My Pecha Kucha presentation

Serendipity

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‘What in the hell is Pecha Kucha?’ was the first question that sprang to my mind the moment I heard this weird name. Words always convey different impressions to different people and the word ‘Pecha Kucha’ was not the exception to the rule. This word conveyed to me the idea of difficulty and some sort of challenge. Fortunately, these were not more than mistaken impressions. Although I must admit that it was challenging-as all new things are- It didn’t prove to be a nuisance.

I felt quite relieved when I learnt that Pecha Kucha was not a particular program we need to run but a Power Point presentation with specific characteristics. Using Power Point was not new (I remember using it at Secondary school) but I learned how to use it more in detail. As regards the topic, I chose serendipity out of curiosity. I have that word written on my agenda and now I wanted to know what that concept referred to. I googled serendipity and I was so astonished with its meaning that I decided to adopt it as the topic of my presentation.

I found 20x20 an interesting format since it allows you to develop a topic quite completely while being concise. Backing up our presentations with pictures and some words or quotes keeps the audience more motivated and interested as it makes our monologue more dynamic. It’s true that I would have liked to have more time to expand on some details behind the serendipitous discoveries I presented but having a time limit is a useful technique for not leading the audience into sheer boredom. Just think of how much time we women can talk if we are enthralled with a topic and not limited by any factor.

All in all, a nice experience. Comparing the odd feeling I had the first day I became acquainted with the phrase `Pecha Kucha’ and the final product, I feel really proud. Even more proud if I think how basic my knowledge about computers and technology is (or was- I must admit I’ve learned many new things lately)

Changing attitudes...

Last week, I was taking a look at some mails when I found this one which really caught my attention and triggered me to reflect on the following issue: Are teachers falling prey to enraged parents who defend their children blindly? I’m afraid they are. And the following headlines illustrate this new trend which is taking over the whole world.

Haven’t you heard of teachers being confronted by aggressive parents? The causes simply boil down to the teacher giving some of the students poor grades or disciplining at school. Gone are the days when parents would feel disappointed by their children’s poor results at school and would hand out some kind of punishment. In that way, parents would make it clear that the figure of the teacher as well as the school as an institution deserved to be treated with respect. Now, parents blindly defend their ‘angel-like children’ from apparently ‘insane teachers’ who just do their work. Hardly a minute goes by between the child or teenager shows their qualifications and the parents rush to school to attack the teachers. Many parents do not even stop a minute to reflect on the damaging consequences that their overprotective behaviour may have.

Parents have clearly gone from one extreme to the other. From harsh punishment to an absolute laxity. Fortunately, a bad report do not longer trigger (as usually as some decades ago) a torrent of physical child abuse which is absolutely terrible. However, nowadays parents do not even chat with their children as regards their poor results or unacceptable behaviour or help them improve their performance. Parents are failing to strike a balance between the two extremes. Imagine how difficult the role of the teacher is. They are being constantly harassed by parents who make their daily job more and more difficult.

I’m really worried about this new trend since teachers need parents support to work adequately. Lack of support by parents is simply disheartening. And unfortunately, the parents’ declining standards of behaviour are adopted by their children. So, it’s very difficult for students not to treat the teacher disrespectfully when they sees their parents doing exactly the same. I believe that parents should be acting as good role models by supporting staff and helping them create a more positive learning environment for their children.

Important dates

September: A Time for 3 important dates in our lives

In this month 3 important dates to me, and perhaps for you too, are celebrated.


The first one is September, 11th (or the 17th). This day will always be important in our lives as it will remind us of the profession we have decided to practice for the rest of our lives. On the 21st of September, we celebrate students’ day. This year, most of us are still celebrating students ‘day more than teacher’s day but very soon this fashion will be reversed. Will it? On second thought I wonder “will we ever stop being students to become teachers?” Of course not. We’ll be students our whole lives. We will be continuously learning new things and experiencing new situations surrounded and accompanied by our students. A good teacher recognizes that her knowledge is finite and maintains an open-minded attitude to all the new situations that may arise daily.
I think that’s the magic involved in our profession: teaching and learning are inextricably intertwined. Teaching is by nature interactive and in this interaction both parts learn and enrich themselves continuously.

We are also celebrating spring’s day. Spring is for me the most beautiful and inspiring season. Most people’s humour and predisposition towards work and life changes. Personally, I love getting up to the chant of birds and the warmth of the sun. Getting up, studying, working, going out, everything is better when the sun heats the earth because it also heats our lives. It’s the season that represents birth and renewal. Could there be any connection between spring’s day and teachers’ day? Perhaps. I can say I hope my career is full of the joys of spring. I hope we never lose the desire of renewing ourselves and our knowledge every single day in the same way that flowers and plants do during spring. I also hope we can plant many seeds along our teaching profession which will grow forever since we will make an impact on all our students. Isn’t that connected to spring?

Do you agree with the idea that these three important days will be forever intertwined in our lives? Let’s share.

Scientific development

Scientific development and its areas of application have been growing enormously in the last decades. One of the areas which this science affects the most is Genetic Engineering. The two pictures I upload clearly illustrate part of the main aims of this growing science.

The syringe in both pictures stands for manipulation, for artificial intervention in the course of nature. The illustrations also represent the 2 main areas within Genetic Engineering: human Genetic engineering and GM food.

Scientific development has been growing at a tremendous pace in recent years. And I wonder whether this growth has a limit. Very frequently it seems to me that it doesn’t and that scares me a lot. Human nature is inherently ambitious and in the pursuit of further striking discoveries, I believe scientists are ready to defy all existing moral standards.

Although I’m not a fervent catholic, I believe there should be a restriction on the right to manipulate the course of nature. I do accept Gene therapy which consists of repairing or replacing defective genes or introducing some therapeutic genes to help fight a disease. This would imply a better quality of life for people with short-limb dwarfism for example. But what about having babies tailor-made? Recently, I’ve heard of a 38-year-old woman who already has 3 sons (through In Vitro fertilization) and now wants a daughter to round up the family.
I completely oppose using Genetic engineering for such trivial matters such as choosing your babies’ sex or eye colours. This would in turn lead to discrimination as people would naturally select some features over others.

However, in spite of what one thinks is the limit between good and bad or acceptable or unacceptable, there is little we can do to prevent the course of scientific development for the many interests there are behind it. We’ll have to wait and see which is the next thing coming out of the scientists’ Pandora’s Box.