MMVC18 Judy Wong

4 August

Day 2 Judy Wong presented TELL- Theater for English Language Learners .

I was online on Saturday but had problems with my internet connection  and so I was forced to watch the recording of the webinar online this week.

It was an interesting topic and the presenter focussed on the issue of a world that shrinking and why it is important intercultural competence and understanding as  global educators. 

Judy Wong is one the best speakers and presenters I have ever met virtually thanks to the many conferences which Dr Nellie Deutsch has run so far.  This must have been my fourth webinar  online where she was presenting her ideas.
Last year I saw her in another  presentation online and read some posts in her blog 
 http://judysworld.edublogs.org/.   They were so inspiring!! 

I could not connect with her but I have tried to get in contact with her since her project TELL is great. The theatre and the issues presented in some plays show  human beings who share the same problems everywhere and at anytime.

During her presentation the focussed on the issue that we need to work on ourselves as " We are teachers as well as students" and in education today learners need to master global skills and not only English. In a shrinking world where too many people seem to be afraid of the differences among  people as some seem to be different she stated that " we are all humans " but stereotypes are still present.
Judy presented herself as a person who speaks many languages but because of her apperance people might think that she speaks  Chinese too, which she doesn't.
We are also facing  similar issues in Europe: more and more people are changing their attitudes towards  people who have just arrived  and fear immigrants and people who do not  seem to come from their own land. The colour of the skin, the culture and the language they speak can be seen as a sign of " diversity", someone who we should not trust.

Educators can change the world if they work in a different way with  their pupils. They need to be open:

The project she has been working on deals with the theater and how it can open the mind of the learners and help them develop as people who can make a change. She is trying to work on the issue  stereotypes and prejudice and I am sure that if you  start working with young learners about them you will be able to reach your goals.

What questions came up as you watched the event? I thought that it was a great idea and that we should try a similar path in our schools too. How did the content relate to you as a teacher? I am a person who loves sharing ideas and would like her students to become citizens of the world, so the content was relevant for my teaching situation. What were some thoughts  that came through your mind? If I were in the USA I would like to meet Judy and learn more about this project. Hopefully she loves sharing ideas and I am sure that she will work online and let us know more about it. How did you feel as you watched the event? You become aware of the importance of educators who work on the same issues and Judy was very positive and optimistic, I really appreciated it. Describe three webinars that you enjoyed I have watched some other recordings but I must admit that Susan Brodar's and Judy Wong's were the ones I liked most. What would you like to do in the future? I will try to learn more about TELL. In Italy we do not have a great tradition of schools with studends doing drama at school but we might try to do something. What a question that you would like to research Perhaps we should be given the chance to learn more about this experience by doing some other webinars in order to know about the way students have been working and why working with plays might be a success. Here is the recording of my reflections on the webinar: