Module 1 by Silvia Duarte

1.2 Starting from students' interests

simavidu — 2019-01-23 12:24:14 UTC

Getting to know the students, even if I sometimes stay with them for a short period of time, is crucial. Realizing what they already know, what they show most difficulty, understanding their tastes, their ambitions and their fears is the first step so that the teaching-learning process can be successfully carried out.
It all starts with an intentional, careful observation process and a good notepad in the pocket, which always helps to write a small note, a small detail that can make all the difference. The students are not only known by the lengthy conversations we have, nor by the questions we "throw" in the room. It is necessary to perceive the emotional and sensory part and for that, I believe that they must be observed in their natural and more relaxed environment. It isn´t usefull to "deposit" content to fulfill a program, if only the body of the students is in the room, while your mind wanders through other places, games, concerns,... Think of a more holistic and growth seems to be the secret, but implementing this process is the real challenge to perseverance, the will to change, and to be better. Thus, a close look makes me believe that teaching in different and even more natural environments can represent a good starting point, as well as the use of new multimedia resources, activities of a practical nature and with obvious use in everyday life, ... always with respect to the rhythm and individual needs of each student.

1.3 What is formal/non-formal/informal learning?

simavidu — 2019-01-23 12:56:42 UTC

Formal learning

- I graduated from the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro to be able to follow my dream of being a teacher.

Non-formal learning

- I signed up for this training, to be held in my free time, on my own initiative.

Informal learning

- I learned how to crochet by observing my mother and now I can make small little hats for my little one that will be born.

1.4 Linking non-formal/informal learning & formal learning

simavidu — 2019-01-23 12:59:24 UTC

No child appears to us in the classes without previous knowledge, and these should be taken into account. Not everything they learn, they do in the classroom. A conversation with friends, a motivated search on the internet, a joke, ... all possible growth situations are possible. So why not make an interconnection of all these knowledge and forms of learning?
If a child has the motivation to create a youtube channel, he/she will surely spend some time watching other youtubers, researching pages on the subject, and learning the best way to do it. He/she will surely talk to a friend in an informal conversation about the best camera to record the videos, will need to install some programs to create one or more "intros" for the channel and, perhaps, present a topic he/she learned at school and about which he/she was interested? And, even better, if he/she can present the complementary learning on the subject in the classroom to the peers? Surely, these will also be more focused and attentive because it is something captivating, performed by someone they know, feeling more close, and thus may consolidate a previous learning.

1.5 Strategies to empower students in their formal & informal learning

simavidu — 2019-01-23 13:05:06 UTC

- Activity 1 -
If project work carried out in small or large groups can be an asset, also an online partnership with other schools, public or private entities, can provide students and teachers with tools that might otherwise be difficult to access , be forgotten or even unknown.
Learning has no place or time, happens at all times, even if unconsciously. And most of the time, it happens through sharing. If a secure and reliable network can be a bridge to new learning, to new cultures and new worlds, then the creation of a time of correspondence between schools will be part of this whole construction of being. The ability to share is undervalued, but it is so important to know how to give, how to receive.
Here are some ideas on how this sharing can be done:

- Creation of an e-notebook with the discoveries of the students;
- Interchange (e-mail) between other schools / institutions
- Creation of a Youtube channel of the class
- Writing an online newspaper
- Creation of a chat where students can ask questions, provide support on some content, ...

I also leave examples of activities that I did with my classes, which worked very well and made the bridge between the digital age and school contents:

- Development of a B.D. in which students were the protagonists (they had to create the story, make the props, take and treat the photos, edit all the pages through the characteristics of a B.D., ...
- Create music video clips, studying the historical era in which they were written, the costumes to be used, the meaning of the letter, the collection of historical and local elements, filming, video editing and presentation to the school community.

1.5 Strategies to empower students in their formal & informal learning

simavidu — 2019-01-23 13:09:45 UTC

- Activity 2 -
Each student is an individual with their own interests and motivations. It is these motivations that will pave the way for new discoveries and even ramifications of those same interests.
I remember that in a recent past I came across a class that I was fortunate enough to be able to dedicate to a full school year (lucky for those who are hired and have an uncertain future). In this group I came across a girl with dyslexia (I might say, quite significant), who had real difficulty in acquiring reading and writing, even though she was in her second year of school, but I remember also of his fascination for experimental activities. I remember how she always walked with her book of experimental activities at hand, what a true scientist! And despite all the difficulty in following the experimental protocols, she was struggling like no other to "skip" no line, not to change any component, ... That's how I started searching in my spare time, how I could help her , and in this way, consolidate the entire learning process of reading and writing. Her motivation was undoubtedly the starting point.
I then combined with the rest of the class to create a space dedicated to the experimental sciences, where once a week a student, with the tutoring of this girl, would be responsible for researching, selecting, collecting all the necessary elements and presenting to the class a kind of experimental protocol elaborated by them, in order to record initial ideas, observations and conclusions reached. It was a way of taking the student to a more regular training in reading and writing, and with this activity, and with the practice she carried, she felt more comfortable with her difficulty, and also began to see improvements significant.