https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kfoIABGpkY

Week 10. What I have learnt from the course

Dear Robert, the staff in Oregan University, dear e-mates and everyone who has contributed in making this course a really wonderful experience and a great success,

It's such a great pleasure to express my warmest thanks and deepest gratitudes to you all for this great chance which has changed my teaching career and put me on the right truck in the  teaching of English for the 21st centry learners. I've learned a lot of great tools and techniques that I can't even count: creating a blog, websites, search engines, etc?

Thank you.

Reflection to Week 9: Learning styles - technology connections

It's hard to believe we're reaching the end of the course. It has been a great chance that I personally have never thought it would be in such a great success. I would love to express my warmest thanks and deepest gratitude to our dedicated instructor, Robert Eliot, the university of Oregon, my e-colleagues, the US Embassy in Rabat - Morocco and to the MATE (The Moroccan Association of Teachers of English) for this wonderful experience which has paved my way to a brighter future in EFL teaching. I have learned a lot for myself and for my students as well. 

Week 9 has been a great chance to refresh our minds of Rebecca Oxford’s Language Learning Styles and Strategies and other authors who highlight the importance of learners’ differences in the way they approach their learning .

  The integration of technology helps students experience a variety of learning contexts and gives them suitable sources for their learning styles. It also helps to find effective ways to enhance students’ progress toward learning goals. Thus, the existence of differences in learning styles among learners necessitates that teachers should not stick to the same way while dealing with students. They should use appropriate web tools to address these differences. 

Thanks all.

All the best,
Abdelghani.

Reflection to Week 8

Hello Robert and e-mates,
I'm sorry, I've been trying to post but I couldn't because of some connectivity problems. I've spent almost a sleepless night but I couldn't make it. Now, that I managed to fix the problem, all I can see is that it has been a great week with new classroom websites and fruitful discussions. Using such tools will certainly help students become autonomous independent learners; hence, it will help them develop their learning skills by themselves. It will allow them learn in side and outside the classroom with their mates and with students all over the world.

As for me. I've gained a lot of new tools and this course has been a great key to most of my classroom problems and has a great impact on my teaching career.

Thanks Robert and everyone in Oregan University.

Thanks for understanding!

Abdelghani.

Week 7. Reflection.

Dear colleagues, 

To start with, here is a quote by John Dewey that I’d love to share: « If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow ». 

It has been a successful week with new handy tools like Wallwisher and great useful ides about learner autonomy and the one computer classroom.

Questions like “How do our students relate to our lessons and who does the different things in the classroom?” raise an urgent call for encouraging independent learning through learner autonomy. The idea is that we should give the students the chance to be more independent and take charge in their learning process through learning by doing rather than just sitting there and having a passive role in the learning process. It is very motivating and helps students develop self-confidence. They begin to enjoy what they are doing and have a lot fun while learning. Also, it helps them become thinkers which is very important in learning.

 All the best,

Abdelghani.

Week 6: Reflection.

It’s been a great week just as the previous ones. I felt sorry for the days when I used to teach 46 to 52 students per class. Really large English classes. It was a real challenge for a fresh novice teacher like me. If only I had had some of the skills I’ve learnt this week through the reading task, the discussion on ways to engage students more in the learning process through creating student-centered classes. 

                                              One of large classes in my first teaching year

Implementing technology enhanced changes in our classrooms like Power Point, Videos, clickers, and similar tools would all help getting learners more involved and make the language classroom a fun leaning environment.

The evolution in technology leads to more choices and facilities  which make these tools so powerful in getting students attention throughout the whole session.( The use of pictures, videos, audios and animations in Power Point)                                        

Week 5: PBL, WebQuests, and Rubrics

Another week, full of innovation. The discussion has been enriched by the coming of Janine Sepulveda whose contribution has given a push to the enhancement of the course. We've been equipped with more ICT tools like WebQuest which will add a lot to our teaching operation. Also, we've learnt more about Project-Based Learning which is an alternative to traditional classroom to give learner to learn through doing and develop critical thinking. 

Thanks, Robert again and again.

Abdelghani.