EvetteSagim

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

It is Week 10!

Its the final week. Feeling sad and relieve at the same time. Sad that the course is ending but relieve that all of the tasks have been complete. It was a wonderful experience to join the Webskills program and having Donna Shaw as our instructor. It was also great to have wonderful group members in the Yellow Group. Will be missing all of you. Hope to keep in touch with all of you in the future.

The past 10 weeks was an eye opener for me. I got to learn that there were so many teaching technologies available for us to use. I got to explore so many of them and tried to implement some of the suitable ones into my lessons. But then, 10 weeks was such a short time to learn everything.

Joining this program was so much fun; endless possibilities that one could do with the internet and bring it in to the classroom. Before this I felt that I was in a rut that I could not come out of. Joining this program was like 'a breath of fresh air'. I would miss the days to go to town to do the assignments, tasks, discussions and exploring then later on the interesting reading materials.

One of the best spots for surfing the internet with my trusty Dell laptop. (at KFC)

I would suggest to add more tools that teachers could use to integrate language games. For example Hot Potatoes or having a program like WorDict. We do need some programs or tools such as this, if possible free ones, that could be used without internet access because sometimes there could be times where the internet would be down. Nevertheless, I thoroughly love all the tools and resources showcased in the program. I would be using many of them in my future lessons. So much to learn, so little time.

Signing off for the final week. Best wishes.

Evette Anak Sagim
Malaysia

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Week 9 (How Times Flies)

I can not believe its week 9! I feel sad in a way that the course is coming to an end. So many things to learn and people to get to know. I wish this course would not end so soon. :(

It has been a hectic week for me. Traveling from one place to another in a space of 3 days. It was tiring traveling on bumpy roads and for long distances. That was one of the problem, the other problem was the slow internet connection and I only could use my hand phone to go online. You can not possibly use the laptop during a bumpy car ride, trust me, I have tried.

Well thank goodness the traveling has ended and I get to enjoy the school holidays for the moment to recuperate. But then one cannot rest on their laurels just yet. I still need to complete my final report and do my marking and key in the marks online before the deadline.

I got to read about multiple intelligence and that every single student are different and unique in their learning abilities. As teachers we need to find out and identify the differences in each of our students' learning abilities and the best method to teach them.

This week we need to submit our finalize report. I hope the report is completed in time. I was so nervous while doing it, thank goodness for my wonderful partner, Elizaveta. I wish to thank my wonderful partner, Elizaveta, for helping me with my draft report. Thanks for the suggestions and comments. It was really great working with you. :D

I also wish to thank our instructor, Donna and all members in the Yellow Group in the E-Teacher Program - Webskills for giving me the chance to learn from you. It has been a great and wonderful experience.

Wish me luck for this week!

Signing off,
Evette.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Week 8

I can not believe that the course is nearing it's end. Who knew time flies sooooo fast! Furthermore, I had to escort my students to their three days traditional dance carnival in another division (about 10 hours away from school!). They placed CHAMPIONS! Congratulations to them and their teachers. I am so proud of them! Here is a picture of them. :D

Students in their native traditional costumes

The CHAMPIONS!

This week was a rush to complete the draft report. I did not fully completed it as we were busy with examinations and the term coming to its end. I was also traveling to and back from the 3 days competition, lack of sleep for the total of 3 days of competition. So I did not get to test it out in my classroom. I planned to do a classroom blog and get students to post their comments in the blog. Hopefully I get to test it out in the new term.

In addition, I got to make my very own crossword puzzle. It was fun. Creating a crossword puzzle does take some time and I needed to plan the materials for the lesson earlier (at least a week in advance). Here is the website that I used : http://www.crosswordpuzzlegames.com/. It was so easy and fast. It just took me 30 minutes to complete. I could print it quickly.

Nevertheless, I still needed the internet to connect to the website. How I wish that my school has fast internet network. Creating language games is always fun and of course the students love them. Which child does not love games, right?

Have a great week ahead!

Warmest regards,

Evette

Malaysia

Sunday, May 24, 2015

WEEK 7 - One Computer Classroom

This week was a challange when the internet was horrible... Urgh! Nevertheless, strive on and plow ahead regardless of the obstacles laying in front.

Used the Padlet website for the first time. Posted my link on the Padlet website and I was happy that it finally got attached!. It was something interesting to do. Somehow it was like I was writing on some 'Post-it' then pasting it on the 'wall'. One activity I taught of that I could do with this website is, students are divided into groups of 4. Then they are given a topic to discuss on and post the Padlet website. For example; 'Suggest ways to stop bullying in schools.' or 'In your opinion, how can you become an excellent student?'.

Students could link videos, websites or articles on the Padlet. After the groups have posted their findings or post on the Padlet website, students from other groups are allowed to post their comments regarding the topics that were posted on the Padlet. The teacher too would post on the Padlet website and add his/her remarks to the posts.

Another topic that we did this week was on the one computer classroom. This is a senario that I have faced many times. Most of the time I would use my own laptop in the classroom and setup the LCD. The lesson would normally be about a new topic and PowerPoint would be used or videos would be shown. But now when I need to inclue the learners' autonomy into the classroom, students need to be put into focus and less of the teacher. So how would you do this in a one computer classroom when you have a large class? It was a challange but not impossible.

One way that I have found was I could do more groups discussion activities. Students could use the one computer to do their presentation. They would do their research and discussion beforehand. Creating groups would be easier to handle and students get to do their own research. Students are given the autonomy to learn as much as they can on the topic. They could look up articles, read journals or visit websites. They then would gather to discuss and pitch their ideas to their group members and finally present their ideas to the entire class. During their presentation, their peers and teacher would judge them on their presentation based on the rubrics given to them earlier.

Now I hope I can finally get back to school after nearly a week travelling away escorting my students for their state competition. Wish them all the best and pray they come back champions! Fingers cross! Will post pictures of where I went with them and hopefully I can get stronger internet connection.

Have a great week ahead! I know I will have one. :)

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Week 6 - The Interactive Class & PowerPoint

Hello everybody!

This week we had to create an interactive PowerPoint.
Yes, using PowerPoint. But one might say, PowerPoint is for presentation; the audience listen and we present our ideas; right? It can be a challenge but we can do anything if we put our minds to it.

One excellent thing about making PowerPoint interactive is that students would not fall asleep during our lesson which can sometimes be too much of a 'lecture'. They need fun and excitement while learning English Language. What better way to learn but by playing language games. Inserting flashy and animated pictures, videos and music helps stimulate and motivate students to learn.

So the challenge is, how can we make PowerPoint interactive? To make it interactive, I have to have a two-way communication between me and my students. Okay, so the easiest way was to create a game using PowerPoint. I have done quizzes a few times, multiple choice questions, mix and match, I needed to find something I have not done before. (Needed to challenge myself too)

So it got me thinking, I had to make a game. Making Jeopardy was so much fun but I needed to do more. Not that Jeopardy was not interesting, but it was more for general knowledge. I need something to help my students in their vocabulary too. So, I asked uncle Google and eureka, I found that I could create the Hangman from PowerPoint. I had so much fun creating the Hangman game using PowerPoint! It was so much fun that I just could not stop making more.

After creating the game, I still needed to test it before I could run it with my students, besides they were having their semester's examination. So a few of my colleagues became my guinea pigs. Alas, they were so hooked to the game I had to pull my laptop away from them! Actually I only did 4 words so it did not take long for them to complete the game. But it proved that the game can capture anybody's attention and get them hook to it.

First run of the game was done, now I had to make it more animated and fun. Have to attract the students attention too. So make a few things fly in, spin around , make the slides colorful
and decorate the slides but keeping in mind not to make it too crowded and suitable for students.

If you want to learn how to create your own Hangman game, here's the link to the website:
http://www.pptalchemy.co.uk/PowerPoint_Hangman_Game.html

Have fun! I know I did. :)

I think I would use this as my technology

tool to be used in the class as my school does not have strong internet connection and most of my students have no internet access. So I have to work with what I have. The downside of teaching in a rural school that lacks internet access. :(

But then, when there is a challenge staring at you, brace yourself and climb over it. Its great to challenge oneself to improve for the better.

Have great and fun week ahead!

Happy Teacher's Day!!!!

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Week 5 - Assessments, Rubrics, Project Based Learning & more

I can not believe it is already Week 5. How time flies when your having fun and learning something new. This week there were a lot of new things to learn. Even though it seems to be quite a difficult task to learn so many things at one time, we must believe that nothing is impossible when you have sent your mind to the task.

Besides, as teachers we must keep developing ourselves to improve our teaching methods or skills. Its the 21st Century and the students nowadays are very different. They are more technological savvy and information is easily accessed to them. Teaching now have to be visually rich, entertaining and fun to capture their minds.

I did have to crack my brain on the rubrics that I made using the Rubistar. Doing it for the first time is never easy but then how else can one learn but through adversity. Having a specific rubrics lets us to be focused in the assessment and this must also be exposed to the students. Letting them have the rubrics actually would let them have a clearer understanding of the requirements. There is a baseline for them to work with and lets them know what their weaknesses are.

Having clear and transparent rubrics lets students know how their assignments or projects are being scored. This creates self-motivation in my students to get better scores. Using alternative assessments helps us to specifying assessments based on the needs of each students' learning capabilities. Getting students to be more in control of the assessments will let them identify their level and thus adjust to improve themselves to get better scores. It in itself creates inner confidence and self-motivation in my students themselves. Weak students need motivation to strive on and when they are in control of their learning process this works best for them.

Now this is where I found that project-based learning lets students have a voice and choice to manage their own learning process with little intervention from the teacher. What is good is that students are free to carry out their own inquiries to find out their own answers to their questions. We coach students to think for themselves and discover new insights. Students with educational technologies are able to apply knowledge to new real-world situations, analyze information, collaborate, solve problems, and make decisions. Students get the opportunity to practice team-building activities, reflect on thinking and develop problem solving thinking.

At the end of the day, I hope that I am creating students who are more self-aware, have critical thinking-and-doing, creative, innovative and have self-reliance.

Creating the Webquest was fun. It looked like a lesson plan but with the activities attached. Need to further explore this site and use it to the fullest extent. Still needed to work on the process section.

Teaching Literature using Youtube videos

This was an activity that I did with my fellow colleague during one of our English afternoon extra class. I had downloaded some videos had the literature component the students were learning for the year.

The links to the videos are listed below. The kids loved them and were very excited to watch the video as they did not fully understood the novel.

After watching the videos they did a simple activity which required them to rearrange the summary of the chapters. First we had to group them, 4 /5 per group. Then they were given 3 summary chapters and one video was played while they rearrange the summary chapters. Repeated until all videos were played. Teacher check their work after each video.

This activity took about 1 hour.