Stephen Hawking is a phenomenal scientist and scientific phenomenon. He enjoys his unique position as a popular cultural icon as well as one of the most respected scientists of his generation. The man who doctors gave two years to live when he was 21 has just celebrated his 75th birthday. To coin a phrase from … Continue reading “Stephen Hawking at 75”
The Shetland Islands are the northernmost part of the U.K., and belonged to Norway until 1468. So it’s no surprise that the highpoint in the Shetland cultural calendar is a spectacular Viking fire festival in January: Up Helly Aa. On the last Tuesday of January, a thousand costumed men pull a Viking longship through Lerwick … Continue reading “Shetland Viking Fire Festival”
What does a pupil understand when a teacher says, “Learn today’s lesson for next time”? What exactly should the pupil do? Read the work over, copy it out, memorise the new words or expressions, use them in context to produce a message…? Which tools should be used (notebook, textbook, school homework website…)? And how will … Continue reading “Learning to Learn”
The bestselling teen books about the ill-fated Baudelaire children, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, have been given a second, equally doom-filled life in a new TV series. There are 13 books in the series, and in a fitting tribute, the TV series launched on Netflix on Friday the 13th, a bad omen in … Continue reading “A TV Series of Unfortunate Events”
Ben Affleck’s latest film is a return to a classic film genre: the gangster movie set during Prohibition-era U.S.A. Live By Night is actor Ben Affleck’s fourth film as a director, and the second to be adapted from a novel by Boston crime writer Dennis Lehane. His last film, Argo, won the best picture Oscar … Continue reading “Live By Night: Ben Affleck in Gangster Mode”
There will be a big event in Washington on 21 January. No, not the Inauguration. The day after Donald Trump enters the White House, women’s organisations are calling for women to mobilise to make it clear that they will defend their rights against any threat from the new administration. Donald Trump managed to offend many … Continue reading “Women Unite”
A campaign to get a woman honoured by featuring on an American banknote had even more success than the campaigners hoped. Both women and ethnic minority figures will feature on dollar bills by 2020, the centenary of women’s suffrage in the U.S.! National symbols are a wonderful way into discussing a country’s culture – and … Continue reading “2020: The Year of Women”
Sing is a feelgood movie about a singing competition designed to save a failing theatre in a city entirely populated by animals. From the animators who made Despicable Me, The Minions and The Secret Life of Pets, Sing is full of humour, hit songs and anthropomorphic animals. It is based on a trope we’re all … Continue reading “Born to Sing”
The Crown offers a fabulous insight in the British government in the second half of the twentieth century. The Netflix TV series could have just been a story of princesses and princes, crowns, palaces and fabulous dresses. And it is that, to a certain extent. But it also continues an examination of how Britain has … Continue reading “The Queen and her Prime Ministers”
Que signifie pour un élève la consigne « apprendre sa leçon » ? Que faut-il faire exactement ? La lire plusieurs fois, la copier, apprendre les mots et expressions nouveaux, les utiliser en contexte pour produire un message… ? Avec quels documents, quels outils (cahier, manuel, site internet de l’établissement…) ? Et comment l’élève saura-t-il qu’il connaît sa leçon ? … Continue reading “Apprendre à apprendre”