Yesterday while I was talking with some students of mine about influencers and social media, a very polite student of mine called Marta mentioned two people that she follows online.
One was a Spanish girl who shares her daily activities online and the other was a Westmeath man called Niall Horan who became an international star as part of the boy band One Direction on the tv show X Factor.
All of my students admitted that they don't have time for influencers which was music to my ears but Niall Horan was mentioned for his smile and just being nice which is a quality I don't think should be overlooked.
I offered the student the chance to write her own blog entry as she was turning sixteen and while I have some correcting to do, mostly punctuation, teenagers typing answers on phones and tablets shouldn't be expected to have perfect English when their platform might be set to another language.
I do hope her birthday is better than last year when she spent the day locked inside her room because her mother had Covid. What a horrible situation for the whole family.
Not only must this be the worst possible feeling for a mother, I am sure Coronavirus didn't help either.
Families have had a very hard time this year, even when they were all together and it will take more than a Niall Horan poster on your wall to keep us smiling when Lockdown and isolation have been so difficult for everybody.
I am just finishing classes with my students and "One Way Or Another," I thought I should write a blog thanking them for their patience and cooperation when they have worked so hard in their third language for an extracurricular class.
Marta described her birthday plans, including details about last year and I will include her own writing but include corrections for her to see.
We are all capable of writing blogs and I think it is important that teenagers are encouraged to write without restriction, which means less writing for homework and assignments, and more interesting exercises. Maybe one day she will find herself writing songs like singer/songwriter Niall Horan or maybe she will inspire others with her own personal blog, like the Spanish blogger she mentioned.
"iám turning 16 tomorrow!!! Iám really exited for my birthday and very glad couse this year i can do a little party to celebrated, nor much people because of coronavirus but i guess it is going to best than last year, i has to spend my birthday alone in my bedroom because my mum got covid and then all my family got it too so we had to stay at home . But at least i got some presents i got by amazon andallsow some friends left some things at my door so that i had a better day , i really love them .
For my celebration this year i am thinking about some friends comming home in the evening , spend time in the pool and at home , then have a pizza or a hamburger or something for dinner and at las stay at home doing a pijama party. But all of this , after all the exams and after the school finishes so that we are not thinking about exams and school and we can have a really good time."
SOME CORRECTIONS
I am turning 16 tomorrow!!! I am really excited about my birthday and very glad (be)cause this year I can have a little party to celebrate it, not many people because of Coronavirus but I guess it is going to better than last year, I had to spend my birthday alone in my bedroom because my mum got covid and then all my family got it too so we had to stay at home. But at least I got some presents, I got some delivered by Amazon and also some friends left some things at my door so that I had a better day, I really love them.
For my celebration this year I am thinking about some friends coming home in the evening , spending time in the pool and at home, then have a pizza or a hamburger or something for dinner and finally having a pyjama party. But all of this, after all the exams and after the school finishes so that we are not thinking about exams and school and we can have a really good time.