New Skills for Santa Elena Primary School Teachers
BY: Andrea Guerra
Teacher, Santa Elena Primary
RC School
I had the pleasure of attending an eight day workshop at Santa Elena Primary R.C. School on leadership.
This program is in conjunction with the Ministry of education and B.N.E. Charitable Trust.
The leadership workshop will definitely help me to transform the way I teach and by extension my classroom.
The strategies, techniques and methods are more engaging than the traditional teaching methods;
therefore they are ideal for increasing academic performance and curving behavioral problems.
Of the techniques and methods presented, in my opinion the most effective is the Kagan Structures.
These structures, when used regularly, will create a safe environment that develops learning to learn skills and learning on a whole. Kagan Structures will not change the content but will transform the way it is taught. It aligns instruction with what research has shown is the way student’s learned and retain information.
Along with the academic gains, I also believe that students will develop thinking skills, emotional
intelligence, social skills, teamwork skills, and character values.
By working together through these structures, character values such as respect, cooperation, kindness,
effort, honesty, and leadership will improve drastically. From my perspective and
experience, I believe the change will be relatively challenging but, I am very optimistic. From the
perspective of the students in my class, I am sure the change will enhance and develop a greater
liking for school, their classmates, themselves, others and also the
process of learning.
