On Tuesday, December 15, the annual work of the schools that are part of the We Learn Improvement Network, which seeks to promote the learning of this language from an early age in children living in tourist areas of Chile, came to an end.

Technological tools have made it possible to shorten the distance forced by the pandemic and have become the best alternative, especially in the educational field. Thus, on Tuesday, December 15, English teachers, kindergarten teachers, assistants, PIE professionals and management teams from public schools in the municipalities of Vicuña, Paihuano and Puerto Natales, met to share the lessons learned during this particular year where they have had to innovate to continue supporting their students in the learning of this foreign language.

About 90 people connected to the first online Learning Session of the We Learn Improvement Network, whose main objective is to generate a space to share and work collaboratively around innovative strategies and initiatives so that children have better opportunities to learn English.

"Thanks to virtuality, for the first time we had so many people from the schools collaborating, extracting lessons learned from this challenging year and projecting the future of education and our Improvement Network, according to the learning we achieved," explained the head of the We Learn program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Paz Collao.

The Online Learning Session generated several moments that allowed visualizing the work done during the year, with relevant elements such as support to families, prioritization of the educational curriculum and generating innovations to overcome issues such as, for example, the lack of internet connection at home. 

Paz Collao explained that "it was a very exciting day, this year in general has been very exciting, and with the closing we were able to recapitulate what each of the members of the network experienced during the process and the lessons learned from these experiences".

From the Elqui Valley, in the Coquimbo region, the teacher in charge of the María Isabel Peralta school, Víctor Fuenzalida, explained that "the good thing is to be able to learn about the experiences and work done by teachers from different places and regions. This is good and sharing in small groups, as was done in the session, allowed for a very participative process".

For her part, Ida Muñoz, head of UTP at the Capitán Juan Ladrilleros school in Puerto Natales, added that "this year we had to change the way we teach, learn to connect and get to know our students' families in greater depth. In addition, we not only worked on cognitive development, but it was much more important to support our community in the socio-emotional area".

After this session, the 8 schools in Paihuano, the 6 in Vicuña and the 4 in Puerto Natales that are part of the Improvement Network will take a break from collaborative work to concentrate on the closing of the year and in March resume their activities with the team of the We Learn program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and plan the way of working to face the challenges that the year 2021 will propose.

In an online format, and free of charge, the 6th "Expanding Opportunities" English language teaching seminar reached 1,340 connections of teachers from Chile and abroad in a full week of workshops, lectures and poster presentations on best practices in remote teaching.

Spain, South Africa, Argentina, Australia and Israel, among many other countries in Latin America, joined the Chilean Chilean participants for the first time at the 6th Expanding Opportunities seminar, which took place Expanding Opportunities, which was held online from September 7 to 11, 2009. online, in which innovations and experiences associated with this era of language teaching were shared to this era of distance language learning.

The event, organized by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad together with the Universidad de La Serena, The event, organized by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad together with Universidad La Serena, included 3 main presentations: the director of the Chilean Association of Neurolearning, Joaquín Triandafilide of Neurolearning, Joaquín Triandafilide; of the Argentinean neuropsychoeducator Lucrecia Prat Gay; and of the founder of Efficient Language Coaching, English Prat Gay; and the founder of Efficient Language Coaching, the Englishwoman Rachel Marie Paling.

In addition, Chilean and foreign Chilean and foreign English teachers also presented best practices on the learning acquired during this time of pandemic, which this year have focused on remote teaching. on remote teaching.

The head of the area of of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Trinidad Castro, explained that, despite being a virtual event Castro, explained that in spite of being a virtual event "we tried to maintain the possibility that the teachers themselves could the possibility that the teachers themselves could present their experiences and deliver presentations with presentations with speakers who can make a real contribution to the work of teachers. to the work that teachers do, very concrete, with particular tips that allow them to really improve their practices. that will allow them to really improve their practices".

"This is the first time I have I participated for the first time and it was a very interesting experience. The speakers provided new ideas and new ideas and tips necessary to face the educational process at the moment we are living," said process in the moment we are living," said participant Jenny Mora after the closing of the event. of the event.

For his part, from Casablanca Casablanca, professor Alex Torres added that "because it is virtual, the knowledge and experience is expands knowledge and experience in a truly global way. A positive aspect of the pandemic of the pandemic is to be able to access great educational powers that allow us to grow and strengthen our allow us to grow and strengthen the educational task".

To view the presentations and posters from the Expanding Opportunities seminar, please go to www.expanding.fundacionoportunidad.cl where you will find all the material from the educational event. 

Fundación Educacional Oportunidad's initiative seeks to share strategies, ideas and technological tools to enhance distance learning in times of pandemic.

Perhaps all these names sound very modern and technological, 21st century applications used by young people to communicate with their friends. And yes, it may have been like that. Until covid-19 arrived in our country and educational establishments had to close their doors indefinitely.

As it was, with students learning from home, teachers had to students learning from home, teachers had to reinvent themselves and learn how to use new and learn how to use new resources to make their online classes through platforms like Zoom or platforms such as Zoom or the material to be sent by e-mail or WhatsApp to be attractive, modern and motivating, How to do this?

At the request of numerous teachers throughout the country who participate in Fundación Educacional Oportunidad's We Learn early English We Learn, an early English teaching program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, was born. "Think Outside the Classroom", a digital campaign that seeks to share and teach how to use audio-visual audiovisual material, so that the educational teams have more and better resources to enhance the and better resources to enhance the learning of their students during the period of suspension of classes during the period of suspension of face-to-face classes.

The campaign considers three types of resources: tutorial sheets with thematic-specific technological specific technological tools, e.g., virtual feedback; FAQ videos to solve challenging feedback; videos of frequently asked questions to solve challenging issues for schools; and video tutorials entitled "An Idea in a Minute" for and video tutorials entitled "An idea in a minute" to share useful tools for distance learning. share useful tools for distance learning.

Paz Collao, head of the We Learn program at Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, points out that "The last few months have led everyone to innovate in one way or another. In the In the area of education, I am amazed at the tremendous adaptability of teachers. teachers. But individual creativity has its limits, and that's where collaboration is key. collaboration is key. This campaign was born to provide teachers with ideas and tools that involve the use of ideas and tools that involve the use of technology to enhance learning. learning. Distance education opens up new spaces and the invitation is to take advantage of the context, innovating to take advantage of the context, innovating outside the traditional limits of the classroom. the classroom".

The English teacher Claudia Gonzalez from the Jerónimo Godoy Villanueva school in the the commune of Paihuano, Coquimbo region, recently joined the campaign. "Thanks to her Thanks to her, I have been able to show a lot of resources that are quite interesting and that my students have loved. that my students have loved. For example, how to use Bitmoji to make a virtual classroom more entertaining. a virtual classroom more entertaining and with many pedagogical resources. In addition, I have just discovered in this same campaign a resource to create videos, that allows me to exercise with my students and make for example, pronunciation dynamics to expose them to pronunciation to expose them to dialogues and different exercises of oral expression that sometimes it is very difficult to that is sometimes very difficult to work on through online classes".

To find these and all of the campaign's resources by following Fundación Educacional Oportunidad Educational Foundation on social networks(www.facebook.com/FunOportunidad www.instagram.com/fun_oportunidad) or visit the website www.fundacionoportunidad.cl

And you, what are you waiting for to think outside the room?

Educational establishments in the municipalities of Codegua, San Francisco de Mostazal, Machalí, Doñihue, Coltauco, Rengo, Quinta de Tilcoco, San Vicente, Pichidegua and Chimbarongo form a network to improve practices and enhance the education of children in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.

These are municipal establishments in the municipalities of Codegua, San Francisco de Mostazal, Machalí, Doñihue, Coltauco, Rengo, Quinta de Tilcoco, San Vicente, Pichidegua and Chimbarongo. de Tilcoco, San Vicente, Pichidegua and Chimbarongo, which have the purpose of promoting the the continuous development of teaching and management skills in order to sustain improvement and and school effectiveness and thus have an impact on children's learning. learning of boys and girls at the preschool level.

In mid-March the first approach was made to continue the work developed in 2018 and 2019. 2018 y 2019. In those days, the first virtual meeting was held with the teams in charge of leading the work in each commune to teams in charge of leading the work in each commune to generate conversations of personal and professional and professional level and then gradually move forward in the search for topics to be addressed together with the the search for topics to address together with the entire network, which includes 207 educators and assistants in early childhood education. and assistants in early childhood education, 81 directors and 77 heads of Technical Pedagogical Units (UTP). Technical Pedagogical Unit (UTP).

"The key has been collaborative work, trust and humility when facing this new reality. and humility in facing this new reality have been key, and the commitment and vocation of the teams in charge of leading the admirable is the commitment and vocation of the teams in charge of leading the communes, concerned about the people, the emotional wellbeing of the concerned about people, about the emotional wellbeing of colleagues, children, and the the emotional wellbeing of colleagues, children and families," explains the coordinator of the UBC network and network and UBC supporters of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Carolina Zúñiga. Zúñiga.

The priority of the of the current work is to maintain the achievements of the past year, where they generated community spaces in which all members were able to contribute to the improvement of early childhood initial education, with key elements such as motivation, participation, horizontality and participation, horizontality, characteristics in the facilitation of the teams that lead the networks. the facilitation of the teams that lead the community networks.

"The work on the Network in quarantine time has been very important. has been very important, as it has kept me communicated, motivated and willing to make changes for the benefit of and willing to make changes, mainly for the benefit of continuous improvement in the learning the learning of the students at the initial level," says the principal of the Larmahue school in the of the Larmahue school in the commune of Pichidegua, María Margarita Miranda.

For her part, Alejandra Espinoza, a classroom assistant at the Santa Teresa de Avila school in the Rengo district Santa Teresa de Avila school in the commune of Rengo, Alejandra Espinoza, adds that "it has been very important to continue working in the network mode, as it has allowed us to has been very important to continue working in network mode, as it has allowed us to outline a plan to address the different challenges. to outline a plan to address the different challenges. Likewise, I appreciate the shared experiences that give way to reflections, which help us to define a working modality to define a work modality to be implemented in the commune".

The space, called "Escuchando aprendo", will bring songs, riddles, stories and games to homes to reinforce language-related content.

This program is especially aimed at children from prekindergarten to second grade and will feature songs, riddles, stories and games for and will include songs, riddles, stories and games so that they can reinforce some of the to reinforce some of the learning that they are already doing with the activities that their activities that their schools send them.

This created by the team of the Un Buen Comienzo (UBC) program of Fundación Educacional Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, which since 2008 has sought to contribute to the improving the quality of early childhood education (prekindergarten and kindergarten), to support schools in the improvement of pedagogical and leadership practices so that children can and leadership practices so that children can achieve a better socioemotional and language development. language and social-emotional development.

The director of implementation of the UBC program, Perla Chávez, pointed out that "this program was born from the need to program was born out of the need to provide all children with a space for learning and playful space for learning and playful enjoyment that can be available to all families, regardless of whether or not they have families, regardless of whether or not they have technological resources". 

In addition, We are deeply grateful to the radio stations that have granted us a space and we hope to contribute space and we hope to contribute so that children can continue learning, exploring new explore new formats, strengthen new skills and, above all, we hope to bring joy and wellbeing in such difficult times for children. above all, we hope to bring joy and well-being in such difficult times for them and their families. them and their families".

✅ Working with families for English language instruction.
✅ Innovative methodologies for remote English language instruction.
✅ Use of technology for English language instruction.
✅ Curricular prioritization in relation to context.

Proposals should include a description of the experience, methodology, evidence and results. The forms are available at the following link ➡️ https://bit.ly/2YSGVGd

 Applications are open until Saturday, June 20 at 18.00 hrs. For more information, we invite you to write to the following email: 📧 seminario@fundacionoportunidad.cl

In this video we answer possible doubts you may have about the process:

And in this chart the most relevant dates:

The activities framed in Fundación Educacional Oportunidad's #OportunidadDeAprender campaign are simple, brief, playful and varied so that they can be carried out by children between the ages of 4 and 6 in the company of any adult living with them.

In the case of children who should currently be in prekindergarten and kindergarten, it is the adults who live with them who have had to assume the important role of becoming mediators of their learning.

At In this context, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad launched a campaign to provide families with short, playful and families, through social networks, short, playful and varied activities that can be carried out by children activities that can be carried out by children between 4 and 6 years old, and the attention and concentration span of children between 4 and 6 years of age. concentration they have at that age.

The proposed activities are aimed at developing knowledge and skills in areas such as language, mathematics, science and socio-emotional such as language, mathematics, science and social-emotional development, and have been created with the expected learning objectives for prekindergarten and kindergarten children in mind. kindergarten and kindergarten children.

"This is an invitation to families This is an invitation to families so that, through the generation of safe, nurturing and playful safe, welcoming and playful environments, they can work hand in hand with educational teams and schools, promoting educational teams and schools, promoting meaningful learning in their children. meaningful learning. Our previous campaign focused on the socioemotional children's socioemotional wellbeing, which is a fundamental basis for other learning in different areas of the learning, in different areas of development, can take place. We invite you to continue to focus on children's happiness, as well as to provide them with diverse learning opportunities," she said. opportunities for learning," said Marcela Marzolo, executive director of Fundación Educacional executive director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad.

The selection of activities of the #OportunidadDeAprender campaign is available on the Facebook fan page (facebook.com/FunOportunidad/) available on the Facebook fan page(facebook.com/FunOportunidad/) and the Instagram(instagram.com/fun_oportunidad/) and Twitter(twitter.com/Fun_Oportunidad) accounts of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad under the hashtag #OportunidadDeAprender.

We also invite you to visit our online resource platform where you will find the complete set of activities for early childhood education, as well as some of them translated into Haitian Creoles: https://oportunidadenlinea.cl/actividades-para-el-hogar/

The #NiñosFelices initiative seeks to mitigate the emotional impact that children may be having during the period of social isolation through simple actions, such as sharing hugs, conversations, games and laughter with the adults present in their home, among others.

Specifically, there are 14 challenges that seek to highlight the importance of performing simple actions such as hugging, smiling, listening attentively, congratulating, thanking or promoting children's independence.

These challenges will be shared on Fundación Educacional Oportunidad's social networks (facebook.com/FunOportunidad/). Oportunidad(facebook.com/FunOportunidad/ and Instagram.com/fun_oportunidad/), and will also be made available to the more than 100 public schools in the Metropolitan and more than 100 public schools in the Metropolitan and O'Higgins regions that are part of the O'Higgins regions that are part of the early childhood education program Un Buen Comienzo and the and the nearly 20 schools that are part of the We Learn early English learning program in the We Learn early English teaching program in the regions of Coquimbo and Magallanes.

The executive director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Marcela Marzolo, said about the campaign that "our first concern is the children and their socioemotional wellbeing. and their socioemotional wellbeing. We want to show adults that, through simple actions, it is possible to create a positive and supportive environment for children. simple actions, it is possible to create a positive and nurturing environment for them, which will mitigate in some way the negative effects that confinement can bring. confinement can bring.   

Psychologist María Virginia López, coordinator of the organization's early education area, added that "these simple and concrete actions develop an emotional connection of respect and mutual enjoyment, which allows us to generate a climate of support that accompanies the children during the time they remain at home".

This Wednesday, April 22, the first chapter of the program will be broadcasted by the We Learn team of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, which will have entertaining sections that will allow children, young people and even adults to learn this language.

Starting this Wednesday, April 22, at 3:00 p.m., the radio program "Con el Valle aprendo inglés" will be broadcast, hosted by Daniella Restuccia and Miguel Ángel Domínguez, who for one hour will share songs, games and other playful activities to teach the language even to adults who are interested in learning.

The head of the We Learn program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Paz Collao, said that "we are very grateful for the space that radio has given us, We are very grateful for the space that Radio Elquina has given us, demonstrating its commitment to education. Elquina has given us, demonstrating its commitment to education. This radio program is an initiative that seeks to support the community of the Elqui Valley with the learning English, reaching homes in an entertaining way. We will have sections where children can send us their audios of songs to sing and dance. sing and dance".

He also added that "it is important to keep learning at home during this period, It is important to keep learning at home during this time," she added, "but it is also very important to have fun, to have fun, to move around. but it is also very important to have fun, have a good time, move around, so it is a very dynamic, playful so it is a very dynamic, playful space so that everyone in the family can learn English from the learn English from the comfort of their own home.

"Con Con el Valle aprendo inglés" will have a premiere broadcast every Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. and will also have a repeat and will also have a rebroadcast of the episode on Saturdays at the same time. same time. Those who wish to participate by sending their audios for the different sections can send them to sections, can send them via Whatsapp to +56 9 3763 1838.

The E-learning section of our website contains innovative strategies, methodologies successfully tested in Chilean public schools, best practice videos, planning and downloadable material, which will be useful both to support parents with activities at home and to plan activities for back to school.

Today this resource is even more important, because with the schools closed, it becomes a training opportunity for these teams, who, from their homes, can learn new strategies for when the schools open their doors, learn about examples of material for families and prepare their own from the available resources, to share with their parents during the contingency.

It is a platform with content based on the learning and based on the learning and experience acquired by the Un Buen Comienzo program, which since 2008 has been working Since 2008, this program has been collaborating with public schools in the Metropolitan and O'Higgins regions. Metropolitan and O'Higgins regions.

The resources are available at www.fundacionoportunidad.cl, where users must log in to the E-learning dashboard which leads to the learning modules and contents that will allow them to work on units such as phonological to work in a first stage on units such as phonological awareness, emergent writing, listening comprehension and strategies to expand the vocabulary of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children. kindergarten and kindergarten children.

The platform also includes a Science Corner, with a selection of materials, activities and activities and lesson plans that allow to approach in a playful way the core "Exploration of the Natural of the Natural Environment" of the new Curricular Bases of Kindergarten Education, through 6 thematic axes: human body; healthy life; living beings and their environment; nature and their environment; nature and ecological habits; shadows and reflections; and movements. movements.

In the coming months, the platform will incorporate resources for other educational levels and will for other educational levels and will add new areas such as English teaching and continuous improvement. continuous improvement.

"We are very proud to be able to share the experience and lessons learned and learning accumulated for more than 12 years by the Foundation, so that more educational teams and so that more educational teams and directors have the opportunity to access them and put their learning at the and put their learning at the service of the children in early education in our country. our country. This is even more relevant for us in the context of the country we are living in, and we hope that it will be an important and we hope that it will be a useful tool both for professional development and for the professional development as well as for children's learning," said Marcela Marzolo, executive director of the Marzolo, executive director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad.

They completed a scholarship program of the U.S. Embassy in Chile, implemented by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad.

On Thursday, December 19, a ceremony was held to mark the end of the We Learn Access program, an English scholarship program of the U.S. Embassy in Chile that was implemented for the first time in the Coquimbo region by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, with the support of Beyond English, in which 27 students from the Elqui Valley reinforced their English skills thanks to a scholarship that allowed them to have 360 extracurricular hours of classes for two years.

We Learn Access was supported by English-speaking professionals from Beyond English and local English teachers, who English teachers, who promoted the use of the language to the youngsters of the Liceo Mistraliano (Paihuano) and the Edmundo Vidal Cárdenas school (Vicuña) in activities outside of the activities outside the classroom that were developed in a playful way and with 4 axes that guided their astronomy, environmental protection, cultural identity and leadership skills. cultural identity and leadership skills.

The big event where these young people put into practice what they learned at We Learn Access was the July solar eclipse, where they worked as tour guides. solar eclipse in July, where they worked as tour guides providing information English-speaking visitors who visited the Elqui Valley. Elqui Valley.

After the We Learn Access completion ceremony, student Celeste Troncoso of the Celeste Troncoso from Liceo Mistraliano said, "I am sure that speaking English will make it easier for me that speaking English will make it much easier when I want to go and live in another country or when I want to study, so I am very or when I want to study, so I am very grateful. It was a very good experience where we were able to speak English and develop other skills that will help us in life. that will help us in life".

Sebastián Sebastián Fábregas, from the Edmundo Vidal Cárdenas school, added that "it was an excellent experience and I wish many other young people could have this opportunity to participate in the program. to participate in the program. It was very positive to speak with native speakers from an English-speaking English-speaking country and interacting with our own peers in that language. language.

Trinidad Castro, Head of the Learning Transfer Area of the Foundation, the area in charge of this collaboration agreement, commented that "for the Foundation it was very gratifying that the Undersecretary of Early Childhood Education wanted to implement a pilot with our programs (a pilot is also being implemented with our English program in Puerto Natales), since one of the requirements for the selection, it was that they were programs implemented responsibly, with trajectory and that had demonstrated positive results in children."