Module 6 Activity 12

I have learned so much over the past few months when it comes to project approaches, activity 12 was basically about scaffolding our learners, we can not just throw them into the ocean, they may drown so I have learnt that  we need to create students support documents and these documents can be of different  types, the teacher however must create a suitable support document to help the learners successfully  create their project. during this activity I did learned how to properly create these different types of support documents..

Module 8 Activity 11 Flipped classrooms

This activity was a good one, I learned quite a lot. I have never heard bout flipped classroom before so I paid close attention to the pros, cons and how to set up a flipped classroom.

Ive learned a few important things: the videos should not be long because it may bore the students especially how they are using their own time to view the video. one great thing i have learned is that  flipped classrooms is student centred which helps them develop autonomy. I believe that flipped classrooms helps make life easier for the teacher since students come prepared for class and I was convinced from the activity to try this tool with my students. It may not work with all forms but by trying I will realise who it works best with then I can prepare videos. Internet may be a problem for some students so that is one of the drawbacks but students may view the short videos before class since schools have Internet access for all students.

Module 8 Activity 10

cellphones in classrooms

As much as I was shown the advantages and disadvantages of using cellphones in classrooms i will state as my opinion that  the cons outweigh the pros.  I have been told that cellphone can be used on class as polls and as a collaboration tool, however cellphones are probably the major distraction for students especially teenagers hence some schools move towards banning them in school.

from the activity I have gained some insight into the policies that are necessary for students bringing cellphones to the class-- they need permission from parents and mostly they need a strict set of classroom rules for using them. this activity was very interesting even though i did not totally agree with everything that was mentioned. I encourage my colleagues to read more on cellphones in classroom and see if they can agree that it is tool that can enhance learning. some may say they can be used as calculators or even for taking pictures for posting on social networks so the class may comment.I usually hear students raising points to allow the use in class but I stick to my opinion that it is not allowed. maybe for older and mature students it may work but for the teenagers I would reject it.

Module 8 Activity 9

Social networks in the classroom

The activity  brought out exactly what I have been saying to my colleagues at work, social networking carries a negative vibe if its to be used in the classroom but it definitely can be used effectively to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom. From what I have read I came to the conclusion that using certain social networks like Facebook and twitter, students will be enthusiastic to use them even if its for educational purpose, however the teacher now need to monitor the students to ensure they remain on those networks for the duration of the activities and use them for the intended purpose.
social networks can be used for sharing ideas, posting pictures of class event, posting videos and commenting on them all, basically the students use the network for collaboration. finally the main purpose of the module is management and that is necessary to ensure that social networking works with education

Module 8 Activity 8 safety

E-safety

this activity opened my eye about the things we as teachers need to consider when we point out sutdents to the Internet, especially on social networks. Teachers tend to take it lightly that on these social networks someone somewhere are there preying on kids for personal gain, in addition, we need to consider the websites, computers and even the protection installed on these computers because students can have their personal information stolen. now it may seem simple but  I learned in the activity that we may just want our students to collaborate and communicate using the social networks but online safety is much more important.and students need to be monitored as they work.

Module 8 activity 7 Tablets in the classroom

Tablets in the classroom was quite an interesting activity, I basically learned that like all other devices that are used there are pros and cons. from the activity I can conclude that there are more pros than cons with using tablets in the classroom, think about. In my classroom if tablets are used the students would misbehave less since they would be occupied, there are many apps available so students can use them for a variety of purposes- tablets can be used to take pictures, access social networking sites, view videos, type school work and more, not to mention that these days they are one of the cheapest devices available. I recommend teachers to employ the use of tablets in the classroom. the activity's examples were enough proof that they can improve teaching and learning in the classroom.

management of tablets in the classroom maybe an issue since students may become carried away so I learned that as teachers we need to be more vigilant and manage the internet properly and encourage students to use apps the tablets wisely because usually once they drop that they will be  broken.

tablets are great for the classroom as long as they are properly managed.

Activity 6- One to One computing

I like this activity not basically for what we had to do to complete it but because one to one computing has always been a controversy for many schools in my country. Currently in SVG we have a 'one laptop per child' initiative recently implemented by the Government of SVG; this initiative was implemented with teacher training on ICT integration and on technical aspects of the laptops. This activity gave me lots of ideas to take back to the classsroom and also help me with the classroom management aspect. Many teachers believe one to one computers can work effectively without proper planning for time, space and   but from the activity i realised how important it is to plan properly. I look forward to learning as much in the upcoming assignments as I did in this one

Module 8 Activity 5- Interactive white boards

This activity was quite a long one, lots of reading but yet good. I must admit I did not read all of the readings but those that I looked at were very informative; some with even interesting topics such as, "Do smartboards make smart students?" I really enjoyed looking at the video clips, I noticed how the students were involved in the lesson and worked with each other while the teacher taught using the IWB, I also noticed the teacher not only was limited to standing by the board but they came and interacted with the students so they got help with their work. Throughout this activity Ive learnt that IWB has its advantages and disadvantages like many other things that exist but it would definitely suggest that schools get one and use it, it may cost a lot but its a tool that help make the students learning easier and more fun.

Module 8 Activity 4

One computer classrooms
quite an interesting activity, based on one computer classrooms I'm not an advocate for this one computer class.I think its only use is if the teacher is using it to display information to the whole class. apart from that its confusion in each group, everyone wants to be the one holding the mouse. however one computer classrooms can be used for whole group quizzes, questions , demonstrations and presentations. in this activity there were alot of discussion among my colleages whether it is a good thing or not but I have come to the conclusion that as long as the teacher develop fun and effective activities and are able to manage the class.

Module 8 Activity 3

This activity  showed me a the good and bad about high density labs, it helped me realise that most of our schools in this country have a lab and their sole purpose is to house large classes to do mainly information tech and sometimes other subjects areas. in the discussions my colleagues brought out some valid points about the issues of these labs for example the layout doesn't change in comparison to using laptops in classroom where students can be  arranged in multiple ways so they can collaborate. My main issue with labs is the cost of setting up, then as teachers we have to think about managing the large number of students, monitoring what they are doing and how they are progressing; it may be a little tedious. High density labs maybe good when students do not own  a personal computer, the class may work together during and after class time in the lab to get things  done and in addition with the use of a projector the teachers can get topics taught to the whole class pointing their attention in one place then they follow on the computers. I prefer using a classroom instead of a lab but each situation has their pros and cons and based on these a school may decide which is best to work with.

Module 8 Activity 2

From researching  I have concluded that ICT enabled classes rooms have both pros and cons and as the teacher the most important of all is the planning and managing in every aspect. on the other hand the major drawback would be managing the resources and  when they fail to work. from my readings I also encountered some words which I made not of in the glossary of the wiki; im still surprised I never knew about photoblogging, its seems so much more fun that me typing this sentence currently..makes this blog seem old fashion :). The use of the wiki is stilll interesting and I continue to enjoy its use when it comes to collaboration. I look forward to doing more work with the wiki and continue learning more.

Activity 1 module 8

Activity 1 started sort of tough for me I must say but at the end it was a great activity. My reasons for saying it began tough  was that I was having problems with the WIKI, however I signed up and got linked up with the course's Wiki page. I realised that this tool is very insterestng and it made me wonder why didnt i know about this earlier? The wiki is a great tool that I my self will be setting up soon with my students so we can all collaborate and work on topics and share information.

This activity not only introduced me to the Wiki site but also classroom management ; with the help of my colleagues I was able to gain some tips on the importance of classroom management and how to effectively manage use several skills to manage the class. I was grateful  for the collaborative effort and this really inspired me to use this tool.

Activity 10: producing the resource

Producing the resource

This activity basically brings out the creativity in me and I believe the other teachers as well. Having to create interesting activities which engages the students and caters for their needs is a fun thing to do as a teacher; especially using  a digital resource. I used Microsoft to create the activities for the students which would be inthe form of tables/worksheets if I am to create the lesson i would need to add another digital resource which would make life easier for students and teacher. I enjoyed the activity simply because I am a teacher and this is what I love to do- gather work and create diverse learning activities for my students. 

Activity 6

using office software with subject learning

This was quite an interesting activity, comprising of three parts where with each I had to use a different type of office software; I am capable of using the office software competently so what  I really learnt was using my skills to prepare Teaching/learning activities to better enhance my students abilities. The activity help show us that regardless of the subject area, we can still use office software to produce documents for our students and if we do not know how to use them, then we have the opportunity to learn so we can be better equipped for this technological age with the inclusion of ICT in our teaching.

Activity 5a

I am impressed with the amount of resources that are out there on the Internet readily available for teachers, it is just left to us to seek, find and make use. As a math teacher I always want additional resources to use in class, curriculum and lesson plan help; this activity helped point me to some of those websites and with the checklist provided and could have assessed websites for content and other material. websites like: www.khanacademy.com ,mathsnet.net  and discoveryeducation.com.  so during this activity I found some websites useful and some not so useful because they were lacking in quite a number of sections while I assessed them with the check-list.
In general websites can be useful for assisting students and teachers to enhance learning.

Module 5 Activity 3

This activity was one that was needed and reminded me of a previous activity where we had to assess websites to see what makes a good website, but in this case I had to evaluate educational software. I came up with ten criteria for evaluating educational software and I believe they were adequate. This activity allowed me to look at what really is important when it comes to students using software for learning purposes. I learnt a few things from this activity because there were teachers who included some criteria that were very interesting, a few I would not have thought of and so I will  use all of the ideas so when i am ready to recommend software for my students, it will be software that is of top quality and matches all or most of the necessary criteria.

Module 5 Activity 2

The activity basically allowed us to use software that can be used in class with your students and so did I, It was quite enjoyable, I used the website/app Edmodo and it was very interesting, i was surprised to students used it and I am guessing it is because it resembles Facebook and it also has an app for android and ios. I will  say it was a fruitful activity and it encouraged some of us teachers who never used educational software to get on board. in addition I was able to look at some of the links other teachers posted and take a look at them; indeed they were also good links to interesting educational websites/programs.

Module 5 Activity 1: Refection on the value of social bookmarking

This module began quite interesting with the use of social bookmarking, right away I learned how to use the site diigo and how it can be used to in lessons.  I created my own link and here it is: https://www.diigo.com/user/maximryan  I have bookmared sites and i understood that with diigo I can share my link with other teachers and students which makes it a very useful tool for me. I would suggest to other teaches to use this tool with  other teachers to share resources and websites because thus far I have gotten links from other teachers that I intend to use.

Assignment 3

Welll I cant even say much about this module but I must state that in my opinion it was the most challenging assignment in modules 1-4. I had some difficulty at start and also I had some problems at home but I tried my best to finish on time, I had to really think hard to come with a lesson then to make the adjustments for thinking and questioning skills, it was quite a task but eventually I got it done. I finished the assignment realising that we as teachers need not to deliver lessons simple when there are technological tools available to enhance delivery and increase students attention span and learning.

Module 1 Activity 11

contrast lesson

This activity was such a good one, the reading gave me a lot of insight on how I can use resonance and cognitive dissonance to stimulate thinking. this entire activity helped me to enhance the way I question students. planning and managing questions was very interesting. I used all I learned in this activity in  a few lessons so far and the results were good, I got my students to start thinking, comparing and contrasting  ideas, especially when I used pictures juxtaposed. I encourage all my colleagues to contrast in lessons especially when they need students to have a good discussion.

Module 1 Activity 10

Promoting discussion

In this activity I learned a lot of ideas for my classroom discussion. I was aware of the think ink pair share discussion strategy before but the agree/disagree method was new to me. I have not yet tried it in my classroom but I am willing to do so very soon. I completed the activity by using the first strategy with some  very interesting questions for my students to discuss. the discussion each pair had was quite fruitful so I was very content with the outcome. I will try the agree/disagree in one of my classes in the following week and see if it words well as the think pair share.

Module 1 Activity 9

what questions we ask and why?

This activity really spoke to me, I use questioning as a strategy in my classroom very often so my ideas was polished after doing the readings. my high points of the reading  was basically about why we ask questions, i usually ask questions so students can think more and also to start a discussion, i learnt that we ask questions for a few more reasons than that, i accept the ideas and i can now ask more questions. I am accustom to use both close and open ended questions which i was reminded of in the readings and i would encourage all teachers to use both open and closed questions so that students recall would not be the only thing tested. questions need to be asked at all levels of  blooms taxonomy. I can basically summarize my thoughts by saying that questioning is a strategy that if used correctly, will enhance learning just like any other strategy used in the classroom.

Activity 7

collaborative learning

This activity was very productive and I learned a few things which I will mention.
collaborative learning is good and teachers are encouraged to incorporate the strategy in their teaching.

collaborative learning can only be successful if teachers plan and plan diligently.

teachers should not place students into random groups and give an assignment and think it would work as cooperative learning.

when cooperative learning is done right, the students learn from each other, become more social and when they work together they solve problems quicker and easier.

I definitely enjoy the readings of vygotsky and plan to put them into practice more often but with my revised knowledge of how things should done properly.

Activity 6

Learning about Vygotsky's concept of social development was very refreshing to me as a teacher, I learned about his ideas about helping students verbalise and also scaffolding. In addition to this, the activity I really enjoyed was the brainstorm and even shared some of brainstorm ideas with  some of my co workers at school. I will encourage any teacher to employ Vygotsky's  concepts in their teaching especially dealing with older children.

Module 1 Activity 5

Developmental Psychology

I must admit that the readings were  long but it was not a waste of  time at all, Based on my readings I learned quite a lot which i would have suspected when I began the activity. I was reminded that as teachers we must not only focus on the students' academic needs but a child develops in other ways also and we must cater for them.  At my school we do try to focus on  all the needs of the child developmental needs but the parents and community need to play a part also. As I go through these readings I am informed much more and I will use this information to my advantage as a class teacher.

Module 1 Activity 4

I found this activity really great,as a teacher, student behaviour is a main concern and being reminded of  the ways to control the students' behaviour in class is always appreciated. I learned  more about positive reinforcement, punishments and rewards which I will try to implement in my classroom in the future. In addition, looking at the other ccti participants group comments I  was really inspired to use some of their strategies since they worked so well for them. I really hope they work for me since being able to change students behaviour for the better is a really rewarding part of being a teacher.

Module 1 Activity 3

Activity 3 really reminded me of some of the things I have learned a few years ago. I  was reminded that students learn in many ways and by observing is a main one especially when children are young they learn mostly by observing and mimicking what they see happening around them. I used this information to model good behaviour in and out of the classroom, this information influenced the way I teach and work examples for younger children.

It was a great activity and my colleagues comments in the blog was also very interesting and insightful, I am even considering using some of their ideas on modelling in my classes in the future.

Module 1 Activity 2 - information processing

This activity looked at how we learn/how we process information and by going through the self  activity I got to realise that in order to remember certain information we need to associate it, make a connection with something that we know; I could not have remembered the letters but after it was organised into words, it was soo much easier. I can use this when teaching my students, I must always try to relate what I teach with that students already know because we all know students are not empty vessels. I will try to help students decode and store what i teach in their long term memory by making giving them things they can relate to.

Module 1 Activity 1

The most powerful lessons that I learnt during this activity:

During this activity I was reminded in the readings about how students learn and that we as teachers need to be constantly thinking of ways to meet our students’ needs and how to keep them motivated. I was also reminded that we are only facilitators/guides; our students are not empty vessels waiting to be filled.

From going through the comments section of the group blog I have realized that quite a number of teachers have been motivated and influenced by the change in students behaviours towards learning based on that change in methodology/pedagogical approaches that was implemented.

Children are our finest teachers. They already know how to grow, how to develop, how to learn, how to expand and discover, how to feel, laugh, cry and get mad, what is right for them and what is not right for them, what they need. They already know how to love and be joyful and live life to its fullest. To work and be strong and full of energy. All they need is the space to do it.

Very interesting paragraph, tells us that students are not as empty as we think they are. Given the right guide we can bring out the knowledge in them and help them improve on what they already know. We simply need to give them the chance express what they know.