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