Teaching inside Google Classroom

It was time to plan the review class for test 1 of my 3B group. This group of mine has 16 students enrolled and some of them are not as participatory as I'd like them to be. There is the worksheet that we always get in our boxes and which we can use for that particular class. In my head, just as, I believe, in many of my colleagues' heads, this is one of those classes that are usually expected to be exactly the way they have always been: students get the worksheet, they work on it, they compare answers, teacher checks it. It's either this or the other version of assigning it as homework beforehand.

This time, however, I wanted to try something new. Speaking to Ana Netto, I found out that herself, Bárbara Duarte and Talita Lima had been creating these digital tasks on Drive (forms, docs and quizzes) and had been willing to conduct a review class entirely inside Google Classroom. That's right. In class! So I decided to join them. Why not?

Ana shared the stuff they had already put together and I made some other things. In total, they were simple things like editable docs and google forms used as quizzes. I made these challenges in the form of assignments in Google Classroom and, instead of posting them, I scheduled them to be automatically posted at 2:20 p.m. on the day of the class. This way, my students wouldn't see it before the right time. Once they got to the classroom (the physical one), all these assignments previously scheduled had been posted.

Since many of them have the GC app in their mobiles, they arrived in class intrigued and curious, asking about this bunch of activities that had been posted there. The only thing I told them was "get your notebook and a pencil, and follow me". They all queued up behind me and did so. We went to the room next to the Resource Centre at the Lake Branch, the one with special desks that can be rearranged in any way.

There, I had them work in pairs. Each pair shared an ipad. They all accessed our Google Classroom and took up one challenge after the other. Each challenge had been numbered, so they just had to follow the order. As soon as a group had finished a challenge, I would release its answer key for that particular group in the classroom stream tab. The students would go back to the stream tab and check it. Then they would move on to the next challenge.

Would I do this again? Definitely yes. Why?

• The students were not only engaged but also very excited about doing the tasks. At times, they even celebrated for having chosen the right answers when they cheked the answer key.
• It was a completely self-paced class. Some students moved faster than others and had the chance to do other things at the end and extra activities in the book.
• I almost didn't feel my own presence in the room. I think the students felt more independent just by being in a different classroom set and teaching approach. By facing challenges, rather than a worksheet,  they didn't feel they had to report to me all the time. Because of that, the class was naturally student-centred.
• I believe my students had a greater sense of importance and urgency in this format than in the traditional one of doing a worksheet. As a result, they developed time management and collaboration skills as they pushed each other towards being more focused in order to finish the tasks. That definitely contrasts with previous experiences in which students would notably show reluctance and disinterest.
• I felt a way more fulfilled as a professional since I was finally able to help my students build their autonomy and potential in class.

In this experience, the students might never notice what we do: the fact that they don't care as much about getting the answer key after they've done the worksheet as they care about taking up challenges and being able to solve problems by themselves.

Lucas Gontijo

Public School Teacher Development Program - Graduation Speech

On March 10, we held a ceremony to celebrate the conclusion of the Public School Teachers' Development Program, a course designed and delivered by Casa Thomas Jefferson with a grant from the Regional English Language Office (RELO), U.S. Department of State. 

We would like to share with you the speech that Ana Paula Alves Torres da Costa gave on behalf of all of her colleagues. It summarizes what these professionals have gained from the program and how they plan to incorporate what they learned into their teaching. We are sure these teachers will have a great impact on their students' lives and we are honored to have had the chance to work with them. 

Here is the speech:

First of all, I would like to thank the American Embassy and Casa Thomas Jefferson for the opportunity we all had to know one another, to share experiences and to discuss so many relevant topics concerning our daily routine in our classrooms. It was a great moment in which my colleagues and I were aware of the needs and challenges one may face and discuss some possible solutions concerning the teaching and learning of a foreign language. We sure had a great time together! And we could speak English, above all, and it was amazing! After our initial discussions, which included what the best way of teaching English is, we were constantly challenged through the texts and their reported experiences on teaching English around the world.

Thus, all texts presented led to different reflections on our teaching practice. The use of authentic materials, for instance, was something that affected me in the beginning of my career, as I thought it was impossible to use such materials with our students. But you know what? I did not know the word adaptation at that time, so, for a long time, I gave up on using these materials.

During PSTDP, however, my colleagues and I had moments of strong reflections about our approaches in some issues. The teaching of vocabulary and grammar, for instance, has challenged us to teach these skills effectively in an inductive way. As a result, many texts were read and we have always looked for alternatives – either listening to one another, listening to other teachers’ suggestions or learning from other teachers’ readings around the world. In addition, our reflections on the use of listening and vocabulary tasks led us to conclude that they provide effective communication and can interfere directly in our students’ interests, motivation and comprehension. The use of vocabulary helps us communicate in a more effective way – it’s the key to communication.

That is where it finally led us to the final topic Breaking Habits. A good way to break habits depends on the kinds of activities we plan for our classes. It’s just one of the first steps to challenge our students in different ways. Learning can be fun, but to reach that, we need to go beyond our books. Some of us have tried working with games, songs, group work, comic strips, TV series, you can name it, and it was awesome! Students must identify themselves in the activities and, as a result, get deeply involved in the task.

All tasks developed during the course have helped us create alternative tasks to each one’s classroom practice, as we experienced so many times by our teacher’s guidance. I remember the pleasant atmosphere and how much we laughed together. Moments like this make our jobs memorable and rewarding. The PSTDP course certainly represented a way to improve and develop our English practice in order to make us reflective teachers and always willing to grow.

Moreover, it helped us identify learning problems and work on our students’ needs. In short, we have learned some important lessons: that all activities can be adapted to any level of instruction; we believe no activity is time consuming; and our students’ aims and motivation will differ and interfere in our daily practice. So, let’s make English meaningful for them! Let’s help them broaden their horizons and possibly show them new ways of life, despite their own reality. It has to do with getting a positive perspective of life and seeking new experiences, right? After all, learning a foreign language can lead our students to a life experience.

Finally, we assure our commitment in order to help our students to become critical thinkers so that they can become better citizens and motivate others to do so. Even in good days or bad days, facing troubles or looking for answers, let our students know English has changed our lives and can certainly change theirs! That is certainly a huge challenge, isn’t it? Way to go!