. Today, it is on permanent display at Trinity College Library, Dublin.

martedì 2 agosto 2016

Monday 01/08

Today we have started with an extreme (for me) task because the focus was on "Irish Culture (films, art & craft)" and I normally don't go to museums and I go to cinema only to see action films. In the task assigned, at first  together and afterwards in small groups, we have to read an outline of some films and afterwards we have to report them to our colleagues. For me it was extremely difficult to report a story and also this activity to explore many words related to human situations and human senses.

In the second part of the day we started with a task called "Culture on streets" and to do it we had to walk around the city to take photos of cultural items. I took some photos and those that I liked most the lamp posts that I found very similar too those I normally see in Venice where I was born.

lunedì 1 agosto 2016

Sunday 31/07

In the morning we departed by bus to visite a Glendalough National Park and to visit  the city of Kilkenny in the afternoon. When we arrived I found this place very nice because it reminds me of some parts of preAlpi (medium-high mountains to the north of where I live near Venice). I observed that in both places there were many tourists but also many Irish families/friends.
We listened to a guide that told us the story of St. Kevin in the 6th century. Kevin came to Glendalough to follow his dream which was to find God in solitude and prayer. Primary personal qualities were his love of nature and his deep respect for all created things. Kevin was known as a holy man and others came to Glendalough to seek his advice. Kevin’s story is often referred to as a journey from solitude to community.

To return to nature, the National Park has many walks to choose from an easy level to a hill walk level. Unfortunately we didn't have much time to walk on these, but instead the Irish people come to this enchanting place for this. There is also a hard climbing route but to follow it we must better equipped.

This place is an example of a good mixture of cultural and social life or, in other words, is an example of how to share the same place between different human activities and to connect them.

sabato 30 luglio 2016

Friday 29/07

This morning we are Involved in "Science and Technology" theme. Our tutor collects a list from us of tools/apps that we known or that we use in our normal activities. Then we are divided in short groups to prepare a synthetic presentation. At the end after a short time any couple has presented his favorite app.
This activity was interest because I discovered a lot of tools that I do not knew before and that I'll want to discover when I return to home.

In a second activity, with a different tutor, we were divided into two main groups because we are too many. For each group we were divided in two half. Then the tutor, at any 5 minutes, assigned a phrase and one half to speak for advantage and the other half for disadvantage . When the time expired we had 5 minutes for exposing and discussing together.
Also this activity was amazing because we are very involved to discuss the  fact proposed.

Also this special kind of role playing can be used easily in classroom with our students.