Showing posts with label inglés para niños en Madrid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inglés para niños en Madrid. Show all posts

27.9.16

On teamwork, problem solving and motivation


Summer has always brought new life experiences into my professional life, however, the one which has just ended will definitely be remembered as a special one. I experienced something that you could recreate in your own classroom, especially during these first days of school, when children are starting to get acquainted with each other again or for the very first time.

If you've been following my blog, you'll know that during the month of July I usually run a summer camp in an outdoor environment  with students not older than 6, where the main activities are games, songs, and crafts to help them learn some basic grammar and vocabulary. After this summer I can definitely say that little kids are easy to understand and work with; believe me, if they like the activity you have planned, 

they'll do it but if they don't, they'll get distracted by anything more interesting, and that's all. Simple and easy to grab.

Unexpectedly, this time I ended up working with slightly older children: a group of 6/8 girls, aged 6 to 9 , who had already started developing their own personalities, which made them completely different from one another, and especially sensitive to impolite leadership attempts. They made it clear from the very first day that this Summer Camp had to be totally different.

First of all I pointed out how essential it was to be polite to each other so that nobody would get offended: I introduced the frequent use of  'please' and 'thank you' and reminded them to use suggestions and express opinions instead of giving orders. This way, instead of saying 'do this and that' they would use should, might or would; in other words, they were being forced to use grammar like never before.
But not only that! The icing on the cake was the ban on the word 'NO' in any form: a more understanding 'YES, BUT…' had to be used instead.

The second step  focused on creating cooperation instead of competition by using team building games. Just by luck, I found a copy of "Silly Sports and Goofy Games", by Dr Spencer Kagan, on my overflowing bookcase,  which was exactly what I needed. Over the following weeks we played games such as  "Movement Chain", "Instamatic", "Detective", "Smile if You Love Me", and "Maze Walker", where the girls worked together to build a maze with their own stuff and all the leaves, rocks, sticks and pine needles they could find in the garden.

Furthermore, in order to encourage relationship skills and equal participation, every time an activity required splitting them into different teams, I made the groups by drawing from a bunch of popsicle sticks with their names on them; this way they couldn't complain about the group they ended up in, because, as I would tell them, 'the sticks rule'.

The third step was to begin each Monday by offering a selection of 3 or 4 week group projects, to choose from: a play, a dance show, the opening ceremony of the Olympics, etc.  Each time the main goal was to sit together and decide who was going to do what, how to do it, who was going to wear this or that costume, how to arrange the stage, etc. without screaming, arguing or crying. Once everybody was happy with the decisions, I would participate in the process and add my own suggestions and ideas. They would work together on the project for the following 3 days until, on Friday, they would present it to the other groups.

It was awesome to witness the development of their relationships and the way they ended up working together, communicating politely, making decisions which would suit everybody, showing enthusiasm, rehearsing in the afternoons to come well prepared the next morning. The atmosphere was so friendly and engaging that even the shy ones or those who weren't feeling so confident ended up improving their English speaking skills which you can read about on my  parents' comments page.  


Oh! And the shows themselves were amazing!



    




6.3.16

Modeling: teaching positive attitudes towards learning

Long time no see! At last a Sunday off and some time for blogging!
Illustrator: rinapiccolo.com

You see, after 8 years teaching extracurricular English classes, last year I decided that it was time to get an actual teaching degree from an actual university, so I signed up for one! As a result, over the past few months I've had zero time to write anything… until today :)

The classes have definitely been interesting and quite useful, but my favorite subject, above all, was educational psychology, where I realized that over the last 8 years I've been applying the most modern educational theories without even knowing it. Somehow, through my personal experience as a student in addition to observing and analyzing my students to enhance their learning experience, I've been putting into practice theories I had been unfamiliar with until October.

It has been reassuring and encouraging at the same time to discover that others have scientifically proven things I have experienced almost daily. Actually, while I was in class I couldn't help sharing my classroom stories… though I'm not sure how much the teacher appreciated it!

Anyway, today I'd like to talk about one particular topic from those educational psychology classes: observational learning.

Do you remember that campaign with the slogan "Children see, children do"?
Well, between the phrase children see and the phrase children do, we could definitely add a third phrase: children learn.

Observational learning, or modeling, is part of the Social Learning Theory developed by Albert Bandura, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. Bandura demonstrated that children learn and imitate behaviors they have observed in other people through his Bobo doll experiment, which shows how a child reproduces the same  aggressive behavior he has observed.

There are 4 important steps involved in the modeling process:

- Attention, which is connected to your interest in what you're seeing and the lack of possible distractions.
- Retention, which is the capacity to store information, usually facilitated by seeing and listening to how to do something.
- Reproduction is the phase that starts once you've retained the information and understood the process. It's the time when the child performs the observed behavior. Their performance will improve and lead to skill advancement through further practice.
- Motivation is essential for successful observational learning and it can be generated by using positive or negative reinforcement. This also includes punishment, but it's not a desiderable way of going about it.

It sounds a bit like my method, doesn't it?  ;) Not only that, but it also sounds like how a Montessori teacher does it when they explains to their students how to use the prepared material.

As adults, it's clear that we can choose to use this process to encourage more positive behaviour from the young people around us, and this is also why I always insist that parents and teachers must be an active part of the process. In fact, I even wrote a book about it!

If you want your kids to read, let them see that you like reading; open a book, talk to them about what you're reading, and take them to a library.

If you want your children to learn English, take part in the process with them. If they're shy don't force them to speak if you're not making the same effort, because then they will just ask you why they have to when you don't.

Do you want your students to care for environment? Start by caring for it yourself, showing them how to do it.

When I started my first internship at a school in January, I bought one of those notebooks with the big squares that first graders use to write in so that I could practice my primary school calligraphy.

Every day, I made sure to use it in front of them, showing them my improvement, and asking them how they wrote this or that letter. Judging by their amazed expressions every time I took the notebook out of my bag, I'm pretty sure that, many of them paid much more attention to how they were writing and tried to improve the legibility of their writing just because they felt that their own effort to produce legible calligraphy was being understood and appreciated,

In conclusion, the learning process is a team effort and if you have a tricky issue in your own classroom, this process can be modified to help you deal with it.

If you'd like to take a deeper look  at the subject, here's a link to a more exhaustive explanation and another video about the Bobo doll experiment.

Meanwhile, have fun!

P.S. I got a really good grade on the Educational Psychology exam ;)

About Reading Comprehension







2.4.13

TWINKLE TOTS, CantaJuegos en Inglés


Empezamos con este post una nueva sección del blog dedicada a las actividades para peques en inglés. Estrenamos desde Madrid con el primer invitado: TWINKLE TOTS, una idea de Sara

Hola Sara, háblanos un poco de tu idea, ¿qué es Twinkle Tots?
He trabajado desde 2005 en España con actividades creativas en inglés para niños y jóvenes. 

En principio era a través del teatro. Yo veía el nivel bastante malo de inglés que tenían la mayoría de los jóvenes y la presión que había para que aprendieran el idioma. 

Esta presión también pesaba en mi situación personal; cuando conocí a mi pareja, él estaba un poco disgustado de descubrir qué yo fuese inglesa, porque pasaba totalmente del fanatismo del inglés. 

Entonces me di cuenta que parte del problema era la enseñanza - que los profesores nativos eran muy escasos (insisto que hace falta un nativo para poder coger buen acento y soltura) y había tanta presión que los niños se volvían rebeldes!

Entonces pensé que, quizás, lo que les ayudaría sería una actividad en inglés MUY divertida, sin exigencias, desde una edad muy joven para crear ya una buena base para el resto de su aprendizaje. 

Básicamente mi pensamiento era 'si tienen ganas de verme y jugar conmigo a mi estilo (en inglés) pues quizás no estarán tan resistentes en las aulas'.

Vaya historia no?!?
Bueno, entonces surgió Twinkle Tots. La música es ideal para la estimulación temprana. Y como yo soy actriz y cantante....


¿Qué es lo que más te gusta de tu trabajo?
Cuando me sorprenden los peques. 

De repente un niño que lleva un mes sin responderme se pone a hacer los bailecitos, o me dice 'bye bye, Sara' al final de la clase! Me encanta!


¿Qué es lo que más les gusta a los niños?
Les encantan las pegatinas! 

Empiezo la clase dandoles una pegatina con su nombre a cada uno y es un momento muy especial para ellos. 

También les encanta tocar los instrumentos

¿Cuál es la canción qué tiene más éxito?
Uff, pues será un empate entre The Wheels on the Bus y Five Little Monkeys

¿Realmente Funciona?
Sí, pero no lo puedo hacer sola. La participación de los padres es esencial. 

Se nota muchísimo cuando los padres se lo curran para aprender las canciones y los gestos, porque los niños vuelven la semana siguiente muy familiarizados con las canciones. 

Hay padres que me piden dejar a los niños solos en clase, pera la verdad es que lo pasan mucho mejor bailando y cantando en familia - otra cosa que creo que es esencial para un buen  aprendizaje: hay que hacer las cosas JUNTOS.

>>INFO CLASES 
Todavía no tengo un lugar propio - ese es el meta!
Nos pueden encontrar en los siguientes lugares:

Los lunes en El Bosque Encantado 17.15 y 18.15

Los miércoles en Sus Pequeños Pasos 16.45 y 17.30

Los jueves en la Bolsa Mágica 12.00
Baby Deli Lagasca 16.00
Grey Elephant 18.00

Los viernes en Baby Deli Pozuelo, 16.30

Los sábados y domingos en lugares distintos:
Entre Mamás, El Mundo de Mozart, Fun& Fit, Living Baby, Quisicosas

También hacemos fiestas de cumpleaños y talleres puntuales para colegios.

CONTACTOS



         

10.1.13

Writing Tip nº4: THE FAIRY-TALE SALAD


If you've been reading my latest posts about books, you would certainly have  noticed a common theme (imprint?): the fact that some characters of a fairy tale, in some way, land in another one and meet its protagonist, giving birth to new tales or even novels.

It's the case of Hansel and Gretel in Gidwitz's book 'A Tale Dark and Grimm', but also of 'Witch Hazel' who moves from the story of Snow White to Hansel and Gretel.

But he most famous example, I can think of, is certainly the story of the ogre 'Shrek': a worldwide known case of fairy-tale salad.

Chapter twenty of 'The Grammar of Fantasy' by Gianni Rodari talks about this possibility of mixing different fairy tales to create new adventures and new developments of old and well-known stories. 

It's interesting because young readers have to deeply know the characters' inner worlds and the landscapes they move in to do this experiment of literature.

It's a good excuse for an accurate text analysis.

So, let your children think about what could happen if Little Red Riding Hood met Tom Thumb in the wood and if Pinocchio arrived at Granny's house: the Wolf would get every single tooth of his mouth completely destroyed!


10.12.12

Writing Tip nº3: THE CASUAL SYNTAX


Chapter ten of 'The Grammar of Fantasy' by Gianni Rodari talks about Dadaist and Surrealist games to look for a 'fantastic theme' that will help your class to write stories.

An easy one to set up in the classroom is the Casual Sintax.
The students, one after another, have to secretly answer these 6 questions:

question 1: WHO WAS HE/SHE/IT?

question 2: WHERE WAS HE/SHE/IT?

question 3: WHAT WAS HE/SHE/IT DOING?

question 4: WHAT DID HE/SHE/IT SAY?

question 5: WHAT DID PEOPLE SAY ABOUT HIM/HER/IT?

question 6: HOW DID THE STORY END?

The first pupil answers the question and folds the paper like an accordion. He passes the folded paper to his classmate, who will answer the second question, fold the paper again and pass it to the third one and so on until the paper accordion will reach the sixth and last student of the chain. Once he has answered the last question you can unfold the paper and read the answers following the order of the questions. It'll be hilarious and perhaps you'll find material to write a whole story.



1.12.12

AUTUMN LEAVES

Autumn Leaves
Autumn has been delighting this part of Europe with bright colors and warm temperatures, so far.

Amazed by my surroundings, I decided to use a little piece of this season to teach some meaningful English.

I looked for some coloring sheets about fall, to get inspired, and I found many pictures of leafless trees. 

Suddenly something clicked: as my 3-year-old student loves using glue, why not to stick some real leaves on one of those pictures?

So we did. And he enjoyed it very much.

PS Drawing a leafless tree is very easy and it could be a valid option if you haven't got much time to do a search on the internet.

I only suggest that you add a smiley face on its trunk. Children will appreciate it!