Option 1:
Some people say "what you see is what you get" (meaning what you look like is what you are) while others say "never judge a book by its cover" (meaning outward appearances don't reflect what is inside the person). Discuss the implications of both attitudes and say which you agree with more.

We, humans, are very social animals, and mostly need social life to communicate ourself through language. This implies to know many people throughout life and so their differences.

Diversity and subjectivity are more present than similarity in our world, however, we have some psychological representations based in our experience of that we usually approve or disapprove (which is natural), so in the moment we meet someone, a person can cause us prejudices in a first instance, but depend in us to let the surprise item take place.

People always have something to us to learn, even if they don't know how to, so if we think always that "what you see is what you get", we are losing opportunities to learn to hear, to talk, to meet new realities, or simply to know what we reflect in others.

Although sometimes our first impression and our intuition in cooperation with prior knowledge can specify or associate some aspects with qualities of another person, we almost always have the opportunity to know him/her in depth.

In conclusion, we can naturally or unconsciously judge a book by its cover, but diversity can give us pretty much surprises, so if in some case we are meeting someone, we have to consider that he o she can be an interesting person, and that we can surprise others too.

"Technology is becoming more prevalent in our lives and world. There are pros and cons to this situation. Discuss both, and state whether you see more pros or cons with this."

Minimum 220- 250 words and 1 comment

Technology has been helping us in many ways, whether in our interests or at work since long time ago, optimizing time and effort, and in this context, television, telephones and mainly the creation of the first computer have established a world-wide revolution. Therefore, technology has been more and more necessary in our lives to access specially information and communication.

Furthermore, technology can favour the environment, avoiding tree explotation to make paper, and in the same way improves dissemination of that paper, which as magazines and newspapers can contain relevant news, culture and generally knowledge for people.

Nowadays, we can see how technology considers contacting with another people, as family, friends, or new interesting people, and let us maintain affective ties or commercial ties aorund the world. Socialization is part of our sort and lifestyle, and the e-mail or chat services can enhance that feature.

Nonetheless, today technology has attracted an entertainment community, that makes us challenge, as a example, some videogames or TV programmes, that mostly have shown stereotypes, addiction, and a less productive life, in addition, we can notice some violent games or publicity that are not attending to basical needs, but encouraging bad attitudes that harm social life.

To conclude, we have to know advantages and disadvantages to use technology in its best form to help us socialize, access culture and facilitate our formation and interests.

Pollution

        Pollution is a problem that people are becoming increasingly aware of. It is a result of strongly growing industry and unrespect for nature, ignoring living things and their life cycle, through imposition of technological machine that exploit human and animal's rights. In most cases this phenomenon has the aim in obtaining goods in a merchandising context, that relates to consumerism, buying and selling new products and accumulating trash and antique garbage.

From a health perception, due to economical interests, the environment degradates and contaminates because of industry and in consequence puts in danger our health, developing unstable weather, producing toxic air and reducing flora and fauna, which is breaking our ecosystem, leading the death of wild and human species.

Now, another unrecognized type of pollution is noise pollution, which consists in unpleasant sounds that persist day to day and possibly can develop psychological problems.

In the same line, we can suggest some solutions and prevention for pollution, which are mostly focused on re-use our useful things at home and donate things that you do not want anymore, and try to recycling garbage everyday. If pollution is a problem that makes people more aware, solutions have to produce the same in our community, and from this point of view, this changes at home are urgent. Our nature needs our help in deconstructing culture we have formed ourselves.

Living in a remote area can make a person's life rather challenging

When we travel on vacation we go to a different place, it let us leave the routine, moreover, holidays allow a space for relaxing. For instance, when we live in an urban place, we can go to the beach and stay in that place for some weeks, but what happens when we are studying or working and we do not have more options than to stay there for several months or years? This decisions can be surely challenging, because it is a change of lifestyle. Some studies say that students or workers that do not have more options and have to stay away from their family and home, can develop depression.

In another case, there are other researchers that say that living in a remote place have positive implications on people, because it has good result in relation to independance, self-esteem and safety of what do people want in their lives. It would be an important space to find themselves and have opportunities to meet new people, friends or partners and go to places on their own. Despite it can be difficult this change on a beginning, in the moment people get fully accustomed, they can live free, by their own interests. This challenge can take some time, but it can give excellent spiritual development.

Key concepts in ELT: a critical focus

This article has an interesting topic, it makes the complex concepts more clear and psychoanalysis more comprensible and introduces an academic way to demonstrate the success of encouraging "noticing" in class through practical activities with language that becomes the input, according to the author. But as a nursery education student, in my opinion, for starter students in the topic it isn't didactic enough, because of the technical language and the specification of the topic. However, for a language teacher is very useful information that sustain their professional skills and aims, so it's an article that can be recommended to teachers focused in language to make them know that their job is essential in the educational area of application, and how to teach efficiently in their classes. In nursery this information can be useful in daily practice, because in preschool children have primary notions of language, and we can focus that theorical learning on a critical learning and cosmovision.

Questions and Reading Task

- What was the last essay/paper you read about?

The last essay I read recently was about thinking the new school, free of discrimination, barriers and guilt, whose causes are many, not only one, not only the physical, psychological, social, racial, cultural, ethnic or sexual limitation or difference. All societies must understand that different people isn't disable, but "normal people" disables that limited person, that is to say, the problem is not the limitation, is the society that sees differences like limitations to access the school, the university or kindergarten, and that problem in most societies is multicausal.

- Why did the teacher recommend it?

For our teacher is important to teach us and recommend interesting papers or essays about this topic of "Pedagogy of Diversity and Social Inclusion" because discrimination has reached worrying situations of xenophobia, homophobia, racism, nazism, and other power relationships that disparage societies, especially the capitalist ones.

- Did you enjoy reading it? Why? Why not?

I enjoyed reading something interesting, critical and with coherent arguments that opens my mind and makes me consider the differences as valuables, of which I can learn and recognize their potential, not their limitation.

- What is something related to your career you would like to read more about? Why?

I would like to study more about child mistreatment and sexual abuse, because is a situation that occurs repeatedly in our environment, so I want to learn how to help children and their families to intervene in the best way.

- How do you usually organize yourself when you have too much to study?

 When I am full of homework to do, I start to prioritize the most urgent tasks or readings (studying for tests, etc), then I choose the longer tasks, and finally the shorter texts or homework. I take my time to do my things and enjoy my free time skating, taking a walk or shopping to clear my mind and not get stressed. Everything has a solution.

Charles Ronson - Curriculum Vitae

Charles Ronson is a forty-two year old psychologist from the University of Cambridge (1993-1996), and became an important and influential one because of his doctorate degree in educational psychology at University of Preston (2007-2010) and his master degree in occupation psychology at University Cardiff (1997-1998), which are very important fields nowadays. He was a 10 GCSEs student -including English and Mathematics- at  St John Fisher R.C. High School (1986-2001) with speciality in Technology at Wigan College (1991).

His most recent and relevant work -actually- is his job as a Private English Language Teacher (2011-present), in which he prepares and teaches English abilities and interests according to the students' ages, while he works as a Research Consultant, at the Transport Research Laboratories in Crowthorne (2004-present), as part of a research team at the University of Gloucestershire for the Highways agency to investigate behaviour in drivers, so that they can use principles of action research through theoretical and practical work.

His previous job, as a Lecturer in General and Occupational Psychology at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, involves facilitation of knowledge transfer for first and third year undergraduate psychology students, besides, he designed and teached a course in master "Psychology in the Workplace".

Among his publications and presentations, the ones that stand out are:
Diversity and Relationships to Student Success (2004)
The Affective Influence of enriched education on Talented Children in Chile (2011)