Ask the teachers: 33rd Primary School of Peristeri – A teacher’s account

By Kiriaki Agathaggelidou of 33rd Primary School of Peristeri and Elpi Margariti, Doukas School

In the second of our ‘Ask the teachers’ series, Elpi Margariti asks Kiriaki Agathaggelidou to reflect on their school’s involvement in the iRead project.

“At the 33rd primary school of Peristeri, Greece, during the school year 2019-2020, nineteen 2nd grade students were involved in the iRead project program. Once the pilot phase began, we trialled using the Navigo game application. Despite adversities (low internet speed in our area) we managed to use the app every Friday during the first hour of school. Students were engaged in pairs (before quarantine) and alone (after quarantine) with a tablet.

Our goal was to cultivate students’ skills in the use of new technologies as well as to improve their language skills in a pleasant and playful way. The initial goal for students to learn how to switch the tablets on and off and to be able to login to the game using their passwords. Our next goal was to successfully play the game.

The students enjoyed the whole process and gained new skills and knowledge. Very often they found words in the game that we had encountered in our lessons or new words, which was motivating for them. In these instances, they would involve teachers in their learning by asking them to provide a definition for these new words that they were exposed to in the game. I found that students remained constantly interested throughout the program and feel that this is due to the whole philosophy of the application, to its adventurous character, to the immediate feedback that it offers and to its very appealing graphics.

In summary, it was an interesting experience, which contributed to the strengthening of the educational process in the physical classroom as well as to the cooperation between students and teachers that come from different disciplines.”

We would like to thank Kiriaki Agathaggelidou and team members at the 33rd Primary School of Peristeri for sharing their experiences and being part of the project!