What is the difference between having a young inexperiences teacher and an old experienced one? Does expert knowledge of a particular subject necessarily imply an ability to teach the subject?

Many people think that working in school is very easy and convenient. Now, I am doing a teaching practice in secondary school and I know that this theory is not true. Being a good teacher requires talent and involvement in this job. Age however is not important.

Firstly, it is not important how old the teacher is. Both a  young inexperienced teacher and  an old experienced teacher face the same problems, for example they must work with aggressive pupils, students with family problems or to convince young people to study a lot materials. To be a good teacher is required talent and involvement to this job. What I have in mind is that age is not important. I know a lot of young teachers at the begginning of their career and this job is only as a means to earn money, and others who have a lot of energy and want to teach a young people. On the other hand in Poland we have a lot elder teachers who wait for retirement and other teachers who have a calling to teaching.

Secondly, the difference between a young inexperienced teacher and an old experienced one  is their knowledge of the technology. A lot of schools have new equipment and this could be a problem for an elder teacher. In school, where I have a teaching practice every classroom has a computer, new multimedia board and in the school teachers do not use a paper class register. For a young teacher this type of technology is not a problem but a lot of elder teachers must learn how to use this type of equipment. This could to lead to differences between their lessons. A young teacher could vary a lessons for example prepare a presentations or give online exercises, which an elder teacher would not do.

Thirdly, we can see a difference in work experience. Work experience is very important for teachers. An older teacher who has worked in school for years knows how to help a pupils. Also, in my opinion older teachers command more respect. What I want to say is that young teachers can be seen more like friends not teachers. I had this situation in secondary school during my practice. It is very important for a  young teacher to create something like a barrier between him or herself. The pupils must know that a young teacher is professional and is in school to teach them and not to be their friend.

To sum up, the difference between young and older teacher is not important. The most important is talent and involvement in this job. We can see the difference in topic of technology, work experience or in level of respect.

Do you think the quality of education is slipping?

Education is the fundation of existence in every country. It is a way to learn a new language  to obtain knowledge or to get a good job. In my opinion, the quality of education in Poland is slipping.

Firstly, education has changed over the years. Before, for many people the quality of education  was very important. The standard of education was very high, and teachers expected students to excel. Only  smart people could study and graduate. Currently, in Poland there are a lot of private univerities and the standard of education is low. Also, in Poland we have a lot of public universities orientated to give at degrees with a high level of education.

Secondly, at universities there are not enough classes developing practical skills. We have a lot of hours of theoretical lectures but no classes where this knowledge could be used. A good solution to this problem is to introduce extra practical classes. Very often this kind of classes are crucial to understand a lot of concepts, for example in practical classes of English grammar we could use a lot of forms and vocabulary, which we learned in a lecture.  Also, every course has several unnecessary subjects, where everyone learns all material by heart. What I have in mind is lectures which are not necessarry in real life. This less important lectures  are important but could be shorter and replaced with a different practical subject.

On the other hand, in state schools there is aggression and teachers do not do anything with this, teachers do not perceive this as a problem. A bullying and aggression are inherent in a lot of schools. A  high level of aggression has considerable influence on schooling. A lot of kids do not want to study in a place, where they are bullied. It is very important to take action to minimise this problem. We must  remember  that an aggressive student does not always act in negative way things because he or she likes this type of behaviour. Actually, a lot of kids have a lot of problems and does not know how to solve them. In this aspect aggression could be  a signal to attract attension. If teachers disregard this problem, aggressive student will inevitably affect their lessons and disturb the rest of the class.

To sum up, in Poland the quality of education is very low and needs a lot of changes with respect to rising the level of education, providing more practical classes at universities and tackling the  problem of aggression at schools.

Films

I would like to tell about films. It is a manner of spending free time with friends or family for many people. Also it is a manner of learning a language.

I am actually studying Spanish philology and watching films for me  is a manner of learning a language. Usually I watch  films with subtitles or I choose original films. I know that this helps me to understand a foreign language better and learn new phrases. When I am watching  film or a series I can hear a pronunciation of words of actors and learn colloquial phrases.

I have a lot of hobbies, but watching films is for me a manner to spend time with my friends or relax after a hard day. My favorite types of films are romantic films, thrillers and detective films. All depends on my mood. I like romantic films very much because I like watching history with happy ends and when two people can be happy. I like thrillers and detective films because it is interesting to watch a story with suspense, secrets and to guess who is the murderer.

Apart from films in my life series are very important. I prefer watching series to films because I can watch a plots with main characters during few seasons. When I study English I prefer watching series, because the language is very simple and it is for me very important. My favourite series is Grey’s Anatomy, in Poland the name is Chirurdzy. This is a series about five friends who are studying a medicine and start work in a private hospital in Seattle.

Watching films and series has a lot of advantages especially for a person who want to learn a foreign language and I recommend it to study because it is very interesting and nice.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.

The book, which I would like to recommend is When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.

Paul's life was ideal. He was on the verge of completing a decade’s of training as a neurosurgeon, he had a wonderful wife, a lot of friends and a big family. His life changed in one moment. At the age of thirty- six Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. Day of diagnosis gave rise to his new life. One day he was a doctor and the next he was a patient who want to live.   

The proverb, which describe situation of Paul says: „The shoemaker's children are ill-shod”. He was a doctor, but he dismissed his back pain. When he had a diagnosis decided to fight with illness. For him, a cancer was a challenge, he was doing everything to recover. This book shows a process of battle for life.

For me, this book is extraordinary. It is a book about a man, who knows that he will die but he wants to take advantage of time which he have. Paul decide to speed up stages in life. He and his wife, knowing that he have a small chance to recover, they decided to have a child. Also, he wanted to write a book and he started to write a book When Breath Becomes Air.

Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book. The last part of this book was written by his wife Lucy. This part containt a point of view of Lucy and her attitude in illness of Paul.