Week 9 Reflection
It has been a tiring , stressful week for me . I had to prepare tests for 5 classes and correct about 240 sheets . My computer caused some problems , another virus , other problems to overcome .
I could finally download ‘ Hot potatoes ‘ ( strange name , isn’t ii ? ) . I had a lot of troubles getting familiar with but I could at least create a cross- words game and I had a lot of fun working with it . The other participants did very good work and I was surprised once more by their computer skills , their performances , their teaching skills . Now I’m afraid the end of the course will leave an empty space .I’m sure we’ll keep on collaborating . Maybe one of the objectives of the course was creating a web , a community of teachers from all over the world , collaborating , helping each other and working as a team for the improvement of their teaching and for the introduction of technology in their classes , creating an atmosphere of autonomous learning , a learner- centered class where learners from different learner styles get responsible for their learning . This course is going to path the way to more technology use in our own classes and why not allow us to communicate what we have learnt to colleagues in our respective schools and countries . When I think about all the lovely people I’ve known and all the useful hints and teaching materials I’ve learnt thanks to this course , all what I can say is that I’m a lucky woman , I’m a lucky teacher .
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Week 9
It has been a tiring , stressful week for me . I had to prepare tests for 5 classes and correct about 240 sheets . My computer caused some problems , another virus , other problems to overcome .
I could finally download ‘ Hot potatoes ‘ ( strange name , isn’t ii ? ) . I had a lot of troubles getting familiar with but I could at least create a cross- words game and I had a lot of fun working with it . The other participants did very good work and I was surprised once more by their computer skills , their performances , their teaching skills . Now I’m afraid the end of the course will leave an empty space .I’m sure we’ll keep on collaborating . Maybe one of the objectives of the course was creating a web , a community of teachers from all over the world , collaborating , helping each other and working as a team for the improvement of their teaching and for the introduction of technology in their classes , creating an atmosphere of autonomous learning , a learner- centered class where learners from different learner styles get responsible for their learning . This course is going to path the way to more technology use in our own classes and why not allow us to communicate what we have learn to colleagues in our respective schools and countries . When I think about all the lovely people I’ve known and all the useful hints and teaching materials I’ve learnt thanks to this course , all what I can say is that I’m a lucky woman , I’m a lucky teacher .
I could finally download ‘ Hot potatoes ‘ ( strange name , isn’t ii ? ) . I had a lot of troubles getting familiar with but I could at least create a cross- words game and I had a lot of fun working with it . The other participants did very good work and I was surprised once more by their computer skills , their performances , their teaching skills . Now I’m afraid the end of the course will leave an empty space .I’m sure we’ll keep on collaborating . Maybe one of the objectives of the course was creating a web , a community of teachers from all over the world , collaborating , helping each other and working as a team for the improvement of their teaching and for the introduction of technology in their classes , creating an atmosphere of autonomous learning , a learner- centered class where learners from different learner styles get responsible for their learning . This course is going to path the way to more technology use in our own classes and why not allow us to communicate what we have learn to colleagues in our respective schools and countries . When I think about all the lovely people I’ve known and all the useful hints and teaching materials I’ve learnt thanks to this course , all what I can say is that I’m a lucky woman , I’m a lucky teacher .
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Week 8
Again another week full of collaborative leaning and collaborative teaching !A discussion on learners autonomy which revealed that in spite of the fact that we come from our different countries with different cultures , we face the same problems and have the same challenges in creating a learner- centered class and improving our students autonomy . The challenge is ambitious since we were not educated to be autonomous and our students are not . Our respective countries educational systems do not encourage us to use other methods , approaches , they do not allow us to be independent , eager to use the teaching materials that we think are appropriate to our students rather than a official syllabus and an official textbook .
This week I had the opportunity to work with Aleyda for our projects . We exchanged a number of emails and I know now how lucky I am to have this opportunity to collaborate ad learn from a colleague who is so far from me . Isn’t technology a miracle ? If we , teachers , can lean so many things from each other thanks to technology , our students can also leap in this amazing world and improve their English by being self-reliant and autonomous !
The teacher’s strike is over , here , in Algeria . I wish I could go through my project the next days
Again another week full of collaborative leaning and collaborative teaching !A discussion on learners autonomy which revealed that in spite of the fact that we come from our different countries with different cultures , we face the same problems and have the same challenges in creating a learner- centered class and improving our students autonomy . The challenge is ambitious since we were not educated to be autonomous and our students are not . Our respective countries educational systems do not encourage us to use other methods , approaches , they do not allow us to be independent , eager to use the teaching materials that we think are appropriate to our students rather than a official syllabus and an official textbook .
This week I had the opportunity to work with Aleyda for our projects . We exchanged a number of emails and I know now how lucky I am to have this opportunity to collaborate ad learn from a colleague who is so far from me . Isn’t technology a miracle ? If we , teachers , can lean so many things from each other thanks to technology , our students can also leap in this amazing world and improve their English by being self-reliant and autonomous !
The teacher’s strike is over , here , in Algeria . I wish I could go through my project the next days
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Week 7
Reflection :
I feel a bit desperate and worried about my final project . The teachers here , in Algeria , have been on strike for about a week and there is no hope that the situation will improve . I can’t go through my project with my classes . The headmistress refuses to organize the trip To Megres Mountain because of the strike . I met her this afternoon and she promised to find an agreement with the educational department . Anyway , I hope things will be alright soon .
I’m happy Alayda accepted to be my partner . I’m sure we will collaborate together ad share ideas for the elaboration of our respective projects . There is no doubt that her great experience , her commitment and her great sense of analysis and critics will help me go further . I promise to do my best supporting her .
The 7th week is over and I believe it has been very challenging making us creating our Powerpoint presentations and sharing them . I agree with the participants about the tremendous possibilities Powerpoint can offer in terms of a useful teaching aid that can be used to activate schema , to improve students learning strategies and to assess their projects . Our classes are large with different leaning styles . The coming weeks are likely to provide us with other hints to help us involve more students into our class activities and to arm our students with the technology to support their leaning and make them independent , self-reliant and responsible for their leaning ! May Zlatka’s red-and-white tokens – the wonderful Martenisas bring us good luck !
Reflection :
I feel a bit desperate and worried about my final project . The teachers here , in Algeria , have been on strike for about a week and there is no hope that the situation will improve . I can’t go through my project with my classes . The headmistress refuses to organize the trip To Megres Mountain because of the strike . I met her this afternoon and she promised to find an agreement with the educational department . Anyway , I hope things will be alright soon .
I’m happy Alayda accepted to be my partner . I’m sure we will collaborate together ad share ideas for the elaboration of our respective projects . There is no doubt that her great experience , her commitment and her great sense of analysis and critics will help me go further . I promise to do my best supporting her .
The 7th week is over and I believe it has been very challenging making us creating our Powerpoint presentations and sharing them . I agree with the participants about the tremendous possibilities Powerpoint can offer in terms of a useful teaching aid that can be used to activate schema , to improve students learning strategies and to assess their projects . Our classes are large with different leaning styles . The coming weeks are likely to provide us with other hints to help us involve more students into our class activities and to arm our students with the technology to support their leaning and make them independent , self-reliant and responsible for their leaning ! May Zlatka’s red-and-white tokens – the wonderful Martenisas bring us good luck !
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Week 6 Reflection :
I can say today that a lot of changes are being implemented i my class . The class has already been divided into small groups of 4 students . We moved to the computer lab last week and each group has created an e-mail account and a blog .Next Tuesday , the class will make a trip to Megres Mountain ( if it doesn’t snow, of course ) . There , they will observe , take photos and videos . They will post their reports and slogans for the protection of the site illustrated with their photos and videos . They are very happy to know that they are doing something different . Their projects in English and I all the other subjects are usually presented In a form of posters or booklets . Knowing that they are going to be outside their class with their teacher of English and then presenting their projects using blogs and then commenting on their each other work , makes them feel very motivated and enthusiastic .
Thanks to the tasks of this week I have learnt how to write an assessment rubric . It took me too much time , not to write it , but to get access to the wiki page and to post it and then had the opportunity to have a look at what my other friends participants did . I’m amazed about how much information and how many ideas this task has generated . This task is an eye opener that helps us to set number of criteria to assess students work , to make them know about the criteria they are going to be assessed on are , and thus path the way towards their involvement into class activity .
The tendency today is how to involve the students into class activities , how to create a learner centered class and how to make the students shift from their passive attitude towards an active behavior , make them , analyze , reflect and take decisions . They belong to different socio- cultural environment with different learning styles . It is our responsibility , our challenge today to find the right activity that can involve them all with all these differences . Our goal is integrating technology in our teaching . The challenge is amazing .Our commitment will certainly help us to go “ higher “ !
Yes we ca !
I can say today that a lot of changes are being implemented i my class . The class has already been divided into small groups of 4 students . We moved to the computer lab last week and each group has created an e-mail account and a blog .Next Tuesday , the class will make a trip to Megres Mountain ( if it doesn’t snow, of course ) . There , they will observe , take photos and videos . They will post their reports and slogans for the protection of the site illustrated with their photos and videos . They are very happy to know that they are doing something different . Their projects in English and I all the other subjects are usually presented In a form of posters or booklets . Knowing that they are going to be outside their class with their teacher of English and then presenting their projects using blogs and then commenting on their each other work , makes them feel very motivated and enthusiastic .
Thanks to the tasks of this week I have learnt how to write an assessment rubric . It took me too much time , not to write it , but to get access to the wiki page and to post it and then had the opportunity to have a look at what my other friends participants did . I’m amazed about how much information and how many ideas this task has generated . This task is an eye opener that helps us to set number of criteria to assess students work , to make them know about the criteria they are going to be assessed on are , and thus path the way towards their involvement into class activity .
The tendency today is how to involve the students into class activities , how to create a learner centered class and how to make the students shift from their passive attitude towards an active behavior , make them , analyze , reflect and take decisions . They belong to different socio- cultural environment with different learning styles . It is our responsibility , our challenge today to find the right activity that can involve them all with all these differences . Our goal is integrating technology in our teaching . The challenge is amazing .Our commitment will certainly help us to go “ higher “ !
Yes we ca !
Sunday, 14 February 2010
WEEK 5 REFLECTION :
When discovering the tasks for Week 5 , I was completely puzzled and felt I would never able to create a webquest . Soon the clouds disappeared thanks to the links and the hints given by our instructors , and my colleagues . It is true that It took me a day to create my webquest and to supply it with a project for my third year classes ( Scientific stream ) , but I managed to do it . It was one of my greatest challenges for this course , though I know I have to go though more challenging tasks the next coming weeks .
The discussion on nicenet was about how to use webquest and PBL to transform our learners from passive listeners to autonomous learners who play an important role in the process of learning by being responsible for their learning , reflecting and taking decisions . They can use technology , go to the source of information , select what is important and use it .
I’ll start implementing some changes In my class soon , by introducing technology . I have already talked to my students about their project for the unit about environment and how e-mailing and blogging are going to be used . I could read on their faces that they are willing and enthusiastic to embark on this technological adventure . They looked vey exited and I feel confident that the coming weeks are going to be amazing , challenging and full of new experiences .
It is hard to begin not only because our students have developed bad habits , but because , we ,teachers, tend to forget sometimes that we have to reflect on our work and make the right decisions whatever the price is . The commitment of Susan Gaer and her achievement impressed me very much and her experience will certainly have a big impact on my teaching .
When discovering the tasks for Week 5 , I was completely puzzled and felt I would never able to create a webquest . Soon the clouds disappeared thanks to the links and the hints given by our instructors , and my colleagues . It is true that It took me a day to create my webquest and to supply it with a project for my third year classes ( Scientific stream ) , but I managed to do it . It was one of my greatest challenges for this course , though I know I have to go though more challenging tasks the next coming weeks .
The discussion on nicenet was about how to use webquest and PBL to transform our learners from passive listeners to autonomous learners who play an important role in the process of learning by being responsible for their learning , reflecting and taking decisions . They can use technology , go to the source of information , select what is important and use it .
I’ll start implementing some changes In my class soon , by introducing technology . I have already talked to my students about their project for the unit about environment and how e-mailing and blogging are going to be used . I could read on their faces that they are willing and enthusiastic to embark on this technological adventure . They looked vey exited and I feel confident that the coming weeks are going to be amazing , challenging and full of new experiences .
It is hard to begin not only because our students have developed bad habits , but because , we ,teachers, tend to forget sometimes that we have to reflect on our work and make the right decisions whatever the price is . The commitment of Susan Gaer and her achievement impressed me very much and her experience will certainly have a big impact on my teaching .
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Week 4
Week 4 : Reflection :
Another interesting , fruitful week , full of learning and exchanging . One of the discussions which I liked most this week was the elaboration of a technology enhanced lesson plan . This discussion generated a lot of ideas and tips that can be used teaching skills , vocabulary , grammar and pronunciation .A lot of tips that can be used in our classes the coming weeks . The discussion enables us to use what has been learnt since the course started , in terms of writing objectives , web search , bookmarking and how all this learning can be implamented …
Another week , another focus on reading and writing and how much technology can help improving these two important skills . Using technology in class doesn't really look so complicated , it is at the reach of teacher whose determination is improving his students skills , involving them in the process of learning , keeping them interested in the subject and thus reaching his objectives . I realize that writing a lesson plan shouldn't be taken for granted . The lesson plan is the very essense of a successful course , its skeleton , its framework whose parts are fitted and joined together. I must admit today that I have never thought about including the teaching styles in my lesson plan though I 've always taken into the fact that I 'm addressing different students with different teaching styles .
Another interesting , fruitful week , full of learning and exchanging . One of the discussions which I liked most this week was the elaboration of a technology enhanced lesson plan . This discussion generated a lot of ideas and tips that can be used teaching skills , vocabulary , grammar and pronunciation .A lot of tips that can be used in our classes the coming weeks . The discussion enables us to use what has been learnt since the course started , in terms of writing objectives , web search , bookmarking and how all this learning can be implamented …
Another week , another focus on reading and writing and how much technology can help improving these two important skills . Using technology in class doesn't really look so complicated , it is at the reach of teacher whose determination is improving his students skills , involving them in the process of learning , keeping them interested in the subject and thus reaching his objectives . I realize that writing a lesson plan shouldn't be taken for granted . The lesson plan is the very essense of a successful course , its skeleton , its framework whose parts are fitted and joined together. I must admit today that I have never thought about including the teaching styles in my lesson plan though I 've always taken into the fact that I 'm addressing different students with different teaching styles .
I'm sorry I couldn't partipate very often in the discussion this week . I had a lot of problems I got serious flu which I have not recovered from yet . I wish I could feel better next week to benefit more !
Week 5 is about to start and I didn't see time passing !
Week 5 is about to start and I didn't see time passing !
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Week 3 :Reflections
Week three is almost over and I realized how much it has been challenging and fruitful as the preceding ones . I first created my delicious page . It took me a couple of minutes to enrich it with some bookmarks , sites which would help my colleagues and me to elaborate our final project . I came to the conclusion that this delicious page ,which is really delicious , is going to allow me to save my bookmarks even when I formate my computer and exchange my bookmarks with the community of teachers.
I had fun enriching it with the different sites communicated by my colleagues via the discussion based on skill building websites and CALLS for listening , speaking and pronunciation . The discussions were a space for sharing teaching materials , experiences about what works and what doesn't , what might help students learning and what might hinder it . These discussions are going to be a platform to our tasks for the coming weeks . Though my school is not very " Technologically " equipped, I'm beginning to apply what I 'm learning and this change in my teaching will be for great benefit for my students and my 3 other colleagues who teach with me at the same school who are sometimes reluctant about he use of technology in their classes .
I had fun enriching it with the different sites communicated by my colleagues via the discussion based on skill building websites and CALLS for listening , speaking and pronunciation . The discussions were a space for sharing teaching materials , experiences about what works and what doesn't , what might help students learning and what might hinder it . These discussions are going to be a platform to our tasks for the coming weeks . Though my school is not very " Technologically " equipped, I'm beginning to apply what I 'm learning and this change in my teaching will be for great benefit for my students and my 3 other colleagues who teach with me at the same school who are sometimes reluctant about he use of technology in their classes .
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Week 2 reflection
Week 2 :
Discussion on the topics suggested by Deborah and Sandra this week has been very rich . I can say that I have learnt very much about schools in different parts of the world and how it works there . We certainly come from different countries , different cultures . Our classes are set differently . We deal with students from different ages , cultural backgrounds and objectives . Some of us work under very tricky conditions . Others have the chance to use very sophisticated and high tech teaching aids .Some teacher have the chance to work with very small groups , others have large classes . But I think we all share the same objective which is improving our students performances in English by introducing and using computer technology and Internet..
Different countries have different educational finalities and work with different approaches . But another aspect that makes us one community is that from now one we are going to formulate our objective in the same way using the ABCD approach .
We had a lot of fun posting our objectives , asking friends and colleagues to comment about them and reformulate them .The debate was great due to the fact that it was dominated by a lot of collaboration , commitment , group spirit . with no taboo , no prejudices . And that , really , reinforced our relationship Now , I'm convinced that we have become a strong community . Whoever you are , Amjed , Nina , Manana or Mohamed , wherever you are in Japan , Haiti , Ecuador or Bulgaria you have been and you are going to be of great help and what I learn from you is going to have an important impact on my teaching . Thank you .
Another dominating point this week was the NoodleTools and which , according to my colleagues ,can be beneficial to us with the wide variety of web sites it offers , the limitless number of teaching materials it provides and how much it can help us gaining time in searching . So again and again , thank you Sandra , thank you Deborah .
Discussion on the topics suggested by Deborah and Sandra this week has been very rich . I can say that I have learnt very much about schools in different parts of the world and how it works there . We certainly come from different countries , different cultures . Our classes are set differently . We deal with students from different ages , cultural backgrounds and objectives . Some of us work under very tricky conditions . Others have the chance to use very sophisticated and high tech teaching aids .Some teacher have the chance to work with very small groups , others have large classes . But I think we all share the same objective which is improving our students performances in English by introducing and using computer technology and Internet..
Different countries have different educational finalities and work with different approaches . But another aspect that makes us one community is that from now one we are going to formulate our objective in the same way using the ABCD approach .
We had a lot of fun posting our objectives , asking friends and colleagues to comment about them and reformulate them .The debate was great due to the fact that it was dominated by a lot of collaboration , commitment , group spirit . with no taboo , no prejudices . And that , really , reinforced our relationship Now , I'm convinced that we have become a strong community . Whoever you are , Amjed , Nina , Manana or Mohamed , wherever you are in Japan , Haiti , Ecuador or Bulgaria you have been and you are going to be of great help and what I learn from you is going to have an important impact on my teaching . Thank you .
Another dominating point this week was the NoodleTools and which , according to my colleagues ,can be beneficial to us with the wide variety of web sites it offers , the limitless number of teaching materials it provides and how much it can help us gaining time in searching . So again and again , thank you Sandra , thank you Deborah .
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Week 1 : Reflection
The discussion on the use of blogs in teaching English and which I had with my friends and colleagues during last week was one of the most interesting debate I have never had during my teaching career . I have leant a lot about the benefits of integrating blogs in language classes and the discussion generated a limitless number of activities that can be used by language teachers .
At the beginning my worries were how to involve some of my students with poor computer skills in blogging activities . The teacher community helped me . Today I know that the success of the task doesn't depend on my students computer skills but it depends on my class management , the choice of the activities and my objectives .
It is clear now that blogging improves students writing , reading , speaking and listening . As the Algerian education policy is based on the competency based approach , blogging will not only allow me to integrate the four skills ( reading , writing , listening and speaking ) and thus gain time but it will also help me involve as many students as possible in the learning process . They will become responsible for their learning , monitoring the activities themselves and learning from each other . In this way , I'll improve the three competencies which are the objectives of leaning English in Algeria , that's to say : interpreting , producing and interacting . I think that my students will certainly use their blogs for presenting their projects and exchanging information with each other .
I'm looking forward trying blogging activities in my class the coming weeks . Once more thank you !
At the beginning my worries were how to involve some of my students with poor computer skills in blogging activities . The teacher community helped me . Today I know that the success of the task doesn't depend on my students computer skills but it depends on my class management , the choice of the activities and my objectives .
It is clear now that blogging improves students writing , reading , speaking and listening . As the Algerian education policy is based on the competency based approach , blogging will not only allow me to integrate the four skills ( reading , writing , listening and speaking ) and thus gain time but it will also help me involve as many students as possible in the learning process . They will become responsible for their learning , monitoring the activities themselves and learning from each other . In this way , I'll improve the three competencies which are the objectives of leaning English in Algeria , that's to say : interpreting , producing and interacting . I think that my students will certainly use their blogs for presenting their projects and exchanging information with each other .
I'm looking forward trying blogging activities in my class the coming weeks . Once more thank you !
A survey findings
Once the discussion about the use of blogs had started , with the advantages of blogs and the limitless numbers of activities it generated , I was very motivated in using them in my classes . I 'm in charge of 5 classes at a secondary school in Algeria . My classes are quite large with a number of students sometimes exceeding 40 . I wanted to try the experience of blogging in my classes . Because of the important number of students I teach , I decided to try what I have leant with a class . I opted for a class with the least number of students ( 32 students ) and the one which in my opinion is the slowest and the least motivated concerning learning English .
I conducted a survey about computer skills and Internet use . When I handed the papers to the students and explained what it was meant by this survey , they showed great excitement and responded positively to the task .
While studying their answers , I was surprised to discover that 7 of the 32 students have no computer skills and do not have access to Internet .
Only 13 have the opportunity to have Internet at home and 20 of them said they had e-mail addresses . 6 of the students interviewed have personal blogs and 10 of them have Facebook accounts . Most of the students think using Internet can be beneficial for them especially for learning languages ( Arabic , English and French )
Action Points : Next week I intend to take this class to the school computer room , make the students who have no e-mail account , create one and help the students who have no computer skills to have their first step in Internet . I know the task is difficult but I 'm determined to involve all the students in this amazing experience of learning . I'll split the class into groups and involve the students with good computer skills in helping their classmates . It's important to mention that our school has been equipped with Internet recently and that there are only 16 computers in the room . The challenge is tough but it's worth trying !
I conducted a survey about computer skills and Internet use . When I handed the papers to the students and explained what it was meant by this survey , they showed great excitement and responded positively to the task .
While studying their answers , I was surprised to discover that 7 of the 32 students have no computer skills and do not have access to Internet .
Only 13 have the opportunity to have Internet at home and 20 of them said they had e-mail addresses . 6 of the students interviewed have personal blogs and 10 of them have Facebook accounts . Most of the students think using Internet can be beneficial for them especially for learning languages ( Arabic , English and French )
Action Points : Next week I intend to take this class to the school computer room , make the students who have no e-mail account , create one and help the students who have no computer skills to have their first step in Internet . I know the task is difficult but I 'm determined to involve all the students in this amazing experience of learning . I'll split the class into groups and involve the students with good computer skills in helping their classmates . It's important to mention that our school has been equipped with Internet recently and that there are only 16 computers in the room . The challenge is tough but it's worth trying !
Thank you !
First of all , I would like to thank Deborah , Sandra from Eugene University and the staff working for them for all their commitment and their effort in building this community of teachers from different part of the world , learning and setting a common objective which is improving their teaching and involving as many students as possible into an E class . I 'm very grateful to you all , my colleagues . I have learnt so much from you and I'm sure the common weeks will be very fruitful in exchange and collaboration .
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Sunday, 10 January 2010
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