In the recent discussions at Oxinity, Katherine Elkington was warmly welcomed, sharing her extensive teaching experience across various countries and modalities, including face-to-face and online teaching during COVID times. She expressed comfort in both methods, highlighting their respective advantages.
The Friday Talk recap emphasized classroom behavior guidelines and the importance of sending feedback emails for student progress. Questions about the Oxinity system touched on email sending procedures, note-taking for students, and leveling processes.
Camila Pico stressed the need for adjusting teaching paces to accommodate diverse student engagement levels, while discussions on Oxinity's methodology focused on creating original materials tailored to specific language challenges, prioritizing oral communication, and fostering authenticity and engagement in learning.
Overall, the conversations underscored a commitment to effective teaching practices, adaptability, and continuous improvement within the Oxinity community.
Person | Idea | Description |
---|---|---|
Katherine Elkington | Introduction | Living in Spain and Andalucia, just outside of Granada. Starting autonomo as of the beginning of February. Teaching for almost 30 years in various places including Malaysia, Oman, UAE, South Africa, and the UK. Starting a blog with a grammar point. Experience with face-to-face and online teaching, including hybrid programs. Used platforms like Teams, Zoom, and Skype. Experienced in teaching all ages and copy editing/proofreading technical documents. |
Gergo | Question about teaching methods | Asked about Katherine's experience with teaching in person and online. |
Katherine Elkington | Teaching during COVID | Experienced both face-to-face and online teaching during COVID, including a hybrid program. Used platforms like Teams, Zoom, and Skype. Also involved in copy editing/proofreading technical documents. |
Gergo | Preference between face-to-face and online teaching | Asked Katherine's preference between face-to-face and online teaching and reasons for it. |
Katherine Elkington | Preference for both face-to-face and online teaching | Feels comfortable with both methods. Acknowledges the advantages of face-to-face teaching for connection but also highlights the effectiveness of online teaching and its inevitability. |
Gergo | Differences in materials used for online and in-person classes | Asked about any differences in teaching materials between online and in-person classes. |
Katherine Elkington | No significant difference in materials | Mentions using interactive whiteboards for teaching, making it similar to online teaching. Emphasizes the challenge of managing larger classes online. |
Gergo | Question about class duration | Asks about Katherine's expectations for class duration. |
Katherine Elkington | Experience with short classes | Has experience teaching short classes and acknowledges the need for practice in pacing and timing. |
Gergo | Closing remarks | Thanks Katherine and welcomes her to Oxinity. |
Person | Idea | Description |
---|---|---|
Gergo | Recap of last week's discussion | Gergo mentions that in the previous week, the focus was on defining what shouldn't be done in the classroom, both in a digital and general classroom setting. He asks for a recap of these points. |
Jas Anand | Guidelines for classroom behavior | Jas Anand suggests several guidelines: punctuality, avoiding phone usage, starting with quick questions to maintain pace, avoiding small talk, not eating or drinking during class, and refraining from using swear words. He emphasizes summarizing the class and sending feedback emails as important practices. |
Gergo | Importance of sending feedback emails | Gergo adds that sending feedback emails is crucial for student progress and is also expected by the students and the company. He underscores the importance of this practice for both these reasons. |
Person | Idea | Description |
---|---|---|
Katherine Elkington | Sending emails | Asks about sending emails after a lesson. Learns to click the save button first, then send the email. Can choose to send to all students or specific ones. |
Gergo | Notes for students | Explains the importance of filling out notes for students, especially during trial classes. Mentions saving names of commenters and how it helps the community. |
Rob Brugman | Notes filling | Asks if filling out notes is compulsory, should include name and date. Receives clarification that it's important, especially for trial classes, and adding notes post-class is encouraged for tracking student progress. |
Josie Salmon | Notes on trial classes | Confirms the importance of notes, particularly for trial classes. Emphasizes filling out the date for tracking student progress. |
Person | Idea | Description |
---|---|---|
Georgina Malagarriga | Regarding notes and student levels | I would ask everybody to read the notes, especially those regarding student levels. It's important to inform the head of quality if a student should be at a lower level, as sometimes the team isn't informed and it prolongs the problem. |
Gergo | Asking about the process | Asks Georgina how the process works regarding levels. |
Georgina Malagarriga | Informing about reporting levels | Explains that when teachers have a trial class, they should report the level to Zendesk, using the green button, to inform support staff. |
Gergo | Reiterating reporting process | Confirms the process of using the green button on Zendesk to report issues. |
Person | Idea | Description |
---|---|---|
Camila Pico | Different students require different paces | Camila discusses the varying engagement levels of students in her class. She mentions that some students engage easily while others require more effort to catch their attention. She emphasizes the importance of learning to manage different types of students. Initially, she struggled with the pace of the class, especially with three students in a 30-minute session. However, she now finds the fast pace beneficial as it keeps both her and the students active, ensuring nobody gets bored and everyone remains attentive throughout the class. |
Person | Idea | Description |
---|---|---|
Gergo | Focusing on creating own material instead of copying from the internet | Students expect high-paced classes due to the 30-minute system. Discussion on why the company invests in creating its own activities rather than copying from the internet. |
Zoe Furniss | Tailor-made courses instill trust and authenticity | Students pay for tailor-made courses and trust the company more when the material is original. |
Katherine Elkington | Focused practice and accuracy for students, ease of working with own material | Creating own material allows for focused practice, accurate activities tailored to student level, and ease of use. |
Jas Anand | Originality and uniqueness of own material | Using own material makes Oxinity different from simply copying and pasting from the internet. |
Katherine Elkington | Different teaching style and pacing | The pacing and structure of lessons differ from other platforms, with wrap-up questions at the end of each section, rather than just at the end of the lesson. |
Rob Brugman | Emphasis on oral communication rather than visual or reading | Oxinity focuses on oral communication, contrasting with other platforms that may emphasize visual or reading-based activities. |
Zoe Furniss | Tailoring material to address specific language difficulties, focusing on speaking and listening | Material is tailored to pinpoint language difficulties and encourage speaking. Lessons are not generic but focus on specific language challenges. |
Jonatan Buxeda i Núñez | Reasons for creating own activities: Reduce teacher workload, learn from other teachers' experiences | Creation of own activities aims to reduce teachers' workload by sharing resources and to facilitate learning from each other's experiences. |
Gergo | Authenticity | Emphasizes the importance of creating original content (photos) to represent one's perspective and methodology. Original content reflects the philosophy and teaching approach of Oxinity, promoting authenticity and individual perspective in teaching materials. |
Gergo | Methodology | Highlights the methodology of Oxinity in creating teaching materials, focusing on speaking and listening over reading and writing. Discusses the purpose of activities and the flexibility teachers have in selecting and adapting them based on student needs and class dynamics. |
Jonatan | Evolution | Describes the evolutionary process of developing Oxinity's teaching system, including the implementation of vocabulary, structure, and topic-based activities. Mentions the importance of reducing teacher workload and sharing experiences to continuously improve the system. |
Josie | Engagement | Stresses the importance of method in generating interest and engagement in language learning. Reflects on the interconnectedness of interest and method, suggesting that interest stems from the method used in teaching. |
Georgina | Natural Learning | Explores the idea of language acquisition through natural learning processes, such as listening and speaking, drawing parallels between learning one's native language and learning a second language. Advocates for a focus on usage over explicit grammar rules, emphasizing the role of exposure and practice in language acquisition. |
Tara | Learning from Others | Expresses interest in learning from other teachers and gaining insights into Oxinity's teaching methods. Acknowledges the value of collaborative learning and the opportunity to understand new perspectives and approaches to teaching. |
Katherine | Order of Activities | Questions the order of activities and seeks clarification on whether it's possible to deviate from the prescribed sequence of vocabulary, structure, and topic activities. Indicates a desire to optimize the lesson structure based on student energy levels and learning needs. |
Rob | Confidence Building | Highlights the role of topic activities in building student confidence in speaking and communication. Suggests that these activities encourage free talk and provide opportunities for students to express themselves, even if they make mistakes, fostering a supportive learning environment. |
Catherine | Coherence | Discusses how the structured approach of Oxinity's teaching system provides coherence in lessons, allowing teachers to follow a consistent pattern and students to benefit from a clear learning framework. |
Alister | Adaptability | Mentions the adaptability of Oxinity's teaching materials, noting that teachers have the flexibility to adjust activities based on student progress and needs. Emphasizes the importance of tailoring lessons to individual students and responding dynamically to their learning trajectories. |
Maricarmen | Continuous Improvement | Reflects on the ongoing evolution of teaching methods and practices within Oxinity, highlighting the value of experimentation, sharing experiences, and collaborative learning. Encourages pushing boundaries and exploring new approaches to teaching, with a focus on constant improvement and innovation. |
TRANSCRIPTION OF THE FRIDAY TALK on Education
20240419_102303-Meeting Recording
19 de abril de 2024, 8:55a.m.
1 h 28 min 0 s
GREETINGS & HOUSE KEEPING
Nezha Essouaf, 4:05.
Morning.
Raquel Pozuelo, 5:19.
Good morning.
Maria García Fernández, 5:23.
Morning.
How are you?
No, no worries. Hi, how are you? I need to call that Lady. Yes, I will call him or her. Her name, Nuria. I will call. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, I didn't remember the name. So I didn't know if it was a guy or a girl. I will call her later.
Jas Anand, 5:35.
Hi, Maria.
Oh yeah, ___ she is she?
Yeah.
She is actually part of the ____. The people I went met in Madrid and ____ used to learn with us. Do you remember? She had, like, yeah, ____. But then she's got so busy at work. So this is a friend of a friend of her. So there's a big group of them. I know. But I think I get the feeling she just wants to do 1 to 1 and that's we talked about it in a Friday talk once, didn't we? How do we get people to do group?
Maria García Fernández, 6:09.
OK.
I will talk. I will talk to her. And from there we will see. How about the rest. Hi, Catherine. Hi, Alistair. Hi, nessa. Hi, Diana. Hi, Raquel. How are you? How was your week? At least there. How was your week? The first week teaching. Good, bad.
Jas Anand, 6:23.
Yeah.
Diana Kugotova, 6:28.
Hello.
AlisterLane, 6:38.
No, it's gone. It's gone very well. So, so far I had one one cancellation yesterday that occurred a couple hours before the time.
Maria García Fernández, 6:40.
Yeah.
Jas Anand, 6:44.
I.
AlisterLane, 6:47.
But other than that, yeah. Other than that, it was, there was a slight confusion because I hadn't refreshed the page, so I thought it had happened within minutes of the lesson. So me and the assistants were trying to work out what had happened, but no, it went well.
Maria García Fernández, 6:47.
Well, that happens. Yeah.
Happy to hear that. And for the rest, good one good quick.
AlisterLane, 7:05.
Yes, all good, all good, all smooth.
Maria García Fernández, 7:09.
Well, Catherine is going to start teaching with us next week, so let's see. Yeah. Are you excited?
Katherine Elkington, 7:14.
Yeah, yes. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you very much.
Maria García Fernández, 7:19.
OK, so let's see if we gotta go gergo's already here. So I.
Gergo, 7:25.
Hi, good morning.
Diana Kugotova, 7:27.
Hi.
Jas Anand, 7:28.
Morning.
START
Gergo, 7:29.
Hi everybody. How are you today?
Jas Anand, 7:32.
Good, good.
Morning.
Gergo, 7:36.
Sunny, happy. Ready. Tired.
Fed up all of all of all of these little bits.
Jas Anand, 7:42.
No.
Katherine Elkington, 7:43.
Friday.
Jas Anand, 7:46.
No, all good.
Gergo, 7:49.
Alright, alright so.
Today we we supposed to have a few new people joining us, perhaps a little later.
Catherine, because because we have, we have met on, we have met on Wednesday, but the rest of rest of the rest of the community haven't heard from you yet. Could you please come to the microphone, introduce introduce yourself shortly?
Katherine Elkington, 8:22.
Now.
Gergo, 8:24.
If if it's OK with you.
WELCOMING KATHERING:
Katherine Elkington, 8:27.
My name is Catherine. I am living in Spain and Andalucia, just outside of Granada, and I'm starting my autonomo as of the beginning of February, so it's all a work in progress.
I have been teaching for most 30 years all over the place, so I've taught in Malaysia. I've just finished up a contract in Oman. I was in the UAE in the Emirates for many years. I've taught in South Africa.
Car I'm the UK.
That's it. It's all a new learning curve. I'm looking forward to the platform Maria has given me a grammar point to start doing a blog with. I've written A blog so I'm busy practising that and.
I don't know any questions.
Gergo, 9:18.
Yeah, I I had a question on Wednesday, but I waited with that until today because as I remember you, you, you taught in person classes as well or or.
Katherine Elkington, 9:30.
Oh, so I have. Yeah, I've taught.
Gergo, 9:31.
Mostly and then.
Katherine Elkington, 9:35.
During COVID, we all moved online so I have experience with face to face teaching and online. And then we went to a hybrid programme which basically remained in place for the rest. You know, once COVID, but we had to be back on campus, but a lot of the students were quite familiar with the online, so it was it was pretty much a hybrid.
So I wasn't only during COVID was I exclusively teaching online, so I've been using several platforms. We use teams, so I'm quite familiar with that. We also, I've also talked privately using Zoom and Skype.
And I've taught all ages. I'm originally a Montessori teacher, and then I moved into the last place I was working was at a College in Oman with all our boys had to have a band 5 IELTS and they were going into engineering so it was very specific, so I've ended up doing quite a lot of copy editing and proofreading as well of like academic and technical documents which I found quite interesting because.
Gergo, 10:16.
Which do you prefer?
Katherine Elkington, 10:45.
Interesting to read your way through an aeronautical aerodynamics assignment. I mean I couldn't say anything about the content because I know absolutely nothing about the subject. So it's it's training yourself to look exclusively at the language. It was really very interesting. So I was doing civil engineering reports and all sorts of things. That was good. Yeah.
Gergo, 11:06.
That's fascinating.
And if you if you had to choose between.
Perhaps a stupid question between face to face or in person. An online classes which would you go for and why?
Katherine Elkington, 11:21.
I must be honest, I think nowadays everybody's so comfortable with social media and and online platforms and things. I
think it's it's just becoming more familiar with what the online platform is. I think face to face is is really nice because there's you've, you've got a lot of connection whereas online you're talking to a screen. But I mean you can you can get a lot across. I had a lesson this morning with the with the student and I mean we were having a good laugh. So there's you know there's a lot of ways that you can connect with people online.
So I'm I'm happy with either. I don't think online teaching is going away ever. I think it's going to become more sophisticated and more adaptable and everything.
Gergo, 12:09.
And regarding the materials you use in a in an online class and in an in person class, did you spot a difference? What do you teach with what can you teach with?
Katherine Elkington, 12:20.
Not really to to large extent in the last place I worked, we had interactive white boards, so you were kind of teaching. It was kind of online anyway. 'cause you loaded all your stuff up your lessons and your your resources and everything you loaded onto the white Interactive Whiteboard and then you were using it. So the difference was you weren't sitting behind a computer. But I mean, you were still working with technology.
So the difference was just having, you know, 28 students in the class.
Gergo, 12:52.
Mm hmm mm hmm mm.
Katherine Elkington, 12:53.
And I and I think if you got that number of students in the class, it's a lot easier face to face. Whereas if you've got a smaller number of students online is is more doable, but it's quite tricky with a lot of students.
Gergo, 13:09.
A digital classroom, you mean?
Katherine Elkington, 13:11
Yeah. So during COVID, I mean, our classes were 28 students in the engineering. So yeah, exactly. And they were all over Oman, and it's a big country. So a lot of them didn't switch on their cameras because they didn't. It didn't make it chewed up too much power.
Gergo, 13:12
Uh huh. Camer. Mm hmm mm.
Katherine Elkington, 13:32
So they were a lot of very tricky elements because we had students who were in very tiny little villages or we had students who were in cities. So you never knew what you were dealing with. So you had to be, like, really careful. Kinda reached everybody. So that's tricky. It's easier in a face-to-face class 'cause you can see.
Gergo, 13:53
OK and. Now starting, starting with what do you expect from classes which last for 30 minutes? Because the majority of our class.
Katherine Elkington, 14:04
I've, I've taught classes for I've taught online always part-time, or I've done tutoring, so 13-minute classes. My timing is always a little bit, so I'm I that I will definitely need to practice is the pacing and the timing.
Gergo, 14:10
Huh. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Very good.
Katherine Elkington, 14:22
Practice makes perfect and off we go.
Gergo, 14:25
OK, nice one. Nice one, Catherine. Thank you very much and welcome to Oxinity once again.
Katherine Elkington, 14:27
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you very much.
LAST WEEK’S RECAP
Gergo, 14:34
OK, now. For instance, Catherine wasn't here last week and I don't know, perhaps a few of you also were missing. And last week we, we spent a lot of time eventually on defining what shouldn't we do in the classroom? Actually, that was, that was the focus on, right so. I'd like you to briefly help us to remember what things we shouldn't do in a digital in a classroom, in general, digital classroom as well, but in a classroom in general. Who would like? Who would like to? I don't know. Maybe some of you took notes? Yes, please go ahead. Go ahead.
Jas Anand, 15:17
Well, what you should do first of all is to be punctual is said don't be late. Try not to be late and we spent a lot of time talking about for not using your phone. Try not to use your phone and then I suppose once the class gets going, start with quick questions. That's the key essence of proximity. That's how we differentiate ourselves. So no small talk because it's not enough time and I think we'd keep the pace going of the class and try not to eat or drink. Well, just having a cup of tea there obviously no swear words, etcetera we talked about and then once the class gets going, keep the pace and finish the class, summarize it and send an e-mail as a feedback.
Gergo, 16:02
Yeah. Super. Yeah, I. Anything else anyone would add to this? 'Cause I think this is really concise. Sending an e-mail is an important thing. I don't. I don't know. Last week we, we I think talked about it, but. But it's, it's, it's important that because it helps. So it helps the progress of our students and students also expect this from us from the company. So that's why it is, it is, it's important for these for these two reasons. Yeah. OK. Now, there were three questions, Catherine.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SYSTEM
Katherine Elkington, 16:43
So sorry, can I just ask when I did my lesson, I wasn't quite sure how to send the e-mail, so I put the chat into the general conversation and I kind of pressed send, but I didn't know if it's sent. So I think I might just need a refresher on that.
Gergo, 16:57
Yeah. First you. But yeah, there is a save button.
Katherine Elkington, 17:04
Mm hmm.
Gergo, 17:05
Above the above, that's above the box where you where you could paste it, paste it. I thought that you click save 1st and then you can send the e-mail first it needs to be saved and then the e-mail will be sent.
Katherine Elkington, 17:18
OK, save and.
Gergo, 17:19
Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.
Katherine Elkington, 17:22
And is that in a general thing or is that to the particular student?
Gergo, 17:27
Now that's, that's, that's, that's you have this you have this this. You have this choice. In the in the in the. I don't remember now, but yeah in the general box. What you put over there will be sent to each and every student.
Katherine Elkington, 17:46
Ah, OK or specific, OK.
Gergo, 17:47
Who attended? Yes, and and there will be specifically sent to students. If you have a few notes or or or things to mention to the specific students.
Katherine Elkington, 17:59
Perfect. Thank you very much.
Gergo, 18:01
You're well. Welcome, Rob, please. Your microphone is off.
Rob Brugman, 18:09
Can you hear me?
Gergo, 18:10
Now. Well, yeah.
Rob Brugman, 18:12
OK, I think Josie told me. But I've forgotten there's some notes against each student's name. Do we need to fill out notes? Is it compulsory?
Gergo, 18:22
Would you like to answer this question?
Josie Salmon, 18:24
Yes, that's the the notes of the oh, do you mean on the attendant sheet? Yeah. So technically, the person who does their free trial should be filling that out. And then people can update it as they go along. But sometimes you'll notice that a teacher hasn't filled that out. So if you can just let the other teachers know, I always do it. If I see a blank one. But technically, the person who does the trial should be doing it. So yeah, if you're doing a trial, please fill it out.
Rob Brugman, 18:53
So it's compulsory and should you put your name and the date in there too?
Josie Salmon, 18:57
If you put the day so we know. Because if it was the first class, we know when it was their first class or we know if they've been with the system for a bit or if they tell you what class it was, then great. But yeah, the date's important. So we can see.
Rob Brugman, 19:09
OK. OK. Thanks.
Gergo, 19:12
Yeah, yeah. The date is important. Your name is. I think it's optional. And also the system, in fact, saves the name of the last. Commenter. So yeah, yeah. Who who commented and about being compulsory, well.
Rob Brugman, 19:21
Teacher, thank you.
Gergo, 19:29
If it's a trial class. Please consider it compulsory because that helps the entire community a great deal and after and after that, right when you when you start, when you start the class I or before when you prepare for a class I think I hope most of us do read these do read these notes on the on the students. And after the class. If you see that there there has been a big change. Right. Then add some notes. OK? Like for example if the last comment is from from. Last August, saying that the student struggles with. Quick questions and then you notice that that right now there is no problem with the quick questions. Furthermore the the student is able to independently form sentences then add this. So we see that the progress has been made. It helps the next teacher a lot in the next class to to. To work to work with the with the with the student. And for the future, I think we did talk about this about a year ago that it would be nice to have A to have a system in which we can actually follow the the. Like what was done with this student in that what is, what is the history of the student? I mean like on a the learning curve. Yeah, to come. We have other Buddha, we have other things to focus on also because we have an algorithm that follows that follows the the OR it. It evaluates the day-to-day or week to week improvement of the students and that's how we received the the activities we receive in a classroom. Georgina, you raised your hand, haven't you?
LEVELING STUDENTS
Georgina Malagarriga, 21:33
Yeah, I did. Regarding those notes, I would ask everybody to read them, especially with the level, because at one point we find ourselves saying, hey, you know, there's a note of three teachers saying the students should be going to a lower level, but they never informed. The support staff or head of quality and by then. They, you know, they can't do anything anymore. Meaning they can't. You can't tell a client or student. Hey. 12 months ago you should have gone down, so if anybody anybody detects that the student should be. Lower the level. Not only write it there, but inform the head of quality as well. Because I've I've found myself there when I get up at this. No, it's gonna make the problem longer. So sometimes I see. Oh, I remember 1 case Gerwin Mark Vaning said this. Sorry, not you guys. Sorry. Sorry not you guys. It could not have been you guys, but the note was there. But the team wasn't informed. So I think that's important that we have to inform the team.
Gergo: 22:45
Yeah, and yes. How do you do that, Georgina? So what you mentioned?
Georgina Malagarriga: 22:45
With levels.
Gergo: 22:51
Where do you? Where should they? Where should teachers write to?
Georgina Malagarriga: 22:51
Well. Well, direct this is when you have a trial class. It's the same idea when you have a first trial class of students. I just talked to Zendesk, and I say, "Hey, Zendesk, I just did this class and it was great or it was not great or the zoom was struggling." The same as with the levels. I just finished this class. So the Zendesk always, they're there to support.
Gergo: 23:20
Assistant button.
Georgina Malagarriga: 23:22
Yes. Sorry. Chat assistant. Yeah, the green one. The green button.
Gergo: 23:23
Assistance. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Or yeah, the green button. That's where you can. That's where you can report all these things.
Georgina Malagarriga: 23:28
By the way, the most important button, the screen, the most important button, like the red button. We should put a red button. We should put it red now. Any problem, red button, just don't stand there.
Gergo: 23:42
It is dangerous. I think the red button, it's good, it's good that it's green, it solves the problems. It does not end them abruptly, right? Yeah. OK, good, good, thanks, Georgina. Thanks, Josie. And then. If there are any questions from the new teachers, Rob, Catherine. Alistair maybe. Do you have any problems you faced this week in your classes? If not. OK, Camilla. Camilla, what about you? How about your classes? How? How? How have you been doing? I don't know if you can come to the microphone or if you can hear us. No. Maybe later, OK. Now.
DIFFERENT STUDENTS REQUIRE DIFFERENT PACES
Camila Pico: 24:41
Oh, hi. Sorry, sorry. I was struggling to turn on my microphone. Can you repeat the question, please?
Gergo: 24:47
Yeah. So have you faced any issues while teaching this week?
Camila Pico: 24:56
Not really. I mean, there's a different kind of students, right? There are students that really engage with the class, and it's super easy and it's lovely to talk to them. And there's other students that I have to put more effort to catch their attention. So it's just learn to manage different kind of students. But besides that, I think that it's going like alright. At the beginning, I was struggling a bit with the pace of the class because 30 minutes is like really fast. Especially, we have three students. It's like extremely fast. But now I like it. I think that it's amazing because it's really active for me as a teacher and for the students. So no one gets bored and everyone, it's always paying attention to the class. Yeah, that's it.
OXINITY CONENT
Gergo: 25:39
Yeah, and thanks, Camilla. And you will notice that actually our students expect the classes to be high paced because they are they know that we have this 30 minute system. OK. Good. So for today, we have three questions. To talk about or elaborate on and. Yeah. The first one like we are focusing on our content plus material activities in other words, so. Why do we have our own activities? Who can answer this question? Who would like to answer this question or who has ideas about why do we do our own activities? Why do we put so much effort? Into having our own material, why don't we simply download things from the Internet? We are working online anyway, right? So we could just copy paste things from the Internet, put them together, and then work with those. But we choose not to do that. Why do? Zoe, go ahead, please.
Zoe Furniss: 27:01
So people are paying a lot to have a tailor-made course and authenticity often instills trust as well. So there's an element of trust with the company that it's actually driven and focused for them.
Gergo: 27:19
Very, very important, right? It's good marketing. Actually, that's what we have our own material. OK. Catherine, please.
Katherine Elkington: 27:30
I think it's also focused practice for the students. Like if you say it's a 30 minute system, so the pacing, so it would be focused practice at a rate. And also, I think making your own materials means that you can actually link things together better and make sure that you're getting your student level, your activities are accurate for the student level.
Gergo: 28:00
OK. Yeah. Also the. It's easier to work with your own material. Basically, yeah. OK, alright. Also, also very important now. What does our material represent? Yeah. Imagine. Imagine that you are. You are a, you're a designer. And you can choose. You can choose between using your own pictures, your own photographs, or you can use to work with photos from Pixabay, 3 pig, whatnot. What's the difference? Between using pictures taken from the net or between using pictures that you shot yourself. What do your pictures represent? Besides being your own pictures, besides not having to pay for them and not having to to mention them or comment them, yes please. The microphone is muted, yes.
Jas Anand: 29:28
Whoopsie, you're being a regional and you're being yourself and nobody can copy you. Well, they can, but they're original and your own activities and your ideas. And that's again making oxeniy different to copy and paste.
Gergo: 29:46
We are getting there. We are getting there. We are getting there. OK, OK. Are we teaching the same way as other schools which you have taught with or worked for in the past? People here I think many of you were many of us worked for other platforms or for other language academies. Do we follow the same teaching style method approach as others? For example, for new teachers like Catherine or Rob or even Zoe, do you find how we teach different compared to what you did or how you did things before?
Katherine Elkington: 30:35
I found that when I looked at the materials and I asked Georgina about it because there were a lot of activities and then it was taking in select one. She explained that I'd taken select what I need to teach that kind of made it a bit easier. But I think the pacing is very rapid because and then you've got the also the wrap up at the end of each lesson. Those questions that need to be asked. So I think that's going to I think that's quite different. Because normally you have a wrap up at the end of the lesson, not at the end of each section, in my experience.
Gergo: 31:11
Uh, huh. Uh. Huh. OK, I have to. I have to say, Catherine, that this is something which is a little bit up to the teacher because also sometimes in the middle of the class you will not break the flow of the class by asking the wrap up questions. What you need to make sure is that at the end of the class or before finishing the class, there should be a wrap up about all the material. But yes, that's so different approach. The assessment. Yeah. OK. OK. Thank you, rob.
Rob Brugman: 31:41
M.
Rob Brugman: 31:41
It's very oral, a lot of the other platforms are a lot more visual and reading, whereas this is it's forcing a person to speak, so that's that's that's different for me and yeah.
Gergo: 31:49
Yeah. Very important difference. Yeah, yeah. Oral based teaching focused on speaking and listening. Yeah, super, super, very good, Zoe.
Zoe Furniss: 32:01
I didn't endorse that and agree it's more oral focused. It's encouraging them to speak. I mean, I've always been platforms I've worked for. Reading was a no no. Always because it was a waste of time and it was also a waste. Just because somebody can read it doesn't mean they understand what it says, but also it focuses on particular things. It pinpoints what actual difficulties may physically has when learning a language. So it's not generic, it's actually. It's tailored to pick out like the fuzz or the pronunciation of a shun, and how actually, how people learn a language. So it's more the material dictates that what people actually have difficulty with and not just talkie, talkie, talkie, small talk again, as you've said, starting with your closed questions that relate to auxiliary verbs, say for instance because that's now I didn't know that before, but that's obviously what Spanish people find most difficult things like answering an answer. So it's swaying them in the right direction of what they need to know and leaving what they don't.
Gergo: 33:11
Yeah, yeah.
Zoe Furniss: 33:12
That's my underst.
Gergo: 33:14
That's a very, very I I think I I haven't seen Jonathan smiling, but I think he was very happy for what you have just said because this is this is something very fundamental for oximity that we focus on the things but they don't know. And that's what we work with. That's why 30 minutes classes are enough with oximity because because we can do this by the help of the teachers and the algorithm. Right, Jonathan, please.
Jonatan Buxeda i Núñez: 33:41
Yeah, as you said, I was actually smiling, I really like listening to all of you guys saying what we are doing. There's probably things missing, like why we do this. Actually, I don't wanna ruin your flow, Gergo. So I can just, let you go for it. And then and then I can add like these two. "Why" things that for me are very important to understand. why we do this.
Gergo: Go for now. I think because no one else raised a hand. So please go ahead.
Jonatan Buxeda i Núñez: Alright. OK, so the main reasons we are creating our own activities, for me are two. We started this by saying we have to reduce the amount of work that teachers do, right? We saw that a lot of teachers were using other people's material or books and stuff, but still they would go and start adapting it for their needs. And that represented so much effort. Then we gathered with some teachers and said, “why don't we kind of structure this?” you could all do one activity and share it with the others, right? So we will reduce the amount of work that you have to go into. That was the first thing that we put on the table. We started to work with some teachers and that's how, by doing this Friday Talks, we kind of structured what do you see today. Now it's very easy to go and prepare something that other people will be able to use. So the first reason was to reduce the amount of work that your guys were doing. And the second thing that we realised was that, if we want to teach the best way, we have to learn from other people. An activity that we create and share, it's nothing but the experience of other teachers. We can learn from other teachers, right? If you only do this once doesn't make any sense. But if you start doing it every single week, what you realise is that, you guys are learning from other people. So, when you create an activity, you start from the standard or the basis of other people. That way, what we are creating all together is amazing. That's magic actually. And then, all the things that you have said now, the way we do things, it's because people were creating and sharing these activities the way they would do it, and teachers using them would love that. And that is why we have all started to create activities using the good things we have learnt from previous activities. So when we go to oral focus, or when we go to not using filling the gaps, or we're doing all these things that we can say today that we do, it's because we share and we create our own material, These are for me, the main reasons we create activities ourselves. Thank you Gergo.
Gergo: No, thank you. Thank you, Jonathan, because this is this is really fundamental to what we are, what we are trying to put together here, right that to answer this question. So sharing experiences, sharing, sharing the knowledge, and then and then and then by sharing these expertise, we, we we constantly improve the way how we teach. What we do now is very, very different. Well, not. Yeah, but it's it's quite different compared to what it was five or six years ago. Of course. It's of course it. It's can be related with. And me and then going online, but also also we learn so much from each other during these years. And then we just we just we have the opportunity to constantly improve our our teaching style, our approach, what we do in classes, how we do the classes, how we build the material. But we we we don't have a a kind of rigid. Structure of textbook right that we need to print every year again and again and again we just go click, click, click. You do the complementary works. And there you go. The whole thing is changed. So yeah, these are this is this is basically. Why we create our activities are ourselves. OK. And is there anything else who anyone would like to share something about why or what in your opinion, why do we create the activities ourselves? No. OK, very good now. What do we put in these activities? That's the next question. Next question. So we have the why let's let's let's let's focus on the what. Right. What do we put in in in these activities? Pictures, texts. And then we then we send it to corrections, right. But. Besides that. For the perhaps for the new teachers especially. You must have noticed that we have these three different colours, 3 different dots, right? Yellow. Red and green, which are the three different main types of activities. I think structure activities, I mean like the name structure it's it's pretty straightforward, right? It's it's, it's grammar and syntax and everything. Everything included in this. I I don't think we are going to talk about how we do them, but but. For a moment, I would like to go to. Look at the yellow dots or the yellow circle, the topic activities. We did. We did speak about this a couple of weeks ago, but Rob, Catherine and and Alistair, for example, they weren't here. So Alistair, if you could, I I think you you've had already a few classes so. What do you think? Why do we have the topic activities? What's the purpose of these activities? What do we do with them? Alister, can you hear us? No worries. Camila, what do you think? Why do we have topic activities? Why? Why isn't structure and vocabulary enough? Why? Why are they? Why are they different? Perhaps you also noticed the difference in the in the build of these activities. OK. No, Rob, if I may ask you.
Rob Brugman: Yeah. So I think it's kind of to to encourage a bit of free talk and to get the students confidence up. Because it's a case of them communicating to you and you understanding what they're saying, they might not get the grammar right or the pronunciation, but they're just building confidence. That's for me. That's what it is.
Gergo: It very important part, very important part. Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK. Georgina, you were you you. You were first.
Georgina Malagarriga: Yeah. Well, just to say it's it's very magical, just the the way this way of teaching. And I'm happy because despite doing it for three years and seven months, my LinkedIn says so things are still changing. And as you can see, I'm hyper happy. And I remember with Maricarmen when we started doing this new way of welcoming people over. And I said to her Maricarmen, I can do three activities always in every single class. So there was something that like trying to help people do that. It helped me do that as well and trying to show people how to make the best of those 30 minutes help me. And regarding what you're saying now, when I notice it with chat box, when I do topic activities, how what happens in the chat box, how does the assessment happen there or how does the correction happen there and? They're definitely for fluency and accuracy because they just start talking whichever way they want, but the type of Corrections there. Have much more to do with. Making correct structures or improving the structures, maybe they say something that is commutative and could be correct, but it could be better. So that's what's happening to
me there now. And when I do my gel appraisal, you know, vocabulary and even structure or like beep beep, beep, beep very technical things. But there's I have a part called Corrections and I write what they say and I write what they should say. And that's happening to me there right now and I don't know, get off if that's what should be happening in terms of the teaching, but it's what I'm what's happening to me now and it's so there's a big smile on my face because I it keeps evolving. You you keep teaching differently or. Yeah, that's my my experience this past what, 4-4 weeks? 5 weeks? I don't know.
Gergo: Why shouldn't it happen? Why should intercept in Georgina? I mean like oh but.
Georgina Malagarriga: Well, because it's what we well, I know that it's inevitable to compare it. You started saying, OK, how is this different from traditional academic English? And that's like actually how can I compare that to. Yeah academic case as being a doctor. Sorry. well-being a doctor or a types of doctor like, OK what's wrong? That's the medicine. Ciao. What's wrong? There's a medicine. Ciao. But here. Baby, there's a much more listening, of course, if they speak, we listen right and it's organic and it's organic for the teachers as well. Right. Like we know there's some rules, but maybe that's not the moment to talk about those rules because but are those or that guidance or going down that path because what they're producing is maybe not exactly that. So you're giving them what they need in the path that they are exploring in terms of language or you know when they start talking about topics, maybe they a conditional a conditional. Structure is not well said, but then a model is now well said, but then the actual, the end and final. I mean, I don't know how the the end and final is something they always confuse, so it's instead of like working from what a book says. It's working with what they produce. This is something actually when I was teaching. I actually tried to use anything that happened in the classroom. Even if they were making jokes, I would try to use that to to as an examples of what they had to learn. Whatever it was right. But I think that this is both experience based and and and overly communication based both for them and for us as well. And this is a beauty and the fact of maybe not, I mean I do things a certain way, yeah, but then certainly surprised 'cause you try something different. I don't know this is, but this has been happening to me for the five past four weeks. I don't if it makes sense or not, but it's a constant learning for us as well. And I noticed that like, oh, how can when I talk about structural vocabulary, it says, oh, why are corrections like that and you know why? What is happening in topic activities that's not happening or shouldn't happen. Right. I was out to. I was out to about to try to get well. If it's pronunciation, but they got the wrong wrong. Should I correct that? You know, I'm very, very, very picky, but yeah. It's it's. It's just, I don't. You're constantly exploring.
Gergo: Didn. Yeah, and and for and for this, you don't really have fast rules like each and every class is different. Each and every student is different each and every moment is different, like when to, when, when, when to say, when to say that OK. He made the mistake in a role for the fourth time in this class. Now it's time to actually remind the student that yo, this is not this is not the way we say it or but. But I think I think the moral of the story, what you have just said is actually really good because you are pushing the boundaries and this is this is something what we have the opportunity to do here at toxinity, right. So we can explore new things, we can put them in practise. They do not work. We share that knowledge with the others that OK, we didn't work out for me. Maybe you try it as well and then we discard it or then we implement it or adjust it. But we have this opportunity here, right? It's just we have a kind of. Like a basic a basic approach or or scaffolding right that what was mentioned today like it's basically it's it's based on speaking and listening more than reading and writing which I think is is kind of obvious especially given the given the the virtual environment in the 30 minutes of classes, right. So we we cannot go. Read lengthy texts in in 30 minutes classes. Catherine, you're raising your hand for so long and you must be tired already. So please come. Go ahead.
Katherine Elkington: Not but actually, because basically what Georgina said is what I would also have said that the structure and and and organic learning. So it's kind of changing and evolving, but having your your activities structured like that actually builds a lot of coherence into the lesson. So it gives and and it gives the teacher the structure which is like actually going to help the student to learn better and especially with the enormously quick pacing. You've got. Something like that that you can follow and also I think the the traffic light system is a good idea because then all the teachers have gone exactly the same structure and pattern. And so if you're teaching like it seems to be teaching, I'm new to the system, obviously. But if Georgina's teaching like that and Josie's teaching like that and Rob's teaching like that and you're all teaching then within Ox Oximity, you've got a structured teaching methodology in my opinion.
Gergo: That when I when I say approach that's what I mean by the methodology, the the fundamental philosophy behind. Behind the the the teaching or what? How we look at teaching. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jonathan. Jonathan. Jonathan. Yeah.
Jonatan Buxeda i Núñez: Let me share something after I explained the why's and how we started back then. So these two reasons: Firstly, to reduce the amount of work that teachers would have and secondly, to share experiences to learn and evolve as a system. Now, we have ended up having this vocabulary structure and topic based system. These three buttons that you have on the teaching app to structure the whole class, took us one year to stablish and implement it . So just to bear in mind, it was not a process from one week to another, or something done in one meeting. We started working with teachers, like you guys, they shared their activities. And one day after a year, Radmila came to me and said, I got it! She like three piles of paper. Because back then we were using Word documents that we printed out. That's how she realised that you guys were doing without knowing at that time, what today we organize in Vocabublary, Structures and Topics activities. It took us 1 year to realise that the language could be structure and taught within this three areas. And we came to this conclusion, actually because of you. This is what we called back then The Triangular Projection Model under the Oxbrdige English Teaching System, that we use today in the Oxinity community. And so now, hopefully, it all makes sense.
Gergo: 50:50. Projection. That's a nice to know a little bit about the history and where things where things come from, right, and how did we arrive. We better have said, how are we constantly arriving where we are at the moment because it's a constant evolution as well, right, from day-to-day and week to week. And, yes, if you think about these topics, you know everything is there, pronunciation you can work on. You can work on everything, but more importantly, the students are using different contexts to use to use the. Used the structures and the vocabulary. What you practised with? I don't know if any or I know that some teachers do the topics at the very beginning of the class. I myself, for example, I try to do it middle or the last parts because I had to say. I'd like the students use the structures and vocabulary learned before when we are using the topic activity because the because these activities really give them the opportunity to express their feelings, opinions, arguments. Likes and dislikes about many things, right? And this is why I myself to attend to tend to use the topic activities at the end, at the end of the class. You know, of course, it really depends on who are the students when are when in the morning at 8:00 o'clock. It's very hard to start with the structure exercise, right. It's not the best choice again depends on the students because some students are ready to go like this. And then we can just work with them. Catherine.
Katherine Elkington: Yeah. My question is on that. So we don't need to start with the yellow. We can actually start with the structure with the. So. So because I did the Easter egg thing, but the punctuation activity was different. So I could actually start with the punctuation activity and then go to the, oh, OK, I didn't realize. I thought I had to go step by step, but I could go step by step, but in a different order.
Gergo: Is as you wish. Depending on the students depend, sometimes it will even just your moment, sometimes it might even happen that you start with the structure exercise and then you see that OK the students or the students are struggling. You change, you go to something else and then when you see that, oh OK, they really they picked up, they picked the pace up. Let's go back and let's try it again and if not then you discard it again. This is a very important thing to remember with our system is that.
Katherine Elkington: Depending on the lesson. OK. Uh huh.
Gergo: That. The activities, the four activities are not there to be covered, all of them. The four attachments within an activity are not compulsory to be used. It's the teacher's choice. At any given moment, how much, how much the students need from that activity, from that attachment, right, sometimes you will. Sometimes you will see after. To doing the second attachment of a vocabulary activity that oh, these students know everything. I mean, it's too easy for them. It put it aside and go for some, go for something else. So this is your choice. The only thing that is important is that if you didn't cover the activity, all the attachments or the entire activity because they couldn't red face. If you cover the entire activity but at the end they still struggle red face. If they start the activity and from the very beginning they are confident with using the content green face and then often times you won't even need to cover the entire activity because then. Then this is also very important and we mentioned in the beginning of the of the talk that we focus we with our system we focus on the on the. Arts of the language, which they don't know. Repetition is a super good thing. Yeah, of course it will. It will help you become better. But you can do it alone. And it sounds strange, right? Because in fact, in a way we have our own businesses. So of course we want to earn more money and we still say that don't pay me for practising, for repeating something. I mean, like you, if you want, you can but. I mean this is and this is this is. If you really think of it, this is a very, very it's. It's a really good promotion, right? I don't take money from you for something that you can do alone. Pay me for what you can't do alone and this. This is how we accelerate the. This is why we. Advertise. Promote ourselves that we accelerate your learning. You are learning anyway. If you are busy with the language you are learning anyway everyday with, with, with Netflix, with with BBC Radio, with reading the news with. Even just, you know, like using applications, if you turn it to, if you use the English version then you are already learning everyday. We can help you with filling in the gaps by not using filling in the gaps in areas. But sometimes we do. Josie, please. And then Georgina.
Josie Salmon: Yeah, yeah. With the repetition, it is important, I think, though for them to repeat the things they don't know until they get it. But just to not repeat the things that they already know. So that's what we're trying to do out with the structure. I just want to say a bit about the order of the activities, because this is something I thought about a lot from my beginning here and generally. I always thought topic was good to do at the beginning because it's a lot of sentence building expression that's quite tiring and I like to think about how tired the student's going to be, so I usually pronunciation pronunciation at the end because that's quite a nice, easy thing, and they're usually exhausted by them. But I realised after a bit of time that actually that actually with lower levels they really need the structure. And that can be really challenging for them, maybe even more so than like the topic. So actually I've been moving the structure. So for me it also depends on the level where I'm placing, but for me, I think structure and topic beginning one or the other definitely seems to fit best with their energy levels. And I like that. Go go the idea of structure then being used in the topic. I think that's really efficient. And just one other point as well, I saw someone. Really. Experienced teacher not in the Oxenity community, but somewhere else. Posted a poll and it was something about a quote where they'd said that 99% of material should be based on interest and 1% on method. And I was like, that's wild like but I think when I started teaching I probably would have thought the same. But after like seeing oxen it is structure and method and realising how important the method is to creating that interest. And that's what I love about what we do here. Like this fast-paced covering, a lot of stuff and the repetition, which means that the classes are really engaging and really interesting. Yeah, it's sort of. It showed me like how interlinked these two things really are. Like the interest really comes from the method. So yeah, the method is definitely really important.
Gergo: Yeah, super nice. Thanks very
much Josie, for this. Georgina, please. You also raise your hand.
Georgina Malagarriga: Hmm. But I also start with structural vocabulary and I finish with topic. Although it's not the first time that a teacher says they do it other way around, which I would be very curious about the fact it has, but I'm going to repeat a famous Josie phrase from her Hall of Fame of famous phrases that I loved. And she said, maybe you don't remember, but a year ago or so and she said, oh, this is like students outside of the class, they learn. And inside the class they test if they have learned. And I tend to say that to elites many times 'cause it's about exposure. And of course, they're gonna be exposed to English 1000 hours more than in the class. And I thought that was a very, very nice way of understanding how it has to be done like this, or it should be done like this. So thank you, Jodie, for that phrase.
Gergo: And thanks Georgina for sharing this with with the product community because it's. It's it's the same for reason for which the topic is at the end. To test what you what you what you learned, what test, what you practise. Do you really know it? Do you know when to use it? Do you know how to use it? Yeah. Yeah. OK. Before, before I forget and we are, we are. We are closing up to the end. Jonathan, go ahead then please.
Jonatan Buxeda i Núñez: Very shortly, yesterday I was talking with an American guy and he was trying to speak Spanish, right? So he's been trying for a long time and he was putting a lot of effort into it. Actually, we were playing tennis and we started to talk and then he said, what do you do? And then I said, well, we have this platform and we teach languages. Then, he was kind of, I need to learn Spanish. He explained me what he was doing and I said: OK, realise that you already have the ability, but maybe you're using it wrong. I know this because you learned your language, and the way you learned it was not going through grammar and reading a lot. Then, what I suggested was to stop reading, stop studying. Otherwise it's gonna be impossible for you to learn. Go back when you learned your own language, it was your parents trying to teach you some vocabulary, and pronunciation was so important for it. They were not writing down the words for you. They were only pronouncing those vocabulary for you, they were speaking all the time. So you were mostly listening. So that's what you have to do. You need to learn a language by listening first. Once you listening for a while, you will realise that you know some words. You can pick up some words randomly, and because you'll need them to express some needs such as you are hungry, or that you need water, or whatever, those words will come to you so you can use them so people will understand. The structure, the grammar, comes magically, after listening a lot. You start to put in order all the vocabulary that you know. So, going back to the system that we use, think about vocabulary as the building blocks that you need. Then you need to structure them in a certain order. For that you need to listen a lot. And then, topics, are for when you need to say something. When you want to say something. And as Josie was saying, probably with low levels, you have to focus a lot on vocabulary and structure. We came up with the solution of putting all together in low level activities, using cognates for people to start building right. While when you're in a P5, high level, then you want to say things right, that's when they push you to go to the topics. But never forget that vocabulary and structures are always there and students need to improved many times. There's going to be more topic activities, probably at the end, on high levels than vocabulary and structures activities, but they are still very necessary. Please, always think about how you learnt your language and this is what you need your students to do. Realise that, if you have a student that says no, I learn by reading, you need to make them understand that that's not what they did when you were young, and that's probably what you don't need now to learn a language, otherwise It will take you forever. Learning languages is so easy if you forget about reading and you start listening, OK. Thank you.
Gergo: Thanks, Jonathan. Unfortunate that it's 12:00 o'clock because I have a lot of things to say about which person I should just said. Georgina, please, you want to say something as well.
Georgina Malagarriga: And this is what like what? The two, what Jonathan was saying and thinking about that. You're like, how is it possible that the language that you've mastered the most, you have no doubt about is actually the one that won? You don't even remember how we learned. And you probably don't even know the structures that are behind. So that's what related to what Jonathan was saying and yes. Sorry, good. Well, yes, we can learn the language if it's the word. First one, I think we all as armita used to say, we have all learned a language once in our life.
And I just think of that way of thinking. You don't need to know what's behind it to speak it. And the proof is that I speak Spanish and Catalan perfectly. Well, I do remember the rules because I'm kind of a nerd, but many people don't. It's not necessary.
Just listen and speak.
Gergo: I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't know because you. Because you grew up learning those rules and that's why you can you, you have the command of language the way you have.
Georgina Malagarriga: He did not learn the rules. You did not learn the you learn something different, but not the rules you learned. You learned the it's a way long debate. No. But you learn the usage, not the rules.
Gergo: Oh, yeah, OK, OK. All right. It's. Yeah. Long debate lesson. Less not. Let's not. Let's not go there. This one, two, 2 + 2 + 12.
Georgina Malagarriga: Not for today.
Josie Salmon: Just say I have to interject, though we did have some rules. We do have some rules. We have Magic Key for English for the the silent ear, everything. So there are some rules that you learn, but I think they're taught differently. So maybe that's something interesting to think about.
Georgina Malagarriga: Phone number 3 go in.
Gergo: Yeah, it's look, it's it's the this is this like natural learning approach. I I agree with that. But there are there are certain details to it like for example what what is your aim with the language you want to you want to be able to go to the supermarket and buy milk and and and order a beer or you actually want to have a meaningful conversation on a on a higher level with someone because if you want to reach that level well then maybe some additional help with this with with, with grammatical structures and other things.
Might be needed, but this is a long debate and perhaps it's a good one for next week to start with, because this is really important and even more so because we come from so many walks of life and so many parts of the planet. So this is really something what we could actually actually talk talk about in in detail right to many, many modern tongues here and so on and so on. So.
This is a good thing to do. So what I wanted to say is that I'm sorry we have another news. New teacher here, Tara, which I actually mistaken. I didn't. Didn't. Didn't realise. So Tara, welcome to Oxinity. And next Friday, we are going to give you the chance as well to make a short introduction.
You're at the you. All you can come to the microphone. Super good. Good afternoon. Now already.
Tara Monzavi: Hello. Nice to meet you all. Thank you. Sure, next week I will participate in this taking.
Gergo: What?
What do you think after having listened to to us chit chatting for an hour? What do you think of these people on the screen?
Tara Monzavi: Actually I understood new things about arxenity and I had just once experiencing impeaching in organic tea and I'm trying to learn something new from teachers.
Gergo: OK, well, good luck with that. Welcome to accent, Tara. And then next week, we are going to give you some more space to to talk, OK. And as a last thing, I perhaps you remember using your picture or using the picture of others. If you're a designer, what's the what was? What did I want to say with all this thing and our activities and not using the other stuff? What do your pictures represent compared to others, Georgina.
Tara Monzavi: Thank you. Thank you so much.
Georgina Malagarriga: In a nutshell, I will try. OK my thought was saying how much time will I spend looking for the photo that expresses exactly what I want. But how much time can I spend creating a photo that does exactly what I want?
Gergo: Sometimes longer. Actually. If you want to make your own picture, and if you're a perfectionist taking that one shot, it might take you weeks.
Did you know you're frozen?
Well, that's a freaky picture, actually. What the what?
Josie Salmon: That's an excellent freeze. I'm impressed.
Gergo: The oh, dear, Oh dear. That's that's a that's a heavy one. That's a really, really, really heavy one. But we're recording it. So she she she's going to be able to reflect on that but but.
Josie Salmon: I've screenshotted it, it's fine, don't worry, it's just love that.
Gergo: Yeah. Thanks. But. But so the, so The thing is your own picture is your own perspective and by creating our material, we are representing the methodology. We are showing the perspective straight. This is how we look at it. This is how we present it. This is how we use it. It's all us and this is when you use your own picture, the same thing happens because you you took the shot and you took the shot from an angle with a with a view with A and so on and so on.
So that's why it's authenticity in the end, what Zoe and others mentioned as well. But it's a little more than just authenticity. It's really how what we put in these materials and how we build them. It's it all the philosophy and everything what we stand up for and what we think about teaching is there in those four attachments should be there in those four attachments, each of them.
Nice one. Really, really, really good talk, everyone. Thanks for being here. Thanks for everyone commenting, listening and and we continue next week and and everyone enjoy your weekends. OK good rest.
Thank you. Bye, everybody.
Zoe Furniss: Thank you.
Rob Brugman: Hey jajo.
Tara Monzavi: Thank you. Goodbye.
Georgina Malagarriga: Thank you. Thank you so much. Bye bye.
Josie Salmon: Bye. Have a good weekend.
Tomás García Alonso: Have a nice weekend.