By Diana Yoely Guzmán Osorio
On May 23, I attended the Normal Physical Education of
Toluca to participate in the conference and workshop of the British Council, I
had many nerves, emotions, and feelings found by the great opportunity that my
Normal School had given me. The institution was huge, with green areas,
cooperatives and in its entrance there were large letters that welcomed
everyone who attended the congress, after a few photographs we went to the
courtyard that was between the corridors. There were teachers of all kinds, students
and support staff specialized in English, for me it was so impressive to see
how many professionals currently exist in search of a better Mexico.
At the end of the corridor, there were a few computers
that allowed us to register and take assistance, they gave us a badge with our
respective data, a bag with support materials on the teaching-learning of
English, a notebook and a schedule of workshops that specified the topics to
address and schedules. When walking around the place where we were we saw so many
tables full of coffee, sandwiches and water, so we took a little time to have
breakfast before starting the activities. Later we attended the auditorium to
open the workshops, there were very important people in the field of education,
because it was the general secretary of education, the director of the British
Council, a representative of President Alfredo de Mazo and secretary of Normal
Education, each one gave some words in appreciation of the attendance, offering
words about the great importance of the language and its teaching-learning.
I can say that all the people who were in the place
had a good command of English because of the great talks they had in the
language and the authentic activities that were being promoted. That is why you
had to have a good command of the language both to listen to it and to speak
it since all the workshops were given with the help of teachers and normal
students. Before describing the workshops I will talk about the introduction of
them. There was a dialogue about the promotion of ludic activities in the
classroom for learning English, techniques, strategies and some activities that
promote the reach of academic and life skills were shared. They also talked
about the characteristics and the specific profile that every teacher should
present.
There were approximately 7 classrooms equipped as workshops, each with a specific theme to address, which could be chosen by the teachers themselves and students for example, the following were the themes of the workshops: 1) Materials for basic education, 2) exploration of action research, 3) international mobility, 4) creativity, motivation and technology, among others.
At first I attended the workshop of champions, we shared professional experiences, characters and groups about the problems that have developed in the learning of English. Something that I liked very much that I was an English teacher from Chimalhuacán who impressed me because of his great knowledge not only language but also education, that is why I affirm that every teacher must have educational, foreign and didactic knowledge.
Later we attended the exchange workshop with other countries and was one of the ones that I loved the most because they talked about real experiences that occurred in other countries such as Italy, the United States and Canada. They showed us pictures of their experiences and each one was accompanied by an anecdote that changed people's lives. Finally the teachers did not invite to live these experiences in person and I can say that it was one of the classrooms that allowed the constant exchange of ideas and knowledge between students and teachers.
Finally, the technology workshop provided with some
tools and elements that allow us to learn the English language from
applications or accounts that promote the interest and encouragement of
students and teachers. They helped us to recognize the great importance that
technology has today and that should be exploited to the maximum in the proper
use of the language. The techniques they used for participation and the
contribution of ideas were very creative because they enlivened the sessions
and helped create an environment of trust.
After the third workshop we attended the auditorium to
close the congress and workshops with the help of thanks, comments and
evaluations of it. I can mention that it was very rewarding for me to be part
of this great experience because I learned and lived very fruitful things for
my personal, work and academic formation, now I have another conception about
the implementation of educational projects for the better learning of the
English language because the improvement and perseverance will help us reach
further as people and as a country. That is why I emphasize the great
commitment that teachers of basic education have in forming leaders of the
future.
Sharing experiences of the professional practices of teaching and learning English gives us new knowledge that allows us to value our educational practices based on other opinions, forms of work and ideologies and thus acquire new techniques and tools to develop them with our group. It is very fruitful to attend conferences and workshops that enrich the mastery of the language through the dialogue established by recognizing both the failures and the successes of the practice itself.
Sharing experiences of the professional practices of teaching and learning English gives us new knowledge that allows us to value our educational practices based on other opinions, forms of work and ideologies and thus acquire new techniques and tools to develop them with our group. It is very fruitful to attend conferences and workshops that enrich the mastery of the language through the dialogue established by recognizing both the failures and the successes of the practice itself.
Currently the learning of this language is not only a tool, but a need of the human being to be able to communicate and relate in a globalized country, in which its teaching-learning depends to a large extent on the materials, resources, conditions, motivations on the part of the teacher and especially of the commitment in their academic performance of the students when assuming this opportunity.
Being able to listen to real experiences and share personal and professional experiences in the foreign language, I realize the importance of updating, teaching commitment and above all overcoming that every professional should develop in the future. Most of the people who shared their experiences had had the opportunity to go to academic exchanges with other countries and it is impressive to recognize that Mexico is having an extremely important advance in education.
That is why I invite my colleagues from the Normal School of the Reyes Acaquilpan to witness an unforgettable experience in the use of the foreign language to express and listen to real experiences to acquire the necessary knowledge and thus promote with their students the scope of new learning. Key in the second language. Returning to the SEP (2018) the great responsibility that the teacher has in front of the educational quality is the commitment of the integration of learning from the communicative exchange. As fruit of Mexico we must be constant, builders of our own knowledge and that of our students, drivers and above all the success of the future.
Learning English is not an easy task, but overcoming and motivation are the main pioneers for a better learning that will be the foundation of a professional in the field of teaching, being able to achieve the personal and social achievements that are proposed.
Diana
Yoely Guzmán Osorio
Escuela
Normal de los Reyes Acaquilpan
