DAY 18/11/2016

This was a very fruitful session because we discussed as a group two key elements in this Master´s degree: what is education and what is the role of the teacher. We shared our thoughts and impressions about how education works in Spain and expressed our view of how it could be improved. To do this we checked how LOMCE and the article 27.7 of theSpanish Constitution defines education and we tried to create our own definition in small groups. Check our post on education. During this class we also came to the conclusion that the role of the teacher  is something so important that it cannot only be discussed in one session, but something that should be mentioned in every session. 

We also made reference to a very interesting video called Changing Education Paradigms where Ken Robinson explains what are the main problems in the educational system. He thinks that the education is modeled on the interests of industrialisation and that we are still perceiving education with a production line mentality. Robinson explains that this paradigm should be changed by encouraging creativity and group work,respecting different learning styles and children´s divergent thinking. 

Here is the video if you want to take a look:

Another video that we saw in class is Do schools kill creativity?  where Ken Robinson explains the importance of learning with creativa methods. 

Here is the video if you want to take a look:

                                                          DAY 25/11/2016

This day was originally intended to be the day when we would present our interactive photos of the different linguists. However, the approach taken hadn't been the appropriate one. We had done PowerPoint presentations, we were telling rather than showing. Therefore, we devoted this lesson instead to remake our presentations. At the end it turned out to be a fruitful and positive experience, for we made use of collaborative work. In a way we made honour to the Nash Equilibrium. We all put our best at it and changed the previous material. While some of us where better at summarising information, others had better management of technologies.

                                                           DAY 02/12/2016

This day, we all presented the research we had done about linguists. Each group had its own author. For instance, we had to look information about Austin and Searle. At the beginning, it was a bit hard because we hadn't studied them before. Some other authors such as Chomsky or Piaget had already been introduced in our lessons. Nevertheless, as a group we researched information and shared our thoughts. Thanks to that process we finally got a really positive overall view of the authors and as a consequence we were able to explain their theories to our classmates. Even though the activity was aimed as a relaxed presentation, we couldn't avoid being a little bit nervous. We wanted to express ourselves as clear as possible and that is always a bit stressing. Apart from that, we thought the activity was very nice and we enjoyed watching our classmates presenting the other authors. For a moment those difficult authors seemed easy to understand and we found that beneficial for us.

                                                                                                           
                                                                                                      DAY 09/12/2016

As a warm up activity we saw the video of the cat and the goldfish which illustrates the benefits of being bilingual. We really enjoyed the video because it is very simple but at the same time its meaning is very clear. Then we moved on, to some questions that activated our background knowledge about English as a global language. After this, we watched David Crystal's video in which he talks about plurilingualism, different varieties and accents of the English language. We were specially engaged with this topic because of its relevance for our specialty. As teachers we want to show different accents and varieties in our classrooms because we want our students to become familiar with the diversity English language offers.

Here is the video if you want to take a look:

                                                                 DAY 16/12/2016

During this class we have been dealing with the issue of gifted children. This topic has been very interesting because it is true that we always associate these children with those who have advantages over others and the truth is that this is not always what happens. In many occasions, these children are not recognized, they are viewed as students who are not interested in the subject and there is even a percentage of gifted children who have had academic failure.

We had the opportunity to receive the visit of María Luz Bueno, one of the members of the Association AVAST (Valencian Association of Support to the Gifted and Talented), which gave us a very interesting talk about these children and their special needs, she also gave us some keys to be able to identify them and also to know how to develop them and not make them bored and can fall things as serious as school failure.

It is true that these children have high intellectual capacities, and this makes them gifted students but sometimes they are difficult to recognize because they are children that due to their defining characteristic, this means, due to their high capacity, they are often bored in class and they do not want to go to school because what they already know are studying. They are children who are going to ask about everything to us, their teachers. They are children who, maybe they will have a special interest in our subject but, if they do not have this interest, it is difficult to get them to focus and concentrate on what we are teaching.

We must be careful because we may be confusing ourselves and what we have is a child with high capacities. When a teacher observes a child who already knows how to do something that was explained a few sessions ago and the rest of the class does not understand it yet, when a child says that he is bored because he already knows what their classmates are studying, when a child does not stop asking the teacher questions, etc. In all these situations we can be dealing with children with high capacities, sometimes they are seen as pedantic children, or lazy children because they do not want to go to school and they can even seem as rude by their way of asking and answering. This is why we should give them attention and try not to displace them.

Here you can find the video we watched before this class, to better understand the issue:

Day 13/01/2017

Today's class was devoted to learning how to adapt activities to students with special needs. By special needs we are referring here not only to kids with some learning difficulties, but also gifted children. In order to be introduced to the topic, we saw the video Dear Teacher about children with different special needs. Have a look here: 

We find this video very interesting, for it reflects the variegated reality teachers find in their classrooms and raises awareness of how activities must be adapted for everyone so that all students get the same opportunities. After watching the video and together with some articles we had read at home, we adapted a lesson plan to students with special needs. If you want to see our activity click here.