Portfolio 4 - I. Fàbrega, A. Garrido, M. Soler, L. Pérez, N. Vila, L. Vilar

PORTFOLIO

THE GOATS 29/04/2015 Anna Garrido, Irina Fàbrega, Laia Pèrez, Mar Soler, Núria Vila i Laia Vilar Teacher: Berta Vall Psychology of Education 2n Doble Grau d’Educació Infantil i Primària - Menció Anglesa Facultat d’Educació, Traducció i Humanitats Universitat de Vic

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BLOCK 1 ...........................................................................................................................3 I-1 Let’s form a team .......................................................................................................4 I-2 From Theory to Practice ............................................................................................6 I-3 An in depth look at constructivism ..........................................................................9 I-4 Case analysis. Film forum....................................................................................... 16 I-5 Glossary .................................................................................................................... 17 I-6 Self-assessment Group Work ................................................................................. 18 BLOCK 2 ......................................................................................................................... 22 II-1 MOTIVATE TO MOTIVATE ...................................................................................... 23 II-2 A LEGEND FOR EVERYONE .................................................................................. 25 II-3 THIS STUDENT… .................................................................................................... 26 II-4 CASE ANALYSIS. FILM FORUM ............................................................................ 28 II-5 GLOSSARY .............................................................................................................. 30 II-6 SELF-ASSESSMENT GROUP WORK .................................................................... 30 BLOCK 3 ......................................................................................................................... 34 III-1 Learn to teach ......................................................................................................... 35 III-2 Do we assess what we want? ............................................................................... 35 III-3 An authentic assessment...................................................................................... 40 III-4 Case analysis. Movie Forum ................................................................................. 42 III-5 Glossary (transversal activity) ............................................................................. 44 III-6 Self-assessment Group Work (Final Activity) .................................................... 44 BLOCK 4 ......................................................................................................................... 48 IV-1 GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................. 49 IV-2 CASE ANALYSIS FILM-FORUM ........................................................................... 55 IV-3 SELF-ASSESSMENT GROUP WORK .................................................................. 59 THE END ................................................................................................................................... 62

2

BLOCK 1

3

I-1 Let’s form a team Name of the team: The goats!

Seminar: B

Coordinator: Laia Vilar

Supervisor: Irina Fàbrega

·

Team leader:

·

·

In

charge

of

quality:

Coordinate the group, safeguarding its unity and

·

Make sure that

internal consistency, acting

each member of the

as

group fulfills his/her

an

interlocutor

and

mediator. ·

function attendance,

To collect, group and unify

the

(class task

performance, etc.).

different

contributions in the Portfolio

·

Review all tasks

and the Glossary, in order to

before handling them:

obtain a solid and coherent

orthography,

work.

style,

·

appearance,

written

Make sure that the team

APA

expression,

etc.

meetings are productive.

· Secretary: Mar Soler i Laia Pérez In

charge

of

organization

Spokesperson: Núria Vila and

administration:

In charge of communication: Communication with the teacher:

Control the agenda and calendar, take care

ask for tutorials, clear up doubts,

of the due dates, the tasks to be done and

and answer emails, questionnaires,

the materials needed, and arrange the

etc.

group meetings.

Keep

the

team

Represent informed

about

the

timetables, assessment criteria, activities, etc. (the course syllabus).

the

group

in

the

decisions made, the voting, and the explanations, etc.

Pay attention

to the news

or 4

communications in the Moodle/VC and notify the team.

Technician: Anna Garrido In charge of resources and ICT: Always bring the laptop to the sessions, tutorials and group meetings.

Manage the Producteev, Google Drive or any other cooperative work software.

Design the Power Point, Prezi, Videos...

Manage

the

wiki

for

the

glossary

definitions.

Working in a team is easier if...

Our rules to work efficiently: 

Persistance in the work.



Good communication



Involve all the members in the work.



Work in equal.



Respect all the opinions.

The possible problems that we can anticipate: 

The predominance of someone of the group.



To connect the different ideas, the different points of view and the different opinions of the group.

To prevent and solve those problems we will: 

Learn to listen and to talk between us.



Say what we think without fear.

Team commitment: signature of all the members

Laia Vilar, Núria Vila, Mar Soler, Laia Pérez, Anna Garrido, Irina Fàbrega

5

I-2 From Theory to Practice

Theory

Example of Rationale for the educational

example

practice

How Author/ they

l

s

implication

conceiveth e

Cognitivism

Create

a Children does not Piaget

(memory is desequilibri very

um

important

childrens’

because

mind

in make

how

to

divisions,

so they have to by apply

the basis of showing the

know

them

accommodation a and create mental

learning is division

skills.

do Educationa

learning s. What are

process?

the

Main

teachers’

contributio

and pupils’

ns

roles?

The focus is The teacher in how we is a guide acquire

and, in this

knowledge.

activity that

Create

a only

disequilibriu m

in

has

one

the solution,

child

she

showing

chooses

new

what

information

pupils have

and

to do.

is not on

challenging

The children

the

the students have

previous

(optimal).

knowledge,

Then

it is in how

assimilate

be

we acquire

(the

autonomous

knowledge)

information

..

the

when

they

cognitivist

only

know

process.

how

to

The

focus multiply.

active

do

an role

we in order to

goes to the mental skills we

already

have) or we accommodat

6

e (we create new mental skills).

The

They

have

teachers

decide

Cognitivism

show

solve

(learning

children

problem.

by

many

discovering

materials

find

)

and children

solution

choose the

themselves

ones

(the solution

how

to Bruner

By exploring The teacher

to

and creating is a guide

the

a

way

to and makes

understand

children

the reality.

choose and

they

the

want to do

can

juggling.

more

by

be than

one).

Children create their own knowledge discussing with others.

(The role of the student is

more

active than in

Piaget’s

theory).

Cognitivism

Ask

the Previous

Ausbel

(meaningfu

previous

knowledge

l learning)

knowledge

new knowledge.

plus

Learning

The teacher

new

role

knowledge

active.

is

about fruits.

relies

on The pupils’

Then show

what

is role is more

them

already

an

active than

7

apple

known. With in

and

ask

them

what

they

think.

Piaget’s

this

and

connection

Bruner’s

learning

theory.

becomes meaningful, and this is when children really learn.

built

-

Groups

Vigotsk

The

(the up a story

-

Language

y

focus in the role

-

Potential

learning are active

is the most sentences

knowledge

the

(guiding and

important)

by

interactions.

supporting).

interacting

There’s one She/he

them. They

with

person

have

to

peers.

knows more interaction

interact

in

(the

order

to

knowledgea

Constructiv ist

interaction

They

by

some

that given

are to

main The teacher

that creates the

more between the pupils

build up it

ble

(working

and one who group

group)

in

is

and

other) makes

knows less.

the with

different

The first one characteristi promotes

cs

the

motivations.

development

Children’s

,

so

and

helps role

is

the other to active (more be

more than

the

autonomous

other

(competenc

theories)

e of learning and to learn by have yourself).

they to

communicat

8

With

the e

interactions they

one

to

each other.

work

the Zone of Proximal Developmen t.

I-3 An in depth look at constructivism  IRINA FÀBREGA:

9

 LAIA VILAR:

10

 NÚRIA VILA:

 MAR SOLER

 LAIA PÉREZ

13

 ANNA GARRIDO

14

GROUP MINDMAP

15

I-4 Case analysis. Film forum Block I: Introduction to Psychology of Education 

1. Which learning theory do you think that the teacher Erin is defending?

And the previous teachers to her? Why?

After watching the film, we think that Erin, the teacher, defends the constructivist learning theory. We think that the teacher relates the real life of the students with the life in the school. Erin lets the students construct their own knowledge by interactions and cooperative learning. The teacher only gives help when the students need it. She achieves it taking into account the previous knowledge, so, their real life outside the school, and this motivates them to be implicated in the school and to believe in themselves.

The previous teacher they had, defended the behaviorist theory because she tried to change their behavior and their way of acting. The students’ role was passive because they just had to do what the teacher said and they did not improve in an autonomous way. Moreover, the teacher did not potentiate the interaction between them in order to improve their learning process. She talked and taught them about things that did not motivate students because were not related with what they already knew or also with their interests. 

2. From the interactive triangle identify what the main problems of this class group are at the beginning of the course.

At the beginning of the course, the triangle was really unbalanced. There was not a good environment, so the students didn’t get on well, mainly for their origins and cultures. First of all, the teacher was new for the students and also, the students were new for the teacher. Because of that, the interaction was not really deep and they needed to know each other and to feel comfortable with this new situation. Then, there was also another problem: the content that had been asked to the teacher to teach.

The teacher had to follow a curricula that was not adapted to her students so it was difficult for all students because they did not feel motivated and they maybe did not feel able to do something. It was also difficult for the teacher because she realized that all 16

she was doing was not useful and had no result. Moreover, the role of the students was not active and all that things made the interactive triangle be unbalanced.



3. Does the school work with the families? Do you think that family implication in the school would be necessary? Why? How could it be done? o

We don’t know if the school work with the families in other courses, but in the course that predominate in the film, families do not interact with the school.

o

The relationship between families and school is so important because, as teachers, we should know the different contexts that surround the children and the different roles that they can play in order to help them and find the best strategy to teach them. If we know our students and we believe in them, we can give them the self-esteem that they need in order to help them. So, the families are one of the most important parts of children’s life and we need to work together in order to educate them.

o

In the case of the film, it could be difficult to imply the families in the school because they have rally different cultures and it has not been a tradition since know to stablish relations with them. Moreover, they are maybe from opposite points of view and they do not get on well. In other schools. It could be done by organizing interviews, meetings and activities that imply everyone (teacher, families and students) among other things. However, in the school of the film, it could be done a dynamic like the one that Erin did with the students about a line, or also make a common presentation about the diaries of the families, making them feel part of the school.

I-5 Glossary You will find the glossary at the end of the portfolio. The words of this block are the black ones.

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I-6 Self-assessment Group Work It is recommended that you review the rubric and repeat the self-assessment after each block.

Answer the questions and fill in the self-assessment rubric.

1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your team?

The strengths of our team is that all of us respect the opinion of each member of the group and we don’t have difficulties to reach an agreement. Furthermore, we think the same in different exercises, so it is very easy for us to work in this way.

The weaknesses of the group is that sometimes, we have some difficulties to organize our schedule to meet.

2. What do you plan to improve in the next block?

In the next block we will try to organize better our work in order to do it more easily.

More organization, more time. We will try to work as much as possible during the class sessions because of our difficulties in order to meet. Furthermore, we will try to get more involved in the portfolio because we know that we can do it better.

3. Global assessment of the block: do you consider that the activities and the dynamics of the sessions have helped you to learn? What aspects would you emphasize, both positive and negative?

We believe that the dynamics of the sessions are correct because we mix practical activities with the theory, and it helps us to interiorize better what we learn during the classes. We would emphasize these dynamic activities because they let us interiorize what we have learn in the theoretical classes and when we learn by doing, we are more able to remember what we learn.

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INITIAL 1 point

IN PROCESS 2 points

ACHIEVED 3 points

EXCELLENT 4 points

OBSERVATIONS

Following the rules

No one fulfills his/her assigned role

Some people don’t fulfill their assigned role.

Everyone fulfills his/her assigned role, but sometimes in an unexpected way.

Everyone fulfills his/her assigned role in the expected way.

Sometimes we don’t do our role and we do the others role. So we have to try to fulfill the role that we have been assigned.

Task accomplis hment

We haven’t completed the tasks; the work has been left unfinished; we haven’t respected the due dates.

We haven’t had time to finish the task within the expected time. What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

We have finished the work within the scheduled time, but we would have liked to improve some things.

What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

We have done the work well and within the scheduled time. What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

We have to try to organize better our tasks and don’t let activities for the last time.

Dynamic

Peers don’t respect much each other, they argue with each other too often.

There are great difficulties in understanding each other.

Peers sometimes don’t respect each other and argue.

However, some peers show interest in improving their understanding.

In general there’s good understanding among the group peers, even though sometimes there’s some argument.

Peers really understand each other. Arguments are always constructive and positive.

Ideasharing

It’s rare for everyone to participate in the

Peers participate in the group work, but just the ideas of the

Everyone participates in the work, but sometimes ideas are more or less

Everyone actively participates in the work, the ideas of all the

19

work and listen to each other.

closest friends are listened to.

listened to depending on whom they come from.

members are listened to.

Task focus

We barely meet each other, and we rarely work together.

When we meet each other, we don’t take advantage of the time to work together.

When we meet only some peers are focused on the work, and we take little advantage of the time to work together.

When we meet we are all focused on work and we really take advantage of the time.

We think that we can take more advantage of our time together and work more cooperative

Work autonomy

The teacher’s opinion is frequently asked, without having discussed the problems with the group previously.

The problems are discussed in the group, but sometimes we prefer to know the teacher’s opinion first.

Problems are firstly discussed in the group, but we also ask for the teacher’s opinion.

Problems are firstly discussed in the group.

The teacher’s help is only asked for when necessary.

We will try to ask the teacher only when it’s necessary.

Individual responsibil ity

No one does the work that is assigned to him/her.

Some people don’t do the work that is assigned to them.

Sometimes we need to remind someone to do the work that is assigned to him/her.

Everyone always does the work that is assigned to them.

Individual collaborati on

No one provides ideas or solutions.

It is always the same people who provide ideas and solutions.

We try to get everyone to provide ideas and solutions.

Everyone provides ideas and solutions.

Assistance in the learning process

We don’t know what the other peers have learned.

We know that not everyone is learning enough.

Some people help others so that they can learn more.

We have been helping one another so that everyone learns as much as they can.

We should try to give more ideas and more solutions

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Representa It is always the tiveness same people who feel responsible of and represented on the work that we deliver.

There’s too much difference among us, on the level of responsibility and representativeness on the task that we deliver.

The level of responsibility and representativeness on the task that we deliver is a little bit unbalanced.

We all feel equally responsible and represented don the task that we deliver.

After doing the work, we will review all the parts together

Reflection

We fill in the rubric without having previously talked about it within the group.

Sometimes we reflect about how we work, on the basis of some of the rubric’s criteria.

We usually reflect and discuss how we work on the basis of the rubric’s criteria.

We should base our work with the rubric’s criteria.

We never use the rubric or any other criteria to self-regulate.

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BLOCK 2

22

II-1 MOTIVATE TO MOTIVATE CONFERENCE ABOUT MOTIVATION WHEN READING -

Begin giving all teachers that have attended a huge article about

motivation and some author’s opinion. Say to them that they have to read the whole amount of papers and that at the end of the session we are going to share ideas and concepts all together.

5 minutes later, tell them it was a joke, just in order to make them realize about their willingness about that proposal and to start talking about motivation. We can make them realize something like:

-

Maybe you were not feeling like doing this activity

because it does not cause you any motivation. This was not what you expected.

-

You arrive here after a large day in school, you have

enough work to do and maybe you have some other personal problems.

Then you find here, and you are asked to read a lot.

-

Well, our little boys and girls have to fight every day in

front of that situation. Do you think we could make an effort in order to allow them work easier and with pleasure?

- After this presentation, we would show a real example of a non-motivation class to make them realize how little children feel: “One day, on a current primary class, teacher asked to students to read, during the whole hour of the session, the book that boys and girls were supposed to read was compulsory. They were asked to read one by one and out loud, and when teacher said the name of another pupil, he/she had do carrying reading from the point the other one had finished. On that way, they were doing a kind of reading chain. If the student who had to read was lost, he/she got punished. Mar says that being on that class was one of the worst experiences of her school life, and this is because she was not motivated, no way.”

- Tell to the attendees that the session will be divided in three parts, and all of them influence when motivating. (Content, Students, Teachers)

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- The teacher: (Explaining the actions and behavior teachers should take, try to make them think about their role) 

As teachers they should take into account their student’s interests.



Student’s knowledge



Student’s believes.



When reading, teachers should let children choose between different books, according to their motivations.



Promoting not to do an exam, but group activities about the reading book, discussing groups, comparing the book with the real life…



To fix an hour a week in order to let students relate what they have read with personal experiences and with this, create material. (Diaries, for example)



Use the formative assessment despite of the continuous assessment.



Also, what is very important is that teachers should recognize that they do mistakes. Should say it to all class in order to normalize the mistakes in the school. From the mistakes, we learn.

- The content: (About books) 

Tell them that the content of reading books should have main characters that live stories which children could be identified. Characters could talk about problems, and children would better understand theirs.



Books also should be adapted to the level of your students previous knowledge.

It does not matter if your students have more lever or less, but do not make them read a book for children of 11 years just because they have 11. Take in account the context!

- The Students: 

Your students should be able and allowed to take an active role in class taking in account what it has been said about the role of the teacher and the context.



Your student should be able to work because of intrinsic motivation instead of extrinsic one.

- Your students should not be afraid of doing mistakes. That fact do not allow

them to learn.

- Close the session, make a turn of questions, and give them a gift: a book :

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“Todd Whitaker, Beth Whitaker, Dale Lumpa . (2008). Motivating & Inspiring Teachers: The Educational Leader's Guide for Building Staff Morale. New York: Eye on Education.”

II-2 A LEGEND FOR EVERYONE This activity does not take diversity into account because when we talk about attention to diversity, it means to make inclusive activities with a variety of learning styles (all the children have to participate and progress in the learning process and not only be present in the class). Doing a closed activity like that, doesn’t potentiate motivation because there are going to be many children that couldn’t be part of this activity maybe because they have another type of capacities and it can be difficult for them to write a poem. Furthermore, the teacher has to evaluate the process, not only the final result.

In our opinion, if we were the tutors of this school we would change different things:

- Groups: we think that the activity would be more interesting if we did it with groups. Like this, we would promote the interaction and they would learn from their classmates. But we should also offer the opportunity to do it alone, because they may be some children who feel like doing it alone. In this way, we think that we would attend the diversity because we would accept different ways of doing.

-

The kind of work: in order to make a more open activity, we would let students make different works, so we would open a range of possibilities and we would ask them to do these different types of works: a poem, a draw (mural) or a little story. In this way, the ones that have difficulties to write a poem would feel more comfortable knowing that they have other possibilities in order to participate actively to this activity.

-

The time: it’s not possible to make an elaborate work in primary school with only one hour. The children may have difficulties doing it with only one hour, so we should give one or two days in order to let students think more carefully about the type of work that they want to do, how they do it, and do it.

-

The prize: we think that it could be a good idea to make a common prize. For example, with all the works we could do an exposition in the school that could be visited for 25

everyone. Doing an exposition allows families to know how their children work at school and also, it is an opportunity for the children to be proud of their works and show it to their families and friends. We think that with it, we are also promoting their motivation.

As future teachers, we think that with these changes, we are going to make the activity more suitable for the whole group and we are going to promote motivation and other factors that interfere in the learning process, such as autonomy if they do their work individually, organization when they have to prepare the exposition or they work in group, the interaction for the ones that decide to make a group work, and so on.

II-3 THIS STUDENT… BRAINSTORMING: Performance, humor, abilities, sex, ways of thinking, physical aspects, capacities, ideologies, gender, creativity, self-esteem, self-concept, age, behavior, interests, context, intelligence, way of doing, world’s interpretation, basic processes, motivation, language, culture, mental schemes, way of relating, needs, experience, metacognitive capacity, habits, resources, learning strategies, objectives, instincts, expectative, genetics, origin, race, illness, dependence, families, social background.

ACTIVITY:

Characteristic

Objective

How to identify it

Performance

To be able to adjust the

From

difficulty of the different

academic

activities

the

the

records

previous

assessments, assessing

student’s and year’s and

by their

productions and answers.

Previous knowledge

To make the learning

By asking questions to

meaningful

know what they already

students

for

the

know and connecting it to

26

the new knowledge Learning strategies

To know how do they

Watching how do they

learn and be able to

solve different kinds of

propose exercises with

problems

different ways of solving

different ways they do it

Perception, attention and

To know the levels of the

In the same way that we

memory

children. We can include

identify

it

knowledge

to

the

knowledge

previous and

the

and

the

the

previous and

the

learning strategies

learning strategies Supports (special

they

need

To know the different

By giving them different

educational

materials that we have to

types

take into account in class

different

and could help us to

seeing the ones that are

work

more used and help more

needs → SEN)

Sociogram

Motivation

in

a

more

of

materials activities

in and

comfortable way.

the children.

To know which are the

Watching how they act,

relationships

the

with whom do they go the

children in the classroom

most and with whom they

and their social skills

never go...

To see if children are

By

motivated and if not, do

predisposition, by asking

the necessary things to

if they like what are they

make them be motivated

doing, etc.

of

watching

their

in front of the activities Self-esteem

Self-concept

To know if they value

Making

them

themselves and if they

some

questions

feel good being who they

how

do

are (we have to know

themselves and if they like

that it is unidimensional)

how they are

they

answer about see

To know which is the

By asking them how do

concept they have about

they

see

themselves

27

themselves (we have to

while

know

diferents roles that they

that

it

multidimensional,

is every

developing

the

develop

person has as many selfconcepts as roles he or she develops.

Expectations

To

know

what

do

By asking them what do

children expect from our

they

classes and what do they

class

expect

from

the

want to learn Autonomy

To

prepare

the

cooperative groups

By

preparing

different

activities and seeing if they can do them alone or they need some help.

Metacognitive capacities

To know if the students

After each activity, make

have

them reflect about what

understood

the

contents that we have

they have learnt and how.

taught. (Competence of learning to learn)

We have not put all the words of the brainstorming we did because we think that some of them are not directly related to the process of teaching-learning and some are included in another words that we have already put in the table.

II-4 CASE ANALYSIS. FILM FORUM Block II: The pupil. Being able, wanting and knowing how to learn.

1. How does Erin motivate her students towards school learning?

Erin motivates her students believing and trusting in their capacities and abilities.

Furthermore, she motivates her students by changing the established curriculum and doing activities that stimulate students’ interests. This activities relate the school learning with their daily lives, so the teacher shows interest on their students’ worries 28

and becomes implicated in making them have a better life. This is a fact that makes the students see that the school is implicated with their personal necessities.

We can say that Erin breaks the barriers that separates the school and the students’ life, and as we said before, everything that the students do in the streets is important in the class. Another thing that motivates the students is that Erin has high expectations about them and she gives them the attention that they haven’t been given by other teachers before. Erin shows them that what they do in school will be reflected on their future progress outside the school, so, in the society.

An important point is also that with Erin, the students experiment a more active role, for example, writing their own diaries. She makes them become aware about the importance of their experiences and also the experiences of their classmates. In this way, she makes them understand one each other, and become friendlier and sympathetic (they drop off many of the differences that separates them).

In conclusion, the teacher achieves motivating her students without giving punishments or rewards to them, only making them do the things because they want and because they are intrinsically motivated.

2. Describe the students’ diversity in this class. What does the teacher do to attend to the diversity? What methodology does she use in the class?

In this class there are students of different cultures and from different street bands. At the beginning the students of the class didn’t get on well between them because of their origin and beliefs. Moreover, the fact that the students seemed to be conflictive made other previous teachers do not trust in their abilities and capacities to learn.

For attending the diversity Erin tries to create a good relationship between their students in order to improve the class environment. She does it trying to find an abstract point that unifies them in spite of their skin color, their race or their beliefs, so it is a point that talks about their feelings and what happens to them. In this way they become aware that although they belong to different street bands, they are not so different and same things happen to them.

29

In order to work with this elements that connect them, Erin asks students to write a diary about what happen to them daily, and also asks them the permission to read it.

On that way, students will know more about their mates and also the teacher will be able to treat them on a more properly way.

Another activity that she does to deal with these students’ conflicts is to give a gift to them that is the book “Diary of Anna Frank”. After students have read this book, she invites Miep Gies , the woman who sheltered Anne Frank, to find shared experiences between them and to make them realize that they are not alone in front of problems.

3. Social dynamics in class: how does the teacher face the social and discipline problems in class? Are there clearly-established behavior rules?

In order to confront the social and disciplinary problems, she tries to know better each student and after that, she tries to get the confidence and admiration of their students.

With that, she creates a good environment where each student feels comfortable and with aims to learn. We believe that there aren’t established behavior rules, as we said before, we think that when Erin gets the admiration of the students, all of them have a correct behavior in class. With this, we mean that she doesn’t establish a strict behavior rules because she does not need, so she gets de confidence of her students.

II-5 GLOSSARY You will find the glossary at the end of the portfolio. The words of this block are the red ones.

II-6 SELF-ASSESSMENT GROUP WORK It is recommended that you review the rubric and repeat the self-assessment after each block.

Answer the questions and fill in the self-assessment rubric.

1. Have you improved the aspects proposed in the previous assessment?

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In the previous assessment, we proposed to improve the organization, the schedule and to have more time. So, we think that we improved a little bit this aspect but probably we should have to improve it more.

2.

What do you plan to improve in the next block?

As we said before, we think that we have to improve more our organization, our time and our schedule in order to do the portfolio before because if we start it before, the results will be better. Moreover, we should try to read everything since the beginning to the end until we hand it.

3.

Global assessment of the block: do you consider that the activities and the dynamics of the sessions have helped you to learn? What aspects would you emphasize, both positive and negative?

We think that the activities and dynamics we follow help us a lot to learn because, at first, we work in a practical way: autonomous work with the group by doing activities.

Then, the teacher explains the theory, so it is a good way because when the teacher explains the theory, it is something that we have worked before and it is easier for us to understand it.

We think that it is positive for us because we create and build our own learning and we also work in a cooperative group. If one of us does not understand something, the others can explain it to him/her. Besides, the lecture of Thursday help us to understand it better.

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INITIAL 1 point No one fulfills his/her assigned role

IN PROCESS 2 points Some people don’t fulfill their assigned role.

Task accomplishmen t

We haven’t completed the tasks; the work has been left unfinished; we haven’t respected the due dates.

We haven’t had time to finish the task within the expected time. What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

Dynamic

Peers don’t respect much each other, they argue with each other too often.

There are great difficulties in understanding each other.

Peers sometimes don’t respect each other and argue.

However, some peers show interest in improving their understanding.

Idea-sharing

It’s rare for everyone to participate in the work and listen to each other.

Peers participate in the group work, but just the ideas of the closest friends are listened to.

Task focus

We barely meet each other, and we rarely work together.

When we meet each other, we don’t take advantage of the time to work together.

Work autonomy

The teacher’s opinion is frequently asked, without having discussed the problems with the group previously.

The problems are discussed in the group, but sometimes we prefer to know the teacher’s opinion first.

Following rules

the

ACHIEVED 3 points Everyone fulfills his/her assigned role, but sometimes in an unexpected way.

We have finished the work within the scheduled time, but we would have liked to improve some things. What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

In general there’s good understanding among the group peers, even though sometimes there’s some argument.

EXCELLENT 4 points Everyone fulfills his/her assigned role in the expected way.

OBSERVATIONS

We have done the work well and within the scheduled time. What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

We should organize better our time in order to finish before the deadline and can improve it.

Everyone participates in the work, but sometimes ideas are more or less listened to depending on whom they come from.

When we meet only some peers are focused on the work, and we take little advantage of the time to work together.

Everyone actively participates in the work, the ideas of all the members are listened to.

Problems are firstly discussed in the group, but we also ask for the teacher’s opinion.

Problems are firstly discussed in the group. The teacher’s help is only asked for when necessary.

Peers really understand each other. Arguments are always constructive and positive.

When we meet we are all focused on work and we really take advantage of the time.

Sometimes we are a bit distracted. So we have to try to be more focused on the work.

We should try to speak the teacher only when is necessary.

Trust more in our ideas.

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Individual responsibility

No one does the work that is assigned to him/her.

Some people don’t do the work that is assigned to them.

Sometimes we need to remind someone to do the work that is assigned to him/her.

Everyone always does the work that is assigned to them.

Individual collaboration

No one provides ideas or solutions.

It is always the same people who provide ideas and solutions.

We try to get everyone to provide ideas and solutions.

Everyone provides ideas and solutions.

Assistance in the learning process

We don’t know what the other peers have learned.

We know that not everyone is learning enough.

Some people help others so that they can learn more.

We have been helping one another so that everyone learns as much as they can.

Representativen ess

It is always the same people who feel responsible of and represented on the work that we deliver.

We never use the rubric or any other criteria to selfregulate.

There’s too much difference among us, on the level of responsibility and representativeness on the task that we deliver.

We fill in the rubric without having previously talked about it within the group.

The level of responsibility and representativeness on the task that we deliver is a little bit unbalanced.

We all feel equally responsible and represented don the task that we deliver.

Sometimes we reflect about how we work, on the basis of some of the rubric’s criteria.

We usually reflect and discuss how we work on the basis of the rubric’s criteria.

Reflection

We should basis our work in the rubric’s criteria in order to get a best result.

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BLOCK 3

III-1 Learn to teach

https://youtu.be/Kd_-OqHk5M4

III-2 Do we assess what we want?

Analysis Guidelines 1. Reasons for the choice and contextualization We have chosen this activity because it reminds us to our childhood. http://www.ncca.ie/uploadedfiles/curriculum/inclusion/psak_reading1.pdf

2. Evaluation of the assessment tests, from the 4 dimensions: DIMENSION 1: Integration – complexity 1. Type of contents that the assessment tests imply? Is there a balance in the assessment of the different kind of knowledge?

Conceptual

Procedural

Attitudinal

2. Areas implied in the assessment?

Literatur

Mathemati

Social

e

cs

Natural Sciences

and/or Foreign

and ICT

Physical

Visual

Languag

Educatio

Artistic Ed.

e

n

Comment: We choose literature because we consider that reading comprehension is inside it.

3. Does it promote the transfer of knowledge to new situations?

Applies parceled, specific knowledge

Need

to

transfer

different

kinds

of

knowledge to specific complex situations 35

(reflect, argue, apply knowledge to new situations) 1

2

3

4

5

Comment:

4. What competences could be implied in the activities?

Linguistic

Artistic

Informatio

Mathe

Learn

Autonomy

Coexis

and

and

n

-

to learn

and

t

audiovisu

cultural

processin

matic

personal

inhabit

g

al

initiative

the

al

Social

and and civic

world Comment:

5. Are there activities that imply different levels of complexity and different ways to represent information? (graphics, drawings, tables, written outlines, images‌) Level

1: Level

2: Level

3: Level

4: Level 5: Reflect on the

Reproduc

Understand

Analyze

e

(explain,

synthesize

(plan

(memoriz

compare,

(classify,

solution,

schematize,

execute

summarize...)

and

e

and differentiate ...)

repeat

and Resolve

results and communicate a this

(assess advantages

and disadvantages, make it extrapolations,

formulate

assess future hypotheses....)

its result...)

back, copy...)

Comment: DIMENSION 2: Functionality – relevance

6. Is the starting point a problematic situation (article, case, questions) from which the different activities are articulated? Is the learning process contextualized?

Comment: No, it is not contextualized and it’s not a problematic situation. The children only have to answer looking to a picture.

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7. Is the social relevance of the learning emphasized? Are the proposed tasks related to problems or situations that the students could find in his/her daily life?

Academic tasks 1

Daily life tasks, with social relevance.

2

3

4

5

Comment: The activity is in the middle because appear daily objects (dolls, cars, bed‌). However, this activity is not a problem that children have to solve.

8. Is meaningful learning promoted? Are the students’ previous knowledge and questions taken into account?

Rote

learning/

mechanical/

repetitive

/by Meaningful learning

reception 1

2

3

4

5

Comment:

9. Who is the addressee or the final audience of the activities?

The addressee is the teacher 1

2

The addressee goes beyond the teacher 3

4

5

Comment:

10. Do the proposed tasks imply a command of strategic reading?

Information recovery

Text interpretation

Reflection and evaluation of the text

Comment:

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DIMENSION 3: AUTONOMY – DECISION MAKING 11. To what extent do the activities imply autonomy and decision taking?

The activities have a closed answer (with The activities have open answers (with just one possible solution)

more than one possible solution, so it is necessary to make decisions and justify them)

1

2

3

4

5

Comment:

12. Autonomy in the learning process: What kind of learning is favored?

Receptive learning

Learning by discovering

Construction

of

shared

meanings Comment:

13. Learning regulation: Is peer-learning promoted?

Individual

In a big group (the In whole class)

small In pairs

groups

Comment:

14. Learning regulation: Is assistance offered to carry out the activities?

Absence of assistance in carrying out the

Provision of assistance in carrying out the

activities

activities (from the activity itself, from the teacher, from material resources, from the peers, from other people outside the classroom‌),

1

2

3

4

5

Comment:

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15. Learning regulation: Are the students asked to explain the process that they have followed to reach a solution? Is individual or team selfassessment promoted? And peer assessment?

No

Yes At the beginning to plan the task In the development: the steps that are followed At the end: the resolution as a self-assessment, peer assessment

Comment:

16. Learning regulation Are the activities’ objectives specified? Are the assessment criteria clear?

No

Yes

Comment:

DIMENSION 4: ATTENTION TO DIVERSITY 17. Do all the students have to do the same? Are the different activities promoted and adjusted to the students’ needs? (Different levels of complexity) No

Yes

Comment:

18. Is peer support promoted?

No

Yes

Comment:

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III-3 An authentic assessment

Objective To be able to design a competency assessment test Activity Take the assessment test analyzed in the previous activity and modify it in order to make it focus on competencies.

CHOOSEN ACTIVITY:

The activities that we chose are conceptual activities, which only accept one correct answer. This causes that children could not apply many strategies, so they could not develop competences. Furthermore, we think that the main objectives of the activities were: -

Introduce new vocabulary and know if children interiorize it.

-

Work reading comprehension.

For us, these objectives are too poor if we want to work the literature and foreign language areas, and are not appropriate to develop the linguistic and audiovisual competence, and the information processing in children. Using the reproduce method 40

we do not guarantee a rich learning process, probably they will not remember this vocabulary in the future because they do not reflect about it and it is not contextualized.

For this reason, there is not a significative learning. Because of that, we propose the following activity in order to make a more open, contextualized and significative activity, where children could learn and develop different kind of competences.

First of all, we will propose to the pupils two open questions related to the two pictures, the same of the old exam. These pictures and questions will be contextualized and will suppose a problem for the children because once they are out of school; it is likely that they could be in a similar situation. In order to realize this activity, we established the following objectives: -

Work the written expression.

-

Work with different vocabulary.

-

Attend the diversity.

Establishing these objectives, we believe that the children will use different kind of strategies in order to solve the activity (compare, abstract thinking, their own values, and so on). Finally, using these strategies, they will develop the following competences: linguistic and audiovisual, information processing, and autonomy and personal initiative.

OUR PROPOSAL OF THE ACTIVITY:

-

If this was a picture of your garden, what would you change?

-

If this was a picture of your room,

what

would

you

change?

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III-4 Case analysis. Movie Forum

Block III: The school contents 1. Are the class activities authentic, that is, are they linked to experiences, problems, and situations close to the students’ lives? In relation to new content, are the students encouraged to share their own experiences and knowledge? Justify your answers with examples.

The class activities are authentic. Every proposal and every new work is related to the background of all students and in fact, is really related with their experiences and problems about life.

The first dynamic that students are exposed to, is based on sharing their problems.

They think that they do not have anything in common but when they start to talk and to see the reality of each one, they realize that in fact they have the same problems, similar ways of seeing the life and that if they carry on together, they will feel much better. We can see this reflection in the activity that Erin proposes them in which they have to join one line if they feel identified with the different problems and life styles that she says.

In relation to new content, there is the book of the Diary of Anne Frank and also the moral values that arouse from the lectures and shared conversations.

The book motivates them to share their own experiences and also to compare them with the life of Anne Frank. Boys and Girls realize that their own lives are not the only difficult ones, and doing that, it becomes easier to them the fact of sharing and talking about what happens on their daily life. Moreover, with the visit of Miep Gies, the woman

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who hid Anne Frank and her family, they make all this experience more significant and meaningful.

The moral values that emerge in every class make them be more open-minded, to feel that they are not alone in this fight and to respect the others. All those values also help them to reconsider their acts and to change their life styles.

In short, all these experiences encourage them to carry on together, to feel that they are a group that can fight against the stereotypes and make life better.

2. What kind of learning is favored? What is proposed: individual work, group work, cooperative learning, dialogs, collective debates‌?

The learning that is favored with Erin’s methodologies is a meaningful learning which makes the students feel identified in font of real and shared problems. Also with the proposal of writing a diary they feel that what they live is valued and that their lives take sense.

They work individually when writing the diary but they also work in groups sharing this big project they do and linking it to the project of the book of Anne Frank, cooperating and talking together in order to share their worries.

All in all, the project they carry on when doing all those works will be useful for their daily lives. What Erin wants is not to make them learn about curriculum contents but to make them have better lives and find a sense group erasing harmful bands.

3. Are the students helped to find meaning in what they are learning? Are the context and the educational community involved in order to relate school and society?

As it has been said before, students are all the time helped with different strategies and methodologies to find meaning in their learning. So the things they do in the High School are related to their lives and because of that, are meaningful for them.

Despite of that, there is the problem that Erin does not have any support of the context, families and educational community. Instead, other teachers do not help her and think that what she is doing is not useful and will not have any result. This is because other teachers think and really believe that this problematic class will always be the same and there is nothing to do with its students.

Also, the context does not help students to believe on Erin’s ideas because outside the school, life is much difficult that it seems and they have to fight against really big problems. For example, Eva, the main character of the film, one day after

43

school she is faced with some boys who hit her and she is not able to defend herself.

To conclude, students are placed in front of a kind of battle where they have on one hand their real conflictive lives and on the other hand, there is a new teacher who starts to show them how to get better lives and change schemes.

III-5 Glossary (transversal activity)

You will find the glossary at the end of the portfolio IV. The words of this block are the ones that are in dark blue.

III-6 Self-assessment Group Work (Final Activity) It is recommended that you review the rubric and repeat the self-assessment after each block.

Answer the questions and fill in the self-assessment rubric.

1. Have you improved the aspects proposed in the previous assessment?

Yes, we have planned better our work and we have realized that we can do it better that we did at first so we have put more attention when doing the whole portfolio.

2. What do you plan to improve in the next block?

We think that we can always do it better so we will do our best to achieve a good work.

3. Global assessment of the block: do you consider that the activities and the dynamics of the sessions have helped you to learn? What aspects would you emphasizes, both positive and negative?

44

First of all we have to say that we have seen that we had to improve all our previous work and we have been working on it. So doing this, we have learned a lot.

The sessions’ dynamics have helped us to understand better the theoretical concepts and would not emphasize anything because we like the way we work.

Finally, we would like to say that it has been useful for us to revise the doubts of each previous session because it has helped us to remain all the content.

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INITIAL 1 point

IN PROCESS 2 points

ACHIEVED 3 points

EXCELLENT 4 points

Following the rules

No one fulfills his/her assigned role

Some people don’t fulfill their assigned role.

Task accomplishm ent

We haven’t completed the tasks; the work has been left unfinished; we haven’t respected the due dates.

We haven’t had time to finish the task within the expected time. What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

Everyone fulfills his/her assigned role in the expected way.

We have done the work well and within the scheduled time.

What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

Dynamic

Peers don’t respect much each other, they argue with each other too often. There are great difficulties in understanding each other.

It’s rare for everyone to participate in the work and listen to each other.

Peers sometimes don’t respect each other and argue. However, some peers show interest in improving their understanding.

Everyone fulfills his/her assigned role, but sometimes in an unexpected way.

We have finished the work within the scheduled time, but we would have liked to improve some things. What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

In general there’s good understanding among the group peers, even though sometimes there’s some argument.

Everyone actively participates in the work, the ideas of all the members are listened to.

Task focus

We barely meet each other, and we rarely work together.

When we meet each other, we don’t take advantage of the time to work together.

Everyone participates in the work, but sometimes ideas are more or less listened to depending on whom they come from.

When we meet only some peers are focused on the work, and we take little advantage of the time to work together.

Work autonomy

The teacher’s opinion is frequently asked, without having discussed the problems with the group previously.

No one does the work that is

The problems are discussed in the group, but sometimes we prefer to know the teacher’s opinion first.

Problems are firstly discussed in the group, but we also ask for the teacher’s opinion.

Problems are firstly discussed in the group. The teacher’s help is only asked for when necessary.

Some people don’t do the work that is

Sometimes we need to remind someone to do the

Everyone always does the work that is assigned to

Idea-sharing

Individual responsibility

Peers participate in the group work, but just the ideas of the closest friends are listened to.

Peers really understand each other. Arguments are always constructive and positive.

When we meet we are all focused on work and we really take advantage of the time.

OBSERVATIONS

Although, we thing it could be between 3 and 4, so the real mark is 3,5.

Although, we thing it could be between 3 and 4, so the real mark is 3,5.

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Individual collaboration

assigned to him/her.

No one provides ideas or solutions.

Assistance in the learning process

We don’t know what the other peers have learned.

Representativ eness

It is always the same people who feel responsible of and represented on the work that we deliver.

Reflection

We never use the rubric or any other criteria to selfregulate.

assigned to them.

It is always the same people who provide ideas and solutions.

We know that not everyone is learning enough.

There’s too much difference among us, on the level of responsibility and representativeness on the task that we deliver.

We fill in the rubric without having previously talked about it within the group.

work that is assigned to him/her.

We try to get everyone to provide ideas and solutions.

Some people help others so that they can learn more.

them.

Everyone provides and solutions.

ideas

The level of responsibility and representativeness on the task that we deliver is a little bit unbalanced.

We have been helping one another so that everyone learns as much as they can.

We all feel equally responsible and represented don the task that we deliver.

Sometimes we reflect about how we work, on the basis of some of the rubric’s criteria.

We usually reflect and discuss how we work on the basis of the rubric’s criteria.

We have realized that right now we have to review the rubric.

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BLOCK 4

48

IV-1 GLOSSARY Here is the glossary of the 4 blocks. In black are the first block words, in red the second block words, in dark blue the third block words and in green the forth block words. We use the light blue color to correct the mistakes of the others deadlines.

Ability: is when we practice a knowledge for many times. For example, you know how to swim, but when you practice it is when you acquire the ability.

Accommodation: To create new mental schemes to understand a situation. For example, you have in your mind folders for pets, and when you see an elephant that you’ve ever seen, you put this elephant in another folder, for example, one folder for salvage animals.

Assimilation: To add some new skills or knowledge into an existing pattern and idea because they concorde, they are similar. For example, if we learn the 2 table and the 4 table by similarities Authentic activities: the conditions have a high grade of fidelity to the out-of-school conditions in which the taught or assessed competency is produced. It is like using the strategy to do something real. For example, go out to the village and buy something in a shop.

Authonomy: Capacity of taking decisions and acting without the help and opinion of the others. For example: “I let my daughter Anna to choose her clothes every day, I prefer to give her authonomy. One day she’ll have to do it alone!”

Behaviorism: Psychology approach that affirms that we know that someone has learnt by their behaviour change, and this behavior changes through punishments and rewards. The main authors are Pavlov, Bandura and Skinner. For example, we will know that one child has learnt to control the sphincters when his or her behavior changes.

Being able to learn: Dimension that influence in learning. It consists on having the skills, tools and abilities in order to access and reach culture and knowledge. For example: “It has been difficult for me to learn how to write in Chinese, I am not really able to do it because I do not have enough skills and tools for the moment. It will take time.”

Case studies: the teacher presents 3-4 ideas to the students where it appears someone who did the work very good, another who did the work neither good or bad and finally someone who did really bad. The students have to recognize which one is better. For example, the teacher presents a child who has done a research about 49

animals very good, another one who has done it rather good and another that has done very bad. The students have to choose the best one and try to do they work in this way.

Cognitive skills: Underlying brain skills that make it possible for us to think, remember and learn.

Cognitivism: Psychological approach that states that we know we learn because we acquire new knowledge and create new folders. The main author is Piaget. If we learn by memory we are working the cognitivism.

Competency: ability to use a set of strategies to solve problems. It implies metacognition. For example, the competency of learning to learn.

Conceptions: It is one third part that that takes part of the construction of the identity.

It refers to what do we think that learning means and how do we think we learn. For example: My conception about how do I learn is not so got, I have always though that for me, is difficult to keep content on my mind.

Constructivism: Psychological approach which considers that learning is an active, constructive process, so we learn by doing the actions. The main author is Vygotsky.

For example, if in class we prepare activities where children are active and where they have to interact in order to learn, we are working the constructivism.

Contents: Set of culturally defined knowledge necessary for the students’ socialization.

For example, one content can be knowing what the autumn is.

Cooperative learning: To learn in group one from the other. For example, learn by projects.

Critical incident: Fact that we don’t expect and cause an emotional unbalance. When this happens you cannot regulate your emotions easily. You cannot solve it efficiently.

For example: a child makes a racist comment to another child and at the moment you don’t know how to solve this conflict and after you reflect about it and try to find a solution.

Demotivation: It refers to when children do not have any interest about a specific learning area. They use to think that they do not have enough capacity, that they do not know how to learn, that the subject is too difficult or maybe they are just not interested in it. For example: Marc is really demotivated in English classes, he just sit at one side, apart from the others and stay there without saying anything. If I ask him something, he answers “Jo no sé parlar anglès.”

Development: The action of getting new skills and enhance people’s knowledge. It can be physically or mentally. For example, the stage between crawling and walking, it is a way to know that the child has developed.

Developmental psychology: Branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change of humans throughout their life cycle.

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Disequilibrium: The action of providing children new challenges in order to make them, have an effort to create new mental skills in front of some problems. For example, if they are able to solve a math’s problem always in the same way, provide those different ways to solve it that creates in them a disequilibrium when they have to change their way to work.

Diversity: Englobes the variety of learning styles in class, including how we understand ourselves as students, our learning preferences and the single differences of all students. For example: It is really important to take in account the diversity when working as a teachers. Every one of us is different and so we learn on a different way, but we all have to reach the learning objectives.

Ecological proximity: innovation practices that are situated in the development zone of the teacher and the school. For example, work something related to the park that is near the school.

Education: Process from which you learn and acquire different knowledge.

Emergent Problems: problems that are emerging now but will happen on the future.

For example, Equality: The objective of treating all people on the same way: with same objectives, same feelings, same resources and so on. For example: In my school provides equality for all the students. Despite of that, i think is not so good because things are equal for all and it is important to feel that you have been adapted with your own single characteristics, different from the other’s ones.

Equity: The fact of reaching all students the same objective but starting with the different levels of real development that each child have. It consist on giving helps in order to access to same opportunities. When equity is ensured, maybe then we can enjoy equality. For example: In schools, equity is one of the most important things. On that way all students feel comfortable and helped despite of their initial knowledge and single characteristics.

Exclusion: The fact of excluding someone or something of a group just because “it is different”. For example: Unconsciously, our society is doing an exclusion with invalid people, not allowing them to walk in some part of the street because of the lack of ramps and other similar resources Feedback: The fact of receiving some answer related with what you do or you say.

This answer is supposed to be useful and to help the subjects in interaction. For example: In education, giving feedback to our students is necessary because is when they get motivation in order to learn by themselves.

Feelings: It is one third part that that takes part of the construction of the identity. It refers to how students feel in front of learning, that is to say, if they feel competent, 51

comfortable and so on. For example: “I let my daughter Anna to choose her clothes every day, I prefer to give her autonomy. One day she’ll have to do it alone!”

Formal context: Context of learning where a governmental degree is received, it is inside an institution and it is raised. The educator is a professional. For example, the school.

Inclusion: To be all humans together under the same rights and the same ways of being treated despite of our own single differences. For example: Schools should have the ideal of inclusion in their PECs in order to offer equal opportunities when learning.

Informal context: Context of learning where there is no governmental degree, no planification and who gives the teaching process do not need to be trained. For example, the TV. Integration: To be all together on the same group, but despite of that dividing the individuals that are inside according to their differences. For example: In my school, educators are supposed to work with the ideals of inclusion, but they just integrate students. I say this because my sister Lia goes every day to a different class with other students in order to enhance her learning.

Interaction: Reciprocal action between two persons that provides learning. For example, talking with my mother is an interaction that can provide me some learning.

Interest: To show that you feel like watching, doing or helping about what others do.

For example: If we show interest for the preferences of our students, they will feel comfortable and they will be more opened to learn.

Interview with experts: the teacher brings an expert to the class and the students interview him/her in order to extract the information that they want. First the children search information and prepare the questions and after the visit of the expert they do a self-assessment. For example, the children have to do a radio show and the teacher invites an expert who works in the radio in order to make him/her questions about his/her job. Before, the students have prepared the questions from the information that they have search. After the visit of the expert, they create their own work and assess the result.

Knowing to learn: Dimension that influence in learning. It consists on having the strategies and knowing the way we learn. For example: Susan does not know how to learn, she has problems with it so she does not feel sure.

Knowledge: Contents, facts, feelings that you have. For example, the 2 table is a knowledge that we have.

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Learn to learn: It is a competence of the curriculum that its aim is to enable student to learn on their own. For example: I am trying to help my students to learn by themselves, on that way they will feel better on a future, they will be more autonomous.

Learning contexts: Places or environments where you learn. For example, one learning context can be the family.

Learning: Process which consists on obtaining knowledge, values and so on, and it never ends. The basis of the learning is the motivation and it allows you to do something that you couldn’t at the beginning. It is a process of reflection about your baggage and about what you are about to learn. And to learn we need previous knowledge.

Lifelong process: It i s the process that lasts all the life. The learning, for example, is a lifelong process.

Maturation: A complete development in our body or mind.

Meaningful learning: Connections between the previous knowledge and the new knowledge. The main author is Ausbel.

Mental Schemes: Representations that we construct with our knowledge.

Metacognitive guides: the teacher gives a guide to the students in order to do the activity in a metacognitive way. For example, Metacognitive modeling: the teacher becomes a model because he/she explains to his/her students what he/she would think if he/she was asked to do this activity in order to develop their metacognitive skill. For example, the teacher proposes to the children to do a radio show, so the teacher explains to the children how he/she would do it.

Motivation: The reason that makes you learn, each person has different reasons to learn. For example, we can motivate children by potentiating their previous knowledge, Non-formal context: Context of learning where there is no governmental degree, there is planification and the teachers are specialized on the topic. For example, the boy-scouts.

Optimal challenge: The optimal point to reach, not so easy and not so difficult when learning. For example: If you give and optimal challenge to your students, they will feel that they can reach it and also that they have learned a lot because it was not as easy as it seemed.

Practical dimension: Methodologies and strategies to improve the teaching and the learning.

Prototypical problems: problems that children face every day in their daily lives. For example, the teacher proposes a problem which consist on knowing how many money they have to pay in order to buy something.

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Psychology of education: Part of the psychology science which emphasize the importance of education and the teaching practice.

Public recognition: When people gives you a reward because you have done something good. For example: Yesterday I gave Guim a recognition because he was finally able to sing that song.

Realism: similar application conditions and cognitive demands to the out-of-school problem.

Relevance: competencies involved are or will be useful in the out-of-school contexts.

For example, a content that children will be able to use to go and buy something in the real life.

Role: is a behaviour model that somebody have. For example, I can be in the role of a daugther when I am at home, but when I am to the University, I can be in the role of a student.

Scaffolding: Little helps that are given in front of some challenges by a more knowledgeable other to someone who needs it. These helps have to be adjusted and when they are not necessary, they need to be taken out. For example, if I give my sister one clue about how can she learn to multiplicity, it is a scaffolding.

Segregation: The fact of excluding someone or something of a group and then grouping it to another group just because “they are different”. For example: In America, years ago, there was a theatre just for colored people.

Strategies: A specific and well-coordinated plan in order to achieve results and objectives. For example: Maths consists on having lots of strategies in order to solve lots of different problems.

TARGET: Task, Authonomy, Recognising efforts, Grouping, Evaluation and Time. Six requisits that are needed in order to get intrinsic motivation.

For example: If you give optimal challenge to your pupils that has to be solved in groups and with no limits of time, asking them about what they are doing, recognizing their effort and evaluating their process, they won’t need any more thing in order to learn. They will be enough motivated.

Teaching process: Is when a person is learning.

The more knowledgeable other: A person who has more knowledge than you, more experiences. This person will allow you to learn from his/herself through interaction. For example, if my mother teaches me about how to cook an omelet because I do not know how to do it, she is the more knowledgeable other.

Theoretical dimension: Dimension of the theories and the approaches.

Thinking cases: Presenting cases of different characters that face the same situation but with different strategies. For example, there is one who prepares it a lot, another 54

who finds it very easy and another who knows that he/she can do it but he/she has to prepare the work. Finally, the students have to choose the one that they find better and do their work.

Universal Learning Design: Try to have a curriculum in which everyone can learn to get to this point: 1. Base the teaching learning process on communication and negotiation.

2. Create heterogeneous teams for cooperation.

3. Offer flexibility and optionality on: the presentation processes, the answering processes and the proposed activities and programs.

4. Assess the evolution and progress.

Wanting to learn: Dimension that influence in learning. It consists on being motivated and on having some goals about a subject or a theme. For example: I want to learn how to sew because my grandmother did it. She was able to create wonderful dresses and I want to.

ZDP: Distance between what a child can achieve by their own (autonomous) and what can achieve with adults’ help (the more knowledgeable other). For example, if you know to sum, but you do not know how to rest and you need the help of an adult to reach this knowledge, the ZDP is the distance between this two knowledge.

IV-2 CASE ANALYSIS FILM-FORUM 1. Which of this teacher's abilities would you emphasize? (group question)

In class, with the whole group we did an activity about discussing the different competences that a teacher should have. Finally, we reach an agreement and we choose some of the big amount of competences that a good teacher needs to have. So, we think that the most important thing that a teacher should do is take into account all the elements that are implied in the Teaching-Learning process. It is also very important that she or he attends the diversity, reflects about his or her own practice and also, knows how to motivate the students and prepares meaningful activities for them. Other secondary abilities that a good teacher should have are: to be organized, have a good attitude and be motivated his or herself, know all the students, have the capacity to listen to the others, be fair, and be able to explain the things in several ways, and so on.

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2. What are your abilities/potentialities as future early childhood and/or primary education teachers? Can you establish points you have in common? What kind of reflections does this lead you to? (individual question)

Laia Vilar- I think that one of the most important abilities I have and that is needed to be an early childhood or primary education teacher is to be able to attend the diversity.

I consider that it is fundamental to think in every child we have in a class and try to give them the same opportunities to succeed. This is one of the competences that I highlight in Erin’s abilities and I think that I share it with her. Other point that I have in common with her is the fact of reflecting about the own practice. I always try to ask myself why have I done X thing and I try to assess my actuations in order to do it better the next time. Moreover, I have some ideas about how to motivate students, another very important competence that Erin also have, and I hope to be able to achieve it when being a teacher and having to make the students feel like doing the works and going to school. And finally, another important competence I think I have is the competence of designing meaningful activities because I never think about preparing activities about memorizing or repeating, otherwise I feel more comfortable with activities which let the students connect their previous knowledge and see a connection between it and the reality. All in all, I can say that with Erin I have realized about many competences that we, as future teachers, have to develop in order to be good teachers.

NĂşria Vila- I think that my ability is that I am able to motivate a lot the others, these competence is very important to work with children because if you are able to motivate the children, they would do the tasks and the activities developing better their own capacities. As we see in the film, Erin has this competence because she is able to motivate all of her students and we see a really change from the initial of the film to the end. Another competence that Erin has and after this semester I get conscious that is very necessary for a teacher is to be able to attend the diversity. I mean, to add the totally of the children in the classroom. In this case, I think that I have the theoretical contents and the idea to do it and I would be able to apply in the practices of this year, the following years but also when I will work as a teacher. Also these ability is very important for me in this year because I am doing practices in a school where the diversity is very high because of the different cultures and contexts that the children have. Finally, another competence that a teacher should have and I have too is to be able to learn to the others. These competence Erin also has because she not only transmit contents and only teach, the students also teach her. And I like learn to the 56

others, and I think that is essential for a teacher learns to the others and understand and be conscious that not only you teach, the others could teach you.

Mar Soler- There are a lot of important abilities that a teacher need in order to acquire and give the best to their early childhood and primary students. I think that I try always to sympathize with children and attend to them in an equal way (attend to diversity), two aspects that I consider that are very important in order to work as a teacher. This two aspects are clear reflected in the film. Furthermore, making a reflection about how it was the job done and how we can improve (reflect about the own practice) is crucial in order to give children what they need. This is something that I am always doing with my works, assessing my mistakes and trying to improve it, and this is what is needed in a teacher, someone who is able to assess their selves.

Finally, a teacher has to be able to promote dynamic activities to motivate children, and I think that since I work with children is something that I try always to do.

Irina FĂ brega- In the film of Freedom Writers I could observe different abilities or potentialities that teachers have to possess in order to offer a good education to children. In this text I am going to focus on the abilities that for me are important.

First of all, an ability that I think that is really important is attending to diversity. For me, this is a crucial aspect because in class all your students will be completely different between them and it is important to understand and respect this differences. Also, you have to offer to them the same opportunities although they have different ways of thinking, culture‌ Secondly, another potentialities that for me are important, is being able to listen and to emphasize with children. This is an important tool because some time children need to explain what happen to them or they need that the teacher understand why is having that behavior. Thirdly, another capacity that it is absolutely important is being able to search activities and methodologies that motivate students, for instance through meaningful learning. I hope that when I am going to be a future teacher I can find the strategies to motivate the students.

To sum up, I am conscious that I have the ability of listen and emphasize to the others because I love helping the others and understand their worries or listen their histories.

Now I don't know if I will have the ability of attending to the diversity and motivate students, I hope that yes, because I will try to do my best for get it because for me this three abilities are essential in teachers.

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Anna Garrido- As a future teacher I think that an ability that I have and that it is so important is that I love to listen to people. I think that by listening we can know the people, we can help them, and we can know what they need and how they feel. Listen is something that most of the times in the school only a few people give it importance and put it into practice, but from my point of view I think that is the base in order to create affective bonds with the students and, consequently, to give them the possibility to express their self and to know better each other. From that idea, listen can also help to the teacher to guide him or herself taking into account the interest of their students and trying to maintain their interest and concentration.

This aspect of listening is the aspect that I think that I have in common with Erin.

During all the film Erin listen a lot her students and give them the possibility to express themselves by a diary. Erin shows different ways and strategies that can help students in so different ways, but to do that she also sacrifice lot of her personal time because she is so implied on her students.

So, all this made me reflect that nothing is easy but if we want to achieve something we have to effort and to put the best of ourselves into practice

Laia PÊrez- I would like to have lots of abilities and I would like to reach all the possible potentialities in order to answer my student’s depending on what they need. Nowadays I am working as an English teacher in the school Pia of Olot, and I think I am a starter, I have to learn from my students a lot, and not only from the ones that I have now, but from all students that will pass for mu educative lessons.

I always try to attend to the diversity of the class, but there is a big problem: I cannot talk with the families, and because of that reason, I do not know lots of things that are important.

I always try to motivate my students and all my classes are more or less different, the activities I do are meaningful as much as I can and I am always looking to learn from the little boys and girls. I'm working the fact of being patient and well organized, but what I really do is that I understand a value each child, and I try to make them feel as better as it is possible.

I think that the teacher of the movie has all this abilities and also during this experience has improved them a lot. This is what i expect that will happen to all of us.

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IV-3 SELF-ASSESSMENT GROUP WORK 1. Have you improved the aspects proposed in the previous assessment?

In this portfolio we tried to do our best in order to improve all the things that were wrong in the previous portfolios. Moreover, we worked in a cooperative way so as to succeed in the last portfolio.

2. Global assessment of the block: do you consider that the activities and the dynamics of the sessions have helped you to learn? What aspects would you emphasize, both positive and negative?

We believe that this dynamics of the sessions are really useful because it offers the possibility to interiorize the knowledge. In other words, we apply the theory in practice and for us this is an easy way to learn new concepts, ideas‌ On the one hand, the aspects that we emphasize is the importance of work in team because this method offers the methodology to learn things that are useful in our daily live like respect the others opinions, sharing, offering help to the others‌. On the other hand, the aspects that we think that are negative is that sometimes it is difficult to find time to finish the portfolio because we are from different cities and this is a gap. However, we found the way to found this little problem.

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INITIAL 1 point

IN PROCESS 2 points

ACHIEVED 3 points

EXCELLENT 4 points

Following the rules

No one fulfills his/her assigned role

Some people don’t fulfill their assigned role.

Task accomplishm ent

We haven’t completed the tasks; the work has been left unfinished; we haven’t respected the due dates.

We haven’t had time to finish the task within the expected time. What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

Everyone fulfills his/her assigned role in the expected way.

We have done the work well and within the scheduled time.

What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

Dynamic

Peers don’t respect much each other, they argue with each other too often. There are great difficulties in understanding each other.

It’s rare for everyone to participate in the work and listen to each other.

Peers sometimes don’t respect each other and argue. However, some peers show interest in improving their understanding.

Everyone fulfills his/her assigned role, but sometimes in an unexpected way.

We have finished the work within the scheduled time, but we would have liked to improve some things. What we have done corresponds to what we had to do.

In general there’s good understanding among the group peers, even though sometimes there’s some argument.

Everyone actively participates in the work, the ideas of all the members are listened to.

Task focus

We barely meet each other, and we rarely work together.

When we meet each other, we don’t take advantage of the time to work together.

Everyone participates in the work, but sometimes ideas are more or less listened to depending on whom they come from.

When we meet only some peers are focused on the work, and we take little advantage of the time to work together.

Work autonomy

The teacher’s opinion is frequently asked, without having discussed the problems with the group previously.

No one does the work that is

The problems are discussed in the group, but sometimes we prefer to know the teacher’s opinion first.

Problems are firstly discussed in the group, but we also ask for the teacher’s opinion.

Problems are firstly discussed in the group. The teacher’s help is only asked for when necessary.

Some people don’t do the work that is

Sometimes we need to remind someone to do the

Everyone always does the work that is assigned to

Idea-sharing

Individual responsibility

Peers participate in the group work, but just the ideas of the closest friends are listened to.

OBSERVATIONS

Peers really understand each other. Arguments are always constructive and positive.

When we meet we are all focused on work and we really take advantage of the time.

We should learn to be more autonomous, trust with our ideas and only ask for teacher helps if it’s very necessary.

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Individual collaboration

assigned to him/her.

No one provides ideas or solutions.

Assistance in the learning process

We don’t know what the other peers have learned.

Representativ eness

It is always the same people who feel responsible of and represented on the work that we deliver.

Reflection

We never use the rubric or any other criteria to selfregulate.

assigned to them.

It is always the same people who provide ideas and solutions.

We know that not everyone is learning enough.

There’s too much difference among us, on the level of responsibility and representativeness on the task that we deliver.

We fill in the rubric without having previously talked about it within the group.

work that is assigned to him/her.

We try to get everyone to provide ideas and solutions.

Some people help others so that they can learn more.

them.

Everyone provides and solutions.

ideas

The level of responsibility and representativeness on the task that we deliver is a little bit unbalanced.

We have been helping one another so that everyone learns as much as they can.

We all feel equally responsible and represented don the task that we deliver.

Sometimes we reflect about how we work, on the basis of some of the rubric’s criteria.

We usually reflect and discuss how we work on the basis of the rubric’s criteria.

We should basis more our work with the rubric’s criteria. However, we did more than the other’s portfolios.

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THE END

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