For those days when we need to ponder what to do....

Hang up and drive

When multitasking can put your life at risk......

FAAPI 2009

Proud representants from Rio de la Plata Sur at FAAPI Conference!!!

Malen, Caro ,Lucre ( renowned Speaker at FAAPI) and Pauli.

Happy teacher´s day

Teacher´s day 2008!!!

Rio staff - Who is who?

Happy teachers´day!!!

"For all the teachers at heart" - Part of Rio de la Plata staff

Rad teach by Judy Willis

An honour and a challenge for those who`ve had the possibility to have her at school.

An amazing talk full of tips, ideas, suggestions and fun!!!! Hope we can see her again soon she´s a true role model for all of us to follow, and for those who are always wondering how to teach what we teach.

http://www.radteach.com/

Have we lost our curiosity over the years?

The 9th Intelligence:
The existencial intelligence: Are you wondering smart?

Nati.....You`ll always be in our hearts!!!!

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Something to think about...

Thank you Mariela.... I took the liberty of using this wonderful info you´ve sent us in my blog!!!!

This post goes for you!!

Washington , DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007 The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money, but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

Findings:


No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro Station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and people's priorities. The questions raised: "In a common place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?"

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we missing?

Dancing in the train station

Movement anchors thought...... what a great idea to start the day with a bang!!!!!

inspiratonal Speech

Thanks to Alejandro Salgado for his always valuable contribution and for being an English life-long learner!!!!! Hats off to you!!!! :)

Rad teaching

RIO DE LA PLATA SCHOOL PROUDLY PRESENTS
September 3rd, 6 to 8pm

Increase Student Engagement, Motivation, and Memory
using RAD Neuro-logical Strategies

By Judy Willis M.D,M.Ed

How does the brain turn sensory input into memory and useable knowledge so it is truly learned, stored as long-term memory, and can be applied to future learning and problem solving? Educators will learn how to apply neuro-logical strategies to increase student engagement, focus, memory, and build their emotional control as well as their executive functions such as goal-planning, critical analysis, organization, prioritizing, perspective, and creative problem solving.
The first part focuses on attention, focus, and how to get students to want to know what they have to learn - that would be about RAD and strategies to get the information from sensory input in the environment (what they hear, see, do) into the thinking parts of the brain (prefrontal cortex) instead of the lower reactive brain where the unconscious choices are limited to fight/flight/freeze and long-term memories and active thinking are not possible. There are strategies to insure the information taught makes it through the brain’s filters into the reflective, cognitive, thinking brain- the prefrontal cortex.

The second part of the workshop focuses on how the brain makes long-term memory and uses executive function so learning becomes permanent and usable in other contexts. It is about strategies that have students mentally manipulate and use information so it becomes true learning. A side benefit of strengthening the networks (neuroplasticity) in the prefrontal cortex is that these same networks improve emotional control, critical analysis, concept building, and creative problem solving.


Cost: 20 dollars
Free of charge for Rio de la Plata school staff.

Brain Rule Nº8 "Stress" By Doctor John Medina

Movement anchors thought

This video clip highlights how PE and classroom teachers are using the latest research in neuroscience and implementing it with their students. It was used as part of a presentation to fitness leaders to promote the importance of exercise and brain plasticity.

Helping hands

A beautiful video to teach kids the value of help with a funny song.. Hope you like it!!

Communicating in English???????

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH

Clarify ideas before communicating: Systematically think through the message and consider who will be receiving it and/or affected by it.

Examine the true purpose of communication: One must ask himself/herself this question – what am I really aiming to accomplish with this message? The use of language can then be suitably adjusted.

Take the entire environment, physical and human, into consideration: Questions such as, what is being said, to whom and when are very important. Your skill lies in how you say it and, of course, your timing. Adapt your language to the environment.

Be careful of the overtones and the basic content of the message: The listener will be affected by they way you put across your message. Your tone and facial expressions are also to be considered.

Use crisp language and be clear: It is very important that the words are well chosen and that you stay as crisp and concise as possible. In other words use minimum words to send across the message and convey useful information.

Follow-up on communication: One must solicit feedback in ensuring that the receiver has understood the message. If the person has not understood, tone down the language.

Be a good listener: By concentrating on the receiver’s response you can ensure his extent of interest in you and also if he is concentrating.

In this video you will see none of these tips is applied. An example of how far we can reach when communication is not the end goal of our conversation.......Absolutely worth watching!!

Teaching the whole child - ASCD Conference

This is where you come in ......Get involved and protect the whole chid!!!!

RAD TEACHING

When a Neurologist becomes a classroom teacher, Brain Learning Reseach promotes teaching strategies. Dr. Judy Willis, a board-certified neurologist and middle school teacher in Santa Barbara, California, has combined her 15 years as a practicing adult and child neurologist with her teacher education training and years of classroom experience. She is an authority in the field of learning-centered brain research and classroom strategies.
Dr. Willis concludes that there are three main brain systems she refers to as RAD which are the keys to building better brains.

RAD is short for:

R: Reticular Activating System (RAS)
A: Amygdala
D: Dopamine

Reticular Activating System

The RAS is the attention activation switching system located at the brainstem. You can
control where students’ focus goes in the classroom, and what information gets through the RAS by incorporating novelty, multi-sensory learning, goal-motivated attention, and creativity with learning activities.

Amygdala

The amygdala is the center of the brain’s emotion relays in the limbic system and it also strengthens the long-term memory potential of information that enters accompanied by positive emotion. With low-risk, low-stress, positive learning activities, the RAS and amygdala can help
the brain focus on the sensory information of the learning activity.

Dopamine

Dopamine is one of the brain’s most important neurotransmitters, proteins that carry information across spaces between nerve endings. When you can incorporate pleasurable learning experiences and activities into lessons, the dopamine released is then available to increase pleasure, attention, and memory.

Judy Willis Will be delivering seminars in Argentina "Learning and the Brain Conference" Sept 4-5, 2009.

Ken Robinson ... Do schools kill creativity?

A hilarious lecture and a critical overview of the schooling system around the world, Are we aware of our responsibility and our influences on the future generations?
Creativity is the imagination put into practice, are we afraid of letting our students creativity flow? or we´ve just stopped being creative ouselves ?
In this presentation the writer of " The Element" makes it clear that nowadays creativity is as important in education as literacy....... Enjoy!!!!

Susan Boyle - A star is born!!!!

Is beauty in the eye of the beholder or we simply judge the book by the cover?

In this video you will see a typical example of labelling.
Will we ever be able to change our preconcieved ideas and our mind frame ? Will we ever accept others and even ourselves the way we really are?
"Be honest and true to yourself, always dream big and give everybody a chance to be who they are, Angels come in all kinds of shapes"

Thank you Caro for telling me about this video and thank you silvi for sending it to me!!!

Class observation

Helpful or dreadful? That´s the question.....

Have you ever been in a situation like the one in the video? I hope not, when the observer is helpful and relaxed everybody enjoys and everybody profits from the observation. Even the teacher who is being watched...the problem is: Are we open to suggestions? Is the observer open to new ideas? Do we always accept other´s points of view?
It is always hard work to accept criticism even if it is constructive.



Specially for Miss Marie who´s always hated ( like me) being observed, and who´s proven to be a devoted English teacher and an irreplaceable partner.

All my love and gratitude to you......

9 BRAIN COMPATIBLE ELEMENTS

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST......



ADEQUATE TIME


In terms of the pattern seeking and program building nature of the brain, adequate time is not a luxury, it is a prerequisite. It takes time to extract meaningful patterns (make meaning) and it takes time to know how to use what we learn in meaningful ways (acquire useful programs). Adequate time is needed to get the job of learning done well, to accomplish mastery (the ability to use the concept/skill in real life settings), to fully understand the connections among prior learnings and learnings yet to come. Using fragments of time--20 minutes for this, 40 minutes for that--is the ideal way to guarantee a low degree of meaningfulness and high failure rates. Using uninterrupted time to allow students full concentration is the ultimate gift, e.g., a two-hour block, all morning or even an entire day devoted to a major concept and its application to real life. Learning should be more than covering the material and building mental programs for use.The implications for the classroom of the 21st century are obvious--we need to do less and do it better and more in-depth, giving students time to use the information again and again in varying settings until the information is recallable in a usable form, i.e., as a behavior, a mental program



For those who´ve read and enjoyed " To everything".

Special thanks to Caro who told me the story was actually a song.

This video is specially dedicated to Sabri Catagno who really charishes the book as much as I do.

9 BRAIN COMPATIBLE ELEMENTS

CHOICES:


Webster defines choice as "the act or power of choosing, the thing chosen, alternative, preference, the best." We especially like the phrase "power of choosing" because it pinpoints the essential characteristic of the lifelong learner. "Preference" acknowledges what brain research tells us over and over again: every brain is different and, therefore, each individual learner has preferred ways of learning that the individual knows to be more effective and reliable for him/her.
Frank Smith, in to think , 1990 ( p. 27), notes that thinking is made easy and effective when two fundamental requirements are met: 1) we understand what we are thinking about; and 2) the brain itself is in charge, in control of its own affairs, going about its own business. Smith goes on to say that "Thinking becomes difficult and inefficient when the brain loses control, when what we try to think about is contrived rather than an integral part of whatever we would otherwise be engaged in at the moment. ...the most difficult kind of thinking is that which is imposed on us by someone else..."
The definition of "power of choosing" is wonderfully descriptive because it pinpoints the essential characteristic of the lifelong learner. Making wise choices comes from practice; the desire to choose comes from confidence that choices will be good ones. "Preference" acknowledges what brain research tells us over and over again: that every brain is different and, therefore, each individual learner has preferred ways of learning which that individual knows to be more effective and reliable for him/her.

What do you choose? I choose love!!!!

9 BRAIN COMPATIBLE ELEMENTS

COLLABORATION

The choice of the word "collaboration" rather than "cooperation" or "cooperative learning", is deliberate here. In Webster's Dictionary it means "to work in association with, to work with another." Frank Smith, in Insult to Intelligence, 1986 ( p. 62) lists opportunity for manipulation of information as one of his key ingredients for learning,. Full understanding of what is being learned and the ability to apply it in real-life settings--creative problem solving and flexible use of what is learned--depends upon ample opportunity to manipulate information in our heads, to test it, expand it, connect it with prior learnings. Collaborating with others allows us to examine our own thinking while expanding our knowledge base.

9 BRAIN COMPATIBLE ELEMENTS

MASTERY/COMPETENCE

Leslie A. Hart has a dual definition for learning:
1) Learning is the extraction, from confusion, of meaningful patterns.
2) Learning is the acquisition of useful programs.
Simply translated, the issues are what do students understand and how they can use it.

Part 1 of the learning process involves processing of incoming data, making meaning of the input. While every learner's perspective differs somewhat, care should be taken to uncover the accuracy of those patterns.
Part 2 of the learning process involves using what we understand, the mental patterns we have detected to get translated into specific actions.
Assessment procedures should be established in the classroom to permit the teacher to determine the accuracy of patterns and the depth of understanding they represent and to determine if mental programs have been developed and stored in long-term memory.

The most incredible movie about perseverance and motivation, a true story about hope and love. We can always reach mastery if we set our mind heart and soul to do so.

9 BRAIN COMPATIBLE ELEMENTS

ENRICHED ENVIRONMENT

When creating an enriched environment, it is important to keep in mind the extent and kind of experiences with the natural and manmade world that your students bring with them to school. The key here is to balance that experience, not replicate it. For example, if students come to you long on TV, videos, video games, and secondhand resources (books and pictures), then the classroom must provide the REAL stuff--not books about, videos about, pictures about, replicas of, models of, but the real thing! If the environment is inner city with typical harshness, chaos, and dirtiness, then you must take the time and effort to create an environment in the classroom and school that is brain-compatible, e.g., aesthetically pleasing, clean, orderly, calming, etc.
Some other things to keep in mind: Make the environment body compatible. Eliminate clutter; avoid distraction and over stimulation. Provide each class with a broad-based reference library; trade books, current encyclopedias, CD-ROM and video discs. Change bulletin boards, displays and materials frequently; always stay current with what is being studied at the moment. Put away the old except for a few items which will job recall.

9 BRAIN COMPATIBLE ELEMENTS

ABSENCE OF THREAT/NURTURING REFLECTIVE THINKING

What constitutes threat--real and perceived--is in the eye of the beholder. Thus, creating an environment free of threat includes a wide range of issues much like those described by Abraham Maslow. First physical safety, then psychological safety--necessary conditions for effective collaboration between teacher and students, and among students themselves, in the classroom and schoolwide. It is important to note that the environment of the school at large also spills over into the classroom. Creating a threat-free environment requires that teachers work together to alter the entire school environment.

9 BRAIN COMPATIBLE ELEMENTS

MOVEMENT TO ENHANCE LEARNING

Motor skills are fundamental to learning. (Eric Jensen) "Physical activity is good not only for the heart, but also for the brain, feedingit glucose and oxygen and increasing nerve connections, all of which makes it easier for children of all ages to learn. Numerous studies show that children who exercise do better in school."

9 BRAIN COMPATIBLE ELEMENS

MEANINGFUL CONTENT

How would one describe meaningful content? That's a tricky question for an educator because, in fact, it is not the educator's question to answer. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is meaningfulness determined by the learner. And yet, it is worth answering because meaningful content is the most powerful brain-compatible element. It digs deeply into the learner's pool of intrinsic motivation and provides focus for the ever active brain, thus harnessing the brain's attention and channeling its power. Fortunately, thanks to brain research, we can do a better job than ever before of surmising what the learner beholds and how he/she processes learning.


Lack of meaning in learning something can be just a void repetition of patterns or words that have no link whatsoever to our previous knowledge, thus the information learnt cannot be stored in our long term memory.

Here is an example of how meaningless repetition leads to nothingness!!!!!! F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Nine Brain compatible elements

Immediate Feedback

Each of us has personal experiences with learning when the feedback was confusing, delayed, or not forthcoming at all. Such feedback is dangerous because it too often results in development of incorrect patterns (misinformation) and programs (wrong responses). Examples abound. Many among us experience the frustration of fumbling over the spelling of a particular word; our two choices are always the same, the same incorrect version vs. the correct. Years later, we continue to fumble between the same competing set of possibilities.
Contrary to popular belief, the hardest thing the brain does is forget something it has learned, as distinguished from forgetting something it never learned in the first place or that was never meaningful....which occurs for 80 percent of the students on the bell curve who stopped just short of mastery, just short of building a program. Feedback (and time) must be sufficient for the student to develop a correct mental program.
The importance of immediate feedback to the student, then is obvious. Feedback, accurate and immediate, is needed at the time the learner is building his/her mental program to ensure that the program is accurate and to help speed up the building of a program.

We need to learn from our mistakes and the best way to do so is knowing that we are making them in the first place, so that we can work on them conscientiously. Watch this hilarious video about mistake awareness. Enjoy!!

The very hungry caterpillar

For all those who love the story and enjoy reading it over and over again!!!! One of the most precious teacher resources in the google ad!!!!!

Specially for Maira and Caro

All Wired Up: The Teenage Brain Revealed

Dr. Sheryl Feinstein is an Assistant Professor of Education at Augustina College in South Dakota, where she teaches courses in educational psychology and adolescent development. In her presentation titled “Teaching the At-Risk Teenage Brain,” Feinstein explored the functions of the teenage brain and how these processes explain their sometimes questionable behavior.Feinstein, who has conducted boundless research and written two books on the subject, defines the at-risk teenager as one in danger of emotional and/or academic problems, including youth crimes, violence, and substance abuse. Factors that put teens at risk include poverty, academic failure, and delinquent friends, among others.According to Feinstein, the adolescent brain differs from the adult brain in three primary areas:
1- There is an overproduction of dendrites (greater propensity for learning new things).
2- Pruning, or loss of dendrites not being used, occurs more rapidly.
3- The decision-making process is governed by the amygdala (rather than the frontal lobe), making teens more emotional and less logical than adults.
Use of the amygdala as the primary cerebral decision-maker is also the cause of misunderstandings, incendiary language, bad decision making, disorganization and forgetfulness. With these things in mind, teachers can use proactive and reactive strategies for possible student confrontations, including:
-Transitions are difficult; give one-step directions.
-Teach self-determination skills.
-Reduce distractions, seat them near the front, clear the desks of objects.
-Stay calm and non-confrontational.
-Don’t get off topic and don’t defend yourself.
-Don’t point the blame.
-Understanding the cerebral functions that cause certain behaviors is a big step towards knowing how to effectively teach teenagers and defuse any possible confrontations.

Short and sweet

Learn to count…

Count your garden by the flowers,
Never by the leaves that fall;
Count your joys by the golden hours,
Never when life´s worries call.
Count your nights by stars, not shadows,
Count your days by smiles, not tears;
And when life´s span so swiftly narrows,
Count your age by friends, not years

A very funny monolog... A bit too chauvinist but true!!!!

Men´s brains vs. women´s brains

How different we are!!!!!

The curious case of Benjamin Button

A wonderful movie with an unforgettable message, and a wonderful tool for those teaching Multiple Intelligences. Hope you like it as much as I do!!

The most beautiful song describing women..A tribute to us all!

SHE

She May be the face I can't forget

The trace of pleasure or regret

May be my treasure or the price I have to pay

She May be the song that summer sings

May be the chill that autumn brings

May be a hundred different things Within the measure of a day

She May be the beauty or the beast

May be the famine or the feast

May turn each day into a heaven or a hell

She may be the mirror of my dreams The smile reflected in a stream

She may not be what she may seem Inside her shell

She Who always seems so happy in a crowd Whose eyes can be so private and so proud

No one's allowed to see them when they cry

She May be the love that cannot hope to last

May come to me from shadows of the past

That I'll remember till the day I die

She May be the reason I survive

The why and wherefore I'm alive

The one I'll care for through the rough in ready years

Me I'll take her laughter and her tears And make them all my souvenirs

For where she goes I've got to be

The meaning of my life is She She, oh she

We are beautiful!!!!! Happy Women´s day to everyone!

Multitasking drains the brain

Mind is designed to handle one complex activity at a time.

Scientists have bad news for people who think they can deftly drive a car while gabbing on a cell phone.
The first study using magnetic resonance images of brain activity to compare what happens in people's heads when they do one complex task, as opposed to two tasks at a time, reveals a disquieting fact: The brain appears to have a finite amount of space for tasks requiring attention.
When people try to drive in heavy traffic and talk, researchers say, brain activity does not double. It decreases. People performing two demanding tasks simultaneously do neither one as well as they do each one alone.
The study, published in tomorrow's issue of the journal NeuroImage, was led by Marcel Just, a psychology professor and co-director of the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. While this study did not examine the brain activity of people who were driving cars and conversing, it used tasks that engage similar brain regions, Just said. Moreover, he said, plans are under way to study the brains of people who are using driving simulators while someone is talking to them.
Jordan Grafman, a neuroscientist at the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke in Bethesda, Md., said that while the study did not involve cell phones, it was relevant to public policy. "Lawmakers need to know there is a cost whenever people try to do multiple tasks," he said.
Christof Koch, a professor of cognitive and behavioral biology at the California Institute of Technology, said: "No question this study was very nicely executed. After all, if you really want to listen to something, you close your eyes, right?"
In recent years, it has become possible to map brain areas involved in high-level cognitive tasks -- processing sentences, comprehending paragraphs, formulating strategies, planning many moves ahead and evaluating uncertainty.
When people do these mental tasks, functional brain imaging machines can detect which areas of their brains become most active. Because active brain cells use more oxygen, they can be seen as hot spots against a background of less-active cells.
The active regions are measured in voxels, volumes of brain tissue about the size of a grain of rice. When a particular part of the brain is working hard, more voxels light up with greater intensity.
Previous research showed that when a single area of the brain, like the visual cortex, has to do two things at once, like tracking two objects, there is less brain activation than occurs when it watches one thing at a time, Just said.
The new study sought to find out whether something similar happened when two highly independent tasks, carried out in very different parts of the brain, were done concurrently. The answer was not obvious, Just said. Maybe the tasks would work independently and activate twice as much space in the brain. Or they could compete for space and activate a different, and unpredictable, set of brain cells, he said.
Just and his colleagues chose two tasks for the study. One was language comprehension, which is carried out in the brain's temporal lobe. The other task required mentally rotating objects in space, a process that is done in the parietal lobe.
Eighteen volunteers had their brains scanned while doing one or both tasks. For one scan, they listened to complex sentences like "the pyramids were burial places and they are one of the seven wonders of the ancient world," and had to indicate whether the statements were true or false. For another, they were shown pairs of three-dimensional figures and asked to rotate them mentally to judge whether they were the same.
Then they tried to do both tasks simultaneously and equally conscientiously. Researchers confirmed that the two tasks relied on different parts of the brain. The language task alone activated 37 voxels of brain tissue, mostly in temporal regions, Just said. The mental rotation task alone also activated 37 voxels, mostly in parietal regions.
But when both tasks were done at the same time, the volunteers' brains did not engage the sum of the two, or 74 voxels. Instead, their brains displayed only 42 voxels of activity.
On closer inspection, the researchers found that the number of activated voxels was smaller and less intense in each of the two brain regions. The amount of brain activation generated by mental rotation decreased 29 percent if the person also was listening to a sentence. The amount of activation generated by listening to sentences decreased 53 percent if the person was also trying to rotate objects.
While the volunteers' overall accuracy did not suffer, Just said, it took them a bit longer to do each task. If the tasks had been more difficult, their performance would have suffered even more.
It appears that the brain has limits and can only do so much at one time, Just said. "You can't just keep piping new things through," he said, and expect the brain to keep up. With practice, the brain can become more efficient at carrying out multiple tasks, he added, but performance is never as good as when the tasks are carried out independently.
Everyone has had the experience of trying to do two things at once, like driving a car and talking to a passenger, Just said. Both speech and driving can become automatic and not very demanding of brain power. But when an experienced driver encounters a sudden increase in complexity -- an argument erupts and it also starts to sleet -- that driver probably will stop the conversation and pay attention to the road.
The difference between in-person and cell phone conversations is that a passenger can see changing road conditions and will likely shut up when needed, Just said. The person on the other end of a cell phone does not see these changes and may keep on blathering.
Making cell phones hands-free will not solve the problem of the brain's inability to carry out complex tasks in tandem. And since it is not possible to ban other human conversation in cars, the next best thing is education, Just said. People need to know that their brains have limits, even if they are under the illusion that multitasking is the wave of the future.

Education Today and Tomorrow

The brain reads first the colour and then the content!!! Try it out.

I am a teacher

I am a Teacher.I was born the first moment that a question leaped from the mouth of a child.I have been many people in many places.I am Socrates exciting the youth of Athens to discover new ideas through the use of questions.I am Anne Sullivan tapping out the secrets of the universe into the outstretched hand of Helen Keller.I am Aesop and Hans Christian Andersen revealing truth through countless stories.I am Marva Collins fighting fir every child's right to an education.I am Mary McLeod Bethune building a great college for my people, using orange crates for desks.And I am Bel Kaufman struggling to go Up The Down Staircase.The names of those who have practiced my profession ring like a hall of fame for humanity ... Booker T. Washington, Buddha, Confucius, Ralp Waldo Emerson, Leo Buscaglia, Moses and Jesus.I am also those whose names and faces have long been forgotten but whose lessons and character will always be remembered in the accomplishment of their students.I have wept for joy at their weddings of former students, laughed with glee at the birth of their children and stood with bowed in grief and confusion by graves dug too soon far too young.Throughout the course of a day I have been called upon to be an actor, friend, nurse and doctor, coach, finder of lost articles, money lender, taxi driver, psychologist, substitute parent, salesman, politician and keeper of the faith.Despite the maps, charts, formulas, verbs, stories and books, I have really had nothing to teach, for my students really have only themselves to learn, and I know it takes the whole world to tell you who you are.I am a paradox. I speak loudest when I listen the most. My greatest gifts are in what I am willing to appreciatively receive from my students.Material wealth is not one of my goals, but I am a full-time treasure seeker in my quest for new opportunities for my students to use their talents and in my constant search for those talents that sometimes lie buried in self-defeat.I am the most fortunate of all who labor.A doctor is allowed to usher life into the world in one magic moment. I am allowed to see that life is reborn each day with new questions, ideas and friendships.An architect knows if he builds with care, his structure may stand for centuries. A teacher knows that if he builds with love and truth, what he builds will last forever.I am a warrior, daily doing battle against peer pressure, negativity, fear, conformity, prejudice, ignorance and apathy. But I have great allies: Intelligence, Curiosity, Parental Support, Individuality, Creativity, Faith, Love and Laughter all rush to my banner with indomitable support.And who do I have to thank for this wonderful life I am so fortunate to experience, but you the public, the parents. For you have done me the great honor to entrust to me your greatest contribution to eternity, your children.And so I have a past that is rich in memories. I have a present that is challenging, adventurous and fun because I am allowed to spend my days with the future.I am a teacher ... and I thank God for it every day.

Success

Success depends on the support of other people. The only hurdle between you and what you want to be is the support of others.
Look at it this way: an executive depends on people to carry out his instructions. If they don’t, the company will fire the executive, not the employees. Likewise a politician depends on voters to elect him.
There were times in history when a person could gain a position of authority through force and hold it with force or threats. In those days a man either cooperated with the leader or risked loosing his head. But today a person either supports you willingly or doesn’t support you at all.
But how can you get people’s willingness to support you? The answer wrapped up in one phrase is “ THINK RIGHT TOWARD PEOPLE”.
When a group of people has to consider names for a new post or a promotion, in 9 cases out of 10 the “LIKEABILITY” factor is given far more weight than the technical factor. “ I know he has a good academic and technical background, I don’t question his competence, but I am concerned about the acceptance he would receive" .
The above holds true even in selecting scholars for university professorships. Unfair? Unacademic? No. If the fellow isn’t likeable he can’t be expected to get through to his students with maximum effectiveness.
President Lyndon Johnson even developed a personal plan for thinking right toward people:
1- Learn to remember names.
2- Be a comfortable person so there is no strain in being with you.
BE AN OLD-SHOE kind of individual.
3- Guard against the impression that you KNOW-IT-ALL.
4- Cultivate the quality of being interesting.
5- Sincerely attempt to heal every misunderstanding that you have had.
6- Try to get the “SCRATCHY” elements out of your personality.
7- Never miss out on an opportunity to say a word of sincere congratulations upon anyone’s achievement, or express sympathy in sorrow or disappointment.

The mirror has two faces... How to hipnotize your students?

This is a wonderful example of a motivated,participative class....I love this movie, I hope you like it as much as I do. Have a great beginning!!!!!

What kind of thinker are you?

Our Universe... a gift to all of us!!!!

This beautiful video can be used in class for different kinds of activitites, It´s specially for Rio teachers to work with the year long theme.....

Open Class - Art around the World - Rio de la Plata Sur.

For all my fellow teachers at Rio de la Plata Sur

A little song to see what makes the universe tick!!!

Teaching the new generations: Keep updated or die in the attempt!

Clear instructions to avoid misunderstanding...

Four all who Reed and Right

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes; but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese, yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice; yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men, why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet, and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth, why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?Then one may be that, and three would be those, yet hat in the plural would never be hose, and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren, but though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him, but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.
Let's face it,English is a crazy language.There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted.But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea, nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends, but not one amend?If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes, I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?Have noses that run and feet that smell?How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down; in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

How do you make our classes memorable? To learn or to survive school that´s the question....

Famous quotes about education...


"Don't let schooling interfere with your education". (Mark Twain)

"Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life." (Henry L. Doherty)


"The highest result of education is tolerance."
(Helen Keller)

Teaching and learning...... the gap to bridge

The fact that we teach doesn´t necessarily mean that our students are learning.....

Why men hate advice and women can't park

A new book claims to have found scientific explanations for why women can’t reverse park, and men are unable to multi-task. According to 'Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps', differences in the wiring of male and female brains affect the way we perceive the world and each other. The authors Allan and Barbara Pease say while more than 70 per cent of men can park in reverse, only a quarter of women can accomplish this feat. Although women are actually better at learning tasks, the authors claim that in real-life situations the part of the brain devoted to spatial awareness becomes overwhelmed. While women can talk on the phone, do the ironing, and watch television at the same time, men find it difficult to concentrate on anything more taxing than watching the football, the book claims. This is because the area connecting the right part of the brain to the left is thicker in women, allowing more ideas to flow. Women find to harder to immediately distinguish their left hand from their right, the authors claim, because they use both sides of their brain at the same time. Men have a dominant side of the brain, making it easier for them to tell one hand from the other instantly. The male reluctance to ask for directions when they are clearly lost is said to go back to prehistoric times. When the male role was to keep the family safe, showing weakness would been seen as failure. And finally, women really do have a sixth sense when it comes to appraising other women’s intentions due to the fact that the corpus callosum in women is thicker than in men. Among other issues tackled in the book are what men and women need to do to get on in business and why men offer solutions but hate advice.

Ordinary people making extraordinary things

Food for thought...... Do you really have faith in the future generations? How are you contributing to help them to exploit their talents? Have you ever thought you could be teaching a future Einstein or J. K. Rowling? It´s in your hands.....

Howard Gardner discovered the ninth intelligence

Existential Intelligence: (Aristotle, Confucius, Einstein, Emerson, Plato, Socrates)

Individuals, who like and enjoy thinking, and questioning, and are curios about life, death, and ultimate realities. Gardner’s definition for this intelligence is to exhibit the proclivity to pose and ponder questions about life, death and ultimate realities.

Children with this intelligence may show curiosity about:

What the Earth was like years ago
Why they are here on Earth
If there is life on another planet
Where living things go after they die
If there is another dimension
If there are ghosts or spirits
Who were the famous philosophers and their thoughts about life and human being

Doctor John Medina

I know it´s dreadful, isn´t it? but excercise oxigines the brain and movement anchors thought...so let´s shake it!!

Parts of the brain

A funny song to get to know the parts in our brain!!!

Look at this amazing video ,obviously always a step ahead, Lucrecia Prat Gay ( head of my school) showed it to us this morning as part of our coming back to school training. It´s really amazing how positive thinking can affect us.Take a minute and watch carefully!!

Unforgettable moments at my school!

For all Rio´s family!!!!

Spanglish

Here´s an incredible contribution by Alejandro Salgado an ex-student who has sent me this video for all those who think that Spanish is very similar to English!!! Enjoy, and Have a laugh!!

The Holiday

Happy Valentine´s to everyone.... If you are fond of Romantic movies you cannot miss " The Holiday" one of my favourite ones!!!

Ideal for those who want to teach the differences between British and American English

One of my favourite poems.... hope you enjoy it!

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand

my wonderful adults group!!!

my kinder students

my beloved students.....

The Italian Tourist... ( have a a laugh!!!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cP0cuQUJ7I

For those teachers who find mind maps useful and for my peers ( we have sorted out all the "we did all this" of the year)

http://mywebspiration.com

you need to log in to be able to make use of the mind maps!!!!

Welcome back to School....

.......believe it or not we are back and given the changing fortunes of times as teachers we need to be creative, resourceful, inspiring and practical.
Here goes the most intersting website with zillions of things for those times when we are running out of ideas. hope you take profit from it.

http://www.havefunteaching.com/

This blog is thought of as a tool for students, peers, colleagues and English fans. It intends to bridge the gaps and bring people together with only one thing in common....the love for the English language.
And it´s specially dedicated to those mentors who´ve inspired me in some many ways......

"Some people come into our lives and quietly go. Others stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hears and we are never the same."