Skip to main content

#30GoalsEdu Goal:Explore a Past Reflection

I have been working as an EFL teacher in the public sector for about ten years. I never really taught exactly what I had to teach-that is, the books set by the Ministry-I always liked to supplement them with materials of my own. And still that was not enough. There was constantly this feeling of inadequacy in me. I thought that to have the privilege to be around children every day and just teach them the language was not enough. I had to change something.

 I gave it a lot of thought till I decided that I wanted to teach my students the same things I teach my children. I didn't want to give them solely knowledge. I wanted to teach them values, I wanted to raise their environmental awareness, I wanted to teach them about Human Rights, about Citizenship and Digital Citizenship, about bullying and racism and stereotypes. And many more...

So a couple of years ago, I started having these "special days". A day raising awareness against bullying, a day raising awareness against racism, a day dedicated to environmental awareness, a day about how to use the Internet safely. And every year I try to add days.This year we have dedicated some time on Human Rights and Children Rights and Refugees, working on our project for Teachers4Europe 2016. We have also completed a programme with the British Council on Life Skills, and worked on themes such as citizenship, values, streotypes. Next year I am planning to add a day dedicated on HateSpeech as well.

 And I know now that you can find different ways to teach a language.One of them is to think first as an educator and then as a language teacher. This is what I have chosen to do.

This is my past reflection-about a year ago.

Raising awareness in the English classroom


Comments

  1. Anthi HarouJuly 8, 2016 at 4:54 PM

    Wonderful ideas, Maria!Teaching values should be of primary importance in all school contexts!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maria VlachopoulouNovember 12, 2016 at 6:04 PM

      Thank you so much, Anthi! I believe this with all my heart this is why I am fighting for it!

      Delete
  2. UnknownJuly 8, 2016 at 9:07 PM

    Congratulations!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJuly 18, 2016 at 11:31 PM

    Great reflection! Thank you for sharing. I love your raising awareness days!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maria VlachopoulouNovember 12, 2016 at 6:06 PM

      Thank you so much, Shelly, for all the support and inspiration!

      Delete
  4. DimgkNovember 23, 2016 at 11:05 AM

    Congratulations, Maria!!! Wonderful ideas!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DimgkNovember 23, 2016 at 11:07 AM

      Dimgk=Dimitra Gkouli...Maria, i love your work!!!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Universal Children's Day, 20 November-Ideas to celebrate the day with your students

"November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child...Since 1990, Universal Children's Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the declaration and the convention on children's rights...This year the world is going blue! We're asking individuals, schools and corporates worldwide to go blue to help build a world where every child is in school, safe from harm and can fulfil their potential, and we know you do too. Going blue activities include: sharing our promo video for Children's day, signing the global petition and going blue in support of children's rights in social media and much, much more." (Source:  http://www.un.org/en/events/childrenday/ ) Watch Unicef's promo video featuring actress Millie Bobby Br...
2 comments
Read more

Teachers4Europe 2016, Human Rights-Refugee Rights-Solidarity: A collection of poems written for the refugees

During school year 2016, Grade 5 (E2) of the 1st Primary School of Amyntaio, Greece worked on the theme of Human Rights and Refugees Rights within the frame of our project for TEACHERS4EUROPE 2016. At the beginning of the activity students read a poem written by a student  from Canada who won the first prize in 2010 in the first Refugees and Human Rights Child and Youth Poetry Contest, organised by the UNHCR Toronto Office and COSTI Immigrant Services in commemoration of World Refugee Day, June 20. The title of the poem is "I am". The student describes how he thinks being a refugee may feel. In spite of being only 12 years old the student uses very strong images of torture, death,slavery, war, sorrow, despair, lonelinessin the poem. We tried to discuss the meaning of the poem and the feelings it evoked. I have to admit it touched them a lot. Then the students were asked to compose their own poems based on some phrases taken from the poem such as, I am..., I am looking ...
4 comments
Read more