Ruth Peterson5 June 2020
“Very soon it will all end and Covid 19 will be a distant memory …”
This message of hope was one of the ways that students of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) at Bradford College expressed their thoughts, feelings and experiences.
They used these as inspiration for work in response to the coronavirus restrictions as part of the #InspiredbyESOL project..
Created with love
Adults and young people aged between 16 and 18 have:
- Written articles and diary entries
- Drawn pictures
- Shared recipes
- Baked
- Made videos
- Taken photographs
- Shared advice, thoughts and kindness
You can see the #InspiredbyESOL project’s results here.
Seima Mahmood, ESOL lecturer, said: “During these difficult times, we as ESOL lecturers realise the importance of continuing with our online teaching and learning, using a variety of remote learning tools. It is vital to engage and challenge our ESOL learners in their work; empower them to become autonomous learners; foster remote learning skills; harness the skills of all learners; and keep them motivated during lockdown.
“So we asked our learners to send us pictures, drawings, recipes, videos and writing to show us what they have been doing during lockdown. The results are amazing!”
Etienne: Either everything changed or stopped in lockdown
In his blog on beating boredom during Covid-19, Etienne Lupungu said: “As soon as lockdown began, I knew it would affect my work and social life.
“Everything either changed or stopped as in meeting my friends and shopping.”
But during this time, Etienne has kept himself busy with activities such as cooking, maths exercises and keeping up with the latest news on the pandemic.”
Lydia: We have adjusted to pandemic
In her blog, Lydia Opare-Asmah said: “Coronavirus (COVID-19) has changed my way of life and that of my family in the past few weeks in a very big way. My responsibilities as a wife, mother and student have been changed … In all, the pandemic has presented a challenge but as a family we have adjusted and tried to live a normal life.”
What the students did
For #InspiredbyESOL:
- A group of students, Sarah, Shahida, Monika, Darartu and Aisha, collectively known as SBE314AA, joined forces to write an article on Covid-19 and education.
- Randa has followed her hobby of drawing women and fashion images. Meanwhile, Aeham wants to become an Architect in the future and can draw anything, buildings, people and nature
- Abdi has recorded a video of himself showing how he exercises at home to keep active, while Radwan gives advice about lockdown and how to keep healthy.
- Three classes of students wrote about how they beat boredom during Covid-19. They have also taken pictures to show their favourite activities. This was an opportunity for them to use a ‘real live blog’.
- Delicious recipes have been written and shared by intermediate and advance level students who want to showcase their favourite recipes with others.
- Prezi presentations by SBE314AA, ‘Lockdown Road Map’ , have been designed by teacher Monika Worthington to display her students’ lockdown activities and showcase what they have been doing during this pandemic. Hassan decorated his house and cleaned his garden and Mina has kept herself busy by bike riding and cooking.
- Vasile is having his lockdown experience in Moldova and shares the beautiful sights he sees every morning
- Thank-you posters have been designed to thank their bin men for working hard during this difficult time
- Teodore has painted beautiful pictures using acrylic paints
- Ahlam wrote a letter to her friend about how Coronavirus has impacted her.
- Denis wrote about his quarantine time and took pictures of old buildings.
