Sir Ken Robinson despre relația dintre tehnologie și creativitate

Într-un interviu de acum 2 zile, Sir Ken Robinson vorbește despre relația dintre uneltele/instrumentele pe care le folosim și dezvoltarea intelectuală, fizică și spirituală, subliniază impactul extraordinar al tehnologiei asupra educației și încurajează școlile să utilizeze tehnologiile ca instrumente de lucru care facilitează accesul la idei și permit o regândire a modului în care sunt organizate aceste instituții și modul de a învăța.






 “Tools have extended our physical reach, allowing us to do things physically we couldn’t otherwise do, but they’ve also expanded our minds.” 

“The relationship between tools and intellectual, physical and spiritual development is really powerful.”

 “The real virtue is not in the tools we create, it is in how we use the tools to create, how creative we become with the tools.” 

“The challenge with technology is not a technological one, it’s a spiritual one.”

  “If we start to rethink some of the fundamental principles of education, [and] its relationship with technology, there’s a better chance that we will create the world that we and our children will want to live in.”

Mulțumesc!

De un an și jumătate mă uit mai atent la mine și la alții care gândesc frumos despre educație. Chiar acum sunt  40 000 de afișări și cititori din 37 de țări, n-aș fi crezut, mulțumesc !

What Students Remember Most About Their Teachers

In December 2013, Lori Gard (a Kindergarten teacher at Bloomfield Elementary School) wrote a letter which was published on the Huffington Post- a letter written as support to a young teacher. That letter was initially read by just a handful of people, but at the end of January, it started to grab the interest of teachers all over the world:

”Dear Young Teacher Down the Hall,

I saw you as you rushed passed me in the lunch room. Urgent. In a hurry to catch a bite before the final bell would ring calling all the students back inside. I noticed that your eyes showed tension. There were faint creases in your forehead. And I asked you how your day was going and you sighed.
"Oh, fine," you replied.

But I knew it was anything but fine. I noticed that the stress was getting to you. I could tell that the pressure was rising. And I looked at you and made an intentional decision to stop you right then and there. To ask you how things were really going. Was it that I saw in you a glimpse of myself that made me take the moment?
You told me how busy you were, how much there was to do. How little time there was to get it all done. I listened. And then I told you this:

I told you to remember that at the end of the day, it's not about the lesson plan. It's not about the fancy stuff we teachers make -- the crafts we do, the stories we read, the papers we laminate. No, that's not really it. That's not what matters most.

And as I looked at you there wearing all that worry under all that strain, I said it's about being there for your kids. Because at the end of the day, most students won't remember what amazing lesson plans you've created. They won't remember how organized your bulletin boards are. How straight and neat are the desk rows.
No, they'll not remember that amazing decor you've designed.

But they will remember you.
Your kindness. Your empathy. Your care and concern. They'll remember that you took the time to listen. That you stopped to ask them how they were. How they really were. They'll remember the personal stories you tell about your life: your home, your pets, your kids. They'll remember your laugh. They'll remember that you sat and talked with them while they ate their lunch.

Because at the end of the day, what really matters is YOU. What matters to those kids that sit before you in those little chairs, legs pressed up tight under tables oft too small- what matters to them is you.
You are that difference in their lives.


And when I looked at you then with tears in your eyes, emotions rising to the surface and I told you gently to stop trying so hard- I also reminded you that your own expectations were partly where the stress stemmed. For we who truly care are often far harder on ourselves than our students are willing to be. Because we who truly care are often our own worst enemy. We mentally beat ourselves up for trivial failures. We tell ourselves we're not enough. We compare ourselves to others. We work ourselves to the bone in the hopes of achieving the perfect lesson plan. The most dynamic activities. The most engaging lecture. The brightest, fanciest furnishings.

Because we want our students to think we're the very best at what we do and we believe that this status of excellence is achieved merely by doing. But we forget- and often. Excellence is more readily attained by being.
Being available.
Being kind.
Being compassionate.
Being transparent.
Being real.
Being thoughtful.
Being ourselves.

And of all the students I know who have lauded teachers with the laurels of the highest acclaim, those students have said of those teachers that they cared.
You see, kids can see through to the truth of the matter. And while the flashy stuff can entertain them for a while, it's the steady constance of empathy that keeps them connected to us. It's the relationships we build with them. It's the time we invest. It's all the little ways we stop and show concern. It's the love we share with them: of learning. Of life. And most importantly, of people.

And while we continually strive for excellence in our profession as these days of fiscal restraint and heavy top-down demands keep coming at us- relentless and quick. We need to stay the course. For ourselves and for our students. Because it's the human touch that really matters.
It's you, their teacher, that really matters.

So go back to your class and really take a look. See past the behaviors, the issues and the concerns, pressing as they might be. Look beyond the stack of papers on your desk, the line of emails in your queue. Look further than the classrooms of seasoned teachers down the hall. Look. And you will see that it's there- right inside you. The ability to make an impact. The chance of a lifetime to make a difference in a child's life. And you can do this now.
Right where you are, just as you are.

Because all you are right now is all you ever need to be for them today. And who you are tomorrow will depend much on who and what you decide to be today.
It's in you. I know it is.

Fondly,
That Other Teacher Down the Hall”

(sursa:  http://pursuitofajoyfullife.com/)

La firul ierbii, de bine - școala din Șagu

Nu cred că mă înșel, căci e imposibil să regizezi chiar totul și mai ales zâmbetele naturale ale copiilor și fețele lor fericite. Nu am fost acolo, nu îi cunosc pe profesori, nu știu ce metodă folosesc, dar e clar că la modesta școală din comuna Șagu (județul Arad), cu sobe godin în clase, copiii sunt iubiți, apreciați și se simt bine. În absolut toate fotografiile din școala lor, toți, dar absolut toți copiii râd.

(sursa foto:pagina de facebook Scoala Sagu)

Dimineață la Pucioasa - muguri de iarnă

Dimineață de decembrie la Pucioasa, cu muguri de magnolie – cum e chestia aia cu toate la vremea lor?? (acum 25 de ani, la Timișoara, a fost despre libertate).

Profesorii

Călătoria spre o școală bună (reinventare la firul ierbii) - profesorii

Profilul şi caracteristicile unei şcoli sunt în cea mai mare măsură rezultatul acţiunii profesorilor din şcoala respectivă.

Experienţa lor de viaţă şi profesională, convingerile şi valorile pe care le promovează, normele culturale împărtăşite sunt definitorii pentru modul în care sunt educaţi copiii unei şcoli. Tot ce se întâmplă într-o şcoală, bine sau rău, depinde de ceea ce fac şi cum gândesc profesorii.

Profesorii din şcolile bune au o inteligenţă emoţională ridicată, care îi ajută să se autocunoască, să fie eficienţi, să se concentreze asupra muncii, să coopereze şi să gestioneze situaţiile conflictuale cu elevii, colegii sau părinții. Ei îşi exercită autoritatea prin crearea unui mediu favorabil învăţării, în care există reguli clare, aşteptări reciproce, o foarte bună comunicare, un sistem de recompense şi sancţiuni care funcţionează eficient.

Stilul didactic este unul democratic, elevii sunt consultaţi în legătură cu conţinuturile, se acceptă opinii, se adresează întrebări şi există răspunsuri şi soluţii alternative, şi nu „căi optime unice“.

Se folosesc strategii didactice inovatoare, prin care se urmăreşte formarea la elevi de competenţe necesare funcţionării cu succes într-o lume în schimbare: gândire critică, rezolvare de probleme, comunicare, spirit de echipă etc.

Frumoșii nebuni ai marilor orașe - Cutia cu '89

O idee marca studioBASAR - Cutia cu '89, deschisă în aceste zile în Piața Unirii din Cluj si în Piața Victoriei din Timișoara pentru a colecta amintiri si povesti despre zilele revoluției din cele două orașe și impresii despre schimbările de după.

 (foto preluate de pe pagina de facebook a studioBASAR)

Tema pentru acasă - între 3 și 14 ore

Un articol recent din ”The Atlantic”este despre cât timp alocă temelor pentru acasă elevii de 15 ani și comparațiile interesante între țări prezentate într-un studiu OECD  (maximum 14 ore in Shanghai, minimum 3 ore in Finlanda, 7,5 ore în Romania). 

Concluzia articolului și a studiului este una de bun simț: dacă tema pentru acasă poate fi de ajutor la nivel individual, succesul unui întreg sistem de educație se bazează însă mai mult pe alți factori, cum ar fi calitatea procesului didactic și modul în care sunt organizate școlile.

Despre tema pentru acasă puteți citi și aici:http://ancatirca.blogspot.ro/2013/11/tema-pentru-acasa-intre-prea-mult-si.html

(thx Albert Meyer for sharing the article:Where Teens Have the Most Homework)