Week 2 1.

MY ASSESSMENT- INES RIVAS Theme:

My insights about CONECT- EXPAND- CHALLENGE and their effects in my new thread of thinking
How did I learn? How to formulate questions?

I was educated under the form of the teacher standing in a higher level of knowledge respect his or her students, almost like an unquestionable God so for me to realize now that the students bring a previous knowledge to the classroom a sum of the parents, home, peers, neighborhood influences, the context that effects their own experiences- it has a great importance to be the starting point for the new contents we as teachers must transmit
What did I see?

I paid special attention for the 30 questions example, an open-minder tool that I definitely will use from today.

That issue expands my Thinking process, forcing me to make flexible connections dots between the new subjects- which Im confident to know- with the way each of them sees the world and its surroundings, from which I learn something each day. I used to think as Chris Woodhead , that teaching is a simple equation: teachers teach, and children learnas simple as that! But now I see this process as a complex one. Another thing that has broaden my mind is the statement of Judith Warren Little, that said: We must pursue the connections with aggressive curiosity and healthy scepticism I will have to pursue that as one of my goals.
What are the good things?

What did I like?

I also liked very much the Ron Ritchart video, who tought
how to make thinking visible, and the final document that has been composed with all the personal points of view of the students in the subject of discussion about revenge vs. nonviolence the depicted the South-African conflicta fantastic way of engaging the students in the matter, while giving value to their thinkingI also expanded my knowledge about the subject complementing with another video from the same author, called Cultures of thinking

All this new contents in teaching for learning, such as the questions placed under the SEE-THINK- WONDER routine, are marvelous tools to explore works of art and other disciplines. The Circle of viewpoints is another excellent thinking expander that keeps the attention, and allows the student to submerge in a different era, ethnic feelings, or geographic differences, which also promotes tolerance and respect for the other cultures ways.

What else I have learned for teaching? There are other routines derivated of this line of visible thinking such as the core routines, such as: compass points, Think- Puzzle- Explore, Think - Pair -Share , WMS etc.

What I wonder? One item that made me wonder was the state of mind of my students, so the cat expressions example of the 2nd. Video explained masterfully by our teacher John Mac Beath, illustrated very well what could happen in a normal classroom;

How do I feel? This kind of new tools are now world-wide spreading, through internet but unfortunately I feel a bit sad as living in a 3er. World area its difficult to get access to them as most of the citizens in my underdeveloped country dont understand English and only one fourth has access to some kind of technology, mostly cellphone, without connection to internet, so its going to take time and challenge for such educational new theories and politics to be implemented by our government. I only had access through Coursera teaching for learning course and I feel happy and thankful for it. Conclusion: What challenges this new contents present for me? Now Im faced with new challenges in my life: To teach art for learning, applying this new techniques as well as what Im investigating in the field of Neuroscience applied to teaching. To make sure my students take the advantage of learning with peers To help them develop the skills for good thinking, such as: Agreeing/ Disagreeing Questioning/Puzzling Comparing/ observing Wondering/Realizing Describing/Predicting Feeling/Engaging

How to make a diagnosis of whats happening in my class? I will use the spot check, a technique invented by Csikzentimihalyi in 1993. I will apply it frequently as a measure tool for checking if my students are really engaged in the learning process I can detect now 7 characteristics in them, as a proof of it: