Freedom Writers

This movie is absolutely one of the movies that teachers should considerer watching it to learn. It is based on a real story, and it is a very good tool for us to understand deeply not only the important role that teachers have, but also how they impact on their students’ lives. In the movie the teacher had to face different difficult situations, but none of them stopped her from achieving her objective of getting students involved with learning. I learnt that if teachers have the real vocation to teach believing in students’ change and improvement, they will have to go against the routine, and to avoid getting stuck only on the contents. Students are fed up of learning from the theory; they need to learn from their experience, their background, their real and daily life, and that was what the teacher from the movie did. She realized that she had to find a way to get them involved starting from their mind; for instance, I remember how the teacher used one of the situations to give them a social education when the class was laughing at one of the student due to a cartoon of him. She could penalize the student who did the drawing, but she used it to teach them comparing the situation with the history, the Holocaust, and with their daily life, the gangs’ battles.

Finally, this movie is absolutely touchable because the teacher succeeded even though their students’ social problems, their colleagues and school administrators, and her husband. She was persevering, focusing firstly on knowing students’ needs, interests, and problems. It meant a lot to me because it encourage me to keep believing that people can change their starts not only if they really want to, but also if there is somebody to lead them properly.

Guardian: Provider, Protector, Supervisor, or Inspector?

According to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter Report, my personality fits with the characteristics of guardians. It refers that I can be sociable and outgoing, but I am responsible and serious when I have to work. I completely agree with this point, but I disagree with the next idea of enjoying working in teams, whether I am leading it or following a credible leader. The truth is that I do not like working with other people very much because it is risky; in fact, I would rather work only with one person because it is easier to come to agreements and to advance to the objectives.

Finally, I can assure that I felt identified with the test on certain areas; therefore, it was useful to decide which type of guardian I am. In my opinion I fit with the mixture between supervisor and protector because both are related with the way that I behave; I am like a supervisor observing and checking everything, and at the same time I am a protector looking always for the fulfillments of human beings’ rights.

Presentations

The presentations covered in the first semester were:

Marlene and Franco

The topic of their presentation was “How Teachers Inspire?” They did a very organized and concise presentation, but they did not carry out with the micro lesson required because their presentation was a lecture. They spoke most of the time explaining all the ideas, not letting the audience to guess or to discover the contents. However, I learnt very well that teachers are not only the instructors, but also the educators.

Javiera, Pamela, and Pia

The topic of their presentation was “Teacher’s Styles in the Classroom” They covered the topic very well because they explained not only the characteristics of the different teachers’ styles. Consequently, I learnt a lot from this presentation because it was useful for me to identify the characteristics of the mixed of styles that I have, and how they are going to influence in my career.

Loreto, Fernanda, and Renato

The topic of their presentation was “Positive Psychology: A Secret for Happiness” They did a very complete presentation because they not only prepare the power point, but also showed an interesting video according to the topic. However, this visual aid turned against them a little bit because there was some information in Spanish. They should be more careful in future presentations because this situation cannot happen again, but apart from this detail, I learnt very much about this new subject, and it was useful to understand better the real importance of focusing your concern on the life’s processes, not on the results.

Juan Manuel and Nicolás

The topic of their presentation was “The New 5 Minds for the 21^st Century” This presentation was very interesting because they explained these types of minds and their characteristics. Moreover, they were very well prepared; both of them knew the topic explaining it very well, but Nicolas overused his notes. I know him very well, and I know how nerves he gets when he has to perform presentations; therefore, I can assure that this was the reason why he tended to look at his notes instead of looking at the power point. However, in my opinion they did a very good research on the topic, and it was useful for me to identify which mind or minds fitted with me.

Roxana, María Paz, and Renato

The topic of their presentation was “Teacher’s Personality; Which Type Are you?” This presentation was very interesting because they covered not only the theoretical aspects, but also the practical ones. I have to congratulate Renato because I can notice a very good improvement in their vocabulary and pronunciation. According to the topic, it was useful for me to learn the different types of personalities and how each of them affects on our students. This was a very relevant topic, and I liked very much because we could share our experience with the material they prepared.

Francisco and I

Our topic was “The Young Teacher and Teenagers; Vertical or Horizontal Relations” In my personal opinion, I enjoyed the presentation very much because the topic was very interesting and useful for the audience. Apart from the theoretical aspect, the activity that we prepared was absolutely appropriated because all the situations were so practical that the audience could share their experience and opinion. I also want to thank my fiancé, Francisco, to be so intelligent, charming, creative, and a million of characteristics that makes him to be my perfect lover, friend, and partner.

Leandro, Fabian, and Alvaro

Their topic was “The Characteristics of Effective Teachers” This presentation was very concise because the group covered the topic organizing aspects related with students’ needs, class’ atmosphere, and lesson plan. The activity was appropriated and effective; it was useful not only to evaluate our understanding on the topic already explained, but also to share our experience and background. This presentation was very useful for me, and they did a very good presentation despite of the difficulties that they had to face. Therefore, I congratulate them for the very good use of the English Laboratory, and their concise presentation.

EducarChile Portal

Educarchile.cl is the portal for the educational community. The purpose of this webpage is to improve the quality of education in Chile. In my opinion this portal is very useful not only for teachers, but also for students’ parents because they can also be involved with new educational policies. This portal contains also an English version designed to inform the rest of the world about the educational system and strategies established in Chile.

This English version is regretfully a poor version because the translation is not accurate. There are so many concepts translated so literal, just like when we were learning English at the very elementary beginning; we were thinking in Spanish and writing in English translating literally the conceptual ideas. Therefore, it seems that they were using a translator to put the text into English. I really feel dissatisfied because on one hand they say they are trying to develop and improve all the existing tools they have to be on the crest of the wave, but on the other hand this translated details previously explained express clearly that they are not trying enough.

A ClockWork Orange

This great movie goes beyond the violence that the four youths performed. In my opinion, the author expressed three ideas that arise in society. The first and more transcendental is that violence is presented on the government, the police, and every system because it is the way that this people have the control on society. For instance, the movie shows government administrators and important people drinking milk in the same place where these four youths got together. It also shows that the three members of the gang became policemen even though they still had their perverse behavior. Moreover, it appears Hitler, one of the most evil leaders with the huge distortional mind ever seen on the history of humanity

The second idea is that society is not prepared to receive somebody rehabilitated due to the previous idea. Alex, the main character was rehabilitated in two years for a group of doctors and specialist proposed by the government; however, after the process Alex is repelled by his own family, attacked by his old friends, and stereotyped by the mass media. This episode reminds me the Chilean movie “The Jackal of Nahueltoro” it is also about a criminal that was rehabilitated, and then he was murdered to pay for his crimes. In both cases society was not ready to received and accept them.

The third idea is related with stereotypes; the mass media shows us what they want us to think. Therefore, the author used the characteristics of somebody who has values and a perfect life to express characteristics that supposedly are presented in somebody who has the opposite characteristics. For instance, the criminals drank milk, were intellectuals, loved Beethoven music, and had a stable economic situation. We expect most of the time that people with these characteristics would never act against values or ethic. However, all that asseverations belong to stereotypes; this situation reminds me the movie “Hannibal Lecter” he was a very cultured professor with the same characteristics, intellectual, glamorous, and sophisticated, but he used to kill his victims listening to classical music.

Finally, this movie is one of the best movies through history because expressed relevant and transcendental aspects of life. Moreover, it was useful for me to consider that we as teachers do not have to stereotype our students. In my opinion Alex was a victim of the system, and everybody behave in the same way after all; their family, their friends, the government, everybody discriminated him. In other words they were as violent as he was. Nowadays, these three ideas previously explained are represented due to globalization because we still have wars, famines, and poverty; all these terrible realities caused by violent people who are leading the world.

A Developing Country?

What Is Going on with Public Schools Today?

There are two main points that the educational system is facing, one is the debt of the municipal bond known as SAE, and the other debt is known as “the historical debt”. The first debt referred to a special assignation that the government granted to municipalities to gave it to public teachers at the end of the year; however, municipalities never paid. The second debt emerged when public schools became part of municipalities; therefore, teachers who worked in public schools had to get this benefit, but none of the teachers have received some of it.

How Do I Feel about It?

I feel very disappointed; it is controversial to have to experience this situation at this point of our history. On one hand, there is a clear understanding of the key of development, sending future teachers to study abroad, giving scholarships and credits to vulnerable families, in other words investing on education. However, on the other hand, the people who need all the recognition are left aside by a third mind world. I really hope this situation could be resolved soon because in my opinion teachers should be the best rewarded people due to their role in society.