I am Italian. I come from Frattamaggiore, a small town near Naples.

I have been teaching Spanish language and literature since 1992. 

Before 1992 I worked in the field of theatre projects for children.

I am interested in ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and new approaches in teaching.

It’s a long time that I’m testing methods and strategies for helping my students to develop their competences. Above all I try to use a constructivist and a cooperative learning approach with the help of ICT.

 
Since 2003 I have been using blogs in teaching Spanish (https://vergarablog.wordpress.com/) and also in other multidisciplinary projects (e.g. https://frattablog.wordpress.com/ and https://filangieribis.wordpress.com/).

Now I use also social networks in order tio motivate my students: for instance, I have a specific teaching group in Facebook addressed to them (https://www.facebook.com/groups/profe.g/).

Between 2009 and 2011 I participated in a Comenius project about European citizenship (http://4comenius.blogspot.it/).

- To learn something more about the effective use of key competences in teaching.

- To increase my competences.

- To be acquainted with new approaches, strategies and methods.

- To share my knowledge and skills with colleagues of other countries.

The importance of “learning to learn competence”
"Learning to learn" is defined as the ability to pursue and persist in learning, to organise one's own learning, including through effective management of time and information, both individually and in groups.
Education systems are moving away from solely content-led approaches, and focusing more on helping learners develop a range of competences to cope in our complex world.
Other more transversal skills, such as collaborative problem-solving are increasingly valuable.

Knowledge and basic skills are necessary but no longer sufficient to meet the complex requirements of today’s social demands in an increasingly competitive global economy.

Definition of competence
A competence is “a complex combination of knowledge, skills, understanding, values, attitudes and desire which lead to effective, embodied human action in the world in a particular domain”. (Hoskins and Crick)
Anyway competences are expressed, understood and implemented within each education system in different ways according to national context. 

The 8 Key Competences of the EU Framework
- Communication in the mother tongue
- Communication in foreign languages
- Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology
- Digital competence
- Learning to learn
- Social and civic competences
- Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
- Cultural awareness and expression

Transversal skills
- critical thinking

- creativity
- initiative
- problem solving
- risk assessment
- decision taking
- constructive management of feelings

Implementing key competences in schools involves not only specifying them in curricula, but also developing appropriate implementation conditions, teaching methods and assessment.

- task-based (active, authentic, collaborative tasks based on problem-solving)
- interdisciplinary (combine several subject areas)
- needs to be both learner- and teacher-led (project-based learning)

- technologically innovative
- should take place both inside and outside of school
- both collaborative and individualised

- collaborate with the wider community
- pay closer attention to the social and emotional aspects of learning

 

2. I teach Spanish language and culture combining several subject areas (such as civics, geography, economics, sociology, literature and history…).

 

3. In my cooperative learning approach we alternate collaborative lessons with periods of autonomous and reflexive production.

4. I try to have autonomous and responsible learners that are able to learn by themselves, but I am conscious that my teaching is still teacher-led. Perhaps my weak spot is that I am not able to “disappear” more during the lessons.

 

5. I am very interested in ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and new approaches in teaching. It is a long time that I am testing methods and strategies for helping my students to develop their competences with the help of ICT.

 

6. I aim to involve students in virtual and outdoors experience that can be relevant for their learning and education.

 

7. I try to collaborate with the local social associations. Nevertheless, my students are quite reluctant or, perhaps, the problem is that I am not able to persuade them about the importance of this kind of social experiences.

 

8. I try to develop the quality of their social relationships and I show all my interest about their emotional needs. I encourage them to talk about their personal life and I talk about my personal life. This is very important if you want to have a real communication in a second language. 

 

9. Sometimes, I use classroom-based formative assessment to give feedback to my students and to collect information I need to adjust my teaching and their learning while they are still happening.

  

10. I encourage students to reflect on their learning experience and I devote some time to questioning them about what they have recorded in their learning, not only in Spanish but also in their global and interdisciplinary skills.