The last STAR is shining here!

Hello, my name is Rebeca Cascales Ribera and this week my role has been the STAR! The star is the role in charge of representing the weekly's job to the other's classmates. 

This week the role has been very interesting and a bit different, we had to prepare a Fakebook profile with each leadership style and show the classmates what we've learnt in a debate format but today, we have to choose a number which will tell us what our role in this activity is going to be, and in my case I have got the 'mediator' one.

The Fakebook profiles that my group had made was the following:

•     Rebeca Cascales Ribera - Authoritarian Leader: 
      http://www.classtools.net/FB/1000-bbRk3e

•     Marina Crevillén Fernandez - Transformational: http://www.classtools.net/FB/1162-jHhVAb

•     Silvia García Martínez - Transactional:
      http://www.classtools.net/FB/1304-xN8ffg

• María García Zamora - Participative Leader: http://www.classtools.net/FB/1098-H4hBQ2

Well, I had to prepare four general questions that include lot of knowledge of this topic with my group and then prepare the debate that our other stars had to defend. When the stars were with their groups preparing the information, ten minutes before starting I have told them the questions that we're going to ask them. 

The questions that we've written and we've asked for are the following:

1. What do you think that are the most crucial people for developing new projects and profound changes?

2. If there is a problem between teachers. Who are the person in charge of solving this? And, how would you do it?

3. What would you do as a Transactional/ Transformational/ Authoritarian/ Participative leader different from the others? What would you provide to the school?

  4. From your point of view, what do you think is the worst thing of your colleagues? 

Then, the debate has started, I had to control it, each group had two minutes to answer the question and as there were two people by group, it was one minute for each member. I asked the questions and they answer with order, respecting the turn when the others were speaking. 

  
Later, when they have finished the debate, our teacher Linda has reflected a bit of what they had done it well and bad, what they can improve, etc. 

Now, I'm going to speak about my experience as a mediator, I have never acted as a mediator, so it was something new to me. When I was asking the first question and controlling the time while the stars were answering I have realised that doing a debate is something difficult but controlling it too. I had to stop people when the time was off, I must stop them when they we're answering but this is something that I must do and I didn't do it. I think that I can do it better, but for being the first time it's not bad.

As a mediator, in my opinion I have to say that the stars have done it very well, there were lots of nervous, difficulties, bad organisations  but we learn from our own mistakes, so for people who have done it today, I have to say that they can improve and learn from today. So, I have to mark what is the best people who have defend it their ideals, and I think that Clara (KCKO) and Ana Isabel (Platypus), the transformational defenders, deserve this reward. Their way of expressing and caught their classmates attention has been crucial in their speech, so as they have taken my attention and I really "LOVE" their speaking parts, I'm going to say that they have win.

On the other side, as a group (Power Teachers), we've decided that it we have to chose a leader, we would chose a Participative Leader, because Gracia (Bussy Bees) and Noelia (Meerkats) have done it very well and they have explained correctly, showing that they want to improve for our welfare.

 Summarising, being the star this week has been very interesting, dynamic and entertaining. I would like to repeat this activity!

So bloggers, it has been a pleasure writting for you and I hope you have really enjoyed.

Rebeca:)

The star has returned!!

Hi bloggers!! I'm María García and this is my second experience as a STAR! Although in this activity we haven't developed a speech in front of the class, the stars of this week had to be the journalist of a documentary about the coexistence plan! 

We have done a documentary about a student that change his behaviour because of the divorced of his parents, and we decided to do a video recreating the news. So, in the video you can see Silvia as the presenter, Rebeca as the school head of the school where the problem ''took'' place and I as the journalist. 

My role in the video consisted to explain the situation that occured in a school, but is the school head (Rebeca) who has told the current situation of the children and the measures that the school took for resolving this case. Besides, I made the interview to her and I did 4 interviews to four persons (2 street persons, a pedagogist and a future teacher). I had to investigate and see all the perspectives of the case through the testimony of the school head and the opinions of some people, keeping the contact with the presenter (Silvia) as the real news. 

I really had fun recording the video in the outsides of the University and in the streets of Murcia. Although my experience as a star wasn't in the class, it was great recreate a documentary and see how a school can resolve problems like this according to his coexistence plan. With this activity you realize that in any school, there are children that can change totally their behaviour and their marks because of personal problems, or it may be a problem between a teacher or a child or with the parents of him/her. For this situation, we, as a future teacher, have to be prepared to know how we can act and what we can see to choose the correct measures to take. 

Yesterday, each star of the group put their videos on the screen of the computer and show to the rest of the class their documentaries. There are very good videos and I want to say to my classmates that the videos were great! 

To end with I want to say thank you to the rest of Powerteachers because even they don't appear in the video it isn't mean that they don't do anything! They direct the video, they recording the documentary and they help to develop the script and the whole situation that we had to show. So, thank you girls!!

I hope you enjoy with our activity and that you visit our blog! 

Here you have the video of our documentary.

We hope you like it!! 

Snakes and Ladders' STAR

Hi bloggers! I'm Alba García and, once more, I've been the star! This week my duty as a star has been shared with Anthea, as she has been the second star. We have had to study the different topics about the LOMCE so we could answer correctly some questions about those topics in the game Snakes and Ladders.

As the journalist has said, the game took part on Monday and on Thursday. We climbed some ladders, went down on some snakes (damn that snake on 82!) but finally, the most exciting move came... In our last turn, we went up in a ladder from 70 to 94, answered the question asked by our teacher correctly, rolled the dice, got a 6, and moved to 100! AND WE ANSWERED THAT LAST QUESTION CORRECTLY AND BECAME THE WINNERS OF THE GAME!!!!!!  

This task has been the one in which the stars have had the most responsibility as it was up to us winning the game and getting the prize or losing. Maybe this was just a game, but being responsible for the performance of a whole group of people could also happen to us in many other situations in life, not only in the academic and professional aspects, but also in the personal ones. On the one hand, when we become teachers and get a job at a school, which I hope will be soon, our head of department and the school head will be the ones representing the whole department and the whole school, respectively. One day, we may also become heads of department or even school heads, and this role has taught me that sometimes, it's up to our own performance that a collective of people succeed or don't. On the other hand, we are very likely to form a family in the future, and the well-functioning of a family depends on the parents most of the time. Again, in this quotidian situation, two people are the ones in charge of making sure that everything goes well.

I have to say that the star for this task has been the most exciting of all, as playing the game was really funny and interesting. Knowing the answers for the questions was important, but there was also an important component of LUCK as maybe you answered many questions correctly but if you cought a snake you would go down on the board, and, on the contrary, if you were lucky you could catch many ladders and climb up in the board. As with being responsible for a collective, the component of luck is also present in many situations in life. From knowing the questions in an exam, to going shopping and finding something that you like and suits you well, luck may become a decisive factor. Also, for when we do the exams for working as a teacher for the Estate, we may be lucky and have to compete against few people for a high number of vacancies, or we may be unlucky and compete againts many people for few vacancies.This task has showed me that sometimes it isn't 100% up to us succeeding or not; there are many other factors that can help or affect you in a negative way in your performance.

To finish with, I would like to congratulate all of the stars form every group for their great job, and to Keep Calm & Keep Organized for that SECOND PLACE! Good job guys!

HELLO, THE STAR IS HERE!!!!!!! :D

Hello everybody, this week I have been the Star, but no the normal star if not an special star, since during this week I have been and am, the personal trainer of the two stars of the next week, Alba y Anthea.

My function this week has been and is to prepare the stars and the other members of my group for the game which will be the next week. To do this I have designed a plan to train them.

My plan have been and is the following, to ask each member of my group randomly three questions per person every day of the week. Each day of this week I have asked and ask one topic, which one I told to my partners the day before. The objective of my plan is that all the members of my group know about the questions, and coat the stars, since only they are going to play. I have decided to do this to provide maximum convenience to the stars, since if they study during the week, they only will have to review the questions at the weekend.

I have to say that this week I have enjoyed so much being a personal trainer since I have been like a teacher asking to the students the lesson every day.

Finally, the STAR is here!

Hi everybody! Do you miss me? I am Silvia and this week (as when we started) I have been the star of our group.

I must say that this week my work has been relatively easy because I have been evaluating the questions about the Topic 1 with the rest of my group during the first two hours of class. We have done this activity under the supervision of some members of the Busy Bees’ group. In order to do this activity we have divided the questions of each group and we have selected the questions of one group individually and have read them. After we have expressed to the rest of our group our opinion about the questions that we have read and we have done a little summary about each one too. Finally, we have filled out the different surveys about the questions of each group together.

Secondly, in the third hour of class we have worked with a part of the Power Puff Teachers’ group in order to determinate what questions about the Topic 4 were duplicated and united them in one simple question. We have divided all the questions into three groups and in three groups of three we have analysed them. After all, when the groups have finished our part, we have compared the final questions that each group has obtained in order to create the final list of questions. I must say that this activity has been worse for me because there were some questions that were very similar but they did not say exactly the same, so we did not know if unite them or leave them behind. In spite of everything, finally we can establish these questions about the Topic 4:

• -   A family with two children live in an area with small population centres. To what type of provision would they belong? Explain it briefly.
• -    Angel is a child with some health problems, and because of this he is in the hospital every day and he can’t go to school with his peers. What solution can be given to Angel so he can’t keep up with his school mates’ academic level? Explain it. What is the organization of this type of education?
• -    Can a student of primary education that does not go to school receive home teaching programs in her or his house? Why or why not?
• -  Can Moroccan students that are four years old schools be in the target group of Spanish-Moroccan programs?
• -  Determine the measures of educational attention which are needed according to LOMCE to facilitate the schooling integration of a Moroccan pupil who doesn’t speak Spanish and recently he has accessed in a Spanish school tardly do to he recently arrival from his country, you must determine the specific programs developed and the objectives that LOMCE want to get.
• -  Do Gathered Rural Schools (CRA) and Rural Schools for Education and Innovation (CRIE) have exactly the same target group?
• -  Does the Gathered Rural Schools worked in cities such as Barcelona?
• -  How many types of rural schools are there?
• -  I live in Murcia and I can go to school by bus. Could I study from distance?
• -  If a child has been studying his pre-primary and primary educational courses in a Bilingual School in Spain, does he have the obligation of continuing his studies in Spain?
• -  If a primary education student cannot attend school do to personal circumstances; such as for being hospitalize for a long term or a prolonged stay at home by medical prescription; what time of program would be used with this pupil? Justify your answer.
• -  If your parents work in a circus and your family is constantly moving from one place to another, it is possible to get education at compulsory schooling age? Reason your response. (Repeated by 2 groups)
• -  Imagine that you live in a rural zone and you cannot go to school, which is the best solution and how it works?  (Repeated by 2 groups)
• -  In Primary Education, if a French student is living in Spain but (s)he is enrolled in the French Education System can him or her be within the flexible studies?
• -  Kinds of itinerancy and non-regular schooling?
• -  Laura is 12 years old and she is from a foreign country (Morocco). What is the best education programme for Laura? Why? (Repeated by 3 groups)
• -  Mohamed is an immigrant student who moved into a rural neighborhood called La Aparecida in which there is no school; also both his parents, are unemployed with a low income. What type of schooling would be the most appropriate for this child to be able to attend school? Describe in detail the basic resources the LOMCE would provide him.
• -  Name at least three reasons for a student to choose a distant education. (Repeated by 3 groups)
• -  Nowadays, bilingual schools (Spanish-English) are very common in public schools of Spain. Do they need other curriculum?
• -  Rural schools for educational innovation are destined to pre-primary and primary education. They are organized by pedagogical and curricular aspects with some action plans. What do they want to achieve with these kinds of schools?
• -  There are two kinds of distance education, the "distance education" and "flexible studies in primary education". Related to the second one, what is the purpose of this type? Who can adopt this type of education? Do the pupils of this kind of studies have the same curriculum as the official curriculum? (Repeated by 2 groups)
• -  What are the main characteristics of rural schools?
• -  What are the programmes that compose the bilingual teaching?
• -  What characteristics have bilingual teachers who take part in the Convenio MECD and British Council?
• -  What does the State provide for the Itinerancy and non-regular schools? (Repeated by 2 groups)
• -  What is the relation between Gathered Rural Schools (CRA) and Rural Schools for Education Innovation (CRIE)?
• -  Which are the main differences between CRA and CRIE focused on organization?
• -  Which kind if bilingual teaching does not teach pre-primary?
• -  Who is charged of formalizing the agreement with companies whose itinerancy is permanent during the school year?

       Finally, I must say that I have enjoyed working with members of other groups in this activity and comparing my opinion with the others. However, I have to say that in the second activity, when we have compared all the questions about the Topic 4, besides the problem about the similar questions that I have mentioned before, I have felt a little overwhelmed because, as there were a lot of questions and we were a lot of people, it has been a bit difficult order all the questions, although at the end we have tried to do it in the best way possible.

★★★★Something is shining? Yees! The star, here, NOW! ★★★★

Hello everybody!                
My name is Rebeca Cascales Ribera and this week I'm the STAR of Power  Teachers! The star of the groups has the job of represent the weekly job and each week has to upload something different on the blog post depending on the tasks.

This week, we've been working into the law, the LOMCE. The stars didn't know what was our task this week because Linda said that she would tell us the same Monday, so this weekend, when I printed the two maps I read and I reread them many times for being prepared for whatever. 
The two Conceptual Maps are the following ones. 

  

Today, 23 of march of 2015, when the class started Linda has said that we're going to be separated of our group depending on the topic that we had and we would  work with the other group who has the same topic. My topic's group were 1. An Overview of the Educational System and 4. Organisational Variations and Alternative Structures in Primary Education.  The other groups with those topics are Busy Bees and Keep Calm and Keep Organised; in my case, the Native Group was the Busy Bees and the Aliens are four members of Keep Calm and Keep Organised as Marina García Beltrán, Clara Pérez Ríos, Paula Peral Vegara and Holly Rose Terry. We have worked with the topic 1, an overview of the Education System. 

In this task, my role has been being the evaluator of the evaluation. Each group of the same topic had to evaluate the other's conceptual map regarding a criteria that the whole group has acquired. Our criteria has been the following one:

Then, apart from this criteria, the conceptual map has been evaluated into a survey that Linda has done and prepare for it.

To be honest, the evaluation has been done in a correct way. The two groups have evaluated themselves individually and then, they have spoken about what were their scores and the reason of it. For example, Busy Bees have told the other group that it was complete but the title's colour and the letter' size make a bit difficult the lecture. On the other side, the Keep    Calm and Keep Organized have told them that some words were bad written in English and the lack of connectors.

 They have done the same with my group's Conceptual Map, they have explained me the reason of my score. So, in my opinion I think they have done it well and in a fair way.

The three Conceptual Maps that we have been working are the following:

Keep Calm and Keep Organized

Busy Bees

Power Teachers

Then, we had to take the best  and the most complete Conceptual Map. We have take my group's one and we have added some things that the other groups have. The final Conceptual of this topic is in the Busy Bees Blog.

My experience as STAR has been very special because I have not lived as the other  week's star. I have  had the opportunity of working with other people of the class and this is very worthy because I have realized that there are other dynamics, other ways of organize the work, etc. I really like being the star, maybe if I had to do a presentation of something I wouldn't have like it, I don't know. 

I hope you enjoy with us and with our tasks!