First InGenious Competition for Schools: STEM

http://www.eun.org/

Are you a curious and innovative teacher? Have you creative students?  So InGenious is for you.

http://www.womenandtechnology.eu/

inGenious, the European platform in STEM education, is looking "for teachers from the European Union, FYROM, Switzerland and Turkey, and from all disciplines, to be rewarded."

You have some days left to enter the competition, 31 January 2014, by presenting activities you have implemented in your class to help pupils understand the role played by STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) in our lives and the career opportunities that STEM skills can open.

http://files.eun.org/

The inGenious competition aims to raise pupils’ awareness of STEM studies and careers, by exploring innovative sectors, breaking down stereotypes, addressing tomorrow's challenges, and understanding how we can make a difference. 

Where is is taking place:

This competition is for any and every motivated primary and secondary level teacher from either of the European member states, Israel and Turkey. 

What is it about: 

inGenious is looking for creative individuals that have a real passion to inspire and prepare students for innovative and highly recognized paths and careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.

Teachers are asked to help pupils find the link between their passions, such as mobile technologies, robotics or space exploration, and obtaining the necessary skills to reach career paths in these domains.

• Teach and inspire by conducting thought-provoking lessons, activities in class, takling issues around false stereotypes, understanding which skills lead to which opportunities, and talking about the many attractions towards high level STEM sector jobs;   
• Reach out and Discover by inviting experts, visiting a factory, testing industry practices, conducting role plays;
• Show and tell by creating high quality materials and resources that can be shared in classrooms across borders, make the experience fun and interactive.

"Explain what you have done, and why other colleagues from across Europe may find it useful and should apply it in their class, and get rewarded: you will be invited in Brussels for the European Award ceremony award and a science workshop."

The competition was launched in September 2013 and the deadline is 31 January 2014. 

Important information: 

Only activities conducted between this time-frame will be considered eligible. However, teachers will still be able to submit their entries throughout the month of February.

How to apply:

Visit Guidelines, Terms and Conditions here

Important: Download the inGenious Competition Guidelines

To submit your entries go on My Entries here

In My entries, you will be able to access a private area to manage the submission of your competition entries! 

If you are looking for inspiration, check the inGenious resources. And now watch the video Ignite your Future below:

Ignite Your Future is a video with supporting lesson plan series that challenges pupils directly to think about a future in a science related career. Ignite Your Future makes powerful connections between the innovations pupils enjoy, their school studies and STEM careers. 

Why participate?

There are many reasons to participate in the inGenious competition! 

• Earn the chance to be one of the 30 finalists to attend the Award Ceremony in Brussels 
• Earn the chance to win an invitation for the Science disseminators workshop
• Share and learn from like-minded teachers across Europe

Some thoughs:

I teach Humanities. And since 2000 I could understand the importance of technology in curricula. So I introduced ICT in my Languages lessons. It aimed to deliver high impact in building digital competences in Languages curricula. My students were very happy.

ICT enhanced learning in the classroom, formal education, and online, informal education.

It's interesting that I practiced flipped classroom on the time, but we didn't name it like this. After all pedagogy doesn't change so much, only the wordsto name it.

Now, we are talking a lot about STEM (technology, maths, science...) but the curricula students must take outside of the major, is still part of every degree. That we call General Education.

Students need Humanities as they need Arts in School Education. And of course STEM as well. Not only STEM.

The time is for STEM. However, Humanities, Arts and STEM must continue stand up together for a complete education.

" I may still have a conflict of interest in that I want my children and grandchildren and my students' children to get not simply a degree, but a basic and substantive education. They are growing fast, and this rehabilitation is long past due."

J. W. Powell

You are a STEM educator? Go on and show your creativity with your students and apply to InGenious competition!

G-Souto

24.01.2014
Copyright © 2014G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

First InGenious Competition for Schools: STEM by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Human Rights Day at school

20 Years Human Rights

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/

"As we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, let us intensify our efforts to fulfill our collective responsibility to promote and protect the rights and dignity of all people everywhere."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

The UN General Assembly proclaimed 10 December as Human Rights Day in 1950, to bring to the attention ‘of the peoples of the world’ the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.

http://www.ohchr.org/

In 2013, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights marks 20 years since its establishment.

The United Nations General Assembly created the mandate of High Commissioner for the promotion and protection of all human rights in December 1993. The General Assembly was acting on a recommendation from delegates to the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna earlier the same year.

http://en.unesco.org/

"To realise freedom and equality in dignity and rights for all women and men, we must do everything to support countries in meeting the Millennium Development Goals by 2015."

Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General

Theme:

This year’s theme will focus on "inclusion and the right to participation in public life."

"The open and global network offers you that chance to be a part of public matters and provides a platform for you to help influence the decisions that shape your communities. 

It has given a voice to the voiceless, pushed the boundaries of human innovation, built new communities, and helped them flourish in a way that was previously unimagined."

http://www.ihrb.org/

This year we have a chance to celebrate the Internet as a tool that’s helped enable universal rights such as freedom of opinion and expression, to peaceful assembly and association, and to take part in the conduct of public affairs (articles 19, 20 and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Photo: Li Qihua | Rex Features

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/

Education:

But nothing better to celebrate Human Rights Day than remember Nelson Mandela. UNESCO pay tribute to Nelson Mandela,  UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and his legacy here

"We give thanks for his life, his leadership, his devotion to humanity and humanitarian causes."

Nelson Mandela Foundation

Education should encompass values such as peace, non-discrimination, equality, justice, non-violence, tolerance and respect for human dignity. 

Quality education based on a human rights approach means that rights are implemented throughout the whole education system and in all learning environments.

All schools and other educational institutions make a special effort to inform children of their rights according to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Credits: OECD

http://i0.wp.com/

Teachers have a crucial role on the alert of poverty or child labour cases among their students.

In our days, teachers help students draw attention to situations like students living below poverty line in their own schools, or countries.

Let us draw inspiration from some good actions to strengthen respect for human rights to children and young people. 

Activities:

Please consult my post "Human Rights Day & New Generations" here

Children's Rights

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/

The United Nations Human Rights office is organizing a Google+ Hangout on the 12th December, at 4:00pm until 4:30pm in UTC+01 to discuss child rights, access to justice for children and the new Optional Protocol to the Convention on the rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure. 

The Google+ Hangout will be moderated by James Heenan, the Chief of the Human Rights Treaties Division at the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR).

Participants will include Anita Goh, Advocacy Officer at Child Rights Connect, Olga A. Khazova, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and Hatem Kotrane, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Take part in the conversation via:

• Twitter

• Google+ 

• Facebook

Send your questions to the participants using hashtag #Justice4Kids.

"Nelson Mandela changed the world and made it a better place. He taught us all a lesson on the power of peace and  reconciliation;  the importance of forgiveness and respect for the dignity of each and every human being."

Irina Bokova, tribute

G-Souto

10.12.2013

Copyright © 2013G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Human Rights Day at school by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Google Contest for Young Inventive Scientists

Google Science Fair 2013

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/

"We're looking for the next generation of scientists and engineers. We're looking for ideas that will change the world."

Google

Today's, January 30th, Google Science Fair 2013 has launched online! The competition is focused on finding the brightest and most revolutionary teenagers. 

Google Science Fair is an international, online science and technology competition that encourages the next generation to be curious, ask questions, and perform science experiments to change the world.

In partnership with CERN, the Lego Group, National Geographic, and Scientific American, Google invites the students from around the world to post their science projects online so that they may compete for prizes, scholarships, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. 

Students have some time to register and submitt in-depth investigation of a question or engineering problem, using a sound scientific method or engineering process.

They can register through the Google Science Fair website, although they will also need the consent of a guardian (parents or guardians).

Education:

Teachers can play a crucial role as mentors and partners to young scientists, offering practical advice on their projects, but also inspiring them on their journeys of exploration and discovery.

As educators, we know how curious and creative are our students. So let us involved and start to work on it on our lessons. 

Ages: 13 to 18

Let's tell our students about the competition, and encourage them to enter a project. They can be inspired visiting Google Science Fair website and Google Science Fair on Google +

Google present some good ideas to offer support to our students:

• Sharing biographies of young scientific innovators throughout history. For example Marie Curie, Jules Verne (writer, a true inventor and visionary in his time);

• Checking stories out of sicence heroes who changed the world at at young age here; Ada Lovelace is among these stories. Girls in Science, remember?
• 
  
• Watching videos from the previous competions here;

• Reminding students to get permission to participate from their parents or guardians;

• Guiding them through using scientific method to talk through and implement their ideas;

• Helping them find information and any specialized equipment they might need. Visit Student Resources here;

• Checking in regularly to make sure they're on track to meet the submission deadline (no procrastinating!). Visit Experiment Guidelines (what to and what to avoid) here;

You can help keep sutdents on track as they work on their projects by sending them to the Student Pack: a self-help guide that offers explanations of science terms (like hypothesis and variables), and some practice questions so they can work through important concepts and then check their answers at the end.

The youngest must have some tutoring on Student Pack.

If you need some guidelines, there are lesson plans that you can use to get your students started, and tips on getting them involved - and excited.

Parents also have a section help on the website here.

Deadline: April 30, 2013

In June, Google will select 90 regional finalists (30 from North and South America, 30 from Asia, and 30 from Europe/Africa). Out of those 90, 15 will emerge as finalists and will be jetted to Google HQ in Mountain View.

On September 23rd, a panel of judges will pick the winners (one in each age category) and an overall Grand Prize winner.

The best submission will be awarded the grand prize, which includes a 10 day trip to the Galapagos Islands - Wow! - courtesy of National Geographic Expeditions.

Now, watch this increadible idea on the video below. At the age of 14, Jonah Kohn has made great progress in helping the hearing impaired experience music through his passion for Music. Beautiful!

Jonah was the winner of the 13-14 age group in the "2012 Google Science" for his project. 

Some conclusions:

Promoting the science interchange between young scientists and guiding them to a better world is a powerful learning strategy.

Contests are always important activities to include at the curriculum. Students are encouraged to demonstrate the inner creativity to develop their competences as innovators.

Of course an internationqal contest, in this case a world contest, is an opportunity for the young students to exchange new ideas, share common interests and gain experience from an event which involves some many teenagers scientists. 

"The great benefit of science is that it can make a tremendous contribution to the alleviation of suffering on a physical level, but it is only by cultivating the qualities of the human heart."

Dalai Lama

" It's your turn to change the world. Make sure you register."

G-Souto

30.01.2013

copyright © 2013G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com 

Google Contest for Young Inventive Scientists by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Credits: videos | image Google

September rund down of the most-read posts

I love September! Quiet days, stress days!  Autumn is there, so quiet! Nice days. School season is back! And so, stress days! 

The bell of the school year is ringing again. The first days or first week were a bit difficult. For both sides. Educators, whether it's first year at school or not, starting school back up can get a little nerve racking. 

Students had to adapt to different learning rhythms. A new school year! A new grade for the most part of them. So, new teachers, new students, new curriculum.

After a long and leisurely summer, some students need extra boost or motivation toget amped about school.

Summer learning loss is real. But not catastrophic! Students needed to relax after ten months of school time. 

I'm guessing some students "were dragging their feet to hop back on the learning wagon."  But nothing that a motivated teacher could not, isn't that so? 

We know how to put students again on learning. In a creative environment - yes the school is not confined to some walls - we empower students to learn independently in areas of interests and talents on formal and informal learning.

www.google.com/

" Your teacher can open the door, but you must enter by yourself"

Chinese proverb

The quote identifies the way I always teach and the values of my pedagogical proposals introduced to my students in school curricula and shared with you throughout the years on this blog. 

I believe and practice the differentiation as a value too by focusing on individual identity of my students. They are free to be creative by discovering, learning, discussing. And I am there as a facilitator or a tutor, sometimes as e-tutor, just the sufficient to let them comfortable in their learning. I wrote about it on the differentt posts of my blog.

The classroom is an open window to the world. Students must feel free to talk  and share ideas about all the subjects they care about, in and around every curriculum.

September rundown shows the diversity of subjects and some of my values  in teaching, and summarize the most-read topics, this time, in a collection of five posts and not six, not to be too long. 

As you already know I write in English, French, and Portuguese, on my blog:

Oh! La rentrée! Oui, je le sais bien! Pour les enfants et ados en France, la rentrée, c'est mardi, le 4 septembre. Mais les enseignants français font leur rentrée ce lundi, soit 24 heures avant les élèves. 

Bien sûr on n'a pas eu deux mois de vacances. On travaille, même en vacances, en préparant les cours pour la rentrée.

Mais la rentrée scolaire 2012 s'annonce pleine de changements. Réforme des rythmes scolaires, scolarisation des enfants de moins de 3 ans encouragée, allocation de rentrée revalorisée. 

http://nspt4kids.com/

Les cartables des écoliers ne sont plus ce qu’ils étaient. La tablette remplace souvent (oh! les chanceux!) les livres, les cahiers, les manuels, le journal de classe et les classeurs. Les enseignants ont évolué! Ils ont bien compris que les enfants, et les adolescents dominent les technologies dans leur vie hors école (ipads, portables, smartphones). Alors, à vous de faire avancer le numérique éducatif.

Montrer que tous ces outils sont bienvenus à l'école, collège ou lycée, et qu'on peut apprendre enormément à l'aide de toute cette parafralie techonologique est le rôle de l'enseignant du 21ème siècle. 

Vous vous rendez compte? On a la chance, nous, avec toute la nouvelle technologie, et les apps pédagogiques, les jeux pour apprendre à lire, à compter.

http://www.livrariapoetria.com/

Foram muitas as gerações que leram comigo Saramago! Do ensino médio ao secundário, passando pelo ensino vocacional. Lemos por missão, lemos por prazer. A isso juntámos a admiração, mais tarde, quando foi laureado com o Prémio Nobel da Literatura em 1998.

"Começar a ler foi para mim como entrar num bosque pela primeira vez e encontrar-me, de repente, com todas as árvores, todas as flores, todos os pássaros. Quando fazes isso, o que te deslumbra é o conjunto. Não dizes: gosto desta árvore mais que das outras. Não, cada livro em que entrava, tomava-o como algo único."

José Saramago

"Contributo maior para o conhecimento do Oriente escrito por uma das personalidades de aventureiro mais interessantes do século XVI, a Peregrinação é seguramente a mais conhecida e estimada obra portuguesa de literatura de viagens de todos os tempos e o primeiro testemunho directo de um europeu sobre o Japão."

Documentário Fernão Mendes Pinto: Uma vida em Peregrinação from Nuno Neves on Vimeo.

Este documentário realizado em 2007 para a inauguração do Museu do Oriente pode valorizar imenso a leitura de uma obra que não é muito acessível às novas gerações.

Concordo em tudo com as palavras de Vasco Graça Moura quando afirma que os jovens demonstram um crescente desinteresse pelos clássicos da literatura portuguesa.

É certo que uma geração nascida na era digital, tudo o que se associe mais rapidamente aos 'sreen-touch' é bem apetecível. Mas os ensinamentos que advêm destas obras são importantes para transmitir aos estudantes a verdadeira dimensão da história e da cultura e podem ser leccionados via digital

Os Lusíadas para gente nova

Vasco Graça Moura | Gradiva

http://www.gradiva.pt/

"Para o fazer, Camões usou a oitava / Que é feita de oito versos a rimar. / Até ao sexto as rimas alternava, / Nos dois finais a rima vai a par. / Com oitavas assim, organizava / Essa história que tinha de contar / Em cantos que são dez e a nós, ao lê-los, / Espanta como pôde ele escrevê-los." 

Vasco Graça Moura, Os Lusíada para gente nova, Introdução

"Os Lusíadas para gente nova" da autoria de Vasco Graça Moura, 440 anos depois da primeira publicação de "Os Lusíadas", é a simplificação poética desta enorme obra  da literatura portuguesa para as gerações mais jovens. 

"Lusíadas para gente nova" é uma adaptação inovadora da epopeia camoniana, que tenta tornar mais simples a leitura da obra por parte dos mais novos e que tem o apoio do Plano Nacional de Leitura.

Grupo Lobo

http://lobo.fc.ul.pt/

If you a are a good reader of my blog, you already know that I am a huge fan of Environmental Education in school curriuculum. Not as a specific curriculum, but as a cross-curricula. I  share the same ideal about IT. 

Environmental education must start in early years in school. Environmental education is not only talking and learning about climate changes. 

Environmental education is about help endangered species, teaching solidarity with animals, learning to protect animals and helping injured or disabled animals.

Grupo Lobo, the responsible for the IWRC, is an independent non-profit NGO founded in 1985. Grupo Lobo works to conserve the Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) and its habitat in Portugal, where the wolf population has been declining for many decades. 

 Don't let our wolves become homeless from Grupo Lobo on Vimeo.

In 1987, Grupo Lobo created the Iberian Wolf Recovery Center (IWRC), aiming to provide a suitable environment for wolves that cannot live in the wild – giving wolves that have been rescued from inappropriate captivity, or are injured or disabled, a safe and secure sanctuary. 

In 2007, in Languages curriculum, my students were involved in a competition (essay and design) opened to schols by Grupo Lobo that had the aim of demystifying  the wrong ideas about wolves. 

Students were very enthousiastic about the contest and they won three 3rd prize. Two students have been invited to visit the IWRC with their families and they really enjoyed.

Grupo Lobo | Environmental education

Schools

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net

Visiting natural centers is the best way to have a practical lesson about Environment and Endangered Species. 

We had some good experiences in school. Of course this is something we must prepare carefully. But the final result is awesome.

Watch this video (student work from Arts Education) in Portuguese language.

Teaching our students about the world around them, giving them an appreciation for Nature and wild animals in environmental centers that are protecting endangered species.

http://www.coe.int/

"Europe is rich in languages – there are over 200 European languages in daily use and many other languages are spoken by citizens whose family origins are in other continents. 

Respect for cultural and linguistic diversity and support for language learning are at the core of the work of the Council of Europe."

Snežana Samardžić-Marković
Director General of Democracy of the Council of Europe

Let's Celebrate the European Day of Languages. Yes! Students like to communicate and interact with other students from European schools and countries, So, they can get a taste of the various languages of Europe. 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/

In French and Portuguese curriculum, my students had wonderful exchanges with students from several European schools from Austria, Romania, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, France - by email or/and by letters - and a Comenius school exchange project with Holland. Read some impressions about this last one.

Blogs are an interesting activity to introduce ICT in Languages curriculum (mother language or/and foreign languages)

http://edl.ecml.at/

In 2005, a group of students aged 10-13 started a blog as an acitvity of European Day of Languages.

Dia Europeu das Línguas 2005 was the first project ICT & Languages in secondary education.

By groups, they chose a country and elaborated a post where it should appear  the word "Hello" (translated), the flag and a tradition. You can watch here (France) for example, but feel free to watch other ten countries in different posts.

Among the students, there was some students with special needs, and they really were well integrated in the activities.

In 2005, another group of students, aged 10-13 too, started a blog in French / Portuguese with a French school as an European project for Languages.

http://nei2012.eu/

E eis-nos de novo a festejar A Noite Europeia dos Investigadores. A NEI é um evento europeu que permite a cientistas e público em geral conviverem num ambiente descontraído. 

A troca de ideias e experiências que a NEI proporciona pretende contribuir para a construção de uma imagem saudável dos investigadores junto do público e demonstrar que, afinal, a ciência não é tão complicada nem tão distante quanto se julga. 

A extensa programação nacional tem como objectivo mostrar ao público que os cientistas são pessoas comuns mas com trabalhos extraordinários.

A NEI 2012 celebra o 100º aniversário da participação portuguesa no Jogos Olímpicos, as várias competições desportivas internacionais onde o país participa e a importância do desporto para a qualidade de vida.

Assim, a NEI dedica a edição 2012 à relação entre Desporto e Ciência:  "Exploring science through fun learning"

And today we are celebrating a special night! Yes, the Researchers' Night 2012. 

The Researchers' Night is an event bringing together the public at large and researchers. It occurs annually on the fourth Friday of September, the 28th, all over Europe. 

Its main objective is to reveal scientists and science in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. 

The Researchers' Night offers the opportunity to discover research facilities that are usually not open to public such as:

• laboratories; 
• research centres;
• museum collections;

Families and schools can use the most recent technologies and instruments with the guidance of scientists, participate in experiments, competitions and quizzes, watch demonstrations and simulations, exchange ideas and party with the researchers.

http://ec.europa.eu/

Exciting, isn't it? More exciting if your students can use:

Mobile devices & social media:

Of course tablets and smartphones are allowed and are great tools (no more paper notebooks) to capture the most important moments of the night and to discuss next week in the classroom.

Social networks as Facebook profiles from a lot of European schools or Twitter profiles linked to Researchers' Night 2012 will be a good resource to contact other schools and share experiences.

I really hope that you will enjoy every pedagogical proposal written in September or will discover some new pedagogical ideas to introduce in your lessons.

I thank you very much to all the colleagues from around the world that kindly read my blog.

"Education is the proper way to promote compassion and tolerance in society.(...) Education, however, is the instrument that increases our ability to employ our own intelligence."

Dalai Lama

G-Souto

08.10.2012

copyright © 2012G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com

September rund down of the most-read posts by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.