Do you know what bullying means? Have you ever noticed how much violence students experience in their schools? Have you ever realized if your siblings or any member of your family might be suffering this harassment? Moreover what would you do if in the future your son or daughter becomes victim of bullying or if he/she is a bully?

This semester I have had the opportunity to know in a better way a state school and learn about student’s behavior. One day, I went to a fifth elementary course and I saw a child constantly hitting his classmates, apparently he just couldn’t focus his attention on the teacher. He got very easily distracted and was not only rude on his way of acting, but also on his speaking. After class, I talked to him because I felt curiosity about his behavior. To be honest I was very impressed after hear him say “I need to hit people because I’m tense and angry all the time”, and then I asked him “Ok, and what are your tensions?” But he couldn’t answer. He also added that he won’t change the way he is because he actually likes it and is also a way to make his peers respect him.

Sometimes this aggressive behavior is due to some similar experiences of violence that he had to deal with in the past, or reflects an aggressive domestic abuse. Another factor could be the environment considering that children are overexposed to aggressiveness all the time through internet, video games and TV. Sometimes students think that they need to earn the respect of their classmates to feel confident with themselves. Whatever the reason is, children need the support of their schools if they don’t have it at home.

Obviously, bullying brings negative consequences for those students who react passively and are the victims of bullying. Aggressive people intimidate those students who are shy, and a direct consequence of this can be reflected on their marks. If we think for a moment, we can figure out that this is a kind of vicious circle in the way that attacked people do not participate in classes, so they’ll have many questions unresolved and with this they’ll get bad results on their tests.

After class I talked to some teachers to get their impressions about this kind of behavior, and I got the feeling that bullying is very common so they are use to it. Therefore, they won’t try to change it because they don’t have more expectations about their students, which is a very sad reality. In almost every school we can find a group of students who are called “trouble boys”, but are specially those ones who need more attention, help and motivation to learn and develop their skills hidden behind bad behavior.

In my opinion a possible solution to decrease these aggressive reactions is trying to pay more attention in what they need, what they have to say and what they want to do. It is in teachers, families and authorities hands to focus on this and try to implement new methodologies and resources to overcome the problem of violence.

Bullying has become a very usual concept for people. But it doesn’t mean that we have to get use to bullying as if it was something normal. Children are in their growing up process and they need a model to learn how to interact with their peers. They also need to learn how to solve their problems talking instead of fighting. So keep your eyes open and be aware of detecting any of these cases on time. Maybe you might have a strong impact in someone’s life!

Well, today I'm writing to express my gratitude to Miss LouAnne Johnson.
To tell the truth her book "Dangerous Minds" has been very helpful to me. I'm an English student, within two years I'll become an English teacher, and to be honest I think that you're never one hundred percent prepared for this profession.
Through this career we will face a lot of difficult situations, that will test our vocation. But now thanks to Miss J's book I have an idea about how to react in some of these conflict situations.
I must add that she is a strong woman, actually I'd love to have their mettle to face problems with students, co-workers, and all those situations that might discourage our work.
I think that Miss Johnson has been very generous to share her experience, specially for those of us who will become teachers in the future. In my reading I found a lot of things that I'll keep in my mind, because they seemed to me very clever. For example, the use of cognitive skills with students, the importance of teachers expectations, not be prejudiced with children's styles or ethnicity, motivation as one of the main elements in a classroom, in this way it'll be more active and dynamic with student's participation.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that thanks to this book I realized how difficult and at the same time rewarding can be the profession of a teacher.
At least to me this has been a very interesting book to read, and if you haven't done it yet, I cordially invite you to read it. You'll be pleasantly surprised!.

...And if you do not like it, then you can write a letter to the editor blaming me. I hope you do not have to... But for now enjoy reading.




06-11-09

Aries: Today you might have a very difficult day if it's your first day at school. Maintain a serious attitude with your students.

Taurus: You'll have problems with children. Ask to your co-workers for advice if you need it, can be very useful.

Gemini: Sometimes it is necessary to keep the distance with your students to establish clear rules.

Cancer: Despite the problems you have with some students, today you might see big rewards.

Leo: Sometimes you will need to feel the fire in your heart, and act with enthusiasm instead of falling into the system.

Virgo: You can't hide behind your desk, or your authority, or your education. Just trust your instincts

Libra: Be careful! Children meet the expectations of their teachers, however high or low.

Scorpio: Students tend to be unable to express their own ideas. Help them to develop their own opinions, to share them with other students. This will mean a lot for them.

Sagittarius: If a student falls asleep, a good punishment would be a kiss on the cheek with a thicker layer of red to your lips. That definitely works!

Capricorn: There is an excellent idea to send positive notes to the parents of your students, specially to "bad" kids because they need encouragement and self-confidence.

Aquarius: Don't let your students segregate themselves by ethnic groups or any kind. Be aware of discrimination! You have an important role as a teacher.

Pisces: Feel confidence in what you can achieve. Being a teacher means more than teaching a specific subject. You can also have a significant impact on your students lives!

Well, this beautiful picture was painting by Monet on 1879 and is called "Water - Lily Pond"
Monet became the most popular impressionist painter in the United States, and this is one of his most recognized works.
Some people can say that they don't like monet because his way of painting but I love it. I feel that looking his works you might find two perception of the same image.
If you look at it in distance you can perceive the whole sense of the picture and recognize water, trees, flowwers, details of light and shadow everything is in perfect harmony.
But on the other hand, if you look at it very close you can perceive the the mixture of colors, and the techniques that the author used with his strokes.

The reaon because I choose this picture is because it remains me a lot of places where I have been. It also inspired me a lot of quietness and peace, features that I love vey much.

I hope you like it as much as I do, and maybe you can look for some beautiful Monet paintigs.


02-10-09

My name is Claudia Márquez Arancibia, I was born on December 28th of 1987. I live with my parents and my only brother Diego, he is 16 si I’m the oldest one, anyway we get along really well.
Ap to the age of four my parents tried to take me to pre kinder but I was so spoiled that I couldn’t stand there more than two days.
One year later on 1992 it was compulsory so I went to kinder, and I continued there until 8th grade in the sam school.
When I was ten I become scout at the group ´´santa juana de arco`` and when I look back on that period I remember it as a beautiful one of my childhood. About one important issue of primary is that I meet a girl who become my best friend until nowdays. At the age of 14 I had to move from Highschool (Inco Blas Cañas), since my arrival I made really good and closed friends, we had a great time together.
At the same year I get into English course of two years in ´´American Language Institute``, this course was highly important to me because through this years I discovered how much I liked English.
In my final year from highschool I started playing drums at school. About five months later my mom had an accident so the rest of the year was really dificult for me and my family, the operatiopns where extremely expencive and we missed her a lot at home.
After leaving school in 2006 I worked three months doing my professional practice as Secretary, during this period I also studied in Preutech for the PSU.
That year I also meet my last boyfriend and started what has been my longest relationship, also I could finally had my own drum at home what makes me really happy.
The year 2007 I started my studies at Alberto Hurtado University in English Pedagogy and for some strange reason through this three years I’ve seen how less free time I have to enjoy with my closed friends, drowing, reading books, and simple things of life that I used to love so much.

15-09-09