Sorry ... but not so sorry #intelligencing March 2017

First entry of the month and yet it happens to be the very last day of it. I am sorry for that - I thought I was going to start apologising- but then I reconsider my thought and came up with: really? I am not so sorry for many different reason that I am sharing with you, dear reader in the following lines.

1. February was comprehensively heavy in seminars/facilitation/training sessions for me, I was fully booked ... emphasis on fully. In my country, January and February are school holidays and hence time for teachers to brush up on their skills ie. work and tons of it.

2. As a consequence I had to have a time to reflect on all those amazing experiences (coming back and reading my BuJo on multiple occasions plus my journal), looking at pictures and videos (as I gathered shots taken from 4 different devices and put them into files in order to create my beloved online photo albums), but also e-mailing and answering back those participants who contacted me right after.
Not enough emphasis one can ever place on thinking critically about our own work, looking back and analysing ... reflecting and intelligencing.

3. To be fair, it was quite a lot to take in. During a month I was in touch with such a variety of human beings with unique teaching styles and challenges. May we take a moment to stress that very last word ... Total respect!
In my role as advisor/mentor/coach, I am used to deal with CTPS complex models, so I was in my element: need to say that this is one of the stages I do certainly enjoy the most.

4. My own international yearly validation for a job I carry out (on a part-time basis) was due, so that meant reading many documents (which I love) ... the latter is utterly true, I am always reading way more than one book/manual/thesis/report/posts/blogs even news just for the sake of reading, you name it. In the end, it was all good, so hurray for me. So immediately after my results I was given two gigs in a row.

5. This has been the month that I have used to the best of my abilities to get ready for a Masters of Arts I have just started, from application, registration, documentation completion, translation of certificates/diplomas/others ... and so on and so forth ie. endless exciting events happening that also included 4 pre-Day1 lectures.

Last but most definitely NOT least: Volunteering has been very very very top of my agenda, even travelling using my "miles" to get plane tickets.
Dear reader: climate change is very real. The weather has hot intensively some parts of my country. Unlike an earthquake that is localised, this natural event called "Fenómeno del Niño" happened throughout the north coast and even in parts of Lima, our capital city with devastating results.
What have I learnt?
Our people are greater than the nation's problems ... this has been proven once again. But there is still lots to do. Step by step though.

What's ahead in less than 24 hours?

Most exciting things indeed. Not only IATEFL starts on Monday ... yippy!
... but also we get back on the road with a talk that I have been programmed to give tomorrow (yes! on April's fool dear reader)

What is it about? ... a reflective session for our ELT community while breaking paradigms to achieve best results possible.
and how ...?

—re-thinking our IMPACT

—QUALITY of our current lessons

—looking for an educational change

—WHEN?  Today

—WHY? Because THAT is what makes the Future

—focusing on our attitude 

—Check list:

—English knowledge

—Ability to communicate so our learners “get it”

—Experience (varies)

—Weltanschauung

 Therefore, after sharing an insight of this ending month:

... yes, I am sorry but because I have missed writing

... but nor so sorry because all the above. 

Does that make sense dear reader?

Plan, Train, Reflect & repeat it all over again ... #CoreSkills4all

It has been a very intense couple of days dear reader, most of the time planning, training and reflecting which is the basis of my life as a #CoreSkills Trainers' Trainer and Trainer.

This time we are in Mexico once again, our 4th time in this stunning country with beautifully friendly people. On this opportunity I am not in the northern city of Hermosillo but in the very heart of Jalisco, in Guadalajara, with a group of 40 Educational Leaders of this State.

Our module this time is Communication and Collaboration and I could not feel happier with results so far, moreover, one feels
* hype, overwhelmed & self-motivated,
* gratefulness for group's human warmth
* one takes best of memories & Reflects (pivotal) / which is what we have been doing since 4.30 a,m,

In the end, and as I see it, Core Skills Training is all about:
(1) Sharing the brilliant materials British Council in partnership with Imagine Education have created for this purpose ...
but also and most importantly
(2) Giving TOOLS as personalised as possible to make this happen inside classrooms.
Hence, demo and modelling are critical at this stage and throughout training, as it is our style of faciliting these sessions that are embedding every Core Skill.

As we say, it is not about changing School Curricula but to adapt them in our every day ... and dear readers: Yes it works!

Which is -as we see it though- the critical point and where it seems to us, something more can/should/ought to be done?
We are thinking "Follow up" to accurately measure Impact.

For that, we believe Trainers are to be reachable and present for participants. It is like the customer service platform, this is not a one-way lecture or speech, by definition is collaborative and participative, based on the idea that things can be achieved more easily if everyone works together, being involved and committed to spread the word while making it happen ... #CoreSkills4all

As we are just about to finish the first month of 2017 #CoreSkills4all

Started this journey back in March last year when sent to KL, Malaysia to be a validated BC regional leadership and teacher trainer ... could not be happier as this is a journey I am passionate about following: I am convinced Core Skills are pivotal for our education systems.

What I take with me is an amazing experience -wherever I may be- ... it is about sharing and specially getting the tools to make a difference, to look for an impact to transform or modify/adapt teaching experiences in the classrooms, aiming for our students/pupils/learners to look ahead for a brighter future using core skills intuitively.

#CoreSkills4all


http://www.smilebox.com/playBlog/4e4455774e444d7a4f546b3d0d0a&blogview=true

The importance of #Education, #intelligence & #character / MLK

 On our Twitter account, we wrote yesterday

"Dear #teachers: a quote that is self-explanatory #foodforthought #CoreSkills4all #education #intelligence #goals"

And we honestly thought it was as straight forward as we read it, and yet, just in case we would like to say that yesterday was Martin Luther King Day, a fine opportunity to reflect on this great man's legacy ... pretty inspirational indeed.

What he said, is as valid and true as ever!

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically."

"Intelligence plus character - THAT is the goal of true education"

We can all do our bit, from wherever we are dear reader, it is just a matter of commitment ... are we ready to take upon the challenge?

#SustainableDevelopmentGoals

Intelligencing on a Sunday Morning #Citizenship & a shout out to #SDGs

Getting ready for training in Mexico, one more time and thinking about Citizenship understood as:
(1) Status> rights & duties
(2) Feeling> identity & belonging
(3) Practise> making a difference

... a concept that is understood as a National, Regional, Local and in our own communities but also bearing in mind that we are living in a globalised world, and thanks to technology, we are closer and closer, recognising our connections.

So, one of the activities I was checking, requested us thinking ahead, an imagining our world in 2030.

It hit me, and clicked on the World We Want 2030 (previously known as Beyond 2015 and The World We Want 2015)... found out it is now called "Deliver 2030".
Loved it from the beginning! It is not only a wish now, as in what we want, but defines steps towards achieving those goals ... how to deliver.

Sometimes, a little change in the wording can transmit ever so much. #FoodForThought.
I am a true believer in Mini-Revolutions, and the impact it does have.

Well done indeed! SDG all the way! (Sustainable Development Goals(
... and us, dear readers? Which are our 3 steps towards becoming a better person and influencing in the ones around us?
#WeCanDoThis

To whoever classified "reading & writing" as Hard Skills ... well done

Earlier today I was placing some documents away while doing some sorting in my studio. So checking some draft paper, I came across an A4 paper which read the following:

Soft Skills
- Communication
- Interpersonal
- Social Skills
- Team work

Hard Skills
- Reading
- Writing

Now, to be utterly honest, to the present time, as I am typing these lines, I have no clue whatsoever about the identity of the person/people/group who wrote in my last week workshop,

So decided to Google to verify if that was what they actually did ... mind you, absolutely nothing wrong with it, as he/she/they was/were using technology available to find out more about a proposed subject.

First line from "Investopedia" -- in Chrome

"Hard skills are specific, teachable abilities that can be defined and measured, such as typing, writing, math, reading and the ability to use software programs. By contrast, soft skills are less tangible and harder to quantify, such as etiquette, getting along with others, listening and engaging in small talk. In business, hard skills most often refer to accounting and financial modeling."
So, if that paper came from "you" dear reader, just to acknowledge I still had it until today, and that you were on the right track ... so Thank you for being there!

Inspirational Quotes by Gilbert Highet ... defining #CoreSkills

By far, my #GoTo educational Top 2 quotes have to be ...

"Wherever there are beginners and experts, old and young, there is some kind of learning going on, some kind of teaching. We are all pupils and we are all teachers."

"The mind never need stop growing. Indeed, one of the few experiences which never pall is the experience of watching one's own mind and how it produces new interests, responds to new stimuli, and develops new thoughts, apparently without effort and almost independently of one's own conscious control."

Not surpringsingly both from Gilbert Highet, The Art of Teaching.

And somehow these deep thoughts can easily define Core Skills as pivotal to our teaching/learning processes.

Those are mine, dear reader, what about yours?