Task 10 - JOURNALIST

 Journalist: Sofía Lorente García

Tuesday, April 26th.

Today we have started the last assignment of this subject and we have been very excited. Our group had to do a rubric on the role of the analyst and we were very happy because we all think it is a very important role and we have always made a lot of effort and understood it. We all like this role very much and it seems to us the most important one because you have to make many professional decisions and you are evaluating yourself and your colleagues whom you have seen work so you are realizing your effort and reflecting on others too. On the other hand, the analyst's job is also a bit complicated at times because you have to evaluate your colleagues who are also your friends so it is a difficult situation but we have always been as objective and professional as we could be. We have been discussing among all of us about the real meaning and what we intend to achieve through this role in which many transversal competences are worked on and in the end we have reached an agreement that will be represented in the rubric that we have created. On the other hand, we have tried to make the rubric as clear as possible, specifying what was needed to acquire each competence in a qualitative way and we feel quite satisfied about it. Today has been a very productive day in which we have collaborated very well and we are excited to do this task which is the last one and we have very high expectations of it and of ourselves as we hope to demonstrate all that we have learnt.

    

Wednesday, April 27th.

Today was quite an intense day where we did a lot of different things related to the rubric. To begin with, our group, Potential teachers, joined the group See you on Tuesday with whom we collaborated to make a final rubric for the role of the analyst, looking at the similarities between the two rubrics and the differences, we created one that we think represents very well what we had in mind.

It was a very good exercise to share what we were thinking with another group and see their perspective on our work, we understood each other very well and we were quite productive in the task. Then, using this rubric we evaluated the blog posts of other classmates, analyzing them and giving them feedback so that they could improve. In this part we all agreed that evaluating and giving feedback is not as easy as it seems and when creating a rubric you have to think a lot, take many things into account and there is a lot of work behind it. The truth is that we are finding this task very interesting and useful as we are making different professional decisions and it is making us reflect on our own work and things we can improve for our final portfolio as we still have time and we want to make it as good as we can.

Finally, at the end of the class the star of our group, who this week was Eloy, explained our rubric to other classmates and did a great job. 

We have also created a Google Form, something that we had not done ourselves before but we have used and we have found it a very useful tool as future teachers. Another tool we have used is Padlet which we also find very useful for both teachers and students and it is easy to use. Something that we have realized today is that everyone has their blog and their posts organized in a different way, so there are colleagues who, when analyzing the posts, could not find something. This is very valuable information for us to continue changing and manipulating the information to make it as clear as possible for both our colleagues and the teacher.Through this last task we are also realizing the importance of transversal competencies, which are often neglected and content is prioritized, but are fundamental things that should be taken more into account in all subjects.

This has nothing to do with the task itself but something remarkable about today's session is that at the end of the class we all took a photo together and we have been reflecting afterwards among ourselves how important it is to have a good learning environment like the one we have where we all learn by interacting, giving feedback and contributing ideas between us.

Friday, April 29th.

In today's class we have been communicating the feedback we prepared for the different class groups. The class was divided in two and in our half we were: Study Buddies, Coconut Group, Puzzle team and us. Between us, we have been giving feedback to each group on the role that we had been given, which in our case was the analyst and they gave us feedback on their role. It has been a class in which we have realized many things thanks to our classmates and we have also learned from the feedback they gave to other groups and not only to us. We believe that the opinion of other groups is very valuable and important because we can improve and realize things that were not very important for us. Linda told us to listen carefully to what our peers had to say about our posts, not to justify everything and to take on board the constructive criticism they offered. We will certainly take into account the recommendations they have given us to improve both our blog and the final portfolio as we still have time to improve those little things. I really liked how we tried to take the criticism constructively and learn from our mistakes and those of our classmates. None of us do things perfectly but we have helped each other a lot and we hope that our classmates will improve on the things we have told them. On the other hand, the feedback also contained positive information and we highlighted something good that we would have liked from others, this certainly motivates us to continue working and we are happy that our work is recognised and valued by others. This session has really helped us all and we have learned a lot by collaborating with others and sharing ideas. When the teacher as an expert gives us feedback it is very valuable and we take this information into account but when it is given by people who are in the same situation as you and who are working and doing the same tasks it is great, as we see different perspectives and think very differently sometimes in relation to what is important and what is not. 

Some of the things we were told that we could improve and that we have noted are: the use of language and more creativity, references in APA style, more reflection on the translator's specific question, the journalist should take more pictures and the tasks are not easy to find for some groups. Also, the facilitator and the star, according to them, could talk about their personal experience doing the task and upload the script of what the star talked about in the presentation, finally, introduce more visual things that make the post more attractive.

After this activity we have been very attentive to the posts and blogs of our colleagues and after reflection I think that one of the best and the one I want to recommend is the Puzzle Team because the organization and their posts in general are quite good and we can learn from their group in many aspects .Link to their blog: https://sites.google.com/view/blog-puzzle-team/  

As for a website outside the classroom I wanted to highlight this one: https://www.ellisoneducation.com/blog/the-importance-of-student-feedback/. It talks about the importance of feedback from students to teachers which is also something to consider and ways to apply it in a classroom.

FEEDBACK GROUP 1

The design of the site is very colorful and eye-catching, but the organization of each role is a bit confusing as sometimes the title appears above the text and sometimes below it. 

The narrative does not have a complete structure in English and is limited to basic words. Also, the reflection remains at the descriptive level, which makes it very short. However, it should also be noted that you can see that they have made an effort and that they are self-critical of their work. I'm sure that in the following tasks they did it better, it's normal that it has failures because it was one of the first activities we did. 

FEEDBACK GROUP 2

In our opinion, the reflection should be more profound since it is very brief.

There is a lack of references to news or factors external to the task, such as naming another group or relating the task to aspects of society. This is why it does not reach the sociocultural dimension.

It is only descriptive. It should be longer, go deeper.

There are some sentences that are poorly formulated and stand out for having some incoherence, since the message is not very well understood.

A good point is that you have been self-critical because you have been sincere in saying that at the beginning you were lost and did not know where to start. This means that by realizing your failures you can improve.

In addition, the organization is well organized and the design of the page is nice.

We are sure you are going to improve what you have already done.

Good job!

FEEDBACK GROUP 3

Hi! First of all, we are conscious that it was only your second task and we think really good despite not knowing how to reflect in an appropriate way or carrying out the analyst role in all its aspects. However, there are some things that we would like to recommend to you so that you can improve the post, for example, you should correct some misspellings and sentences misformed. Also, you should try to get deeper in your reflection, talking about the socio-cultural context; we know that reflection is the hardest part of the role, but with little practice, you will get it for sure! A final tip, try to extend your ideas and develop them in detail.

We are so proud of your work, and your progression, now it is time to apply what you have learned to the first tasks and improve them. You can do it!