My mother used to say that she had been lucky. When she met my father, the actress Kim Novak was in fashion, and with her, a type of woman with hips and a generous body. In other words, not thin. Later, she would lament that fashion had changed and that gaunt bodies had become the trend, because she knew that her daughters would have a harder time of it. I would listen to her and curse my bad luck because, at home, for years and years, I was the fat one, the chubby one, the one who didn't have the normative weight that was expected and, of course, was a person in a permanent war with her own body.

Spain celebrates its national holiday this Monday just after being called to elections in which the right and the far-right (if the redundancy may be excused) present themselves thirsty for revenge and the socialist centre-left and the left (if the Spanish national redundancy may be excused) will repeat the “No pasarán” of the most dramatic contemporary Spain.

The news that the poet Anne Carson has been awarded the Nobel has a touch of self-fulfilling prophecy: just as some recent Nobels (like fellow poet Louise Glück, like Annie Ernaux, like Han Kang, or like the one from just the previous edition, László Krasznahorkai) constituted slight and pleasant surprises, Anne Carson's shines for its forcefulness. “Ah, right, Anne Carson,” the many thousands of readers of her verses around the world must have said. When I say that the aforementioned were “slight and pleasant surprises,” I mean that they were not entirely unexpected: they appeared in the Nobel “betting pools,” in the lists of authors nominated to receive the award, but perhaps in less visible spots on those lists. Not Anne Carson: Anne Carson had already been among the names heading them for years, and it is not out of place to imagine her, in recent years, waiting for the call from the Swedish Academy. A bit like Paul Valéry, who was among the candidates for twelve or thirteen years in a row, and every year, when the Nobel dates arrived, he would go for long walks to calm his nerves. He died without receiving it, precisely the year that the Swedish academics had decided –they said– to give it to him. Anne Carson has declared that she too will go out for a walk in the woods, but in her case “so as not to have to answer the phone; afterwards, we will enjoy the silence.”

The last time I spoke with him, he repeated to me again that he didn't want to be Elvis Presley. "Now I don't care anymore. Elvis Presley doesn't appeal to me anymore. Now I want to be the shepherd of the flock because people must be helped." This week Joan Porta Salse died, the Gypsy of Balaguer. That kid who at eleven years old wanted to be Elvis Presley.

I am not very up to date with the music scene, nor have I been a big fan of Oques Grasses, and I had always thought, perhaps from the original sin of Barcelocentrism, that these guys from Osona moved in the more or less modest figures of the rest of the leading groups in Catalan. But I read that they accumulate millions of plays of their hits more popular, and at the time of their farewell they filled the Montjuïc Stadium for four days, with 225,000 tickets sold, equaling a feat that until now only Coldplay had achieved. I have seen the videos of the concerts and they make a great impression. So many young people singing their anthems by heart; quality music, with diverse influences; celebrities and guest artists, and above all a feeling of resounding success, of mainstream, which is still not common in artistic expressions in our language.

Those of us who work with children from zero to six years old celebrated greatly that the new education decree considered in a clear and transparent way that the zerosis (I borrow this beautiful neologism from my colleague and teacher Maite Pujol) is a single stage, with its own identity.

Recently I was asked how I imagined the school I would have liked to attend. The question is relevant as a pedagogical diversion, and with that spirit I offer my answer.It would be, in the first place, a school that teaches (sets milestones and educates attention).I would give students as much quality time as possible. A vulnerable student needs the school to compensate for the cognitive gaps they bring from home. Who, if not, will do it? Wasting time is depriving them of opportunities.I would work thoroughly on the link between reading comprehension and prior knowledge. Whoever knows more, understands better and accumulates more background, expanding their prior knowledge. Teaching content is also teaching how to read.I would take care of disciplinary literacy. Given that every subject has its own lexicon, every teacher is a language teacher. There is no school activity that cannot enrich the students' language.It would have a content-rich curriculum: cumulative, sequential and coherent. Based on knowledge, driven by knowledge and articulated in didactic units, in accordance with the principle "from simplicity to complexity".Each activity would evaluate the affordable cognitive load, because it is necessary to give students what AI eliminates: effort.I would value knowledge, because we only strive to achieve what we consider valuable. Without knowledge there is no higher-order thinking. Knowledge is what we think with.I would not rely much on the existence of generic competencies. Neurologists, for example, are not particularly good at diagnosing cardiology cases.Since we would take equity seriously, we would bet on a sequential curriculum, with controlled progression and explicit instruction (the most effective one).There should be one curriculum for the entire school, not as many curricula as there are students with learning difficulties. A well-sequenced curriculum leaves no one behind.I would argue that knowledge does not have any property that prevents it from being transmitted and I would not confuse epistemology and pedagogy.Its basic principle: no student can do what they have not learned. Therefore, one would teach to remember. Without a trace in long-term memory, there is no learning. We would not underestimate memory and would see forgetting as a pedagogical challenge (as the Ebbinghaus curve reminds us).

The school year begins, and with it, families set in motion an almost perfect machinery: the fashionable backpack, the wonderfully covered books, schedules squared to the millimeter, and WhatsApp groups in full swing. We try to anticipate everything so that our children begin school calmly and without difficulties. But, sometimes, in this legitimate attempt to protect them, we are literally leaving them unprotected, because we eliminate what will help them most to become strong: the small daily setbacks. The start of the school year is a magnificent moment to train resilience, especially when they haven't gotten the teacher they expected, or their best friend is in another class, or everyone says it will be a complicated year.

I have worked in schools that separated by learning levels and others that did not. It is evident that in a graduating class, students learn, evolve, and mature at different paces. This is what we now call diversity. But there are many types of diversity. They can be due to learning capacity or autism, hyperactivity, motor difficulties, vision, hearing, and so on. All options have been channeled into so-called inclusive schools and institutes. An interesting debate would be whether this option (with adequate resources) is still better than not having specific centers for this type of student. It is not about segregation, but about offering the best possible attention to our children. However, we have always taken into account students who have difficulties. The most classic option to prevent them from falling behind in their studies is to offer them support groups. Students in support groups must have their curriculum adapted, and the agreement is signed by the families. This is what we call an individualized plan. The aim is that, within their capabilities, that student can progress and obtain, like the others, a school diploma. In certain cases, it is also taken into account in high school.

It's hot. Very hot. Too much. And I don't formulate this evidence as an experienced climatologist, but as a simple inhabitant of a world increasingly close to boiling point. Faced with this climatic exceptionality, which is already sensed as the new normal, the much-coveted air conditioning units, despite the immediate well-being they provide, contribute to heating the outside even more. Perhaps that's why, in the midst of a climate emergency, the oldest solutions are once again proving their validity. And is there anything more ancestral than a fan?Just a few years ago it seemed that this object had been relegated to a simple folkloric souvenir, adorned with inevitable kitsch Hispanism motifs. Today, on the other hand, it has regained its place as one of humanity's oldest, simplest, and most sustainable technologies. But, has this always been its function: to make wind? And, despite being an inseparable complement to the flamenco stereotype, is Spain really its place of origin?

There are many movies I haven't seen. To give you an idea of the magnitude of the tragedy, until the lockdown I hadn't seen Dirty dancing (what a marvel) or Pretty woman. I wanted to take advantage of this series of articles to effectively fill some of my cinematic gaps. In an era of massive audiovisual supply and absolute atomization of channels, I cure my FOMO with a delay. Ben-hur, Blade runner or E.T. Let's follow my summer journey to fill my cinematic gaps. I saw Legally Blonde for the first time and here are my notes (taken with a pen with a pompom):

Eat more protein, you need it! How much? Look it up and calculate. Make sure it's quality because your muscles and bone mass will thank you, I promise you by the Virgin of Conscious Menopause. But don't just eat protein, eat everything but eat well. Attention: raw vegetables at night, no. Processed foods, never! Gluten in moderation. Alcohol... Nye.

Generosity is not born out of pressure, but out of respect for children's times and needs, and out of support that sets limits with empathy and without imposition.“You must share” is one of the most repeated phrases in parks, schools, and family gatherings. It is said with good intentions, almost as an automatic response, as if it were an unquestionable rule of coexistence. But what if this ingrained demand were interfering with a much deeper learning? What if, instead of educating in generosity, we were promoting responses based on pressure, obligation, or even fear of conflict? Often behind this imperative lies the adult need to resolve situations quickly, to avoid tears or tensions, or even to look good rather than to accompany what is truly a learning process. We turn “sharing” into an immediate duty, with no room to understand what the child is feeling or what they need. And in this apparently harmless gesture, we may be overlooking a key opportunity: to help them build, at their own pace, an authentic understanding of what it means to give, to wait, and to consider others.Sharing is not a simple or spontaneous gesture, no matter how often we take it for granted. It is a complex skill that is built up little by little and involves a whole series of internal learning processes: recognizing that others also have desires and needs, understanding that giving something up does not equate to losing it forever, learning to wait without anxiety, reading the emotions of others, and, above all, feeling that what is one's own is protected. Without this foundation of security, genuine generosity can hardly emerge.

It might seem that as societies modernize they tend to gradually shed inherited rituals laden with formality. Current times, increasingly oriented towards practicality and immediacy, have refined many social ceremonies that today seem excessively solemn: from the rigor of wearing mourning clothes to the protocols associated with baptisms or communions. However, from time to time, rituals emerge that, like stubborn salmon swimming against the current, not only survive but reappear hypertrophied, clad in a ceremonial that they did not even have in the past. This is the case with graduations. The turn is so unexpected that there are already specialized brands in this festive-academic niche and teenagers capable of patiently waiting five hours in line to get the outfit with which to publicly stage that they have finished the fourth year of ESO.

Everyone is clear that reading is good and having the habit of reading is even better. For years we have been trying to do this from high schools, especially language teachers. I say we try because we don't always succeed. In a few high schools in Catalonia, half an hour is dedicated to reading every day. Where I work, this is done in all courses, from first year of ESO to second year of baccalaureate. Sometimes, on guard duty or walking through the corridors, you see that the youngest ones, those in the first cycle, still maintain the desire to read. The key word is "still", because I fear that with adolescence, a good part of the students lose the reading habit. Some, unfortunately, forever.

Adolescence is a very complicated stage of development to accompany with serenity and empathy because it requires adults a combination of patience, listening, and constant understanding. The adolescent, submerged in a web of physical, cognitive, psychological, emotional, and social changes, often appears at home irritable and with little desire to share everything that worries or bothers them. An attitude that, far from being a personal rejection, usually reflects the need to protect oneself, to understand oneself, and to find one's own place in the world. In this context, the adult perspective becomes key: interpreting these behaviors calmly and without judgment can make the difference between raising walls or keeping communication bridges open.A family moment when talking to children stops being easy: what arose spontaneously in childhood – explaining how the day at school went, sharing worries, or asking curious questions – progressively transforms into a true odyssey, where managing to exchange more than four words without tension, argument, or anger appearing becomes a challenge that often bewilders and exhausts adults. And it is precisely in these difficult moments when parents' patience and calm can make the difference between building walls or keeping communication bridges open.

I have always thought that in our profession it is very important to value the meaning of the words we use both to address children and young people and to relate to each other, teachers and families.

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran that has disrupted global energy markets. For many, the conflict may seem distant, but the prices at any gas station are enough to understand that it is not. In twelve days, the price of commercial diesel rose by 26%, from €1.45 per liter to €1.82. This is not a projection or a theoretical scenario. It is what thousands of Catalan companies are paying today every time they fill up their tanks.

Those of us who work with children in the early stages of education celebrate and applaud the fact that the latest curriculum reform of 2023 affirmed from the outset that "the early childhood education curriculum integrates the first and second cycles into a single educational stage with its own identity." This is a demand that has been made by the educational reform movements, with the journal CHILDHOOD As a keynote speaker, he has championed and defended his position for decades. The problem is that these good intentions, when they come down to earth, end up being just wishful thinking, because the reality is that we have a completely fragmented political landscape.