Reflection on Week 9

I must say that Week 9 is the climax of our course; the most crucial week it has been! However, I'm glad that I've reached this far, learning more and more as weeks passed by. It is really unbelievable though that we are in the ninth week, almost nearing the end of our course.

This week's discussion has definitely grabbed my attention. We have students who are capable in many different ways.They vary in their learning styles too. As teachers,we could help them to learn in their own styles. At times, we can notice that there are some students who will lose interest in class. This might be because they need a different style of learning. All these while, I had only learned on designing various activities for learners' of multiple intelligence. But, I gave little attention on incorporating technology with the activities. Thanks to Eduscapes for listing out technology tools that support classroom activities. Some of the tools are not new to me, but I had never thought that they would actually be suitable for certain types of intelligence.

I also found this while searching for some images to add in my blog. They have listed several apps for different types of intelligence. I found it interesting, hence I decided to share it here.:)

Yes, you read it right. Project done! I felt so relieved when I submitted the report. I believe I've done my best for it. Due to time constraint, I managed to carry the activity only once with my students. However, I did notice the difference and I believe that if I continue using WebQuest, it will yield a desireable result for my students. I wish that my students will obtain good grades for their writing paper in their trial and public examination. 

In preparing the report, I learned that technology should not be misused. We do not incorporate technology just because it is fun or cool, as how Sean emphasizes all the time. The tools must be able to solve the problem in teaching and learning process. There are so many things for us to look into before deciding on using the tools. As an example, I considered using Schoology and Blog at first. But, the need to use WebQuest was more important than the other two tools. Introducing new tools to students can be challenging for us. However, if we try without giving up, it can be a success. In that case, teachers have to be an expert in using the tools before introducing them to students. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Baetty for giving me such a great feedback. I must say that her feedback was very useful for me. She pointed out my mistakes and I managed to produce my best with the help of her feedback. Thank you once again Baetty! I hope my feedback helped you too.

I wish all the best to my fellow colleagues. Most importantly, we have gained priceless knowledge and experience through this project.  I would also like to thank Sean for being so helpful. Thank you Sean.I am excitedly waiting for our final week.

Reflection on Week 8

As we are moving towards the end of this course, we are getting busier with many challenging tasks.As usual, all of us participated in the discussion. This week's discussion was different, in the sense that we were not given articles to read on a topic. Instead, there was a list of tools to create class site and online exercises. Implementing these tools in ESL/EFL classrooms will definitely bring a change for both students and teachers. In my district, we only emphasize that learning English is fun. That is the only way to encourage students to learn the language. Most of the time, we use language games in teaching. As I've mentioned in Nicenet discussion, when students enjoy the lesson, they will develop their love for the language. With the help of technology, we can vary the activities for our students. When we use various types of tools in teaching, we will feel confident and motivated. On the other hand, students will enjoy the lesson and learning will be made easy. Aren't this a good change? Through games, students will think critically to look for the answers or solutions. At times, they use dictionaries or even browse the Internet. Thus, this will slowly promote autonomous learning. We will meet many challenges when dealing with these tools. However, I believe that every problem has a solution. 

This week, I created my own crossword puzzle online. I created a very simple one, intended for Remove form students. Students of all levels love answering crossword puzzles. In my school, we run a problem called EW20 (English Within 20 minutes). We usually give students handouts on crossword puzzles and word search. Now, I can teach my colleagues to create their own games for EW20. We will be able to create games in accordance to students' proficiency levels. I also plan to create and print out some games so that I can use them when I relief teachers for their classes. 

I've also created a wall at Padlet. This is an extension for the WebQuest which I've created for the final project. However, I cannot expect for an immediate response from my students as they will sit for a test soon. I'm sure my students will love this tool. They can share and learn from each other.

http://padlet.com/wall/English-5Sc1-2014

 

Of all the tasks, I really enjoyed creating a wiki for my class. It was challenging! I spent almost a whole day to learn how to edit the page. And I took another 2 days to customize the page. At this point, I really appreciate Sean's wiki. It's far more complicated than my wiki. I wish to add on more features on my wiki after this. I created this wiki specially for my final year students. I will continue using it until the end of this year to analyze the result. I will definitely create a wiki for other levels as well. Here is the link to my wiki:  https://sites.google.com/site/englishforform5/

As we work on our final project report,  it is very thoughtful to get a review from a peer. I was glad that Baetty was back and she agreed to work with me. It must had been hard for her, as she missed Week 7. She really had so much to catch up and yet she was willing to help me with my project review. Her comments and suggestions really helped me a lot. I'm working on to improve my report. I also learned a lot while reviewing Baetty's project plan. Her ideas were great and I hope the best for her. 

I wish all the best for my colleagues. Hopefully everyone will manage to come up with good reports. Lets continue our journey for another 2 weeks. Thank you for visiting my blog. 

 

Reflection on Week 7

Learner Autonomy

Having learned some techniques and incorporating technology in teaching, it’s time to allow students  to ‘Learn to Learn on their Own’. Learner Autonomy means having the ability to take charge of one’s own learning, either naturally or by formal learning, as to what Holec defines it. Learners take full responsibility to acquire knowledge and they depend on themselves.  I chose comment on this topic for this week’s discussion because I believe that it is important for students to be autonomous learners. Well, it does not mean that we, as teachers, do not teach. At times, parents get worried that we are not teaching their kids but I think that rather than students being too dependent on us to supply them with notes, it is important for them to take charge on their own learning. I feel that they will learn better through this way. However, I also feel that students must reach to a level of maturity to do this. In my school, I can see that the senior students are the ones who habitually turn into autonomous learners. Probably with the help of the teachers, the young ones could be one too.

Padlet

Oh, Padlet is such a cool thing. I purposely chose these two images to show that instead of having sticky notes all around the board, we can create cooler ones through Padlet. To be frank, I was so blur for a few second that I didn’t know how to post a note and I accidently created my own wall! Padlet is a good platform to be used as students can share and learn. Not only for students, but even teachers can share things through it. I’m planning to try out Padlet with my colleagues first.

Project

I’ve started working on my project draft and I’m also referring to the previous project reports as guidance. I’m looking forward for my partner’s message and I hope that through this peer-reviewing, we will be able to produce a good final project plan.


 “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” 
― Mother Teresa

 Happy working on your project!

Reflection on Week 6

Week 6 has started and came to an end in a blink of an eye. This week’s discussion covered a very important topic which most teachers fear. LARGE CLASSES. Teacher’s preparations and readiness becomes greater as the number of students increases. It is quite difficult to control students when there are too many of them. At the same time, it is also questionable if all of them are participating in the class. Some of them might be doing other work and attend classes just for the sake of fulfilling the course’s requirements. However, all these can be changed if the teacher uses the correct approach in her/his teaching to make the class more interactive. I read all the websites suggested at the main page. They are very helpful. I like the suggestions on ‘In Class Activity’ and some of the miscellaneous ideas. I have tried some of the ideas such as giving class rules early, preparing seating charts and to preparing handouts early. The article on ‘Teaching Large Classes’ is also very handy. There are so many links in that page and everything is well-explained. 

 

I prefer the idea on ‘Think-Pair-Share’. This term is something new to me. It is a simple activity where teacher asks questions, students discuss in pairs and later share with the class. This will also improve the student’s confidence since they have shared their answers with someone before sharing it with the whole class. Talking about confidence, Concep Test is also interesting. Students usually feel confident when their friends share the same

answers. Besides these activities, I also like ‘Jigsaw Learning’. I have a reason for why I like this activity. During one of my Masters classes, my lecturer used this method and it was really good. At times, it is so bored to sit and listen to lectures all the time. Through jigsaw learning, we collaborated with each other in order to gain knowledge. Time for discussion was given and at times, my lecturer asked us to present. We also had to submit report of summary on the article. The benefit of this activity was that we managed to read the articles without reading it in full! And when we discussed, we understood better. We also helped each other whenever there were any doubts.

I have prepared many PowerPoint slides for students but now I realize that my slides were not interactive. I also understand why my lecturers always used plain and simple templates, had minimum bullets and use limited colours in their slides. Some of us like to have very compact slides with a lot of information, and we also like it very colourful. Through this week’s task, I’ve learned how to create interactive PowerPoint slides. I enjoyed preparing the slides and can’t wait to use it in class.

          As for my final project, I had a discussion with my students and I told them about my idea on using WebQuest. I am still collecting materials to create the WebQuest. For the students to get an idea on WebQuest, I shared the URL on my WebQuest which I created for last week’s task with my students. I asked them to go through it and try writing an essay after reading the materials and watching the videos uploaded. I also asked them to try the quizzes. I will discuss on their progress next week when we are back to school.