Reflections - Week 4 .. The Journey continues...

Hello Friends,

As another week passes by, we keep changing, growing, and  emerge more enlightened As I reflect on the past two weeks, they have been a whirlwind of activities for me- be it in my personal life or my professional one or even the courses I am studying but in the end there is a feeling of  satisfaction and fulfillment
For me , it has been a very hectic week. Spiraling towards the Diwali holidays,school life had been so hectic that it was like hanging on to a bullet train.

Currently I am in Dubai till this Saturday and reaching the end of my assignments is a major relief since all i could think about were my submissions. The city bus tour was a good opportunity to think about my lesson plan while  the long queue to reach the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa was time to mull over work to be done.

The highlight of this week's journey was not only in the reading material but also in the application of material we had learnt as well as material we were currently exploring. It was a confluence of the past and present  and an obviously progressive movement towards the future

To jot down a few of the wonderful things that make me feel good :

1) Check out my short story film done using dvolver movie maker   
     http://www.dvolver.com/live/movies- 1211314

   The scope for learning - teaching opportunities here is innumerable and great- idioms, function of words,parts of speech. Really great!!!!  

This week I explored so many sites,  that it was amazing, then in order to define the problem, I had to delve deeper into the problem areas and areas of weaknesses present in the work of my students which we needed to get rid of . Finally  when it came to lesson planning. I just hit freezing point- level zero.-  a blank wall.Ideas flowed in and got discarded and I was soon beginning  to panic.

I went to check the process of uploading the lesson plans and saw a nice long list of plans already submitted. Wow !!! others had submitted their plans and I was still chasing smoke trails of subject matter. I had not zeroed in on a single topic-. No topic, nothing to start with.

So I started browsing through the plans put up hoping for some inspiration. Time was running out and the plans that had been submitted reflected deep thought and a lot of effort. and here  I was stuck to my computer with no work happening- no ideas - nothing.

 Finita's plan on starters for stories  impressed me and it reflected a lot of work. The work was good but in my condition, I could feel my heart sink further. Everyone seemed to have found their topic while I was still meandering aimlessly. I decided to explore some websites in the hope that I would find something interesting  and finally I found my topic-Bingo !!! I hit bull's eye. !!I was excited with the prospect of using online gaming to teach critical thinking skills which could be applied to all texts being studied by the students and Wow !!! It was a wonderful experience!!!

This week's journey was a vigorous and rigorous one but finally at the end , when I look back- it still fills me with wonder and I look forward and ahead with excitement as new ideas and new concepts, new things are just waiting to happen to me and I am waiting for them too!!!!

Reflections - Week 3 - And the journey acquires spiritual dimensions

 

    Reflections - Week 3 -   And the journey acquires spiritual dimensions .....  
                                                   
                                                WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

Sung by Louis Armstrong

This week's journey of learning and evolving has acquired a spiritual dimension for me - one of growing through sharing.

Looking back, I can trace this week's journey to one that began with delight and ended with enlightenment. The readings exposed us to the delightfully exciting world of teaching and honing the Aural- Oral Skills. Shahla Yassaei''s article on 'Using Sound Effects to Teach English' discussed using media to enhance lesson plans.She shared how she had used technology and the results were amazing. I found the simplicity of the plan and its execution bold, innovative as well as creative .

I also found Tien's post explaining Voice thread and the way he had used it to enhance learning through technology, very impressive. Thank you Tien for sharing that experience, knowledge and method with us. I felt empowered and enriched.

I truly enjoyed creating my utterly butterly Delicious site. My steps wavered as I was unsure. Delicious was something totally new for me but thank you Celeste for your guidance . Truly obliged. I was really excited about adding the links. That felt great and some of the links that I was exploring were new to me so I had a good and exciting time and feel so proud of my utterly butterly Delicious site.

Last but not the least was the amazingly amazing sample project report- The E-Teacher Scholarship Program of Camelia Pagila from Academician Marin Voiculescu, Romania. Informative, well researched, organized, creative and focusing on deriving the best use of modern psychology, technology and web tools Camelia showed an astuteness and deep understanding of the set of students under her care. A responsible teacher, she knew their strengths and weaknesses and sought to minimize the weaknesses and maximize their strengths.

I loved the blog she had made and the goals and vision that she stated were creatively executed in a manner that would motivate students, arouse their curiosity, challenge their skills , make their spirits dance and encourage the artist in them to evolve.She creatively used the song ' What A Wonderful World' sung by Louis Armstrong as a medium for students to express through illustrations its effect and impact on them. An incredibly inspiring project. Truly awesome !!!!

In this way the journey this week has been one based on sharing- sharing creative ideas, innovative methods, technical know hows and giving of oneself- one's thoughts, one's ideas and one's creativity so that all share, learn and create a ripple effect of 'Paying it Forward' as Hanna astutely perceived and recorded in her blog.

Thank you Celeste for sharing your world with me and enriching mine . Sharing is Caring and this week of sharing has been a beautiful experience making me feel that we live in a truly wonderful world.

Reflections - Week 2- The Journey continues....

Dear Friends ,

Today when  I look at dark tunnels

I am filled with awe and glee

Because I know that when I walk through it

I will  come renewed , I will come refreshed.

I will come out-

A New Me

Every week is a new  wonderful exploratory learning experience for me.

Searching the search engines :

This week I came across a list of search engines. Exploring them was a fulfilling learning experience- exciting, enthralling and amazing.While I was familiar with some search engines, I chose to explore unfamiliar ones  like Cuil which turned out to be a  cool and funny experience, Singing Fish and FreeBook Search.net .

Phil Bradley's list of search engines were amazing. I tried criticalpast,com. It is an amazing site for pictures  and photographs especially while teaching History, Civics, Political Science and the historical aspect of English Literature.

It is truly what it proclaims :
Vintage stock footage and millions of stock images comprising one of the world's largest royalty - free  archives footage collections.

Analyzing  and appreciating various search engines exposed me to a canvas of information that will be  a boon to my students and the teachers in my institution. I shared this exciting find with my core  team working on integrated teaching and they too were excited. This will have a ripple effect in my entire institution creating a fantastic impact on students and teachers alike.

I was impressed by the search engines explored by Susie from Taipei Taiwan and Banzragch Baljirdondov. Thank you Susie for  http://www.poetry.net and Banzragch for  http://www.teachertube.com/ for video lessons.

Thank you for your contribution that has enriched and empowered us.


The ABCD objectives

The ABCD Objectives were an incredible treasure trove for me. We were following the old method of writing lesson plans and the weaknesses mentioned in the article were a real obstacle which we were all experiencing.
I found the ABCD Objectives, easy, precise , organised and following a proper comprehensive method. I am planning to have a meeting with the teachers of the Primary department and share this with them . They will plan their lessons using this method.
The examples given in the ABCD objectives method remarkably suited the integrated approach of teaching and the teachers will be able to use this method more effectively to express their objectives.I found this exciting and ideas flowed from it for me making this experience a wonderfully stimulating one.

The Project Task

Describe a Class, describe your students and class setting. Use of available technology both inside and outside the classroom

Reflecting on my class , filled me with enthusiasm. Recalling the excitement and wonderful moments of learning made me nostalgic. That was the emotional aspect of my journey. Describing my class was a wonderfully unique reflective journey that made me feel blessed to be a teacher.

Intellectually- analyzing their strengths and weaknesses of my class of students  , I realized that they have numerous strengths which I can use for enhancing their learning skills. The infrastructure was there, the knowledge was there - all waiting - lambent-waiting to be used in a structured defined way to enhance the level of the learning - teaching process and I looked carefully at what I had in the school- both in terms of human resources and infrastructure and the scope of using IT outside the classroom. To a certain extent my class remains connected with me on social media but with blogging and the resources present, I can multiply the use and impact of IT on the teaching learning process.

I take this opportunity to thank my mentor and guide for all the assistance she has provided very promptly, for the guidance and encouragement. Thank you so much. I wouldn't have reached here without your support..

To all my colleagues and friends- I have learnt a lot from you on Nicenet, your ideas are stimulating and innovative. Each one is  so different and unique that I carry something from each post I read. Your ideas inspire my ideas and challenge me to explore further.It is a privilege to be part of a forum where ideas are shared and we are learning so much everyday .

Thank You.

Reflections - Week 1

Hello Friends,

This week has been an amazing one full of new learning experiences. It has been a week of interacting with people from different countries, making new friends and building new bonds.

 Making this blog gave me a sense of achievement and fulfillment as I am a novice in this area. The hard work was worth the feeling of exhilaration.

 Learning about the program and  using Nicenet whereby I received  responses to the email that I had sent to my new friends was a thrilling experience.Thank you for your responses  Atyrgul, Oumar and Paulo.

 I was fascinated by the interests and work being done by the participants and the favorite quotes of some of them were some of my own favorites too . At the same time , I came across some new inspirational  ones  that were beautiful.

Corresponding with my tutor , Celeste was a wonderful experience and I feel truly honored and privileged to be under her guidance.Thank you Celeste for all the assistance that was given promptly and for being my guiding light.

The entire experience has been an amazing one and I look forward to an exciting, thrilling and empowering journey wherein we will all emerge as more enriched and inspired teachers. 

A Whole New World

Welcome to my world, Step into my life

Lets join together, Touch each other's lives.

Learn from different worlds,explore ideas  and thoughts

Share that slice of life,enrich and inspire. 

Welcome to my new world wherein I start a new journey, a journey of learning and interacting on a global platform. Expanding and exploring new horizons and  ideating to create a new world of education makes the journey of life more interesting and exciting. As the Principal of Queen Mary School, Mumbai, India and being an educator for the past 20 years, it is with a sense of excitement and eagerness that I look forward to participate in this program.

The intention is to make a difference and make this journey a value add with the help of other participants across the globe and with my tutor.

Each one of us holds a key to enter the wonderland of  the Web Skills Program.
So lets join hands and open new doors in the world of education.