Instantes

Después de leer el poema Instantes por Jorge Luis Borges (según unos), enfocamos en las palabras -si pudiera vivir de nuevo, tendría menos problemas imaginarios y más problemas reales- ¿Y qué son problemas imaginarios? Les hice esa pregunta a mis estudiantes. Disfruten esos problemas. ¿Usando el mismo poema, hay otras frases que puedan usar en otras asignaturas?

rene palafox Jan 11, 2013 12:13 PM

As education moves further into the 21st Century, teachers and administrators alike must ask the compelling questions concerning education and curriculum in particular. Clearly, the first question educators need to ask is, “How can we make education more relevant to our students?” We live in a time when students are bombarded with so many outside pressures and stimuli that teachers are actually in competition for their students’ minds with all of these outside sources. Consider the following, “Teens spend nearly 17 hours a week on the internet, get information from different sources besides school, spending more time indoors with their technology, thereby missing outdoor opportunities to develop gross motor skills and socialization skills necessary to communicate and act personally with others”. (Sousa, D. 2006) If the 21st Century educator is going to make a difference in the education of young and impressionable minds, that teacher is going to have to begin to think outside the current “educational box” we know today. Today’s educational box is full of activities which focus on rote learning, drills, and standardized tests. Standardized tests are probably not going away, but the way students are asked to access the curriculum to prepare for these exams can be made more appealing by looking at how the Arts, Movement and even Core classes in English, Math, Science, and Social Science can be integrated in the daily curriculum using technology. “While effective practices for use of computers and the internet in K-12 classrooms have yet to be defined, some uses are of obvious value….” (Warhaftig, A. 2000). That’s a great quote, isn’t that the key to what we as language teachers are trying to do? Find what the effective practices are that will make what we teach relevant to our students. As we move into 2013 let’s see what effective practices we can share in our group. Warhaftig is correct in his observation about “undefined effective practices” this could be because the use of technology is moving too fast for the average classroom. One area that is definitely changing is the use of Apps on Smart Phones. There are Apps for everything and now we are beginning to see Apps for use in Foreign Language classrooms. How effective are these new Apps? Not sure yet. If anyone in this group has a take on this, we would welcome your thoughts or comments.

Posted on January 11, 2013

What worked? What didn’t?

An African proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree is yesterday, the next best time is today”, that’s a good reminder that now might be a good time to reflect on which first semester activities worked , which ones didn’t, and how can we “tweak” those that didn’t. First semester began with some new ideas learned at the summer Social Media Workshop put on by LARC (Language Acquisition and Resource Center) at San Diego State University. Ideas were presented, explained, and modeled. My first step was to decide which “tools” would work best for my situation. I may have over planned on this one. The plan was to use the following sites for class projects: Storybird, Google Maps, Wallwisher, CAST, Tumblr, Today’s Meet, You Tube, and Vocaroo. The following is quick summary of where we are today:

What worked? Why did it work? What were the problem areas?

Using Tumblr as a class page
Students could submit work (text, pictures, and presentations) via email from a computer or their smart phone and there were no questions as to who did or who didn’t submit their work.
Not many, but the Tumblr email address for each class page must be very clear. Students must also make sure to add their name to the email.
Google Maps to learn about places in Spanish speaking countries.
Students choose their own locations and at the same time learned 21^st Century skills that they can use in other classes. (researching information about each place, adding pictures for each location)
Pictures were a problem because not all pictures websites give permission to use their pictures. Also “embedding a picture” is a lot different than “copying and pasting” a picture.
Using Storybird to write a collaborative story.
Students had to prewrite their story and choose the pictures to go with their story as a group. One student was selected from each group to log in and write the story.
Students need to know how to use language tools (setting language, adding accent marks)
Using Wallwisher to get quick student responses to class assignments.
Most students had internet access at home and could do this at home and it was easy to see all comments.
Find a way for students without internet access (not many) to add their comments. Prompts must be worded carefully and students must not “copy” what others have written.
Using Vocaroo to record student responses to prompts
Easy access to website, students could record at home and email recording directly to teacher email.
Find a way for students without internet access (not many) to record their comments.

Posted on January 4, 2013

coolcatteacher:

positivelypersistentteach:

kbkonnected:

Excellent Student Reward! Button Beats is by far my students most favorite site for creating music, especially raps. They love to freestyle (create their own on the spot) which I have been learning is fantastic for the brain. Supposedly its better than rapping something which they have memorized. Either way they love it.

Great free time reward for my students. They really work hard for this one. If you have a microphone you can also record. The kids also use the webcam and watch themselves rap.

Ever see 4 (EBD) eighth graders huddle close together with one computer, working cooperatively? It can happen…I see it every Friday!

This is included in my Kids Make Music LiveBinder.

*Make sure you check out all of this collection through the “jump menu” (drop down menu). It’s an incredible resource.

Reblogging this again because it is cool.

Cool

Posted on December 26, 2012 via KB...Konnected with 53 notes

Source: kbkonnected

Seeing in Your Head and in Your Heart

One of the most well-known songs heard at Christmas is Jose Feliciano’s, I Want to Wish You a Merry Christmas. Many people admire his singing and playing because he can’t see the notes on the page or the strings on the guitar, yet the music is amazing. A few years back I took a guitar class and learned how to read the notes and which string was which, but in no way does what I play come remotely close to what I hear from most accomplished guitar players. Apparently sight is at times overrated. The question is how are musicians like Feliciano and Stevie Wonder able to do what they do? The answer is simple; they see the music in their head and in their heart. I’m thinking that the two are related, being able to “see in your head” but not feel it in your heart doesn’t work.

Today as many celebrate the season, there are many issues in our nation, in our schools, and in our communities. In case you missed it, Pat Kelsy, Winthrop’s basketball coach had some very interesting comments in the aftermath of what occurred in Sandy Hook and our nation’s reaction to that event. It seems that he was saying that being able to see the problem is not enough; we have to be able to feel the problem in our heart. If we don’t, the changes he talks about will come out sounding like my guitar playing and not like the music we hear from artists like Jose Feliciano.

I wish to everyone Peace and Goodwill, Lord knows we need it.

Posted on December 25, 2012

Panche Be

Many years ago the great philosopher Aristotle wrote about ethos, pathos, and logos. It seems that everyone was trying to persuade someone else that their point of view was more valid (logical, truthful, credible) than theirs. That is true even today. Aristotle’s ideas concerning persuasion should be considered whenever anyone is trying to persuade others to follow a certain movement, idea, or leader. Aristotle wasn’t the only one with this idea. The Mayans had some thoughts about this as well.

The current battle over books and teaching of Mexican American Studies in the Tucson Unified School District has many people on both sides of the debate. Those who have banned books say that the books are subversive and have no place in school rooms. Then there are those who say that teaching ideas is not a subversive act, it’s a way of searching for the truth. So, who is correct? Do books actually teach controversial ideas? Is it wrong to read about controversial topics? Should high school students be “protected” from reading controversial books? Aristotle might have recieved well by the Mayans. According to one of the Xicano studies professors, the Mayans had a term, Panche Be. With Panche Be you try to get to the root of the truth, state your opinion, back it up with facts, give your stance and defend it. Perhaps Aristotle would have cautioned against mixing opinion with truth. But if you can back it up with facts, does that make it more true?

Maybe one of the greatest “truth questions” of all times was asked by Pontius Pilate of Jesus when Jesus proclaimed that, “Everyone that is of the truth, heareth my voice”. Pilate responds, “What is truth?

Teaching should be about making students think, not just accepting an idea because it is written on paper. Maybe the quest for knowlege shouldn’t be about protecting our own ideas and values but about getting to the root of the truth. Some times, that can hurt. Panche Be, getting to the root of the truth, unfortunately for some, can be difficult and intimidating. Too bad more people don’t ask Pilate’s question about other topics. Imagine if schools applied Panche Be to other topics and then used ethos, pathos, and logos to sort out what truth really is. We might not see a rise in standardized test scores, but we might see a rise in students who can think.

Posted on December 22, 2012

Why We Teach

I was going to share an idea we used in one of my classes to review what we covered, but sharing about what we teach or how we teach just didn’t seem like the right thing to share. Tragically we were all numbed and saddened by what happened last week in Newtown, Conn. Then the stories about the children and teachers/adminstrators who were killed began to come out and I started to reflect about why we teach. For close to thirty five years I have worked at the high school level, where every day, other high school teachers such as me see five/six different classes of students on a daily basis for about 50-60 minutes every day. But for elementary teachers, their school day is much different. They see their students every day, all day for the entire year. Imagine having to deal with the same kids every day, every period, all year. I’ve tried to imagine that and each time I keep thinking how much more of a challenge it would be for me to attempt that type of teaching situation. That’s why I have always admired and respected the work that elementary teachers do on a daily basis. Then Friday happened.

I have read many of the stories and watched most of the videos, but the one clip that really brought me to the understanding of why teachers teach was the one about Kaitlin Roig, one of the first grade teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary. In it she describes what she told her kids while locked in the bathroom. Her concern was that they would never see their parents or family again and she wanted to make sure that the last thing that they heard was that they were loved. For some reason, Kaitlin and her students were spared, but there were other teachers and administrators who died trying to save the children they saw every period, every day, all year long.

For most of those thirty five years, going to school has been something I looked forward to. While I didn’t see my students all day, seeing them in class and seeing how they progressed from day one to the end of the year was always a good feeling. But I have to be honest, there were days, and there still are, when a certain class just didn’t or doesn’t seem to want to be there and trying to keep them motivated was and is a real challenge. Then I read about Kaitlin and some of her fellow workers and it became abundantly clear that what we teach and how we teach is secondary to why we teach. For Kaitlin and others, teaching wasn’t a job; it was a relationship that developed between her and her students who love coming to her class, every period, every day, all year long. What greater tribute can we make to teachers like Kaitlin Roig, those that died trying to protect their class, and others who work with young children, than to reflect on why we teach? Perhaps then, the tragedy, the anguish, and the deaths of 26 innocent children and adults will not have been in vain.

Today is not to worry about how we teach or what we teach.

Posted on December 17, 2012