Please feel free to visit my class blogs at :
http://cami-7thgraders.blogspot.com/
http://cami-8thgraders.blogspot.com/
http://cami-6thgraders.blogspot.com/
http://cami-5thgraders.blogspot.com/
Waiting for your comments .
All the best,
Camelia
Who's reading ?
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Week 10; Appreciation Poem for My Colleagues
C is for your countless ways of helping me,
O is for your observant comments,
L is for your lively attitude,
L is for your luminous presence,
E is for your effervescent Nicenet discussions,
A is for your accurate responses to tasks,
G is for your generous sharing,
U is for your unimaginable help,
E is for emotional messages posted as “good bye”,
S is for your style as teachers.
Thank you all !
O is for your observant comments,
L is for your lively attitude,
L is for your luminous presence,
E is for your effervescent Nicenet discussions,
A is for your accurate responses to tasks,
G is for your generous sharing,
U is for your unimaginable help,
E is for emotional messages posted as “good bye”,
S is for your style as teachers.
Thank you all !
Week 10; Appreciation Poem for Deborah
D is for your determination to make us better,
E is for your engagement in your role as an instructor,
B is for your brightness that inspired us,
O is for your omnipresence throughout the course,
R is for your reliable presence all the time,
A is for your availability 24 out of 24 ,
H is for your helpful guidance.
Thank you, special teacher !
E is for your engagement in your role as an instructor,
B is for your brightness that inspired us,
O is for your omnipresence throughout the course,
R is for your reliable presence all the time,
A is for your availability 24 out of 24 ,
H is for your helpful guidance.
Thank you, special teacher !
Monday, August 23, 2010
Week 10; Acrostic for Webskills course
Hence our course is ready this week,
One of my feelings is that I have reached a peak.
Thus I promise to use every technology-enhanced technique.
Week 10 ; Beware of ...blogging
As you already know class blog enhanced with other Web 2.0 tools is my idea of my project plan .Anyway , things are not as easy as they may look .
Reynard (2008b) notes five common mistakes when using blogs in instruction and how to avoid those:
1. Ineffective contextualization: For students to benefit, instructors must have clear planning as to "exactly where the tool will be used in the flow of the course, how often the tool will or might be used, and how necessary the tool is to the learning process. In the case of blogging, the most effective use of this tool is in the area of self reflection or thought processing" (online p. 1).
2. Unclear learning outcomes: Learning outcomes are more than course objectives. "If the instructor is unclear as to what the learning outcomes of the course are and is focused only on course objectives, the potential of the blog tool may not be maximized." A blog can be a place to help students process their thoughts and ideas for analysis and synthesis, capture new ideas well for others to view and absorb, and a place where they can articulate how new ideas they've acquired can be directly applied in real life contexts of practice and use (online p. 2).
3. Misuse of the environment: What is the purpose intended for using the blog? Blogs are not the same as wikis. Reynard believes "The essential difference between a blog and other online tools is that it is intended to be an individual publication: a one-way monologue or self-post to which others may comment but do not contribute" (online p. 3). The blog entry remains as originally posted.
4. Illusive grading practices. Students need rubrics to know how they will be graded. As blogs contain a series of statements, an assessment rubric might address specific statement types such as reflective statements, commentary statements, new idea statements and application statements (online p. 3).
5. Inadequate time allocation: Students need adequate time to process information and then post to a blog. Reynard recommends the blog remain open throughout a course (online p. 4).
Advance preparation is needed, including preparing students for how to write to a blog so that what they say is LARK, the acronym for Legal, Appropriate, Responsible, and Kind. Julie Sturgeon (2008) also provides some pitfalls to avoid when using blogs in the classroom:
1. Educators should not just jump in to blogging. Before students blog alone, Anne Davis (Sturgeon, 2008) says that teachers should "spend time letting students see samples, understand guidelines, and anticipate blogging and what it can mean to their learning" (p. 26). Consider using Anne Davis's Webquest, Blogging: It's Elementary!, to introduce your elementary students to blogging.
2. Don't confuse blogging with social networking. An educational blog is about collaboration and expressing ideas related to academic content.
3. Don't leap to freebies. Some free blog spaces post advertisements out of the educator's control. The blog might not be a private space. Students might be able to access the entire blogging world and vice-versa.
4. Don't force a sequential style. Blog posts appear in reverse chronological order and valuable content might be overlooked as time passes. With advance preparation, teachers can add structure to a blog by designating topics for discussion.
5. Don't leave the blogging to the students. Teachers need to join in the discussion. (pp. 26-30).
Reynard (2008b) notes five common mistakes when using blogs in instruction and how to avoid those:
1. Ineffective contextualization: For students to benefit, instructors must have clear planning as to "exactly where the tool will be used in the flow of the course, how often the tool will or might be used, and how necessary the tool is to the learning process. In the case of blogging, the most effective use of this tool is in the area of self reflection or thought processing" (online p. 1).
2. Unclear learning outcomes: Learning outcomes are more than course objectives. "If the instructor is unclear as to what the learning outcomes of the course are and is focused only on course objectives, the potential of the blog tool may not be maximized." A blog can be a place to help students process their thoughts and ideas for analysis and synthesis, capture new ideas well for others to view and absorb, and a place where they can articulate how new ideas they've acquired can be directly applied in real life contexts of practice and use (online p. 2).
3. Misuse of the environment: What is the purpose intended for using the blog? Blogs are not the same as wikis. Reynard believes "The essential difference between a blog and other online tools is that it is intended to be an individual publication: a one-way monologue or self-post to which others may comment but do not contribute" (online p. 3). The blog entry remains as originally posted.
4. Illusive grading practices. Students need rubrics to know how they will be graded. As blogs contain a series of statements, an assessment rubric might address specific statement types such as reflective statements, commentary statements, new idea statements and application statements (online p. 3).
5. Inadequate time allocation: Students need adequate time to process information and then post to a blog. Reynard recommends the blog remain open throughout a course (online p. 4).
Advance preparation is needed, including preparing students for how to write to a blog so that what they say is LARK, the acronym for Legal, Appropriate, Responsible, and Kind. Julie Sturgeon (2008) also provides some pitfalls to avoid when using blogs in the classroom:
1. Educators should not just jump in to blogging. Before students blog alone, Anne Davis (Sturgeon, 2008) says that teachers should "spend time letting students see samples, understand guidelines, and anticipate blogging and what it can mean to their learning" (p. 26). Consider using Anne Davis's Webquest, Blogging: It's Elementary!, to introduce your elementary students to blogging.
2. Don't confuse blogging with social networking. An educational blog is about collaboration and expressing ideas related to academic content.
3. Don't leap to freebies. Some free blog spaces post advertisements out of the educator's control. The blog might not be a private space. Students might be able to access the entire blogging world and vice-versa.
4. Don't force a sequential style. Blog posts appear in reverse chronological order and valuable content might be overlooked as time passes. With advance preparation, teachers can add structure to a blog by designating topics for discussion.
5. Don't leave the blogging to the students. Teachers need to join in the discussion. (pp. 26-30).
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Week 9; Learner autonomy , MI, and assessment
Speaking about learner autonomy, engagement in language learning and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, I think we should also take into account the way we assess our students.
The so –called “ alternative assessment “ refers “to any form of measuring what our students are able to do other than traditional standardized tests . Alternative forms of assessment include portfolios that are collections of students' work over time, performance-based assessments, and other means of testing students such as open-ended essays with no single correct answer, and project work that involves collaboration with peers.” .(http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/faq/gt-altas.html)
“Learner portfolios,”– collections of individual work– are common examples of alternative assessment. Portfolios can include such items as reports on books read, notes from learner/teacher interviews, and learners’ reflections on their progress, writing samples, data from performance-based assessments, and scores on commercially available tests (Fingeret, 1993; Wrigley, 1992).
In our case of technology-enhanced classes, I think we could consider portfolios our students’ reflective blogs, a useful tool which gives the teacher an insight into the learners' written ability as well as any problems that they are encountering linguistically or socially.
I know, you will say that they are hard to assess, but what do you think about assessing learners’ ability to use language holistically, in this case reflecting on their process of learning? Moreover, it is less stressful for students and attempt to cater to all learning styles and intelligences because we could give them the possibility of enriching their reflections with a variety of media. Another drawback of assessing our learners’ blogs could be the time needed to read everything. Maybe a weekly checklist for their blogs would be useful. Or the other peers’ evaluation for a couple of week’s .Or a rubric for evaluating their blogs developed with their help. Building the rubric together, teacher and students could make students feel a sense of ownership .More than that, their participation could make the evaluation freely complied, not something threatening and imposed for learners. Trying to include in this rubric technology standards and creativity, I think it would help the students express themselves in a more personalized way, according to their type of prevailing intelligence.
As a goal for assessment process should be the development of the whole child through creative and productive activities.
I understand through productive activities not only speaking and writing, but also any other type of students’ results of their own learning. Even a drawing. We can use drawing dictations (I have used). The students’ task is to draw and colour the description / scene read by teacher .Or they can produce drawings to represent something they have read. This is less stressful for students as they connect it more with learning than testing.
Besides portfolios and drawings, as alternative assessment tools we could evaluate our students’ oral ability through the use of audio and/or video recordings. In the same time role –plays could be another way of assessing them.
During the last three years I have used my personal catalogue .This is a table where I have written students’ grades from written tests and where I kept the record, and graded at some point, of the participation in class .Maybe it sounds too subjective to grade participation, but, in my opinion, the children’s effort and attempts to improve should be rewarded. It has been an alternative way to stimulate and motivate them.
Participation and effort should also be taken into account because I feel that they are important elements of any overall assessment of a child. A child's attempts to improve (even if unsuccessful) should be rewarded in some form.
Alternative forms of assessment, on the other hand, monitor progress and development over time whilst minimizing the level of anxiety felt by the child. In doing so, they also try to accommodate different learning styles and intelligences.
“A more practical idea is to observe the child doing everyday activities in a classroom setting. Gardner points out that this would be time-consuming but time well spent and a worthwhile investment in the student's academic future. Lazear (as cited in Chipongian, 2000) goes as far as to suggest using games such as 'Twister' in order to assess an individual's bodily kinaesthetic intelligence. This is truly at the opposite end of the spectrum from paper and pencil tests and this idea would be welcomed with open arms by children worldwide. Gardner's and Lazear's ideas may be seen as eccentric by many educationalists. Nevertheless, the point that they are making about the need for testing to be multifaceted is one that cannot be ignored. Paper and pencil tests must be complimented by alternative forms of assessment which evaluate multiple intelligences to a greater extent.”(http://www.teyl.org/article7.html )
The so –called “ alternative assessment “ refers “to any form of measuring what our students are able to do other than traditional standardized tests . Alternative forms of assessment include portfolios that are collections of students' work over time, performance-based assessments, and other means of testing students such as open-ended essays with no single correct answer, and project work that involves collaboration with peers.” .(http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/faq/gt-altas.html)
“Learner portfolios,”– collections of individual work– are common examples of alternative assessment. Portfolios can include such items as reports on books read, notes from learner/teacher interviews, and learners’ reflections on their progress, writing samples, data from performance-based assessments, and scores on commercially available tests (Fingeret, 1993; Wrigley, 1992).
In our case of technology-enhanced classes, I think we could consider portfolios our students’ reflective blogs, a useful tool which gives the teacher an insight into the learners' written ability as well as any problems that they are encountering linguistically or socially.
I know, you will say that they are hard to assess, but what do you think about assessing learners’ ability to use language holistically, in this case reflecting on their process of learning? Moreover, it is less stressful for students and attempt to cater to all learning styles and intelligences because we could give them the possibility of enriching their reflections with a variety of media. Another drawback of assessing our learners’ blogs could be the time needed to read everything. Maybe a weekly checklist for their blogs would be useful. Or the other peers’ evaluation for a couple of week’s .Or a rubric for evaluating their blogs developed with their help. Building the rubric together, teacher and students could make students feel a sense of ownership .More than that, their participation could make the evaluation freely complied, not something threatening and imposed for learners. Trying to include in this rubric technology standards and creativity, I think it would help the students express themselves in a more personalized way, according to their type of prevailing intelligence.
As a goal for assessment process should be the development of the whole child through creative and productive activities.
I understand through productive activities not only speaking and writing, but also any other type of students’ results of their own learning. Even a drawing. We can use drawing dictations (I have used). The students’ task is to draw and colour the description / scene read by teacher .Or they can produce drawings to represent something they have read. This is less stressful for students as they connect it more with learning than testing.
Besides portfolios and drawings, as alternative assessment tools we could evaluate our students’ oral ability through the use of audio and/or video recordings. In the same time role –plays could be another way of assessing them.
During the last three years I have used my personal catalogue .This is a table where I have written students’ grades from written tests and where I kept the record, and graded at some point, of the participation in class .Maybe it sounds too subjective to grade participation, but, in my opinion, the children’s effort and attempts to improve should be rewarded. It has been an alternative way to stimulate and motivate them.
Participation and effort should also be taken into account because I feel that they are important elements of any overall assessment of a child. A child's attempts to improve (even if unsuccessful) should be rewarded in some form.
Alternative forms of assessment, on the other hand, monitor progress and development over time whilst minimizing the level of anxiety felt by the child. In doing so, they also try to accommodate different learning styles and intelligences.
“A more practical idea is to observe the child doing everyday activities in a classroom setting. Gardner points out that this would be time-consuming but time well spent and a worthwhile investment in the student's academic future. Lazear (as cited in Chipongian, 2000) goes as far as to suggest using games such as 'Twister' in order to assess an individual's bodily kinaesthetic intelligence. This is truly at the opposite end of the spectrum from paper and pencil tests and this idea would be welcomed with open arms by children worldwide. Gardner's and Lazear's ideas may be seen as eccentric by many educationalists. Nevertheless, the point that they are making about the need for testing to be multifaceted is one that cannot be ignored. Paper and pencil tests must be complimented by alternative forms of assessment which evaluate multiple intelligences to a greater extent.”(http://www.teyl.org/article7.html )
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Week 9; Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagram
A fishbone template can be an essay planning tool.The fishbone approach involves selecting four main factors, then providing three key pieces of detail about each. Students could be asked to produce and print off a fishbone diagram for the key question under consideration, which they could then use for reference purposes.
It can be used for revision , for literature essays or simply for organizing ideas. I believe it is sort of similar to a mind map.
Learning styles addressed :
-Verbal-linguistic
-Visual-spatial
-Intrapersonal/Interpersonal
-Logical -mathematical
Resource : http://classtools.net/
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