My thoughts about Education Humanities, Technology and Digital Culture. Interested on social media tools in educational contexts and
gamification in education.
April 22 marks the anniversary of the modern environmental movement in the 1970's start.
The first official Earth Day was held in 1970, and the meaning behind it has remained unchanged. The holiday is meant to give support and raise awareness for environmental protection initiatives from around the world.
credits: USATODAY News
Theme 2023:
"Invest in Our Planet."
Similar to last year, Earth Day 2023 focuses on the need to Invest in Our Planet. This can be done through many initiatives, such as planting trees, voting, participating in cleanups, ending plastic consumption, practicing climate literacy and consuming sustainable fashion.
Earth Day believes in the possibility of a sustainable future and they're working hard towards educating kids, community members, and policymakers on how to achieve just that.
"We believe in clean energy, healthy food, and sustainable land stewardship. We believe in keeping the soils beneath solar panels healthy and productive for generations to come. And we believe all of this is possible."
Earth Day
Let us join in creating a more sustainable future for us all by taking care of the only earth we have this Earth Day.
As depicted today’s Doodle (which is made from real leaves) there’s a spectrum of actions we can take in our day-to-day that can add up to make a real difference. This includes:
at home: opting to air dry laundry instead of using the dryer
how/what we consume: practicing a plant-based diet or opting for plant-based options when possible
how we get around: walking or riding a bike instead of driving, when possible
On April 22nd, Earth Day will arrive! Earth Day 2023 begins on April 22nd. This year, it falls on a Friday, making it perfect for fun Earth Day activities at school.
Try out a theme: Go outside! Put on some sunscreen, lace up your tennis shoes, it is time to work outside. If possible, work from the backyard, patio of your school, from a balcony, or anywhere if you have no school you might live that lets you enjoy some fresh air for Earth Day.
He Great Global Cleanup® is a worldwide campaign to remove billions of pieces of trash from neighborhoods, beaches, rivers, lakes, trails, and parks - reducing waste and plastic pollution, improving habitats, and preventing harm to wildlife and humans.
Join in the Urgent Fight for Climate Literacy: The time is now to create a generation of citizens, now students, ready for climate change. We need public understanding of how to stop climate change and environmental harm.
Take a quiz: How much do you know about Earth literacy?
Looking back 2022 I've come up with a roundup of what's been the best posts of my blog The Digital Teacher G-Souto, semester #2.
2023 is the European Year of Skills. The European Year of Skills will give a fresh impetus to lifelong learning, empowering people and companies to contribute to the green and digital transitions, supporting innovation and competitiveness.
The event will be held in English. All project results and outputs are also available in : German, Dutch, Italian and Romanian, and thus directly applicable in the context of teaching and youth work in different countries.
An interactive panel will discuss early orientation and life skills in Europe.
You will learn how to use all of the materials and tools and how to adapt them for your own purposes in the classroom or in youth work.
You will also have the opportunity to speak with colleagues and learn from the experiences of experts.
I'm sure all the teachers will participate to promote a mindset of reskilling and upskilling, heling their students to get the right skills for quality jobs
Looking back the roundup 2022 I've come up with what's been the best posts of #semester2 of my blog The Digital Teacher G-Souto. The selection is based on page views but also based on pedagogical relevance of the most-read posts.
As you know I write in English, Portuguese and French.
For the first time after years of adaptions, Guillermo del Toro told us the real story written by Carlo Collodi. So as I wrote before, teachers must pay attention to little kids.
“Animation is not a genre for kids, it’s a medium.”
The film is not similar to the traditional Disney story. It's different. It's the real story! Some scenes can shock kids. Guillermo del Toro’s eye for scene design coupled with his attention to detail that makes stop-motion filmmaking so palpably engaging and visually appealing, someone wrote.
Holiday season is near. Easter is next 9 April. Spring time will help kids and families who will enjoy the traditional host of Easter egg hunts outdoor across the world.
Hoping to have inspired you someway in your lessons all over the last year. Blog resumes as normal next week.
Not every day do you come downstairs and discover that your son is a gifted pianist, right?!
Jude Kofie, 11, surprised his father one morning by playing the keyboards as if he had taken lessons for years.
"I was here watching the news when I heard him play something,"
Isaiah Kofie, Jude's father
Jude Kofie & Bill Magnusson
credits: CBS News
Jude Kofie, an 11-year-old autistic child from Aurora, Colorado (US) with a natural affinity for music, couldn’t believe it when a grand piano was delivered to his house. Wow! Neither could his parents.
Jude demonstrated a remarkable talent no one anticipated when he discovered an old keyboard and, without any lessons, began playing.
The piano was a gift from Bill Magnusson, a piano tuner who had seen a report about Jude on the news.
"He’s Mozart level," Magnusson said.
Jude Kofie playing the piano at home
credits: CBS News
After being moved by Jude’s story, Magnusson said he thought to himself, "What resources are left over to help this special little soul?"
He then used his father’s inheritance to purchase the piano and had it delivered to the family’s home. He also promised to tune the piano once a month for the rest of his life and pay for Jude to get professional lessons. I'm so touched! What a kind man!
"All for free - who does that?" - the boy’s father said. And he add that the family is "super thankful."
"We’re family now," - added Magnusson.
Watch the heartwarming story below.
Education:
Music has the potential to achieve social and psychological transformation of children and young people. Their sensibility will be accurate.
As I often wrote speaking about music, there some gifted kids we can discover in our classes. We must never waste such an opportunity as teachers! Captivating the major interests of our students to Music.
See? If you have a little student as talented as Jude Kofie, pay attention! Not every day we can have a Bill Magnusson near him. But perhaps talking with his/her parents about the gift of their son/daughter have to music. they could afford a musical education to their kids. There you have the chance to guide a little bit a new kid to join the next generation of good musicians.
Wherever you are I hope that you're having a safe time at school teaching in-person lessons. I hope you don't need anymore to teach distance learning. After tremendous floods on the block, the sun will be back soon!
Take care. Enjoy your life and profession. We are teachers for better and for worst. Students need teachers and now they do love school time after two years on remote learning and distance learning.
"Animation is cinema. It's not a genre for kids. It's a medium,"
Guillermo Del Toro, in Golden Globes 2023
And the Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro who reinvented the classic tale Pinocchio the wooden marionette who is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto take the Golden Globe for best animated motion picturea first in the category for a streaming serviceduring last night’s ceremony.
Del Toro in his speech saluted the work of the crew and cast saying:
"We gave life and beauty and truth to a tale about life, loss and belonging.”
As I wrote, animated movies are excellent educational digital resources to motivate and inspire your students to read and breathe new life into your curriculum!
However, as Del Toro said, "animation is not a gender for kids, it's a medium", teachers decide carefullywhich students or level they are teaching. And pay attention to age.
Hopping you would like to review my publications of November and will continue to follow me on my blog or on may page on Facebook.
Wherever you are I hope that you're having a safe time at school in-person lessons. Perhaps you don't need to teach on remote learning. After tremendous floods on the block, the sun is back for some days?!
Take care. Enjoy your life and profession. We are teachers for better and for worst. Students need teachers and now they do love school time after so two years of Covid-19.
