The power of one voice

We as students enter our classrooms every day and we sit on our favourite spot if we can, or next to our most close classmate. We take our books out and listen to the teacher. We finish our lesson and we stand up, we take our things again and go home, where our beloved people -in most cases- are waiting for us.
But what happens when this is not a normal scene in other parts of the world? Why is it common for other people to go and study hiding their school elements under the items of clothing?
This is what happened to Malala, a simple pakistani student who got tired of pretending she was in a lower level than she was actually in (the same happened to her female classmates). And as she pointed out, 'When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful'. She spoke up, and this lead to her being almost killed twice. But she never got silent. The whole world learnt about her and the reality surrounding her. She even became the youngest Nobel Prize winner for being an activist for female education.
So be thankful for being in a classroom, all male and female students alike, be thankful for that spot you own, and always remember:

Nowadays you have to deal with a HUGE challenge in class, and that is technology.
Luckily, it won't be a problem if we turn barries into tools. If we prepare tasks that mention or include technological elements, learners will feel inside their comfort zone and will respond better to them.
Here there's an example of a task including a Google app.

Task	Macrofunction	Microfunction	Grammar
You are in a hangout with people from other country. They are looking for someone to be part of a student exchange programme. Introduce yourself and tell them about your skills and capacities and what they are looking for in the programme.	Socializing	Exchanging personal information	·         Stative verbs ·         Demonstrative ·         Wh- questions ·         Yes/no questions

#TIE

May 17th. Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Transophobia and Biphobia. There have been events to raise awareness of LGBT rights around the world since May 17th 1990, the day a wise decision was made: to remove homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO). But the question here is, if homophobia is still a thing in our society, how do we teach our learners that homosexuality is nothing but love?

Teachers should bear in mind that what they have to do at schools is not to impose ways of thinking, but teach the importance of values, and raising awareness to treat others as equals is the best way to do it. They should be able to monitor situations of homophobia inside the classroom and ALWAYS protect those young people and make everyone feel comfortable at the same time.

Today I asked my teen students (13-14-15 years old) what they thought about this, and they made jokes with subtle meaning, but still cooperated and spoke about the nonsense of the discrimination over people who love other people (because homosexuality is just that: love). 'Why should they be judged for whom they love?', Candela wondered.

#TIE Campaing wonders the same, that is why they struggle to make inclusive education in Scotland. You can visit their web page to get updated and find resources, or look up the tag #TIE (Time for Inclusive Education) on Twitter and Facebook.

And remember Nelson Mandela's words: 'Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world'.

Welcome to this new blog, random visitors of the Internet! You have stumbled upon a blog that will write about new topics and ideas to bring to your lessons. If you're one of those teachers that love to be updated to bring fun and interest to the classroom, stay tuned!

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The classroom is ready, but are YOU?