Week 10 : Reflection

Sabah Lkhair ( Good morning in Arabic),

I cannot believe that I am actually writing my last posting in this course on the blog I have created for this class.

Let me see what I have learned in this fascinating journey. I was definitely introduced to new technology tools and resources. Project-based learning was one of the topics I enjoyed exploring since the reading material assigned to it was not that difficult. Creating a rubric was another task that I enjoyed doing simply because setting criteria to assess students' performance has not been easy, and all the criteria for any skill were there listed for the teacher. I think Quizstar would be interesting to create in the coming days. Delicious webpage is very beneficial where I can keep all the interesting links introduced in the course. If I keep counting the benefits, I will not finish on time.

This course has ended "in a blink of an eye"- an Arabic expression meaning very quickly. Along the way, I had the chance to "meet" amazing people who were willing to interact wih and help me in every suitable manner. In this respect, I consider myself lucky.

I would like to thank all my e-colleagues and Donna for making this course an unforgettable and enlightning one.

Wishing all the participants in this class the best of luck in their teaching career.

Regards,

Dareen Nasser Hadid 

Week 9 : Reflection

Massa Lkhair ( Good Evening in Arabic),

I did it . I actually submitted my final project report on time. As a treat, I made a chocolate - vanilla marble cake. It is still in the oven being baked. Hopefully, it will not be burnt by the time I finish this posting.

Now back to this week's tasks, the highlight of tasks for this week was to make the final modifications in the project and upload it on Friday at noon. In addition to the project, I had to read  articles on the multiple intelligences and the various learning styles in the light of technology implementation. What was beneficial in these articles, besides their contents that were more likely as reminders, was that they contained many links leading to other articles and references. In the additional reading resources, I took the learning styles quiz; the result was somehow weird. I could not tell what my preferable learning style was. Anyways, it is not a big deal.

Dr. Shaw was so considerate in setting the objectives for this week where we did not have to do lots of tasks. I think this is because of the final project submittal date.

Well, that's all for now. I have to go and check on my cake. Its smell is beyond description. Too bad I cannot share it with anyone of you guys.

Best,

Dareen

Week 8: Reflection

Massa Lkhair ( Good Evening in Arabic),

I wonder why we don't start our blogs with the greeting expressions used in our mother tongues. I guess we should ask for it.

The submittal of the project report draft on due time was very laborious in the sense that I had finish it amidst other tasks related to both my school and my university. The story did not stop there; I also had to provide a feedback on my partner's project report draft. My feedback was based on a checklist offered by Donna.

Another assignment was to explore different teachers' resources  out of which I had to choose one and create either a course site or an exercise/a test. As a start, I wanted to create a course site, but  I ended up creating a crossword puzzle for my ninth graders. This crossword puzzle contains the key words necessary for them to finish their essay on tolerance.

My project is supposed to be finished by next Friday at noon. The feedback provided by my partner Wong Lai Leng is very constructive; the thing I will take into consideration when writing the final report.

I changed the template of my blog; I thought  it was about time to change it.

That's all.

Best,

Dareen
 

Week 7: Reflection

Marhaba ( Hello in Arabic) ,

This week's assignments were not very demanding. I guess this is because we all had to work on our technology tool implemented in our classes. Frankly speaking, students were somehow reluctant to take part in the activity; however, after explaining what they were supposed to  do , they started to do the activity.

Learner's autonomy as one of the readings' topic was of great interest to me especially that webquest which is my technology tool  enhances the learner's self-dependence. The students' learning outcomes mainly depends on their own efforts. When they are given the responsibility for their learning and achievements , they in a way become more involved in the learning process. Such act relies on the students' intrinsic motivations. In case the students are not intrinsically inclined, the teacher should find the activities to which students can relate and identify with. By the way ,the whole course promotes us as autonomous learners.

Finding a project partner was confusing to me due to the fact I found that the participants partnered with more than one participant. As Donna said in her blog," No pain, no gain." We need to really work hard to reach our goal so that we can enjoy our accomplishment.

That's all.

Best,

Dareen

Week 6: Reflection

Hello again,

Thanks to Donna, I have something in mind to write about in my weekly blog. Do you remember when I mentioned that we needed to be more creative in our blogs last week?

This week's discussions were mainly on how to make our classrooms student-centerd ones through creating interactive PowerPoint presentations. As I posted in one of the Nicenet discussions, creating  one was not easy at all. It required some intermediate/higher intermediate computer skills. At the end, I managed to create one on modal auxiliary verbs. It can be beneficial for nineth graders and intensive English learners whom I teach. By the way, I got to view some of my colleagues' presentations; they were really good.

As for the project task, though I did not have to post anything to Nicenet discussions, I had to start implementing my webquest with my students. My students have a problem in writing a well-organised/structured cause-effect paragrapgh. The webquest aims at improving this writing skill. It is an established fact that writing is the most complex skill that the learner especially the second language learner tries to master. It requires a great deal of practice and effort. Yet, it is not an impossible skill to master; "When there is a will, there is a way."

That's all.

Best,

Dareen

Week 5; Reflection

Hello again,

I just cannot believe that we are half way through the course; time does fly. So far, I have done several readings and tasks that would definitely improve my teaching skills.

What I liked most this week was creating a rubric. I created  a rubric to assess my students' analysis of information while reading. I find it very essential to be assessing- I'd rather use following up with- my students' performance. Such rubric can be even modified and distributed among students  whereof  they get to evaluate their own work feeling free from the exam or evaluation anxiety when taken. It is the kind of rubric I plan to use in my classes.

Project-based learning and especially webquests will  be extremely engaging to students when they get to know that "they are learning for a purpose". Such technique will promote the students' autonomy though every aspect of the webquest is prepared by the teacher. When implementing it properly in the classroom, the class will  transfer from a teacher-centered class into a student-centered one. I do not expect it to be successful from the very first trial, but practice makes it perfect.

Nicenet discussions are very informative; they are getting more interesting and productive every week. There are some postings that I look forward to read since they are really excellent. We must admit that individual differences appear even among teachers. Aren't we all students at this point ? 

That's all for now.

Dareen

Week 4: Reflection

Hello once again,



Why does the weekly blog have to be on what we learn and do during the week? Shouldn't it be a bit more creative? I am fully aware that it is called a reflective blog, which means that I have to assess my learning activities and tasks.  I like how Dr. Shaw varies her topics every week.

On reviewing the tasks of the fourth week, I find the reading materials quite useful since they provide the teachers with a general view of how things should be done in  technology-enhanced writing and reading classes. As for the lesson planning, it is new in style for me but similar to my way of planning in content; what differs is the labeling of the elements of the lesson plan. What else? The websites are amazing especially Breaking News English because it is full of diverse activities. I have chosen a text about the Spanish economy that I plan to  use with my tenth graders since they have a  unit in their textbook dealing with economy. It is a good thing to see how other countries' economies affect the environmental development and the population growth in those countries. In this way, the students will become aware that they are part of this globe with which they share common worries, concerns, interests,etc.

With respect to the project, narrowing down the problem and putting it in one statement is not an easy thing to do. Yet, it has to be done.

That's all for now.

Regards,

Dareen

Week 3: Reflection

Hello again,

"Hi" has never been one of my favorite words. I prefer to say "Hello"; it carries  many meanings such as "How are you?","Eager to know your news.",etc. Now, what shall I say about my news during this week?

My week started with a challenging assignment where I had to read a couple of articles on building aural/oral skills. The content of those articles was interesting to me as a teacher because they addressed two skills I usually do my best to help my students improve them.

My second task was to create a delicious account  in which I can bookmark/save all my favorite links. Reading and listening websites were among the links I added to delicious.

As for the project task, the examples of projects done by  previous participants were helpful and gave me an idea of how my project should be at end of the course. I really hope that mine will be good.

That's all for now.

Best,

Dareen

Week 2: Reflection

Hello again,

It seems that I will develop the habit of disclosing what I feel about and think of my weekly learning outcomes every Sunday. Perhaps, I should make it every Friday. In this way, I would not be running out of time while doing my tasks.

Let me see, what was I introduced to this week?
Websearching activity was informative in the sense that I got to try new search engines other than  GOOGLE, and I was also reminded of some steps done in web searching I used to follow when I was an applied linguistics graduate student.

Regarding the ABCD objectives, I know how much important and essential it is to set an objective for a class. It has never been an easy task to do. But, with time, one becomes practised. It only needs patience and perseverance.

That's all for now.

Best,

Dareen

Week 1 Reflection

My cup of tea is cold due to my occupation with  posting a conferencing message on the  class "board". I do not think that this is a good opening for a blog . But, this is what actually happened. Any ways, I  have to start my blog properly.

On Feb.7,2013, I received an email from AEI Distance Education informing me that I had been accepted into the Spring 2013 online teacher training course with University of Oregon, Linguistics Department, American English Institute (UO AEI): Building Teaching Skills Through the Interactive Web. I was thrilled to know this.

On Mar.31,2013, I received the very first email from my webskills instructor, Dr. Shaw. After reading the welcoming email, I felt a bit anxious due to fact that it seemed that we,my colleagues and I, were expected to do lots of tasks and assignments  However, when I explored the course site and the schedule I was relieved since every task was catered to meet our engagements as teachers.

So far, the three topics of discussions- self introduction, discussions and blogs- were of great interest since most of my e-colleagues shared their insightful ideas based on their teaching practices. In other words, so far so good.

Reading the materials mainly the ground rules and the rubrics was very enlightening in the sense that they show us the right path through which we will  achieve our goals which are learning from each other and of course passing the course.

That's all for now.