Oldies Goldies: Supertramp's "The Logical Song"

"The Logical Song" is a 1979 song performed by the English rock group Supertramp. The song was released as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Breakfast in America (1979), in March 1979 by A&M Records. "The Logical Song" is Supertramp's biggest chart hit in both the United States and their native United Kingdom. "The Logical Song" rose to No. 7 in the UK and No. 6 in the US Billboard chart.

A perfect example of combination of great lyrics, beat, and instrumentation in a 1979 hit that is constantly ranked in the “top 100 best rock songs”. The song, not unlike others in that period, is a scathing criticism of British school and education at the time: the lyrics have been said to be a condemnation of an education system focused on categorical jargon as opposed to knowledge and sensitivity.

"The Logical Song" was written primarily by Roger Hodgson, the lyrics based on his experience of being sent away to boarding school for ten years. It was a very personal song for Hodgson; he had worked on the song during soundchecks, and completed the lyrics and arrangement six months before proposing it to the band for the album. In 1980, Hodgson was honored with the Ivor Novello Award from The British Academy of Composers and Songwriters for "The Logical Song" being named the best song both musically and lyrically. "The Logical Song" also has the distinction of being one of the most quoted lyrics in schools.

Hodgson has said of the song’s meaning: "'The Logical Song' was born from my questions about what really matters in life. Throughout childhood we are taught all these ways to be and yet we are rarely told anything about our true self. We are taught how to function outwardly, but not guided to who we are inwardly. We go from the innocence and wonder of childhood to the confusion of adolescence that often ends in the cynicism and disillusionment of adulthood. In 'The Logical Song,' the burning question that came down to its rawest place was 'please tell me who I am,' and that's basically what the song is about. I think this eternal question continues to hit such a deep chord in people around the world and why it stays so meaningful."

When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful

A miracle, oh, it was beautiful, magical

And all the birds in the trees, well, they'd be singing so happily

Oh, joyfully, oh, playfully watching me

But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible

Logical, oh, responsible, practical

And then they showed me a world where I could be so dependable

Oh, clinical, oh, intellectual, cynical

There are times when all the world's asleep

The questions run too deep

For such a simple man

Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned?

I know it sounds absurd

But please, tell me who I am

I said, now watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical

A liberal, oh, fanatical, criminal

Won't you sign up your name, we'd like to feel you're acceptable

Respectable, oh, presentable, a vegetable

Oh, take, take, take it, yeah

But at night, when all the world's asleep

The questions run so deep

For such a simple man

Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned?

I know it sounds absurd

But please, tell me who I am

Who I am

Who I am

Who I am

Who I am

'Cause I was feeling so logical

D-d-d-d-d-d-digital

Yeah, one, two, three, five

Oh, oh, oh, oh

Ooh, it's getting unbelievable

Yeah

B-b-bloody marvelous

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non commercial purposes only.

Silence

What it takes to climb the world’s first 9c? Let’s find out in Silence, a movie by Bernardo Giménez. It shows what preceded the afternoon of September 3rd 2017 when Adam Ondra, a professional rock climber and currently one of the best climbers in the world, made a little piece of climbing history.

If you work hard, you may fail;

if you don't work, you have already failed.

The harder I work, the luckier I get.

The only secret to success is work, hard, relentless, daily, stubborn work. Nothing comes easily nor effortlessly, nothing comes for free — not even to the best students, the best artists or top-ranked sportspeople. If you want to succeed in whatever endeavour you take up, the only way is through work: there's no shortcut. If you fail, if you fall, you've got to stand up and fight...

... just as Adam Ondra and Chris Sharma, two of the best climbers in the world, show in these videoclips. Of course, Ondra and Sharma have been gifted by nature, no question about that, but their talent would be completely useless without their work ethics, without their persistence and determination... not to mention careful, conscientious, thorough previous planning and organization, leaving as little as possible to chance and improvisation.

Take a look at the very last shot in the first videoclip when the camera is moving away from the cave and notice how small Ondra is, how small and insignificant all of us are when compared to nature... If you want the best in any walk of life (at school, at sport, at arts, friendship or love), first you've got to give the best.

Take a look now at the second videoclip and count how many times each climber fails and falls down. And what happens? They don't give up, they don't quit, they don't surrender... they try again! And again and again and again! That's the only recipe, that's the only prescription, that's the only way.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

2018/19 Exam Schedule for ESO 2, 3 & 4

Exam schedule for the 2018/19 schoolyear

ESO 2, 3 & 4 Students,

This is your exam schedule for the 2018/19 schoolyear (you can also find a calendar of exams, deadlines and other events at the bottom of this blog):

Please note that all exams and dates are subject to change. PBL's and other tests dates to be confirmed.

DIAGNOSTIC TEST

ESO 2 – Friday 21st September

ESO 3 – Wednesday 19th September

ESO 4 – Wednesday 19th September

1st Term

UNIT 1

ESO 2 – Monday 15th October

ESO 3 – Tuesday 16th October

ESO 4 – Monday 15th October

UNIT 2

ESO 2 – Friday 9th November

ESO 3 – Friday 9th November

ESO 4 – Wednesday 7th November

UNIT 3

ESO 2 – Monday 3rd December

ESO 3 – Wednesday 5th December

ESO 4 – Tuesday 4th December

2nd Term

UNIT 4

ESO 2 – Monday 14th January

ESO 3 – Tuesday 15th January

ESO 4 – Monday 14th January

UNIT 5

ESO 2 – Friday 8th February

ESO 3 – Friday 8th February

ESO 4 – Wednesday 6th February

UNIT 6

ESO 2 – Friday 8th March

ESO 3 – Friday 8th March

ESO 4 – Monday 11th March

3rd Term

UNIT 7

ESO 2 – Friday 5th April

ESO 3 – Friday 5th April

ESO 4 – Monday 8th April

UNIT 8

ESO 2 – Friday 10th May

ESO 3 – Friday 10th May

ESO 4 – Wednesday 8th May

UNIT 9

ESO 2 – Friday 7th June

ESO 3 – Friday 7th June

ESO 4 – Monday 10th June

FINAL REMEDIAL EXAM

ESO 2 - Thursday 13th, 10:45

ESO 3 - Friday 14th, 10:45

ESO 4 - Monday 17th, 10:45

Alternative Math - Short Film

A well meaning Maths teacher finds herself trumped by a post-fact America.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

The power of 'yet'

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Who?

We would like to know who the pirate girl is:

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

"To Parents", by Christine Jones

As a teacher, what are things you wish you could tell your students’ parents?

By Christine Jones, Middle School Science Teacher

(Reblogged from Quora)

I wish I could hand out the following wish list to parents of my middle school students:

1. PLEASE take the cell phone away after 9:00pm. They are texting and looking at YouTube all night long. They aren't getting enough sleep.
2. Please check your child's grades online, and look at the report cards. Don't ask what they can do to improve their grade the last week of school. It's too late.
3. Please return our phone calls. If we are calling, it's important. We don't have time to waste calling for no reason, and we need your help.
4. Please stop saying "my child would never lie to me". Kids lie. It's normal.
5. Please don't assume we dislike your child if they get reprimanded at school. If they fail a test, get a detention… we are trying to correct behaviour. It's not personal.
6. I am trying my best every day. I do this job because I love it, and I wouldn't want to do anything else. I would appreciate your support. Telling your child to respect their teachers is a great way to help.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Summer 2018 Remedial Task

ESO Students,

Here is your 2018 summer remedial assignment:

• You should solve the activities of the vocabulary, grammar and writing pages in each unit (pages 1, 3, 4, 5 and 8 in every unit)
• You should also complete the three revision sections found at the end of every three units in your student's book: review A (units 1, 2, 3), review B (units 4, 5, 6) and review C (units 7, 8, 9).

Use an A-4 sized notebook to copy the formulation or wording of every activity and underline their key words. Then, translate that wording into Galician/Spanish and solve the activities.

This assignment is NOT COMPULSORY. You do not need to hand in your homework as it will NOT ADD ANY POINTS AT ALL TO YOUR SEPTEMBER MARK. However, we would like to advise you to prepare these activities if you want to be successful in your September remedial exams.

----------- ooo O ooo ----------

This is your English exams schedule for September 2018:

• Monday 3rd September, 9.00 - 10.15 - ESO 4 Remedial Test.
• Monday 3rd September, 16.00 - 17.15 - ESO 1, ESO 2 and ESO 3 Previous Years Remedial Tests.
• Tuesday 4th September, 10.15 - 11.30 - ESO 1 and ESO 2 Remedial Test.
• Wednesday 5th September, 10.15 - 11.30 - ESO 3 Remedial Test.

Have a very nice summer and... good luck!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Best 2018 Graduation Speech, by Andrea Martínez

This year's best graduation speech is by 4 ESO A student Andrea Martínez, who has not only written a nice farewell address, but she delivered it in style and graciously, with fine pronunciation, intonation and stance, and with remarkable composure and serenity.

As usual, this student is the chosen one to speak on behalf of his classmates at the 4 ESO graduation ceremony to be held at 1 pm on Thursday 21st June.

HAPPINESS and PRIDE

Welcome parents, family, guests and teachers. Thank you for being here on this important day.

Today is a day of happiness and pride. First of all, congratulations to all of you, classmates and friends, for being here today, for having spent all these years studying, having lessons and working hard to have a good future and improve your learning and your life.

  

I came to this school in 2006 in the second year of kindergarten. On my first day, that day when all of us were wearing our red sweatshirt, our blue trousers and our checkered apron. Some of us were crying because we didn’t want to say bye to our parents. And today, on our last day at this school, we will cry again because we will not want to say bye to Labor School. That day, the kindergarten first day, the day that no one remembers, is the day that has marked us. We didn't even know it yet, but on that day our student career started at Labor School.

During our first few years here, we learned the Little Einstein´s dance to make a spaceship take off and not to talk when the teacher wasn't in the classroom and a classmate used to write names on the board.

At the end of kindergarten, we had the first graduation of our lives and we started Primary Education, another day of happiness and pride. Primary will be always the best time of a student career. When you are in Primary you don´t have to study much, you don’t have many problems or worries and your life is always fun. You draw a picture every week explaining what you did on your weekend, you listen to the Christmas Lottery live, you learn verb tables, multiplication tables, tables, tables and more tables. We did mathematical competitions during the lessons, we did the 'Baker Game' in PE, we took part in an amazing athletics competition with other schools (where we won just one trophy, but it doesn´t matter). There, we also learned the importance of sharing thanks to María Aguiño's and Ana Collazo's "700 kilos Goal". Primary ended with the goodbye to some classmates and the arrival of others. But we stayed together in the same classes and in the same groups.

But you continue growing up and you move on to Secondary Education. You are now in the last part of your time at school, you will have now 8 different teachers and you will have to start working harder than before. You have been seeing those people, who seemed very serious and some a little unfriendly, for years during the breaks, and now they are your teachers. Now you take lessons in the older students' building, that white and green building. 

The first day of Secondary comes. This day is your first time entering the Secondary building with the other Secondary students and you find yourself waiting to go upstairs in this crowded hall and surrounded by people as tall as a tower. In our first few years here we started with the Galician definition pages, with the DIN A5, with Candido's scary tests written in black ink on his graph paper. We took up French, a strange language, Word, Qkad, and Sketchup exams, Cooper tests, irregular verbs tests and all the presentations in public. Here we had the flute tests that shook our pulse. And we started the Olympic teams.

During all these years, there have been times of distress; there were happy moments too and goals achieved in group. A group that wouldn't exist without you, teachers and parents. Thank you, teachers for putting up with our foolishness, for being so patient with us and for being more than teachers, friends and parents.

And parents, what can I say? We owe you a lot: all your support and unconditional effort every time you had to explain something to us over and over again, or help us organize our study time, or if you had to pay for coaching lessons or revise lessons with us. You have to know it was worth it.

This school has made a family from us, a big and strong family, both students and teachers. This family is now 13 years old; even if someone has joined in later, the link is very tight too.

Today, a day of happiness and pride, is the day when this period ends and the future starts, when our time at Labor School ends and a new period called high school starts.

Everything in life comes to an end and this speech too. And now we will make promises like… nothing is going to change, we will meet every month and we will chat most days. But life moves on and we have to move on too. This is not just an ending: this is a new beginning too. I hope you all have all the best of luck in the future. Not being together does not mean forgetting what we have lived and shared.

And there is one thing that we can promise. That when we walk past one of us down the street, we will think that this person was with us at Labor School and we will remember all the important and happy moments that we enjoyed with them in the past.

Today is a day of happiness and pride... Enjoy it! Thank you everybody and congratulations and all the best, my friends!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only

STEM Week 2018

STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

STEM Discovery Week 2018 is a joint international initiative that invites projects, organisations and schools across Europe and around the world, to celebrate careers and studies in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Xúntase a Orde do 23 de maio de 2018 pola que se aproban as bases e se convocan axudas para a realización de actividades formativas STEM en lingua inglesa, STEMweek, no ano 2018, en réxime de concorrencia competitiva, destinadas ao alumnado dos centros docentes sostidos con fondos públicos.

• O prazo para a presentación de solicitudes será dun mes, contado a partir do día seguinte ao da publicación desta orde no Diario Oficial de Galicia.
• 
  

Orde do 23 de maio de 2018 (DOG)Extracto da Orde do 23 de maio de 2018 (DOG)

Heart of a Lio

Don't give up on your dream because when you have a dream to chase, nothing can stop you. Glory only happens when you sweat for your dreams.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only

How I see it: Vigo

Sam Pilgrim and his friend Tom were out in Spain for a contest and decided the best way to check out our town of Vigo would be to go for a thrash around on their bikes!

The weather was absolutely amazing and the vibe of Vigo is really awesome, and there weren't too many angry people this time! He will make sure to get back to Spain very soon because it was awesome and "Espanyol" is fun!

But make sure you don't try these dangerous tricks and always, always, always respect the law, the traffic signs and lights, and follow every rule: safety first!!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Labor Space Tour 2018 - It's a Celebration!

Labor's Living a Celebration!!

We are celebrating at Labor School. As you already know, on Friday 25th May we are holding our traditional open-doors festival day and theme celebration: The Space this year!

Everybody is welcome. Have fun!

In the meantime, take your time to relax, learn and enjoy this most interesting videoclip featuring music by the geniuses Monty Python:

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

April Come She Will 2018

At LEZ we have posted 2 songs by Simon Garfunkel: I am a rock and 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night. We give you now another of their masterpieces, 'April Come She Will.' Whatever happened to poets and musicians like them?

April, come she will

When streams are ripe and swelled with rain.

May, she will stay

Resting in my arms again.

June, she'll change her tune,

in restless walks she'll prowl the night.

July, she will fly

and give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,

the autumn winds blow chilly and cold.

September, I'll remember

a love once new has now grown old.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

April Fools' Day 2018

April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is a day celebrated in many countries on April 1st. The day is named for the custom of playing practical jokes and hoaxes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbours, or sending them on a fool's errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible. Traditionally, in some countries, such as the UK, Australia and South Africa the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool". Elsewhere, such as in Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Russia, The Netherlands, and the U.S., the jokes last all day.

Daylight Saving Time 2018

Daylight saving time (DST)—also summer time in several countries, in British English, and European official terminology—is the practice of advancing clocks so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn.

Graduation Speech: ESO 4 2017-18 3rd Term PBL Assignment

ESO 4 Students,

This is your PBL assignment for the 3rd term. All of you have to WRITE and DELIVER your GRADUATION SPEECH.  You have to imagine you are going to stand in the school Assembly Hall before your teachers, classmates, parents and guests at your ESO graduation ceremony (to be held on June 21st) and deliver your speech, which must be at least 350 WORDS LONG.

The best student will be offered the chance to deliver his or her speech at your graduation ceremony... in English!! Of course, he or she will get extra points in the final mark for that effort.

Labor Walk of Fame 6.2

Our best students of English during the 2nd Term have been:

Spring 2018

Click here to enlarge image

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

What is your gift?

Notes to Strangers

You have a gift. What is it? Everybody is unique. Everyone is gifted in some way or another. Do you know what your gift is? If you don't, it is never too late to start searching for it. Find your gift, start working hard on it, pursue it, develop it. Be the best version of yourself you can be.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Father's Day 2018

No copyright infringement. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

St. Patrick's Day 2018

St. Patrick's Day is a global celebration of Irish culture on or around March 17. It particularly remembers St Patrick, one of Ireland's patron saints, who ministered Christianity in Ireland during the fifth century. 

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in many parts of the world, especially by Irish communities and organizations. Many people wear an item of green clothing on the day. Parties featuring Irish food and drinks that are dyed in green food colour are part of this celebration.

It is a time when children can indulge in sweets and adults can enjoy a "pint" of beer at a local pub. Many restaurants and pubs offer Irish food or drink.

Derby Days: Galicia

Derby Days: Galicia | Spanish Football As You've Never Seen It Before

Derby Days is back with a bang as we take the entire series to Spain to discover the incredibly unique rivalries that make up this obsessed football nation! First up is Galicia in the north west, made up of a people who live their life, their football and their derby like no one else.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Asperger

February 18th, International Asperger's Day. Can you feel it (too)?

Asperger is a show that visualizes the emotions of people with Asperger, a condition of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Krister Palo is a 15-year-old student at the International School of the Hague who just happens to have Asperger's syndrome. In his talk, he shares misconceptions about people with Asperger's syndrome, and breaks down some of these popular stereotypes and assumptions.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Get out of your own way

Blessed are the arrogant
For there is the kingdom of their own company
Blessed are the superstars
For the magnificence in their light
We understand better our own insignificance
Blessed are the filthy rich
For you can only truly own what you give away
Like your pain

The Biblical verses Matthew 5:3-11, otherwise known as the Beautitudes, were a series of eight blessings recounted by Jesus on the Sermon of the Mount through the gospels of Matthew and Luke:

Decimal(isation) Day 2018

Decimal Day (15 February 1971) was the day the United Kingdom and Ireland decimalised their currencies.

The old system

Under the old currency of pounds, shillings and pence, the pound was made up of 240 pence (denoted by the letter d for Latin denarius and now referred to as "old pence"), with 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings (denoted by s for Latin solidus) in a pound. Especially in an era before widespread computer use, monetary calculation, such as adding up sums of money, was more complicated than with a decimal currency. Tourists were also confused by coins such as the 'half-crown' (worth two shillings and sixpence, or one eighth of a pound). The loss of value of the currency meant that the penny, with the same diameter as the U.S. half dollar, was of relatively slight value (the farthing, worth one-quarter of an old penny, had been demonetised in 1960).

Changeover

Under the new system, the pound was retained but was now divided into 100 "new pence", denoted by the symbol p. New, different coinage was issued alongside the old coins. The 5p and 10p coins were first introduced in April 1968 and were the same size, composition and value as the shillings and florins circulating alongside them. In October 1969 the 50p coin was introduced and the old ten-shilling note was eventually withdrawn, in November 1970. This reduced the number of new coins that had to be introduced on the day and meant that the public was already familiar with three of the six new coins. Small book were made available containing some or all of the new denominations.

Decimal Day itself went smoothly and did not even form the lead story the following day in most national newspapers. Criticisms included the small size of the new halfpenny coin and the fact that some traders had taken advantage of the transition to raise prices. Some used new pennies as sixpences in vending machines.

Now let's hope some day in the near future traffic signs and capacity measurements (for example in petrol stations) in the UK, Ireland and other English-speaking countries will also be decimalised. Shall our eyes see that change? At LEZ we are afraid we won't...

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

St Valentine's Day 2018

Saint Valentine's Day is observed on 14th February each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it remains a working day in most of them.

2018 Carnival, Lent, Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) & Ash Wednesday

Carnival

Carnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, masque and public street party. People often dress up or masquerade during the celebrations, which mark an overturning of daily life.

Groundhog Day 2018

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. A groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. 

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather folklore, wherein a badger or sacred bearis the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

The School Day of Non-Violence and Peace 2018

The School Day of Non-Violence and Peace is an observance founded by the Spanish poet Llorenc Vidal in Majorca in 1964 as a starting point and support for a pacifying and non-violent education of a permanent character.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

(Sunday) Bloody Sunday 2018

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has apologised for the actions of British soldiers after the "Saville Inquiry" found that 14 civil rights demonstrators and bystanders were killed without justification.

Describing the actions of soldier as "unjustified and unjustifiable", the Prime Minister told the Commons: "What happened should never ever have happened. I am deeply, deeply sorry."

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry report found that all those killed were unarmed and that paratroopers had lost control and opened fire without warning. Some had been trying to flee when they were hit and soldiers had made up false accounts in a bid to cover up their actions, the report found.

A total of 13 unarmed civilians, seven of them teenagers, died in Londonderry when soldiers from 1st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment opened fire during clashes after the banned march was stopped from entering the city centre on January 30 1972. A 14th man died some time later from his injuries.

Lord Saville concluded: “What happened on Bloody Sunday strengthened the Provisional IRA, increased nationalist resentment and hostility towards the Army and exacerbated the violent conflict of the years that followed. Bloody Sunday was a tragedy for the bereaved and the wounded, and a catastrophe for the people of Northern Ireland.”

The inquiry found that the soldiers of the support company who went into the Bogside, where the march was taking place, did so "as a result of an order which should not have been given" by their commander.

It concluded that "on balance" the first shot in the vicinity of the march was fired by British soldiers.

None of the casualties was carrying a firearm and while there was some shooting by republican paramilitaries, "none of this firing provided any justification for the shooting of civilian casualties".

In no case was any warning given by the soldiers before opening fire and the support company "reacted by losing their self-control ... forgetting or ignoring their instructions and training".

The result was a "serious and widespread loss of fire discipline".

Afterwards, many of the soldiers involved "knowingly put forward false accounts in order to seek to justify their firing".

After a night of anxious expectation in Londonderry, bereaved relatives celebrated the report's conclusions at the Guildhall, giving thumbs up to crowds outside.

The £191 million Saville report included 30 million words of testimony and took 12 years to complete.

Lord Saville has been criticised for the length of his inquiry, which was expected to last two years when it was ordered by Tony Blair in 1998.

Nearly 1,000 witnesses gave evidence, including soldiers, civilians, police, politicians, forensic experts, journalists, civilians, priests and members of the IRA, including Martin McGuinness, the Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister.

Sunday Bloody Sunday is the opening track from U2's 1983 album, War.  "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is noted for its militaristic drumbeat, harsh guitar, and melodic harmonies. One of U2's most overtly political songs, its lyrics describe the horror felt by an observer of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, mainly focusing on the Bloody Sunday incident in Derry where British troops shot and killed civil rights marchers. Along with "New Year's Day", the song helped U2 reach a wider listening audience. 

The song has remained a staple of U2's live concerts. During its earliest performances, the song created controversy. Bono reasserted the song's anti-hate, anti-sectarian-violence message to his audience for many years. Today, it is considered one of U2's signature songs, being one of the band's most performed songs. Critics rate it among the best political protest songs, and it has been covered by over a dozen artists. It was named the 268th greatest song by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

U2's drummer, Larry Mullen Jr said of the song in 1983:

"We're into the politics of people, we're not into politics. Like you talk about Northern Ireland, 'Sunday Bloody Sunday,' people sort of think, 'Oh, that time when 13 Catholics were shot by British soldiers'; that's not what the song is about. That's an incident, the most famous incident in Northern Ireland and it's the strongest way of saying, 'How long? How long do we have to put up with this?' I don't care who's who - Catholics, Protestants, whatever. You know people are dying every single day through bitterness and hate, and we're saying why? What's the point? And you can move that into places like El Salvador and other similar situations - people dying. Let's forget the politics, let's stop shooting each other and sit around the table and talk about it... There are a lot of bands taking sides saying politics is crap, etc. Well, so what! The real battle is people dying, that's the real battle."

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

And the answer was...

And the answer to the quiz posted on Sunday 10th December was...

A team of allied prisoners of war (POWs), coached and led by English Captain John Colby (Michael Caine), in the 1981 film Escape to Victory:

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Blue Monday 2018

Hi there, Labor Students.

Today is Monday, but not just any Monday. Today is... Blue Monday!

Blue Monday is a name given to the Monday of the last full week of January, thought to be the most depressing day of the year as part of a 2005 publicity campaign by Sky Travel.

The concept is considered pseudoscience with its formula derided by scientists as nonsensical.

Strength. No weakness!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Labor Walk of Fame 6.1

Dear LEZ followers, the saying goes 'better late than never', so, as usual, we want to praise our best students of English during the 1st Term with a special mention on this blog:

ESO 1A: Diego Monroy Fariña (9.72)

ESO 1B: Juan Paredes Collazo (8.64)

2nd Term PBL Assignment

Dear Students,

This is your PBL assignment for the 2017-18 2nd term. Your task is to translate and adapt this inspirational poster (The Art of the Side Hustle) with words by Chris Ghillebeau and illustrations by artist Gavin Aung Than into the language of your choice: Galician or Spanish.

You should translate EVERY SINGLE WORD IN ENGLISH YOU SEE IN THE COMIC STRIP, create a new jpg or png file and once it is polished and finished you will have to forward it to our mail.

Keep the poster as it is: do not change any of the images. Just keep the same layout, fonts and colours as in the original, and substitute the English words (and only the English words, not the words in other languages, e.g., French) with your Galician or Spanish version.

The deadline is Sunday 18th February at precisely 23.59.59. No files will be admitted after the deadline ends.

Martin Luther King Jr. Anniversary - 2018

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15th 1929. Following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps, he was ordained as a minister in 1948. Dr. King became one of the most important leaders of the civil rights movement in the U.S., advocating a nonviolent approach to fighting for equal rights. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.

Listen to his famous speech I have a dream or read it:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history asthe greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.Five score years ago, a great... (click to read the full transcript)

If you want to know more:

Wikipedia article on M. Luther King

No copyright infringement intended. For educational purposes only

NBA London Game 2018

(Reblogged from the Sunday Express, by Stuart Ballard)

The NBA is growing rapidly in popularity in the UK with more fans than ever tuning in during the early hours of the morning to watch their favourite stars in action.

But for one week of the regular season since 2011 NBA fans in the UK get the chance to see the sport up close and personal as the biggest basketball stars cross the Atlantic to play at The 02 Arena in London.

 

Welcome Back! 2018

Yeah, we know, the X-mas holiday is over, but follow the advice of Monty Python from The life of Brian and always look on the bright side of life,:

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Who Brings Gifts to Europe? 2018

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

The 3 Wise Men Didn't Have a GPS 2018

There is no historical evidence, but we can be quite sure that the 3 Magi did not use a GPS to find the stable in Bethlehem...

Life of Brian

Scene 2: Three Wise Men with Bad Senses of Direction

The sketch:

holy music

BABY BRIAN COHEN: crying
WISE MAN #1: Ahem.
MANDY COHEN: Ohhh!
whump
Who are you?
WISE MAN #1: We are three wise men.

Best 2017 Graduation Speech, by Izan González.

This year's best graduation speech is by 4 ESO B student Izan González, who has not only written a nice farewell address, but he delivered it by heart in style and graciously, with fine pronunciation, entonation and stance, and with remarkable composure and serenity.

As usual, this student is the chosen one to speak on behalf of his classmates at the 4 ESO graduation ceremony to be held at 1 pm on Wednesday 21st June. 

Good afternoon! Parents, classmates, friends... and even teachers. I am here today because I just have graduated, that is why I am a little nervous, not everyone graduates. Thank you everybody for coming and listening to my speech. Today is the moment to say goodbye. Goodbye school, goodbye classmates, goodbye teachers...

I remember when I arrived at this school, it was in primary school, third grade. I was scared about coming here because I didn't know anyone at the school, but this fear disappeared when I met my new classmates. They gave me a lovely welcome and they made me feel at home. When I arrived, I was only eight years old, and today, at fifteen, I am saying goodbye. Not only to the school, but also to the teachers, those teachers who taught me very useful things in my life such as solving cube roots without a calculator, or the operation of the DNA inside the  nucleus. As I usually say, very useful things for our daily life. Since my arrival at this school, I have met a lot of teachers and classmates from whom I have learnt those things that have made me be here today, and I want to thank them.

First of all, I want to thank my parents, who support me every day and help me with everything related to school. Also to my friends, who help me through difficult times, to the Hispa Crew, who made me feel I belong to a group;, also to those teachers such as Leo who was my role model; and finally to the Wikipedia, which helped me in most of the PBLs that I had to do. To all these people I am saying goodbye today.

In the future I won't be able to remember all of them until the day Facebook will remind me of their existence. When I'll see them again, I want to see them as the biologists, doctors or lawyers that they are determined to become. I wish them all luck in their choices. But such as all the lives and all the speeches reach the end, this won't be an exception, and I want to end this speech saying goodbye. Goodbye to all of you and to my classmates: have a nice end of school trip!

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Three Wise Men 2018

In Christian tradition the Magi (pronounced /ˈmeɪdʒaɪ/; from the Greek: μάγοι, magoi, usually translated as "wise men", although it probably meant "astronomer" or "astrologer"... that is why they were following a star), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men, (Three) Kings, or Kings from the East, are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts.Traditions identify a variety of different names for the Magi. In the Western Christian church they have been commonly known since the 8th century as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. In the Gospel of Matthew, the only one to describe the visit of the Magi, it states that they came "from the east" to worship the Christ, "born King of the Jews". Although Matthew does not mention their number, because three gifts are recorded as having been given to the Christ Child, traditionally there are thought to have been three Magi. The Magi, as the "Three Kings" or "Three Wise Men" are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity and in celebrations of Christmas.

New Year Resolutions 2018

A New Year's resolution is a commitment an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year’s Day and remain until fulfilled or abandoned.

Labor students: Are you making any New Year's Resolutions for 2014? Maybe working harder at school? Spending less time on Tuenti? Leave your comments and tell everybody what your resolutions for the New Year are!

New Year's Day 2018

"New Year's Day" is a song by rock band U2. It is on their 1983 album War and it was released as the album's lead single in January 1983. Written about the Polish Solidarity movement, "New Year's Day" is driven by Adam Clayton's distinctive bassline and The Edge's keyboard playing. It was the band's first UK hit single, peaking at #10 on the singles chart, #11 on the Dutch Top 40 and charting on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in their career. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed the single at #427 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".