Week 8 : Creating online/offline resources and online class.

I was in dilemma this week! On our nicenet class discussion, I didn’t know what to post and where to post; both the task seemed similar to me.
As instructed I succeeded in downloading four important software for developing teaching resources; 1. The popular HotPotatoes, 2. SightWords sentence builders, 3. Question Writer and 4. Teacher’s Pet.
These tools are relevant and appropriate for my situation. Teaching resources are integral components in any classroom. The many benefits of teaching resources include helping learners improve reading comprehension skills, illustrating or reinforcing a skill or concept, differentiating instruction and relieving anxiety or boredom by presenting information in a new and exciting way.
It is important to understand and articulate what effective teachers do, and therefore what may be missing among other teachers in terms of professional skills, knowledge or values. In this regard, good teaching and learning takes place when teachers are prepared with varieties of resource/ teaching aids.
With the advantage of software for developing teaching resources that I have. I will be installing all the software in computers we have in our school, request teachers to develop their own worksheet, implement and get their feedback on practical uses of those tools.

Thanks

Jigme Norbu

Week 7: Learner Autonomy.

In this world there are millions of people like sand on the shore of sea. Each of us looks at things from different angles. Everyone is right in their own way. Individually, people differ in their ideology but similar type of experience can remove such difference. Further, what troubled me were the unfounded remarks made by different participants in this course. I loved working with kind of people.
Learner Autonomy
Creating Learners autonomy and implementing it in our school curriculum wouldn’t be difficult; it depends on teachers and the curriculum makers. Our school system is guided by curriculum, where fixed time and period is mandatory, if we want to go beyond that, syllabus coverage is a questionable. Teachers have less/little freedom to change the designed activities. It may be because primary kids need instruction and proper guidance, but, it is high time that our curriculum makers give extra thought on developing activities demanding Autonomous Learning for higher class.
What do learners need to become autonomous?
• The belief that they can learn independently of the teacher and the classroom setup. Some cultures have authoritarian learning systems that produce very dependant learners.
• A willingness to undertake independent learning i.e. to take on the responsibility in terms of goal setting, time management, selecting materials and conducting self/peer assessment.
• A realistic and positive attitude to language learning (sometimes this may be undermined by previous learning experiences, requiring coaching from the teacher).
• Strategies – this is where the teacher becomes invaluable as a resource to the aspiring learners. There is a need for learner training, as autonomy does not happen overnight. Remember, autonomy does not equate with working in isolation. The teacher, the class and the school are still part of the learner’s environment.

Thanks

Jigme Norbu

Week 6 : Creating Student – centered classes and Interactive PowerPoint.

Hi,

This week we were lucky to have Mrs. Max Koller, Editor in Chief of English Teaching Forum and Mr. Tom Glass, Assistant editor and Circulation Manager of Forum. They were very kind enough for sharing tips for improving English and many ideas for teaching English, introduction of FORUM to our class was of great use (www.forum.state.gov). We were very fortunate to have them in our weekly discussion.

The discussion on engaging students was flawless , reading the post and accepting comments , I have decided to make use of “WEBQUEST” and “POWERPOINT” to keep students interactively engaged using technology tools and to create student-centered learning classroom. I selected these two because it wouldn’t need internet and it is easy, interesting and attractive too. Any students activities could be designed using the above two tools. It would be the most practical tools for me.

Exercise on creating PowerPoint was another refreshing activity, with the help form Mr. Khaled (Classmate) I could create quiz PowerPoint. Thanks to him. This type of empowered activities will certainly help learn better. During the period of time I have downloaded many slideshow and hope to make better use of it soon.

Thanks

Jigme Norbu

Week 5 Reflection

Hi everybody,

Reading through “Knowledge in action: The promise of Project-Based Learning” by Helde Spruck Wrigley. I don’t know what I did, but certainly learned the following on BPL; Project based learning is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real world problems and challenges. With this type of active and engaged learning, students are inspired to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subject they are studying.
Assessment has been an integral part of the education system since it was introduced as on-going assessment in the primary school in 1986 in our country. Today assessment of each student’s performance is a central concern from teachers to use a wider variety of assessment techniques rather than the simple assessment of techniques using paper and pencil test only. Assessments are carried not only to give grades, teachers’ role is crucial if assessment is to be effective. It is said that a teacher is the best person to judge the quality of performance of his or her pupil. The way the teacher observes, guides, evaluates and provide feedback, influences the way pupil learn, grow and develop into mature adults.

From here and there I managed to create my own webquest, in the process of creating I learned a lot and wish I could just implement it right now. It is not necessary to have internet for webquest we can do it with MS Word. Following the instruction I am still trying to create one for my children because it is essential for school like ours.
Webquest engaged children, built teamwork, and motivate them. Not only this, I quote, “When predictions are made about life and work for the coming decades, there are a few points on which there is nearly universal agreement:
• Tomorrow's workers will need to be able to work in teams.
• Individuals will move through several careers in the course of a lifetime.
• The issues facing citizens will become more and more complex, and societal problems will resist easy fixes or black-and-white categorization.
• The amount of information available to everyone will grow at an accelerating pace; much of it will come directly from a growing number of sources without filtering or verification.

References ; 1. http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/webquests/index_sub1.html


Thanks
Jigme Norbu