Reflections

It is really challenging to write down everything I have learned, experienced, enjoyed and even suffered while designing, planning and implementing the project with my students. Of course, even though I was highly motivated, not everything was easy. We counted with some important initial advantages and there have been lots of positive aspects worth to be mentioned, but we also had to face serious disadvantages. This process (struggle in some cases) has served to evaluate the whole project and extract some improvement suggestions.

Advantages

Working one hour per week (out of the curricular two hours per week) with our conversation assistant
Working one hour per week (out of the curricular two hours per week) in the lab or in the ICT classroom with half of the students (split hour)

Use of images and audiovisual language.
Help and support from the Foreign Languages Department
Using gamification to motivate the students.
Working in groups (collaborative learning)
I have learnt a lot.
Use of rubrics to evaluate.

Disadvantages

Some students refused to speak in English.
The pace of the class is slower.
Students do not take the class seriously.
Some students do the work and others just copy their work.
Students do the classwork and the homework not as accurate as usual.

To improve

Better organization of the timetables and school resources.
Increase of the students’ motivation.
Look for ways of rewarding our students autonomy and their good work.
Hold high but realistic expectations for our students. Planning should be adjustable.