::"Tinkering school" In chile::

How can the concept of “tinkering school” be applied to Chilean public classrooms?

The concept of “tinkering school” can be applied in order to make students create meaningful things for them. We can encourage them to think about things that are not already created and also consider want they would like to have. As a result, they can start being motivated by that. Furthermore, teachers have to be aware of the interests students have, so it is important to have as much materials as we can, otherwise, they (students) might be encouraged to create just certain kind of things depending on the materials available they have. On the contrary, the idea here is to open their minds as much as they can. Also, this project consists on making students work just in the things they want to, but in a Chilean public school where children are not used to work this way, at the beginning they may need the teacher’s help in order to follow or understand the concept of the project. The teacher or mentor also have to be aware and consider the social context in which this is been applied. For instance, if we are proposing the project in a high society, this could work thinking about future engineers but also we can encourage poor people about using them in their future (being future engineers and other things as well),but in terms of, if they do have good grades at school, then their future might change by having a better life style. That is why this project is a good one to work in public schools, were children can learn useful things to make or create things to use in their daily life and also for having fun, considering that it is for little children.

Preparing a class about sounds!

Children are always discovering all those new things that are around them. One of these things is related to the sounds they are listening to without even realizing the existence of them. Now, I want to teach them how these sounds are really called in English. In order to make them learn these new words well, I would prepare or show them some of the sounds through a video, so they would be able to listen to them, and also they would be seeing them using two different kinds of intelligences at the same time. After that, they would have to get into groups of 4 or 5 people, with the purpose of preparing a short play in which two of the members of the group have the assignment of relating an original story invented by them. While the two students are telling the story, the other members of the group have the task of acting the story that is being told in order to show it to the rest of the class. Therefore, the main thing is that the ones that are acting have to make all the sounds possible that we can find in the tale.

This sort of activity makes students be able to learn what is supposed to be taught at the same time all or most of them also are having fun. Furthermore, we will be teaching them things they can find in their daily life, this in order to show something meaningful for them to apply in different circumstances.

My words from the reading.

Splash: the sound like water splashing.

Whisper: the act of speaking softly.

Clap: an abrupt noise as if two objects hit together; may be repeated.

Stomp: the act of walking heavily.

Tune: a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence.

Harmony: an agreeable sound properly.

Hoarse: (of a voice of a person) having a rough voice, often because of a sore throat or a cold.

Questions for Vanesa's presentation

Wouldn’t it be fair if a trailer shows all the issues involved in a film in order to prepare the audience to see it, instead of making them see something unexpected at the end?

Instead of a trailer, what could be another way to make the audience be interested in seeing a film?

What happens with the films that are about real life, should we see the real story that touches the film through the trailer?

Cecilia and Valeria's presentation

Cecilia and Valeria could express through the video, what those students wanted to show in terms of creating something original and shocking because of the message that was in it. That is really important to have in mind because sometimes, teachers believe they know exactly what students think, and they also believe that all students know how to use technology in terms of learning. Nevertheless they do not realize that this is the problem. Students are using technology, but this tool has not been useful for all of them. What I liked about the presentation was the way our partners tried to encourage us in relation to the use of technology at the classroom in a way in which students are not just having fun, but learning and acquiring knowledge in an enjoyable and appropriate way thinking about the age they are living in.
Besides, I also liked that Cecilia and Valeria where thinking about the different circumstances in which technology can be and is being applied. For example it is not just about applying it, we -teachers- have to consider the school, the students and the context in general since through these topics, we can find lots of complications or obstacles to teach children using technology. It is important to know that some teachers, although they want to incorporate the use of technology, they are not prepared to do that because they do not know how to do it.
Accordingly, the thing now is to integrate new materials and make professors learn about all this new information or technology that is being used in order to encourage them to learn instead of making them giving up and continuing using the same methodologies that they used years before. Teachers have to think about improving education, and this won’t be possible if they do not consider the use of technology at the classroom.

Poems...

"Optimism and Fears"

Walking like a ghost

I was looking for my dreams

Thinking everything was gone, vanished

Drops of a desperate kingdom of thoughts

Like a horse with no meadow going nowhere

Lonely, forlorn hopes emerge

Touching suddenly my entrails

Without thinking that I am alive

Who cares? Everything changes.

"Delightful"

Flying in the clouds

My feelings go where emotions are brought

Believing I am exactly where I need to

Pure heartbeats, truthful feelings appear roughly

Like a naïve adolescent who is madly in love

Secure and fortunate of this stunning gift

No matter the way it appears

This is what life wants me to live

To live intensely

just keep going!

We are always trying to focus on an aim, and then when we achieve it, we just realize that we do not have anything more to fight for. I think that this happens in many people and makes them feel that their life has no sense anymore. That they have nothing to continue living their life happily. As a result, they think they have failed instead of thinking about achieving new and harder things, and why not, simple things. Obviously, sometimes we will feel we have failed in many things, but that cannot be frustrating for us. We have to think we are people, and more than thinking that we are unsuccessful, we should think that we have learnt thanks to those mistakes.
don't you think so?

Now, at the school (ELAB)I can notice how many teachers are not prepared for teaching, and actually, they care neither doing good classes nor helping the students to be better. So, how do they think they will change the society?
I would tell them, STOP COMPLAINING!!

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/richard_st_john_success_is_a_continuous_journey.html