Vintage Records

One of my favorite things to find at thrift stores are old records.  Records are cheap, costing around $1 each, and they can be upcycled for many different uses.  Record covers can become fun wall art, while the records themselves can be shaped into bowls, purses, or even art (see examples of record upcycling here)

My Favorite Record Cover

Records would be a great addition to the ESL classroom.  There are many movie soundtrack records that would be great to use for listening activities.  Students could listen to an excerpt from a soundtrack, complete a related listening comprehension exercise, then finally watch the excerpt on film.  This would be a great way to get students to think about context- students could listen to dialogue and imagine it one way, then watch it on film and realize that the dialogue is completely different when viewed in light of its context.

Another possible option is using records of background noises in the classroom.  In Making It Happen: From Interactive to Participatory Language Teaching: Evolving Theory and Practice, Richard-Amato (2010) describes a storytelling activity in which the teacher tells a scary story with her students sitting in a circle around her.  The record of spooky sounds, pictured below, would provide an amazing background for this storytelling activity.  This activity, which should be used carefully and thoughtfully due to its scary nature, is a great way to get students to share scary stories from their own countries.  This discussion can then lead to a general discussion of what is considered scary in different cultures.  Thus, a simple scary story can help students to develop their intercultural competence.

The Perfect Background Noise for a Scary Story

The Vintage Hairdryer

1960s Universal Hair Dryer

One of my favorite thrift store finds is this vintage hairdryer from the '60s that, amazingly, still works perfectly despite its age.  A cool looking vintage hair dryer such as this one (or hot curlers, rollers, etc.) brought into the classroom as realia would be a great tool to get students to talk about hairstyling/grooming habits in the United States.  The teacher could introduce students to past hairstyles for men and women through still images or video, then compare the past hairstyles to current hairstyle trends in the US.  Students could learn adjectives and terms used to describe hairstyles (such as "a bad hair day," "frizzy," "shaggy," "close-cropped," etc.), then use the terms to describe the images of current and past hairstyles.  The teacher could also ask the students to describe current and past hairstlyles from their homelands/cultures as a way to value the students' cultural backgrounds.  By doing this, the teacher also conveys the idea that US culture is not better or worse than other cultures; it is just different.

Another possibility would be to use the hairdryer to introduce the topic of daily routines.  The teacher could begin the discussion by asking volunteers to share what they generally do in the morning to style their hair.  From there, the teacher could ask the volunteers what other things they generally do before leaving for school.  Next, the teacher could introduce the sequencing terms used to describe routines (First, I ... Then, I ..., etc.) and the verb tense used when talking about routines (the present tense).  Finally, the teacher could check that the students have comprehended these concepts by having them write about their daily routines (or a fictional character's routine if they do not wish to share personal information) and having them share this information with the class.  By showing the students that they can be valuable sources of knowledge in the classroom, the teacher can, hopefully, increase the students' self-esteem and lower their affective filters.

Why I Love Thrift Stores and Teaching

This blog is a combination of two of my favorite things: thrift stores and teaching.  Why combine these two things?  Because I love them both!  Here is a little background about with I love thrift stores and teaching so much:

I first began thrifting as a child with my sister, and as I grew older my love of thrifting grew as well. There are so many reasons why I love thrift stores.  First, and most obviously, thrift stores are cheap.  I have bought like new clothing (and sometimes new clothing) from thrift stores for much less than they would cost in retail stores.  Second, thrift stores encourage the reuse and repurposing of items that might otherwise be thrown away.  I cannot put into words how much I dislike our current throw-away culture, in which items are either constructed to break or meant to be replaced by a newer, "better" version of the item.  By shopping at thrift stores, I hope to distance myself from this current throw-away mentality.  Lastly, and most importantly, items from thrift stores have history.  One of my favorite paintings in my home is a ridiculous, hand-painted portrait of a poodle with a bow in its hair (see picture below).  Although I love the sheer ridiculousness of this painting, I also love knowing that someone loved their dog enough to commission (or perhaps paint themselves?) a portrait of it.  This painting, unlike those from a retail store, has history- that is why I love it so much.

The Infamous Poodle Painting

 

 

 

Although I haven't been teaching for very long, I love it as much as I love thrifting.  Truthfully, I didn't choose to be a teacher as much as I fell into it.  In college, I majored in French and hoped to one day live and work in France.  As a senior in college, I applied and was accepted into the English Assistant program in France.  Surprisingly, I fell in love with teaching English to EFL students more than I fell in love with living in France.  That isn't to say I won't ever live in France again, you never know what the future has in store ;)  As for why I love teaching, there are many, many reasons.  I love teaching ESL/EFL because I love languages, and I hope to impart this love of language to my students.  I also love the cultural exchange that takes place in the ESL/EFL classroom, where the teacher and students alike share information about their cultures and backgrounds. Lastly, I care about my students and I hope to provide them with the foundation in English that allows them to succeed in the future. 

So, join me in my future posts as I share some of the things I've thrifted or seen in a thrift shop and how these items could be used in an ESL or EFL classroom!