Week 7 Reflections

Hello, everyone

This has been Week 7! We have done a great work this week.
Discussion was very interesting. It is great to hear different lesson plans when one computer is at disposal. Just like I wrote on Nicenet with a minimum technology a teacher can have well-organized teaching process. It's better to have one computer in function than to leave students without opportunity to learn this way. It is just one step toward advancing the ladder of teaching process. I think that I can improve my students' skills with a laptop and projector, it is certainly better than nothing. Of course, I would like to have more technology at my disposal but I hope that will get better too.
 Also, I viewed Susan Gaer's ideas and she offered a lot of interesting ideas concerning word and internet. I liked very much her projects and the one concerning food http://susangaer.com/studentprojects/food.htm is what I would like to do in future.





Task for this week was to make a lesson plan for one computer at the classroom. I presented the one I used with my students and it is very good and useful for the problem they have when the speaking and pronunciation are concerned. I downloaded the materials from the bbc ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/features/connected.shtml).
My classmates also share some great lesson plans that I would take into consideration in future.





This week, we also had the task to choose a partner for project draft. When my project is concerned I get panic from time to time. I learned and explored so many useful things and I don't know where to start from. Then, I read again Jodi's email saying ''As you’re working on your project, keep in mind that you are only trying to solve one problem.  Sure, there may be some secondary issues you hope will be addressed, but concentrate on one facet of the objectives, goals or administration that you want to work on.  Remember, too, that creating the “perfect” activity with “perfect” results  is not the purpose of the project.  The purpose is to address an issue or problem with a technology-based solution.''
 As I pointed out the problem of speaking, I focused on that issue during the course. Food lesson is also at our Class Book so topic At a restaurant seemed interesting to start from. My students will have finished Primary School by next Friday so we are almost done.  I hope everything would be fine!




Enjoy the weekend!


Bojana

Week 6 Reflections

Hello, everyone

Here we are, at the end of the sixth week. I have just read Marija's blog post and share her thoughts about how we will miss the course. I hope we will keep in touch.

This week was very interesting. Using Power Point is very interesting and useful. My students like it although they like everything that is new and interesting and involves technology. I showed them the presentation I had made and they liked it very much.

As I mentioned before, the problem I am trying to resolve is their speaking skills. I don't expect that it could be done quickly but I will use the tips and technology to make the first steps toward the solution.
 At the beginning of the course I thought of the topic concerning Food and Restaurant. I had already given them the task to explore the vocabulary concerning food and I will make a power point presentation. I suggested this site for vocabulary http://www.englishpage.com/vocabulary/interactivelesson4.html They will use this site at home because we do not have access to the internet. Here they have fill in gaps exercises concerning this topic.
There are 10 of them in the group. They will work together making menu by using Word and we will have it printed. When speaking is concerned their task is, with my help of course, to make dialogues for Restaurant. They will have roles as waiter, guests, chef etc.
So far, we have collected the vocabulary and some common expressions used at a restaurant.
I recommended listening to bbc  http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/expressenglish/2012/01/120130_ee_coffee_tea.shtml and they will use some phrases. They found an interesting restaurant sketch on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfhkuXuQ9eA
As a tool, I am considering of making webquest to have this project in one place. I have so many ideas, I don't know if I am going to succeed and sometimes I am in a panic... There are so many useful sites..

I will write more....

Week 5 - Reflections

Hello, everyone

We are half a way towards final project! Time passes by so quickly.

This has been very interesting week full of useful information.

I'll start reflecting on PBL - Project-based learning. When I read PBL task on Monday, I admit, that I wasn't really certain what it is about. First, I read Susan Gaer's article ''Less Teaching More Learning''. This article implicitly shows how a very motivated teacher can get the best out of their students. She sought the ways to make her students learn and be motivated to learn better. Step by step not even did they complete the task but they sought for more. 

There are some students in my class that are not good at all subjects at school and for them everything in the Class Book is difficult. In PBL a teacher could find some activity that they could do to give them opportunity to get a good mark.

I read the articles my classmates recommended and they help me understand PBL . I liked definitions such as: ''A project is defined as a long-term ( several weeks) activity that involves a variety of individual or cooperative tasks such as developing a research plan and questions, and implementing the plan through empirical or document research that includes collecting, analyzing and reporting data orally and/or in writing''. ( Becket, 2002, p54) 

PBL motivates both teachers and learners. To complete this kind of project it is necessary to choose starting point ( topic of the project) that would be interesting, useful and available for search to students.By doing this projects, students become aware of academic work. And they can be easily motivated and inspired to pursue a career or engage in activism that relates to the project they developed. ((http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning)

 As my students are concerned I' d like to choose a topic related to subject they are interested in, maybe history or geography or any other they want to study after Primary School. For me, to carry out a successful PBL the students have to be interested in the topic, then to prepare clear objectives, to check availability of technology that students can use.

 As Susan Gaer's article shows, her students were very motivated and step by step they asked for more and more. They are given goals and reward ( alternative assessment) and they move on.

As alternative assessment is concerned, I think that PBL experience is not complete without opportunities for students to receive quality feedback during and after their project work. When the project has been finished students can have clear picture of how they  have done and have opportunities to improve their work. 

I created my Rubric at http://rubistar.4teachers.org/. This is the first time I have made Rubrics. I like it very much and it' on my list for future usage. The students can assess each other and by rubrics they know what they need to work on more. 

 

I’ll certainly make PBL as a part of my teaching methods, but there are some limitations in my class.Internet, class books and lack of time are some issues I reflected about on Nicenet.

As I wrote last week, my students have problem with speaking, as they make grammar mistakes while they speak. I have to point out that when they have a dialogue to prepare for homework they do it very well. So, it implies that they need a lot of speaking practice. I discussed this on Nicenet.

I'd like to thank my classmates for suggesting useful links and discussing very thoroughly all the topics. 

Enjoy the weekend!

Bojana