Working on the final task...

 Today is the 27th of October of 2020, a grey and cold day... the ones I really hate. But that hadn't torn me down! 

We began the class with a free hour to work on our final task, and my partner and I have created the general idea of our task. I need to highlight that while we were doing the brainstorming and the creating process we were really excited, I wish you had seen our faces, we were really in love with what we have been doing! I love working with people that love as much as I do being a teacher and creative.

Anyway, besides our enthusiasm, this is what we have done:

OUR FIRST SKETCH

- Principal features: Rehearsal task / 2nd of Primary / Public and bilingual school

- Main objective: learn jobs and building vocabulary and promote communication.

- Structure: 

1. PRE-TASK: Brainstorming of vocabulary needed (city vocabulary; buildings, places, jobs, etc.), until we secure they have the basic tools to work with the next activities. 
2. TASK PREPARATION: Divide the class into groups of three (so there are more diversity of ideas). We will share with them the materials they are going to use (sheets, cutouts, pens, color pencils, etc.). 
3. DURING TASK: The teacher becomes a monitor, that would be her role. She/he will overview how the students are doing their work but do not interfere. Only if someone asks her/him directly for a doubt. Meanwhile, she/he will take notes about everything, the process. 
4. POST TASK: In the last stage, the groups would come to the center of the class to explain their work. To make it easier, the teacher would help them in their speech with some questions like:

- How many schools there are in your town? 

- Why so many?

- Is more important for your hospitals than grocery stores? Why?

Also, there will be some basic tenses written on the blackboard to help them to answer.

• Why our task-based includes conversation? We have decided to include a conversation exercise in our task (and at the final part) as a final conclusion to all the work done before. This means that, by speaking, we give students the opportunity to express their opinion and, at the same time, they show us how well they have integrated different language skills (grammar, vocabulary, syntax, comprehension, and ideas coherence and cohesion. Although we are aware that speaking is not the only way to prove it, there are some people that can be demonstrated better by writing, for example). Also, we give a lot of importance to the fact of losing shame at public talking, so in this way, we encourage them since really early stages to push themselves into speaking in front of people without shyness or fear. 

Once we have created these general outlines we came back to the general class to share different experiences and feedbacks. I really liked to work a little bit on this, I am very proud of what we have created, even though there is more to be done. We also talked a little bit about approaches and outcomes...

In a traditional approach, the outcome is simpler, everything is more limited (for example if our only tool to work on is a textbook, the final product is already assigned by it, there is no more action range). But in a task-based approach, the outcome can be more difficult and variated. 

Also, it is important to have in mind this key concept: Recycling philosophy. This refers to going back to this kind of tasks months later to review if they still remember what they have worked on, and maybe add more vocabulary or contents, spinning always the learning process.

Another key idea we have discussed today is that when a task is very difficult for a child it is important to not use L1 to explain to them how to do it. Try to put into practice all the mechanisms you have to make them understand.

Are you excited to see it? Well, you will find it really soon. Until then, see you in the next post. And remember, never stop feeding your creativity!