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Sopa de Letras Filadelfia

Una mañana de trabajo en el Colegio Karol Wojtyla. Primera parada: Miss Ednna y Miss María José, con un grupo de 3o de preescolar.

Como autora de la Serie Filadelfia para el Aprendizaje Temprano del “Método Filadelfia” con Pearson, con frecuencia tengo la oportunidad de visitar escuelas que están llevando a cabo un programa de Lectura Temprana con nuestros libros. Es maravilloso poder sentarme en el fondo del salón, como si fuera una niña más en la clase, y observar a mis colegas docentes en acción.

Este mes de Diciembre estuve en el Karol Wojtyla, en Tehuacán, Puebla. En los próximos días seguiré compartiendo algunas de las muchas ideas que pude ver en marcha, y que pueden servir de inspiración a otras maestras y escuelas que estén trabajando con el método. Comencemos con una actividad que podríamos llamar Sopa de Letras Filadelfia.

Llegamos al salón de tercer grado atendido por la maestra Ednna Mariela y la auxiliar María José. La puerta del salón estaba muy bien ambientada con el país del mes para este grupo, Grecia (según el programa de nuestro libro Yo Conozco)

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yo-conozco-3oLos temas de cultura global están a la vista de los niños: Este mes conoceremos sobre Grecia, admiraremos las pinturas de Rubens y escucharemos la música de Brahms.

La rutina comienza cuando Ednna reparte a cada niño una tarjeta diferente y les pide identificar quién tiene la palabra “viernes” y “diciembre”. Posteriormente, los niños ordenan la frase “¿Cómo me siento?” en el pizarrón y dan su respuesta: feliz. Posteriormente la maestra muestra las palabras de la semana. Es viernes, y los niños ya las conocen muy bien, así es que son ellos quienes las leen.

En este video podemos ver cómo transcurrió esta rutina:

Más tarde, Ednna proyecta la lectura de la semana y la lee con los niños. Ahora ellos deberán encontrar las palabras resaltadas y emparejarlas con las tarjetas de lectura que su maestra ha dispuesto a un lado de la proyección.

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Todas estas actividades sirvieron como preparación para llegar a la Sopa de Letras con palabras Filadelfia. Ednna proyecta la sopa de letras y les pide a los niños encontrar las palabras de la semana. Cuando uno de ellos encuentra alguna, pasa al frente a encerrarla.

sopa-de-letras-filadelfiaMuchas gracias a Miss Ednna, Miss María José  y a todo el equipo del Colegio Karol Wojtyla por permitirme acompañarles en una mañana de trabajo.  ¡Muy pronto publicaré algunas ideas más, de las muchas observadas!

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Rompecabezas de palabras

Como autora de la Serie Filadelfia para el Aprendizaje Temprano del “Método Filadelfia” con Pearson, con frecuencia tengo la oportunidad de visitar escuelas que están llevando a cabo un programa de Lectura Temprana con nuestros libros. Es maravilloso poder sentarme en el fondo del salón, como si fuera una niña más en la clase, y observar a mis colegas docentes en acción.

En este mes de Noviembre estuve en el Colegio Benavente, en Puebla. En los próximos días compartiré algunas de las muchas ideas que pude ver en marcha, y que pueden servir de inspiración a otras maestras y escuelas que estén trabajando con el método. Comencemos con una actividad de “Rompecabezas de palabras”.

Miss Paty, maestra de segundo grado de preescolar, presentó con mucho entusiasmo las palabras de la semana.

lectura temprana Filadelfia

palabras Filadelfia lectura temprana

Su salón estaba muy bien ambientado con palabras retiradas de otras semanas, que los niños usan con frecuencia.

Después de la presentación de palabras, los pequeños se dieron a la tarea de encontrar esas mismas palabras en su libro “Yo Escribo”. Para ello se apoyaron de las palabras en tamaño individual. Miss Paty se aseguró de que todos los niños que necesitaban ayuda la obtuvieran. Siguió mostrándoles cada una de las palabras mesa por mesa.

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Al terminar esta actividad, Miss Paty tenía ya un sobre preparado para cada niño. Y dentro del sobre, las piezas de un rompecabezas, con una de las cinco palabras de la semana. Nadie sabía qué palabra le había tocado: había que armarla. Algunos niños requirieron de nuestro apoyo, otros pudieron armar su palabra independientemente.

armando palabras Filadelfia

 

armando palabras Filadelfia

Finalmente, conforme los pequeños lograban armar sus palabras, las identificaban con las que estaban pegadas en el pizarrón. En un corto lapso de tiempo, los niños tuvieron la oportunidad de visualizar las palabras por lo menos 4 o 5 veces, en un ambiente estimulante, con lo cual logran una mejor retención de las mismas.

Palabras Filadelfia lectura temprana

Muchas gracias a Miss Paty y a todo el equipo del Colegio Benavente, en Puebla, por permitirme acompañarles en una mañana de trabajo.  ¡Muy pronto publicaré algunas ideas más, de las muchas observadas!

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For Volatile Times – Lessons From the World’s Classrooms

5833bc12180000290c30f5bbChildren are Listening. We live in a world of infinite connectivity, and following a “global” event such as the recent US Election 2016 (the world’s No. 1 economy), many parents and other adults say they are still struggling with what to say and share with children and what not to say. Children around the world witnessed the often aggressive tone of the election’s rhetoric, and indeed, teachers across the United States have acknowledged that many classrooms are still full of anxiety and concerns. In an age of widespread digital technologies, it is virtually impossible to entirely buffer children from the constant messaging. How should educators support children in uncertain times?

Our Global Teacher Bloggers are pioneers and innovators in fields such as technology integration, mathematics coaching, special needs education, science instruction, and gender equity. They have founded schools, written curricula, and led classrooms in 13 different countries that stretch across every populated continent on earth. These teachers empower and enrich the lives of young people from nearly every background imaginable.

Today in The Global Search for Education, our Top Global Teacher Bloggers share their answers to this month’s question: How do you as teachers support children who are confused or frightened by events going on in their world?

“There has been much negative talk about Mexicans,” writes Elisa Guerra (@ElisaGuerraCruz) who teaches in Mexico. “Shouting insults back to those who insult us will not make much to dismiss the idea of the lazy, dishonest, even criminal Mexican. Instead, at our school, we have decided to celebrate and cherish our heritage by creating a collective book of “Gifts and Promises”. In writing and in art, students of all ages will showcase the people, the places and the achievements that built our country – the gifts.” Read More.

As classrooms around the world discuss the UK’s Brexit and Donald Trump’s election win, Richard Wells (@EduWells) in New Zealand is “mentoring an intensive entrepreneur startup weekend centered on new ideas for education. This is how Richard believes “classroom practice and school cultures could start to address much of the confusion children are currently expressing.” Read More.

Maarit Rossi (@pathstomath) recommends the blog of Kirsti Savikko, Headteacher in Kähäri School, Turku, Finland, who writes: “For bad things that happen in life, we have at school a sorrow box. It’s not a box of sorrow – it doesn’t contain items of sorrow. On the contrary it contains items to heal the sorrow. It has practical things like a white, clean tablecloth, candles, matches, an empty photo frame…… It also has poems, comforting words and stories…” Read More.

“This is our Atticus Finch moment, “ writes Todd Finley (@finleyt) in Greenville, North Carolina. “This calls for us to get into the muck and say uncomfortable truths. But there is a big payoff. When teachers model thoughtfulness, clarity, gentleness, generosity, empathy, and courage, their influence can lead others back from the brink.” Read More.

“I have seen the fears in student’s eyes when they roll into school asking what is going to happen and how will it impact them. Our job is to comfort, educate and support this as part of their learning journey,” says Craig Kemp (@mrkempnz) in Singapore. Teaching “tolerance and acceptance,” offering “hope and empowerment” and including “parents in the conversation” are some of Craig’s ideas for supporting confused or frightened children. Read More.

Adam Steiner (@steineredtech) recommends the blog of Brenda Maurao (@bmaurao), Assistant Principal for the Miller Elementary School in Holliston, MA, whose daughter woke up “devastated when she learned that Donald Trump was our new president.” Brenda told her daughter that “Trump ran for president because he wanted what was best for our country. While he wasn’t the one she wanted (she voted in a mock election in school the previous day), things were going to be ok.” Read More.

We need to be “providing ways for our youngsters to participate in this alternative view of the world,” writes Miriam Mason-Sesay (@EducAidSL). If you can show children examples of people “who are ‘helping’, others who are resisting the hatred and choosing love, those who are resisting prejudice and choosing respect, they have somewhere to go. It is our enormous responsibility to avoid joining in the hatred. We have to not only be a voice of reason but an example of difference.” Read More.

Pauline Hawkins (@PaulineDHawkins) in New Hampshire writes her message to students: “We have been given a wakeup call. There is no room for fear in our lives. Neither can we sit idly by and hope for the best. We have to let our representatives know what we want and what we will not accept. We have to investigate what our elected officials are actually doing with the trust we have put in them. We have to make our voices heard and back up our voices with action.” Read More.

“There are all types of children in a class,” notes Rashmi Kathuria (@rashkath), and “teachers play a significant role in the life of a child and creating an empathetic mind to deal with challenges all across the globe.” Rashmi recommends a number of different solutions, including “Individual attention by counselors, collaborative activities with partner schools and making a happiness tree that grows with gifts of appreciation and love.” Read More. 

“My school has a diverse and multicultural community which involves students speaking 28 different first languages,”  writes Warren Sparrow (@wsparrowsa).  “We are living in a time when we can expect to see many changes fundamentally in the things that we have always taken for granted.”  Teachers must create the environment where “we can talk to our students about their concerns and walk with them through the process until it is resolved.”  Read More.

“Morality. Kindness. Love. Service. Prayer. Faith. Hard work. Truth. Wisdom. Religious freedom. An unbiased press. Public servants. May these be things that become fashionable again,” writes Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) from Camilla, Georgia. “Have conversations with students that count… This is our watch and our time….” Read More.

“How are you feeling about what is going on in the world today?” is the first important question to ask your students, writes Nadia Lopez (@TheLopezEffect). “The children in our classrooms are the leaders of tomorrow, therefore we must give them voice, keep them informed, and remind them of their value in this world.”  Read More.

The Top Global Teacher Bloggers is a monthly series where educators across the globe offer experienced yet unique takes on today’s most important topics. CMRubinWorld utilizes the platform to propagate the voices of the most indispensable people of our learning institutions – teachers.

(Photo is courtesy of CMRubinWorld)

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Top Row, left to right: Adam Steiner, Santhi Karamcheti, Pauline Hawkins

2nd Row: Elisa Guerra, Humaira Bachal, C. M. Rubin, Todd Finley, Warren Sparrow

3rd Row: Nadia Lopez, Katherine Franco Cardernas, Craig Kemp, Rashmi Kathuria, Maarit Rossi

Bottom Row: Dana Narvaisa, Richard Wells, Vicki Davis, Miriam Mason-Sesay

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Join me and globally renowned thought leaders including Sir Michael Barber (UK), Dr. Michael Block (U.S.), Dr. Leon Botstein (U.S.), Professor Clay Christensen (U.S.), Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (U.S.), Dr. MadhavChavan (India), Professor Michael Fullan (Canada), Professor Howard Gardner (U.S.), Professor Andy Hargreaves (U.S.), Professor Yvonne Hellman (The Netherlands), Professor Kristin Helstad (Norway), Jean Hendrickson (U.S.), Professor Rose Hipkins (New Zealand), Professor Cornelia Hoogland (Canada), Honourable Jeff Johnson (Canada), Mme. Chantal Kaufmann (Belgium), Dr. EijaKauppinen (Finland), State Secretary TapioKosunen (Finland), Professor Dominique Lafontaine (Belgium), Professor Hugh Lauder (UK), Lord Ken Macdonald (UK), Professor Geoff Masters (Australia), Professor Barry McGaw (Australia), Shiv Nadar (India), Professor R. Natarajan (India), Dr. Pak Tee Ng (Singapore), Dr. Denise Pope (US), Sridhar Rajagopalan (India), Dr. Diane Ravitch (U.S.), Richard Wilson Riley (U.S.), Sir Ken Robinson (UK), Professor Pasi Sahlberg (Finland), Professor Manabu Sato (Japan), Andreas Schleicher (PISA, OECD), Dr. Anthony Seldon (UK), Dr. David Shaffer (U.S.), Dr. Kirsten Sivesind (Norway), Chancellor Stephen Spahn (U.S.), Yves Theze (LyceeFrancais U.S.), Professor Charles Ungerleider (Canada), Professor Tony Wagner (U.S.), Sir David Watson (UK), Professor Dylan Wiliam (UK), Dr. Mark Wormald (UK), Professor Theo Wubbels (The Netherlands), Professor Michael Young (UK), and Professor Minxuan Zhang (China) as they explore the big picture education questions that all nations face today.

The Global Search for Education Community Page

C. M. Rubin is the author of two widely read online series for which she received a 2011 Upton Sinclair award, “The Global Search for Education” and “How Will We Read?” She is also the author of three bestselling books, including The Real Alice in Wonderland, is the publisher of CMRubinWorld, and is a Disruptor Foundation Fellow.

This post was originally published by C; Rubin at http://www.cmrubinworld.com/the-global-search-for-education-top-global-teacher-bloggers-children-are-listening 

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Gifts and Promises: Supporting children who are confused or frightened by events going on in the world

Learning is quite difficult or even impossible for restless or broken souls. As teachers, we wish everything would always be right, but life is hard, and sometimes, the world around us becomes threatening.

Nature has its ways to remind human beings of their fragility, but there’s nothing more terrifying than the hand of mankind turning against their own. As hate crimes and intolerance weave a tragic dance among us, teachers struggle to educate children as global, peaceful citizens. It’s a paradox, sure. But education is our only hope to eventually respect and embrace diversity – and thus create a better world.

At times of unrest, children are especially vulnerable. Finding reassuring words to share and creating innovative ways to thrive is how we can help them overcome adversity.

It’s amazing how much anxiety we can ease up just by sharing our thoughts and concerns. By validating our feelings, we get a sense of control, not over the actual events going on around us, but at least over our emotions and reactions to them. Whatever the situation – a natural disaster, a burst of criminality or a political turmoil – children can benefit from receiving accurate information. If they don’t, they tend to make it worse in their minds -we all do. Don’t lie, but don’t dramatize either. Children seek reassurance from the adults that have gained their trust and respect. Be the mentor your students need. ‘Got fears of your own? It’s OK to show that you are human – just keep the tone upbeat and positive.

As much as we would like to, we are not able to change many, if not most, of the things happening around us. It’s not with disrespect and rage that we rise above disagreements. Still, there are ways in which we can overcome fear, lessen pain and confront injustice. And yes, sometimes we do change things.

Lately there has been much negative talk about Mexicans. Shouting insults back to those who insult us will not make much to dismiss the idea of the lazy, dishonest, even criminal Mexican. Instead, at our school, we have decided to celebrate and cherish our heritage by creating a collective book of “Gifts and Promises”. In writing and in art, students of all ages will showcase the people, the places and the achievements that built our country – the gifts. Alongside, each one of us will reflect on our own personal and collective potential to contribute to a better México and a better world –the promises.

Will this little book change the world in its crazy ways? Not likely. But it will at least remind the children that our people is hard working and creative, and our country intriguing and beautiful, in a very unique way – and just as valuable as other countries and cultures.

Trying times can either break minds or inspire them to achieve their very best. Which one of those will be is the choice we are given.

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This post is my answer to the Top Global Teacher Bloggers November’s topic: How do you as teachers support children who are confused or frightened by events going on in their world?

 

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Beyond Blending: Music and Arts in Education

ensambles-de-violin-2015We have done it all.

And we have all done it.

Looking to engage our students, we have incorporated arts (and sports and technology and sometimes even cooking) to our teaching. How many history papers can an eight grader submit before loosing interest? How many textbook pages can anyone fill up before the heart –and brain- begin wandering elsewhere (usually very far away from the classroom?)

We are good teachers. We know boredom painfully eats away learning. So we use the arts to make our subjects more enjoyable, to chase boredom away.

Richard Spencer is an award winning scientist – and a Biology teacher. He dances, along with his students, to help them learn complex biological processes. Even the names of his dances are funny: “DNA Boogie” and “Meiosis Square Dance”

I am a Social Studies teacher for grades 7th to 9th. I have asked my students to produce and perform drama (and then to film and edit it) about historic characters. They have created art posters (and “marketing campaigns”) to choose the best monarch to represent enlightened absolutism. And sometimes we decide it is Opera day and everyone -including myself- must sing whatever words come out from one’s mouth (I have found this to be very helpful in limiting my speech outcome!)

All this works wonders with students. But still, there is a little something that bothers me. See, as part of The Top Global Teacher Bloggers, I was asked to write an answer to this month’s question:

How can we maximize the value of art and music in education and how can it be blended with more traditional subjects (math, science, history, etc.)?

But if we want to maximize the value of arts in education, we need to think beyond blending it with other subjects.

 When I was a child, my mother insisted that I have a raw egg for breakfast. Everyday. Well, she did not have to insist because I was not really aware that I was getting it. She blended it in a milkshake. Now, skipping the issue of whether this was really a good idea, nutrition wise, the important thing here is that she got what she wanted. I swallowed the egg, every time.

We have all done the blending. We use the arts as a clever disguise for the yucky subjects we want our students to swallow. We get our results, but are we seeing the arts in a utilitarian way?

I still believe that it is great to “blend” the arts with other, more traditional subjects. But that should not keep us from giving the arts their fair place in education. They are not just the means to an end. They are also an end by themselves. Just like reading or math.

In our school all kids learn to paint with oil, watercolors and pastels- and to play the violin. It is as important as any of the “academic” subjects. Yes, we have seen that it increases the ability to focus, improves concentration and develops fine motor skills – all of these very useful gains for the classroom. But even if that were not the case, we would still play the violin.

Because we believe music and art are great for the kids, period.
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Helping our students embrace diversity

The first step to accept and embrace diversity is knowledge.

We human beings are wired to detect and act upon whatever could threaten our existence. This comes as part of our survival instinct. If we hear a sudden, loud noise, we jump in fear. For a split second, we don’t know if the sound comes from a firing gun or worse – and our whole body prepares for flight or fight. Then we realize it was just a truck exhaust and we sigh in relief, our heart still pounding furiously inside or chests. But knowledge rises above instinct, and as we know it’s highly unlikely that this particular truck is set to kill us (unless of course we are to find ourselves crushed under its wheels), we disregard the threat and keep on to our business.

DiversityAnything that we don’t know well could be a potential risk – not just for our lives but also for our ways of living. Human beings are cautious or even up-front reluctant about whatever is unknown or different. Including other people!

So, How can you help students accept and work well with people of different beliefs, cultures, languages, socio-economic statuses, education backgrounds, and learning styles? Here are some ideas.

Open their world – and you will open their minds. Get them to know and ultimately respect as many different cultures as possible. Don’t neglect to explore your own community as well.

Create the environment. Even in very homogeneous schools, some diversity will always arise. But our school environment could be one that crushes it down – for example, presenting one single viewpoint as the truth, discouraging open discussion about certain issues or favoring just one approach to learning. Be open, inclusive and caring.

Set the example. If you have a preference for working with certain type of students, if you loose your patience with the slower kid in your class, if you openly dislike a colleague or parent, if you are biased in any way, even if you don’t say a word, it will show.

Don’t force it. Don’t think that you are doing a favor to the odd kid in class by forcing his classmates to work with him. It might be even worse. Instead, plan projects in which students can either work alone, in pairs or small groups. Offer incentives to those collaborating and creating new alliances: Bonus points if they team up with different classmates every project!

Act it up. Drama and storybooks are wonderful to create awareness for diversity. Cast your students in roles that are different and challenging. Encourage them to try to “become” the personage by actively exploring the feelings and beliefs behind the costume.Diversity flags

Empathy is an art. I like Harvard’s Artful Thinking Tools from Project Zero. The protocol called “Circle of viewpoints” specifically promotes exploring multiple perspectives to a problem by actively analyzing a work of art.

Above all, engage in caring relationships with your students. This will make them feel accepted and safe – which in turn will give them the confidence to venture outside of their own limits and work well with others – no matter how different they might be.

 

This is my answer to this month’s question for The Global Search for Education: Top Global Teacher Bloggers.

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Becoming global citizens

What are the important skills, behaviors, and attitudes that students need to become contributing global citizens? That is the question posted this month to the Top Global Teacher Bloggers – a group I am honored to be a part of. This is my answer.

Global Citizenship students Becoming contributing global citizens

To develop children into global citizens, we must let go of the traditional view of school as the place were knowledge is loaded into kid’s brains –however inefficiently- and then pass them on to higher education -or society- to continue with yet another step in the process for mass-produced humanoids. Here are four ways to challenge this view.

You don’t need to know everything. Which is not the same as to say that you are fine knowing nothing. We all need core knowledge, and now in ever increasing areas (technology, government issues, human rights and ecology pop from the top of my head) – but the era in which those who knew the most were the best is rapidly wearing off. The same rationale applies for teachers. We are no longer (and really, we never were) the all-knowing gurus with all the right answers. Any over-confident teacher could be easily and embarrassingly defeated by a child with a device connected to internet. Even if you are an educator savant, there is just no way you can beat Google.

Critical thinking skills are, well, critical. In the age of information overload, the real challenge is to be able to unravel the true and valuable from the garbage and inaccurate. Let our school days be full of the “structured serendipity” that will foster creative and disciplined minds.

You need to grow a larger sense of belonging. How can you embrace the fascinating diversity of the world without neglecting your own culture? How can you expand your mind to accommodate different viewpoints and ideas, without compromising your values? Cognitive humility can liberate us from isolating, self-serving bias –but it doesn’t come naturally. We need to incorporate failure into the teaching equation –there is much to be learned when things don’t go your way. Tolerance and empathy flourish. Being wrong reminds us of our frail humanity – and being human is what unites us all.

Global citizenship kids

The right to share the world we live in comes with responsibility. There is no such a thing as a free ride for a true global citizen. Many of the world’s problems come from the arrogance of humans and their sense of entitlement. “I am the King of the Universe and everything should always come my way. I am better than the rest so I deserve more” If we came to understand how limited and minuscule we really are –and at the same time, how precious and valuable each life is- we could do a better job of taking care of our planet and its inhabitants.

Children’s most significant and enduring learning will come from observing the world and people around them. The first step to help them become global citizens is to make sure we are already on that road ourselves.