WEEK 5

Project-Based Teaching, Project-Based Learning and Webquests are ways to capture our students’ attention. We must make use of these strategies which are there to use at the click of a button and allow students to study at their own pace. I hope I can reach the conclusion Susan Gaer did in “Less Teaching and More Learning” and help my students improve and develop their knowledge of the language, creativity and critical thinking based on Yan Guo’s ideas in “Project-based ESL Education: Promoting Language and Content Learning”.

Right now my mind is effervescent. I am learning about new technology tools and I am trying to cope with the information I am reading.

This year we have to choose a coursebook for the 7^th year. New coursebooks are being sent to schools so that teachers can analyze them and choose one. Teachers have to follow rigorous selection criteria and send the information to the Board of Education.

This year one of the main goals is to combine traditional lecture classes with online and offline access to materials such as ebooks. So the demand is here:

      Make the most of technology in the classroom.

      In week 4 I wrote “I think the main issue here is to keep them motivated by designing more student-oriented activities based on the use of technology. Time management is one of my main concerns because I only teach them one hour a half per week.”

As the weeks go by, I learn and experiment new tools. As I experiment new tools, I try to use some of them in the classroom and develop more student-oriented activities.

I came across a website that allows students to create their own stories. I think it can be easily adapted to all ages and levels. The website is:  http://www.storyjumper.com

Using Wordle (http://www.wordle.net) is another solution. Students can create their own “word clouds” from the text provided by the teacher or from their own texts. The students can use different fonts, layouts and color schemes. Afterwards they can share their work with the other students and with the teacher.

And the learning process goes on...