I wish it was Monday
In this post I refer to the article published by Miguel Ángel Santos Guerra titled "Quiero que sea lunes" (I wish it was Monday).
Miguel Ángel tells us the story of a mother that, one year ago, was concerned because her son wanted "to be old" to avoid having to go to school; and how, one year after, the child's attitude has changed at all.
According to what Miguel Ángel tells in his article, one year ago the boy's mother told him how his son had lost the will to learn, to excel himself, and his self-esteem was declining day by day. Concerned about this situation, his parents tried to talk to the children's teacher, but the communication was not fluent, to the point that they reached such discomform that they take turns to pick up the child's grade bulletin.
The change in child's attitude came when his parents take him to another school. This was not an easy decision for them. They looked for a school that adapts to the way they understood education.
Today, the boy doesn't want "to be old", he wants to go to school. To get to this point, both parents and teachers have had to work hard. The child is evolving every day and trusting in his capabilities.
Regarding this case, Miguel Angel gets five conclusions below I summarize:
- First, the child was not the problem, but the school was.
- Second, the commitment of the family is very important in the learning process.
- Third, the confirmation that many problems can be solved when all the people involved decide to work towards the same direction.
- Fourth, we must never give up hope.
- Fifth: the importance of teachers in the teaching-learning process; with same laws, same administration, same salaries and similar conditions, some schools can be disheartening and another ones can be hopeful places.
The truth is that this case sounds very familiar to me. Unfortunately, my oldest daughter has had a problem with her tutor at school and, when I tried to talk to this person, she did not agree. Luckily, things have been resolved without having to change my daughter to another school (with all that this implies). For this reason, I can say that in my case most of the conclusions reached by Miguel Ángel met perfectly.
At first, it seemed that my daughter had problems, she was constantly making excuses to get out in the middle of the school day, it seemed that the girl wanted to attract attention for some reason, but finally I found that the problems were not in the child, but in the school.
On the other hand, the problems were resolved because I was aware of my daughter. I watched her well, and found that the reasons why I had to go to take her out of school were excuses, and I had patience for my daughter to tell me what was happening. It was not instantaneous that my daughter opened her heart to me. Children tend to hide the real reasons because they believe they are guilty and that no one can help and even that they will be punished. It is neccesary to be very patient and to try to walk in their shoes, but most of all, to listen them a lot.
I also can confirm that despair leads to nowhere. Solutions will came, but are no instantaneous, it requires its time. Yes, it's true that when something similar is happening to your daughter, it seems that the solution will never come, but as I said before, be patient, each process takes its time.
Finally, I can say that teachers have much to do with the attitude shown by children at school. My experience also confirms that, having two daughters in the same school, only one of them have had problems, the oldest one. The smaller one is delighted and, even when she's sick, she doesn't want to miss a school day.
I think that is important to talk about personal experiences; so another people being in a similar situation can see a way out; when oneself is getting in the problem it seems that nobody is beside us; and If we find someone that have had a similar experience and have found a solution, it seems that the problem looks smaller. For this, I liked very much Miguel Ángel Santos Guerra's article, I think it can help many people.
Also, this article also made me think about the importance that this issues be discussed with students in Education Faculties. I think is neccesary to inculcate in students the idea that the teaching profession is very important, that the raw material they work with are people who are forming and that any experience (good or bad) that they have will mark them for life. I also think it is neccesary to talk about the importance of families, all teachers should consider that they work with children that are the most important thing to their relatives (fortunately, most of times) and that they should to understand and meet the demands of these. In this way, perhaps you have a global perspective to make that future teachers are better in their job and that cases as the children of the article or my own daughter will not occur in the future. I hope all boys and girls wish to be Monday.
A comic!
Hi all!
On May 29, 2012 our teacher of Education and Society was talking to us about the comic as an educational resource.
Next, I tell you the great potential of this educational tool in classrooms of Primary Education:
- It makes that the students have to think and organize a story.
- It improves creativity, allowing to express through drawings or photograms situations that have great meaning themselves.
- It allows children to develop their ability to synthesize; in comics you cannot write longer texts, and these should be clear, direct and concise.
- It's a fun linguistic learning way, it provides a fun environment that makes students feel more motivated and therefore they acquire better their knowledge.
- It enables teamwork and all that it implies, allowing the development of social skills and attitudes.
- It's a way to transversely reinforcement of studied concepts.
- It allows the use of new technologies in the classroom.
To make our comic we used the tool "Comic Life". It's easy to use, very intuitive, it allows a wide variety of options and customization, and it has a very smooth learning curve, allowing to achieve amazing results very quickly. I encourage you to use it...
I hope this post will be of your interest and you begin to use this tool with your students.
Editing: Jesús G. Monroy has shared a very interesting link on the subject of comics in the classroom: "8 ideas para usar el cómic en el aula y cómo crearlos fácilmente en iPad y Android" (8 ideas to use the comic into classroom and how to create it easily on iPad and Android). I recommend you to read.
The eternal controversy
Recently, our teacher of Education and Society, Jesus G. Monroy, has required us to write a post on this blog about the debate sparked by the use of new technologies in school. As a basis for previous documentation, the professor recommended the reading of a series of articles published on the Internet from which I review below the data that I found most interesting:
"In this sense, Mariano del Castillo said that most schools do not guide students on a safe use of the Internet, do not have a security protocol and they don't organize (together with families) a model to work" (elmundo.es).
"The number of computers in computer classrooms has remained constant, as well as the average number of computer rooms per center. However, the number of computers in regular classrooms, whether they are for use by teachers or students, has doubled, in line with the policies promoted by the Administration" (elmundo.es).
"No serious study, anywhere in the world, has shown until now that new technologies improve by themselves the quality of teaching in Primary and Secondary Education" (abc.es).
Both Lacasa and Del Castillo have insisted that in past years has given much importance to technical (as it really has), "but nobody understood that the teacher is the key." (abc.es).
But until now, and in the absence of an established educational model, "teachers can not handle well the students connected with computers" (abc.es).
School 2.0 (introduction of computers) "only works if there is a school and training project for teachers", otherwise it is a waste, said Del Castillo. And "in Spain, computers for students have been delivered before than for teachers' (abc.es).
A teacher who chooses not to use computers, Internet, etc.. is simply breaking the law and, from my point of view, letting down their pupils who have the right to be formed in that competence (elbonia.cent.uji.es).
The discussion is no longer ICT and learning, but it's school and society, in any case. ICT and the Internet must be at school in 2012 with the contribution of all. Its incorporation has little to do with educational innovation and much with present and future society (elbonia.cent.uji.es).
My personal opinion on this issue must begin with a resounding "yes" to the use of new technologies in the classroom, in the assumption that is done properly. As Boris Mir wrote in the article shown on the last point, the new technologies go far beyond the concept of innovation in school; they are simply part of society and our life today and, of course, in the future.
I believe that today there is another reality in Spanish education; the Administration requires that students acquire a digital competence (LOE), and also is taking care of providing the tools and hardware necessary for it. However, it is forgetting that the teacher must be the first person to acquire the digital competence that he'll try to transmit to their students, because these students, as in the other subjects, need a mentor who guides them in their learning . Therefore, if the teacher has no such competence, the computer is just no more than an entertainment center without specific educational purpose.
So, I consider fundamental to the use of ICT in schools become effective, there must be put into motion a series of specific training plans to achieve this goal, in addition to the existence of an efficient administrative management with a plan knowing the right way to use training resources, hardware and software.
Finally, I invite you to visit the virtual intense debate that is being held on the same subject in www.voxopop.com.
0 comentarios:
Publicar un comentario