6/28/2011

Finding Love In Hyper Speed

 

Level: Intermediate +
AGE: Adult/ Young adult
Discuss before you watch

  • What do you understand by  “speed dating”?
  • How does it work?
  • Have you or anyone you know ever tried it?
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of dating someone this way?

Read the items in the box below and tick off the ones you know. How might they relate to the video you’re about to watch?
 

take part in             sign up           venues             anonymous           rejection                      fill out a score card/ dating card               
run away         tell somebody a line                    compatible                   
pick someone               get a match                 smooth                     bubbly                 picky               kidding                  
 a spark in somebody's  eye                    break the ice                   outgoing



  After watching

Answer the following questions:



1- How does it work? (categories/ number of dates/ venue/ time/ cost/   
    place)

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2- How can you start taking part in speed dating?

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3-In what way is speed dating anonymous?

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4- How does it compare to online dating?

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5- How many people (%) have found matches?

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6- How can people find out whether they’ve been chosen for a second 
    date  by the people they’ve picked?

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7-Will Lisa pick Mark?

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8-What did Mark like of Lisa?

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9-What did Lisa like of Mark?

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10-How did they break the ice?

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Match the following collocations

1.    Fill out                           a. to do a course /for a course
2.    Take part in                    b. information on a website
3.    Sign up                          c. a date/ walks
4.    Find out                         d. a score card/ dating card
5.    Go on                            e. an activity


Multiple choice

1.    People take part in 8-minute/8-minutes sessions.
2.    Speed dating is a fun/ funny way to meet people.
3.    There are different price ranges/scales normally from U$35-40 for a night.


Read the following sentences. What do the words underlined mean?

1.    Over 65 people at each event wind up having matches.
2.    According to Cheng some women are very picky about whom they choose.


Discuss after you watch

  • What do you think of “speed dating”?
  • Would you give it a try? Why? Why not?

6/16/2011

Buenos Aires Bicycle lanes



  LEVEL: Pre-Intermediate +
AGE: Adults

Link to online video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6q9siaDGuI

BEFORE YOU WATCH

·         Look at the title and the picture. What do you know about this topic?
·         What are the advantages/ disadvantages of having the bike lanes?

AFTER YOU WATCH

Watching for main ideas

·         Is there any of the points you’ve discussed mentioned in the video? Which one?


Watching for details

·         Do you need to have a bike to use the new bike lanes?
·         Are people accustomed to this change?  Why? Why not?
·         Do all the sidewalks have bike lanes?
·         What are the disadvantages of it?
·         Why does the city government think this is a good idea?


DISCUSS
·         Do you think the bike lanes are a good idea? Why? Why not?



FOCUS ON LANGUAGE

A. Fill in the blanks with: a lot / many / some / few / enough

1.      The government decided to build ___________ bike lanes because there are _________of cars in the city.
2.      Not all sidewalks have bike lanes, just a ___________ of them.
3.      The government doesn’t have _____________bikes for everyone.
4.      There are ___________people who agree with this project and others who disagree.


B. Use the cues below to make sentences using the following structure and adjectives. The first one has been done as an example:

 
Example: It’s important to wear a helmet if you ride your bike in the city center.

 It is + adj + (not) to inf
          important
           good
         necessary
         convenient
          urgent

·         Wear a helmet
·         Build more bike lanes
·         Solve the problem of pollutions in the city center
·         Have special lanes for bikes
·         Get accustomed to the bike lanes
·         Breathe some fresh air

 
C. Focus on linkers: Circle the linking word that fits best.

1. There are more and more bike lanes in Buenos Aires. However/ In fact/That’s why/ Besides not everyone agrees with them.

2. The bike lanes help people to breathe fresh air. However/ In fact/ That’s why/ Besides they bring other benefits.

3. Not all sidewalks have bike lanes.  However/ In fact/That’s why/ Besides, just a few of them.

4. There are many bikes available for people to use. However/ In fact/That’s why/ Besides, most people go to work by car.

5. The government wants to reduce traffic and pollution. However/ In fact/That’s why/ Besides, they have built the bike lanes.


D. Focus on Verb patterns (V+ to inf): Complete the following ideas

1. The government decided ………………………………………………………………………
2.You can rent a bike. However, most people prefer ……………………………………………
3.The government plans ……………………………………………………………………….
4. If you go to work by bike, you need ……………….……………………………………….
5. Most drivers hate ……………………………………………………………………………

6/07/2011

The Crucial Skill for Tomorrow's Leaders


LEVEL: Intermediate +
AGE: Adults
 




DISCUSS BEFORE YOU WATCH
·          




  • ·         Which of the following characteristics do you consider the most important in a leader and why? Rank them in order of importance and account for your answer.

    TRUST                       MINDFULNESS                        CURIOSITY                        SENSITIVITY            A SENSE OF DIRECTION          ACCOUTABILITY                    EMPATHY                        A SENSE OF CALLING

  • What is the single most important skill that the leaders of the future will need? 
WATCHING FOR MAIN IDEAS

 
            •  Is any of the ideas you've discussed mentioned? 

    WATCHING FOR DETAILS
  
            •  Watch some people answer the question "What is the single most important skill that the leaders of the future will need?"  and complete the chart below.
 

Position/ Company
Most important Skill Leaders of the future will need
Why?
Angel Cabrera



Bill George



Daisy Wademan Dowling



Andy Zelleke



Batia Mishan Wiesenfeld



Evan Wittenberg



Dr. Ellen Langer



Scott Snook





 
    KEY


Position/ Organization
Most important Skill Leaders of the future will need
Why?
Angel Cabrera
President of Thunderbird, school of  Global management
Have the trust of followers
Be reliable/ trustworthy
It’s hard to build/ easy to lose
Especially useful in this era of new communication tools with lots of exposure.
The leader should use the tools at hand to build and preserve trust.
Bill George
Professor, Harvard Business School
Leadership is not about skill but a question of character of the person within.
The leader should be genuine and have an understanding of themselves and a sense of purpose, passion and mission.
If they don’t know where they are going they cannot rally people and align them along this common sense of purpose.
Daisy Wademan Dowling
Executive Director, Leadership Development at Morgan Stanley
Have Empathy/ a relentless desire to build capacity in the people around them (they should be teachers)
Without empathy they can’t understand other people’s motivation and get them excited about the direction they’ve set for the company.
Andy Zelleke
Lecturer in public policy, Harvard Kennedy School.
Having a devotion to the interests of others (that’s a timeless aspect)  

Batia Mishan Wiesenfeld

Professor, Leonard Stern School of Business NYU
Having the habit of explaining what drives your actions/ decisions.
It forces you to understand the underlying values that are driving your behavior and allow you to ensure that you’re conveying/ communicating those to others. This creates a dynamic of accountability. The values get aligned with the practices.
Evan Wittenberg
Head of Global Leadership Development, Google inc.
Curiosity/ inquisitiveness
The world is terribly complex and leaders are working more across boundaries. Therefore you need to be able to admit you don’t know everything and not  make assumptions.
Dr. Ellen Langer
Professor, Harvard University
Mindfulness (noticing new things and take advantage of opportunities)
You no longer have people applying yesterday’s solutions to today’s problems.
Scott Snook
Associate Professor, Harvard Business School.
Having a clear sense of their calling/ purpose
No matter how competent or skilled they are if they don’t have a clarity of purpose, which is the bedrock of what leaders of the future need.

 
Vocabulary for exploitation

·         Followers take a leap of faith
·         Trust  is all you have
·         Use the tools at your disposal
·         Have a sense of direction, passion and mission.
·         You need to understand the people you’re working alongside.
·         They need to have a relentless desire to build capacity in the people around them.
·         They need to have a devotion to the interests of others. That’s a timeless aspect of leadership.
·         The most important trait when a leader is giving direction is to get into the habit of always explaining why.
·         This forces you to identify the underlying values that are driving your behavior or your request.
·         This allows them ensure they are conveying their values to others.
·         The values should get aligned with the practice.
·          Leaders are working across organizational boundaries.
·         Leaders should be curious and inquisitive.
·         Leaders of the future would prosper enormously by becoming more mindful.