Meanwhile, the winter vacation ended and Lunar new year's day has passed.
The topic of last week was about how to engage students using technology. The goal of all the teachers is helping students to stand on their own feet, and the topic of this week was enhancing autonomy of students with or without technology. Also I was asked to come up with an activity for a class with one computer.
First off, I thought about a learning log and a collaborative blog about learning. As I have written on the blog for this web-skill course, each week I had a chance to organize by writing what I learned and to plan what I should do, and I think this helped me a lot. Also, I could get immediate feedback from other trainees, so I could broaden my perspective while communicating with other trainees. While writing on a blog, learners are able to recall what they learned as well as to express how they felt while learning. This is not about just accepting what their teachers give them, so it can eventually enhance students' autonomy.
The second task was to come up with an activity using one computer. I thought about making a brochure or small poster to recommend a nice restaurant in a local area. Using a topic which is quite familiar with students seemed to be a good way to use a computer at a minimum(since students can use their prior knowledge). Using a sand glass to limit time was another solution for a one-computer classroom. I have not used the activity and a sand glass, but I think I probably use these in the near future.
Thanks to Linda, I finally found a partner to share feedback for each other. My plan is still on the way, and I am going to spare time everyday to revise the plan in order to meet the goal. :)
Dear Minjung,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
It is so interesting for me that some of us are having their summer holiday, others are about to start a new semester while we are for a 3-day-long skiing holiday.
As I was reading now your comment on blogging I decided to share my thoughts with you and with those who read these lines. I have a dilemma concerning blogging in class.
Now, as course members, we are using blogs to reflect on what we have learned and it works quite well in this group of adults. But I still have fears using this type of blogging with my students. As a student now, I hardly have time for reading the group members’ posts although I am interested in them. Not to mention the discussions. I read a lot of them, even comment on some of them but I don’t believe a similar activity would work with my teenagers. And as a teacher having five groups of 15-20 students, when will I find time for reading my students’ blogs and comment on them?
Dear Minjung, thank you for accepting my invitation to be my peer review partner. I am looking forward to a fruitful co-operation.
Regards,
Linda, Hungary
Hi, Linda.
DeleteYes, I have never tried using blogs in my own classroom. Since there are many technology-related crimes to the extent that they are even called 'cyber crime' or 'cyber violence,' I feel worried whether I could create a chance for students to be exposed to such violence. Also, as you mentioned, it almost sounds 'giving feedback to individual student' is no more than fantasy of teachers. In language education-wise, using blogging(students' writing on the blog very enthusiastically) might be a fantasy, but in terms of giving students opportunities to feel self-confidence after building a blog, I think even posting a picture of a tree or celebrities would be worth trying. I think students build confidence from this experience. Personally, I found out that students with low self-esteem and confidence showed low performance in subject matter. If students gain even a bit of confidence with just a picture or a sentence or a famous English quote while blogging, I think that can motivate students to gain confidence to start studying.
Wouldn't it be ok if I give feedback to students sporadically? I think it is better than commenting a lot at first, and commenting nothing later. :) What do you think?
Cheers,
Minjung from Korea
Dear Minjung :
ReplyDeleteI think teaching our students how to use blogs during the classes will improve their writing skills , also this will give them chance to reflect their learning .
I am thinking to use this method with my students . Also , I like the idea of Padlet wall . But , we have 4 days holiday for stormy weather , so I think I will start this week with my students .
Thanks a lot for your comment last week .
Cheers from Jordan :
Hanan Sallam
Hi, Hanan!!
DeleteI don't usually like stormy weather, but if it can allow me not to go to work, I can't help liking it, right? (Just a joking~~)
I am looking forward to hearing from you about how your class would go. :)
Thank you again for your cheerful words. :)
Best,
Minjung
Dear Minjung :
ReplyDeleteI think teaching our students how to use blogs during the classes will improve their writing skills , also this will give them chance to reflect their learning .
I am thinking to use this method with my students . Also , I like the idea of Padlet wall . But , we have 4 days holiday for stormy weather , so I think I will start this week with my students .
Thanks a lot for your comment last week .
Cheers from Jordan :
Hanan Sallam
Hi Minjung,
ReplyDeleteI especially appreciated your comment about blogs--they're simultaneously a place for students to review and recapitulate the material they learned in class, but also a place for self-expression, reflection and processing. I don't think that I've ever thought about blogs in precisely that way, but now that you've presented it, it makes quite a bit of sense. Blogs are a space were the official responsibilities of the student meets the personal reflections of the person who attends the class (here I'm positing a sort of dual identity: there is, on the one hand, a student-self, who is assuming a certain role, and then there is the actual person behind the student mask who has opinions, feelings and reactions.) Good food for thought!
Best,
Russell
Hi, Russell!
DeleteProbably emotional and psychological aspects of any tools play a crucial role in classes with teenagers. As I wrote already on some other posts, in Asian countries like Korea, it is a virtue to just follow what adults say. Under too much stress from society and parents about entering good schools and getting a good job, teenagers do not find any means to actually release their feelings as an outlet . They are eager to be understood by others, so having others' warm comments make my teenage students feel so relieved and happy just like people like to get a lot of 'likes' on Facebook page. Looking so trivial, but that actually matters. I think it's just like some teenagers focus too much on buying fancy pens before starting studying. :)
The role of teachers would be drawing a certain line so that teenagers can distinguish their roles between 'an human being' and 'a learner'. :)
Thank you for your comment.
Cheers,
Minjung