As we reach the end of any thing be it a trip, a party, a school year or what ever, we feel that saying goodbye is the expression we hate most no matter how aware we are from the beginning that we are bound to say it. In this course I have one of my best trips in the field of teacher training. I think all my class-mates will have the same opinion. A long time ago Christophe Columbus led some of the most important journeys in human history which led him to discover the Americas. A discovery which altered the whole world as it was known then. My journey through the course is just as important and fruitful.

Ding these ten week I have learnt multitudes  of things all fostering my better teaching practices.I can list them as follows:

• Search engines
• Wiki
• nicenet
• using the blog
• Rubrics
• Webquests
• Tools for educators
• .......

The list is still long which means that we had benefited a lot from each and every activity we did so far.

All I can say to my colleagues and teachers is that I am grateful. Now I know what it means to study online and I also know the bulk of possibilities that online resources can provide me with in a very Short time. In addition, I can create my own teaching material. Surely this will make of me a different teacher.

I wish all the best to all of us.

Ilham

Week nine reflections:

Greetings to all

I feel that we started counting our last hours.

During this week we started our week with a topic of great importance in the field of teaching. Multiple intelligences enable us to value our students as wholes not just in terms of old standards which see intelligence a particular performance. Now we are more aware that our students can progress if we give them the chance to show their attributes. Similarly, considering MIs leads us to accept and benefit from the different learning styles to reshape our teaching strategies to fit these styles. It is high time to abandon the one recipe lesson that applies for all students in all classes .the teacher is bound to be flexible. Surely technology provides the best tools to cater for all the learning styles at once.One more idea in this respect is that we ourselves discover new things about how we prefer to learn and teach.

Our second accomplishment for the week is the final project that we were able to send. It was a very important for me to go through the exrerience of writing and proof reading our colleagues projects.

All the best

Week eight reflections

Dear all,

Like all the weeks in the course, I learn many new things.

To start with, writing the report gave an opportunity to pre-view my practices as a teacher in light of this training. There has been a great deal of information to be processed before the application can take place. I learnt that in trying to implement technology in class I’ve got to take many variables into consideration. One other element I find very important here is that a teacher who plans to integrate technological tools has to be fully aware of all the intricate details that may, if not regarded, hinder his lesson and turn it to nothingness. Furthermore, he has to outline the possible mishaps and tries to find a way out. Writing the report thus really added to my experience.

Secondly, I learnt a lot about the tools suggested for this week. We have discussed learner autonomy in previous discussions. These tools exemplify how a teacher himself should develop and use his autonomy in preparing his lessons or activities. Besides the tools suggested give him a break from the monotony he may feel when he uses only one source material. So making fun-activities, tests, flash cards and so on and so forth are all new to me. In fact I am still trying to figure out all the intricacies of hot potatoes, even if I have heard of it a long time ago but had never tried it.

Since learning is a process I can’t say I have mastered all the tools fully. I am sure I will learn a lot more about each and every tool. Every trial teaches me and adds to my experience. I feel my lessons have not yet finished. I will carry on learning them after I finish this course.

Concerning the tools for educators, I don’t know why I can’t download my activities. Does anyone have a clue? By the way I have followed the instructions but it doesn’t work.

I also quote Shirish question about ANVILL: how can I use it with a one computer in class.

Regards,

Ilham