Santillana honors teachers at the gala ¡Grandes Profes! (Great teachers!)

¡Grandes Profes! (Great teachers!), organized by Santillana in collaboration with the Atresmedia and Reticare Foundations, paid a well-deserved tribute to the work of teachers, key figures in the educational process. The event was attended by Elsa Punset, Mario Alonso Puig and Xavier Valbuena, as well as leading professionals from the worlds of technology, such as María Garañ​a, and communications, such as Roberto Brasero. They all shared with attendees the keys to motivating them in their daily work lives, and helped them learn how to manage emotional intelligence in the classroom in order to better stimulate student learning and successfully do their jobs.

The presenter Anna Simón served as emcee of the gala, held on January 17 at the Kinepolis cinemas in Madrid. After some welcoming remarks from Silvio González, CEO of Atresmedia, Miguel Barrero, Global Director of R + D + I at Santillana took the podium to say: "the time has come to recognize teachers in real time."

The writer and thinker Elsa Punset shared the three factors that, in her opinion, are crucial in the education of children: "Character, family and teachers." Punset encouraged teachers to boost their students’ self-esteem and motivation, and gave some tips for training the brains of children in positive emotions. "Affection for others triggers the ability to overcome obstacles," she explained.

For the writer and surgeon Mario Alonso Puig everything has to start with the teacher’s self-assessment of themselves. "What you do in the classroom will have a huge impact, you have the ability to awaken dormant talents and souls," he said. He also highlighted the ability to "reinvent the brain" and the importance of how mood affects "health, intelligence, memory, creativity and imagination."

María Garaña, president of Microsoft Spain, stressed the importance of "people" over classroom technology: "Teachers are the ones who first have to be convinced of its importance for technology to work well." She said that ease of access and specific content for digital channels are the keys to opening up the range of possibilities for the future of students, and she stressed the need for a "triple collaboration between parents, students and teachers."

The popular weatherman, Roberto Brasero, expounded the EEI theory for effective communication in the classroom: Entertain (make it enjoyable), Excite (get an emotional reaction from the recipient) and Inform (transmit useful knowledge). He also insisted on the value of concentration, improvisation and nonverbal communication.

The last speaker, Xavier Valbuena, spoke about limits and how to overcome them. As participant in 2009 in the first expedition led by people with disabilities to reach the South Pole, he said "nothing is impossible". "Only effort is needed, one needs to set a goal and strive to break through the limits. Each and every person needs to find their own South Pole" he said.

The event also featured a presentation by Mario Tascón, a journalist who explained to attendees the CREACULTURA initiative, and there were contributions from several winners of the awards Iniciativas que educan (Initiatives that educate), convened by Santillana and the Atresmedia Foundation. Researcher Celia Sánchez Ramos, from Reticare, gave some words of advice, and there were words of thanks from the director of the Atresmedia Foundation, Carmen Bieger.

The enormous success of this gala, which exceeded all expectations of attendance, was reflected on social networks (Twitter and Facebook). The hashtag #GrandesProfes had a total of 3,209 mentions on Twitter and an impact of 86,426 users.