UDCMM - HISTORIAN

Good evening! 🥒I'm Alicia, and once again, I'm talking on behalf of all the Pickles, now taking the role of historian/journalist for the first time, which I'm honestly so hyped about, as throughout this week we have had the pleasure of finally getting in touch with real students, facing situations that await us in the future, and noticing how close we are of finally reaching the end of our path: becoming teachers we can be proud of. So let's get started!

On Tuesday, March 3rd, we welcomed some students from CIES Juan de la Cierva to show them how a stop-motion is done through a new version of "Little Red Riding Hood"; this new version being called "Caperucita Ordinaria", quite more brief but equally as entertaining, and the students seemed to enjoy it as much as we did when Alex handed it to us, as her grandmother used to tell it to her when she was a kid.

Honestly, we were especially nervous about how things were going to turn out. Although some of us had already worked with children before, it was a new experience for most of us, and I'm glad to say that it was a wonderful one, as every child participated actively on the tasks, but I don't want to get into the details before we're even getting started.

The day began with every one of us sitting around a table where we always have our Resources and ICT lessons. Being a bundle of nerves as we were, we spent some time preparing all the materials, making sure we had everything with us and well organized. We got the identification cards for the students printed and awaited for the marvelous time that was waiting for us.

Soon after, we were called to go to the Education Faculty along with all the other groups our class is divided into, where we patiently waited for children to come. Once they came, our teacher, Linda, gave them one of the different groups' ID cards, and so the student groups were chosen.

In the blink of an eye, we were surrounded by seven students who had never done stop-motion before, but we were glad to find how enthusiastic they were about it. We introduced ourselves and went to the assembly hall, where we sat forming a circle. Afterwards, we gave them the scripts and divided the roles so they could read the story out loud, making it easier for them to understand it, along with the differences that it has regarding the plot. Once they were done, we proceeded with the roles assignation, which personally surprised me, as each one of the students wanted a different role and none of them complained about wanting one of their classmates' roles; not even throughout the activity, although we also let them know that they were allowed to change it, as long as they let us know.

Therefore, at this point, we had five different actors who voiced the different characters, as well as the narrator, the cameraman, and the "atrezzo specialist", who was in charge of designing how were the background and the props shown and moved.

As the actors were done with their tasks earlier, they had the opportunity to go outside and represent the play, and they had lots of fun while doing so. Meanwhile, the cameraman and the decorator kept working hard.

Although we were a little pressed with time, we managed to finish everything on time, take a group picture and wave goodbye to the students when it was time for them to have lunch, and time for us to attend our second class period of the day. Finally, we edited the video and uploaded it on YouTube, so please make sure to click here if you want to take a look at it. We have also been very active on our other social media, Instagram and Twitter, so please go ahead and feel free to take a look!

Today, on Thursday, March 5th, we have introduced our friend Codey, the Codey Rocky, to them. They have learned how to code and to do so we also introduced two different games so all the concepts we would be talking about afterwards were clear enough. But before we move onto that, I'd love to introduce you to the mini-pickles! Remember the ID cards I've mentioned before? Well, today we've made sure to arrive with everything ready:

We have received students from both La Flota and CIES Juan de la Cierva, and even though we did not have as much time as we wished we had with the children, we still managed to trim everything down and let everyone interact with Codey.
In order to understand what is a sequence, we played a game in which two flags were used. The first one was red, while the other was blue. Now, what did the game consist of? As soon as they saw the blue flag, students have to put their hands on their shoulders. If the red flag was lifted, they had to put their hands on their waists instead, and lastly, if both of them were raised, they had to touch their knees.

By using this simple game they understood that the sequence "I touch my shoulders when I see the blue flag" implied a cause, the blue flag; and an effect, touching their shoulders, which was triggered by the first stimulus. This made them realize by themselves how it happens the same with the Codey Rocky, where pushing the button with the letter "A", in this case, was what triggered the sequence.

Furthermore, we decided to divide the group into two smaller ones so everyone could participate. Therefore, one group played "Simon says" while the other programmed Codey. By playing, the concept of "sequence" was once again reinforced.

We hope everyone has had fun and hopefully, they have learned something new as well while having fun. As for us, we cannot wait until next week, when we'll keep working on this project with even more students, and we'll finally be introducing augmented reality!

Now, focusing on the historian's tasks, I have chosen an article from one of or classmates' groups, so please don't hesitate to click here to visit their blog. As I've mentioned in the comment I've written down, I believe they did an awesome and quite creative job, going beyond the tasks itself and relating it to something completely different that can certainly make it even more interesting, as if meeting the Codey Rocky wasn't an adventure already! They related the activity to Harry Potter, and as one of the Potterheads that form the Pickles, it was impossible for me not to highlight their great work. I'm looking forward to their next activities!

• ARTICLE:

Last but not least, I believe the article I have chosen fits perfectly the labor as teachers we have performed today. No, I'm not talking about the importance of innovation and technology within the classroom. No, I'm not talking about the Codey Rocky either. In fact, I'm not talking about something written on paper, not at all; but rather about the hidden curriculum and the importance of intervention when the teacher notices that a student is going through a rough time, if some of their classmates are discriminating them, saying back things about them, or even pushing them away.

In this case, it can be difficult for children to understand that nobody acts the same as everyone else, but this shall not be used as an excuse for bad behavior or any sort of discrimination towards their equal. We're talking about one of their classmates, someone they share time with, and that very same environment needs to offer comfort for everyone within it, even if the concept of "comfort" varies from one person to another. We are all unique human beings, and that's what truly makes us stand out, and be ourselves. Sure, there are differences between a neurotypical and a neurodivergent brain, but then again, aren't all of us different? We should not restrict anyone because of our differences; instead, we should apply the idea of celebrating them. On the third page of this article, several tips can be found in order to learn how to be friends with a person with autism, always keeping in mind that every individual has their own specific characteristics, personality, needs, and skills.

I sincerely hope you have enjoyed this entry, thanks for reading!