Bulgaria - BETA Conference 2010 Veliko Turnovo

Note - Dobri and I are offering to bring the rocket workshop to schools in Bulgaria. All you have to do is get in touch and agree a date with us and we'll bring all that is needed.

If you think your students would enjoy it, get in touch!

The Bulgarian English Teachers Association Conference
Veliko Tarnovo, April 2010
Rocket workshop


A dear colleague, Dobri Vetsov, and I gave a fun workshop at the BETA Conference recently in Bulgaria. Rocket building and launching!
Gracious hosts, American College Arcus

Veliko Tarnovo is a lovely place, perfect for a conference. Make sure you know where you're going. Even with a map marked with X we went the wrong way!

Dobri has done rocket launching at his school in Sofia during the school's annual science fair and we both think it's a great context for language learning. So we put in a proposal and off we went, enjoying the sites en route!

View from Hotel Panorama

I was with the perfect guide since Dobri had spent 5 years in VT as a student.

We gave Dan from Macmillan a hand with his baggage and immediately checked out potential launch sites.

Waiting for introductory speeches...

School coat of arms. Arcus is one of two schools offering IB courses in Bulgaria.

I was given a surprise by Zarina from the organizing committee. Could I translate for the Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo?

I did my best, but there was a moment I got lost... luckily Zarina jumped in to help! (Hats off to translators everywhere!)

David Hill stepped in for plenary speaker Tessa Woodward, volcano victim, and spoke on creativity in language teaching. David gave a huge plug for CLIL!

In the break Dobri took me round to visit his former host family in VT. Many thanks to Marin and Maria for the coffee and chocolates!

Dobri set the context of our workshop by describing the School Science Fair and how we wanted to share this wonderful activity with the world.

We prepared one single handout as this was intended to be a very practical session with little talk from us and all hands on from the participants. You can download the handout here with instructions and ideas for language focus.

The idea actually comes from Middlesex University who produced the rocket factory and notes on a range of different rocket making activities in class.

I think we should have asked for tables! Teams have 20 minutes to design and build the best rocket from paper, glue, coloured pens, rubber nose cones provided by us, and anything they think will make their rocket a winner.

They have to name their rocket and we called the Bulgarian air force to warn of low flying objects above Tarnovo. There were prizes for the best rockets measured according to a) design and b) flight time.

Then we launched in the school yard. Thankfully the rain held off.

If I'm lucky there are willing volunteers to provide rocket fuel!

Hard hats are a must.

Don't press that button yet!

What happens if I press the red button!?

Macmillan provided training DVDs, a copy of my Geography book, and two free subscriptions to onestop as well as free folders and pens for everyone who took part. Big thanks to Macmillan!.
Incidentally, there are loads of activities like this one on the website in the experiments section.

Talking with the local media afterwards about the importance of space exploration in Veliko Tarnovo...

We had two free subscriptions to onestopenglish.com to give to the best rockets and presentations.

Just to repeat, Dobri and I are offering to bring the rocket workshop to schools in Bulgaria. All you have to do is get in touch and agree a date with us and we'll bring all that is needed.
If you think your students would enjoy it, get in touch!