Where I stand as a teacher and where I hope to be

@mariacolussa, Mint. 2015

As a result of joining the many teachers out there who share their journeys on blogs, I have learned that we have more things in common than  I could have ever imagined.  Hana Ticha's reflections after a casual friends meeting reminded me of several conversations that I took part in where a group of teachers gather over a glass or something or a cup of coffee, or a round of mate, the typical Argentinean drink that inspires and accompanies philosophical exchanges among friends.  Just a few weeks ago I heard a teacher say that he wasn´t interested in the "word of online teaching" because he preferred the "human contact" as if they were mutually excluded or as if only one was allowed at the expense of the other.  I did not give any thought to that remark at all at the moment.  I considered that it was not the time and place to talk about that.  Plus I had not seen this person in any of the online events that proved that his remark was absolutely groundless. In fact I consider it a lack of respect towards so many people that have done so much for online teaching and learning, such as Dr. Nellie Deutch, just check out one of her many recorded sessions: Leading from Within. That´s what I should have said.  However I feel that this person was trying to conceal a lack of interest to invest time and energy to learn something new.  
Apparently we are all concerned about being the best teacher out there.  By 'the best' I mean a constelation of qualities that the mythical foreign language teacher is bestowed with.   We should be proficient in the language, the pedagogy, plus we have to somehow integrate technology.  
My road so far has been like a ride in the quiet waters of a stream.  I started teaching without technology, simply because I did not have access to it.  Then I taught like crazy for over 12 years to finally quit out of failing to find relevance in what I was doing.
Today my reality has changed.   I was helped and taught patiently by strangers for free online as to how to harness the potential of the web to scaffold learning.  I was also encouraged to take risks and pay it forward by sharing what I have learned with my fellow teachers.  On the way I had enjoyed myself with master learners/sharers like Vance Stevens, Shelly Terrell, and the amazing Hello Little World Teachers Skypers team. 
I have been enjoying myself learning and teaching with my colleagues and students.  I am now teaching in contexts that my teacher training college did not prepare such as adult education, teaching to a visually impaired student, in-company teaching, and soon online teaching.  I have also been invited to give workshops on the things I have been doing with my colleagues and students.  Accepting every single one of these challenges was a leap of faith.  One that I wouldn´t have dared to face had I not been connected to the wonderful people out there who share what they are passionate about.  
When I think about learning and growing as a teacher I immediatelly think about the EVO Sessions, the Electronic Village Online, which played such an important role in my motivation to explore digital tools with the help of other teachers.  When it comes to blogging I think about Sue Waters and her drive to spread the word about the benefits of bloggins for children and adults alike.  This is the kind of professional development that has worked for me during the last three years.  I admire those educators who gather together to organize conferences, online or face to face and I attend both with an open mind.   Because there are just too many interesting things to learn, I often feel frustrated about not being able to watch recorded sessions or read my favourite blog posts.  
I try to attend and mingle with my master learner teachers as much as I can, because after these meetings I feel energized and full of drive to go about the wonderful job to teach languages.
What do I want to do next?  Well, I hope to continue hanging out with my network of educators.  I like teaching adults, so I will probably go on doing so.  
I will try to concentrate my energies on doing what makes me happy as an educator.  I found setting your teaching manifesto a very healthy exercise.  It was suggested by Shelly in one of the sessions of her 30 Goals Challenge Conference 

#EVOSessions2015 Flipped Learning

On the question of flipping

(I wrote the draft of this blog post on 31st January, 2015)

Buenos Aires Botanical Gardens, by Maria Colussa

2012 Lesson Planning
Previous to class
1. Grab Book
2. Check Content
3. Design Warm up, Presentation, Practice, Production activities for the day/week, based on the book contents.
During Class
4. Deliver Class - Assign standarized homework. Hope for the best! :)
(Repeat 1, 2, 3 above)
Following Class
5. Check homework.
(Repeat 4)
Note:  Teacher is the sole provider of content.

2015 Lesson Planning
Previous to class
1.  Surf the internet for content with pedagogical potential.
2.  Save links in the appropriate place according to  age, level, interest, objectives)
3.  Sit down in front of the computer and design activities to exploit the material.
(optional:  When focusing on specific skills search for ready made systematized tutorials or make them myself to attach to the class material.)
4.  Make class available in students´shared folder.
During Class
5.  The class can start at any point of the previously designed plan.  This will depend on how much of the shared content the student has already seen previous to class.  The most interesting or challenging material can be tackled at  this point of the class.
6.  Teacher suggests options for follow up activities for the student to do by himself.
(Optional:  Additional content can be added according to student´s interests and needs.)
After class
7. Teacher´s suggested activities or student´s generated alternative  ones are done in a shared online document where the teacher can provide feedback .

Conventional                                                                   Flipped
Teacher is Content provider                                         Students gather information and content
Teacher has absolute control                                       Teacher is a learning facilitator
Fixed Syllabus                                                                Part of the syllabus is fixed, most is flexible
Homework is impersonal                                               Homework is as personalized as possible
Student is a passive recipient of knowledge              Students are actively involved/responsible for                                                                                                        learning      

                                        

On Flipped Learning and how I can make it work for me

After attending the EVO Sessions on Flipped Learning I learned a few things regarding this approach to teaching which is here to make our lives easier and help us make the most of our classes.
In times when many people are talking about students´voices, personalized and differenciated learning, what we decide to flip would be the impersonal, yet necessary, part of the curriculum, so that we can devote valuable class time to getting to know our students by listening to  them (and I mean Listening).  The classroom becomes the space for  teachers and students to play with the language, to test their hypothesis, to interact.  It also becomes the teacher´s research field,  During flipped classes the teacher becomes a learning coach encouraging students to anchor the language to their learning objectives and lives.

Flipped learning does not solely have to do with screencasting our content , though this is certainly an important technique.  It is also about creating spaces and tasks during the class for students to meet other students, to share their learning journeys (just like we have been doing in the discussion groups and google communities during the EVO sessions!)
Flipped learning is about being on the lookout for interesting projects or content with which to make our students engaged beforehand.
I have been flipping things here and there.  It will be my personal mission to flip whatever I can in the hope of making each class a memorable celebration of learning for my students and for myself!

EVOSessions. Flipped Learning

Photo Credit: Photograph by Maria Colussa

Discussion Questions Week 1

Reflecting on what you've read and watched this week, please give a preliminary justification for flipped learning (or not) in your teaching situation. Please use the Week 1 section of our Google Plus EVO Community to post your comments and to respond to others' posts.

The case for the Flipped Classroom has been discussed lately as an approach which seeks to both optimize classroom time and cater for students mixed abilities and interests.  In my case, a freelance EFL teacher of English working mostly one to one with access to technology such as good internet connection, mobile devices and no behaviour problems, the idea of flipping to enhance certainly attracts me and I have to confess that after I read and watched the material from week one I was happy to see that I was doing some things in the right way.  Diving for my students main interests and identifying their strengths and difficulties is something I do and consider when I search for  potential content everywhere, mainly on the web.  However when we talk about flipping we mean more than that.  We also mean producing or looking for content that is specifically designed or tailored for my students.  I haven´t swam these waters yet, the production I mean, but I will surely give it a try this year.  

As with the E-book idea last EVO2014 sessions, incorporating these "new" approaches to teaching takes my brain a little while to get adjusted.  From what I gathered in the discussions in the Google Community I share some of the same concerns of my fellow "EVOers".  Will the students actually take the time to check what I send them?  Will they be engaged with the material?  How good will I be producing the content?  The question could well be: How do I flip appropriately?  We´ll see, I guess that as with many things in life I will be learning by doing and this is the place to start my first small steps...