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. 

Fill in the questionnaire and discover what type of teacher you are. What kind of teacher are you? So, how did it go? Do you think your results describe your teaching style?  This may prompt some further thoughts on how you might improve some things in the classroom and in your teaching.  Be ready to share your results with your peers. What about teaching today? Has your teaching changed in the last years? Read the article and prepare a word cloud with the main concepts.  33 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher Should Have I made mine with  Tagxedo

Building Excellence in Student Work Through Critique and Revision What do you know about peer feedback? Have you ever tried it in any of your classes? Now let´s watch the following video. "This six-minute video gives a clear picture of how student work can improve through focused critique. It shows the evolution of a scientific illustration of a butterfly through multiple drafts toward a high-quality final product." Austin's Butterfly: Building Excellence in Student Work from EL Education on Vimeo . So far so good, but....  is  there anything we (teachers) can learn in relation to our own learning? State 3 ideas you can pick from the video which  describe  the aspects  you´d  highlight.  The following article provides some ideas particularly suitable for young learners. Have a look at the four ideas described and share your ideas with the group.  Strategies to enhance peer feedback Two stars and a wish Plus, minus and what...

A new year is starting.  It is a time when energy is at the top, we are full of expectations, projects, and ideas.  It is also a good time to reflect, consider and share views.  I´ve chosen 2 different inspirational videos from this site:  Best Kickoff Videos Choose one and generate your own video as a response. You can include your views on the topic, what you think, how it relates to your teaching situation. You can use your own photographs, images you get online, music... you can even record yourself!   Making your own video is very simple, probably one of the easiest ways is using   Windows movie maker   (you can download it from this site if you don´t have it in your computer already)  once you have it ready you can upload it to youtube and share it. 

High expectations on the part of the teacher, regular feeedback, praise for work and effective classroom discipline have been shown to be associated with students’ positive attitudes towards school and education. Most educationalists are aware of the importance of these factors. Research shows that many teachers are not lavish with praise. It seems clear that there is a need for action which will encourage and enable teachers to make more use of these strategies. High expectations, regular feedback, and praise for good work, have shown to be associated with students’ positive attitudes towards school. Research has shown students like lessons where they can make things, and many prefer lessons where they have discusions, to lessons where they have to work on their own. Activities which promote students involved in their own learning, building upon their preferences for co-opearative and practical work and discussions help remotivate bored and disaffected students. Teaching is a compl...

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...