Micoteaching

Today at class we have performed our CLIL microteaching. I really enjoy this class because I could see different activities that may never I had thought of. The pity was that we couldn't see all the presentations for lack of time, but I really enjoy the one I have seen.

In addition, after each presentation all the groups and the teacher gives a number of suggestions for improving our activity.

With my group are working The Water Cycle and our activity was aimed to How to Save Water. The activity consists in the teacher gave a series of pictures that had situations where water is wasted. The students had to create a phrase beginning with:  I can save water by.....

At the end of the activity we would create a song with phrases created by the students and We will Rock you music, where the chorus would be: I love saving water.

After the comments from the teacher and peers, we realized that we need to restructure the activity and give students the possible sentences and they will choice  which one is right considering their image.

Developing CLIL

This entry it's about the article Developing CLIL: Towards a Theory to Practice by Professor Do Coyle. In the last years, CLIL has become a subject of ineterest in different sectors of European education systems, covering a wide range of geographical areas.

As Marsh says, CLIL is when a foreign language is used as a tool in the learning of a non-language subject in which both language and the subject have a joint role. That means that you use, in this case English, to teach and specific content of another subject, but doesn't mean that you use that content to teach, for example, new English vocabulary. If we ant to achieve this in a successful way  it requires that the two teachers, the specific subject and English teacher, work together  in the process of designing and developing the CLIL unit.

Research shows that CLIL can:

•  Raise learner linguistic competence and confidence;
• Raise teacher and learner expectations;
• Develop risk-taking and problem-solving skills and grammatical awareness;
• Motivate and encourage student independence;
• Take students beyond "reductive" foreign language topics;
• Encourage linguistic spontaneity (talk) if students are enabled to learn through the language rather than in the language;
• Generate positive attitudes and address gender issues in motivation and out cultural awarness back on the agenda.

Do Coyle talks about the 4c's framework that support CLIL pedagogy. As we can see at the picture, the pyramid shows that each one it's related to the other and communicaton is located in the center of the figure, but why? If we want  the CLIL to be successful we need to integrated learning to use language and use language to learn so teachers need to plan, monitor and evaluate CLIL learning and teaching from different perpsepectives.

Rethinking Classroom Management

This entry it's about the article Rethinking Classroom Management by Natàlia Maldonado and Pilar Olivares. The main idea is that we need to define a new concept "teaching and learning management". 

The authors differentiates between three interrelated areas to analyse in ordeer to understand this new concept.

Organisational issues: We live in democratic societies, and this must be transported to the classroom. Every classroom should have clear rules and rights, but can not run in parallel to the Society and be created and elected only by the teacher. As a result, the rights and rules of the classroom should be the result of a negotiation between the students and the teacher. In this metaphor, the students also respect them more, as they will be part of a community where they have helped to create and they understand the meaning of each one.

Curriculum issues: Every country has its own curriculum that gives specifications of each area, but the teachers task is to develope it according to its context. If we want students to do meaningful learning activities should be poweful enabling pupils to think deeply and critically, give them the opportunity to become creative and innovative and enable pupils to respond positively to opportunities, challenges and responsabilities. Working on a cooperative way it's a good way to pupils help each other and build a knowledge together. Also, working individually develops selfs discipline and personal gratification.

Social issues:  Pupils learn more and better if they are in a safe, secure and accepting classroom. In relation with the teacher, it implies a model of behaviour that awakes a reciprocal responses from students. Teacher's respect for pupils should be reciprocated/responded by their respect for the teacher.

On this video link we can see a good example of classroom management

http://www.schooltube.com/video/530e38fb32e9e1542ebb/Classroom%20Management%20That%20Works%201

Home - School Connections

At class, we have talk about the importance of Home-School Connections because among other reasons, when families and educators and communities work together, schools get better. Also, parents are an essential link inimproving academic success.  

We have been talking about different ways to make this connection, but the one that caught my attention was Muffins with Mom.

The idea is to spend time between parents and child in the school setting. It can be a moment to spend time together, but we can also take advantage of these activities to establish a connection between home and school.

Muffins with Mom could be a good moment  for children to explain and show, in this case to mothers, what they have learned in school and to show all their works, their play areas, etc..

We can also spend this moment for mothers to help children in their tasks. Finally it can also be a good time for mothers to establish a closer relationship with teachers, establishing a climate of confidence to work together for the educational development of children