Changing the audience

On December I ended the year by saying "I need a change". This year, I got to know that that change had come. After spending four years in 6th form, this time I had to face 4th formers with all the readjustments that it implies.

It may seem something obvious but it is not the same the way you interact with a pre-teen and a kid. I realized that after so many years I had my mind and my teaching style adapted to elder children. 

While giving explanations or setting examples I got to know through their faces that I was not being clear enough for them, so quickly, I had to resort to easier or simpler ways. Of course, this process took only seconds, and they are things that you notice and that can be solved on the go. 

I feel really comfortable with this new challenge. Although I have a VERY noisy and talkative group, I find it a little bit easier to set limits related to behaviour and discipline. Pre-teens get used to confront you but little kids (generally) tend to comply with your orders easily.

It is essential whenever you are in front of a group to bear in mind their level and age. And, you, as a teacher, should readjust, readapt and retrain yourself in order to suit them. Only in that way, an appropiate interaction can take place.

21st Century Skills - End of the year reflection (6th form)

Our reflections:

We have worked on many different skills which helped and will always help students solve situations.

Summarizing skills:  these skills were necessary at the time of handling texts, especially long ones. Sts. Were encouraged to select specific, relevant or convenient information and highlight it in any way such as resorting to marginal notes, circling key words or just using a highlighter.

Logical & creative thinking: during assemblies and when asked to write stories they were constantly discouraged from irrelevancies. The objective was to move forwards and not backwards in terms of ideas or thoughts.

Communicative skills: students went through various activities, both oral & written, in which they had to convey messages, ideas and thoughts clearly and accurately.  During some home reading activities sts had to assess mates following some criteria. The focus was on fluency as well as accuracy and content transmission.

Reflective thinking:  the most relevant moment when this was shown was during our last project. Students were exposed to many instances of injustice which entailed their own reflections not only about these examples but also concerning their own experiences. Some kids came out with personal situations that affect them directly.  On the other hand, reflection was also taken to daily situations at school. We worked hard on attitudinal aspects always making them reflect upon their own relationship with others.

Bringing the world into the classroom: We held a hangout and sts enjoyed the experience. This activity was the excuse to study and revise geographical concepts. It was necessary to apply concepts seen in E.m such as latitude, longitude, etc.   They read about European countries and dealt with different cultures. This new information was shown in the spring concert revisited. (Germany  during world wars and England during medieval times )

Collaborating with other teachers:  We carried out a bilingual project on Industrial Revolution.  Moreover,  Miss Lau was always around asking about projects which could be supported with literature.  

21st Century Learning Context (Clau & Sabri)

It is essential to provide sts a "friendly context" where they can feel comfortable and motivated. Moreover, context must be supported by interesting and adequate material according to their age and level.
In this way, context is seen as well as a tool to promote students' ENGAGEMENT. In the 21st century, interaction and communication are key factors within the classroom context.

21 st Century Learning Tools (Clau & Sabri)

Nowadays we are fully exposed to several technological devices widely known by students. They provide many opportunities to improve language practice, that's why, we, as teachers, have to take advantage of them. Students, as digital natives, feel comfortable while using these devices and what is more important is that while making use of them they are involved in an active information process.
Teachers should give them the tools to develop certain skills which will help them select relevant information, so then they can resort to any type of digital resource (facebook, prezi, etc) where they can develop a creative product.

They key factor in this process is to keep moving and ADAPTING to this new context.

21st Century Learning Contents (Yami, Lau & Sabri)

Working on Cross Curricular projects expands the possibilities for kids to acquire two kinds of knowledge, regarding content and language. Moreover, their skills are fully developed because they have to compare and contrast, that is to say to think critically in order to go beyond the classroom environment.

As regards Cross Cultural contents, we think that we should  take advantage of the resources and tools that technological advancement offers us and students to get to know cultural differences. Globalization allows us and our sts to be aware of some cultural differences, but the fact that our students belong to one or two cultural varieties, at most, makes cultural mistakes acceptable inside the classroom. If social skills that foster respect to the others  are developed among students, the cultural mistakes can be accepted.

It is very important to present global themes in the classroom because they are the ones that allow sts to have an extended view of the world. The most usual way to do this is by considering cultural aspects in our projects. In that way, we can discover differences and similarities between what is of our own and what is not.

21st Century Learning Skills (6th form)

Being called "digital inmigrant" does not offend us. We were taught in a totally different way, though no less important. We try to include as many resources as we can, however not only do we focus our attention on technology but also on strategies that we used to implement and study with.

In relation to summarizing skills, we strongly believe that the most important thing for them is to READ and COMPREHEND the text. Afterwards, different strategies can be used, such us: highligthing key words to be expanded, main ideas, writing marginal notes or comments, paraphrasing, using graphs, etc. It is essential that students keep the main idea in mind and use their own language to communicate the content of the text, instead of sticking to the textual words. As this technique is very important, they should be trained from the very first day.

In the case of 6th form, our first project is based on the First Industrial Revolution. We have realized that sts already come with their background knowledge on this topic. Nonetheless, they should be encouraged to try to learn more by making questions, or by questioning their knowledge.

We usually make them work in groups because we think it is a fruitfull experience. They can exchange their own ideas and opinions and enrich themselves from other comments. We plan this kind of activity quite frequently. But to be honest, they do not always perform an specific role. They just get together and discuss.

In relation to communicative skills, we try to plan activities where sts are obliged to communicate and provide useful information to their classmates. This kind of activities with "information gaps" act as motivators to produce a communicative interaction in the classroom. As regards resources,  we can think of situations that we present to students regardless the type of material needed to carry out the activity.

Reflective moments are very important, that is why we MUST devote some time to reflect upon the results of the activities as well as on the activitiy in itself. It is relevant for them to be conscious about their own learning process. Moreover, it is useful for them to learn from the mistakes that occur while going through this process.

Our little place

Although it is quite small and many times it looks overcrowded, the staff room is, at least for me, one of the most important places in the school.  Why? Mainly because it is a sharing place...
It is the staff room where you share you daily comments of what have happened in the classroon, where you tell your sister teacher a rumour you have heard, where you complain about the misbehaviour of the kids, where you sit down for a minute, close your eyes and you breathe deeply trying to make dissapear the feeling of almost killing someone who has bothered you the whole afternoon. It is the staff room the "private" place where you can show your emotions, where you are allowed to cry when you feel overwhelmed, and where you receive a piece of advice or a hug when you do not know what to do.
I like the staff room because it is a place where I can learn. I learn from my co workers, from their experiences, from their pieces of advice, from their company. I learn from the "sharing".
It is so necessary to work with someone else who helps you or teaches you just with a comment or with a word of encoraugement that many times we did not realize that this happens to us daily.
It is not the first time that I say this, but I feel so happy with my "dream team", that it is one of the main reasons that makes me enjoy going to the school.
I've never felt alone, I've never felt "marginalized" because of being new. Even, the first year I was in the school, I got Flavia's help  and that made the work easier. I remember Dai asking me "and? how's the group? how do feel? are you happy?" simple questions that made me feel I could trust someone else and ask them "what shall I do now?".
To sum up, I have reflected upon this place because it is a place full of emotions, not only tears but also happiness, it is a place with challenges, advices, solidarity, humility, friendship, and where we show our feelings not only as teachers or professionals, but also, as persons...