Teaching Ourselves in a Hard Year

The Marvellous of Being Called Mummy Instead of Called Teacher

I have never called my teacher mummy at school, never ever, and how I could be called my teacher mummy if my mummy was incomparable, she was everything to me, she was the one that when  I was a kid took me to school, she brought my lunch box at break time at school to be sure I eat, because I was very special to eat, she was the mummy that everyone would like to have of my school partners, and the teachers adored her because she was a nurse and she always donated a first aid kid; and most of the time that someone had hurt in the break, my mummy cured 

him/her, she was my mummy.

When I become a teacher 23 years ago, I grew up loving children and teenagers. However, my speciality is secondary. I have always been aroound children, and in my first year of teaching, I always visited the kindergarten room, I love so much  the liittle ones , but I was their teacher, and I was very young. To my surprise at the end of the year, the parents of kindergarten asked me to be the God mother of the Graduated ones of

Kindergarten, the kids choose me.

I still remember it was a huge joy for me and a mix of emotions about making my speech for those little ones on the day of their graduation, and I thought what am I  am going to give them as a graduation gift? I was just a simple teacher in her first year and  I did not earn so much, I have just started my career as a teacher, so I spent my whole December salary and I bought those19 kiddos a very thin Golden chains with her initials names, it was nothing comparing to el the love that those little kids have given to me that year, being a new teacher, in my really first year.

And how can I say about my own students?, their love was huge, their jokes always delete any sadness, hugs,their kisses, also their tears when they had home problems and they told me, and I was very Young but I NEVER LEFT THEM, I was always there , and I told them: Tomorrow will be better holding them tight; at the end of the year, they gave the surprise of my life, a big, big ballon I always dreamed to have one like that and the ballon said : For our mom, and a very huge teddy squirrel, it was very big and so beautiful, I am 1,54 cm, the squirrel was taller than waist, that day I cried a lot because  I am very sensitive and all of my children hugged me because I am sensitive, some of them cried too, and their parents took pictures, those kids are adults now , they have their families and  I sometimes saw them because they live near my parents´ home where I live now, and whenever I see them, flashbacks come to my mind of those little faces, hugs, when they called me mummy, y then then called me Miss, they got confussed , caused they got more time with me than with their parents. And it was… I WAS HER MUMMY AT SCHOOL.

As the time passed by I went to other schools to teach, and I listened to the teachers in the teacher room comments like: “ When are they going to leave? How long is left to end the year? Have you noticed Tania ( invented name) always wants to hug you? And Kevin always wants to give you a Kiss? How sad and how deep Grieg I had to hear those comments, because those teachers were parents at that time, and they knew what they meant that a teenager needed a hug or a give a kiss to someone, they were our children at school, and we were not there just to teach contents from the curriculum, we were who replace their parents at that time, and who spent more time with them, who knew every

single-family problems situation of each of them, of single parents families, we knew that many of those kids did not have a dad and mum together, we knew that they have serious problems at home with their families.

A grateful time.. 10,000 visits

       

            Any moment,I will reach 10,000 visits! How exciting! Thank you to all of you for helping me  reach this milestone! That’s a lot of zeros!

Why Grateful?

Thanks from the bottom of my heart to let me open my being with you all. These four years have been an awesome experience for me. 

This is just a little note from me to express how grateful I am with God, life, my beliefs, and you all.

A humanistic Side in ELT is deeply honoured and thankful in its four years of life with your 10,000 visits. 

"She turned her can'ts into cans and her dreams into plans." 

Patty.

RESILIENCE… with the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.

When faced with adversity in life, how does a person cope or adapt? Why do some people seem to bounce back from tragic events or loss much more quickly than others? Why do some people seem to get “stuck” in a point in their life, without the ability to move forward?

Psychologists have long studied these issues and have come up with a label you may be familiar with: resilience. When faced with a tragedy, natural disaster, health concern, relationship, work, or school problem, resilience is how well a person can adapt to the events in their life. A person with good resilience has the ability to bounce back more quickly and with less stress than someone whose resilience is less developed.

Everybody has resilience. It’s just a question of how much and how well you put it to good use in your life. Resilience doesn’t mean the person doesn’t feel the intensity of the event or problem. Instead, it just means that they’ve found a pretty good way of dealing with it more quickly than others.

Everyone can learn to increase their resilience abilities. Like any human skill, learning greater resilience is something that you can do at any age, from any background, no matter your education or family relationships. All you need to do in order to increase your resilience is have the willingness to do so. And then seek out ways of learning more about resilience, either from search engines (and articles like this one), or with the help of a trained behavior specialist, like a psychologist. (Harold Cohen, Ph.D.)

How Do You Increase Resilience?

There are many different ways you can increase resilience. Having supportive relationships in your life with your family and friends seems to be an important foundation according to much resilience research. Good, positive relationships help a person with reassurance and encouragement when times get tough, and seem to help support a person’s ability to rebound more quickly after a difficult event or problem in their life.

Relationships are not just important within the family, but outside the family too. Having a strong network of friends (and not just “Facebook friends”) is a valuable component of building better resilience. Strong social networks appear to be a key foundational building block for this skill to increase in your life.

There are other factors that can help you increase your resilience as well, including:

§  Having a positive view of yourself (self-image) and confidence in your strengths and abilities (self-knowledge).

§  Being able to regularly make realistic plans, and then being able to regularly carry out your plans.

§  Being able to effectively and in a healthy manner manage your feelings and impulses.

§  Having really good communication skills (or you’re actively working to improve them).

§  Having really good problem solving skills (or you’re actively working to improve them).

§   

These are just a few of the areas where a person can work on in order to build better resilience.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Accept reality. No doubt you would like to have total control of your life, but that is simply not possible. Friends will move away or marry; siblings will grow up and leave home; circumstances may force your family to move, leaving behind friends and all that is familiar. It is better to accept reality than to let negative thoughts overwhelm you.—Bible principle: Ecclesiastes 7:10.

Look ahead. Focusing on the past is like driving on a highway with your eyes fixed on the rearview mirror. An occasional glance is beneficial, but you really need to concentrate on the road ahead. The same is true when you are confronted with change. Try to keep your eyes fixed on the future. (Proverbs 4:25) For example, what goal could you set for the next month, or six months?

Focus on the positive. “Resilience is about attitude,” says a young woman named Laura. “Find positive aspects of the circumstance you are in.” Can you list at least one advantage that your new circumstance offers?—Bible principle: Ecclesiastes 6:9.

A young woman named Victoria recalls that in her teen years, all her close friends moved away. “I felt so lonely, and I wished that everything could have stayed the way it was,” she says. “But looking back, that’s when I really started to grow. I came to realize that growth requires change. That’s also when I started seeing possibilities for new friendships that were all around me.”—Bible principle: Proverbs 27:10.

Focusing on the past is like driving on a highway with your eyes fixed on the rearview mirror

Do things for others. The Bible says: “Look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4) A good antidote to your own challenge is helping others with theirs. Anna, 17, says: “As I grew older, I came to realize that when I could help someone else who might be going through a similar situation—or a worse one—it was rewarding!”

How to Build Better Resilience

Building better resilience takes time, effort, commitment, and focus. It will not just happen to you overnight, and it won’t just happen to you if read a book about resilience, or begin work with a therapist. It’s a process that will take months to learn and master. Don’t be frustrated by this, because unlike your eye color or height, resilience is not a trait but rather a skill that you can readily enhance with patience and training.

Seek out additional articles online about resilience to get your start and keep in mind, there’s a lot to learn! You may benefit from seeing a therapist or psychologist (which can you do right now online too), or a life coach, to help you in your journey.

Keep in mind, too, that according to the American Psychological Association, a person’s culture “might have an impact on how he or she communicates feelings and deals with adversity — for example, whether and how a person connects with significant others, including extended family members and community resources. With growing cultural diversity, the public has greater access to a number of different approaches to building resilience.” This may be something to be aware of in your resilience journey.

 Conclusions:

•  Stay positive.
• Relax, nobody hurries a situation.
• If there is no solution for a problem, there is no need to worry.
• Each day has its owns worries enough to worry for next day.
• Trust in yourself.
• Move forward.
• Do not give up.

Do not get anxious over anything and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus. 

Source of information:

https://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-resilience/ 
The Bible 

Patty Salguero.

Why different?

                                WHY DIFFERENT THEN? 

Being different is part of ourselves, part of the rich diversity, then why we are somehow classifying people for being different, it is very clear at institutions now, the question is :"Are we ready to face how different we are from the other and mainly accept ourselves as we are.?"

I do feel I need to write about this, some months ago I saw how my PLN was getting differences in big names about being genders and that stuff, and currently it touched my own particular side, we are being created with that need to do things better than the other, and compare how different we are, I do know there is a subject about values and principles  at schools, now it comes to my mind the question if we the rest of teachers who do not teach that subject  are we helping that signle and alone subject by  implementing something for contributing  in our planning,?

There are million of learners who spend more time with us than with their parents,no doubt about it. We cannot deny it, it is like that, I am not a mother, but I cannot imagine my kid being envolving in such a teaching, we need to teach united, we do not play from differet teams colleagues, we play for the same team that is called: EDUCATION, perhaps many can say I have enough at home, have to make lessons ,presentations, mark all days, prepare material, rubrics and so on, now I would you like to ask ourselves a question honestly in your meditation space : Are we aware about that responsibility from us? Yes, they are not our kids, we have ourselves stuff, but then who cares about this, who cares about bullying, about self respect, self control, autonomy, who parents? It would the most awesome answer but parents pay that school with two jobs in many times and the time does not play a good job for them.

Trying to get flashbacks I decided to go to 2014 first time when an educator  posted the story of myself when I was a very young teacher, and I got the memories of all changes I wanted to do, and it is frustanting for many of us because we cannot change a system of preparing kids for international exams with some CLIL to make the idea everything is going to be a dream lesson, but we are very aware we are not doing that, we wouldn't  like to make  less paper work , and all documments that are only papers at the end, because we do feel our kid is not learning meaningful and there are no times for working in projects or we don't all have the same technlogy as others, it is horriby frustrating to see what we  do want what we know how it should be but we just can not.

Any suggestions?

Once I took an online course and my mentor was Ms. Penny Ur , I got very surprised and fascinated when she told us (teachers) fusilade the book, the book cannot fusilade our own creativity, cannot be more than our love for changing this ,but again how we could do it.. if we are not united. I am not for or against anyone here, I am just saying we colleagues  please realize we need to be united in this change , we might need to adapt things up to our heads, but the only thing we can do it , it is being together, so why don´t we share the same t.shirt ?, named I am an educator and I need a change for my kids, you know why" I need ", and not they need, it could be better for any they need, but you know something I think everyone who is involving in teaching realizes we love our kids, that´s why with the power of adulthood I will say :I need a change for the people I love and we will do it altogether, it does not matter age, hair  colour, gender, nationality, just your care and love for what teaching really involves in what we will part of our responsability is and their happiness on the spot, of human beings who live with us in class.

Let's give it a try at least.
We all can do it, but all united.

Patty.

Your Voice Matters

Your Voice Matters.

Reflections of today.
Making learners realize about the importance to speak up.

Since that first early moment I got the contact with a group of teens this year, I felt something special, that something which makes you think they are so quiet and there must be a reason for that.

First days I got the pleasure to be co-tutor with a Math teacher an incredible educator and human being, thanks Roger for that awesome support and your amazing encouragement.

Days go on and I realize, those kids wanted to have a book open on page “34” or something similar, some of them even asked me: Miss, when are we going to do grammar worksheets?

It was sad to notice they thought the way of learning was through a paper, then I started thinking on the idea about how to make them become noisy in the good sense of the word, of course; as everytime I saw them, their faces wanted to cry out many stuff, but something inside did not let them do that. Fear? A bad concept of respect? Or maybe the lack of being listened?

Bingo!!!, it was a mix of all of them, but one  got the first place: they were not being listened, they got information priceless aim for some colleagues, and what about  their thoughts, opinions, critics, beliefs, ideas of those teens. Unfortunately, they  were sadly dead.

Somehow there was a way those teens need to express their sayings, we started by working on collaborative tasks:  collaborative writing, collaborative speaking activities, collaborative reading and also collaborative listening, the last one has been the hardest as they could not listen to each other, Why? Nobody remained them, the importance of being listened and being respectful among peers.

Little by little with warm up actvities base on values according to their age, because believe me no teen would care about values stuff for us adults, so I had to be on their shoes and think about the way they do, and mainly how they have been feeling.

It was amazing and the most remarkable time to see how the groups of those teens have started to critize things, say they disagree and give supportive reasons, how tolerance flows up in the class, and how they realize there was time to be aware their voice matters.

They were learning English, but nobody noticed , Why? Because I was not on page 34 exercise 3b, EXACTLY!! I was in another syllabus, the humanizing syllabus, the one for building awareness, which is vital for every individual as  the need to speak up, they could show how great their creativity is, and little by little  go deeply in what they want to defend and say to adults.

Still remember once a group  told me, what about if you bring the school authorities,teachers, and our parents and we make them sit down to give them a talk, the big questions: "Will they listen to us?" " Who knows?" " Who cares?" “WE DO!!”

Let’s do it!! That’s how my baby proposal has grown to make my learners become speakers, to express their inside, to inform what really happens in a teen life, to educate we adults to stop labeling teens for being teens and please think beyond.

Last month, they finally could understand a test is a paper , a grade is a number, but it was not as significant as the reward to feel they do something more than completing a paper, I asked them to go over Lima to work on a Project of cultural awareness and realize both sides of our country, not just the pinky one, also to check and remember our tragedy times of terrorism , those times most of their parents lived as I did, to ask people in the streets what they think about a particular place and realize life is not only school, as in a few months they will be leave  school and go to  the true world, and they should be aware  they need to be ready. My best reward the great satisfaction they did produce the language in what they do enjoy and many of them have discovered the ties of empathy among themselves.

I am not sure how many got me, but my sensation does not lie to me, I made those teens believe it is time to close books, it is time to talk about the news around the world, around our own town, it was time to think about how we can contribute in a better way to this society,  it was time to say: 

“MY VOICE MATTERS.”

In honour of my fifth graders!

Patty.

"Preaching Collaborative Learning: Brazil and Peru joined for the same cause."

"Alone we are smart, TOGETHER we are brilliant." - Steven Anderson

Last January, a group of educators joined the same cause, working on our CPD. That was great a chance to join in such as awesome community as The iTDi to take this adventure and learn together with our tutor Ms Penny Ur, taking  the course: "Course materials: design, selection and use." 
I  still remember every single second of our live sessions and the enthusiasm of all of the participants, who were so touched by such a great tutor and community as The iTDi, we learnt not only to design, select, and use a textbook, we did learn how to share and contribute each other through a wise and happy community. After the live sessions , shoots of photos were inmedialtely posted on social medial, because we felt we needed to say others: "This is the way to learn, this is the way to pray what we teach our students, this is the path to follow... 

Then sweet Barbara was always sending the recordings and reminders of our assigments, and at that moment all the party started in the forums with the stunning contribution of assigments and discussions we have had during January, we were 75 members of different countries, no matter distance, no matter time, we were all joined for the same cause .. Learning in a collaborative way for our students and of course to keep on learning.

So that's why this lovely idea was born, three educators and friends now from Brazil and Peru would like to express their sayings about how meaningful this course and community has meant to us:
It is my pleasure to interview two awesome colleagues from Brazil, Danilo Ribeiro and Thiago Castilho:
1.- Who is Danilo Ribeiro?

Hello! It’s me! My name is Danilo Ribeiro. I am from São Paulo Brazil. Family and friends usually recognize me because of two Paramount facts about me: I absolutely love reading and teaching. When I became a teacher, I was a bit clueless about this profession. I knew I had the hang of it, because according to my mom, I used to teach my toys. LOL. However, It took me exactly a year to understand that teaching is not about me, but it is about the students, and it is my duty as a teacher to provide them with high-quality learning instruction. Nowadays, I teach young learners and adults, prepare students for the FCE exam amongst other duties. I hold the CELTA and the ICELT, I am an oral examiner for the Cambridge main suite exams as well as a clerical marker for IELTS.

2.- What did it make you to take the decision to take Penny Ur Course with the iTDi?

One of my ex-teachers took a face-to-face course with Barb, and Chuck. So she recommended my taking the course. Furthermore, I am interested in materials/course design, so I believed that in addition to providing me with a review on these areas, it gave me plenty of stimulating, valuable ideas to share and use in class.

3.- How did you find the community, live sessions, rapport among colleagues and new friendships which were born there? 

 Well, never have I taken an online course with so much interaction! Actually, most of the online courses I have taken are done at my own pace, with very few interaction with other participants. The iTDi team exceeded all my expectations! Firstly, I was part of a lively community of competent, skilled teachers. Some of them were teacher trainers, others novice. What made the whole course awesome was that not only did I learn from experienced teachers, but I was also able to contribute to novice teachers with ideas as well as have experienced teachers comment on my ideas. The live sessions were always the best moment of my Sunday. While Penny was delivering her lesson, we were able to express our feelings, and other people would share the same feelings, criticize them, but offer a solution. Overall, the community has given me life-long friends/teachers to whom I will always be grateful for their support, constructive feedback and advice.

4.- If you could choose the most relevant thing you got from this course with the iTDi what would you choose and why? 

I would like to mention a topic that provided me with food for thought. During the course, Penny mentioned stereotypical messages portrayed in books, which raised my awareness of sexism, ideologies amongst other topics. What really struck a chord with me was the course participants’ feedback on how I handle these issues as they appear in the book. My approach to handling these issues was praised. However, I did not take it for granted; instead, I made all their comments my stepping to stone to be better prepared to tackle problems as they appear.

5.- Why would you recommend to join the iTDI community to all teachers ? 

Teachers, if you are willing to learn from other teachers, this is a golden opportunity to seize. Besides contributing to a huge learning community, you will also have the opportunity to have feedback on your ideas and see how other teachers approach the same topic given the fact that everybody is on the same page in the course.

6. How are you adapting in your own classes what we have been taught in Penny Ur course with the iTDi  according to your students' needs? 

Most of the ideas were not new to me because I am an avid reader of Penny’s books. However, some of her ideas have been helping me engage the students and make learning more meaningful. I believe Penny’s feedback on a writing game I was used to doing totally changed my view on how I prepare/deliver my classes. Now, I am much more aware of how to design materials and make teaching subordinated to learning as the proponent of the Silent way suggested.

 1.- Who is Thiago Castilho?

I am Thiago, English teacher for 7 years, CELTA and CPE holder. Born in Brasilia, living in Sao Paulo, Interested in technology applied to learning and intercultural exchanging. I believe that you can only survive in the world as it is by considering it as a whole, taking advantage of your own cultural heritage and what makes you unique. As teachers, we are bridges between what students were in their own limited view and what there is for them to take, to conquer, to achieve. This is my belief. 

My life in ELT began in 2009, when I decided to take an offer in a school next to my house. Teaching English is considered a part-time, underqualified job in many schools here in Brazil, so though I did not hold a degree at the time, I had to make a living. Little did I know that I would fall in love with what I did, and I pursued further development. I left Brasilia (my hometown) and my job at Casa Thomas Jefferson (some of the educators I admire the most are still there) to Sao Paulo, with my wife-to-be at that time. The best thing about my job is the range of opportunities to improve, to connect with other amazing professionals and learn more each and every day.

2.- How did you decide to take Penny Ur Course with the iTDi? 

Penny Ur is one of who I call the ELT popstars! You know, professionals you look up to, people always recommend a book or an article by them, and you never think you will have the chance to meet them? Well, iTDi offered the chance to have an actual course with her, and I am happy I did not let the opportunity pass on by, and I will never regret it. Penny provided us with great ideas, discussions, feedback and attention.

3.- In your own experience How did you find the community, live sessions, rapport among colleagues and new friendships which were born there?

The first thing that comes to my mind is to know, in first hand, how our ELT environment is around the world. There were plenty of professionals from all continents, with plenty of stories, with their own challenges and mountains to climb. I caught myself reading plenty of stories, comparing them to my own, imagining how it would be to teach in a different country and if I was ready to handle it the way they brilliantly did. During lectures, everybody was so respectful and shared helpful contributions. I learnt a lot and I also feel how much I still have to do. And I could never feel as excited as this!

4.-If you could choose the most meaningful  thing you got from this course with the iTDi what would you choose and why? 

The people we got to know in the course, there is no doubt. We learned a lot together, with Penny's gentle leading and support. It made my Sunday mornings much better, I actually missed them when we finished the course.

5.- Why would you recommend to join the iTDI community to all teachers ? 

There should always be a time in our normally busy when we leave some time for ourselves, for our own development. I highly recommend iTDi because all teachers are very friendly and the environment is very conducive to learning and sharing. All teachers trainers and other teachers welcomed everybody, you feel safe to share and reflect upon your own practice, and there are examples from all over the world to help you with that. If you need an opportunity of self-reflection, you would like to meet great professionals and learn from great tutors, iTDi is your call.

6.- How are you adapting in your own classes what we have been taught in Penny Ur course with the iTDi  according to your ss needs? 

Penny offered plenty of alternatives to do routine steps I overused in my own classes. Classes feel lighter, as my repertoire has increased, and students give valuable feedback as to what estimulates them. Therefore, I can personalize my classes better, I feel I have been given valuable tools to improve my own teaching practice. I feel more encouraged to try new approaches out, check how students react to it and improve whenever needed. 

Last words: 

 "Teachers, you are not alone! You have companions all over the world who can lend you a hand and help you through even the darkest of days! The more we share, the more empowered we are."

Special thanks to all the iTDi Board and community from teachers to teachers.

Danilo, Thiago, and Patty.