Week 10

Robert, you have asked us to write about what we did and what we learned throughout the course.
I really don't know where to begin. First of all I learned a lot about myself - that I love working with new technologies and I enjoy them very much.
All the "brave new world" you, your guests and my colleagues have shown me - encourages me to keep on trying to find ways to adapt my lesson plans to my students as best I can. I am more optimistic now that I will find a way to teach them better.
I really liked the fact that the course was a mix of technology, mothodology, pedagogy and theory.
As Charbel pointed out, I too developed a habbit of entering Nicenet almost every day to see what's new and waited for the next surprise that was coming  at the beginning of each week.
Thank you very much for this rare opportunity. I hope you enjoyed it too.
All the best,
Nourit

Week 9 - Final Project, Learning styles and Multiple Intelligences

Hello all!
I have mix feelings. After peer reviewing and final project submitiing - is it really over? I have so much more to learn. I even didn't have the chance to "digest" all that was presented to us till now and

     

its almost over. I will also miss our discussions and brain storming. It was so interesting to "hear" you all and "see" the similarities and differences in our points of view, in our students and our cultures.

On the other hand it will make my life easier and I will have more time to devote to my students and familly. These last two years I spent most of my weekends and nights studying and I miss being with them without the worry about how am I going to complete my assignments. Futhermore, although it sounds paradoxical, I will have more time to build better lesson plans for my students and to be more attentive to them.

As for multiple intelligences and learning styles :

The amount of information about learning styles is overwhelming. Therefore, one must choose what is suitable for his/her purpose and stick to it, while changing some as he/she goes along and reflects on the lesson plans' successes and shortcomings.

I think that I might try to implement the above with the ABCD model, bearing in mind what Richard M. Felder and Eunice R. Henriques said, that "the challenge to language instructors is to devise ways of augmenting their verbal classroom presentation with nonverbal visual material—for example, showing photographs, drawings, sketches, and cartoons to reinforce presentation of vocabulary words, and using films, videotapes, and dramatizations to illustrate lessons in dialogue and pronunciation."

To summarize it all, I believe that we should balance between teaching/learning with new technologies while retaining some of the "old school" advantages which are also important in developping our kids linguistic and social skills.

Week 8 - Facebook won

On Thursday I exposed my 8th graders to their final unit's project with a WQ . I explained - again - what we are going to do and how it is going to be done, in our regular classroom. Then, we went to the computers classroom where I already wrote the URL and the instructions on the board. Part of the instructions was that - as Nada suggested - they need to call me after they enter each page and task so that I can grade them accordingly. Unfortunately, most of them opened facebook (and games), although I forbade it and in spite of the fact that it cost them points.

I must admit I am disapointed and frustrated.

The "lights in the tunnel" are my 10th graders who, in spite of their difficulties, are showing interest and a will to learn.

Learner Autonomy and the One-computer Classroom - Week 7

I do not have the possiblity to do a one-computer classroom lesson. However, I can take three of my classes to the computer lab and have them sit in half a circle with a computer in the middle. It might work with a small class of about 13 students. I shall have to see about that. It would be great to have at least a projector for the board but one must take whatever there is and do the best with it.
I plann to try it with the book report ppp and see how it goes.

As for learner autonomy - I wish my kids would want to be autonomous. It is a process that I intend to insist upon, because I think this is the best way they will be able to internalize what they learn.
I had a very interesting week - autonomy wise:

The first experience was with my 10th graders. We learned in the computer lab. They all connected to Nicenet and I directed them to the link that can help them practice for next week's test. Sure, some of them didn't work or only "half" worked, but at least they showed me that they know how to connect to the site and find the link they need. They tried but I know that they need close personal help. Unfortunately, I can do that in a limited way when I have to attend to all. In spite of this, most of them did work and showed interest. It was a very fulfilling experience.

The second experience was with my difficult 8th graders. I decided to give it a try - again - and do a "pre-WebQuest" activity that will prepare them to what their project will be and how they will have to proceed with it.

I started the lesson in our regular classroom. There, I explained what we are going to do. I showed them a picture of the first page of the WQ and explained it in general. I described the lesson we are going to have which is the very similar to the lesson plan I wrote for the course - Search for map of their neighborhood, write down the directions for getting from their home to school. They had to work in pairs because there are not enough computers for everyone. I did not have a chance to show them the evaluation rubric for it because they were too agitated. Furthermore, the last time I tried to explain it to them and maybe get them to contribute to it too, they did not show any interest.

It was more than I expected. Most of the kids liked to idea to find their homes. The class was very noisy but mostly in a positive way. When they finished their task they enjoyed looking at the pictures of their homes and showed each other.

I hope this will encourage them to work better.

Me - I got a headach and enjoyed it very much.

Creating Student-centered Classes and Interactive PowerPoint - Week 6

I must admit I have a bit of a problem with the title of this week's assignments - "Creating Student-centered Classes...". I think that we put too much emphasis on child-center, pupil-center, student-center. I am speaking (writing) only about the semantics. In the last few decades we shifted all our focus on children and sometime we forget that it can harm them in the long run. Our language changed according to that change.
Well, this is obviously not what I wanted to talk about, so I'll try not to be side tracked.
Robert - Thank you very much for "forcing" me to learn and create technology based lesson plans. Although it is not easy, it is so interesting and fun. I created, for the first time, a PPP (I suddenly feel so old ) and I think it will be of great help for me as well as for my pupils. I will try it on Thursday, when I have the computer class "booked". In addition, I will add it to my Nicenet class. I still have to see how I can save files in the school's computer.
I found the articles about teaching large classes with technology. Not every technology that suits small classes can be used in large ones, but I think that the other way around - is easier. I liked and will adopt some of the techniques. It is, obviously, something/s I have to try and see what fits and what don't - but it's part of the fun.
The only thing I regret about this week is that I didn't have the time to finish the WQ I have started and that I didn't master the online assessment yet.
"See you",
Nourit

WebQuest: My Neighborhood: an ongoing creation with Zunal WebQuest Maker - and more - week 5-6

I couldn't resist creating a WQ for my 8th graders although I'm short of time. I don't know if it will work but after my 10th graders enjoyed working with Nicenet, I felf that my ultimate challenge is the 8th grade class and how I can make it work.
I didn't finish it yet because I was also looking at all we have to do this week. I admit I was dizzy at first. There is so much to learn. Where to begin?
So, I decided to skim and scan everything first and then "dive in" . The first surprise was an answer to something I thought about in bed the night before - how can I test them and evaluate it on the net?
http://pages.uoregon.edu/tep/technology/assessment/onlineassessment.html
The answer is there but it seems so overwhelming.
I also never used power point presentation either. I always looked at this tool as a rather shallow one. I guess I was mistaken, Especially when it is a part of a  long term unit.
Well - I'm going to study all of it (or untill I fall asleep).
"See you soon".

Technology related lessons and rubrics - Week 5

Since I last reflected on my 10th graders - WE DID IT!!
Instead of waiting for them to enter Nicenet, I took them to the computer room and we all went in, saw what I already prepared for them and experienced some of the links. They were excited about it and asked to continue working this way. It was also interesting to see the look of surprise on their home-room teacher when I told her what I plann to do. She had no idea language in school can be taught with computers.
I also tried to take my 8th graders and work with them. It didn't go well. I think that I need to plan it better and put some strict boundaries as to what they have to achieve in each lesson. Everything must be graded and very straitforward.
After giving it a lot of thought, I think that a Web Quest might be better suited for them. As a fairly heterogenous English student's class with a lot of behavioral problems, I believe that they need to be divided and given a chance to work in small groups. Although I didn't create one yet, I already explained to them that they will have a special project they will need to do, instead of a test. I did not go into details about what it would entail nor what it will be like but I started by explaining the method of assessment. I also told them they would be active participants in writing some of the rubrics. In addition to it all, I want to encourage them to work by telling them they were chosen as a model class to experiment this method and that we will present their work in class and show it to their parents.