Just think about it. It's just brilliant !!!

El divendres passat, els mestres comunicaren als nostres fills que aquest any no hi haurà ni colònies ni sortides escolars. Els pares llegim a casa, amb deteniment, la circular que l'escola va donar als nostres fills. Sembla ser que tot és per la jornada intensiva que s'ha eliminat amb el nou calendari escolar. Vaja, sí que comencem bé el curs. Bé, amb un càlcul barroer, sumant els dies de juny són unes 30 hores. No puc creure que per 30 hores l'equip directiu i el claustre prengui aquesta decisió, presentada de forma covarda als alumnes i no donant la cara als pares en una reunió informativa. L'equip directiu i l´escola esperen que els pares recolzem aquesta iniciativa? Que no veuen que la majoria de ciutadans que tenen feina estan en una situació difícil? Que no veuen la quantitat d'alumnes que aquest any no van al menjador escolar? Que no veuen que a l'escola concertada els mestres no tenen ni dret a cridar?


Convido el lector a consultar les taules de retribució dels docents en la web del Departament d'Educació. Sorprès? La feina de mestre és molt dura, però admetem que també hi ha molts privilegis. Parlem clar. Pot ser que el nostre sistema educatiu públic no dóna per més i aquesta és l'última gota que fa vessar el got?

Demaneu que les ràtios dels alumnes baixin a 15-18 per aula; demaneu més suport psicopedagògic; demaneu més sortides i colònies per a ajudar-los a entendre el món on viuen, sense tanta virtualitat; demaneu l'autoritat per premiar els alumnes que s'esforcen i per posar mesures disciplinàries als que repetidament boicotegen la tasca docent; demaneu fer escola de pares, perquè sembla que no saben que tenir fills implica prendre decisions i ser responsables, etcètera. El dia que demaneu tot això, molts pares vindran amb vosaltres davant la Conselleria d'Educació per ajudar-vos en les vostres reivindicacions. Mentrestant, qui tingui nervis que es prengui una til·la.

(publicat el 24 de setembre de 2010 a La Vanguardia)

I was reading my mail this morning when I saw an interesting message from one of my groups in Linkedin. There is a petition going around to introduce philosophy lessons in the classroom from a very early age.
Read the preamble of the petition and judge by yourself whether these words should make Education Authorities reconsider the curriculum.


We believe that the too-restrictive National Curriculum needs to be significantly expanded to allow more creativity and innovation in the teaching of core cognitive skills.


To that end, we believe introducing Philosophy lessons in the classroom from a very early age would have immense benefits in terms of boosting British school kids' reasoning and conceptual skills, better equipping them for the complexities of life in the 21st century where ubiquitous technology and rapid social change will be the order of the day.

There is a growing body of evidence that Philosophy can be of huge importance in opening up young minds. Reasoning skills and habits improve learning in other subjects on the curriculum and do not require purchasing expensive equipment and classroom resources.

We believe that in a time of changes in the way education is being delivered, combined with imminent profound cuts in budgets at a national level, now is the ideal time for schools to look for innovative ways to extend the National Curriculum.

Michael Hand and Carrie Winstanley’s 'Philosophy in Schools', published in 2008, had academics and education experts calling for Philosophy to be taught in schools – not just as a way for children to learn to communicate more with each other and grow in confidence, but as an academic subject with thinking and reasoning skills at its core.

In 2008, UNESCO published a study looking at the benefits of teaching Philosophy at pre-school and primary levels, concluding, "[We] consider the teaching of Philosophy to be necessary and something to be reckoned with." Meanwhile, a 2007 study by Dundee University suggested that confronting core philosophical debates as the nature of existence, ethics and knowledge can raise children's IQ by up to 6.5 points, as well as improve emotional intelligence. The research also found that Philosophy in schools promotes certain speaking and listening skills, as well as sustained reasoning skills over time. Confidence and concentration also improved, along with teacher’s questioning skills.

Reasoning skills arrived at through Philosophy are also a proven and cost-effective way of boosting pupil brain power and engagement across the curriculum. Thus an Ofsted report from 2010 on the teaching of Philosophy at St Winifred’s Infants School in Lewisham noted: “Lessons in Philosophy encourage pupils to reflect and think more deeply. This has a direct and positive impact on [St Winifred’s] curriculum”.

Philosophy is often valued for the way it can provide the most able students with an outlet for their intelligence and creativity, say witnesses. But another major-plus point is we find Philosophy nurtures the abilities of students labeled difficult and low-achieving, who really enjoy the stimulus of discussion and argument. “Philosophy has developed our more able, but also given great confidence to those children who struggle with the more conventional curriculum,” comments Headmistress Mrs Palmer at Eliot Bank Primary school.

Support the petiton to introduce Philosophy lessons in the classroom
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/37997.html

"Play is vital to a child's development. It improves the way they interact, communicate and develop key life skills. Play should be educational and inspirational but above all, it should be fun."



http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/26/parents-children-playtime/print

impossible task?

We've just accepted that in Catalonia we are about to change the school year calendar to shorten summer holidays. The debate still goes on, since balancing a quality private life and work is proving to be impossible for most of the families. Childcare, extra activities, help from relatives... all sort of solutions don't seem to be working well enough, since they are either expensive or energy consuming for both the children and people willing to give a hand.
I always thought the British working system was quite flexible and contemplated this issue in a quite balanced way. Unfortunately, in this article one can read that the problems are repeating themselves elsewhere.
With the economic crisis going around and many families having only one member in the working market, models may revert to the old ones: one parent is the "provider" , the other is the "home carer"...the only issue is that the home carer may have to be the man...I don't think in Spain many men are ready for it yet.


Read the full article and reader's comments at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/29/woring-hours-childcare#start-of-comments

One of my daugther's and her friend's hands. She took the picture.

I recall the long summers I spent at the seaside when I was just a kid. Sweet memories of past times...
As I see my daughters growing, I do realize how important is for them to build these experiences during the summer. Experiences that will teach them about friendship, new places and new feelings as they get close to their teens.

I've just found this interesting article about children being bored and parents trying to avoid it ( or not?). Comparisons on how things were some decades ago and how parents react nowadays towards this fact are good food for thought.

Let me remark some of the sentences:

The importance of being bored

Parents should wave goodbye to boil-in-the-bag entertainment for their kids and realise boredom can be a force for good.

Things are very different for many of today's children. The notion of quality time implies doing something constructive or worthy rather than parents just letting their children "do their own thing".(...)

Too often have I heard a parent say "I hate the summer holidays". How depressing, to find the company of your children such a chore.(...)


Boredom opens channels. If you're truly, stultifyingly bored and, despite desperate complaints, no one sees fit to alleviate your boredom, then you have to rectify the matter yourself.(...)

Read the complete article on
http://gu.com/p/2tymq

Unfortunately a too much expensive tool for many schools.
However, what if teachers start thinking about such a tool to allow students to learn from each other?
Could anyone "create" a smart table from an ordinary table and provide a different approach to teaching? Ie, one of the tables in the classroom is used as a team work table and materials ( eg, made out of coloured paper) are hidden in the drawer and used creatively and collaboratively by the students themselves?

I've recently been to the Louvre in Paris to realize that most of the people just want to see the Gioconda.

As per the rest of the Museum, many people wander around as if they were merely window-shopping....

A team does as well as you and the team think they can.


This idea is known as “the self-fulfilling prophecy”. When you believe the team will perform well, in some strange, magical way they do. And similarly, when you believe they won’t perform well, they don’t.


The self-fulfilling prophecy is also known as the Pygmalion Effect. This comes from a story by Ovid about Pygmalion, a sculptor and prince of Cyprus, who created an ivory statue of his ideal woman. The result which he called Galatea was so beautiful that he immediately fell in love with it. He begged the goddess Aphrodite to breath life into the statue and make her his own. Aphrodite granted Pygmalion his wish, the statue came to life and the couple married and lived happily ever after.

The implication of the Pygmalion effect for leaders and managers is massive. It means that the performance of your team depends less on them than it does on you. The performance you get from people is no more or less than what you expect: which means you must always expect the best. As Goethe said, “Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.”

( from Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com)

Equally, all educators should bear this in mind when dealing with students...

Some more food for thought !

WHY NOT HAVING A BIT OF FUN ?

Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to take part in any flashmob yet.

I think it is a great idea to have fun in a very naive way, and using technologies to get people together

Really interesting video.
Not quite anything else to add.  Just a lot to think about as a teacher....

People tend to believe that philosophy is only suitable for University level...Philosophy for children (P4C) is a programme that helps develop thinking skills in early stages of education.

In the 70's Matthew Lipman developed what is now known as Philosophy for children with the primary goal to foster critical thinking, defined by himself as “thinking that (1) facilitates judgment because it (2) relies on criteria, (3) is self-correcting, and (4) is sensitive to context.”

Schools that integrate this programme into the curriculum are helping their students to better achieve their academic goals, whilst developing their emotional intelligence.




http://www.grupiref.org/

http://www.edu3.cat/Edu3tv/Fitxa?p_id=17221

http://www.fassers.com/curs0506/infantil/infantil_comu/comucicle/filosofia.html

http://www.escolasadako.com/arees/filosofia/filosofia.htm

http://www.mallorcaweb.net/cpsaquintana/pagines/filosofia.html

living under pressure? Close your eyes and dream...

Can anyone imagine how many hours practice this must have required? Discipline ? Self control ?... And yet, it comes out so easily....

(from a class of Philosophy for Children with 4-5 years old children) - Girl with boat by P.Picasso 1938.

Let me reproduce some of my own experiences when presenting this picture to 4-5 years old children:

(teacher) But, have you ever seen a girl with so many colours on the face?
(student) Well, Picasso must have been mistaken when he painted it!


(teacher) what is that round thing on the left?
(student1) it's a driving wheel...
(student 2) no, it can't be! You cannot have a wheel made of straw.
(student 3) it's not straw ! It's metal!
(teacher) ok, how do you know it's metal?
(student 3) because I see it!


I read this conversation from another teacher's experience in Majorca:

(teacher) what do you think about this girl?
(student 1) she looks weird. Maybe she is Italian.
(student 2) well, my uncle has an Italian girlfriend and she doesn't look like this girl
(student 1) well, then. She must be French...

I always get surprised with the thoughts of "these little people".
We should listen more to what they have to say about the "adult" world.

At the beginnig of my teaching job I used to wonder what self image should I give to my students.

Not paying much attention to some of my teacher friend's recommendations ( be tough or they will get on you! ) I struggled to find my own style. I've swung from being very nice to being really nasty, learning to keep my feelings hidden and in difficult situations saying to myself "calm down, do not shout, wait for the group to unwind".

Only when I truly believe in what I'm doing, do I see my students being really motivated. Well, I must say that embarrassement is not one of my problems!


Just try to get into the class wearing a cook apron, with a cake paper tray and two more small aprons for 2 students. Play to be a cook and ask the students to "prepare" a meal for the rest of the class. Practice a small dialogue and see your 7 year-old students taking the activity over from you... add a small song with some key words from the dialogue and voilà! I bet they will not forget this session!


Our children expect the teacher to be closer to them. To play with them. To laugh with them...bottom line: to empathise with them whilst guiding them in their learning process.
And remember, a motivated teacher guarantees a motivated group!

An experienced consultant in HR is asking in a forum whether priority in professional training should be focussing on either talent & interpersonal skills or mainly on technical skills.

Let me just give you an everyday example I am facing ( allow me to highlight the extremes in order to help draw conclusions).


SCHOOL A.
Children aged 8 are looking for information for themselves ( more or less true, more or less consistent) through books, internet, etc. They must be able to present this information to the rest of their classmates ( so, careful with having too much information! ). They make group essays, where they must interact and cross-learn from others, they must cooperate to finish the task. An 8 years-old student is asking her parents to buy a pen drive in order to have her files and information available.
5th grade students have created a bill that have presented and defended in front of other 5th grade students from other schools in a Parliament session with the attendance of Hble Sr Ernest Benach (president of the Catalan Parliament). They had to propose amendments and vote for the bills.
Some parents of this school believe that the contents the children learn are a bit poor.
At the end of the trimester they get home with an album that is under 100 pages/worksheets. The album follows a chronological order, mixing all the learning subjects.

SCHOOL B.
Children aged 8 are used to patiently and obediently wait for the instructions.
When they’re given a worksheet they will ask “Can I start now?” or “Can I colour it with markers?”
When asked to bring some information, some students will produce a 30 pages document, nicely stapled and with a front page ( ...that parents have printed from wikipedia. Obviously, they are incapable of explaining this information). Individual performance is very good ( but team work ends up in too many competitive disputes).
Children from 5th grade come home with a set of consolidation exercises to complete after a day trip where they have visited the Parliament, the zoo and the surrounding gardens.
The quarterly albums are over 150 pages, including an index, objectives, etc. All classified by dates and with colourful papers to separate the subjects.


In business terms, one would say that children in school B are very efficient, they reach their objectives and know what it means to work hard and accomplish the goals. The school A looks too lax, goals may not be accomplished with not bad consequences after all. Good children will always perform well in this type of school, and children with difficulties will spend a nice time but not really meet the goals.

However, if I had to choose a school for my children I’d would go for the school A without any doubt. The school A is focussing in the methods more than in the contents. The school A is teaching the children to learn to learn, to work cooperatively and develop both their intellectual, group and emotional skills.

Living in a fast changing environment, those who are not capable of adapting to changes – thus, being able to identify opportunities and being prepared to work efficiently with new people, new job, etc – will sooner or later fail at being a competent worker and a happy person.

My answer to this HR consultant is then: your technical skills will be constantly changing anyway . Focus on talent & interpersonal skills since without the latter you will get stuck !

A nice way to represent a Bach fugue

Listen and watch to the music sometimes simple things entail the secret of beauty... strange enough, it reflects pretty well my mental activity when listening to it (!?) does it happen to other people?

I used this video with some of my students from primary with the objective to have them relaxed and see their reaction.

I was most disappointed to realize that the many of them were not surprised to "read and listen" to music like this. I believe that:

1st - they are not used to listen to Bach ( "what is Bach?")

2nd - "this is not nice as a video game" many thought.

3rd - they can't understand a fugue's structure

What a shame!

I've got a colleague who works with talented children. I would like to know her opinion and the reaction of her students when exposed to this video.

(From a personal experience)

A WEIRD SITUATION.

She has applied for a job in a nationwide insurance company. She's been unemployed for almost a year and the unemployement benefit is getting close to its end. Time runs fast and her options are getting smaller.

Her daugthers already laugh and make jokes about her future job. "Mum you will be cold calling people's houses and asking them to buy the car insurance from X company". Ha, ha! Remember the recent Mapfre's TV ad? "Mapfre is like your mum. It will come whenever you need it to help you in any emergency situation. This is the service we offer you with our insurance".

Nevertheless, she gets into her smart suit ( quite discreet, after all she's over 40!) takes the train and makes the arrangements to get to the appointment on time. At the reception, she asks for the interviewer. She's directed to the call center office. She enters the room. Quite noisy - she thinks - she asks for the contact person at the first desk she sees. Having been interrupted by some phone calls, she's finally directed to the interviewer at the bottom of the room.

"Take your seat please" . The interviewer takes her CV from a pile and pretends to revise it. "So, what do you think about being an insurance agent?" "Mmmmm, very interesting your previous sales experience". "Well, the job is about......blah, blah(*)"

She looks around. On the next table another lady is seating in a nice suit in her same situation. She feels sorry for that lady and she completely feels out of place.

She asks some questions about the training provided and type of contract ( you know, you must prepare some questions for a job interview). "Well, the job is yours if you want it! ". "Thank you very much. Let me think about it and I will give you an answer in a couple of weeks".

She knows she will not call back. She's still puzzled by the fact that the job offer advertisement looked something serious. She sends a short sms to her best friend : "as bad as it gets!"

(*) Blah, blah was :

- No contract (a "contrato mercantil" once you have your first customer)

- No customer portfolio (you start with your friends and acquitances)"Well, why don't you call your friends from Majorca and offer them if they want an insurance?" "Why don't you ask your husband's private customers if they're interested?"

- No office, you work where and when you wish. Come to our central offices if you want to make some calls.

- "We will train you on a need basis ".If the customer wants a car insurance, we'll talk you about it. When you have your first home insurance, we'll walk you through it....

- No assigned geographic area . "You chose your own territory, deciding how much you want to drive and move around" - "This is ideal to combine your work with your family ! You choose when to call the customers"

She takes the train back home.

She thinks about her sweet daughters and how is she going to tell them that what they anticipated about the job....was the job itself!!!