It's So Hard to Say Goodbye!

To my wonderful students and colleagues at I.E.S. Heliche, thank you for helping me "make the best of what's around" these past few years. I'll have many good memories to look back on, and I hope you all will, too.

I can't thank your class enough for the gifts, party, snacks and fun on our last day; I didn't deserve any of it! But, we laughed a lot (well, I cried A LOT!) and got to spend one last day without homework, exams or partes!

I'm going to keep checking in on you all, so keep working hard and be nice to your teachers! I'm positive your new language assistant will be wonderful to you, and a far better teacher than I. Hopefully said person will have a lot more patience than me, too! You've come a long way since our first few weeks, so I'm looking forward to seeing your progress over the next few years.

I'll leave you with some of my pictures from the event. Hope you enjoy them! That said, keep pushing yourselves, study for your exams, and enjoy your holidays! I'm on mine but wish I could be back in class...So, from your favorite guiri from Chicago de la Frontera, MUCHA SUERTE, and a lot of love!

Oprah Winfrey wants to interview ... you!

You’ve become famous. And a journalist has some questions for you…
Tell her about you!

Hi, I’m Oprah Winfrey. I live in the United States and I’ve got a talk show. I’ve heard you’re a famous teenager in Spain. I want to know more about you. Please, could you answer these questions? Thank you.




What’s your name?
What’s your favourite subject in school? Why?
What will you do this summer?
Will you go to university? What will you study?
If you pass all your exams, what will you do?
How do you think your life will be in 2020?

Thank you very much for your time. It has been a pleasure to talk to you.

Helichville 2010

A good number of students (and teachers) got their four stamps on their passport this year again. But what happened in Helichville that day? It's your task to find out. Look at the photos, look for reliable sources and make your report for Helichville Journal, a quality newspaper with Sunday edition.

The Good, the Bad and the Cinematic Masterpieces

Did you know that many spaghetti westerns were filmed here in Spain? The Almería prvoince has got many interesting landscapes that appear to be the Wild West of America, a place where cowboys and bandits once roamed.

a typical spaghetti western landscape

Take a look at this website: It's got many interesting images of places around Spain and Italy (a country famous for modern films of this genre) where Westerns were filmed. Have you been to any? What elements of cinematography do you see? Are there any placeas around your village that might make good background for a film?

In class, we'll watch a clip of a deul. See if you can name the different elements used by filmmakers. Remember, they are: Panorama, Wide General View, General View, Group Shot, Knees-up View, Waist-up View, First plane (just the face) and Detail Plane (just a detail). Here is a website with several examples towards the bottom.

You can watch the video, as well as other famous clips, on youtube by clicking here.