A bitter Sweet Week (Week 10)

Aahhh..I talked about missing this class last week. Now.. I am in the final week of the course. What do I feel? I am not sure how I can describe it..I have mixed feeling I think. I felt about it 2 weeks ago and I never thought that being in the final week would be this hard. Especially reading my lovely classmates' posts on their blogs.. even the titles make me sad.. the entries seem to be the farewell words..May be they are..I hate this feeling..it brings me to the graduation moment but I think we are all in the graduation ceremony after 10 weeks sitting together in the class.

I can't describe one by one about what I have had during the course..Webquest,Blog,Delicious,ANVILL,interactive PPT, PBL,ABCD objectives and many more.. Shahnoza made a wonderful list about what we have learned so far. For me.. I think Webquest, PBL, interactive PPT and online tools are some of the knowledge that I will use in my Speaking class. How lucky I am to have so many sources that can be used in the future.. I am so grateful that I am part of this wonderful course..it's truly an inspiring journey..


I want to thank all my dear classmates..I have many talented and wonderful friends here..Though we live in different part of the world but it seems that we truly "sit" in the same room! Share ideas, opinions knowledge and help each other are the activities that I will miss alot and also the blogs and the discussion board.


For the next participants in this course, my suggestions are 

• Devoting the time (It will hard at the beginning and you will feel hectic but after you can manage the time..everything will be fine)
• Follow all the instructions.
• Put the technology first in all aspects that you will learn in this course
• Don't hesitate to ask..either on the board or sending an email to Robert even if you think it's only a small matter.
• Complete the tasks on time and focus about the final project since the Week 2. Robert will give you the tasks and use them as your steps in doing the final project. You will see that they will be useful when you meet the deadline.
• Be active in Discussion board and the blogs..you will find many great ideas and experiences from your classmates..
• Don't give up even if you feel that it's so hard to do all the tasks in your real life and the course. You will get through it.

 Goodluck and welcome to the newcomers ... I hope you will get valuable experiences like we do..


I want to say thank you so much  to our dearest,Robert, for all his guidance during the course.  To all my classmates.. I am already missing you all...I hope we can still keep in touch...whether by the blogs or other tools such as social networking..It will be great to "meet" you after the course..

Dinner everyone??

The Finish Line ( Week 9 )

Can you believe that Week 10 is coming? When I looked back..all the tasks..discussions on the board, the blog kept me busy and all the weeks passed me so fast..
Now..I have to drag the bags into the finish line..Am I a different teacher now? No doubt I am..


This week we talk about the learning styles and multiple intelligences.After reading the articles..I found out that having many learning styles in the class needed more efforts to overcome the problems. Students have to be the focus of the learning process not the teachers. I like the way of Richard M. Felder differentiates the learning styles based on the characteristics.I think I am a bit visual and verbal learner since I like to study using pictures and making notes about something in my own words.  When dealing with many learning styles in the class..it can't avoid that we have to prepare different strategics in teaching the same topic. One lesson plan can not use in many classes because each class has specific characteristics along with the learning styles the students have. Flexibility and back up plans are the way to prepare ourselves in the teaching-learning process. 
Based on  Rosen 's article,  it talks about the Internet and Distance Learning which is similar with this course. Virtual classrooms help the students in matching their learning styles with the lesson. So it can be said that it's not only using technology in multimedia forms but also virtual one. When I read some of the articles, I realize that many methods with technology in it can be used in the class. They are truly giving new perspectives in preparing the lesson in my class.


Next week will be the bitter-sweet week since it will be the last time we sit together in the class..
Goodluck everyone!

Keep them all.. ( Week 8 )

It's almost at the end of Week 8 and I think that most of my classmates are very busy with their tasks in real life and also in this course since the final project is on the way..I am struggling to manage my time in doing the project but I think I'll overcome this obstacle...

This week is more practical because we have to make an exercise whether it will be used online or offline and Robert gave us many links to make one.  I chose the printed exercise because I still haven't had the internet connection in the lab.I'll keep the links as my references. A class site is also one of the task this week. It will be great if I can make a class site such as Nicenet or a blog but I think I'll keep that as  my future plan. This week is another busy week, isn't it?

 ANVILL  is also a great tool for enriching students' ability in speaking although it requires good internet connection.  It took me a while in exploring ANVILL because it offers many great things such as Voiceboards, Quizzes and Survey, and Livechats. It gives me another tool and technique in my Speaking Class. While reading the explanation of ANVILL, I imagined about applying it in my lab along with the other tools for speaking practice. I am sure that I can get there soon..

Two more weeks in the class..soon I am going to miss it..

Sitting here with bigger bag.. (Week 7)

I don't think that I will fly higher than the previous week since I put more bags around my neck this week along with cookies bags from the Eid Mubarak.. *it's only me making a joke.. lol*

This week started with 2 discussions on the board and a lot of reading materials but I found out myself reading only few of them. Learner autonomy is one of the hot issues along with one-computer option. Thanasoulas'  article gave a very good quote says Autonomy is a process, not a product. I can not agree more about it. It's truly a process both in teachers and students' side. Dealing with one-computer classroom is not as easy as it looks. Carol and Francis' posting about their situation in the class gave me a new perspective that we should maximize what we have now and make the best of it. They inspire me to do the best.

It's time to prepare the final project and I hope that I can finish it on time..

I need more wings... (Week 6)

Flying with bigger bag around my neck is not always easy...I must admit that I tried so hard to keep up but I realized that sometimes I need to take a rest in order to fly higher.

This week is full with new experiences such as making an interactive PPT, engaging students and teaching large class. The links provided truly led me to many informational links. Interactive PPT took me a while to make it since I used to make the ordinary one..although I felt that I could make a better PPT but the one I submitted to Wikiclass was a good example of learning a new technique for me. 

The discussion about Engaging Students informed me that many techniques are available for us to use. I read my classmates' experiences and found out that I need to "dig" deeper. Technology provides many excellent ways to engage the students to the lesson and I realize that I am on the right track to embrace them. I am so happy that I have many experienced classmates here..


I agree that large classes are challenging.. it needs a powerful strategy to overcome the obstacles but I think I have more than one powerful strategy which I can use based on the course. Small group,Think-Pair-Share,ConcepTest,Concept Map etc are several techniques which are available to be used. Amazing..isn't it?


Week 7 is coming..Final Project is on the way..Hope we can reach the end with bigger bag and wings..



 

My "bag" is getting bigger and bigger.. (Week 5)

It's a very productive week as Shahnoza's wish and time consuming as Yudi said. I am totally agree since I need more time in completing all the tasks..we have PBL, Webquest, and Rubrics this week. I must admit that Webquest and Rubrics took me a while to comprehend. Both of them are new to me especially the rubrics because I used write down the rubrics in my Assessment Book and kept it simple. I kept in my mind the categories of the assessment. Now I have to write it down with the explanation. Thanks to Rubistar for making it easier for me and whola..I made one.. 

I took a while too in making my first webquest and realized it was easier to explain something using this technique. It is so organized. Based on my classmates' experience with blog and webquest when they asked their students to make one..I think it will be great to apply these to my students too..

One major thing this week is PBL and the discussion about it is so interesting on the board. In my opinion, PBL surely can change the way of teaching with more attractive ways. After reading Susan Gaer's article, I learned that this technique even can change a community ! I know it depends on the situation but it is worth it to try, isn't it?
I think the class will need more "bags" for the rest of the weeks..

On the Half Way of the End of the Journey

Week 5 is coming..time is surely running faster than I thought..

It's been a hard week..I missed my blog and the board but I couldn't push myself through the real things I have here..Thank you for Robert for his understanding..


What do I have this week? we continue our priceless lesson by making a lesson plan called Technology Enhanced Lesson Plans. It's similar with the common lesson plan but we have to add technology which can help our teaching process. It's quite tough in order to focus in applying this new technique and write it down on a piece of paper although we have done this activity many times. Changing the mindset of the old way of teaching and gradually embrace the new techniques take some times to get used to..when I tried to make one..I wrote with the "old" way I knew. I think this week is more practical and help us to plan the final project step by step. 
This week's materials are about Reading and Writing skills so I think I have already had the whole package in one "bag"  but still I will need more "bags" till the Week 10.  Krajka's article gives a new perspective of teaching writing through 3 basic elements which are web pages, email connection and creating class websites. Robert said that these kinds of methods were something common for teachers who were familiar in teaching with technology but he also said that we lived in different situation. It's a new thing for me as I never taught in a class which provides the internet connection but it is always fun to find new challenge..isn't it?

Liang's article also gives new method in teaching reading..She suggested to use e-books as the main materials for the students and led them to discuss about these on class blogs. Blog will encourage the students to give more comments or opinions without having hesitation feeling because they don't have to face their classmates personally. It will be good for introvert students.


I also found out a new link for speaking class : Free English Now . It provides many free MP3 files to teach specific purpose, for example, Greetings and Introduction.I also have 3 links from Robert as the required websites to explore. I like Lauri's ESL Website because it provides many interesting flashes to be used in listening and reading classes. The other goodies for my bag for sure.

It's almost the half way to the end of this journey but I will enjoy every minute I have to get there .... ^^

Go delicious with Delicious (Week 3)

It's been an interesting week and the good thing is  I can manage my time for this week. I decided to manage my time as Robert's rubric to assess us for this course..Midweek and the end of the week. I tried to do all the tasks before midweek at least one post for every task then spend the weekend to post other entries or comments. It worked for me at the beginning of this week because I have many things to do as I did on previous week and I don't want to feel the intensity which I felt last week. No more!

It is a "delicious week" according to Perizat. We are introduced to Delicious.  It's a web hosting or organizer for saving all the interesting links that we found on the internet so you don't have to save the links on notepad *like Shahnoza and I did* and we can share them with others. It's very interesting for me as a new user..Shahnoza told me about this last week and I decided to make one then I got the email from Robert that we had to make our own Delicious pages. Yay! It took me a while for getting used to it.. everytime I came across good websites, I think about my Delicious page..haha..
It's "delicious" to learn something new and is able to share it with others.

Along with "delicious journey" for this week,we also have 2 discussion threads this week..they are about Developing Listening Skills with Authentic Materials by Lindsay Miller and The Employment of CALL in Teaching Second/Foreign Language Speaking Skills by Julia Gong. These articles focus on Listening, Speaking and Pronunciation. It can't be avoided that technology becomes part of our teaching method unconsciously. For example, asking the  students to listen a record of a conversation between a doctor and a patient in the hospital using tape recorder but now we can use mp3 or CD. Reading these articles encourages me to learn more about using authentic materials which I thought they were difficult to find.I will talk about it on my next entry. I am eager to apply  all the things I have learned from this course and share them to my students. Can't wait for that..

 

At the End of the Week (Week 2)

It's Sunday here in my local time..I am preparing for the Week 3.. Yay! Time is running faster then I thought.. I still feel the rush which I had at the beginning of this week..All I can say that I don't want to feel that situation again.. No more.. I agree with Shahnoza that we have to manage our time to do many things at the same time.. will it take our energy to do it? No doubt of it but I think we'll survive *Girls..keep on moving*

As you can read on my header..I put a quote there..I think it suits with us as a teacher..doesn't it? I got it from an adventure game which I have in my computer..Yes..I spend my spare time by reading and sometimes playing some games..ahh..it's only my mumbling story..

Back to the topic...it's the end of the week..Week 3 is coming..our class run smoothly and we have a great time on the board..sharing about everything we know or we haven't known yet..this week has 4 tasks and the reading materials which we should read and discuss it..the first time I got the email from Robert.. I said to myself.."4 tasks..okay..4 tasks.." but I had my time to read and did the task on Wednesday (local time)..Tuesday in Oregon's local time..aarghhh..I even could here the 'tick tock..tick tock' from the clock..haha..
Then I found out that some of my colleagues here felt the same way like me.. It seemed that we were busy at the beginning of the week..


About the tasks.. The search engines that we should search on Noodletools gave me other perspectives of searching the information that I need on the internet..they are all about search engines for academic purpose.. The feeling of being a Google fan just fade away..some of us here feel that there is no other search engines but Google...Now I know for sure that I can rely on these search engines if I need some academic information such as the journals,articles,books, magazines without being frustrated of reading many articles which are not related at all..but for non-academic purpose..Google is still the best one..

I have opened most of the links on NoodleTools..tried to find something and I chose 2 webs which I think they are suitable for me and my students.. They are iSeek Education (http://education.iseek.com) and Sweet Search (http://www.sweetsearch.com/). 
The review of these two :

1. iSeek Education (http://education.iseek.com)
The first impression that caught me was the simplicity, directly to the points and I could find other related links on the right with specific keywords..simple and multifunction

2. Sweet Search (http://www.sweetsearch.com/)
It provides brief summaries from many related links directly next to the main results so it's easier to find some information without taking some time to click on the links 


Based on the board..these two have many good reviews there..I have added them on my lists..
Another tasks is about ABCD Objectives..this is the first time I know about it and after taking a while to understand it..I learn that it is similar with Lesson Plan that I have to make for every lesson I teach..but in simple form..It's more like the main points of teaching-learning process..my "lesson plan" is describing the steps of the process..


It's great to learn new term like this..so I have the guideline of making objectives for the lessons..surely I learn a lot through this course..most of us feel the same..


The last task is about describing a class..I have read my colleagues' posts about their classes..they are interesting..with all the background of the students..class condition..the technology which is being used in the class..even about mannerism.. we have our own problems dealing with many things such as the facilities..the technology and many more but in the end..we all agree that as the teachers..we will do the best for our students..can't agree more than that ..

Try to catch up ( Week 2)

I am a little bit left behind for the second week..I feel a bit disappointed of myself,since I put all of my energy to do the assignments I have at work and of course on this online course but I realize that everything changes in minutes and can a little bit messy. The external things came up but here I am..trying to catch up ..

The Week 1 is closed and the Week 2 has already begun..there are 4 tasks for this week and I am learning what should I do and what should I read.  I learned so much in Week 1. Blogs, techniques of teaching, recognized some students' problems in facing new techniques and many more.. I am amazed that it was still in Week 1. I am so glad that there are many experienced and talented teachers as my classmates.
Since I am eager to try the blog idea as a new technique to teach English.. I learned that there are 3 types of blogs which I can use in class. Tutor blog,Class blog and Learners blog. These three types of blog come along with the strength and the weakness. They are able to be combined in order to find the suitable blog to each class.

Now..It's time to take the challenge a step higher and I am ready to catch up..

Go Dhika go..

In the midweek ( Week 1)

In the middle of the tasks and assignments I have in real life and this online course.. I couldn't help my self not to change the layout of my blog..so here is the new layout with autumn season as the background.. these kinds of things brought back the past time..when I struggled with HTML  and tried to understand all the scripts...
 
Back to the topic..it has been the midweek of the Week 1 and we got the notice about it from Robert along with the Snapgrades link. Midweek already? Time is running faster than I thought. For the past couple days, I had been busy with the assignments handed by my supervisor then I remembered about the article which I should read for this week. It's about using Blog as one of the ways to teach English.


The article was an eye-opening for me because I never thought to use Blog as a technique to teach English although I was fond of blogging.  As I did a self-reflection, I found out that I focused on the real teaching-learning process too much and used real media such as power point presentation, pictures, video etc without applying technology as a daily basis. I asked my students to search articles on the internet then compiled it in a group work. I can say that I am an old-fashioned teacher.

I noticed the lack of students' enthusiasm and gave many reasons in avoiding to complete the task. For example, I taught them about Narrative text. The students were given the title of the story they had to find on the internet and the task didn't run smoothly as I expected.
I learned about being flexible with the plan so they had to do a presentation . Most of them presented the paper in drama performance. They made the dialog,wardrobe,setting etc. The rest of the meetings were fun.

The facilities also took part as an important thing in teaching-learning process. I didn't have the access to use the English lab and there was no internet connection. I have a big hope here for the new English Lab in my new university because it is going to be provided the internet connection and I am managing it. The plan of applying the "blog" as a new technique and can't wait for that. The great expectation is in me now during this online course.

 
 

The class is begun (Week 1)

Finally..the class is begun although it will start tomorrow in my local time..
I am so excited about it because this is my first online course. I had a problem that I found in Orientation week but it had already solved by Robert. Thanks to him.


Actually the blog will be one of the assignment that I have to make in Week 1 but I decided to make one to complete the list that Robert gave us. Blogging is not a new thing for me.. I tried to learn how to create a blog in 2002. My friend introduced me to blogging world because she liked to share her thoughts with me and invited me to do the same.. My first blog used the other site which offered some templates for blogging. 


Blogger has improved many things to make it easier but I missed the old one :D I realized that blogging helped me in sharing my thoughts..from the meaningful thoughts to the silly ones..


When I taught in English department in my former university.. I used email and university's web as a technique to teach English but it didn't work well when I tried to introduce it.The students were lazy to do the assignments which I posted on the web. I think blogging is one of the techniques that I will use to teach English but I love to learn many techniques from all my classmate here ...


can't wait to start the course..

Change the language

 Since the new layout and system on Blogger.. I found out that I had to follow many steps in order to manage the blog :D  for creating the blog was easy..but the steps to manage were quite difficult :D 

It seems that old Blogger was easier hehehe...

Here is the way of changing the language on your blog.. I found that some friends here  had this problem.  I hope this entry will help you guys ^^

First.. if you have already logged in to your account and see your profile.. please look at the right top of your blog..there are some navigation that you can choose..please click on Design..

then you will see the page for changing the layout.. then you have to click a link on the right top of the page once more..there is a link with the name : Dashboard. Click it then you will see another page that you can maintenance the blog..you can choose English for your blog...

Happy trying ^^