This Year’s Heroes

If you enjoyed last year’s post about my students’ heroes, you may wish to see who their heroes are this year.

– Coluche, he was a French comedian and actor. He is remembered for the Restos du Cœur – the charitable organisation he created – whose main activity is to distribute food packages and hot meals to the needy. (5 students)
– Martin Luther King Jr (4 students)
– Christopher Columbus
– Albert Einstein
– Michael Jackson
– Kelly Slater
– Two soccer players: Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi
– Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
– Barack Obama
– Neil Armstrong
– Frederik de Klerk
– Winston Churchill
– Nelson Mandela
– Charlie Chaplin
– Lady Diana
– Rosa Parks
– Emmeline Pankhurst

Students’ Heroes – Part II

 

This morning my own students handed in the essays they had written about the hero of their choice. I have only read a few but can still share their role models with you. This list is more eclectic and also more international than yesterday’s.

– Barack Obama (3 students)
– Martin Luther King (2 students)
– Michal Jackson (2 students)
– Eminem
– Marilyn Monroe
– Zinedine Zidane (a French football player)
– Christophe Maé (a French singer)
– Audrey Hepburn
– Nicolas Cage
– William Shakespeare
– Harvey Milk
– Gandhi
– Nelson Mandela
– Jean Moulin (a high-profile member of the French Resistance)
– Charles de Gaulle
– Anne Frank

Students’ Heroes – Part I

 

In my school, language teachers used to work on different topics and at our own pace. This year we have decided that all 10th graders will focus on the same topic, at the same time but each teacher is free to work on the documents of their choice, provided we cover the same lexical fields and grammar points.

As some of you may remember, in November and December we worked on heroes and role models. The final step involved naming a newly-built school: the students were expected to suggest a hero’s name before a vote. One of the ideas behind the project was to have the students question what a “good” role model is and not necessarily nominate a sports star or a famous singer. I am not sure we succeeded.

Thus my trainee asked her students to work in pairs and present their choices to the class. Like most Fridays, I was in her class last week and listened to these teenagers as they presented their heroes. Here are the nominees:

– Michael Jackson (2 groups)
– Bob Marley (2 groups)
– Bill Gates
– Walt Disney
– Steven Spielberg
– William Shakespeare
– Michael Jordan
– Martin Luther King

My own students were asked to write down their own choices and I should know by tomorrow whom they have selected.