Our Third Guest Speaker!

We were so lucky to have a third guest speaker this week! Yesterday we were visited by Tomás Berkovich and he shared his story of how he has used technology to become a business owner that creates "win-win" situations for everyone.

His talk included information about how he and his classmates first came up with some of their ideas by noticing situations that needed solutions in their daily lives.  After a few discussions around his kitchen table, they soon created their business called ZethaPricing.  Using technology and some creative problem solving, they found a way to encourage people to buy tickets for less money and earlier for movies which brought more business to the cinemas in Santiago.  Bascially a "win-win" for everyone!

Another of his businesses that he shared with us is called Cuponatic.  In this business solution he and his friends created a company that offers various products and goods at discounts when people agree to use the coupons on their site as a group.  The more people that use the coupon, the more discounts you can get.  Companies have been using his business because they can pay less money for advertising since the coupon discounts are spreading by people sharing the coupons with one another in their social networks.  Again, another "win-win" for everyone!

Here are a few of the catchy commercials that he shared with us that all the students liked!

It was a great talk and inspiring to see an alumni from our school be active in making his dreams and goals a reality!  All of the students were inspired to think big and follow their dreams!

What was the most important piece of information that you heard in this talk?  Which of the businesses do you think are the most useful to you as a grade five student?  How do you think we should be responsible while using businesses like these with our social networks?

I look forward to hearing your ideas!
Miss Jessica

Our Second Guest Speaker!

We had our second guest speaker for the exhibition on Monday and WOW did we learn a lot! Mr Claudio Cabrera visited us and give us an informative talk on the ALMA project in San Pedro de Atacama.  He began by giving us a little information about telescopes and we learned that there are two kinds: optical and radio.  We then watched a few slides explaining the number of systems that must work together to make the telescopes all work and function together.  From computer engineers and city planning engineers to transportation engineers all of the systems must work together to make all 66 telescopes work at the same time to produce pictures for studying outer space.  It was an amazing talk full of information that we are still talking about!

What was your favorite part of the presentation?  What was something new that you learned from this talk?  What do you think is our responsibility in thinking about the way technology is used in the ALMA project?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Miss Jessica  :)

Our First Guest Speaker!

Wow! On Friday we had our first guest speaker of the year and what a great way to start! Mr Cristian Mujica came and presented an interactive discussion on Telecommunications and the history of mobile phones.  We learned about the development of 1G, 2G, and 3G networks as well as some important points about telecommunications and how we use them.  He showed examples such as downloading music, playing games, medical information for doctors, and accessing the internet.  He reminded us of some important issues especially our responsibility in using telecommunications and transportation and how we should insist that people use hands-free sets while driving and talking.

Along with the history, he also showed some new developments for telecommunications in the future.  He showed a product called Gorrilla Glass and wowed us when he banged it on the wall and the floor and it didn't crack or scratch the glass!  He also showed us a new type of phone that could be put completely into water and still work!  Our favorite part of the talk was when he showed us a glimpse into our close future using phones with NFC or Near Field Communication abilities.  Take a look at the video he showed us:

Wow! Amazing ideas, no?!  We loved the presentation and are looking forwar to many more discussions to help us think about all the areas we could investigate for our exhibition projects!

What was your favorite part of this guest speaker discussion?  What was the most important point that you learned?  What did you learn about your responsibility in using mobile phones and technology?

Looking forward to hearing what you think!

Miss Jessica :)

Guest Speaker: Dental Health

On Wednesday we had our third guest speaker for the exhibition this year.  A BIG thank you goes to Ms. Carolina Cabrera for coming to speak to us about dental health.  All of the students loved the presentation and especially liked learning what to do in case of a dental emergency.  Every student was affected by the information on how much bacteria was in our mouths and how important it is to brush three times a day.  The students were fortunate enough to receive toothbrushes and toothpaste from Ms. Cabrera and were so motivated by the talk that they are even brushing their teeth after lunch at school!

Was there any information from this presentation that was new to you?  What really affected you from this talk?  Are you going to change any behaviors since hearing about dental health?  How does this fit with our topic on health and children?

I look forward to hearing your comments!
Miss Jessica

Guest Speaker: Art Therapy

Another BIG thank you to Ms. Bernardita Castillo  who was our second guest speaker for the Exhibition this year.  She gave us a great talk about the role of Art Therapy and  the mental health of children today.  I like seeing all the examples she gave us of the importance of art therapy from famous painters like Van Gogh all the way to the children who participate in Teletón and schools here in Santiago.  It was clear that art therapy helps balance the physical and mental health of everyone!


What were some interesting things that you learned from this guest speaker?  What was interesting to you about her discussion?  Has it encouraged you to find out more about other therapies and balance in our lives?


I look forward to reading your comments!
Miss Jessica

Our First Guest Speaker!

A BIG thank you to Ms. Paula Pastor who was our first guest speaker for the Exhibition this year.  She gave us a great talk about the role of Psychologists and Psychiatrists in the mental health of children today.  I was so impressed with the questions that you asked and how you were all able to connect what you are interested in with what she was talking about.



What were some interesting things that you learned from this guest speaker?  What new information did you hear?  How could her presentation help you understand your area of interest more?

Be sure to check out the photos from the discussion today on the right!

I look forward to reading your comments!
Miss Jessica

Guest Speaker Workshops

We are so grateful to all of the parents and mentors who have helped us find even more guest speakers to come and help us find information for our inquiries about Children's Rights.

This week we have three workshops planned with guest speakers on specific topics related to inquiry groups in each of the classrooms.

Monday we had a psychologist come and discuss the affects on children when their rights are denied. In particular he focused on what happens when children are abused or discriminated against and what causes the abuse to occur.

On Wednesday we are going to have a judge come and discuss the effects on people when the rights of children are violated. She will be discussing laws that are already passed as well as ideas for laws that Chile needs to adopted to further the development of Children's Rights here in this country.

On Thursday we will have a visit from a representative from UNICEF who will speak with us regarding the role of UNICEF in general as well as here in Chile. He will focus on what his organisation does to preserve Children's Rights as well as ideas that they have to continue to educate others about Children's Rights in the future.

I encourage you to discuss what will be happening this week with your friends and family and develop some questions that you would like to ask these speakers. You can either ask the questions yourself if you are going to the workshop, or pass your questions to a student who is attending the workshop for your class.

Lastly, please feel free to leave any comments that you have about these speakers and their workshops. In particular, were they helpful? Why or why not? What could we do next year to make these workshops even more useful? Would you like more workshops or more whole level guest speakers? Who was the most helpful?

Looking forward to your comments!
Miss Jessica

Fantastic Guest Speakers!

Wow! What a week we had last week! We had three guest speakers visit us over the last week and a half. We have certainly been learning a lot about Children's Rights and the many ways they impact our lives.

We started with a visit from Saúl Schkolnik, author of a children's book on children's rights. Mr. Schkolnik entertained us with many different stories about when he was younger and writing his books as well as answered many questions that we had about why he wrote his books. Mr. Schkolnik reminded us to care about many things around us, children, the world, the environment, etc. It was great to meet such an important Chilean author!

Our second visitor was Maria Jose Lemaitre who works for the Ministry of Education. Ms. Lemaitre shared many different numbers and statistics about the state of education here in Chile. Most importantly, she highlighted the various requirements that schools have with respect to children's rights to education. It was great to gain a deeper understanding about our topic from the perspective of the government. We look forward to gathering more information from Ms. Lemaitre!

Our third visitor last week was Sergio Rodrígues Tramolao from the organisation called Opción. He gave a general overview of children's rights and connected that information to what has been happnening here in Chile since the adoption of the rights 20 years ago. In his discussion he highlighted what has been done in Chile and gave suggestions on what still needs to happen here to fulfill the goal of children's rights for all children in the country. He ended his presentation with a slide show with many different statistics about children in Chile and invited all the students to go to his organisation's website (http://www.opcion.cl) and enter or vote for the question that they are most interested in regarding children's rights. Voting on these questions is one way that students will be able to have a "voice" in the government because the results of the survey will be presented to the government at a later date. We are really looking forward to seeing Mr. Tramolao again this week for a special student workshop on children's rights and violence.

Please view the slideshow on the right for all of the pictures from our guest speakers!

I look forward to hearing your comments about our guest speakers and everything you learned during their presentations!

Miss Jessica

Guest Speakers this week!

Wow! We have two guest speakers coming this week to help you as you continue to focus your group on exactly what it is that you are interested in investigating for your exhibition project.

Tomorrow, we have Maria Jose Lemaitre, from the ministry of Education coming to talk briefly about the general idea of children's rights and specifically about the children's right to education here in Chile. To be prepared for this talk, take a few minutes to review the rights about education for children and think of some questions that you might like to ask. She will be visiting us first thing in the morning.

On Thursday, we have another guest speaker, Sergio Rodrígues Tramolao, from Opción which is a group dedicated to teaching others about children's rights here in Chile. This year, Opción is focusing specifically on violence against children and how we can all work together to stop it from continuing in the future. To prepare for this guest speaker, visit their website www.opcion.cl and find out more about the organisation and how they are trying to help. In addition, next week they are having a country wide poll where students are encouraged to submit and vote for questions about children's rights. After the poll closes, the questions that were most popular will be taken to the government on behalf of the children in Chile for discussion. What a great opportunity to be involved in something so important to kids your age! Please take a look with your family and discuss what you think. Be sure to post any comments that you have below!

Wow...I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about the guest speakers and posting some pictures on this site as well!

Miss Jessica

A Guest Speaker is Coming!

Yes, that's right!  We've found a guest speaker to come and discuss the topic of Children's Rights with the whole grade level.  We've organised for Saúl Schkolnik, a children's book author, to come and discuss the topic with you.  Mr. Schkolnik has written a book of stories about the rights of children.  (Click on the title of this post above to go to a link about his book.)

Below is some information about Mr. Schkolnik from the following website: http://www.biblioredes.cl/BiblioRed/Nosotros+en+Internet/escritores+de+san+felipe/SAÚL+SCHKOLNIK  

Saul Schkolnik

Nacido en 1929. Cuentista. Diversos premios. Sus obras han sido publicadas en España y Latinoamérica. Miembro de la IBBY-Chile. Está radicado en la zona de Aconcagua, hace varios años. Ejerce como profesor de Filosofía en el Colegio Alemán de San Felipe y Cervantino de Putaendo. Hace algunos años se ha transformado en vecino de Aconcagua.

He will be coming to speak to the grade level on Thursday 30 July at 2:00 pm.  To get ready for this guest speaker, visit the links above and think about some questions that you might like to ask him.  Some questions to think about are:  Why did he pick children's rights?  Where did he get the inspiration for each of the stories about the rights?  Does he think that children can make a difference at their young age?

I look forward to hearing your questions and meeting the author with you!

 

Miss Jessica