December 2016

Hello everyone!!

 

We finished our first term of Social & Emotional Learning talking about a very important concept in our lives: empathy. Unfortunately, this word is not very familiar for some of our students, so we have to foster it whenever we can. We discussed about what empathy is and how to show it in daily situations. Students practices empathetic situations through roleplays in which they needed to perform a situation whose characters show an example of empathy towards other people’s feelings.

However, the best example of empathy and “put in other people’s shoes” situation in real life this month came with students in grade 4th. They experienced during one period what being a teacher means and how difficult can be sometimes for us to handle a group. They worked in different teams doing a presentation for Primary section students. The result was satisfactory and all of them got an important lesson in life.

During final exams week, students from grade 3 to grade 8 were busy doing their papers, so I decided that there could be a good chance to teach one period of SEL in Primary section. It was a great experience for everyone and I am quiet satisfied with students’ work. They were very participative and active, and all of them enjoyed. We talked about happiness and what we can do when we are stuck in negative feelings. Don’t worry, be happy!!

And finally, the moment everyone was waiting for: Santa coming to school and the beginning of winter holiday!! It was the best way to end this term. The overall feedback is quite positive till now and I hope we can keep this climate the whole season.

 

Happy New Year for everyone!!

“I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization.”

Roger Ebert