Friday, April 30, 2010

Week 4 (26 April - 2 May): Skill-building Websites for Reading/Writing Skills and Technology-enhanced Lesson Plans

Silly me! When I looked at the assignments of week 4, I congratulated myself that this will be a non-reading week. I hate readings! It turned out that Deborah adds the readings and additional detailed assignments when the week begins. Another lesson to learn! Do put a framework in advance so your students will have an idea of what to expect. Details would be added at the beginning of each week. OK.
Another "silly me" was that I didn't comprehend the simple,clear instructions of Deborah which said, "Create a technology-enhanced lesson plan". I disappeared for one day, then I came back to find lesson plans posted. Aha! Now I have to get back and complete mine. Lesson two:Don't speed up things, ya Hala:-)

What I’ve learned this week is that there will never be a shortage of innovative activities to select from. The challenge is that which/how/when/with whom/what and, above all, how to blend them to create a web-enhanced lesson plan. I spent nearly 6 hours searching and looking for information about writing e-cards, lesson plans, wording, websites to use for send e-cards, etc. Wow! That was exhausting and fun at the same time. I love how I learn, unconsciously.
I will try to prepare a lesson plan for my third-year Computer Science students starting next October
This week’s assignments were: a) reviewing, sharing comments, reflections on at least two different reading and/or writing web site, b)preparing a technology-enhanced lesson plan, c)reflecting on this week and commenting on others blog, d)reflect on at least one course and describe the issues that technology might be able to help with in at least one post on Nicenet.
Also, this week I started to save all my posts in one folder divided into weeks. I will ask Deborah about how long will be have access to the course platform after the course ends.
Shared links:
-Assessment 2.0 (on Scribd)
- Lesson Planning, Lesson Plan Formats and Lesson Plan Ideas
Willis, Jane. (2008). “From grammar-based teaching to task-based teaching - making the shift”

6 comments:

  1. Dear Hala,

    Thank you for your nice reflections. I am impressed with amount of time you spend on searching and reading for this course despite the fact that you are doing your PhD! You are teaching us lessons on self-motivation!

    I am sure you were joking when you said that you hated reading, weren't you? You seem to enjoy it to the fullest!

    I agree with you that the skill-building web pages that Deborah suggested this week are really amazing! I feel that I have found a treasure on those pages!

    Thanks for enlightening us, Hala!

    Yours,

    Mohamed

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  2. Hello Hala,

    first of all thanks for the comments on my posts: even if now I am quite run-down and I think nothing goes as it should be, you help me a lot. Thank you and congratulations for keeping up with this work: for all of use is time consuming. I am extremely busy, as I am a teacher and I am involved in about 10 international projects. But, you are an example that I try to follow.

    As for reading, I also find it difficult to read and to learn new things every single day. Sometimes I feel I don't understand a thing from what I read: then I start over, I put down the main ideas and I try to make myself understood.

    All the best,
    Nadina

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  3. Hello Hala,

    Reading your post was a bit like reading my own thoughts... Why is it so that first looks often deceive??? It is not true that Mondays are worse for starting a task than Tuesdays (as builders claim!); it is rather our attitude, readiness and consciousness that matter here.

    I absolutely admire your strong will and motivation; I do also know what it means to be engaged in something. Since October I have been left alone with running the Foreign Language Department which is still developing. Every day is a struggle- with university authorities, with administration, with sales representatives, with time… but I love it

    I strongly believe that doing one thing but cautiously and consciously is much better than starting lots of tasks and finishing none of them or being dissatisfied with the outcome. Therefore, this week I am a bit late with my posts, though still on the right track to keep up with the best – You being one of them for sure!

    Regards,
    Joanna
    Poland

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  4. Hi Hala!
    I think we will have to read a lot for the next six weeks!
    I also spent a lot of time searching the net and then, designing the timetable fit for my online class.
    It looked like a piece of cake but I had to think things over to be sure I was focusing not on the technology but the learning outcomes to achieve.
    But one thing is for sure: the cyberspace is full up of websites, activities and ideas to enhance our students´writing and reading skills.

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  5. Hi Hala
    Thank you for your reflection. I also have similar feeling that we all are tired of searching materials, reading them and writing our ideas. There are so many things to read which we cannot do in this 10-week course. We all are motivated to read each other's post and explore more materials which enhance our teaching skill.

    I agree with Joanna that we have to focus on one specific area of our interest. Noone can read everything available in the websites. But I agree with you that we must have alternative resources to provide variety to our teaching.

    If we focus on one specific area we develop expertise in that area.

    Cheers
    Prem

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  6. Hi, Hala.
    You inspire me to work hard as you do.
    I had the same feeling at the beginning of the course - it is going to be an easy course as we use Internet activities for several years and nothig is new for us. Moreover I participated in British Council TTT (Training the Trainers) course where I gained a lot for me as a teacher. But I was mistaken. The course makes you work hard and find and open new sides of the techniques.

    Good luck in our study and exploring new possibilities of technology!

    Bests,
    Nilufar

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