The need for new technologies

Today’s class was about new technologies and how we apply them in the classroom to motivate and stimulate the students.

I am fascinated by new technologies and I enjoy learning how to use them although sometimes I spend a great amount of time doing so.

I have worked with IT and I am always keen on learning more about them although I do not describe myself as native in new technologies.

Iñaqui explained to us how to use two types of digital blackboards by two different manufacturers:

e-beam and smartboard.

After Iñaqui’s explanation, I now would like to see the real "Mackoy" so I think I’ll have a look at one working when I get a chance.

Iñaqui talked about the use of blogs in the classroom and digital blackboards.

I love new technologies but I must admit that technical details are not always well explained or easy to understand in the manuals. Therefore, you need to know the basics to understand how to use them and what to do if a problem arises.
You have to be able to sort it out too. This is the difficulty I see but as professionals as we are, we will need to anticipate a plan B and possibly even a plan C when something goes wrong.

In my professional life so far I have dealt with technical problems and I strongly believe that the rule of thumb is to find out the root of the problem. For this reason, it is important to remember all you did from the very beginning in order to find the solution to a technical problem. This requires patience, which is not always easy to have if you are surrounded by thirty or more students. Although these days you may encounter that some of your students may know more about technology than you do and who knows, this may also be an opportunity to develop other skills in the classroom.

Moreover, continuous training is required in order to keep up-to-date with new technologies and if this is the price to pay to keep motivating our students, so be it.

Having said this, are we all ready and motivated to keep up with them?

Time will tell but these days we cannot live without them, they now form part of our daily lives and it is going to stay that way. Therefore, we need to have an open mind and try to accept them as a support tool for our lessons and not as a teacher replacement.

They can be a complement to our jobs and not a threat. They can be expensive and they risk being obsolete very quickly in a short amount of time but its use and the results obtained by the students can also be very rewarding for a teacher, so let’s stop being afraid of them and use them effectively!

Things you can do to practice & improve your English

I quite enjoyed this session where Iñaqui showed us one of his many experiments at his school.

He wanted students to improve their oral skills in English but he did not have the money nor the time to spend in the UK and not even the possibility to arrange an exchange with English students.

So what about exchanging his best English students with the ones that need a bit of extra help?

It's a very positive, practical and economical way to improve your English as well as a friendly way of getting to know other students from different ages and levels.

However, Iñaqui shared with us that the influence of a bad leader can make the experiment fail. 

Dealing and solving conflicts

"Conflicts can be seen as an opportunity to grow" (Jose Antonio)

Jose Antonio made a brilliant speech about dealing and solving conflicts with the students, in this case, most of them will be teenagers.

Jose Antonio has been working in Pedro Herrero’s High School for a number of years as the high School psychologist

I’ve found his speech very interesting, positive and enriching.

He had also a friendly approach to expose his PowerPoint. Iñaqui was also there and it was rather funny seeing the interaction between Iñaqui and Jose Antonio.

In my professional life, I have to deal with many different types of conflicts but not directly with teenagers so seeing Jose Antonio’s point of view added a bit more to my personal experience.
There is a thin line not to be crossed between teachers and students: RESPECT.
We have to make ourselves respectful and also win the student's respect in order to teach

His way of dealing with conflict involves the students. It is also an excellent way for students to take responsibility of their actions which makes them for responsible.

In his first lesson, everyone in the classroom decides the rules and its consequences, which means that if someone in the classroom does not abide to the rules he/she will have to confront consequences which have been previously drafted by them and it is not seen as a  punishment from the teacher.

This reminds me of the operative conditioning which we are also learning in the “Adolescence developing problems”.
These are the strategies to follow when a conflict arises:

As any other problem, first thing that needs to be done, is to understand the root of the problem.
"Preventing a cold is better than curing a pneumonia ",that's to say, prevent the appearance of conflict before it occurs, creating an atmosphere of communication.
Negotiate to resolve conflicts.
Maintain an attitude that encourages mutual respect.
Establish rules clearly and accurately and stand firm in the enforcement of these rules, which in some cases can be drawn by the students themselves.