Teacher Trails

Empezó como una idea chiquita, estábamos a finales del 2018. La idea: dejar nuestra casa, nuestro lugar y venir a Cartagena (España) a probar... ver si nos adaptábamos a un nuevo desafío, a "casi" empezar otra vez a esta altura de nuestras vidas. Probar si podíamos con el vértigo e inseguridad que genera dejar lo propio y conocido. ¿Porqué Cartagena? Hace algunos años, dos de nuestros hijos decidieron radicarse con sus respectivas familias, en Murcia y Dublín. Nosotros pasábamos el año planificando la próxima visita y las despedidas eran cada vez más duras. Con ese escenario y pensando cómo seguirían nuestras historias, pensamos que valía la pena intentarlo. Cartagena además de ser una hermosa ciudad, estaba a unos pocos kms de Murcia y desde el aeropuerto de Corvera (20kms de Cartagena) teníamos menos de 3 horas de vuelo a Dublin. Y comenzamos a proyectar, a poner en acción todos los miles de pasos previos para alcanzar la meta. Después de construir una vida juntos d...

These days, when globalization reigns and boundaries between countries are dissipating, a virus is calling us to do our best and share what we can. In our case, we feel that going back to social networks is fundamental to be with others and add our little grain of sand. In these circumstances, we are encouraged to contribute our experience and share what it was like to move into the virtual world on a previous opportunity ( influenza A (H1N1) in a K-12 school in Buenos Aires (June 2009). Once again this has become a necessity in order to shorten distances and continue with our work. With this in mind, we want to share what we learned and "harvested" from the mistakes and successes during that time. It is not our intention to "determine" how or what to do but, to open an invitation to think together what it means to teach in times of physical isolation.  We will try to present some ideas, even the most obvious ones; sharing our doubts, mistakes, concern...

One of the most dreaded and disliked aspects of our profession could be lesson planning.  I think I have never come across a teacher who expressed her / his love for it.  This acknowledged, we also need to agree on its importance, how it shapes our time inside the class, defines whether we´ll achieve our goals and objectives; it can even explain how tired we feel at the end of the day!    Lesson planning is not just choosing activities and giving them an order. It has to do with making wise decisions about strategies we will employ to help students learn. The more we have this clear before we go into our class, the more effective the teaching and most important: the learning will be. 

Seth´s Blog  is one of the many blog´s I follow.  Why?  Not only because he has a unique writing style, but many of his posts will also for sure,  set you thinking after you  finish reading them.   What does he write about? The following statement was taken from his blog. Seth Godin  " writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything." Have a look at this one.  The cost of neutral If you come to my brainstorming meeting and say nothing, it would have been better if you hadn't come at all. If you go to work and do what you're told, you're not being negative, certainly, but the lack of initiative you demonstrate (which, alas, you were trained not to demonstrate) costs us all, because you're using a slot that could have been filled by someone who would have added more value. It's tempting to sit quietly, take notes and comply, rationalizing that at lea...

Jonathan Acuña is an ELT Instructor & Trainer. He was hired to train a group of teachers in Costa Rica. He starts by addressing an interesting question,  Why were/are they so reluctant to using technology? Read his blog post and go over some of the highlighted concepts:  comfort zone  develop technological competences  self-training Exploring ELT Teachers' Reluctance Towards Technology 1. What do you understand by "comfort zone"? 2. What type of "technological competencies" do you think teachers need to develop? 3. Do you think it is possible to self-train in order to develop these competencies? If not, how do you think this could be done? 4 Have a look at this image. What message do you think it is trying to convey? Do you agree? 5. What about you? How many hours of computer training did you receive? What do you think about technology integration to classroom settings?

I opened this space to think and share what I find, what I do but also to think in a loud voice so that hopefully, others might read and share their thoughts as well. Some may agree, others won't. I know I can think a lot better when I'm thinking WITH others.  Many times my posts have to do with what I find or read from other colleagues, seldom can I remember how I got there, organisation is not one of my assets although I work hard to improve this. A few days ago, my colleagues and I finished a 4 meeting Professional Development course we prepared for a group of secondary school teachers on integrating technology to their daily practice, it all ended on such a high note!  In my experience, teachers are always thankful when you share information, experiences and tips.  They look so enthusiastic and are ready to share what works for them in their groups.  All the same, sometimes I stop and wonder how many are willing to take the plunge, leave "common groun...