Final Reflection 2015

I was asked to think about strengths and weaknesses of the year, just like Crónica, TN and other channels do at the end of the year. There are thousands of moments that can be considered strong or weak enough to be mentioned in this post. Maybe I rather choose things that I want to do or have again next year and things from which I have learnt so as not to repeat them.

And now that I come to think again, at this time of the year, it sounds like a Christmas wish or plead to Santa!! I know I will have it, but I want to insist on this, just in case! I want to work with Clau again. That has been my strength this year, my support when I felt I was falling to pieces. So practical, she always has the exact words to make you feel better after the Tsunami. Always willing to work, always willing to make changes and to make things more interesting and funnier. She led me through the tangled world of 6th form, full of extra activities and responsibilities. I think we became a good team, with lots of ideas and open to suggestions.

Now, regarding the things I consider that I need to change for next year, I must mention first “communication” in general. Communication at school is not flowing fluently all the time. We are lacking moments in which we can sit down and reflect upon our work throughout the year. Fridays are not enough and the focus of our attention gets diverted to other aspects which are also important but may not be fundamental. I think we need to tackle obstacles when they occur, not at the end of the year when nothing can be done. We need to talk things over collaboratively, so as to find solutions to situations as a team. If I am to be specific, I’m referring to parent’s meetings. I take responsibility for the communication that failed between parents and me. I am responsible for the misunderstandings that occurred for things that I took for granted. Yet, the amount of things we are asked to bear in mind during the year is overwhelming if we consider the little time for reflection we have.  

This year has been a hard one for me, as I couldn’t reach the main objective: help students work their differences out, help them develop empathy for others. I know I failed. Today I came across a blog post which mentioned the 4 principles which should be present in the XXI century education: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, learning to live together. (Delors, 1996). I feel I could develop the first two, but I couldn’t accomplish anything valuable regarding the other two. Thus, these four pillars will be taken into consideration when planning lessons next year.

Delors, Jaques et al. (1996). "The Four Pillars of Education". Unesco. Retrieved 17/12/2015 from: 

http://www.uni-kassel.de/wz1/mahe/course/module4_1/01_delors96.pdf

Acto de Egresados 6to año EP

Quisiera compartir en este espacio el discurso que preparamos con Claudia Pugente para despedir a nuestros alumnos. 

Chicos, 

¿Como podemos empezar a despedirlos? Desde nuestro lugar queremos hablarles de manera sencilla, directa, sin tantas vueltas como tal vez sí tiene este idioma que nos tocó enseñarles. Queremos que hoy se lleven más que un recuerdo, o un momento, deseamos dejarles palabras llenas de sentido y significado, (que tal vez hoy a esta edad solo sean eso, palabras) pero sabemos que algún momento de la vida este discurso va a tomar forma más real, tipo en 3D. 

Hoy No los vamos a remontar a épocas pasadas, y preguntarles si recuerdan sus primeros pasos por el jardín, si recuerdan como lloraban en la puerta del colegio pidiendo ir a casa con sus papás. Tampoco los vamos a llevar a través de los 6 años de primaria, recordándoles spring concerts, actos escolares, gallery nights. No es necesario, sus papás probablemente tienen digitalizada cada etapa de sus vidas.

Sí, en cambio queremos hablarles de lo que está por venir. Es simplemente una nueva etapa. Están pasando al siguiente NIVEL de sus vidas, como en los videojuegos. ¿Y Cuál es la característica de un nuevo nivel, en Minecraft por ejemplo? Desafíos. Nuevos objetivos 

La vida es como un juego, y es importante ser consciente de que estoy jugando mi partido, y ganar o perder, depende de mí. Cómo lo juego, también. Cada nueva etapa es un nuevo nivel que hay que atravesar y que nos ayuda a llegar a nuestro objetivo. Y tal como en los juegos, cada nivel ofrece desafíos cada vez más importantes, los cuales requieren de la experiencia adquirida en las etapas anteriores, de las habilidades logradas y las estrategias que fuimos y seguimos desarrollando. Y acá está nuestro deseo, que disfruten de este nuevo nivel y los próximos que están por venir de la misma manera que disfrutan jugar al Minecraft. Sean perseverantes, insistan, muevan las fichas, los bloques. Construyan, armen, desarmen y comiencen de nuevo si hace falta. 

Y Si es necesario, tomen distancia, observen, reflexionen. No está mal pausar la jugada para analizarla con tranquilidad. Esto no quiere decir que la partida se termine. Siempre podemos darle PLAY nuevamente y a seguir jugando, pero esta vez con más fuerzas, más estrategias. En la vida también planificamos nuestras decisiones antes de avanzar, armamos la jugada, pensamos qué táctica funciona mejor en cada situación. Además puede pasar que la maniobra no salga como pensaban y es también parte del juego. De eso se aprende, se asumen las consecuencias, y se intenta otra vez y se sigue adelante con el juego. Siempre avancen porque, aunque más tarde se den cuenta que fue una mala jugada, la misma sirve para descartar, aprender y no volver a pasar por ese mismo lugar ó circunstancia. 

¿Cómo juegan cuando juegan al Minecraft? ¿En equipo, solos? Cada jugada es individual, cada uno de ustedes debe mover sus propias fichas para avanzar. Pero nunca están solos, siempre hay un compañero que les da una pista, que los ayuda a desarrollar una estrategia, que los guía. También hay compañeros con quienes jugar juntos, colaborativamente, con quienes complementarse y aunar fuerzas para ganar el partido. Entonces si no están solos, esas jugadas que ustedes arman repercuten en otros que juegan a su alrededor. Por eso tengan en cuenta que sus movimientos pueden afectar a estos jugadores, para mejor o a veces no tanto. Pero todos estos pasos nos llevan a algo nuevo. Tampoco es bueno mirar todo el tiempo la jugada del otro porque se pierde concentración en la propia jugada. Ténganse confianza, no busquen siempre la idea ó el apoyo del otro. Si están convencidos que es ahí donde quieren llegar, sigan para adelante. Hasta acá sabemos que cargan muchos conocimientos y vivencias en sus espaldas, y eso los ayuda a ser criteriosos: a nuestro parecer un aspecto fundamental para poder tener los pies sobre la tierra (estar bien plantados). 

Y por último, aunque no menos importante, todo lo contrario, DISFRUTEN. Es la mejor manera de transitar por esta vida Disfrutar mientras se juega, pasarlo bien en cada decisión, ser consciente de cada paso y aprovechar cada momento; además de ser la mejor forma de perseguir el éxito, ya es el éxito del ganador. Ganador es aquel que juega con alegría, vive con entusiasmo y aprende de sus errores, para seguir siempre avanzando, y creando nuevas formas de conseguir lo que se propone. Y si no tenés aún una estrategia muy elaborada, lo ves difícil o imposible: puede ser, pero NUNCA dejes de mover tu ficha, ya que la peor decisión es la que no se toma. ¿¿¿Seguimos jugando???

Piloting coding & gaming in the classroom...

To program or not to program? That's the question!

It is crucial to enhance students with one of the key skills of the XXI century: programming. Just like we teach reading or writing, programming should be included in every teacher’s agenda. 

As Mark Zuckerberg has already stated "In 15 years we'll be teaching programming just like reading and writing...and wondering why we didn't do it sooner." It is fundamental to incorporate principles of coding in our lessons as another skill to be developed. By starting from a young age, students will have developed the necessary strategies to succeed in the XXI century. 

Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science since it helps foster problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. Steve Jobs claimed that “Everybody in the country should learn how to program a computer... because it teaches you how to think”. There is no need to be an expert or to start big in order to program, the only need is to be willing to accept challenges! 

  

Mystery Biomes Game

6^th form students at Newlands School have been studying the different biomes of the world and they would love to put this knowledge into practice by having Mystery Hangout Sessions to guess the biomes where is school is located.

1) Mystery Hangout 20 Questions: Each class tries to figure out the Biome of the other class without knowing beforehand.

Type of questions:

Some questions are similar to the traditional Mystery Game, but there are other questions that could be helpful

-         About the Weather: is it hot most of the year? Is it cold most of the year? Is the temperature moderate?

-         About the precipitation: does it rain less than 25 cm annually? More than … cm annually?

-         About the geographical features: is it icy? Are there many trees? Is it sandy?

-         About the flora, fauna and its adaptations: do plants have thick leaves? Are animals adapted to cold/hot weather.

2) Biome Exchange (10 minutes) - Each class shares information on the local biome. What is it like to live there? What animals or plants are typical in their region? How do you prepare for seasonal changes? What natural resources are found in the area?

Type of Biomes we are planning to connect to:

Desert - Less than 25cm of rain annually
Tundra - Glaciers, little plant life, north of the Arctic Circle

Taiga (Or Boreal Forest) - Below the Tundra (Russia, North America) Northern Hemisphere
Temperate Forest - Pacific Northwest of the United States, New Zealand
Tropical Rain Forest - Central and South America,

Grasslands: North America prairie, the Pampas, steppes of Eurasia
Deciduous Forest - Dense forest with four distinct seasons

References::

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/grasslands.htm

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/biome/

Games in the School, 2nd Round

My third and last MOOC of the first term

Created with Padlet

How to Teach Computing

This second learning diary was prepared for another MOOC

Created with Padlet

Creative use of Tablets in Schools

This is the learning diary which I prepared for the MOOC.

Created with Padlet

Argentinian Sins in the classroom

It might be that teacher's concern at the very beginning of the year is mainly Behaviour. It could also be the fact that we wish to settle the way we should work for the rest of the year. Now that I come to think of it, it could also be that I have been too influenced by the teachers my students had before. Whatever the reason is, I feel terribly worried about my student's behaviour. 

I've read a thousand articles about dealing with disruptive students and behavioural issues in the classroom. The truth is that I couldn't come with any definite conclusion or solution to the problem as many English webpages come with recipe-like ideas which may prove useful for foreign students. But my Argentinian students' of English have the Argentinian gifts of talking without listening to the person they are talking to, interrupting when it is somebody else's turn to talk, making unnecessary “funny” comments which disturbs the rhythm of the class, just to mention the most noticeable ones.

Thus, as it is an innate characteristic which comes with them and is activated once they receive their Argentinian ID, most of my students share this quality. I have a minimum of 19 students who talk at the same time, who interrupt, who ‘share’ unnecessary. What could be done when the majority of students behave similarly, when they feel that this kind of behaviour is the expected one for their ages in the XXI century?

I have tried a variety of feelings to ‘share’ with them, like emoticons in whatsapp. I’ve been happy that we had the challenge, confident that we could improve, disturbed that I couldn’t notice any change, angry because they didn’t react to my ‘speeches’ and sad because last Wednesday I realised I lacked the most important issue: trust. Every time I talk to them o even threaten them I, myself, don’t believe a word of what I am saying, how on earth can I transmit it to my students. Unfortunately, I am an Argentinian teacher of English who doesn’t trust the system any longer.

Next issue: how to 'kick the board' and do something for these Argies, both teachers and students...