I'm overwhelmed by contradictory feelings. On the one hand, it's the joy of having completed a big and very important task and on the other, it's sadness because I'll have to part from so many of you to whom I've already got used. I'm going to miss the readings, the tasks, but most of all the discussions we used to have. I think these discussions played an important role in my formation within the course. Comments made by the participants, questions, link sharing and discussing everyone's experience were of great use to me and I'm sure to many of other participants. Jodi and Sherie's careful guiding and detailed explanations were very helpful.
This course has made me feel different, look at things I do from a different angle.
To my mind, the goal of this course was to make a change. A change in the attitude, in the way of teaching and even in human interaction. And I can say, the aim has been attained. I've been given the impetus and now I will be trying and implementing new tools to help my students achieve better results, to feel self-confident and proud of what I do.
I'm very grateful to Jodi and Sherie for having provided us this wonderful opportunity of getting insights into web tools that can be used in class.
Jodi and Sherie, if you were in Moldova, you would be sure to get a bunch of flowers as a sign of gratitude. So these virtual flowers are for YOU.
Time is flying fast and here we are at the end of week 9.
We have already submitted our final projects. It seems we have completed the most important task. But other new ideas crowd in my mind and make me build new plans. Looking back I realize it was not a very good idea to chose a completely new group for the project. Now, at times, I face their complete indifference, especially when it comes to brushing up their work. The students are thrilled when they have a new proposal, but as they work at it they get tired of it. I think it is a problem that has to be faced by the teacher. I have to find some way to motivate them finish their work.
This week has been very rich in events. We were initiated into the topic of learning styles. It was not new to me, still I learnt many useful things and came across many good sites, which suggest activities for each learning style.
Coming back to the project, I decided to create a blog for another group of students, whom I've been teaching for 3 years. I will invite them to share their ideas and everything they would like to on the blog. To motivate them, I created and posted a short animoto video with their pictures. I think they'll enjoy seeing their photos in a video post. You can have a look at it http://discussionclub3.blogspot.com
Apart from the above mentioned, I can say that it was rather hard for me to pull myself together and work this week, as I managed to catch a cold and had a high temperature since Wednesday. I hope I'll be better tomorrow to come to my classes and be able to participate in all the discussions.
This has been a wonderful week! We all have been busy like bees trying different online tools. To be honest, we were offered such a variety of tools that sometimes I got lost. But then I started from the very beginning and went step by step. I am amused at the ease with which so many interesting and useful activities can be done. I think I shall go on investigating them as I only managed to look at some of them. For instance, I downloaded and installed the Hot Potatoes, but I had no time to try it, as it requires time and attention on my part.
But the most significant event of this week was the project draft. It took me two days to jot it down and I posted since I did not want to disappoint my team partners. They were so quick in their work.
To my mind,I learnt a lot reading their drafts. We all followed the same scheme, however, each of us managed to present information in a different, special way. I looked with a fresh eye at my project after reading Vijay's and Salam's drafts. This is a very good experience and I think I will use it in my classes.
ANVILL is a mysterious tool, which I haven't manage to explore yet. I've got a general impression about it, however, I didn't figure out how it works yet. I registered on ANVILL and will explore it when I a have a spare 'minute'.
I definitely liked the webinar that we had! I don't know what I liked best: the presentation itself or the atmosphere that was dominating in the class (merry chatroom, people joining and leaving the 'room', even the faults with the tech :) wasn't it funny to hear the echo and all people writing echo, echooo?).
Well, frankly speaking, I think in the nearest future all students and teachers will be able to use this kind of technology, as it provides a variety of opportunities to teach, and learn, and practice, and have fun. After all, fun is an important factor in the process of learning!
Well, I have to admit that it has become a habit of mine to come to the computer and check the posts on Nicenet, my email, Jupiter Grades and wiki. And more and more often the idea that our course is drawing to its end comes to my mind. And I realize that I will miss this course a lot. Despite the hard times, busy schedule and lots of failures, I feel sad at the very thought that I'll have no hometask.
P.S.
A special THANK YOU for Vijay and Salam, my team partners. Your comments were very valuable.
