New practices for distance teaching and emotional support tools were offered to more than 1,000 English teachers.

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. 

Digital campaign invites teachers across the country to "think outside the classroom".

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

Have you heard of Bitmoji, Genially, Powersoft, do you know how to create an animated gif to share in teaching materials, or perhaps how to use a teleprompter on your cell phone to record a video without having to memorize all the content?

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?

More than 80 municipal schools in the O'Higgins region face the sanitary contingency through collaboration

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.

The current health crisis forced to redesign much of the work programmed for the year 2020 and the virtual meetings have been the option to continue with a certain normality the daily work. This was the understanding of the 81 schools in the O'Higgins region that are part of the Improvement Network A Good Start (UBC) of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, who in pandemic have continued to collaborate, reflect and share experiences to support the education of prekindergarten and kindergarten children who today must continue their education at home.

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".

"Escuchando Aprendo" our new radio program for children from kindergarten to 2nd grade to continue learning at home.

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

In order to support the current situation in which children are without classes and must continue with their teaching-learning process at home, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad created the radio program "Escuchando aprendo" which began to be broadcast on local radio stations in the regions of O'Higgins and Coquimbo.

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".

📣 Call for proposals 2020

If you are a member of an English teaching or management team, you can be part of the Poster Session of the 6th International Seminar Expanding Opportunities to be held in September 2020, in this version, in online format.

We invite you to publish your experience in an academic poster, within the following topics:

✅ 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:

We created an initiative that seeks to support the learning of prekindergarten and kindergarten children at home.

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.

The current health crisis has affected the face-to-face learning processes of around 3.6 million students in Chile. As a result of this, a series of alternatives have arisen for children and young people to continue with their education remotely, either through online classes, using social networks, WhatsApp, or through physical material that the same establishments have been delivering.

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/

Campaign launched with challenges to reduce the stress of children in quarantine

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.

With the global pandemic as a context, several problems have arisen at a global level and others that are born in the most intimate space of the home, where children begin to perceive the concern of adults.

In order to safeguard their emotional well-being, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad launched the campaign #NiñosFelices (#HappyChildren), which seeks that the adults in the home consciously carry out actions that favor positive and quality interactions with the children and thus reduce the stress that the health contingency and the quarantine confinement may be generating.

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".

Find the details of each one of the challenges in this link https://oportunidadenlinea.cl/desafio-ninosfelices/

We made our debut on Elquina radio with a program that seeks to promote the English language in the Elqui Valley.

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.

Since 2006, the early English teaching program We Learn of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad has been collaborating with public schools in the Elqui Valley with the objective of expanding the opportunities for children from pre-kindergarten to learn this language. Considering the efforts made by the schools to continue promoting learning when classes are suspended, the We Learn program has sought new ways to support this work and found in Radio Elquina an important ally.

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.

New platform makes educational resources available to support the strengthening of education in Chile

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.

In a challenging scenario for the Chilean educational system, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad makes available to the educational community a new online tool, free and freely available, which will allow educators, kindergarten education assistants, teachers and management teams from Chile and other Spanish-speaking countries to train in language strategies, natural sciences, promotion of class attendance, English and continuous improvement.

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.

High school students from the Elqui Valley graduate from We Learn Access English program

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.

First year of the Apprenticeships for a Good Start in Local Service program ends Puerto Cordillera

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.

With training on the use of time for pedagogical purposes aimed at educators and assistants in early childhood education and another on emergent writing and use of time aimed at Heads of Technical Pedagogical Units, the pilot program "Learning for a Good Start", carried out in schools belonging to the Local Public Education Service (SLEP) Puerto Cordillera in the Coquimbo Region, came to an end.

"Learning for a Good Start" was implemented in the Coquimbo region thanks to a collaboration agreement between Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and the Undersecretary of Early Childhood Education.

This program is a light version of the Un Buen Comienzo (UBC) teacher and management professional development program that Fundación Educacional Oportunidad has been implementing for more than 12 years in public schools, and dispenses with classroom accompaniment processes, but addresses through training the strategies that UBC participating schools implement to improve the learning of children at the initial level.

Throughout the year, educational teams and management teams from 20 municipal schools of the SLEP Puerto Cordillera, made up of the communes of Coquimbo and Andacollo, participated, who not only participated in training, but also received various materials such as books for the classroom library, language plans for each title, attendance panels, alcohol gel, among others, those that are part of the language and assistance strategies promoted by the Foundation.

This pilot program focused on attendance during the first semester, presenting strategies to combat chronic absenteeism (missing more than 10% of school days), and language in the second semester, providing specific strategies to improve oral comprehension, vocabulary, emergent writing, and address the organization of time in the classroom.

One of the characteristics of this program is that not only preschool educators participate, but also incorporates the assistant in preschool education, as well as the heads of UTP, who were given tools for observation and feedback to the educational teams.

Next year, it is expected to deepen the assistance strategies by promoting the use by schools of the assistance platform made available by the Foundation, with the purpose of leaving installed capacity not only in the establishments, but also in the monitoring and follow-up processes carried out by the technical teams of the Local Service.

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."

84 municipal schools of O'Higgins met to review the work in early childhood education

The 2nd Learning Session of the year of the Improvement Network of the Good Start program, made up of more than 80 educational establishments, also made it possible to reflect on the data obtained and raise challenges for the year 2020.

On Thursday, December 5, educators and assistants in early childhood education, together with management teams and school principals from 84 public schools in the O'Higgins region met to review and celebrate the results achieved this year in the early education levels, as well as to analyze the lessons learned from collaborative work.

This meeting corresponded to the second Learning Session of the year of the Improvement Network of the Un Buen Comienzo (UBC) program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, the only network in Chile that works with the objective of improving the learning of children at the initial level.

The session made it possible to share successful experiences in relation to the time that educators use for pedagogical purposes, children's attendance to classes, and those associated with the quality of interactions that take place in the early education classroom (prekindergarten and kindergarten).

This Improvement Network was created in 2018 with schools that previously participated for two years in the professional development program Un Buen Comienzo and aims to be a space where participants nurture their work in order to provide greater development opportunities for the children in their schools.

The executive director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Marcela Marzolo, pointed out that this last learning session of the year "was a space for celebration and at the same time for reflection on the learning obtained by the school teams. These instances are very enriching, since they allow for the exchange of experiences and the collaborative definition of how to face the challenges related to networking and the generation of significant learning for the children at the initial level".

English teachers from the Elqui Valley analyzed successful strategies for language learning

14 schools from the We Learn Improvement Network met in a new learning session to strengthen their collaborative work.

English teachers and management teams from 14 municipal schools in the municipalities of Paihuano and Vicuña, in the Elqui Valley, met to analyze the work carried out during the year and share strategies and actions that allowed them to promote the use of this foreign language in their students from an early age.

For the past three years, these schools have been part of the We Learn Improvement Network, whose purpose is to promote collaborative work among schools that have common learning objectives and which is based on the work developed by English teachers in the classroom and by the management teams at the school level, in order to enhance the results achieved by the students.

Developing quality interactions to achieve learning, generating spaces for students to learn based on their own challenges and enhancing pedagogical leadership through data analysis are the topics that have been addressed in this year's work and will be the basis for projecting improvement options and challenges for 2020.

The head of the We Learn program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Paz Collao, highlighted that "this third year we have seen great progress, especially in the collaborative work that schools do to contribute to student learning. This learning session has been a new opportunity for school teams to share their learning and achievements with their neighboring schools, strengthening innovation and progress through networking."

Expanding Opportunities" international seminar presented new strategies to enhance the teaching of English to children at an early age

The fifth version of the event was held in La Serena, with speakers from England and Uruguay and workshops by leading national professionals. In addition, teachers shared their experiences teaching English to hearing impaired children and told details of how the networks have become a space for collaboration.

On Friday, September 6, the 5th version of the international English teaching seminar "Expanding Opportunities" was held in La Serena, providing English teachers and management teams with creative and innovative tools and strategies to take back to their classrooms and schools.

The objective of this seminar is to generate opportunities for teachers and directors to learn new ways of teaching the language in order to generate greater learning opportunities for children from an early age.

The event, organized by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and the Universidad de La Serena, included the participation of Susan Hillyard (England) founder and director of the English academy SHELTA who in her presentation "English through drama" showed the importance of teaching English with theatrical techniques such as creativity, role playing and improvisation with interactions that are as close as possible to real life.

In addition, Gabriel Díaz (Uruguay), director of the Ludus Center for innovation and pedagogical experimentation at the Catholic University of Uruguay, addressed the importance of teacher professional development in the area of English to maximize children's learning in the classroom in his talk "15 reasons why it makes sense to engage in professional development".

The international English seminar also included workshops to address issues such as the importance of the role of management teams in designing, managing and facilitating the development of English teachers in the school.  

In addition, teachers presented to their peers experiences that have allowed them to teach English to hearing impaired children, improve their students' pronunciation, use social networks to share teaching strategies, among others.

Schools in the Elqui Valley planned improvements in English teaching for 2nd semester

English teachers and English-speaking professionals, together with principals and heads of the Technical Pedagogical Unit of 14 educational establishments in Vicuña and Paihuano that make up the We Learn Improvement Network of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad participated in the second Learning Session of the year.

For the past three years, 14 schools from the neighboring communes of Vicuña and Paihuano, in the Elqui Valley, have formed the We Learn Improvement Network, with the objective of working collaboratively to improve the English language learning of the children of the Elqui Valley. On Tuesday, July 9, they met for the second Learning Session of the year to monitor the strategies and results of the first semester.

The initiative, led by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, allowed teachers and principals to share during the morning the initiatives and good practices they developed during the first semester to promote English in their schools. They also analyzed the indicators and goals established to know the state of progress in the first half of the year.

During the afternoon, the school teams, supported by the Foundation's We Learn and Continuous Improvement teams, adjusted their plans for the second semester, incorporating the successful experiences presented by their peers during the session.

The head of the We Learn program, Paz Collao, valued the importance of the collaborative work that has been developed and explained that "we have been working for three years with this improvement network and we have been constantly evaluating the generations of students in the schools that make it up and we see that they are having excellent results". He added that "we hope that the children who started in first grade and are now in third grade will project this learning throughout their school career and that when they are teenagers they will be able to communicate in English easily and without problems with people from other countries".

In addition, teachers will present to their peers experiences that have allowed them to teach English to hearing impaired children, improve their students' pronunciation, use social networks to share teaching strategies, among others.

For his part, the director of Continuous Improvement of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Eduardo Jeria, highlighted the importance of holding this meeting, which will allow reorienting the processes that have not had a positive impact in the first half of the year.

"The Continuous Improvement methodology we use involves short testing cycles, so we don't have to wait a full year to know if we've had good results," he said, adding that "schools are constantly collecting data and indicators that are taking the temperature on how these strategies are working."

After the Second Learning Session, Pía Irigoyen, English teacher at the Cielo Claro school in Paihuano, gave details of the satisfaction of working in a network: "I appreciate that my ideas can also be tested by other colleagues and that they can tell me about the changes they have made and how their work has turned out. I also learn from others and take ideas from them. This is very gratifying for me, because it means that my work serves others and thus, together, we contribute more to the quality of education in the country.