Anuario 2020 - 2021

9 agustinosvalencia.com · Anuario 2020-2021 ✔ ENTREVISTA CAMBRIDGE Laura Sigsworth Published 14 December 2020 In part one of this blog, Laura Sigsworth spoke to Daniella Lima Rocha, a teacher fromBrazil, about her experience of teaching students face-to-face and online at the same time. In part two, we’ll hear from Javier Martínez Tarín, a teacher from Spain, about his experience. Despite the geographical difference and the difference in students’ ages, Javier echoes Daniella when he talks about the tech benefits and challenges, and helping students stay connected. Javier Martínez Tarín – Colegio Santo Tomás de Villanueva – (Agustinos) Valencia, Spain. Tell me a little about your current situation I work at a Catholic school with about 1000 students aged between 6-18. I teach English and Media to stu- dents aged 16-18. Like every school in Valencia, we have had to implement social dis- tancing measures, which means we don’t have the space or the resources to accommodate all of our students every day. So half of the class learns face- to-face and the other half join the class remotely for half the week and then they swap. What does a typical class look like for you? I start by launching the meeting online and checking everyone is there. Then I share my screen so that my students in class are watching it on the big screen, and my online students can see the same at home. I can share listenings, I can share videos, and I can share the book. If I am explaining something I use my camera so the students at home can see me. We wear masks while teaching and keep socially distant. Students have to wear masks, wash their hands every time they come into class and clean the tables when they arrive and leave. In the be- ginning, we had the impression that it would take up lots of class time but now it’s all become automatic. What has been the biggest change for you? We’re a Microsoft school, and everyone has always access to all the Microsoft tools, but we weren’t really making the most of using them. Now we are, and it has made our teaching better! What have been some of the challenges and how have you adapted your teaching to overcome them? One of the first problems we faced was the wifi connection, itwas veryweak at the beginning sowe had to boost it.The second challengewas explaining the new system to students and their parents. The perception was that in-person learning is best, and families were worried that there wouldn’t be enough time to prepare students for important end-of-school exams. Now I think that families have realised that there are benefits to this type of learning.