“A teacher who loves learning earns the right and the ability to help others learn.” – An Easy Start in Arithmetic, Grades K-3
Every month or so, we feature Easelly users whose infographic creation or advocacy caught our eye on social media.
For this month, we’re putting the spotlight on geologist turned math and science teacher Diana Moragas. She hails from Vilanova i la Geltrú, a charming seaside town in Catalonia!
For a start, here’s the infographic by Diana that caught our eye:
Let’s get to know Diana, her background, and her life as a Math and Science teacher in Catalonia!
Tell us a bit about yourself, Diana.
I studied Geology at the University of Barcelona. In my last year in University, I got the opportunity to start working as a geologist in the field of Geotechnics for a company in my city. I could not say no as there are not many jobs as a geologist in our town, even fewer from our region.
My original plan, however, was to get a degree in CAP, during my last year as a Geology student. CAP is a one-year teaching course here in Catalonia. After 5 years working in Geotechnics, I decided to pursue CAP to be able to return to what I wanted initially, that is to be a teacher.
In 2008, I left this company, and I started as a teacher in different public schools. Due to the economic crisis that time in my country, it was a struggle finding work in state schools, so I started working as a teacher in a private behavioral rehabilitation center. It was a very enriching experience for me!
It was not until 2015 that I started again to work in public schools. I am currently working as a teacher in an Adult School Center, teaching classes to teenagers who did not finish their studies successfully at that time. I am also helping students prepare for exams that will gain them access to higher degrees as well as adults who want to improve their digital skills. That’s my background in a nutshell!
Would you please share to us what it’s like to be a math and science educator in Catalonia right now? Tell us about its rewards and challenges.
As a teacher, I am not only motivated to teach, but also to learn new things myself. I also love to break the myth that Math is a difficult subject.
For me, it’s more than just teaching Math and Science. It also means being motivated to gain new knowledge, to be creative, to “think”.
For the struggles, there are students who are not motivated to learn, but I actually see it as a challenge.
Next, the amount of time we spend preparing for classes can be daunting, although it is a pleasure to me really. In Catalonia, teachers do more hours in the classroom than we should, and there are also many students in our classes, so you can not attend to everyone’s needs. For instance, there has been a recent strike by public workers to improve their working conditions.
The most rewarding thing is witnessing how students evolve and change for the better over time. There are also students who come back to our school to visit us because they still want to continue their relationships with their teachers. Sometimes, there are former students whom I meet unexpectedly in town and they’ll remember me. It’s a gratifying feeling!
What lead you to use Easelly? Did you take some infographic courses?
One of the most important things that teachers must do is update our skills by taking new courses.
I discovered Easelly because a teacher recommended it to me in a course on project-based Learning, from the INTEF education platform.
In one of our tasks, we were told to create a poster to introduce our project. They recommended a few applications, and after skimming through them, I decided on Easelly.
Easelly had many templates to use, and the methodology for making the posters seemed easy and quite intuitive.
The truth is that I did not know anything about how to do infographics, so I improvised a bit!
Tell us the story behind the infographic you created using Easelly.
In our project-based learning course, there were a lot of tools and activities, but we were expected to create a final product.
Since the beginning of the course, we knew that we had to do a group project to be taken in the classroom. There were three guiding questions for this project. We were also told that it was best to cover the science and technology field.
In my group, we decided to take on a model-based approach to this project. Specically, we wanted to portray what our house would look like in the future.
In this group project, my individual task was to make a poster that would summarize our group project. It’s how I came up with this infographic using Easelly!
What are you looking forward to as a teacher who just discovered Easelly?
I took the course expecting to discover tools that will not only help me as a teacher, but also test them so that the students can use them in the classroom.
There has been a boom in the use of tech tools in the classroom and students really love them!
I really like Easelly, and I found it easy to work with any activity. There are many templates to use with the free account. Plus, it’s super easy to access as a new user.
Currently, I’m thinking of new activities that we can do using Easelly. It also helps that it’s in English. Students will also be able to practice the language.
Tell us about your other hobbies and creative pursuits besides teaching.
Apart from teaching, I really like to learn! I am interested and focusing right now in learning ICT (information and communication technology).
Since my childhood, I have always been terrible at drawing, and the use of tools like Easelly have allowed me to open myself in this world.
The truth is that I appreciate your comments on the infographic. I did not expect such a reaction! It meant a lot to me, and it helped me gain more confidence in infographic creation.
Apart from learning and expanding my knowledge to be taken in the classroom, I also like being with animals and taking care of them. I also love strategy games, and spending more time in the outdoors and mountains!
Finally, I like looking at many cooking blogs to learn how to cook and the stories behind each recipe.
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You can read more about Diana’s life as a teacher and journey to lifelong learning on her blog. We also want to thank her for allowing us to share her story (thank you so much, Diana!)
If you’d like to give Easelly a try like Diana, start creating your infographic now.
Finally, if you have an Easelly story to share, we’re all eyes and ears. Comment below or send us an email at support@easel.ly. We look forward to hearing your story!