.

Which training courses would you like to have access to as a teacher?

The CEFIRE offer us a lot of variety of courses to do as a teacher. But I would like to have access to Joan Monet activities. The Jean Monnet programme aims at stimulating teaching, research, reflection and debate in the field of European integration studies and I think this is the best option to train. There are three types: teaching and research, support to Academic Institutions and Associations, and Policy debate with the Academic World.

Which is, in your opinion, the best way to share good practice amongst teaching professionals?

Teachers do not have enough time to create new resources each unit. One solution is to share the material with other mates who teach the same subject as you. You can use different ways to do it. The best one in my opinion is the “professional learnings community”. With this tool you can update, review and reflect on professional learning communities. The definition of it is:

“A professional learning community is one in which teachers update their professional knowledge and skills within the context of an organised, school-wide system for improving teaching practices. In addition, teachers’ effort, individually and collectively, are focused on the goal of improving student learning and achievement and making the school as a whole become a high-performing organisation”. 

CRITICAL REFLECTION

In the Valencian Community we have a curriculum where it appears the goals, the contents and the assessment criteria. These things, in some subjects on many occasions, limit teachers in many aspects but I think at the same time, they are necessary to guide our teaching.

I am a primary teacher in a private school. I think the most important thing I would teach in my class, is the acquisition of the main contents in the curriculum but not all of them. We have to pay more attention to the contents of the context. We must take into a count that if we teach the contents in another language we have to use resources to help students to understand things in an easier and more interesting way, and we also have to pay attention to simplify assessment criteria so that the student can acquire the contents better.

In the subject of Language, for instance, we have to care about the pupils’ accuracy, fluency, writing language, reading comprehension, and so on, rather than the curriculum contents.

We can assess pupils with rubrics. “A rubric is a scoring guide that seeks to evaluate a student's performance based on the sum of a full range of criteria rather than a single numerical score.” Authentic assessment is used to evaluate students' work by measuring the product according to real-life criteria. A rubric is a working guide for students and teachers, usually handed out before the assignment begins in order to make students think about the criteria on which their work will be judged and enhances the quality of direct instruction.

Rubrics can be created for any contents’ area including Maths, Science, History, Writing, Foreign Languages, Drama, Art, Music, etc. Once they are developed, they can be modified easily for various grade levels and I think rubrics are the best way to evaluate students because they have many advantages. Some of them are: teachers can increase the quality of their direct instruction by providing focus, emphasis; teachers can focus on particular details like a model for students; students have explicit guidelines regarding teacher expectations; students can use rubrics as a tool to develop their abilities and teachers can reuse rubrics for various activities.

THE PORTFOLIO :D

The ELP is a tool for effective language learning, teaching, and assessment. It should be used to its full potential both locally and globally to develop learner autonomy. The ELP is an effective tool for promoting reflection and self-assessment, which contributes to learner autonomy and motivation. 

We can use it with learners of all ages especially to manage their own work and the freedom to express their thoughts without being checked by the teacher.

The Council of Europe’s modern languages projects the importance of defining language learning objectives in terms that anyone can understand. In particular, they have been concerned to develop descriptions of foreign language proficiency that are directly related to communicative language use.

With this tool we can think more about what is important for our learners and we discuss things with them. We can try to help our learners to become more autonomous. We can try to classify the subject matter of our teaching into smaller units and link them together. We can try to help them to think about the purpose of their work. We can find our self-thinking about long-term goals. The ELP has helped us to think about new ways of teaching and about the collaborative nature of learning.

ELP assessment is the systematic, longitudinal collection of student work created in response to specific, known instructional objectives and evaluated in relation to the same criteria. Assessment is done by measuring the individual works as well as the portfolio as a whole against specified criteria, which match the objectives toward a specific purpose.  There is no assessment instrument that meets every teacher's purpose perfectly, is entirely valid and reliable, takes no time to prepare, administer, or grade, and meets each student's learning style.

Portfolios are a form of alternative and authentic assessment in which a student's progress is measured over a period of time in various language learning contexts. Portfolios can include evidence of specific skills and other items at one particular time and language performance and progress over time, under different conditions, in all four modalities (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) or all three communication modes (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational). Using a combination of testing instruments lends validity and reliability to the portfolio.

Portfolio assessment is closely linked to instruction, which has two educational benefits. First, linking assessment to instruction means that you are sure that you are measuring what you have taught. Second, portfolios reveal any weaknesses in instructional practices.

Portfolio assessment is by nature fully incorporated into instruction: there is no time lost on assessment. Assessment is a true learning experience, and not external to the learning process.

Student assessment portfolios promote positive student involvement. They are actively involved in and reflecting on their own learning. Increased metacognition has a positive impact on a student's self-confidence, facilitates students the use of learning strategies, and increases the student's ability to assess and revise work. Student motivation to continue studying and succeeding in language learning tends to grow in such an environment.

Portfolios offer the teacher and student an in-depth knowledge of the student as a learner. This means that the teacher can individualize instruction for the student. Weak areas can be strengthened and areas of mastery built upon. Learners are involved in this process of tracking their learning and can take control of their learning.

Using assessment portfolios gives the teacher opportunities to involve parents in their children's language learning. Parental involvement is an important factor in educational success.

What is my opinion about Valencian Community programmes?

Society is progressing and with it, the language too. Controlling more languages gives us more opportunities to find a job, so the sooner you learn, the better. Nowadays many people are out of work for luck of speaking well the language; but these cases will decrease. Currently, schools are introducing trilingualism education. This fact gives the children a way to avoid repeating in the future what is happening right now.

Furthermore, it opens up a vast range of possibilities which allow you to travel and socialize with other cultures. When we are young, people encourage us to travel to other countries to improve our English, French and other languages to have better preparation. A good way to achieve this aim is bilingual, or even better, trilingual eduaction.

In most cases, children speak in Castellano with relatives, so if school subjects are taught in Valencian and even some in English, it will be easier for students to dominate these three languages properly because it will be part of their daily life. However, I think learning second or third language should start when children are young and don’t implant it in the ESO, for example.

At European level, Spain is at a very low position with respect to understanding and speaking English, and I think implanting plurilingualism at shcools is a correct project to solve this problem.

THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR

This week we are going to work with vocabulary of THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR.

We will start with a story. You have two differents types and you have to choose one

http://www.good-kids.net/stories/show_flash.php?flash=11015

https://storybird.com/books/months-of-the-year-3/

You can use this picture to teach the months of the year and you can do this picture like a poster and hang it in your class.

You can use this picture to make flashcards! This is a good idea!

With this song the kids will learn the months very quickly! You have a Matt song again!

Here you have two games to practise the theme with them.

http://www.abcya.com/months_of_the_year.htm
http://www.turtlediary.com/kindergarten-games/math-games/months-of-the-year.html

Here you have worksheets to work the months of the year. You can do whatever you want.

I hope you enjoy it!

THE DAYS OF THE WEEK

This week we are going to work with vocabulary of THE DAYS OF THE WEEK.

We will start with a story/video. This is the best way to present this theme.

You can use this picture to teach the days of the week and you can do this picture like a poster and hang it in your class.

You can use this picture to make flashcards. I think this is a great tool to use every day with the children

With this song the kids will learn the days of the week easier! You have met Matt before! He is a fantastic singer!

This is a memory game to practise the days of the week. Everybody knows this type of game J

http://www.eslgamesplus.com/days-of-the-week-esl-vocabulary-game/

Here you have worksheets to work the days of the week. You have several sorts of levels, you have to choose; it depends on the level of your pupils have.

See you next week!

THE MODERN SCHOOL TEACHER

This is a real teacher!
She has to be multifunctional!
Don't you feel identified?