Week 6. Something new + something known = everything engaging and interesting!
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| http://www.pinterest.com/pin/244883298458648712/ |
I would like to start the reflection of this week with this wonderful poster, since I do believe it not only represents our work done in this Webskills course but it very nicely pictures us as teachers and inspires our students to believe that everything is possible if only you have a strong wish and work hard. :)
I need to say that Week 6 is really interesting, since I have found a lot of things I had known before the week started, yet at the same time, I have looked at these issues from a new, refreshed, different perspective. I have learnt a lot from the reading articles, from my groupmates and their productive results. Moreover, I was able to recall the techniques I have used and to think it over what worked and what failed in certain situations in the past.
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The discussion on Nicenet has been divided into two topics and I have chosen the one on how to engage students in big classes. This is a very actual topic for me, since our groups have been increased this year from 8 to 16 students and I have been waiting a lot for this week to come. However, I have been pleasantly surprised when I found out that I am using all the different techniques that have been described in the reading articles. And I will tell you sincerely, I have been using them not only because I have bigger groups but because I want my students to learn in a very active way, to use their creativity, to teach them responsibility and independence, to let them feel that they can learn a lot as a team. I will never stop and will definitely proceed with a variety of activities that engage students, since this is a great tool, which makes them self-confident learners, active learners, always interested learners, the ones who do not need to be encouraged but rather involved in the process of language learning.
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Blogging....and my Project planning....The ending -ING, which means active! :) As you already know, I have decided to use a Class Blog as my Writing problem solution. "To blog or not to blog?" Definitely BLOG! :) I have started creating my class blog and you can take a look at it here: learnenglishadvanced.blogspot.com. It is just the beginning of its creation, yet I am so excited and I hope you will see a more advanced result next week. I have started looking for activities, resources, references, etc. that I will include as part of the blog. I do want to be innovative and interactive, and I will involve my students in the creation or modification process of our blog as soon as they come back after their holidays. I do want to start this project with them and to let them practice writing in a different way, in a creative and collaborative way, in a way that teaches them language and independence.
Week 7 is approaching and I am waiting again to learn something new and something, which would suprise me and my students! :)
Warm wishes from Vilnius! :)
Jurga.
Hi Jurga,
ReplyDelete16 students is considered small class in my place. For kindergarten, there are usually around 30 students in a class. For primary school, 40-50 is a regular number. It is a very difficult job for teachers to manage the class, especially with younger kids.
I don't know how to use Prezi but I have seen students using it in their presentation and it looks much better and interactive than my PowerPoint.
There are still a lot to learn but if we have faith and work hard, like the message that your poster brings to us, nothing is impossible.
Best,
Teresa