Sunday, May 30, 2010

WEEK 8 REFLECTIONS

This week we had a one useful task in the course which was creating a one-computer classroom lesson. I have read informative posts of my collages, studied their lesson plans and found some of them applicable to my class. Our discussion topic was about self-direction and learners autonomy. Again, I had the change to read some important comments related to the topic. We wrote the first draft version of our project report and shared it with our project partner for suggestions and missing parts. Thanks to my partner Ruslana for she made important suggestions on my report. I cannot wait the to see the project reports of the other participants of the course, because I think some of them may help me in dealing with the problems I have in my classes.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

WEEK 7 REFLECTIONS

The course is coming to the end, we have only three weeks left. This week we have discussed about some techniques to make our classes more interactive. There were good comments about the subject and I must say I refreshed my knowledge with extra information. We have created a short PowerPoint slide show and shared it with the other members of the course. I used to think that PowerPoint presentations are interactive teaching tools but now I can see they may not be enough to create an interactive environment in the class. This week we have learned some ways to use them more efficiently in the class. We also suggest a parner for peer review and thank to Ruslana she accepted to work with me. I started to work on a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes our course and includes the topics that we talked about. I am planning to share the outcome of the course with my co-workers here.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

WEEK 6 REFLECTIONS

This week was great for me. I have learned some new approaches about creating a rubric and using alternative assessment tools in my class. Learning styles was another important subject of the course. The most important isssue of this week was making an objective assessment in our classes, after reading the article I started to be more careful while evaluating my students. As I stated on nicenet, assessment was the hardest task of my job but now it becomes easier for me. I am going to ask my colleagues to read the articles about assessment and I am going to discuss with them and share my ideas about what I have learned on week 6. I think making a successful assessment in class makes the teacher more close to his/her students. My classes will end by the end of this month so the outcomes of this course will be more important for me for next year. I decided to make radical changes in my classes next year.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

WEEK 5 REFLECTIONS

It was a busy week again. Sometimes I can not follow everyone's comment but I am happy to be there with the others. The week starded with the wonderful example of Ruslana's WebQuest page. I like it. All the participants described a potential change that might occur in their classes. I read my colleagues comments about the case and I think they might help me in the future. After reading about Project Based learning I create my own one. The comments about this discussion topic were important for me. I read wonderful posts and I am thinking of applying some of them into my class. ABCD method still holds its importance in our works. I am getting more familiar with it day by day.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

WEEK 4 REFLECTIONS

The course is getting better day by day. In the fourth week we discussed the importance of Lesson Planning. The discussion was simply about planning the lesson and the benefits of it. The articles we read about Technology -Enhanced lesson plans were good examples on using the internet in writing instructions. This week we explored new web pages relating to reading and vocabulary. And of course I bookmarked them and shared them with my students and colleagues. This week the most important part of the course for me was sharing some class issues with the other participants. I recognize that some of my colleagues experience the same difficulties in the their classes too. Sharing their experiences was very important for me. This week's greatest contribution to my teaching skills is that I decided to reconsider my classware and add some more technology based activities into my lessons.