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.