STORYTELLING

“Were they going to dash from such a grim place?” He asked himself hopelessly. And then, unexpectedly, Luis took his filthy hand and a groan was pronounced from the deepest place of his throat:

“I slept with your mother” he shouted in a loud tone.

These six words, vocalized in a horrible way made Jes tremble with fright.

“For God's shake!” Jes cried out. “Are you deranged?”.

At this point of the story the author must explain some details which will help the reader make a clearer and vivid idea of the scenery. It was nightfall, the wind was blowing fiercely between the dullness windows and the rat, from the second line of the first paragraph that's now missing, was eye bleeding because of the novelist's insane imagination.

It was a fact nobody could deny that the haunted house turned people who invaded it to madness. Again, Luis repeated the sentence with harshness:

“I slept with your fucking mother.”

This time the vile words produced a panic feeling on Jes. He was at the edge of paranoid. He could commit a horrible crime against his friend. He could see it clearly. Deeply and nastily shocked he would had liked not to come inside the house that afternoon. But now it was too late to change this. It was evident that Luis had fallen into evil ways. He now assumed that the fact of getting out the house safe and sound wasn't worthless. It was only under his own behavior. He had to control his temperament and persuade Luis in order to help him leave the dark side he was into.

Jes talked to his friend in a firmly and calmed way:

”Come on dad, let's go home.”

CONNECTING PEOPLE DESPITE CONNECTED PEOPLE

Imagine a world free of power. No electricity to run our electronic devices at home nor at work. The result would be a science-fiction world completely different from the technical one we are used to. The lack of energy would lead our society to struggle for it and governments would have to tackle the problem seriously.

Well-known is it that great corporations who own energy resources rule the world. Nobody could argue the fact that politicians nowadays are used by companies as benefactors.

Being conscious of this huge problem is gradually achieved by society. Little by little awareness is growing among citizens. Non-governmental organizations, non-profit associations, trade unions and residents associations are creating nets to spread ideas in order to fight against corporations that manipulate our lives and make profit and money from us.

First of all, the main goal would be to reduce consumption. Secondly, it would be of great importance for us to consume by thinking about sustainability and bearing in mind helping local economies. This would be an important step to start solving the problem. And last but not least: reuse before buying and always recycle if you can. So the target would be triple.

As the African saying goes: “Many small people in many small places, doing little things can change the world”

FIRST COLLEGE ORIENTATION WEEKEND FOR NEW STUDENTS

Considering the fact that new students need plenty of information about our college in order to adapt properly, I will suggest some activities which would be useful to be taken into account.

First of all, an introductory talk offered in the arrival morning and held at the conference hall would be essential. The speech, given by the headmaster, would cover some information such as college regulations, timetables, teachers and organization staff. Students have to be given a piece of advice about how and when to use the library, the computer room, the sport fields... It would be extremely helpful for the newcomers.

Secondly it would be important to offer leaflets with a map in which there would not only be the situation of the college itself but the village and its surroundings. The pamphlet would be drawn by a school member and specifically designed to the students’ needs. It would include means of transport and schedules.

And last but not least I would consider a meeting with elder school mates. They would chat about local facilities, students societies, clubs an leisure.

In conclusion I think that this orientation weekend would be the best way to achieve a nice security feeling and a quick way to learn about the college life for new residents.

A LETTER

Dear sir/madam,

I am writing with reference to the article published in your newspaper in January about girls’ performance in single-sex schools. It is said the results and targets accomplished by them are better than the ones achieved in co-educational centres according to recent research.

There are obvious reasons which would explain it. Firstly, we could mention the fact of the ratio. While in co-educational centres the number of students in each class is more than twenty, this figure is extremely uncommon in single-sex schools. Attending a small group of students is, by far much easier than teaching a large one.

Secondly, education professionals have a good chance to adapt their teaching methods to the girls’ learning attitudes, interests and motivations. In single-sex classes they are more confident and I am convinced that the security environmental feeling created is better and favour their learning process.

Another reason why girls’ performance in single-sex schools is better would be the competitive mess arisen among pairs. The focus on the group would be to become the best and every effort would drive to achieve high marks in the subjects studied.

On the other hand, we have to bear in mind that this kind of education is not a real one. Benefits of co-education all along the world are widely spread. In co-educational schools boys take advantage because usually they learn skills acquired earlier by girls. I mean that in mixed classes boys perform better than in mixed ones, which is just the opposite in the girls’ case.

Under my own point of view based on twenty years of teaching English as a foreign language in Spanish primary schools I would recommend co-education for some reasons. One of them would be the chances education must offer to all of us. We have to be able to give same opportunities. Our duty is to educate for the real life, and this means much more than teaching. This is the main reason why I will always defend co-education.

Coromoto