Thank a Teacher

I have just come across this wonderful video and I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the amazing teachers who have had such an influence in my life. Even though I first got a degree as a Translator, deep inside I always thought I wanted to be a teacher. We all know life is not always roses and cupids and we have those bad hair days but I believe I have come to a point in my career I can say I would not know what to do if I were told not to set foot in a classroom anymore.
How about you? Why have you decided to embrace this career? Who has influenced you the most?

Hope you find the video as inspiring as I have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_pGiUeVFEU

Josh Groban - "Higher Window" Lyric Video

I originally started this blog to reflect upon the use of music in the classroom. This is something I have been doing for a long time (22 years now!) and since the beginning I've always resisted the tendency to bring pop, meaningless songs to my students. I don't mean that pop music is always meaningless but I've tried to take the opportunity and introduce them to artists they might not have the chance to know for different reasons. Josh Groban is one of these artists. He has never disappointed me, if I can say so. What I mean is students always love his music although so far he should not be considered a pop artist at all. He is about to release a new album and his producers have been making good use of the new medias to promote it. I believe that's why we now have this brand-new song available before the CD reaches the stores in a few days.

Youth Ambassadors 2011

October 26th, 2010 - A very special day.

Today the American Embassy announced the names of the 35 students from public schools who will have the chance to travel to the United States in January. A fantastic program the Embassy has which offers these students the chance to open their horizons and see there is so much for them to discover. A very tough selection this year. There were more than 6,000 candidates and I strongly believe that each and every one had something special to share.
I am particularly happy because we have managed to have a candidate selected, Natanael, who is a very special young man. We are sure he will be really successful in the future given his tenacity. I was also selected to travel with them as a coordinator with the organizers of the program. I am sure this is going to be a milestone in our lives. There will be a lot of things to be done before the trip. We'll be leaving Brazil on Janurary 7th and return on January 28th.
I am really glad for the opportunity. It's true we have all worked really hard to make sure everything would be all right - online work (this year), written tests, interviews, visits to the candidates' homes - but it was worth it.
It is really a pleasure to know we have the chance to make a difference in people's lives and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, these "kids" will learn a lot and they will also have a lot to share with the American people they will be in contact for three weeks in January.

Stay Relevant

We are always discussing what teaching in the 21st century is all about. As digital immigrants it is quite tough for some of us to let go of some old (successful) practices in favor of new ones. Again, the painful situation of leaving our comfort zones.
The thing is, as Educators, we MUST be ready or at least willing to learn more about everything that might facilitate students' learning not to mention their survival in a world without walls. The attached video will show how important it is to be aware of these changes in the world we live and the way we communicate. Are we supposed to rush and get to know EVERYTHING about it? I would never say that. However, I strongly believe we should be open and receptive to it if we want to survive as well and still be heard. The video is another variation of Karl Fisch's, "Did you know?" video.
I would really appreciate to know about your opinion. Have you been using these social medias? How can you implement it and make a difference in your daily teaching?

Teaching x Learning

Image via Wikipedia

I have just read an awesome post about this young teacher who has decided to give up and try something else, maybe just for a while.
Having been on the road for almost 23 years now I can understand a number of points she is considering. I have been teaching EFL in a Language School, a Binational Center and she comes from the so called regular school teaching fifth graders. However, I think many of the points she highlights will sound familiar for any teacher who happens to be worried about his/her career and what happens in the classroom. It reminds me of a workshop I once attended and the title was "What's happening when nothing is happening in the classroom?".
I know some people who really do not spend any time (waste time in their words)asking so many questions we may never find the answers.
I can't agree. I believe that if we are to survive and be successful as real 21st century teachers/educators there must be room for such discussions and maybe endless questioning.
Recently we have been working a lot on Professional Development and what is said to be effective planning. This is an area I believe we have so much to learn about. Is there really one single effective way to teach? Can't we question rules/theories? Is there room for adaptation? How far can we go? Her considerations about this area in particular struck me the most. I suggest you read her post in hopes you'll be as intrigued as I was and I would appreciate your personal comments.

To tweet or not to tweet?

I have said many times I cannot imagine my professional and personal life without my PLN. I remember being introduced to Twitter back in 2008 when I did my online course Webtools4BrazilianEducators with Carla Arena from Casa Thomas Jefferson. I must confess at that time I was a bit lost and maybe because I'm rather anxious I wanted to use everything I was being introduced to at the same time.
Well, those days are gone but Twitter, in particular, has been a must have for me. I intend to devote some of my time now, maybe during the break in July, to evangelize my colleagues at CCBEUFRANCA and bring them to this enriching community of devoted Educators who have been so helpful whenever I need either to solve a tech problem, discuss some pedagogical issue or simply share something I may have come across and find interesting. Because of my awesome PLN, I have just come across this great video I believe you should all watch and see the amazing potential of Twitter for all of us.
Hope you enjoy it and, as usual, I would love to read your opinions about it. Have you started using twitter yet? What have you been doing with it? Has anything let you down?

Save them

I know it's not an easy task but I have started thinking more seriously about this responsibility we have in our hands as Educators - save (help) the students that would not be considered the most brilliant ones. The inspiration for writing/reflecting came after reading an oustanding post by another must-follow blogger Shelly Terrell.
I have made a number of mistakes as a teacher and I'm glad I have had the chance to be honest about it and try to see things in a different perspective. Isn't it what living is all about? Learning from mistakes. I can't help thinking about a song "Lessons to be learned", the main idea being in life "there are no mistakes, just lessons to be learned".
Back to the ideas from the original post, I was particularly touched by a list of suggestions, kindly shared by another educator in the comments section of Shelly's post, for us to follow as Educators if we are to survive and make a difference in at least one student's life who is close to us.
From the 15 pieces of advice mentioned I guess number 15 really called my attention and it reads " We have time schedules where students are required to meet a certain level. Yet some can’t work within that time limit. It takes them longer to understand. Should we penalise them?"
This is a dilemma I have faced quite often in my career as an EFL teacher and two weeks ago I was talking exactly about it with a student of mine. She is redoing a course at the Binational Center where I teach and she's not doing "as expected" by the system again.
However, I told her I can see a lot of improvement in her performance since we started working together in February. So just like the other teacher commented she may not have reached the "expected" level of performance to move on to a higher level, yet she has made a lot of progress in the last 5 months and this must be taken into consideration.
So, this is a great opportunity for reflection. I think more often than not we end up turning our backs to "problems" assuming there is not much to be done. We are, as teachers/educators, many times overworked and it's only natural to feel demotivated to fight even harder to motivate the so called difficult, hopeless students. Who is going to motivate us? Well, different people will certainly have a different answer. As for me, I can say it is extremely gratifying when you see someone coming close to you to thank you because you were simply there for them when they themselves have thought about giving up.