REFLECTIONS AFTER IMPLEMENTATION

GEP 1: This is Science

There are certain things we would have done differently after the experience of implementing our activities.

The main change we would introduce concerns the timing of the activities. While in our planning we had programmed 4 sessions equalling a total amount of 6 hours when put into practise it took us twice the time expected. In total we deboted 13h to it.
Secondly, and it is derived from the first adjustment, we should not have cut sessions since students need continuity to digest all the content they are being exposed to. To bridge the gap we had to design some extra activities in order to do some recap before being able to continue with subsequent activities.
In the third place, we designed some more language support materials since the ones we had designed previously proved to be insufficient.
Then, during a Quizlet activity we thought a bit of writing was missing in order to fix the words and definitions they were working on so we added a simple worksheet to reinforce this aspect. We also took advantage of their multilingual strategies to connect the new vocabulary to their previous knowledge.
Finally, when using the activity called An Interview we found it too difficult for our students to do so we decided to work on the readings using the jigsaw technique. We also completed some of the squares in the interviewers' grids so the students would have an example to follow as a guide. Besides this, all of the students had the interviewer's grid and instead of asking the inerviewers to think of a new question we asked them to write the questions they would be using to request the information to the interviewees.

On the other hand, there were other things which worked very well:

All pupils, but especially those who usually struggle with English got very involved in the project and were highly motivated throughout the whole implementation.
Even on the first session students started producing oral utterances using the target language. They varied a lot: from complete sentences to single content words but everyone was willing to participate in English.

In conclusion, although some changes could be applied to the initial planning the general impression was very positive for both, the students and the teachers.

GEP 2: Fridays for Future

This is the second year we are participating in the GEP innovation program. This second year, it has been a challenge to define and implement the PBL with our students. The unexpected situation caused by the Co-Vid has meant that we couldn’t carry out the implementation. Even though we started it, we couldn't finish it. However, the planning process was very enriching and challenging when trying to include the 8 essentials in a PBL project based on our students.
The few sessions we implemented made us realize of some issues that we want to share and that will surely help us improve.
On the one hand, sessions always take much longer to implement than expected. We already encountered this situation in our first CLIL project and tried to devote more time to each session. It was not enough. Preparation time is also very long. Giving instructions and arranging the learners in groups takes most of the time of the lesson. A possible solution would be keeping the students in the same groups for most of the sessions.
On the other hand, we think it is very enriching and engaging for all kinds of students to work using this methodology. Nevertheless, and to be able to reach everyone during the sessions, more than one teacher should be in the classroom and sessions should be much longer. Otherwise, once the students are involved in the session and working with their group, the time is over and the synergies created during the sessions need to stop and be rekindled within the fist part of the following session. Therefore, we think the group’s schedule and human resources should be flexible enough to guarantee these limitations do not affect the optimal rhythm of this type of class work.
Then,due to the precise coordination among the different agents taking part in this methodology together with the big amount of materials it requires, specific time slots should be devoted to the coordination and group work of the teachers taking part in these projects.
Finally, we would like to thank you for the opportunity to participate and learn with this training that has helped us improve as teachers. As we have said, despite the circumstances it has been an enriching and rewarding process. Both, our students and us, enjoyed and learned from the few sessions we carried out.