Week 10: Sharing Feelings and Saying Good-Bye

Time flies so fast...

     These ten weeks passed  very quickly and we didn't feel it. Words are not enough to express my gratutude towards people who gave me the opportunity to participate in this wonderful course.  A big thank you to Robert for his warm affection towards us and for his genuine desire to impart to us what he believed to be important. We had the good fortune of having a good teacher who shaped our thoughts and inspired us in carrying out our final projects. Another big thank you to the American English Institute for the course and its wonderful management.

     The course was a total success for me as it helped me broaden my horizons and see things differently. The goal of the course was to enable  us, teachers, to understand and use appropriate technology to enhance the learning environment and outcomes for our students.

     The most important thing was that the course managed to cover a lot of inspiring topics. Throughout each week we read about, analysed, reflected on, and discussed articles and resources related to language teaching and technology. We explored a lot of of options for integrating web tools in the classroom. I couldn't say a topic was more important than others as I benefit from all of them. I became very passionate about exploring the various tools and websites. Looking back on those past weeks, I realize I've enjoyed every assignment.. I highly appreciated such tasks as writing ABCD objectives, creating a Delicious page, desighning a technology-enhanced lesson plan, creating rubrics and webquests, interactive Power Point presentations and online course sites.

     I took a real pleasure in sharing my blog with anyone who was willing to stop and read my reflections. The beauty of the course lay in creating a technology-enhanced project for our classroom where we incorporated what we learned from the course and applied it in our teaching. I think we did a nice job, at least we did our best.

     I would say that everything that has been started must be continued and improved. I need to enrich my way of exploring technology and I'll do this. Now when I tasted some "other sweets" I'll go further and implement all I've learned with a lot of care and passion.

     I'll infect my colleagues with my enthusiasm for technology, we'll collaborate and contribute to build our students' skills in English language learning.

     Finally, I would like to thank all my online friends for sharing their thoughts and wisdom with me. I will miss them all. I hope we'll keep in touch soon because

       " Goodbyes are not forever

         Goodbyes are not the end

         They simply mean I'll miss you

         Until we meet again"

Bye,

See you.

Week 9 Multiple Intelligences/ Learning Styles

     This week we got to know about multiple intelligences and learning styles. Gardner's article gave us insights how to address a diversity of abilities. If we know our students' style, it would help us understand and prepare the activities for them better than before. 

    Although most students are capable of learning a second language to some degree of competence, some of them are better equipped for the second language learning task than others. Teachers can encourage development by providing enrichment opportunities in each of the areas of the intellect.

     In a real classroom situation, we cannot individualize instruction for each of our students. It is simply not a realistic goal. What we can do is teach in a variety of ways and regularly offer an exciting range of activities to our students. When we are planning a unit, we should try to incorporate various types of intelligences into the activities. A natural way to accomplish this is by teaching in an interdisciplinary format. Life is an integrated experience, and integrating subjects can make the content more meaningful to students.

    This week we have learnt how to incorporate technology in developing students' learning styles. Technology is a valuable tool. It has the power to support students and teachers in gathering, organizing and presenting information. Computers may extend and enhance what students and teachers are able to produce. 
     The articles we've read this week provide a range of techniques specific for each student learning style.  I find them all  very stimulating and look forward to getting into the classroom to try these techniques out. I will use the ones that suit my students' needs and intelligences. I'll make them work on through a combination of the ear, eye, reflection and by movement. As Tony Stockwell says "To learn anything fast and effectively, you have to see it, hear it and feel it."  

      A lot of  thanks to Robert for a great learning week. Thank you all for reflecting with me on the ways to make our teaching more effective.

     Best wishes

Week 8: ANVILL MAGIC

     We've had a busy and fruitful week as we have explored  some effective Web-based communication tools. I'm not much good at technology and I'm lucky I have the chance to learn from my online friends and teachers. Everything I've learnt from this course is useful for my language teaching. A lot of thanks to Jeff for joining us and sharing the ANVILL magic. I couldn't join the webinar, but as Robert suggested I viewed the recording and I  found it amazing. Still, I need some  more  time to digest the information and implement some of the tools in my classroom. Adding one or more web-based communication tools to my courses will help engage my students and  diminish the sense of isolation, will encourage critical thinking skills including: deducing, analyzing errors, constructing support etc.

      This week I've learnt how to create Nicenet and Wiki Classes. I encountered some difficulties in creating a Wiki using Google sites but I kept trying and I found I could do it. A thought came to my mind: "The devil is not so black as it is painted".

       Posting my draft project on Robert's wiki was the most exciting task. We all managed to post them on time. I hope my project isn't so bad.  I shared my impressions on Lekha's project. She didn't give me  the chance to find any mistake. Such a nice project! Congratulations, Lekha!

     I liked peer reviewing. Reading somebody's work enables you to become more able to identify, diagnose and solve some of your own writing issues and in the same time the writer/author profits from the feedback. It allows a diversity of opinions to be brought on the table.

 I wish all my colleagues good luck!