week 10

What a sad week ! I got used to my course fellows. they are very smart teachers, full of enthusiasm and sense of humour. I'm going to miss them all. I hope we will meet again.
This week was like a farewell week, not so many tasks. I was just asked to give some advice to the future participants in the course. Also I was asked to reflect on my current use of technology tools. I'm improving, I'm sure. I made some nice plans for the coming years. Also I'm planning to apply for other courses by Oregon University. I have tasted the sweetness of knowledge and I must confess I became an addict to it. I will learn and learn as long as I'm alive.

Goodbye Robert, my dear instructor. you are a good example of the good teacher. I'll do my best to be more like you.
Goodbye my fellow friends. l leant a lot from you. I miss you all.

Mohamed Nasr

Week nine

In this week , I finished and uploaded my final project. I'm so excited. I hope it will get good marks as I did very hard work.

Also, I read this week about the Multiple Intelligence theory and Learning Styles. they are not completely new to me. the new was the nice article about technology tools that supports multiple intelligences. the URL is http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic68.htm. It offers a nice list of the different intelligences and the technology tools that helps with it.

Also I came across  those online surveys: http://surfaquarium.com/MI/inventory.htm   and http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz. those can identify the type of intelligence a student can have

 Also we can download a free nice survey from this URL http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Multiple-Intelligence-Survey-for-Kids-20084

I also completed a survey from the University of Oregon about the course and learnt about the E-teacher Scholarship Program. I hope I can have more programs with this amazing university. Here is the URL for those who are interested, http://aei3.uoregon.edu/eteacher/
 Also there is the nice American English Institute http://aei.uoregon.edu/

Finally, I arranged for a workshop at my school to pass what I learnt to my school colleagues.


 

week eight

Week eight

In this week I got a treasure of resources for creating online classes and both online and offline exercises. I was very much eager to try them all. I created a nice net class. I like nice net because it’s very simple, easy and free.

 I made an online survey for my students using google docs. It is about their opinion of the course they are studying. The URL is https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17becdoYKiMr0GaML4ywFh4RovDMHb7bd3QDpocdBJtw/edit

 I made a simple matching exercise for my students using the ever exciting hot potatoes.

http://uk3.hotpotatoes.net/ex/103798/PQJJLQSK.php . Hot potatoes is a real fun and easy, moreover it allows you to save your work both online on the website and offline on your PC.

I tried toolsforeducators.com it’s a very nice user friendly website. I made some nice dice but the problem is it doesn't have save option.

I was also lucky to have a look at Belal’s nice project about improving listening skills. He did a great job. It benefited me a lot.

Week Seven

In this week I learned many new things.

One Computer Classroom.

I used to use my computer only as an administrative and a presentation tool. I was very happy with that, but after reading about the topic I knew I missed a lot of opportunities to make the most of my only computer. I now know it can be used as a learning center, a simulation center or even for individual student’s learning.

Learner Autonomy

I learned some nice techniques for promoting learner autonomy.

 1- Writing self- reports.

2- Dairies and evaluation sheets.

Also I learnt two nice easy activities to promote learner’s autonomy.

 1- Checking and correcting homework.

2- Student-produced tests.

They are easy but interesting activities that would certainly increase the learner’s responsibility and independence. I’ll try to implement them in my classes and post the result in the coming few days.

Padlet

I also learnt about Padlet, a simple and useful tool that allows teachers or students to build a "wall" for sharing. You can post an article, website link, or video to your class wallwisher. I liked it very much because it’s simple easy and a real fun. If you are interested, please have a look at our class Padlet at the following URL http://padlet.com/wall/tw0g3uxbnt.

The project

Thank God, things are beginning to get better with my project to improve my student’s speaking skills. Today the students presented some nice recordings for themselves. They did a great job.I was very proud of them. I did my best to encourage the others to follow their example. Hopefully, I’ll find some more nice work tomorrow. Here is Mostafa’s speaking project about himself.

Week Six

Week six,

This week I learnt some nice ideas that I hope will help me deal with my large classes. I think the best answer is collaborative work which will turn the week point which is number into an advantage  but it needs lots of attention from the teacher.

I also found new technique called Teaching Naked which simply means using the technology before and after the lesson and not to use it during the lesson. I found that quite an interesting idea.

I also learnt about how to make my power point presentation more interactive. I now can use hyperlinks to sound, video or even internet websites and pages. I wish I can learn about how to make a jeopardy game which I still struggle with , but I’m a fighter and I will hopefully learn it.

 I especially liked the non linear power point, the technique that allows you to jump back and forward or link to another presentation. I made a similar clumsy power point presentation which I hope my colleagues will like.

As for my project I’m in hot water. Last week was a very busy week and I didn't manage to decide on what project to implement on my students so for. They are only 10 years with mixed abilities. I don’t think they can surf the net on their own. I also don’t have internet connection in my class. I do have an over head and a teacher’s laptop and a white board. I’m sure I’ll  create a great project with the help of my instructor, Robert.

week four

Week four is  almost over and lucky me, I learnt so many things. I read about using CALL in reading and writing activities. I also navigated some useful websites. To name just few:

1) Rong- chang.com .is a big library for ESL learners with a nice library of leveled stories for reading with. You can listen too. Also it offers a variety of activities on the reading passage.

2) Dvolver.com  http://www.dfilm.com/moviemaker/index.html is a nice website that allows you to make your own movie, choose characters, setting, script and everything ,.a nice site. I'm sure kids will love it.

3) Gutenberg. Org. The url is http://www.gutenberg.org/ a big library for free e-books.

B) One nice thing I learnt is how to write a technology enhanced lesson plan. I used some technology before in my class but they were clumsy tries, but now I have a deeper insight. Also I have a bigger variety of options, tools and websites. I can't wa it to get feedback on my lesson plan. You can read it here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LKtbwsgHSBe1AiHzgL5ljFt6VKhFtWtGc1n8yxs9EEQ/edit

c) I also Described a problem I face with my class. They are not very much motivated to read. I hope technology will help me overcome this problem.

Week Three

Week Three
It was as amazing as the ones that were before. I learnt many useful things.
1- I read two articles about oral/aural skills and CALL. I liked Julia Gong's article about the advantages and disadvantages of CALL in teaching speaking. Two software programs in her article attracted my attention. The first is called SlIM . It can detect the student's oral mistakes, offer visual aids and written diagnosis. The other is called Conversations which offers a variety of conversations that allows the student to record for him/her self and later to compare with the model. I tried to get more information about those programs but couldn't. I'd be grateful if one of the audience could help.

2- Delicious is a nice website where we can exchange our useful URLs. I made an account there and shared some of the useful websites. Here is my page https://delicious.com/abunasr and visitors are more than welcome.

3- As usual my generous active colleagues offered a rich menu of useful websites.I liked most of them and I invite you to  enjoy some.
http://www.esl-lab.com/
http://vocaroo.com/
http://www.elllo.org/

And here is a real delicacy: 
http://www.artofstorytelling.org/
where students can write and record their stories based on a picture,share and send their stories , moreover it allows the students to make their own picture for the story. Bon appetit!

Mohamed Nasr

Week Two:

Week two is almost over on this amazing course. I learned so many things about web search, writing objectives and blogging skills.I learnt about many interesting  search engines such as Ask.com which I liked as it offers "popular Q&A" which I think is real fun.Also, I have to admit that It's the first time  hear of kids' search engines like Kids Click and Yahoo Kids. I imagine I can see the excitement on their faces when I introduce those kid friendly sites to them. Kayyum Khan amazed me with his idea about bookmarking our search and exchanging our store of useful bookmarks. I liked the idea and was thrilled when I knew we would be dealing with it later on the course. Also, I was interested in the idea of improving Google's search skills. I found a nice link that explains it in a real fun way.I'd happily share it with you. http://www.howtogeek.com/98698/improve-your-google-search-skills-infographic/. I hope it helps. I also logged on Angels's web blog and read her nice idea about skyping in classroom. I liked it very much as it brings the whole world in the classroom. I think I'll introduce Kids Click and Yahoo Kids to my students, give them the chance to explore them.I'm also running talented students program in my school, I'd assign them some simple tasks on those sites like finding and reading a nice story. This week is so nice fruitful week. I can't wait to start week Three.

Testing , testing, 123 testing. Everything is ok? -Good.

Hi everybody,

 Believe it or not. I have a web blog. This day will be a remarkable day in the history of English language Teaching. please forgive me for being a bit enthusiastic and humorous for having a web blog for the fist time. I hope it will be a successful blog full of valuable information for me and for my fellow English teachers and for learners from All over the world. Please feel free to post your valuable comments and ideas.Thank you all for coming here and special thanks for the University of Oregon for admitting me to such a valuable course.