My name is Marta Martins, I belong to the Gonçalo Mendes School Group of Maia, from the city of Maia, Portugal.

In the current school year, I am teaching Mathematics / Natural Sciences and, also, Citizenship and Development, to students of the 5th year of schooling.

I was the coordinator for four years of a TEIP Project. I participated in an Erasmus + project.

With this participation, I intend to improve my educational practice and share ideas, experiences and educational resources. So that it can be more and better, able to overcome the new challenges that society demands today.I like challenges and being challenged! 

As hobbies I have reading, the cinema, fraternizing with family and friends and, likewise, traveling.

Good work and good sharing!

At this moment, I am aware that my knowledge is not the same as all the students. I know them academically, but not as a whole, in all its dimensions. Knowledge is being built and deepened with the coexistence and interaction that I establish with them.

In order to get to know them better, I think that, in the first phase, the collection of information about each one is essential, for example, from the performance of a presentation activity on the first day of class; the application of an inquiry focused on their interests, preferences, aspirations, needs and difficulties, as well as through the auscultation of those who know them better - the family. Subsequently, it will be important to create openness at the level of communication / interaction so that the students, spontaneously, express themselves and make themselves known; resort to direct observation; perform activities inside and outside the classroom that incorporate their interests and experiences; create spaces to deepen this knowledge, taking advantage of non-formal activities such as breaks, study visits, among others, where you can observe them, listen to them, interact with them and thus appropriate who they really are.

I am fully aware that only starting from the real knowledge of each one, I can motivate them and involve them in the process of teaching learning, thus making the most significant learning.

Realizing that his greatest desire was to reach the level of his classmates and starting from a survey of his knowledge and difficulties, I drew up a plan of action adapted and suitable to his situation. I have therefore endeavored to provide him with a learning environment that would enable to achieve his goal. Thus, using a more individualized and personalized teaching, respecting the pace of work, using manipulatives, concrete situations, differentiated work sheets and using interactive methodologies, I was able to acquire the necessary prerequisites during the first period and essential for the monitoring of the 5th year mathematics program, in the field of numbers and operations.

It has been fantastic to see him overcome every obstacle, to overcome each step/difficulty with success; see his enthusiasm and commitment in the accomplishment of the tasks and the recognition of his peers.

In fact, when we know our students, when we listen to them, when we put them at the center of the teaching-learning process, they learn more and better, because they are motivated and committed to overcoming the challenges that we propose to them and even if they find difficulties they continue to try .

- What tools should we use in personalised learning?

- How to assessment a student's work in personalized learning?

As a mathematics teacher, in the case of highly qualified students, i would choose to create an activity that would allow them, in an autonomous way, to progress in learning a certain content. For example, by using tablets, students would have to perform a set of tasks, which could be done by viewing a video about the content to be studied, followed by a set of interactive exercises, organized by increasing level of difficulty, using the principle of gamification, through which students could, in real time, assess their progress and the teacher, in the end, get the results of their performance. The activity could culminate in a task of investigative character, related to the subject under study and developed according to the interest of the students.

With regard to the low-skilled students, i would seek to give them more individualized support, tasks more directed to their difficulties, using materials that they could manipulate and construct. The use of the tablet, would also be a possibility, but with exercises appropriate to the difficulties identified.

In this way, the two types of students, each in its own rhythm, can go further.

In my classes I use the following formative assessment techniques:
• on the first day of classes, I apply a questionnaire, with the purpose of obtaining some information (academic, difficulties, interests, ...) about each student, in order to obtain an overall characterization of the same;

• colored cards, double-sided (green and red), which I give to each student at the beginning of the class, to put on the table and turn to indicate if they are following the class (green) or if they have difficulties (red);

• direct observation, for the collection of information;

• diagnostic evaluation at the beginning of the school year and before a theme;

• oral questioning of the student - a Mathematics class, we can consider three fundamental types of questions: focus; of confirmation; and inquiry.

• inventory of learning goals - at the beginning of each didactic unit, I make known the teaching objectives; weekly alert for the goals they are working to achieve; and, before a test, I indicate the objectives / contents to be evaluated;

• lesson question, for gauging acquisitions and difficulties;

• preparation sheets for the evaluation form;

• assessment sheet - when returning the form, inform the students about the difficulties detected and the objectives achieved or not; the students create a plan of action (exercises) to fill the difficulties.

• "minitest", with a small number of quick correction questions: multiple choice, T/ F, association; with immediate discussion of responses and outcomes; involving the students in the correction - each student corrects a test of one of his colleagues;

• mini Whiteboard - an excellent tool to get students' response to a questioning simultaneously; each student records their response and shows it at the same time; taking immediate advantage of the results of difficulties / progress;

• use of technological tools such as kahoot, plikers, among others;

• recourse to the virtual school;

• At the end of the lesson, I ask students to summarize orally what they learned most importantly, in order to promote reflection and self-assessment.

. Pros - The use of digital content and tools is motivating for students, it allows interactivity, they can review a certain subject, in case of doubt, in an autonomous way and learn in a playful way if it is associated with gamification.

. Cons - Not all schools have computer hardware and internet.

2. Incorporating personalized playlists, by EUNA

. Pros - Creating personalized playlists, allows each student to execute them according to their degree of learning, difficulty and pace of work.

. Cons - Difficulty of implementation in very large classes and with classes of 50 min.

3. Planning for flexible seating, by EUNA

. Pros - Allows the diversification of activities and a differentiated organization of the students, according to the work they are doing (individual, in pairs, in group, ...)

. Cons - Little viable in small classrooms and with many students, in 50-minute classes with teacher exchange.

4. Varied strategies, by EUNA

. Pros - Allows you to attend to different learning styles, interests and difficulties.

. Cons - It takes a lot of time to plan the work to be done.

• Knowledge of the student, by the teacher;

• Less students per class;

• Flexible curriculum;

• Large rooms, well equipped and with a flexible layout;

• Diversified teaching strategies;

• Collaborative work among teachers;

• Formative evaluation practice;

• Digital equipment and tools;

• Resource bank;

• Active commitment from students;

• Motivated teachers with updated training;

• Less bureaucratic work for the teacher;

• Engagement from parents;

• External evaluation that does not only affect the cognitive domain.

It is not an easy process, it forces a paradigm shift.

 Despite the organization described, as a teacher I have the freedom to reorganize the space, according to the activities that I intend to carry out. Obviously obstacles arise because space is limited, limiting the mobility of the student / teacher, the tables do not have wheels, and, at the end of the lesson, I must reposition the tables as I found them, since the room is used by other teachers. My desire was to have a room of my own, where I could diversify the spaces, create niches, decorate the walls, post jobs, etc.

Fortunately, it is part of the rehabilitation project, the construction of a classroom of the future, similar to the one presented in the video, broad and with differentiated spaces, that will allow the diversification of pedagogical practices and the implementation of a personalized learning without the barriers that we find in a traditional classroom. I am only sorry that it is a single space for so many teachers and to be used upon request. I understand that all classrooms should be like this and that when building a school or when rehabilitating it, there should already be projected the existence of classrooms with a flexible design, allowing the adaptation to the different class formats, providing personalized learning, maximizing students' engagement, autonomy, performance, cooperation, concentration and interest. Anyway, I look forward to using it and exploring. 

by Barbara Leigh Smith and Jean T. MacGregor

 

Collaborative learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. According to Gerlach, "Collaborative learning is based on the idea that learning is a naturally social act in which the participants talk among themselves (Gerlach, 1994). It is through the talk that learning occurs."

Group work allows students to interact with each other; share ideas and knowledge; stimulates mutual help; allows them to know each other better, allowing a greater approximation between students and a greater exchange of ideas in the group fostered interest; encourages students to learn from each other, to value the knowledge of others and to benefit from the experiences of individual learning; students learn to respect different points of view, complement each other and enrich themselves; provides the development of projects and the use of technology; helps to improve results; makes learning more dynamic; students perform tasks faster and more accurately and increase self-satisfaction.

I use group work in tasks related to problem solving; in research tasks; in laboratory activities; and in Project-based learning.

Provide my students with quality group work, in which everyone engages in an effective way; improve observational and self-efficacy techniques; and, diversify group work strategies. 

For example, at this moment we are working on an interdisciplinary project allusive to interculturality, in which students from the book "Meninos de todas as cores" by Luísa Ducla Soares will produce a play. Students will be guided to write the texts, build the scenarios, props, clothing, ... and of course represent! The final product will be presenting the piece to the community. Meanwhile, they will also do research on the different nationalities of students attending school. 

• the elements of the group are chosen by the students;

• the elements of the group are chosen by the teacher in a random way;

• the elements of the group are pre-defined by the teacher;

I want the number of elements in the group to be odd and a maximum of 5 elements.

The video is inspiring and leads us to reflect on how a classroom should be: broad, flexible; multifunctional; interactive; technological, that allows to support different types of pedagogic activities, privileging the action of the student, benefiting the motivation, the creativity and its involvement in the individual or collective construction of knowledge.

 The articulation between collaborative and personalized learning can be achieved through, for example, the organization of groups of relative homogeneity, that is, forming groups of students by level of proficiency. Grouping students according to their abilities and needs, allowing them to tailor assignments, personalizing them to the interests and needs of the students, as well as giving the teacher greater availability to support students who need extra support.

Even in working with heterogeneous groups, we can foster a personalized learning process, through, for example, assigning / differentiating roles within each group, with tasks adjusted to the characteristics / needs of the students, to their learning styles, where each one can contribute their own abilities, enriching themselves and complementing each other.

Therefore, the teacher should ensure that:

• Collaborative learning really helps students learn more than they do individually, that is, presenting tasks that really require teamwork rather than a task they could have done individually. The teacher should first check if the group work will be the most appropriate strategy for the exploitation of the content to teach. If this is the option should think about a challenging task in which all students are involved to ensure their resolution, sharing ideas, strategies, synergies.

• all students are involved, that is, enabling all students to participate and not just be observers, co-editors. To do this, the teacher can assign each element of the group an active role in the group (the spokesperson, the time controller, the moderator, ...). Safeguarding that everyone should participate in the execution of the task, that is, everyone should have an opinion, feel responsible for achieving and accomplishing the task.

• the collaborative task promotes thought. Hence the importance of assigning significant and challenging tasks, involving the students in a curious and active way. In each group, students should be able to share ideas, reflections, discoveries, strategies, develop respect for others, know how to expose and hear opinions contrary to their own.

In this way the teacher will be developing competency areas of the Student Profile for the 20th century. XXI, as languages ​​and texts; information and communication; reasoning and problem solving; critical thinking and creative thinking; and, interpersonal relationships, so important to today's demanding job market.

I believe that other issues must be safeguarded, such as those related to the assessement of both the process and the students involved.

I have resorted to other strategies of collaborative learning outside the classroom, such as field trips, study visits, using scripts that guide the work that students should develop. However, without using apps.

The introduction of new technologies in this type of activity will be my next bet, since it promotes collaborative work and autonomy, motivates students, engages them, keeps them focused on the goal to be achieved, facilitates the collection of data and makes learning meaningful and personalized.