Kindergarten teaching with technology- Worth it or not?

When we talk about social media nowadays do we talk about teenagers, young elementary students, all of them including kindergarten students or do we consider them to be too. Young to handle technology? 

Maybe to the eyes of those who work with this the answer is very simple. We should include them all and moreover the youngest as they are the future of technology and in their heads may lay the next generation of tics. 

Now I come from a third developed country. Mexico as it is has a lot of advantages and one of them is the healthy and rich people who can afford to study in expensive schools. However my writing here is to analyze how could public school could afford to give his teachers the tools needed to use the advantages of technology in schools when it is in privIte schools where teachers use their own tics when possible with the salaries given in this private and privilege schools. 

I try to use my I-Pad and my Computer as often as I can but it is a struggle when I have to pay for all its maintainance. I spent about 40% of my salary on repairing my computer which got damage while using it. I was promised the school would help with some money, yet it has been 3 months now and I hadn't seen a penny. 

Now that it works I still use it as it facilitates my students knowledge massively and it brings to them so much more fun classes in a way that they do understand concepts and symbols. We still play and use play do. My kids are 3 and 4. They love the use of the I-pad with learning games and they do get the information in a more natural and friendly way. However when money is an issue in your job you start to think how much is it worth it to risk your own staff for something they wouldn't invest on giving the teachers just because to their point of view is not worthy as they are kindegarten students. 

As a teache your would give everything you have to make your students learn and have fun, but sometimes it is a shame how school owners would think first on their own pockets first rather that to invest on their people and technology for their own good sake. 

Have a good night. 

A pledge to FIFA

El Director de la Escuela Superior de Educación Física en Cuautla, Lic. Jesús Alberto Martínez Barrón expresa su inconformidad ante los resultados de los partidos de Fútbol del Mundial Brasil 2014. Resultados agraviados contra nuestra selección Mexicana. 

Representamos las palabras de un pueblo que sabe de fútbol, el deseo de una nación en el que el deporte del balón pie es sin duda representación de todos nosotros. Hoy en donde las tecnologías están a la mano, a un vistazo. nos topamos con un mundial lleno de irregularidades. Dos goles anulados, un penal a favor de nuestra selección anulado y un penal en contra de nuestra selección injustamente marcado a favor de Holanda. Es hora de que la Federación Internacional de Fútbol comience a modernizarse. La FIFA SE JACTA DE ENALTECER LOS PRINCIPIOS Y VALORES DE UN JUEGO LIMPIO. ¿No estamos acaso viendo una doble moral? Si los árbitros se equivocan dónde queda entonces el jugo limpio y justo. Anulado por una mala decisión o por una falta humana. 

No es posible que los resultados se basen en los ojos de unos cuantos árbitros cuando ya hoy día en otros deportes se valen de la tecnología para corregir el factor humano. La FIFA corre con la fortuna de mover millones de dólares y euros en todo el mundo como para negarse al uso de las bondades de la modernidad que nos brindan las nuevas tecnologías. 

La afición se desmotiva al ver esta clase de resultados incongruentes con lo que se promulga, desmoralizados por situaciones que fácilmente podrían ser resueltas si se acepta que hemos llegado a un nivel de juego en donde es necesario ya contar con la participación de un elemento que ya ha ayudado en otras esferas como la medicina, la educación, los medios de comunicación  y otros deportes en aras de lograr un juego de calidad y de justicia. Que el deporte se base verdaderamente en lo que es técnico y  honesto. 

Exigimos que los errores que hoy día se ven y se han visto en otros mundiales se consideren para marcar una diferencia en un futuro y se acepte el uso de la Tecnología para futuros eventos de marca Internacional.

Please read this pledge. Translate it and share it for the good sake of the fair play in sports. 

It doesn't matter whose you team what matters is to be fair. 

Social Media and TIC's

I live in Mexico City. Living in the biggest City of the world, surrounded by the latests technology and a 24 hour store, made me thought that it was unquestionable how technology should be part of our youth education. But for my surprise it hadn't been quite the answer of some of the schools I have had the opportunity to be part of. It seems that for some of schools education with technology is like opening the Pandora Box.

Instead of making easier ways for teachers to work with the tool. They insist that technology is so dangerous that it is better to block all the websites first and then after going through the deepest scrutiny of deciding wether the  information is suitable or not for the students to work with. Then the website would be able to be opened to the public.

This idea made me thought that perhaps we are not that far from the eighteenth century when people was afraid of Science or perhaps we are even closer to the sixteenth century when people was afraid of knowing more about the Universe because it could condemn you to hell.

For all those Principals who doesn't realize we are living in the XXI Century I want to say: "Be open-minded" the answer is not saying no or blocking the entrance to that door. The answer is to embrace the future and teach your students the goods of the use of the TICS to learn and to apply the learning. Otherwise you are teaching them obsolete ways of working and as soon as students go out from your school they would be way ahead of those who know the meaning of the use of tools like Dropbox, Skype, Facebook, Pinterest and many other tools to work in team and to globalize their knowledge".

As well I would like to say: "Thank you to all those teachers who embrace the use or the TICS and to all the principals who promote courses for this purpose".

Thank you for reading and have an excellent week.

Miss Vicky

Why Social Media in Education?

As an English Lab Teacher in a School in Mexico. I had struggle with other teachers to understand the importance of Teaching, mixing the expirience with Social Media Interaction such as using Facebook, Dropbox or a simple Blog to interact with their students and facilitate them better Internet source of information for them to work and do their homeworks.

For arrount 8 months now I have tried to get teacher involve the new School's blog to put their homeworks with videos, images or resourses links. Sadly or Gladly around 3 out of 40 teachers had the innitiative to do so.

 

www.institutolapaz.blogspot.com

So as a form of getting out my frustration I created this blog to try to convince other teachers that todays education would be so much better in terms of accomplishments if we work with todays tools.

As part of non duties on my job profile, I decided to get involve with the planning of the Model of United Nations at my School, the very secund year I saw how much we struggle to get all the students in the same page with all the information required to proceed with the project. So I decided that a blog would be the best way to get them the information complete and at the same time.

PAZMUN 2012 as we called it was a success due to all the organization team of students that decided to contribute with their information on the blog. I simply got them to learn how to upload the information and then they managed everything step by step.

www.pazmun2012.blogspot.com

The very next year at 2013, they took it for granted so I just had to creat the space and then teach some of the new team members how to upload the information and they began to do it themselves, showing that it was way easier to give away the information. Generations are now getting used to work on this terms since students form primary started to participate in the model, generations are getting the ideas way easier.

However and as part of the educational system I told them that Facebook Groups would be awesome to facilitate questions-answer about the different committies. They said it was a great idea, the only inconviniece here was that not all of them included the teacher in the group, as it was kind of invasive for them. Nevertheless the results were conclusive, communication strategies worked and the success and improvement of the model was massive.

www.pazmun2013.blogspot.com

I hope that this experience will endure some of you to work with the tools. Believe me they are great facilitators, just take them and they will show you how to improve your teaching in levels that you thought impossible.

Thank you for your time.