Some times dreams come true!!!!!!!

Dear all,

WITH the end of week 10 my adventure of gaining knowledge with UO  AEL Building_Teaching  Skills  Winter course 2014  passed very quickly. Our course ends . It was the most wonderful journey I have ever had . I came to the final destination at the end of week nine and now am standing in a moment of tranquility to recall this unique experience ,this new chance I passed through and sum up the knowledge I gained from the ten stations I encountered on the road of my journeyas follows :

1.  Week one even I was a little late,my emails were in the spam ,but thanks to D. Donna for re sending the emails , I got three benefits : I got to know new friends ; I participated in the discussion to choose appropriate rubric to be used to evaluate our works on this course ; and learnt about rules for successful discussions .

2. In week one , I acquired knowledge about blogging ; why blogging is important in relation to the teaching - learning process ; how to construct a blog for learning purposes ; and the differences between types of blogs . I created my own reflexive blog and this was really an extra ordinary experience in my life .

3.  Practical tasks started with week 2 .It was fruitful week in which I learned many things related to the use of academic search engines and writing objectives according to the ABCD style and the importance of sharing the objectives with my students .

4. Week three introduced a delicious topic of Delicious . I created my Delicious account and learnt how to have my own archive for my favorite web sites organized in tags . Another topic of this week related to the use of technology for teaching – learning aural /oral skills . The two reading articles provided for this topic opened my eyes to many technological things and how to use them in our classes.
5. Week four presented the topics of writing/reading web sites and technology-enhanced lesson plans. The tasks were to explore these sites and share with the group a technology-enhanced lesson plan . I did and mastered both tasks .

6. On the station of week five , two important activities were introduced ; Project -based learning ; and Web Quests . I read and compared several PBLs and learnt how they develop the ideas of inquiry , search and collaboration , and require students to work in teams . I also gained a clear idea about kinds of Webquests .I created one and I am going to carry on working on it to be better.

Farewell really hard ( week 9 )

Every day I shall put my papers in order and every day I shall say farewell. And the real farewell, when it comes, will only be a small outward confirmation of what has been accomplished within me from day to day.I will always remember the unforgotten fruitful discussion we had on the nicenet,really incredible moments  .......best of luck to you all.

A word of thanks goes to the stunning lady our instructor  D. Donna Shaw for her unlimited help and support ,really no words in the whole world could give this stunning lady her rights  ,she is really incredible woman who deserves all our respect also our visitor in the discussion D .Jodi Weber ...thanks for supporting and giving help

Week 8 {Hitch your wagon to stars}

Dear Donna, colleagues and Jodi,
What an amazing week,hard one but exciting .
We  had Mrs. Jodi for her second visit to our Nicenet discussions.
Our discussion was about technology tools,Technology offers solutions to a diverse set of instructional problems,but it needs careful planning.
planning is key to successfully implementing innovative components into using technology, and this is especially true of e-learning courses ,using technology require planning, adopting new teaching strategies, rethinking and reevaluating assignments and interaction, and redefining what's done in and out of the classroom. Ideally, there would be a discrete set of rules, a sort of checklist, to teaching with technology, but unfortunately there are too many variables. The tools, tips, and recommendations in this guide should provide us the necessary
background to ask the right questions, formulate complete answers, and plan accordingly.As a teacher I should ask my self
How will students connect to the Internet? This greatly influences the speed at which students can download pages or video clips.
How can I ensure students achieve a comfort level with the technology? Keep in mind more experienced students may be able to provide additional resources and give support for me and/or their fellow students.
How can I design my tool for my learners, what is the nature, purpose, the goals for this tool...these questions I think need time to be planned well.
The teacher should be here as Facilitator who guides and directs by asking questions, exploring options, suggesting alternatives, encouraging students to develop and interact. Overall goal is to develop capacity for independent action, initiative, and responsibility.What we are focusing on students' needs and goals.I will try after finishing this course to give my colleges a training course of all what I learned here.This is at least what I can do to improve our teaching in our school {move to improve}
After reading and exploring ,these are some of the sites I am going to usein my classes in the near future.I am still exploring ,I did not finish.
First I created this padlet for my class , http://padlet.com/wall/5b4yao60um
I hope it will improve their writing skill.
http://hotpot.uvic.ca/ I will use it for making different exercises, It's easy to use and lets you create matching, cloze, scrambled sentence, and multiple choice exercises and crossword puzzles.
http://www.easytestmaker.com/default.aspxhttp://www.easytestmaker.com/default.aspx I signed in and I am going to make my tests ,why simply its easier ,quicker with a little effort.
http://bogglesworldesl.com/picture_descriptions.htm I am going to use this site for improving my students writing skill ( a mazing)
http://www.toolsforeducators.com/
https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/launch/nativeplayback.jnlp?psid=2013-05-30.2036.M.333CA6296CC86D7221128FDCEDAC21.vcr
I usually use this site to down load worksheets, flashcards ...etc
http://www.mes-english.com/
 Changing needs time, A lot of teachers refuse of implementing technology tools because they think they need special IT background ,nothing comes easily if we try hard we will succeed in implementing the suitable technology tool for our students, but if we refuse to change ..then we are afraid of facing the changing which will happened sooner or later as the world is changing .We all know if we don't make mistakes we will make nothing .

The second task was creating a new technology tool ,I created my Padlet http://padlet.com/wall/5b4yao60um ……and named it "Move to improve" to beginners and young learners and I will collect in it different activities, articles , games, and active exercises I am going to create or created before for the writing skill.

Week 7

This week was crowded with lots of work,Ifeel that I am lost really I can not concentrate on anything........I do not know why ..

I started this week by  preparing unit 8 for my students at school ,preparing the unit worksheets also reading the material about learner autonomy, one-computer classroom and m-learning.I learned new ideas I will try to use them in my classes .The nice net discussion was great.I think we all  gaining new ideas ,new techniques that will help us and our students  too.

Talking about promoting learner autonomy through technology needs careful planning .I usually ask my students to look up new words on the Internet, or to design some power point presentations ,some of my students done amazing things through Book Creator.

This week I started our blog project http://455henam.blogspot.com/
I would really like to investigate how blogging can help prompt leaner autonomy. The blogs are easy to publish and easy to access compared with other online web pages .My students' started to participate in e-discussion. They are motivated but weak in writing I hope they will be better.
I need a partner who is having a blog project in order to exchange our ideas and help each other.I do not know any emails for our friends in this course ,however I am so happy to work with a partner in our final project.

I think promoting learner autonomy through technology need  a lot of work, but certainly worth the effort.

We as teachers will be happy when we see our students take the responsibility ,and we will be the facilitators .

Best of luck to you all 
Ena'm 

week 6 Never stop trying

What a week ….!

This week was a very busy one I think for all of us , those who started the second semester in schools, work for school at the beginning of the semester is very diiffecult one really . on the other hand we are as teachers love difficult situation mainly if we love teaching.

After reading about examples of different student-centered, interactive large classes I agree to those who say that effective use of technology and group work are two ways to enhance large classes, increase student engagement, and minimize the time you spend this is very true , If the teacher is professional in using technology like designing her own lessons, games on power point, or key note to engage students and promote interaction.
•   For me I create an interactive book on the book author for my students in grade four .I am using it on their i-pads .And to tell you the truth they enjoy reading the topics inside the book. There are power point lessons ,moral short stories,games, book creator ,I –movie, educational websites to visit and explore etc. 
•    And I think the teacher should be creative in designing group work ,I mean she can assign students to groups according to their different levels , the assessment tool .Giving clear instruction for the task to be done, ask specific questions which generate critical thinking and sometimes even controversy or disagreement, give time limit,assign the group size and other elements, rather than allowing them to self-select. Then Group members are engaged in active acknowledgment of all members' contributions, and solving various group tasks. Most of the Members will be willing to change their preconceived ideas or opinions on the basis of facts presented by other members, and they actively ask questions of one another .

Where there is a well,there is a way. week 5 An a dventure

Hi every one,
What a week!
This week was very exhaustive for me.I have to finish the semester plan and the worksheets for this semester.It's the beginning of our second semester here in Jordan.Yes it was a very busy one.Now to my feelings a bout week 5.   Every week I learn something new, really fantastic ! After watching the video tapes and read the reading articles.This week I have found out the benefits of Project Based Learning. It helps us motivate our students and integrate their language skills in a more natural,easy way
"WebQuests are interesting and motivating to teachers and students. An effective WebQuest develops critical thinking skills and often includes a cooperative learning component.
http://zunal.com/index.php is a free site to make your own WebQuest 
The best reason is that, like any carefully planned lesson, a good WebQuest makes learning interesting for my students. WebQuests is really a powerful learning tool. Web Quests are a way to let students work at their own pace, either individually or in teams.

The idea of WebQuest was something new for me and it is one of the best ways to write projects. It is designed to do the work step by step which guides very well both teachers and students and provides a lot of rubrics and checklists. 
At the beginning it was veryt difficult but I understood it finally. 
The alternative assessment is a great tool because it focuses on students' strengths and weaknesses.
 Rubrics and Alternative Assessment

after reading about rubrics ,I found that Creating rubrics with the help of http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ saves teacher's time and efforts. And I used to spend too much time to do them myself! but from now on I will use of http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ to make my rubrics 

The third task was to focus on one problem:

• One problem in my class:
  
  My students are having difficulty in writing correct sentences in English. 
  One potential solution I think:
  
  I think a blog can be a good tool for my students to write freely outside the classroom, they can respond to each other and can communicate using English 
  Another thing, when they start blogging, they will be motivated that their written work is published online for the whole world to see and read. I think this will encourage them to write correctly and neatly.

Week 4 technology can enhance reading and writing.

Hello Everyone,

This week  was a busy one for me at least.  I had finished reading the three articles. I explored some of the websites listed on the course website under "Websites to Explore." 

My first site is www.breakingnewsenglish.com

·         Breaking News English
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/
This site  also has some listening activities. It provides a full series (11 pages) of activities to use offline, including pre- and post- activities, pair and group work, vocabulary building, and more.

What I  liked about this site is : It is free, ready to print, comprehensive and it can be easily used to develop the four skills. What I liked best was the listening section with 5-speed also reading with Different levels of speed. I think my students will love this web site .

The second one is www.ManyThings.org
Interesting Things for ESL Students, why I liked simply because it is A Website for studying English as a Second Language and another thing there are applications that suits my students especially the e-class ( the ones who are using i-pad) http://www.manythings.org/ipad/listen/
Another good site is:

http://a4esl.org/Activities for ESL Students
There are a lot of quizzes, tests, exercises and puzzles to help students learn English as a Second Language
Daily Page for ESL/EFL Teachers
http://iteslj.org/daily/.This page allows teachers to have an easy-to-use startup page and helps teachers keep up with what's new on the ESL/EFL Web.

I used to go to http://www.englishforeveryone.org/Topics/Reading-Comprehension.htm

for reading passages,but know I have other  useful sites.

Once I finished the discussion task ,I started writing the lesson plan a technology-enhanced  Grammar lesson plan .

Then I started to think of a  new technology tool for helping my students to improve their listening skill ,I think if they can listen and understand ,then it will be easier to them to speak and communicate.I hope they will improve when listening daily to http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/

Really I am grateful To D. Donna and to our guest moderator Jodi Weber ,to all of you. Each day I am learning something new, something useful for me as a teacher and useful also to my students.
Yours faithfully,
Enam from Jordan