Teaching English to Primary children

Where is it written that we can't change education? (MY LAST POST)

2011-08-31T11:03:00.007+02:00

Where is it written that the old way is the right way? Where is it written that the traditional education is the only way to get an education? That is the thing: it isn't written anywhere!

So,where is it written that you can't change education?

With this fabolous video I close this blog. When I discovered blogs I was so enthusiastic about them that I opened one for each topic I like about education. Now, three years later I realise I cannot maintain all blogs updated at the same time, and I have learned a lot too about how to take care about my digital identity as a teacher. So I have decided to unify this blog and another one I have as well about education that was origanlly created to write in catalan. So from now onwards, I will write all my post here whatever the language of the post is.

Please keep in touch and visit my blog Reflexions per a mestres where we can keep thinking and reflecting about education.

See you there!

Attwell on ePortfolios

2011-01-29T09:26:00.003+01:00

I have just discovered this video of Graham Attwell on ePortfolios, and obviously it is a must when learning about them:

Videos on edutech

2011-01-05T09:56:00.002+01:00

During the last term I discovered the following videos on edutech which I am planning to use in my lessons of English for student teachers.

Education Technology Plan in USA: excellent example of trying to get teacher's opinions

Via @jvivancos

You can't be my teacher: interesting questions to make teachers think about the importance of using new technologies

Via @iferrer

We are the people we've been waiting for: the question is... does our current education system work?

Via #ulearn10

The PLE Conference (still...)

2010-12-07T20:09:00.008+01:00

It's five months since I wrote on this blog for the last time. I think that the last time I tried to blog about the PLE Conference I was so excited that any words that came into my mind weren't enough to describe it. I had just run out of words... anything I could write was n't good enough to be able to show you how happy I was feeling after having met you all! Now, after all the time I have spent checking PLEs, listening to your podcasts, watching your videos and writing about them in my assignments and other stuff, I need to come back to this blog.

The PLE Conference in Barcelona was my first international conference and now I can guess how lucky I was to start in this new world with you. Since then, there have been new conferences, which I enjoyed so much, and I have met you again, in Bilbao (EDUTEC2010) or in Lisbon (TICEDUCA10), but this was all because you were so kind to me that I felt inspired to carry on.

But the PLE Conference is even more special to me for a very important reason: the first version of the mind map, which I submitted as a poster, was the very first thing I had written after having lost my grandma forever - she passed away eight months and three weeks ago and it's the first time I have written about her without tears runnning down my face. I have talked about her to lots of people (thanks for your patience), in lots more places, blogs and projects but I hadn't said this before so I still needed to say it. I hope that in the future I can keep on without annoying anyone else because I understand that I'm not at all special: all humans sooner or later have to live this farewell... but indeed my grandmother really was a very special person.

What do I remember now? YOU! I learnt that the PLN is one of the most important parts of a PLE. I learnt because I paid attention to your words, but I learnt it especially because I felt it. Then I learnt that talking about PLEs is not talking only about technology. PLEs are about strategy, methodology, students' own learning... The importance is not because of the tools but because of the learning process through each tool. So the answer to what we have to learn as teachers is easy: methodology. Or maybe simply attitude?. And the main aim is to avoid using new tools to keep teaching the same traditional lessons.

I now remember lots of questions that I asked myself : PLEs focus on personalizing, but could we focus PLEs on openness too? Do PLEs link both informal and formal learning? Is informal learning only possible after basic formal learning? If the learner is the owner of their own PLE, can an institution provide a PLE?

And something that I loved from the moment I heard it: eportfolios as the DNA of PLEs...

And the last thing I still need to write is: THANK YOU! And I hope to keep in touch with you... virtually or in person in Southampton.

It has been a short and brief attempt to write again but I hope I am able to write more here soon about this and lots of exciting ideas in edutech.

My poster for The PLE Conference

2010-07-09T00:11:00.009+02:00

Today I'm presenting a poster in the poster session of The PLE Conference... and I am feeling both excited and nervous...

This is the poster: a mind map on a project being developed now...

And the short paper submitted with the poster:

Short Paper on PLEs&EPORTFOLIOS + Poster

And I have prepared a presentation to support the poster (in fact, I just wanted to practise before the session!!!)

A presentation to support the mind map

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Sorry for the pronounciation of PLEs... I didn't notice that I was using the Spanish pronounciation .... glups!

Finally, it's here: PLE_BCN

2010-07-06T21:47:00.007+02:00

Wow! A lot of time waiting for The PLE Confer ence to arrive... and it's here: tomorrow we start!

It's the first time I have been to an international conference, but I wonder: are all international conferences like this one? I can guess the answer: no! I have never seen such amazing people organizing so many interesting speeches, workshops, sessions... nothing here seems to be traditional....Even main talks are not keynotes, but unkeynotes!!! Simply, awesome!
I've been online the last few months, except for some very busy days grading and planning, following The PLE Conference everywhere I was able to find and I was pleased by all the content all these great experts can be able to share. Before we start, I just would like to THANK YOU for your effort and your kindness in your attention!!!!

I'm willing to start tomorrow! I hope I can meet you all!!! And hope to listen to you very soon!!!

And, of course, if you are interested in PLEs I strongly recommend that you follow The PLE Conference in:

Twitter

Twitter list by @pgsimoes

Crowdvine

Twubs

And, I can't stop myself... here it comes my badge for the conference:

Sir Ken Robinson: bring on the learning revolution

2010-05-24T17:45:00.007+02:00

I've been following Sir Ken Robinson's interviews and talks since I first saw him on his first speech in Ted Talks in 2006. Now, I have just discovered the second one and again I love it as much as I loved the first. So here there is a short summary of this speech. I'll pay attention to future comments on this new ideas.

Every education system in the world is being reformed at the moment. And it's not enough because it's just improving a broken model. What we need is not evolution but a revolution in education. It has to be transformed into something else.
Innovating means challenging what we take for granted, things that we think are obvious...

The PLE Conference

2010-05-23T22:18:00.003+02:00

Are you interested in PLEs? Would you like to meet the best PLE experts of the world?

Then, you can't miss the PLE Conference in Barcelona next 8th and 9th July!

PLE Flyer

View more presentations from PLE Conference 2010.

I'm going and I'm looking forward to it! Let's meet in the PLE Conference next July!
See you soon!

Glogster on Roald Dahl

2010-04-05T21:12:00.013+02:00

Roald Dahl is worldwide known as a children's literature author. But he is also brilliant at writing stories for adults. We are reading two examples of both kinds of Dahl's work in class, so look at this poster to get some information before going deeper into the readings.
You've got a video and a game on the Twits and a funny summary of the Landlady that will help you understanding the real text. And of course, you have a video of the author himself talking to some kids about witches. Enjoy it!

Education in 2025

2010-04-03T12:23:00.003+02:00

Another video presentation with shocking images and messages to think on.

Find more videos like this on The Future of Education

Maria Montessori's example

2010-03-07T22:26:00.004+01:00

Maria Montessori is the perfect example I was looking for: a woman commited to both educational and social issues.

Watch this video on Maria Montessori and answer the following questions.

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Women's day again...

2010-03-06T10:46:00.007+01:00

Don't you feel fed up with so many nice speeches, hopeful words, and optimistic plans...

...when year after year, decade after decade, there are so many girls living the same story?

Can we stop it? Can teachers break the cycle of abuse?

Blogs versus Wikis

2010-03-01T19:32:00.005+01:00

I have just found this video on Jose Luis Cabello's blog and I simply love it. Original and hilarious as well as interesting.

Introducing cultural content in language learning

2010-02-06T09:14:00.015+01:00

This week we are starting a new subject on English language: English language and culture. You know that learning a language means learning its culture too and that's why I love this new subject.
So, why not reviewing how much we know about some geographical aspects?

And what about this one? Can you locate these cities in the UK?

Find more Hot Potatoes activities on English culture here

Thanks to Manuel Rivera who showed me these activities and taught me how to embed Hot Potatoes activities on blogs.

E-Portfolio Development and Implementation

2010-01-08T22:55:00.014+01:00

I have found this video on Leefolio blog thanks to Lee74 on Twitter. It goes deeply on the e-portfolio topic, and I have thought that it's so interesting that I have written some parts of Graham Attwell's explanation.

What's an e-portfolio? In the context of education and training, an e-portfolio is a portfolio based on electronic media services. It consists of a personal digital record containing information such as a personal profile and a collection of a achivements, information on which different services can be provided to the owner of the porfolio and the people and organizations to which the owner has acces.
There are four broad purposes of e-portfolio:
1. Assessment portfolio: to show that the user can achieve certain outcomes.
2. Presentation portfolio: to show what a user can do.
3. Personal development planning: space in which learners can way up their achievement and look at their future plans and how they might achieve those future plans.
4. Personal learning: a space where learners can bring together all their learnings, a record of lifelong learning.
Drivers of change: more student centred pedagogic approaches, more flexible programs, a greater emphasis on lifelong learning, competence based assessment.
e-Porfolios reflect changes and respond to changes in the way which young people using technology for learning but changes in the way we see teaching and learning in our society today
They should largely be owned by the learner and that means that the owner decides who they share their portfolio with and that's a key prince of e-portfolios.
Reflection on learning is critical to the development of an e-portfolio, and opening up the e-portfolio -although it raises some sucurity implications- to your peers to other people is one of the central ways of getting the feedback which is so important for that reflection to take place.
An e-portfolio should contain all learning: the key to a good e-portfolio is bringing together, collecting and reflecting on learning from all those different contexts.
Development of reflection may work best in project based learning and when reflection is linked to activities.
We have to move from assessment for learning to assessment of learning: a formative assessment that would involve changing forms of assessment. We need to move away from exam based assessment towards peer assessment and group based assessment. E-portfolio shoul be the place that assessment for learning could take place.
The e-portfolio shoul have different spaces and software services for different purposes.

New Year, new international celebrations!

2010-01-04T16:34:00.005+01:00

Unesco launches two new international celebrations in 2010:

International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures

International Year for Biodiversity:

UN Secretary General Welcome Message for the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity from CBD on Vimeo.

There's no doubt that these two celebrations can have an important place in our lessons. I'll keep looking for resources on these two topics from now on.

Hundreds of ways to wish a Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T17:49:00.003+01:00

Sometimes it seems that Christmas lessons in English as a foreign language run out of diversity, specially in Primary levels: every year the same vocabulary, the same Christmas Carols or the same Art activities such as the Christmas tree or the Christmas card.
Now I have just discovered two great lists of videos on Christmas, by Greedo, with such variety of songs, carols, ads ans stories that I can't help myself blogging them. I have found them on funpop, due to @The TheacherPage (Robert W. Hughes) who retweeted a post by @AuntyTech (Donna Baumbach) on Twitter:

101 Classic Christmas Videos online

Another big, big list of 101 Christmas Videos to Wathc and Enjoy

So, from now on, I 'm sure we won't run out of oral resources for our English lessons.

And with this short post, I send you my warmest wishes for a

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

And I hope that next year we'll meet here again -and I promise I'll try to post more than lately.

Your PLE

2009-11-02T11:13:00.002+01:00

Powerful Personal Learning Networks PLN

View more documents from Mark Woolley.

Presentation taken from Arran de pupitre blog by R. Barlam. Found in Twitter thanks to F. Esteve

PLE as autonomous learning tools

2009-10-31T19:20:00.006+01:00

It’s Personal: Learning Spaces, Learning Webs

View more presentations from Steve Wheeler.

I have found this presentation on Web Learning Remix blog by José Luis Cabello. PLE i a new quite new concept for me but I find it really interesting. In fact I am in the first steps trying to cross the road from blogs to PLEs as eportolios. I am fond of learning portfolios and I have experienced the power of blogs as learning tools and I will keep investigatin this new way.

World Teachers' Day!

2009-10-05T00:36:00.007+02:00

Happy Teachers' Day!
Read here the information note about World Teachers' Day 2009.
I would like to highlight some principles in it. I just copy a paragraph because I totally agree with it and I don't have anything else to add:

"In our rapidly changing and interdependent world, teachers not only have to ensure that students acquire solid skills in basic subjects, but also that they become responsible local and global citizens, at ease with new technologies and able to make informed decisions about health, the environment and other challenges. Teachers play a leading role in giving students the knowledge, attitudes and values that help them understand the world and become agents of change."

So this is the great aim of the teacher's work: help students to become agents of change! It doesn't seem that it's going to be easy, but we have no excuse: it's simply our mission.

European Day of Languages

2009-09-26T10:07:00.003+02:00

Taking advantage of the European Day of Languages we can introduce the topic of language learning in our lessons. There are many resources for teachers on the web.
I have been browsing the web and these are some interesting resources that I have found and I share them with you here:

European Day of Languages - home
Some articles here
The National Centre for Languages- lots of resources for teachers of all levels
Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages- for planning
Council of Europe, Language policy division
Council of Europe, European Language Portfolio
European Commission, Multilingualism, Language Teaching

Obama's back to school speeches

2009-09-19T09:17:00.005+02:00

This year Obama has focused on students' responsibility in their learning success in his back to school speech. He has encouraged students to study hard and stay in school:

"Every single one of you has something you are good at.You have the responsibility to yourself to discover what that is , that’s the opportunity that education can provide" (...)"No one’s been born at being good at all things, you become good at things through hard work"
(...)
"Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you." (...)

Let's hope that he doesn't forget the Government's responsibilities on education too.

Listen here to Obama's full back to school speech.

And remeber, EDUCATION IS YOUR TICKET!:
President Obama's Conversation with 9th Graders

Six quick tips for new teachers

2009-09-13T11:14:00.005+02:00

I have had blog holidays this summer and I haven't posted anything, so now, that summer is over and we are back to school, it's the right moment to start again. So, ready, steady, go!

This is the video I choose to start a new school year. It's about six short tips for teachers who start their career. It's a little old-fashioned but anyway I have loved two of the tips explained.

I especially agree with tips number two and three:
- Plan together with one or two teachers or even your whole grade level.
But I don't agree with the reason why we should do it. It's not only that you don't get so much stuff to do, but that you learn from all your colleagues. Team work in schools will devolop professional development of all teachers working in groups.

- Try to meet with a fellow teacher that has been teaching for five years or longer. That way you can meet with someone that has some experience.
I really feel it's the right thing to do for new teachers: try to meet a mentor, someone you can rely on and ask for help, opinion and advice. New teachers need the expertise of someone who has been working for a long time to make them think on all important aspects in teaching.

See you soon again, and happy new school year!

If you were President...

2009-07-01T23:32:00.003+02:00

...what would you do to improve schools?
Here you've got some interesting opinions.

Video taken from Classroom 2.0

Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe

2009-06-06T17:49:00.005+02:00

I've been searching on Eurydice and I have found an interesting research on teaching langauges in Europe.

Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe gives a wide vision of the role of languages in all compulsory education systems of European countries. It's a comparative study with 44 indicators structured into five parts: context, organisation, participation, teachers and teaching processing. It's a text full of figures with short and easy explanations of each indicator and that's why I strongly recommend it.
It's quite interesting to know the step where the other countries in Europe are to have a deepest criteria on the topic . It seems that Spain is in a good enough position in relation to the rest of the coutries, eg, we are the ones to offer foreign language learning at the earliest stage.
I have especially enjoyed the indicators related to the organisation: the teaching of two foreign languages, CLIL teaching, English as a mandatory language in 13 countries, regional languages included in many curricula. Enjoy it!

Council of Europe on ICT education

2009-05-16T15:40:00.004+02:00

These days I've been following an exciting discussion on ICT in education on Twitter networking website. Read a summary of the discussion on InvesTICant by Isabel Ferrer Arabí. This discussion started after the Spanish government announced an ambitious plan to network all schools in the country. And this is definitely OK, but the problem arouse about how it was going to be developed. It seems now that the Spanish government has read all these opinions and some changes are being introduced to the plan -as for example,in relation to free software, according to this piece of news.

And, because of all that, I wondered what the Council of Europe could have said about this topic. And, of course, I have found some interesting Recommendations on ICT in education. So, here, I link three documents and highlight some ideas in relation to open-source software.

Recommendation 1586 (2002). The digital divide and education.

The Assembly recommends to join forces with other international bodies that are currently considering access to digital material on the Internet in order to establish the public service principle in the digital environment and in particular to develop norms for the use of such material for educational and other socially necessary purposes.

Recommendation 1836 (2008). Realising the full potential of e-learning for education and training.

E-learning can be a powerful means of creating open educational resources accessible to everybody, thus counteracting a society divided by unequal skill levels. In this regard, the Assembly calls on member parliaments to support the so-called “open-source” movement in software development and initiatives for open educational resources – freely accessible on the Internet – and to adopt measures to combat the digital divide in order to close the gap between those who have access to ICT and the acquisition of ICT skills and those who do not, thus ensuring digital literacy for all.

Doc. 11846. Realising the full potential of e-learning for education and training.

The Committee of Ministers also takes note of the Assembly’s recommendation to examine the standardisation of the technical infrastructure and software concerning e-learning, including free open-source software on the Internet, in order to facilitate their use and ensure their interoperability.

Although the open-source software is not the key concept in any of these documents, the fact is that it is considered in all of them as an important element when introducing ICT in all levels of educational systems.

Media literacy

2009-05-09T20:13:00.005+02:00

Today I would like to recommend a short but interesting interview with Chirsta Pets, member of the European Parliament.
She defines what media literacy is and highlights some key factors to bare in mind:
- media education should help people to realise that personal information is public on social networking websites.
-media education should be a part of formal curriculum, a tool for lifelong learning and a compulsory part in teacher training courses.

Read here the complete interview.

Building a Europe for and with children

2009-04-30T20:17:00.006+02:00

It's a long time since I posted on Council of Europe for the last time. So, let's go back to it again!

Building a Europe for and with children it's the project to strengthen work on the rights of the child.
We must work to stop children living in poverty and social exclusion. And education will always have a key role, although the main document of the programme doesn't seem to focus on education. We, as teachers, should be up-to-date in all kind of initiatives to be able to help our children, the ones we know and we meet everyday, to grow in an adequate standard of living, social protection, health and education (Strategy for 2009-2011)
The fact that the programme especially focuses on the rights of the children to be involved in decision making seems a quite new and interesting standpoint.

Read here the strategy for 2009-2011.

Web 2.0 is the future of Education

2009-04-26T22:50:00.007+02:00

This is Steve Hargadon's presentation and talk. I have just started listening to it, and I feel it's great. I shall come back to it as soon as I can and I post it here in case you are interested in it too.

Web 2.0 Is the Future of Education

view presentation (tags: web 2.0 internet education web)

(And, don't panic! It seems very difficult but it isn't. Just keep listening and you will realise you are able to understand it.)

Becoming a better teacher with technology.

2009-04-16T18:02:00.003+02:00

This is another pretty interesting video to justify the integration of ICT in our teaching.
If our students are digital learners, how can we engage them without ICT?

Twitter in Plain English

2009-04-16T17:39:00.003+02:00

Are you on Twitter?
As teachers we have to be up to date in new technologies, and Twitter is something to keep in mind too.
I just got started so I really don't know much about it. So, first of all, let's learn about it and then, we can think about applying Twitter to our lessons.
This is Twitter in Plain English.

Edupunk?

2009-04-14T16:01:00.005+02:00

Edupunk, a new standpoint to analyze elearning that I have just discovered on a post by Jordi Adell on Twitter.
Edupunk was firstly defined by Jim Goom in 2008 as an approach to teaching and learning practices that result from a do-it-yourself attitude (Wikipedia)

Edupunk is about ulearning (Martin Ebner, Graz University). It's about learner's autonomy, a learner's centered approach based on a personal learning enviroment or PLE where the learner can choose the tools to collaborate, communicate and learn (Steven Wheeler, Playmouth University).
Wheeler radicalizes his speech when he says that Virtual Learning Enviroments or VLEs stop learner's autonomy as they are controlled. While Ebner isn't as revolutionary as he tries to find a way to open VLE to free contents and tools.

It's curious to know about Edupunk when lots of teachers are just getting started in introducing VLE in their lessons.I like this new concept as it can be another point of view when checking our teaching basis and improving the VLE that we offer to our students.

Edupunk

View more presentations from Martin Ebner.

Edupunk F-ALT 2008

View more presentations from Steve Wheeler.

A video about the past?

2009-04-05T10:25:00.003+02:00

I hope so...

Certainly not the best teaching strategies but anyway, a really funny video.

Do schools kill creativity? Sir Ken Robinson again.

2009-03-29T21:09:00.004+02:00

At the very beginning of this blog, I posted a video of Sir Ken Robinson speech on creativity. Now I have found an interview with him on the same topic. I really love his ideas.
Do you agree with all these? Here you have some of Sir Ken Robinson's statements for you to think about:
The problem is that education systems need to be transformed.
Most education system confuse intelligence with academic ability

Part II

"THIS BLOG IS A JEWEL" AWARD

2009-03-08T18:43:00.006+01:00

Dear Andreia of ESL First Steps: THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED!

Teaching English to Primary Children has received the award "THIS BLOG IS A JEWEL"!
I am really grateful to Andreia who has given it to me! On this special day, 8th March, International Women's Day, I devote this award to all the women who are teachers and every day try to do their best to improve their pupil's education.

These are my eight things I would like to do before I die:

Keep loving my family
Be the best auntie
Have a baby girl called Clara
Keep learning
Keep teaching
Help the world achieving social justice
Paint a picture
Travel around the world

And these are the eight blogs I choose to give them the award "THIS BLOG IS A JEWEL"

Now, remember that you all have to write the eight things you would like to do and choose eight more blogs to give the award.

And again: Andreia, THANK YOU!

Be linguistically sustainable!

2009-02-21T15:11:00.003+01:00

Interesting document here: DECALOGUE.BE LINGUISTICALLY SUSTAINABLE.

Article 4: Languages open up new horizons.
Therefore, let's open new horizons to our students!

Thanks to Helena Alvarado who has sent it to me.

International Mother Language Day

2009-02-15T22:59:00.004+01:00

21st February it's the International Mother Language Day launched by United Nations in 1999 and observed since 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

As an English teacher I love learning and teaching languages. Therefore, I have a special interest in developing in my students some language concern. I also try to work with them concepts as lifelong language learning.
I think that you may agree with this believes and so I have decided to share with you this websites that I have found and that I really like.

United Nations website on International Mother Language Day

Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Education on Unesco website

Map of languages of instruction in Europe here

World Day of Social Justice

2009-02-15T22:44:00.003+01:00

20 th February is the World Day of Social Justiced launched by United Nations. This year is going to be observed for the first time.
I have no doubt that education can also be a way to achieve social justice in our world.

Visit the web clicking here

Congratulations, Mr President!

2009-01-21T00:23:00.006+01:00

Will President Obama be a President for Peace?

Listen to his swearing:

The Oath of office for President
"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So, help me God".

Listen and read his Inauguration speech here

DENIP: 30th January. School Day of Non-violence and Peace

2009-01-18T23:13:00.002+01:00

DENIP: Working to promote a Culture and an independent, free and voluntary
Education for Non-violence and Peace from 1964.

It is celebrated on 30th January.
1. The "School Day of Non-violence and Peace" (DENIP), founded in 1964 and also known as World or International Day of Non-violence and Peace, is a pioneering, non-state, non-governmental, non-official, independent, free and voluntary initiative of Non-violent and Pacifying Education, which is now practised in schools all over the world and in which centres of education, teachers and students of all levels and from all countries are invited to take part.
2. It advocates a permanent education in and for harmony, tolerance, solidarity, respect for human rights, non-violence and peace.
3. It is observed on January 30 or thereabouts every year, on the anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi. In countries with a Southern Hemisphere school calendar, it can be observed on March 30 or thereabouts.
4. Its basic message is: "Universal Love, Non-violence and Peace. Universal Love is better than egoism, Non-violence is better than violence, amd Peace is better than war".
5. The method of teaching this activity of education in values should be one of experiences and it can be freely applied in each centre of education according to its own teaching style.
6. Friends of DENIP are those persons who, by accepting the spiritual, individual and social supremacy of universal love, non-violence, tolerance, solidarity, respect for human rights and peace above their opposites, advocate the diffusion of the principles which inspired the day.
Llorenç Vidal. Founder of DENIP

Visit DENIP website.

Peace eduaction programme

2009-01-18T20:40:00.009+01:00

THERE IS NO WAY TO PEACE, PEACE IS THE WAY - A.J. MUSTE

I think Peace and Human Rights have to be core contents in our teaching. Here you've some resources for the integration of peace education in your teaching.

UNESCO Culture of Peace: Because the year 2000 is the International Year for the Culture of Peace (UN Doc A/RES/52/15) and the period 2001-2010 is the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (UN Doc A/RES/53/25), there is no better time to join the global movement to educate for a sustainable culture of peace.

"A culture of peace will be achieved when citizens of the world understand global problems, have the skills to resolve conflicts and struggle for justice non-violently, live by international standards of human rights and equity, appreciate cultural diversity, and respect the Earth and each other. Such learning can only be achieved with systematic education for peace." -Hague Appeal for Peace Global Campaign for Peace Education

Visit the UN website for peace education

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-01-02T14:35:00.006+01:00

Daniel Barenboim has said at the New Year's Day concert in Vienna:

"We hope 2009 will be a year of peace in the world and of human justice in the Middle East."

I hope so too!

Raise your hand against smacking

2008-12-28T19:46:00.006+01:00

Christmas time is the time of the year to spend with our loved ones, but anyway, children are the most important and the ones who live it with most passion... So it is a good moment, to spread the message of the new initiative of the Council of Europe.

There is a campaign on Spanish TV that I love. It is the campaign against corporal punishment for children, "Raise your hand against smacking" launched by the Council of Europe.

No religion, economic situation or "educational" method can justify hitting, smacking, spanking, abusing, humiliating, or any other practice that violates a child's dignity. It is internationally recognised in human rights law that children have a right to protection from all forms of violence, including corporal punishment in all settings – home, school, penal systems, care institutions. (Nothing can justify violence toward children on coe.int)

Christmas

2008-12-15T21:27:00.005+01:00

Short video on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens on teachers.tv site

Synopsis

A quick burst of festive spirit, as Michael Rosen visits Charles Dickens' London home to explore his Christmas legacy.

Michael Rosen, Children's Laureate visits 48 Doughty St, the elegant townhouse in London where Dickens and his family once lived.

Now a museum, Michael looks at how the house could have inspired characters from Dickens' Christmas classic A Christmas Carol and views memorabilia from the time it was written.

The programme will give students and teachers an insight into how Dickens helped shape the Christmas we know today, as well as being a way to inject a bit of Christmas spirit in the classroom.

Read it here.

L earn more about A Christmas Carol here.
And here too

More methodology

2008-12-14T23:59:00.002+01:00

Here you have some interesting tips on methodology. They are really good pieces of advice for language teachers. I strongly recommend this reading.

Orientaciones metodológicas. Junta de Andalucía.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

2008-12-07T18:11:00.009+01:00

On 10th December is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Human Rights Day is observed by the international community every year on 10 December. It commemorates the day in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

United Nations Office of the High Comissioner for Human Rights.

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. FULL TEXT (pdf) or web

Read the related news on United Nations website.
Visit the Council of Europe related news website.
Read the related news on Unesco website too.

Unesco has developed six internationally-agreed education goals that are aimed to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015. Read a short presentation for children in my Primary English blog.

Watch this video by Amnesty International.

Teaching English as a foreign language to children

2008-11-26T23:10:00.013+01:00

Tomorrow we are doing a lesson on English teaching. We will comment on two basic documents, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the Primary English syllabus of the Balearic Islands.

But anyway, I would like to highlight some points that I always try to follow in my Primary English lessons. I strongly recommend the following pieces of advice:

Start working oral skills. Example: I like fish. It is good for me,
Sing - use songs to practise and learn vocabulary and grammar patterns
Storytelling. Examples: Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan in Neverland
Use pictures, gestures and body to explain meanings. Example: What's the weather like today?,
Do not translate
Use English as much as you can, especially at the lowest levels.
Introduce L1 only in difficult learning activities for example, when children have to think about grammar or about the way language works.
After having introduced oral skills, start with written skills
Write and draw lists of vocabulary
Check previous knowledge before introducing new contents. Example: Are there any computers in our school?
Integrate vocabulary into the related grammar patterns. Example:Ibizan animals
Use the language learned to communicate -although it is a simple and basic idea. Example: A tour around my town,
Take advantage of the festivals during the school year: Halloween, All Saints Day, Christmas
Introduce universal topics to meet CLIL standpoints: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Children's Day
Ask your students to do projects: specific final tasks in which students use all their language knowledge to achieve a goal -although it is a little goal. Examples: Introducing myself (oral project), My life (written project)
Ask your students to pay attention to the Art part of their final assignment/project/task. Example: My monster
Engage your students in doing their own Language Portfolio -electronic or not. Examples: Primary blogfolios
Use ICT to support your constructivist methodology
Work on children's attitude towards language learning and other important concepts: autonomous language learner, lifelong language learning, self-assessment. See the Portfolio web site to develop these standpoints.
Be a blogger. Create a blog for your subject. Example: We like English!

Interesting documents

2008-11-23T12:17:00.003+01:00

Here you have got some interesting documents on e-learning:

HIGHSCHOOL.COM

BLENDED LEARNING GUIDE

LEARNING SOLUTIONS. E-MAGAZINE

DEFINING INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN EDUCATION

And another really interesting matrix:

No Strings Attached: Wireless Laptops in Education.

TOP 100 TOOLS FOR LEARNING 2008

2008-11-23T12:15:00.001+01:00

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008 by the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies, Knowledge, Skills and Tools for the Learning 2.0 Age

Visit the web

Technology Integration Matrix

2008-11-23T12:13:00.001+01:00

What is the Technology Integration Matrix?

The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students.

Technology Integration Matrix

Obama on Education

2008-11-16T17:52:00.004+01:00

I think it could be a great language and teaching practice if we checked what Obama has said about Education during his compaign.

Would it be possible that a Spanish politician could say the same? Would Spanish teachers accept a plan like this?

Not bad...

NO CHILDREN PORNOGRAPHY

2008-11-15T18:10:00.003+01:00

The Universal Children's Day is on 20th November. Post this picture on your blog to join the blogcampaign against pederasts.

Teaching through competence-based curriculum

2008-11-02T19:38:00.005+01:00

Here are some documents about competences.
Our new law of education, LOE, focus on competence teaching as you all know.
But the Council of Europe has been developing the competence theory for a long time.
Here you've got some interesting documents about key competences.

KEY COMPETENCE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING. A EUROPEAN REFERENCE FRAMEWORK

Council conclusions on the European on the European Indicator of Language Comptenece

Don't forget the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages as it focus on linguistic comptence as we have said in older posts.

Special Needs Education Defined

2008-10-12T22:28:00.006+02:00

I am sure you will love this video!!!!!

Special Needs Education Defined video

And here you have the text of the video. Enjoy it!

MY UDUTU

2008-10-11T11:05:00.006+02:00

UDUTU is a new elearning platform. It's one of a number of "rapid elearning" tools now avaliable on the market thanks to web 2.0.
It's an elearning course authoring tool, which means that you can do your own lessons. It's quite complete as it supports video and audio, tests and it doesn't seem to be very difficult to use.
Anyway it's just another tool to give your students more learning opportunities but you cannot get any information of their work and marks in the course.

Here you have got two pretty good examples:

Begginer guide to online course design -What is online elearning?

Bill Gates steps down course

Happy Teachers' Day!

2008-10-05T18:40:00.004+02:00

Today is WORLD TEACHERS' DAY! So, enjoy your day!

Teachers matter! is the slogan of this year by UNESCO.

"Teacher shortage, insufficient training, society’s lack of respect for the profession and the policies needed to tackle these challenges are the emphasis of World Teachers’ Day on 5 October 2008." (taken from UNESCO education website)

Read the World Teacher's Day message 2008 by UNESCO.

A new school year!

2008-09-24T23:16:00.004+02:00

The school year is about to start!
Let's start singing as I would do with my Primary pupils. I have chosen a special song, very popular and meaningful for people but even more special for teachers.
Look at this video: Robbie Williams singing "My Way" (Frank Sinatra) at the Royal Albert Hall (London).
The audience is excited as we all may be now because of the new school year.
Let's transfer it into education too. I really believe that the sense of teaching , and the final goal, is that our children can grow as human beings and be able to live a happy life. So, that at any moment in their lives, not necessarily at the end, they can say about themselves that they have lived "their way".
Afther this simple thought just enjoy the song with the fantastic voice of Robbie Williams.

European Day of Languages

2008-09-23T23:53:00.010+02:00

26th September is European Day of Languages, launched by the Council of Europe in 2001.

The Day has a wide variety of aims that we could summarize as follows:

# Increasing plurilingualism and intercultural understanding.

# Promoting -preserving and fostering- the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe.

# Encouraging lifelong language learning in and out of school for all kind of puposes (study, professional, mobility and pleasure.

The European Day of Languages is addressed to all citizens, but I think that we, as teachers, have to feel especially concerned about the Day and its message.

Let's all spread the slogan in our schools:

Celebrating linguistic diversity,
plurilingualism, lifelong language learning

Great statement!

2008-09-23T21:03:00.004+02:00

I have found this statement and I really love it:

Technologies should be like the sails of a ship
if well woven and operated by skillful sailors, the captain only has to indicate the direction.

You can find it in the following web: seed
Could we transfer it to our schools?
Are the sailors the teachers in schools? Is the captain the headteacher? Could ICT be truly integrated in schools by teachers able to manage it and the headteacher only be needed to coordinate the implementation?

You may also enjoy this other web: red-ink doctoral school.
The goal of Red-ink is the understanding of eduational technologies and e-learning.

First day ppt

2008-09-01T18:20:00.004+02:00

Look at this powerpoint presentation. It seems to be the introduction of a class teacher in the first day of class. Notice the organisation of every important item such as behaviour, homework and activities in class. Really interesting, well done but maybe too strict and harsh.

Find more videos like this on Classroom 2.0

Teachers today

2008-09-01T18:13:00.004+02:00

Do you really think that teachers do all this today? Or maybe, is it that teachers today should do all this?
Can we really change the world?

Google Reader

2008-09-01T17:59:00.000+02:00

How does it work?

Laws

2008-08-29T19:42:00.002+02:00

LOE in English

Balearic Island Curriculum

Primary English syllabus of the Balearic Islands

European Language Portfolio

2008-08-29T17:40:00.011+02:00

I'm really fond of the European Language Portfolio proejctor ELP -PEL, as we say in Catalan or Spanish.

There is a lot to say about it and a load of information on the Internet. So, let's check some of the most interesting sites about it.

The ELP was born as a project to promote language learning throughout Europe.
ELP- Council of Europe

Then, each country has developed its own specific ELP student material.
ELP- Spain

One of the most important documents written about ELP is the ELP guide for teachers and teacher trainers by David Little and Radka Perclová.

In this site you can find all the main documents about ELP, the Recommendations of the Council of Europe and important essays on how to use it as a teacher.

Another site with lots of documents about ELP.

Daniel Cassany has also been researching the implementation and advantatges of ELP in our schools. Here you can see one of his ppt presentations about this topic.

Finally, it should be said that we ought to have started talking about the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (Council of Europe, 2001). It is the main theoretical framenwork for all those people who are studying or learning a language. Therefore, the ELP has to be considered as part or at least as the practical part of all what the Common European Framework means.

Daniel Cassany

2008-08-29T17:29:00.005+02:00

Daniel Cassany is probably one of the best authors in the world about teaching languages. His work is focused on teaching both a mother tongue and a second language, and is especially aimed at teaching writing skills.

He is also one of the best investigators in the European Language Portfolio.

Look at his web and enjoy learning how to teach languages. You will be able to apply any of his articles, books and research to your lessons.

You can start by reading a bit of his essays. For example, this on-line article about writing compositions.

Great paintings

2008-08-08T17:17:00.004+02:00

Now, look at this other video in www.teachers.tv:

Great paintings video

Do you remember Sir Ken Robinson's speech? Do you agree with him? Do schools really kill children's creativity?

If you watch this video you'll see a great way of enhancing our children's creativity. Have you ever thought of integrating Art and paintings in your lessons? Have you ever thought about how a great painting could improve your teaching? In which subject of the Primary curriculum could you do a lesson like the one in the video? What aims would you have if you did a lesson like this one? What kind of activity would you ask your pupils to do?

Integrating ICT

2008-08-08T17:06:00.003+02:00

Look at this video, in www.teachers.tv:

http://www.teachers.tv/video/4977

Do you know what our schools are doing about ICT? Are we integrating ICT into all subjects of the curriculum? Are our Primary students learning ICT by using them in all lessons? Or, are they learning how to use ICT in specific subjects on ICT?

What do you think? Do you think that it is necessary to have a ICT as a subject? Or do you think, that using ICT in all subjects it is enough to learn how to use it too? Or, could be that both standpoints are complementary?

Digital chasm

2008-07-24T18:42:00.003+02:00

Another easy and quick video about one of the negative consequences of ICT, that is the digital chasm.
Anyway, I don't feel the last statement in the video is suitable... they compare two facts that cannot be compared, both are different and both are important. What do you think?

Social networking

2008-07-24T18:31:00.000+02:00

Listen to the explanation.

Rock ESL

2008-07-24T17:54:00.003+02:00

A little naf but curious anyway!

Web 2.0 and languages

2008-07-22T20:23:00.003+02:00

Let's see how the Web 2.0 can encourage our language students.

Web 2.0

2008-07-22T20:19:00.003+02:00

Web 2.0 in the classroom?
What does it mean?

What's the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0?
Is there a dark side of the Web 2.0? Are these disadvantages great enough to stop us, as teachers, from using the Web 2.0?

Digital learners

2008-07-22T19:57:00.007+02:00

There are so many videos about the way we teach and the way our students learn. Let's see some of them.

Our students are digital learners... are we engaging their interest?
If we learn by doing, what are we learning sitting all day?

Why are our schools still the same?

Learners 2.0. How do they learn?

Blogs in education

2008-07-22T19:27:00.003+02:00

There is a lot of theory about blogging in education. Let's check it!

Read this article about getting started.BLOGS IN EDUCATION
Download the PDF document here.

Read the summary of the article Educational Blogging by Stephen Downs.

Stephen Downes

2008-07-19T19:05:00.003+02:00

Stephen Down is a philosopher of the Internet and Web 2.0.

In his site, there are lots of videos of him and presentations where he explains different relevant items on this topic.
Watch this video. It is just a single example of his thought and all the interesting stuff in his site.

I especially share some of his conclusions:
1. You are the centre of your own personal learning network.
2. And that the three principles expained in the video -interaction, usability and relevance- should guide not only the way we learn, but also the way we teach.

Why let our students blog?

2008-07-12T19:10:00.000+02:00

Reasons to let your students blog.

Marià Villangómez in English?

2008-07-10T17:56:00.002+02:00

Why not?

Read here about him

Reason to learn another language

2008-07-10T17:34:00.001+02:00

Why should we learn another language?
Watch the video and you'll find a pretty answer.

A better Internet for a better world

2008-07-09T10:24:00.000+02:00

Interesting reflection exercise about the way Internet shold work.

Second Life

2008-07-08T17:54:00.000+02:00

Do you think Second Life can have an educative use?
Shall we avoid it or shall we benefit from Second Life?

WebQuests

2008-07-07T17:45:00.000+02:00

What's a WebQuest?

It is research done by the students through the Internet. It is a longer research than the one done in Treasure Hunts.
They are given a task that has to be done through a guided process. At the end, the student has to hand in a sort of essay or project. The great difference in WebQuest is that the assessment has to be carefully planned.
It was first developed by Bernie Dodge.
In Spain, the two main people who have developed WebQuests are Isabel Pérez, especially English Webquests, and Sebastià Capella, who focuses on Maths and Science.

Definition in Wikipedia

WebQuest.org

Five rules for writing a great WebQuest by Bernie Dodge

Isabel Pérez Webquest in English

Treasure Hunts

2008-07-07T17:30:00.000+02:00

What is a treasure hunt?

It is a little task in which students research a topic. They are given questions and the webs where to find answers. At the end, they will have to write a short essay with the answers to the questions.

Here you can see some examples:

Lots of examples here, at Isabel Pérez's site
My own examples

ICT teaching

2008-06-23T19:22:00.000+02:00

Read this interesting document about ICT in Education Faculties.

Are Faculties of Education meeting the professional development needs of future and practising teachers?

Integrating ICT in teacher training: a challenging balance

CLIL

2008-06-23T18:20:00.002+02:00

CLIL stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning

CLIL fosters teaching English through a non-linguistic area.

CLIL compendium is an interesting web about CLIL:

http://www.clilcompendium.com/clilcompendium.htm

Isabel Pérez's web is one of the best webs about CLIL, with a lot of ideas and resources:

http://www.isabelperez.com/clil.htm

Here you can find lots of interesting DU:

http://www.xtec.cat/crle/pla_le/cataleg.htm

And I strongly recommend the following one:

http://www.xtec.net/%7Emaltemir/

Read the following document about CLIL:

Using languages to learn and learning to use languages by David Marsh

Have a look at Macmillan Publisher's web about CLIL

The following video can be considered as a good example of how we could take advantage of a lot of multimedia material already created to learn English through a non-linguistic area, eg. science:

Check all the ppt presentations of the speeches in Palma, May 2008, in the WEIB site. The Conselleria d'Educació i Cultura de les Illes Balears offered a course on CLIL to teachers starting CLIL projects in the following school year.

Why do we use technology in the classroom?

2008-06-22T22:11:00.000+02:00

There are five main reasons.
Look and listen.

Steve Jobs' speech

2008-06-10T22:46:00.000+02:00

Listen to Steve Jobs' speech. He is one of the founders of Apple.
I love the last words of his speech.
To be a good teacher you have to believe in what you do, and how you do it.
Do you agree?

New tools

2008-06-08T21:23:00.001+02:00

Don't be afraid!
We all feel the same when faced with new tools.

The same video with subtitles.

Blog

2008-06-06T19:41:00.000+02:00

What's a blog?

Wiki

2008-06-06T19:37:00.001+02:00

What's a wiki?

CLASSROOM OF THE FUTURE

2008-06-04T18:40:00.000+02:00

The classroom of the future has got up-to-date technology.

Apart from that, I think it's funny the way the classroom is organised. Listen to the video and try to find the points related to traditional pedagogy that this classroom should have.
Are our classrooms being built following these guidelines?

Do you teach or Do you educate?

2008-06-02T19:20:00.000+02:00

What do you think? Do teachers teach or educate?
What do you want to do?

Technology or Methodology?

2008-06-02T18:31:00.001+02:00

What is role of ICT in Primary lessons?

By the way, have you understood the video although you don't know Portuguese?
Of course, you have!
So, in all the other videos in English, please use all your communicative competence to understand the general meaning, as you have done in this video.

Education Today and Tomorrow

2008-06-02T18:25:00.000+02:00

Which kind of teacher do you want to be?
Which kind of school do you want to work for?

We don't need no education

2008-06-01T21:05:00.000+02:00

Do you think that these kinds of feelings towards education would appear if teachers had another way of teaching?

Now, look at the title. Is it correct?
In fact, it isn't correct. You cannot use "no" with a verb in negative.
It should say: "We don't need any education".
Remember that in English two negatives are positive, just like in Maths. So, therefore, grammatically, the title means that we need education.
It is a common mistake among uneducated people. Using this pattern, they are laughing at the people who talk like this.

Creativity

2008-06-01T20:52:00.000+02:00

HERE YOU CAN READ THE WHOLE SPEECH