#metime

Posted 21/04/2020

In Emotional Intelligence in ESL classrooms

April 21st 2020

We are living the exceptional circumstances of a global pandemic. We have all been placed on lockdown and must follow our lessons online.The current topic «Every day routines and hobbies» is rather unusual at present, as Life itself is, and here we are at this point of the curriculum learning how to talk about our hobbies and every day lives.

As well as the situation the students are also exceptional and are adjusting well to new online materials and video conference rooms which replace traditional books and classrooms. Like the saying goes «It is not the strongest of the species that survives, but rather, that which is most adaptable to change».

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, but rather, that which is most adaptable to change

Throughout lockdown RN [relative normality] has been a priority in this group, and focusing on day-to-day life as we know it. Same times for lessons, same procedures, same rhythms, same dynamics now combined with new online dynamics. All to try and remain as «normal» as possible in these not so «normal» times that may have been overwhelming for some or most.

So now that this NR [new normal] is a fact we are ready to move on to the next topic «Talk about your hobbies and free time activities». And I would like to ask my A1 students to focus on the 80/20 rule, that is, those activities that bring happiness to our lives and keep us going, considering we are in absolute shutdown. What is that 20% that puts us in a good place to get that 80% of good results for the rest of our day.

Can we reinvent ourselves?

What are the activities that give Me the oxygen for the rest of the day in confinement. My #METIME these days is to get up in the morning, and on my own kindly prepare myself a cup of tea. And enjoy the silence for a short while. Then listen carefully to my favourite radio programme with stories from Quarantine. I just Love listening to «Diario de la cuarentena» at breakfast time. And I focus only on the hot tea that I feel and the story that I hear. And I breathe in. Then out… And these fifteen or thirty minutes make my day. It is the 20 that makes my 80.