Module 6 Project Based Learning

this module was an eye opener for me. I learnt that PBL is an effective  and exciting way to develop critical thinking and deeper learning competencies in students. I found  working with webquests a very challenging but rewarding experience. Exploring various webquest afforded me the opportunity to gather valuable resources and ideas that will enhance my teaching in the classroom.

Module 8

This module was a bit easier than the last module for me although I met some challenges in the first assignment. During this time I was very sick and was not able to concentrate at all. Using the Wiki was a new experience. It was very helpful in providing additional information during the activities. I gained valuable information on how to utilise cellphones and tablets in the classroom since these are the ICT tools  that are most common among students. The flipped classroom is a concept that I will have to read more about before trying it out in my classroom.

Module 5 Activity 3

This activity dealt with evaluating educational software.This is very important in identifying how it can be used effectively in your lesson to achieve your learning objectives. It is also important to use the software yourself to identify any obstacles that may be encountered by students and to verify whether its contents is suitable for your students

Module 5 Activity 2: Experiencing educational software

In this activity , I shared an educational software that I use from time to time with my class. I have looked at my colleagues' documents and found some reaaly interesting ones.I particularly liked Sheddie's science Brain Pop. Youtube is my number one resource for educational videos.

Module 5: Activity 1 social bookmarking

This activity introduced me to a new website that has proven to be most useful. Diigo is a social bookmarking site that allows me to access my bookmarks from any computer. I usually bookmark useful sites when researching information so this website is very beneficial to me.

Activity 4: Behaviourism

By participating in this activity I am reminded of some of the things that makes an effective teacher.Reading my fellow participants comments, I have gathered a few new strategies to use in my classroom. In trying to create a more child friendly atmosphere in my school, these strategies will come in handy. I hope they will be successful.

Activity 3:Social Cognitive Theory

This activity reminds us that our students learn a great deal by observing what we do as teachers in our classroom. Students pick up our attitudes and nonverbal actions quite easily. Therefore we must be vigilant in everything we do. We may say one thing but our actions may demonstrate another. Teachers leave a lasting impression on students whether it is good or bad.

Activity 2: Information Processing

Students learn in different ways.Some are tactile learners while others are visual or auditory learners.Some students are combination of all three or only two of them.In all of these ways students have to be able to encode information as this activity shows. For me, grouping the letters in the first part together  helped me remember more of them than when I tried to remember them separately. The letters in the second part were recognised as word so it was easy to remember them. This indicates that information must have meaning to a person before it is committed to the long term memory.

Module 1: Activity1

This activity brought back many memories from my early teaching years and it caused me to reflect on how my teaching strategies has evolved. Many colleagues have helped me along the way and for that I am very thankful. It is always important for us to re-tool ourselves and continue to research to find new ways of helping our students.

Activity 6&7

Activity 6 was a bit of a challenge for me because I didn't have enough time to read the materials properly. I also found that the course materials were limited and I had to  do extra research in order to complete the tasks. Activity 7 was a lot better because I was able to interact with my colleagues and share ideas. It was refreshing to read the feedback given by them.

Activity 5: Assessment Tools

This activity was challenging for me since it involved creating rubrics and checklists. I had to a lot of reading and researching in order to understand what I was doing. Rubrics are a good way of assessing group work as well as observations made in the classroom. these tools help the teacher to give good feedback to the students

Activity 4:How We assess

I learnt a lot from this activity. It broaden my understanding of self assessment and peer assessment. Self assessment can of great help to students. It helps them to take responsibility for their learning by reflecting on their own work, so that they may improve it in  the future.
Peer assessment can be beneficial or not beneficial depending on the way it is handled by the teacher. Students must have a good relationship with each other in order to take and give good feedback. Some students may be reluctant to give their friends a negative report or grade.

Activity 3: Catering for Diversity

Diversity among students is something that all teachers should pay close attention to.In many cases, the trend of the lesson or assessment method is "one size fits all". This is a mindset that needs to be changed.  I hope to be better equipped to meet the needs of all my students and assess them in a more efficient manner that will be beneficial to their learning.

Activity 2

This activity demonstrated that there are numerous ways we can assess students in numerous areas. Some are so simple to us that we don't even view them as assessment. For example, observing a child at work can gather a lot of information about that child. Assessment does not  only deals with with students' academic progress but also with their social and personal development as well.Teachers are afforded the opportunity to produce well rounded students by using different forms of assessment effectively.

Activity 1

We have started again and activity 1 was an eye opener. It forced me to re-evaluate how I assessed my students. I think I have done fairly well by using a variety of assessment tools.However, I need to improve on the oral assessment

Activity 11

This activity required me to create a personal learning network. This is a new concept for me but i am excited to be involved in it. One good that has occurred is that I was introduced to the twitter world which I had avoided for a long time. This because I always thought that twitter was just a place to chat . This activity showed me otherwise. now I have my own twitter account which will be used as my PLN. It has been very resourceful so far.

Activity 10

This activity asked the question"Can we be smart workers?"Ii say yes we can. I say thus for the simple fact that we need to be if we expect to achieve the maximum of reaching each and every one of our students. Being a smart worker requires  constant research and upgrading of our knowledge and skills. ICT has open the door for us to achieve this. through the avenues of the social network, strategies and resources can be shared. Online studies can be done that will advance pedagogies and make teaching and learning more effective.

Activity 9

This activity was very interesting. It showed me how to evaluate websites to authenticate their trustworthiness in terms of their purpose, credibility, accuracy and bias. However these are not he only criteria on which to evaluate a website. The information on website should also be content appropriate  for the context of the lesson as well as the grade level.It is important to bear in mind that not all information on the internet is useful. or credible.

Activity 8

This activity introduced me to  a variety of ways in which I can use spread sheets in my lessons. This was very useful to me since I do not use spread sheets much in my teaching. My fellow participants did a marvelous job with their lesson plans.I know they won't mind  me borrowing their ideas. My main goal is to upgrade my skills in this area.

Activity 7

This activity reminded me about the Just-in-Time approach which I learnt about in the previous module. My colleagues presented good strategies to handle larg e groups using one computer. These suggestions are very applicable in my situation at present.