During this
week lots of ideas have sprung from the discussions and from the readings. I
was very surprised when I saw how my e-classmates’ experiences vary and
enlighten many issues related to the classroom practice. Similarities and
difference to our own teaching situation make us reflect more on the different
aspects of in order to improve.
Learner autonomy:
This topic
really touches every teacher and it’s the ultimate goal behind his/her mission.
If we succeed to make of our students autonomous learners then we can be proud
of our teaching.
We shouldn’t spoon feed our students for the
exam at all. We have to equip them with skills for life.
One computer classroom:
Before this
week, I was somehow frustrated not having a computer lab at school and having
only my laptop. Now, through the discussions, I’ve noticed that most of my
e-classmates from different parts of the world have almost the save situation.
More than that, they even have shared some interesting activities and lesson
plans to do only with a single computer in the classroom. This comforted me a
lot and encouraged me to create more activities to use for the coming lessons.
My project log:
This is the
second week since I introduced the e-portfolio project to my students. They
liked the idea very much and started preparing for the hardships of the journey!
Last week,
I’ve done a short demonstration on how to create an account on weebley.com and
let some students start their accounts with an introduction. I also asked the
rest of the class to do the task at home in order to have every student with an
account this week.
The result
was really encouraging; 15 students out of 18 managed to create their accounts
and uploaded their welcome word and their introduction. This link is an example:
Sylvia is
my partner for the project review and I’m glad we have almost the same teaching
situation. Her Skype project is also interesting for me. I hope we’ll share the
best practices we’ve got and we'll start a real partnership.
Good Luck
Everybody!
Rachid,
ReplyDeleteI like your enthusiasm for Autonomous Learning for the success of your students and your commitment "to equip them with skills for life."
I wish you all the best in your mission. I can see how your e-portfolio is serving them best.
Hassan, Lebanon
Hi Rachid,
ReplyDeleteYes, we have learned a lot this week about one computer classroom and learner autonomy. I think both a computer and learner autonomy can complete each other and an outcome can be great. I like how you are engaging your students in the e-portfolio project. They will need such skills in future.
Good luck,
Zarifa, Uzbekistan
The conventional spoon feeding for students has become a habit amongst many. At times when autonomy learning is implemented 'some' students would complain on why they are not getting as much resources as compared to other groups. Although we try to explain the importance of independent learning, they will still prefer the abundance of notes given by the teacher. What we can do is give them a lot in the beginning and slowly delete some information so that they would inquire and gather their own points of reference at the end of the day.. That's how I think it'll work.
ReplyDeleteAll the best for the e-portfolio project. I bet the students will be having lots of fun completing it.
Cheers,
Nur
Dear Hassan,Zarifa & Nur,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your wonderful comments!
Your words really touched me a lot.
As the weeks fade, we come to realize how precious the moments we spent together within this course are! It is thanks to you all; colleagues, instructors and guests.
All the best!
Rachid