Week 9: What a Journey it Has Been....

Hello everyone!

What a remarkable week, I say so because of the completion of my final project plan in Webskills. Likewise this week comes with fruitful and awesome information about learning styles and multiple intelligences. I took the pleasure of assessing online my personal inventory of learning style and I found out that I am a social-emotional person and is also very close to being a visual learner. When I shared the site http://www.open2.net/survey/learningstyles/ with my co-education program supervisors, they too eagerly assessed their learning styles and affirmed the results of the survey. The article by Richard M. Felder http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm likewise has clearly distinguished the active and reflective learner, and the visual and verbal learner.  Out of the article, I pictured out my students under me the past semesters since I failed at providing them the opportunity to survey their learning styles nor their dominant multiple intelligence and I realized why for some instances they were not able to perform what is expected of them since they were made to tackle some tasks which were not closely related to their inclination. This semester, the survey on learning styles was on one of the activities which my students did online. I am so impressed of their feedback while they shared what they learned about themselves. As a teacher, I am aware now that my students have different learning abilities and skills. Some students learn the concept very fast while others would have difficulty in learning the same concept. Thus, I am regularly dealing with different types of learners. It is a great challenge to make learning easy and fun for my students with varying skills, abilities and interests. It requires creativity and resourcefulness in preparing lessons and activities for various types of learners. The reading articles for Week 9 provide very significant and relevant background information on learning styles and about providing varied activities for different learners including the use of technology or finding material online to bring into class. Moreover, it was smooth sailing with the 5Cs Learning Strategies by the site http://www.nclrc.org/sailing/ since the article provides teachers the need to come up with strategies in dealing with varied learners and the ways with which they learn better. I also took the pleasure of reading sequentially those suggested in the course website about Technology and Multiple Intelligences at http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic68.htm. It reiterates that technology can facilitate learning in each intelligence area identified by Howard Gardner.

The week is a bit lighter as compared to the past weeks simply because there is only one main task which is to complete the  project report or plan for the course. Good enough that last week I seemingly have ironed out almost everything for my plan why it didn’t take me so long to revise my plan. Furthermore, I’m also happy that my students positively responded to the web-based tasks required of them. I am able to meet the targets for two weeks since I keep receiving e-mails from my students and all of them feel pretty good about the activity. Much happier I am because of the 100% support of the center administrator especially for my project class.

Ohhh… just a week away and the course shall be over. The cyber trip was simply awesome, challenging and above all fulfilling. I guess this is true to all the Webskills participants. As Walt Disney’s favorite singer Leah Salonga sings... “what a journey it has been!”

Forward, always forward…
Onward, always up…
Catching every drop of hope
In my empty cup

What a journey it has been
And the end is not in sight
But the stars are out tonight
and they’re bound to guide my way

When they’re shining on my life
I can see a better day
I won’t let the darkness in,
what a journey it has been…

All the best,

REBECCA

Webskills' Week 8: Extremely Amazing!

Hello everyone!

What a memorable Week 8! Along with the celebration of the World Thanksgiving Day, I join the whole world in counting my blessings since I joined Webskills and naming them one by one:

week 1 - My 'firsts", my memorable encounters with Nicenet, and Wordpress, being able to create my Google Account, accessed Donna's wiki and did all my tasks for the week with flying colors.

Week 2 - I was a bit messy in my ABCD Objectives, but I was able to rectify them through Donna's guidance and Rashid's suggestions.

Week 3 - It's a delicious week! I finally had the opportunity to collect and organize my online favorites and contained them in "My Delicious Page"

Week 4 - All the readings for the week led me to identify the needs most of our students have in our locale. I was able to produce one technology enhanced lesson plan, though it needed much refinement. This week, I was able to identify the technology-based activities that I plan to implement in my class: using e-mails and blogging in developing and enhancing students' writing skills.

Week 5 - I love Week 5 simply because it  provided me with the necessary information in coming up with a technology-based project that would allow learner autonomy. Likewise, I was able to make use of rubistar.org and able to share the site with the teachers I supervise. All of them find the site very helpful because it helps them come up with rubrics for both performance-based outputs of students. 

Week 6 - Oh, this week was quite difficult for me. At first, I thought I can't make an interactive Powerpoint, but I did! I was so overwhelmed seeing my first output but I also learned some lessons from the suggestions given by Donna: when the slides are applied with too many colors and rich designs, it need not have moving chevrons as they are bit distracting.

Week 7 - is simply amazing Week 7 and my heart was full to the brim during the week for having hurdled the challenges. I had the pleasure of communicating with Maria Elena and Olena as peer reviewers of my project plan. and one most important feature of the week was the idea that in promoting learner autonomy, there has to be teacher autonomy.

Week 8 - is extremely fabulous and very memorable week. I accomplished a lot for the Webskills tasks by creating a site for my students under the graduate program, a blog site for my students in the undergraduate program, submitted for review my project plan, reviewed and gave comments and suggestions for the project reports of Olena and Maria Elena, had the chance to learn about the sites needed when making some boardgames, online tests, comic strips, and a lot more. But what is truly memorable is my participation at the Webinar together with Jeff and some of the participants. It truly warms the heart to hear the voices of the people I have been with for the past seven weeks. It took me several hours to wait for 2AM since our country is 16 hours ahead than Oregon time, but I really tried not to fall asleep or else I would have missed an important date. ANVILL was really fabulous. I used Skype and Yahoo Messenger in synchronous online conferencing but  ANVILL is much better, I suppose. Somehow, it isn't that easy to try it because most of my students don't have yet very good and ample exposures to the web.Moreover, I also need more exposures on Webinar.

14, 13, 12, 11, 10..... the days get fewer and Webkills course shall end. The course might be over but it surely will leave me significant insights on how to effect change in my workplace and how to make a difference, and above all, it shall imprint in me worthwhile memories that I shall be grateful of all my life.

Happy thanksgiving day to everyone!

REBECCA

Week 7: Simply Amazing!

Hello everyone!

What a wonderful Week 7! Well, I hope you see how awesome it is from the smiles on my face. The week has been adorned with very informative readings about fostering learner autonomy, inputs and tasks for one-computer classroom and the brilliant ideas and generous comments from our guest at Nicenet, JODI plus the usual kindness and technical assistance by our guardian angel DONNA. The learning tasks for the week likewise allow me to retrospect once more on the conditions in my local schools division, and I find it very relevant to what we should do for our learners towards autonomy. It is true, that to foster learner autonomy, there has to be teacher autonomy. Moreover, the author of the articleDimitrios Thanasoulas in  "What Is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered?" reiterates that we've only skimmed the surface of the subject and the puzzle called learner autonomy and there are still many pieces missing. So, we're rubbing elbows together to construct the puzzle. Furthermore, the school leaders hopefully shall give support to teachers who take courses of actions towards curriculum innovations and decisions.

This week too, seem to be a week for searching a soul mate. I love it much! Initially, it took me a while thinking who to choose for a partner, seem funny but if you only have known, I included the search as one of the prayer items during our family’s early morning devotionals. Well, in my prayer, I was quite specific about my criteria for a partner in the peer-review: the first partner has to be someone who shall invite me while the second partner shall be someone I will invite and will not refuse. Hallelujah! Maria Elena and Olena are a prayer answered. Oh my! and their names rhymed! Isn’t it amazing?

My heart is full to the brim for being able to cross over the hurdles of Week 7, above all to be part of this league that many call as lucky. The trainings I underwent definitely reinforced my technological potential, enhanced my skills as a learner and as a teacher, and I emerged as a better and a stronger person. On the other hand, I can’t avoid being sad thinking that we nearly can count with our fingers the remaining days for us in Webskills. I start missing everyone especially those I always communicated with. I hope to have the most  time to keep in touch with everyone for the remaining weeks.

I wish everyone the best and may God bless us all.

REBECCA

The Essence of Webskills Week 6

Hello everyone!

"Let's go interactive!"this is the essence of Week 6 in Webskills.

Week 6 is simply awesome! All the suggested readings offer an array of information on how to improve delivery of instructions. These all provided strategies on engaging students in the learning process. Inputs on how to conduct interactive lectures from the http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/interactive/index.html has provided a very comprehensive presentation on how this can be done in classes as it enumerates specific examples and techniques designed to involve students in large and small lecture-based classes. This is very relevant in our local context.

This week's inputs about making classes  interactive using Powerpoint make the week even more beautiful and challenging. I say "challenging" simply because this is entirely different from what I've been exposed to and far different from what I've been doing. The article from http://www.garrreynolds.com/Presentation/slides.html "Top 10 Slide Tips" and http://thejournal.com/articles/2000/08/01/creating-an-interactive-powerpoint-lesson-for-the-classroom.aspx "Creating an Interactive Powerpoint" offer comprehensive ideas which teachers can learn from. True enough, I have been using Powerpoint when I conduct training or seminar for teachers but this has not been done interactively. The presentations were simply used as visual aids and these didn't involve interactivity. During this week, I got the pleasure of watching and reading through the different Powerpoint presentations from Webskills participants. Indeed, those were all impressive. In fact, when I showed it before my 10-year old son, he enjoyed watching and answering on the quizzes especially from those PPT created by Tariq and Dragana. This makes me more convinced of how beautiful interactive PPT presentations are.

Now, I start creating one for my class.  It takes me several times to read and re-read the articles for interactive Powerpoint and for several times watch the video tutorial at Youtube.com. For a neophyte in technology utilization, it isn't that easy for me but I believe this attempt for change shall bring forth worthwhile learning experience for me and my students. Hopefully, I can finish and upload my project at Donna's Wiki before the clock strikes 12 midnight by Sunday in Oregon.  I can't become an instant expert on this, it takes time, training and practice for me to perfect creating PPT presentations for instructional purposes and for breaking the monotony of using blackboard and chalk in teaching.

Well, the challenge is still on and the passion is still alive. All through this time, Webskills  lets me discover many things about myself and the tasks that confront me week by week.

MABUHAY!

REBECCA