101 WAYS TO COPE WITH STRESS

Get up 15 minutes earlier Prepare for the morning the night before Avoid tight fitting clothes Avoid relying on chemical aids Set appointments ahead Don't rely on your memory ... write it down Practice preventive maintenance Make duplicate keys Say "no" more often Set priorities in your life Avoid negative people Use time wisely Simplify meal times Always make copies of important papers Anticipate your needs Repair anything that doesn't work properly Ask for help with the jobs you dislike Break large tasks into bite size portions Look at problems as challenges Look at challenges differently Unclutter your life Smile Be prepared for rain Tickle a baby Pet a friendly dog/cat Don't know all the answers Look for a silver lining Say something nice to someone Teach a kid to fly a kite Walk in the rain Schedule play time into every day Take a bubble bath Be aware of the decisions you make Believe in yourself Stop saying negative things to yourself Visualize yourself winning Develop your sense of humor Stop thinking tomorrow will be a better today Have goals for yourself Dance a jig Say "hello" to a stranger Ask a friend for a hug Look up at the stars Practice breathing slowly Learn to whistle a tune Read a poem Listen to a symphony Watch a ballet Read a story curled up in bed Do a brand new thing Stop a bad habit Buy yourself a flower Take time to small the flowers Find support from others Ask someone to be your "vent-partner" Do it today Work at being cheerful and optimistic Put safety first Do everything in moderation Pay attention to your appearance Strive for Excellence NOT perfection Stretch your limits a little each day Look at a work of art Hum a jingle Maintain your weight Plant a tree Feed the birds Practice grace under pressure Stand up and stretch Always have a plan "B" Learn a new doodle Memorize a joke Be responsible for your feelings Learn to meet your own needs Become a better listener Know your limitations and let others know them, too Tell someone to have a good day in pig Latin Throw a paper airplane Exercise every day Learn the words to a new song Get to work early Clean out one closet Play patty cake with a toddler Go on a picnic Take a different route to work Leave work early (with permission) Put air freshener in your car Watch a movie and eat popcorn Write a note to a far away friend Go to a ball game and scream Cook a meal and eat it by candlelight Recognize the importance of unconditional love Remember that stress is an attitude Keep a journal Practice a monster smile Remember you always have options Have a support network of people, places and things Quit trying to fix other people Get enough sleep Talk less and listen more Freely praise other people

How To Be the Best Teacher

Make your class rules and goals clear
Understand what you are teaching
Get savvy with the Internet
Listen to students when they talk
Do not insult students
Evaluate your class’ strengths and weaknesses
Make great tests
Recognize talents and efforts
Take careful note of students' progress and let them know about it
Talk with parents

Movies in the English classroom

Nowadays students need to be exposed to a wide variety of resources from audio to printed material. Although this output seems to fulfil their needs and prepare them for the outside world, teachers always keep searching for more motivating sources. So, introducing movies into our classroom is a challenge most language teachers must face.

Daily, teachers encounter students' demands for watching real movie stories rather than those graded video ones found at the local bookstores, which in the long run turn out to be meaningless and artificial. So the need to adapt and grade famous film titles such as "Meet the Parents" or "AntZ" to fulfil their demands leads us into a new editor-like ground.

During the worksheet preparation, planning and editing to accompany these movies, a wide variety of techniques are resorted to involve and motivate students as well as help them profit from the video session.
Years of experienced teaching have proven that well developed, planned and graded video lessons should consist of different stages, which are:

• Tune in

• While watching

• After watching

• Firstly, by 'Tune in' it is meant that students are gradually guided and involved in the plot, the characters and the setting of the film. They can be led at this stage by prediction-based activities brainstorming speculation patterns with the aid of visual aids such as pictures, vocabulary banks with words and expressions from the story or just through questions related to the main topic.

• Secondly, at the 'While watching' stage, there is more thorough work on the plot and the characters. Students are exposed to a variety of activities such as problem solving, filling blanks, multiple matching, ordering events, true and false or comprehension questions. The main aim at this stage is to exploit the film at its best profiting from the wide variety of idiomatic expressions, collocations and slang that the students will encounter in real life.

• Thirdly, the 'After watching' stage is considered to be the follow-up one where the film plot is used together with the lexical terms by making students either role-play the best parts or by organising group debates based on the moral of the plot.

• Furthermore, a written homework assignment may be set asking students to describe their favourite character at lower levels or writing a film review as well as an article to be placed in the school magazine at higher ones.