Attention to diversity: designing a collaborative activity

This project was based in developing a collaborative activity in order to make the rest of the class understand and learn the topic the teacher gave to each of the groups, based on the common topic "attention to diversity" (the principle which should rule the whole education). Our item was "Support Measures for learners in Early Childhood and School Education", so in order to prepare the one hour session we searched for information on internet, and once we had it, we started thinking how could we presented it to the rest of the class in an active, dynamic and effective way, something that (at least for us) is not easy.

Finally we decided the following procedure: first, we made a very short prezi presentation in order to introduce the topic and later we did a kind of game or quiz. For this "game" we separated the class into two groups, and within this two groups we made groups of three people. It consisted on every three people group of one part of the class making questions to the other groups of the other part of the class (and vice versa), in order to get points answering the questions right (they were helped to do the questions by a sheet we elaborate and gave them with a summary of the topic). The last activity of our lesson consisted on presenting the whole class some cases and ask them, applying what they have learned with the other two activities, how they would treat them. Some of this cases were:

-Maria is 8 years old and has got the Aspergen Sindrome, she has got difficulties making friends.

-Félix parents can not take him to school because they have to work when it starts.

-Mike’s parents have discussions frequently and her sister plays the fagot, so he can not bring his homework on time.

 

I think this project was very interesting. Mainly because it requires from us some imagination for developing our session, something that we will need in our future career and that is not easy (at least for me) so needs practice, and for what is also useful seeing what have occurred to other groups, from which we can learn other methodologies and ideas (the memory game, the "races", the quiz...). I think we did it well and that it was also useful for the rest of our peers.

 

 

 

Group of experts

The aim of this activity was to focus what we have learned in general about school guidance and counselling in the Spanish context. In order to do this, the teacher decided to use a collaborative methodology, through which a group of people learn working together, using a technique named "group of experts". So, following this technique, the class was divided in four groups and in each of them he distributed four papers with the following information:

- Early childhood and School Education
- Higher Education 
- Lifelong Learning Approach
- Adult Education and Training

So, each person of the group is an expert of his/her topic, and has to explain it to the rest of the group, after having decided how meeting with the same experts of the other groups.

A next step in this activity was to look at the information at home again in order to do a kind of exam in class, about the four topics together without any kind of help (asking to the teacher, in groups, looking for information...). Next day we did it; we spent one hour thinking and trying to remember in order to complete successfully the questions, and the other hour of the class we could look or asked for the information to complete the "exam", giving finally the answer sheet to the teacher.

In my opinion the way in which this activity is developed is very dynamic because of the fact of the division of labor, the collaboration and the reciprocity relation in which you depend on the explanation of other classmates and they depend on you. But I think that the fact of making an "exam" was a bit boring and confusing. Any way we have expanded our knowledge about the subject.

Webquest

This first project consisted on, by groups of four people, answer key questions about school guidance and counselling by looking for information in resources (links and videos) that the teacher provided us and others we can look for, in order to present it finally to the rest of the class. This questions were:

• What is school guidance counselling? Are guidance and counselling synonyms? Develop a personal definition.
• What are its functions and its main areas?
• Who receives the school guidance and counselling services?
• What services are provided in the school guidance and counselling programmes?
• Who provides these services?
• When are the school guidance counselling services provided?
• Where are they provided?

This project provide us a first approach to the subject. Although, because is the first thing we have done, we were a bit lost at the beginning, through this introductory questions we introduced ourselves in the subject in an active way, dividing the work among the people in our group, and looking for information in links and videos (which are very useful because you also practice other skills like listening), provided by the teacher, what makes it more accessible as a first activity. We have learned a lot of basic but necessary aspects about the subject in order to lay down a good base for the future work.
  

 

School Guidance and Counselling 2013

My aim in this blog is to share with you my experience in this subject of Magisterio de Primaria; school guidance and counseling, by describing the projects, lectures and activities we have carried out, trying to explain the most remarkable things and what I have learned. I hope you find it interesting and enjoy it.