Fire in the belly

"Fire in the Belly" is the name of a book by Sam Keen and also a song by Van Morrison (see below). I haven't read the book but I've known and loved the song for years. When I thought about an entry to write in our class blog, the expression "fire in my belly" came to me, so I thought, OK, let's run with that...

For me, at this point in my life, the expression "fire in the belly" captures the sense of passion that I feel for the different projects I'm involved in, teaching at the Education Faculty, working in the field of mindfulness in education, as well as several other things I've been working on recently. I believe in these projects with my mind but I also resonate with them in my heart and, especially, I feel like I get fired up with them, my gut says "Yes!", this is the way to go!

So I think that as teachers, it's important that we connect to these different levels. First there's a sense of vocation - why am I involved in education, what is it about my life that brings me to this path? And then, it's important to resonate from the heart with this vocation, to fall in love with the work - that will certainly help when the going gets tough!

And finally, the ability to feel the fire in the belly, the passion, means we're conscious of the engine room of our body, the vehicle that allows us to be in the world and intervene to make it a slightly better place, thanks to our passing through it. And being conscious of our passion, what it is that really moves us deep down, means that we can channel that energy in the best, wisest way we're able, each of us for our own good and for the greater good, too.

These are the reflections about where I'm at right now that I wanted to share with you - and what about you? What is it that moves you, what gets you fired up? Maybe you can discover and share some things in this blog about this path in teaching that you're embarking upon...

Anyway, here's a live version of the song by Van Morrison and you can find a PDF with the lyrics here. And just in case you're interested in knowing more about Van Morrison, in the next few days I'll be publishing another entry specifically about Van, his music and its influence in my life.

Welcome to OurSitCom!

Hello everybody, and welcome to the class blog, OurSitCom, which I've created to showcase your work over the coming weeks and offer you an opportunity to engage creatively with the Communicative Situations subject you're studying with me.

First of all a little word about the title of the blog, OurSitCom. The expression "sitcom" generally refers to a certain kind of comedy programme on the TV. However to me it also suggests an abbreviated form of the subject name in Spanish, Situaciones de Comunicación, or if you prefer, an abbreviation of "Situated Communication", in the sense that all communication, like all of other aspects of human activity, is of course always socially, culturally and historically situated - nothing arises in a vacuum! And so, finally, it's called OurSitCom and oursitcom2015.blogspot.com not only because we're going to be doing it together so it's ours, but also because we're doing it here and now, in Ourense in 2015, so we're signposting that this blog is socio-historically situated in it's name too:)

Anyway, now I've had my fun with the name, let's get down to business, as I explain my proposal to you. So far I have individual marks for all of you for the written biographies you've handed in and also for the oral role-plays you've just completed last Wednesday. I propose that the final piece of work in terms of continuous assessment for this subject should be done in small groups of between 2 and 4 people, and should consist of an entry in the class blog, related to work we've done in class together or to teaching in general or to whatever you feel might be interesting for your classmates to read/look at/listen to/watch in relation to this subject and the approach to English language learning and teaching I'm advocating through it.

What I'm really interested in is your doing something fun and creative that highlights both written and oral English through audio-visual and digital means, at the same time as transmitting something that is important and meaningful to you. I invite you to work in your groups as we do in class, doing the work in and through English (I mean, not doing it first in Spanish and then translating into English!). If you include audio or video of yourselves or other people talking English (and this would certainly be a good idea!), this should not be scripted or memorised but rather spontaneous, like in real life, even if you do use some notes to help you.

My suggested procedure is as follows:

• decide who you want to work with
• decide on something you want to present via the blog (related to work in this subject, to the Faculty or to teaching in general
• choose one of the dates available on Doodle for publishing the work
• go for it!

A couple more details about the blog. I have set it up initially so that only we can see it rather than it being open and visible to the public in general. Also I am going to make all of you co-moderators of the blog, so that when it comes to publishing an entry each group can do so directly (without having to send it to me first)

Please use the comments section below if you have any questions about the proposal - in that way, other people can see my answers and it might clear up their doubts too.

I'm looking forward to see what you come up with!