Sharing is rewarding

This entry supposes the last activity of the course “INNOVATIVE TEACHING PRACTICES SUPPORTED BY THE FOCUSED USE OF ICT TOOLS IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM”. Before explaining it, I would like to say how much I have learnt with the different activities that we have carried out and how interesting and useful this course is. I recommend it totally.

Now, moving to the last task, I have carried out one of my course mate’s activity in one of my primary groups. Maybe it is not exactly what I was asked for, but everything is explained below. It has been Teacher Carmen’s EdPuzzle activity. You can find it on the following link:

https://itsteachercarmen.blogspot.com/2020/03/edpuzzle-activity-steve-and-maggie.html?showComment=1583689096844#c7200704124422239643

The reasons to do this activity are varied. The first one is that I find very interesting to use one of my colleagues’ work in my lessons. It makes sense of the Moodle platform as a meeting point among teachers, as a place to share resources and ideas. Secondly, it is a way to check if although we are teachers in different schools, the resources can be usable in both of them. Other point to choose this activity is the quality of the video: it is very appealing for children, the presentation of the content is appropriated, it is motivating and the questions created by Teacher Carmen are suitable. Besides all these reasons, my students already know Steve and Maggie, and they love them.

Regarding the results of the implementation of this activity in my lessons, it has been a total success. The students have loved the video, finding the questions interesting and at the same time challenging. 

Finally, I have gone further than that. Not only we have carried out the activity, but also I have explained them why. I have told them that it was part of a course because although I am a teacher, I am always learning. They know too that it was created by another teacher in the same course and I have it because we share a lot of things, and the more we share, the better we work. Even I have shown them the blogs to demonstrate that it was something real, not just an idea about giving my things to other people because a teacher says that. Their faces were thoughtful; I hope they reflect on this idea because it is probably one of the best things I can teach them.

Genially activity

As my students are too young to create their own Genially project, we will work on one that I have created and whose main purpose is to work the speaking skills and to learn about India.

The Genially project deals with India as an English speaking country. During the development of the presentation, students will answer to different questions with varied grouping, so they will have the opportunity to work different speaking and listening skills.

The project starts asking the students what an English speaking country is. This will be worked by the whole class, so we will have a lot of answers, using them to lead to a final idea by the teacher. 

The second slide shows the most famous ones. We can do a list with those they say. The third slide has another question: what do you know about India? To answer it, the class will be divided in small groups which have 5 minutes to reach an answer. The answers will be shared later by the group speaker with the whole class. By this, all of them speak in the groups but just a few in front of the class, so shy students can be calm and those more outgoing have their paper. 

The fourth slide has a link which goes to Google Maps. The task now is to say the neighbour countries of India in the following way: “India is next to...”. It will be done in pairs. The fifth slide has a video showing important aspects about India. It is a song. 

The sixth slide has different images related to India and a question. They will answer it in pairs again and finally, those who want to do it could say their answers to the whole class. Meanwhile, an Indian flute sounds. It invites to reflection. 

The activity is thought to work speaking in different levels: the whole group, small groups, pairs and finally everybody again. It allows students to participate in the moment they feel confident to do so. Furthermore, it also includes listening and students awake their wish to know about India. 

Without a doubt, the use of Genially is a key factor in the activity since the inclusion of music, video, links and gifs makes it much more appealing for the student. Without the music or Google Maps, it would not be the same.

Genially