LoTi Framework

After reading the LoTi Framework at

(http://loticonnection.com/index.php/resources/publications/20-loti-framework), I came to know about different levels of LoTi Frameworks like

LoTi Level 0 - Non-use

LoTi Level 1 - Awareness

LoTi Level 2 - Exploration

Level 3 - Infusion

Level 4a – Integration: Mechanical

Level 4b – Integration: Routine

Level 5 - Expansion, and

Level 6 - Refinement.

Then I came to realize that I'm in Level 1 - Awareness. I usually make use of computer or the Internet in my teaching activities to expose my students to real world situation. I also make them listen accent of native speakers, conversation between two, and I also make them sit with myself to watch video clips or movies which are related with developing English skills of the students.

I know this level (1 Awareness) is not the level where I should be. I want to reach each level one after another quickly so that I could do something innovative in my limitation using all the resources that I have.

Last email of Robert

Hi everyone,

The last email from Robert has really made me sad like you all. It was really very nice experience learning from you all. We all learnt a lot from Robert. I would always be grateful to him for his support where it was a bit difficult situation for me.

I believe 'learning is a life-long process'. We, being teachers, also need to be updated all the time so as to update our students. Therefore, I would like to request you all to be in touch via Blogs.

I've also created a group 'Webskills 2011 Robert-Friends' on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/groups/286161174762115/).

I request you all to join the group and be in touch if possible. It would help us know each other a bit more.

I will really miss you all. Being together for 10 weeks has really made us emotionally attached. Thanks for being supportive.

Dipendra Prasad Kanu (Deep),

Nepal

Advice to the future participants by Dipendra Prasad Kanu

Hi Robert,

Everybody has already given their precious advice to the future participants.

5 pieces of sound advice of Avraham Roos, website addresses of Roza Zhussupova with nice suggestions, list of what Elmira Ilizarova has learnt and the do's and don'ts of Elmira Ilizarova, ten tips of Masafumi Kosaka, some important points of Johanes L. Taloko, six tips of Mun Sim Jeon, addition to the do's and don'ts tips by Roza Ibrahim, 11 tips by Yariela Cantarero and lots of useful tips by other friends have said much but I also want to share something from my side.

1st: Spare enough time for your learning.

2nd: Have cool mind to study with no pressure at all.

3rd: Keep the deadline and topics in mind even if you're offline.

4th: Write comments or your views on the first reading of the text, because you'll not have time for second reading.

5th: Keep in continuous touch with your international friends and share on their blogs.

6th: Bookmark all the useful sites which you may need later.

7th: Keep in touch with your instructor.

8th: Don't give up. Look back sometimes to see you are ahead of at least someone.

9th: Integrate technology in your teaching right after you learn. Don't pen down for tomorrow.

10th: Be informed of what is going on all around like Nicenet, google-sites, Jupitergrades, blogs, delicious.com pages of friends, Wikis, Inbox (emails), comments of others on your comments, etc.

11th: Save passwords and usernames of the accounts you make during your learning at various places like diary, notepad, email draft, etc.

12th: Be ready for much more learning next week than this week.

13th: Keep the list of class members with their emails.

14th: Print all the important information that you may need every week.

These are the things that came out from my mind for the future participants. Had I known about these suggestions, I would have done much better than this.

I've used some color so that it's easy for you to read but if it disturbs, I'm sorry for that.

Deep, Nepal

Advice to the future participants by Tatsiana Senina

1. Start treating the course as the part of your everyday life from the very beginning. 10 weeks is not so temporary. It's nearly 3 months.


2. If you want to do your best, start planning and scheduling when you do what.


3. Follow instructor's advice how things should be done: the way the posts are written, templates, etc.


4. Be yourself, don't be afraid to speak up or express a different point of view.


5. Copy straightaway all the links and material you find especially interesting and useful, otherwise you can lose it or just forget where it was easily.


6. Interact with your groupmates.


7. Be "present" as a lot of interesting discussions can be missed.


8. Be yourself, don't be afraid to speak up or express a different point of view.

Advice to the future participants by María Eugenia Balderrama Rocha

Hello everybody,

My coursemates have already given wonderful pieces of advice. I am sure new participants will have a wonderful time if they take the wise advice. I can mention some that worked well with me or may have helped me even more:

1. Read the instructions carefully before working on a task.
2. Focus on the topic(s) or activity.
3. If you have any questions, don't feel afraid to ask them. You are not supposed to know everything and we are all learning new things.
4. Have a file where you keep the most important information and links related to this course.
5. Ask for some pieces of advice to administer time and work on the different tasks more wisely at the very beginning or when you feel the need.
6. Do not wait until the last minute (unless it is an emergency or you really lack of time).
7. Take this course when you have a vacation. It is even more fruitful when you have enough time to work on the different activities and read the material.
8. Enjoy every activity. It is unique!

If I had to go back in time, Nº 3, 4, and 5 would help me a lot.

Warm regards,
Genny

Advice to the future participants by Yariela Cantarero

My advice to future participants

1.   Never say never: Sometimes we face issues we think they are imposible to reach, but believe me, it is not true. You must try and give a second and even a third try and you will get it.

2.   Organize your works, it is better to have everything in your computer or i-phone right there on hands in order to change or do something faster. For examples: links, webs, notes, tasks to have a reminder of what you have to do next.

3.   Read and search. Not only stay with what the course offer. Also, try to look into books or articles from other authors, it will help you a lot in clarifying concepts you may see confusing to understand.

4.   Be critical with yourself before sending any task.

5.   Learn from your classmates. Wow! I learned a lot from others.

6.   Be open to changes.

7.   Try to avoid typing right on the wall or net you were assigned to send your works. I kept everything in my cellphone and laptop with links and notes. So I can have a backup just in case of any accident.

8.   Remember that this should facilitate your work as teacher not to stress you up more, so be positive and enjoy whatever you must do every week.

9.   Be creative and yourself whenever you have to do something here in the course. It helps you more in the sense that your tutor can have a better idea of what you do and what you learn and what you need to improve.

10.   Feel passion for what you do everyday so people can feel it when they read a task you do here.

11.   Remember that whatever you learn here is not only for your own benefit but for all the community you belong to.

I feel glad and happy with the team I worked with. Thanks guys.

Regards,
Yariela

Advice to the future participants by Mun Sim Jeon

I would like to just add some more to help future participants.

1. Look whole contents all around and grasp the flow of the course. It makes you predict what you will do and prepare it.


2. Keep in mind ground rules and rubrics. They will tell how you can make it.


3. Make a plan for your tasks. The course is usually consists of three parts:
Two posts on Nicenet, one or two tasks, reflection (blogging), plus, final project writing by week 9. Especially, to keep up with two postings per week, planning is important.


4. For review and future use, make a folder of each week and save useful articles.


5. Manage your favorites saving useful websites. (Use 'Delicious'.)


6. Access a provided 'Blog Roll' and visit your course-mates. You can see lots of ideas and insightful reflections. 

Regards, 
Alex

Advice to the future participants by Masafumi Kosaka

Below are ten tips to do well and get the most out of this class from my experience.
Probably I would add some more if I think of.

1.   Check the whole content of this course before you start week 1.
You can see "learning object of this week" of week 2-10. This helps you overview the whole course like looking at first contents of books.

2.   Use a draft of your blog to take memos.
You will have some keywords, your thoughts, and so in reading materials, discussion posts and task during the week. Keep them in a draft of your blog. It helps you write your weekly blog, and you can easily write your weekly blog in short time.

3.   Keep every website you access in "Delicious" and put a tab.
You will have your original list at the end of this course. Make sure to make your own tabs, and write some comments if necessary.

4.   Make a folder of each week, and keep articles in it.
You can easily "go back" to the former articles without on-line. Do try to take memos or underline in articles on the computer, not print them out. Please be environmentally-conscious. 

5.   Use on-line dictionaries for your reading and writing to enrich your vocabulary.
This course is also a good opportunity to enrich your vocabulary. Some grammar checking websites would help you write in English. 

6.   Check posts on "Nicenet" at least once a day.
You can keep up with the latest topic in the discussion and get hints to start your posts. Your instructor's posts often give you good seeds to think more deeply about the topic.

7.   Make good use of tutorials on "Youtube" if you are not so skilled in some tools.
If you think you are not skilled in some tools like PowerPoint, "Youtube" has numbers of "tutorial movies" that help you.

8.   Refer to e-classmates' "Task" and add your originalities and ingenuities.
Especially when you are not skilled or familiar with the task, do refer to your e-classmates' tasks. Their tasks are surely full of helpful suggestions, hints and clues.

9.   Keep your posts or comments short and simple, especially in "Nicenet"

10.   Exchange your opinions, thoughts, and what you learned not only within e-classmates but also with your co-workers and friends.

It gives you opportunities to get more thoughts, and make it much easier to have a trial class or lesson at your schools. 

Best regards
Masa

Do's' and Don'ts of Elmira Ilizarova

For future participants:


Do's
•   Plan and manage your working hours/timetable
•   Find the right balance between working on- and off-line
•   Start working as soon as you get the week tasks
•   Mind the deadlines
•   Make a draft in Word format, save and after rereading copy-paste into the Discussion Forum
•   Print out the materials for reading, highlight the main points and then start writing the posts
•   Give comments to your classmates' posts and blogs
•   Be Positive, Respectful, Prepared, Responsible, Patient and Helpful 
•   Remember that Learning online is both challenging and beneficial
•   In case of an emergency, let the tutor know about the problems
•   Save all the tasks and posts for the Discussion Forum in a separate Folder on your desktop

Don'ts
•   Put off everything till the last moment 
•   Hesitate to ask questions
•   Miss the tasks
•   Forget Netiquette rules

If I had another chance to take the course again, I would definitely take it in summer, during my holidays. I would have had more free time for studying. 
The advice that would have helped me is: "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience" - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Elmira.

5 pieces of sound advice by Avraham Roos

For future participants:

1. Read all articles and take notes while reading them
2. Save all Internet links you like in a place you can easily find them back (e.g. Delicious.com)
3. Avoid procrastination. Don't push off to tomorrow what you can do today.
4. Sometimes you learn more from your fellow students than from the course materials. Make sure to read what others write.
5. Have fun!!!

Reflection

Hi Robert and friends,

Everything that starts must come to an end. I really feel bad to know that this is our final week.
Honestly speaking, I wanted to learn many things from the course but it's my misfortune that I couldn't walk with the pace of time. I missed so many chances where I could have done better but things did not go as planned. I had thought that the classes would be of webinar types and we would listen to lectures and make notes about what we would learn. I was really surprised to know the way we were taught and trained picking from various parts of the globe.

It was almost impossible for me to continue the course due to much busy schedule but it was Robert who heated me guessing the potentiality that I have. Many times came when I didn't like to post comments looking others' comments similar to mine already there on Nicenet. When the topics are same, the possibility of similar comments goes up.

I thank to 'delicious.com' for keeping my website addresses save for my future learning. I feel that this life is not enough for me to study all the materials or links that I got during this course related with ELT. If one doesn't believe, they can visit my delicious page once at http://delicious.com/dear_deep where I have saved  195 links till now and I hope they will go up and up every week.

Deep

Review of week 7

Review of week 7:

Week 7 was also full of knowledge through the texts links available on 'Building Teacher Skills Through the Interactive Web' but the matter of pity is that I couldn't give much time on Internet Classroom Assistant (ICA) for reading and commenting this week as well because I suddenly had to go out of the city for a few busy days. The bad thing for me was that I couldn't reply to Robert's comment that he made on my post on Nicenet.

Because I went out of the city on Thursday, I had managed to read and write something for the week. But it was all because of Robert's encouragement. I was not in condition to continue the course because of my hectic schedule of works. I was going to quit but it was Robert who encouraged me to continue.

I thank him for his greatness. 

Use of computer in class

Use of computer in class:

The goal of using computer in the class is to help ESL teachers help students use computers as a tool to further their acquisition of English.

According to Barry Bakin, the computer is a good way to reinforce information, add an interactive element to a lesson, or provide varied activities which meet the learning styles of different students.

We have to focus on Pre-use of computer, While use of computer, and post use of computer.

From the presentation given by Donna Ashmus at (http://www.seirtec.org/present/onecomptr.html) I came to know about the

7 Categories of Classroom Computer Use:

1. Administrative Tool

2. Presentation tool

3. Communication station

4. Information station

5. Publishing tool

6. Learning center

7. Simulation center

for both teachers and students. It's really very nice. I enjoyed learning new things.

One Computer Lesson

One Computer Lesson:

We were asked to create a sample activity for a one-computer classroom to share making sure that we include who the students are, when in the lesson you're using the activity, the behavioral objective (ABCD format), and why technology will make the activity more effective.

What I had posted on Nicenet:

Hi Robert and all,

I will use educational CDs/ DVDs and internet as administrative tool (condition) to engage the students in learning English culture who are of Intermediate Level age between 19 to 23 (audience) from which they will watch, discuss what they like while I pause at each level (behavior) and after the activity is over I will give them the written texts of one or two parts so that they realize the level of their understanding and be able to reply some of the questions confidently (degree).

The technology will make the activity more effective because teaching and learning with same methods may be monotonous for the students. Technology, in making the students more active and our teaching more effective, works like spice to change our taste.

Deep, Nepal

What Robert said:

• FROM: Robert Elliott
  SUBJECT: RE: One Computer Lesson
  
  Hi Deep
  
  Interesting use of the "DVD/CDs and internet". I guess I'd like to know a bit more about the listening: what is the topic, what does it cover, how many listening chances will they have and how many times can they listen to each, etc. That would help me see what you are doing a bit more clearly.
  
  As far as you ABCD objective, I wonder if your main goal is to have them discuss what they like (listed under behavior) or have them reply to the questions of the written text (listed under degree). To me these are both possible behaviors, so the objective might be reformulated to show us which one is your main goal.
  
  Robert

==

I got a bit upset when I found the comment of Robert after I came back from Kathmandu after a few days (on Tuesday). Sorry again, Robert!

Learner Autonomy

What Is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered? by Dimitrios Thanasoulas

It was very nice to learn about "What is Learner Autonomy and How Can it Be fostered?" by Dimitrios Thanasoulas on (http://iteslj.org/Articles/Thanasoulas-Autonomy.html) that autonomy is 'the ability to take charge of one's learning'. The term autonomy has come to be used in at least five ways:

·         for situations in which learners study entirely on their own;

·         for a set of skills which can be learned and applied in self-directed learning;

·         for an inborn capacity which is suppressed by institutional education;

·         for the exercise of learners' responsibility for their own learning;

·         for the right of learners to determine the direction of their own learning.

In my opinion, it would be very difficult for almost all of us to encourage greater autonomy in students without technology.

Within the context of education, there seem to be seven main attributes characterising autonomous learners:

1.      Autonomous learners have insights into their learning styles and strategies;

2.      take an active approach to the learning task at hand;

3.      are willing to take risks, i.e., to communicate in the target language at all costs;

4.      are good guessers;

5.      attend to form as well as to content, that is, place importance on accuracy as well as appropriacy;

6.      develop the target language into a separate reference system and are willing to revise and reject hypotheses and rules that do not apply; and

7.      have a tolerant and outgoing approach to the target language.

I also learnt about 'Learner Autonomy and Dominant Philosophies of Learning'

In this section, I found three dominant approaches to knowledge and learning.

1. Positivism is premised upon the assumption that knowledge reflects objective reality.

2. Constructivism is an elusive concept and, within applied linguistics, is strongly associated with Halliday. As Candy observes, '[o]ne of the central tenets of constructivism is that individuals try to give meaning to, or construe, the perplexing maelstrom of events and ideas in which they find themselves caught up'.

3. Critical theory, an approach within the humanities and language studies, shares with constructivism the view that knowledge is constructed rather than discovered or learned. 

I also found there two learning strategies: a) Cognitive Strategies and b) Metacognitive Strategies.

The text is very informative.

Reflection of week 5

Reflection of week 5:

Week 5 was really full of new kinds of learning opportunities and new tools for assessment like rubrics, project-based learning (PBL) and WebQuests.

I think we need to update ourselves with these modern tools in this 21st century if we want to progress and be a good guide to our students. Giving much time on internet means learning a lot. Previously I spent much of my time on unnecessary things which did not benefit me in any way but today whenever I be online, my mind is diverted to delicious.com where I have saved so many important links for future use.

Creating Rubrics:

Before creating Rubrics, I thought it was difficult but when I tried, I found it very simple and enjoyable because I only clicked some of the options and it did the rest itself.

Creating WebQuest on zunal.com:

When I did as suggested by Robert, I was very much excited and found it very interesting tool to use and a good platform to do quite a lot. But I was very much disappointed to know later through some of my webskills friends that one was allowed to create only one page free of cost. That's why, the page (my experience) which I created in the beginning, had to be changed into 'Interview' through edition. I really wanted to create some pages free of cost but I was not allowed.

Other problem with it was that none was able to visit the page after I modified it. I spent much time in trying to get it published to the public but it did not work.

Definition of webquest

Professor Bernie Dodge of San Diego State University defines a WebQuest as an inquiry-oriented activity that uses resources on the World Wide Web. WebQuests pull together the most effective instructional practices into one integrated student activity. These Web-based projects use World Wide Web sites to help students develop problem-solving and decision-making skills. WebQuests are interesting and motivating to teachers and students. An effective WebQuest develops critical thinking skills and often includes a cooperative learning component. Students learn as they search for information using the Web, following a prescribed format that focuses on problem solving and authentic assessment. A well-written WebQuest requires students to go beyond simple fact finding. It asks them to analyze a variety of resources and use their creativity and critical-thinking skills to solve a problem. WebQuests help students analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. There are two kinds of WebQuests, short term and long term.

Project Based Learning (PBL):

It found PBL out as a very powerful tool for motivating students to meet a target in a group work, learning much from friends inside the group.

I have not used PBL before but I am going to use it very soon and see the development as well as improvement in the students to a big extent.

For rubrics: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/

My Rubric ID: 2111267

For PBL: http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/assessing/alternative.htm

http://www.ncsall.net/?id=385

For webquest: http://www.zunal.com/

My zunal ID# is: 

http://www.zunal.com/publish.php?w=119651

Last but not the least, I learnt a lot from week 5 and the credit goes to all the webskills colleagues and of course to ROBERT.

zunal did not work

Hi everyone,

With much excitement I had created a page 'My experience' on zunal.com (WebQuest) but when I came to know that we are not allowed to create more than one page free of cost, I thought to modify the same page which was permissible.

After I modified the page 'My experience' into 'Interview', none was able to view it, it said:

I spent much time in reading the 'Help' page so that I could get some help to get it viewed but was in vain. I unpublished it and then again published; it congratulated me for publishing. It also confirmed that the page was published to public but again the same above-mentioned problem. 

I have decided to quit it now. It was very interesting and I had done much labour in creating the page. I spent about 5 hours but in vain. 

I'm feeling very bad.

The Public URL for this WebQuest:
www.zunal.com/webquest.php?w=119651

TechSolu

For some class-problems I described last week, I think the employment of CALL and some other tools for assessment like rubrics, project-based learning (PBL) and WebQuests will definitely help them increase their interest in gaining knowledge for language acquisition in a quite systematic and modern way.

Showing the importance of PBL, I will engage with some new ideas.

PBL can also minimize the problems caused by absence of students. They can make up the left lessons and also learn the importance of being an important part of the project in a group.

Since the students of basic level lose their interest after a few weeks of learning language, I will expose them to the following links:

1. For Vocabulary: http://www.vocabulary.co.il/

2. For Conversational sentences: http://www.englishdaily626.com/cs.php

3. For Grammar Quizzes; Vocabulary Quizzes; Crossword Quizzes: http://a4esl.org/

4. For Practice: www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/marketing/sfesl/practicereading.html

5. For Video: http://www.real-english.com/reo/1/unit1.html

6. For Listening: http://www.esl-lab.com/learn/learnrd1.htm

7. For Web Learning Projects: http://susangaer.com/studentprojects/

8. For Pronunciation: http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#

I hope with the employment of CALL and other WebTools, many problems can be sorted out in a couple of days.

++

Last week I explained a problem:


I have my own private language institute where I teach English as a Foreign Language (EFL). I've chosen a basic level class where I teach 25 students in a class who are very weak.

Most of the time, I find the students of Basic Level with zero knowledge in English, willing to learn written English fast without doing much hard labour as if I have a magic wand to do so for them. The problem is that they are absent, do not give enough time at home, do not do assignments regularly, and after some time, they start losing their interest. They don't want to spend on extra materials for learning English.

Problem:
Since all the students do not have computers and those who have it, don't have internet connection, it's difficult to make them familiar with new technology. It's also difficult to make them computer literate in a short period (2 months) of time for Basic Level Course. That's why, when I take them to show some video clips, I generally have to explain everything in details with no cross-questions from them, as I expect, which sometimes makes me feel as if I teach to the objects which cannot interact. It also sometimes makes the situation frustrating.

Project Based Learning (PBL)

I also just finished reading the much-discussed article of Susan Gaer, “Less Teaching and More Learning.” I found how she motivated the learners for Project Based Learning. It is also informative for the initiation. She is right to opine that students learn more than a teacher teaches.

Project Based Learning (PBL):

Project-based learning is a component of an inquiry-based approach to learning. In this approach, students create knowledge and understanding through learning activities built around intellectual inquiry and a high degree of engagement with meaningful tasks. Within the context of this inquiry-based approach, projects take the role traditionally afforded to assessments such as tests and quizzes. Projects are designed to allow students with a variety of different learning styles to demonstrate their acquired knowledge.

4 basic elements of a classic project-based learning activity:

1) an extended time frame;

2) collaboration;

3) inquiry, investigation, and research; and finally,

4) the construction of an artifact or performance of a consequential task.

Rubrics:

I think there is very big role of rubrics in PBL for evaluating the sense of understanding of the students. It can simply help measure the understanding of the students. It also makes the students clear about the concepts of the project or activity they are involved in.

These days, students also want to do several activities of learning and developing their skills independently but within a limit. Article about rubrics also states "Providing separate scores for different dimensions of a student's writing or speaking performance does not give the teacher or the student a good assessment of the whole of a performance." Analytical Rubrics provide detailed information about the strengths and weaknesses of the students in their language proficiency.

Since the Project Based Learning deals with an extended time frame; collaboration; inquiry, investigation, and research; and the construction of an artifact or performance of a consequential task, the students can do much more than a teacher expects them to. PBL gives them confidence and encouragement with motivation to work in group to meet a target and show that they can also do.

PBL is an approach to teaching with a target and motivation where the learners work in group with the help of given instructions and resources, planning to come up with a solution. It is also a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges, simultaneously developing cross-curriculum skills while working in small collaborative groups. PBL could be incorporated as a powerful tool in the curriculum itself. It can be incorporated for almost all the subjects. 

My WebQuest: Interview

Hi everybody,

I was excited about doing a lot on zunal.com but my excitement came down when I came to know that we could create only one project there free of cost. But thanks to Robert for sharing other free sites:

http://www.aula21.net/Wqfacil/webeng.htm
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/

Being sad, I edited the previous one (http://www.zunal.com/publish.php?w=119651) and changed that (My experience) into About Interview. It took a long time to add everything and it's very boring to pause and then continue for every thing.

I've created this project for the students learning English Language in advance level. This advance level class consists of 8 students, 3 girls 5 boys, aged between 21-24.

I hope they will be benefited a lot.

My zunal ID# is:

http://www.zunal.com/publish.php?w=119651

Regards,

Deep, Nepal

Rubric about an interview

Hi Robert and everybody!

As everybody, I also enjoyed creating a rubric on Rubistar. It's really great assessment tool with simplicity and easiness.

I chose this rubric for the students learning English Language in advance level. This advance level class consists of 8 students, 3 girls 5 boys, aged between 21-24.

I am teaching them about interviews in English news letters; simply about why an interview is taken? What kind of persons are chosen? What are the things to be considered like pre-interview, while interview and post interview?

Pre-interview:

Preparation

Setting up the interview

Labeling

Checking the equipments like camera, recorder, mic, etc.

While-interview:

Politeness

Recording

Sound Quality

Photos

Note-taking

Follow-up Questions

Post-interview:

Knowledge Gained

Report writing

Interview publishing

I also ask them to visit Time Magazine: http://www.time.com/time/10questions and http://www.youtube.com/show/celebrityinterviews so that they have clear concept about questions to be asked with celebrities, leaders, etc.

The link for my rubric is: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2111267&

My Rubric ID: 2111267

Regards,

Deep, Nepal

Bad Week 4

Review of busy Week 4:

I was very excited about learning some new things in week 4 but things did not go as planned because of my being too much busy in preparation for the celebration of Tihar (Dipawali) festival (http://www.onlinediwaligiftstore.com/diwali-celebrations-in-nepal.html), one of the greatest festivals of Hindu. I couldn’t spare time for writing, however I managed to read some of the texts suggested by friends of Nicenet.

I know this cannot be excused but the fact is the same as I said. If it’s not OK, I’m ready to quit. I am feeling guilty of myself. I was so busy in some works (like cleaning of my institute, making some plans for the school where I am exam co-ordinator, publishing my newsletters, teaching my English language students, etc.) which I couldn’t avoid at any cost. I tried my times to write on Nicenet but I left incomplete owing to busy schedule.

Where I spent a little of my time:

Multimedia Storytelling (Language Arts, Art, Film) by Tacy Trowbridge

It gives an opportunity to strengthen their communication and it also gives skills by exploring multimedia storytelling for grade level 6-12. With the objectives like telling a story through a combination of words, sounds, and images; using a storyboard to outline and plan; and performing before an audience.

He has also suggested to use these helpful iMovie resources to make movies:

(http://www.apple.com/education/dv/tips/index.html)

(http://www.atomiclearning.com/freeimovie.shtml)

I also read the text, 'How do I write an instructional objective?' which I think we had done a bit before.

I also knew about 'What is K-W-L?'

Know - Want to Know - Learned

K-W-L is an introductory strategy that provides a structure for recalling what students know about a topic, noting what students want to know, and finally listing what has been learned and is yet to be learned.

What is its purpose?

The K-W-L strategy allows students to take inventory of what they already know and what they want to know. Students can categorize information about the topic that they expect to use.

I read instructional methods also.

In short, I kept reading whenever I got a bit time and wondering from where to start in a proper way.

It was not a satisfactory week at all.

Diwali in Nepal

Diwali in Nepal

http://www.diwalifestival.org/diwali-in-nepal.html

Surrounded by majestic Himalayas, Nepal, is a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society and the only Hindu Kingdom of the world. Hindus in Nepal celebrate the Diwali festival with bright lights, gift exchanges, fireworks, and elaborate feasts to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of light and wealth. Various houses and shop front in Katmandu, Nepal, displays the bright lights typical of Hindu communities during Diwali. 



Diwali is celebrated here with the usual Hindu festivities and rituals. Diwali in Nepal is known as Tihar. Just like most places in India Diwali is celebrated here to honor the goddess of wealth and god of prosperity-Lakshmi and Ganesh respectively. The festival here continues for five days. Every day has its special significance. The first day is dedicated to cows as they cook rice and feed the cows believing that goddess Lakshmi comes on cows. The second day is for Dogs as the Vahana of Bhairava. Preparation of delicious food especially meant for the dog is a typical characteristic of the day. Lights and lamps are lit to illuminate the entire surrounding and some of the specialty items are prepared to mark the third day of the festival. Fireworks, Lamps and crackers are widely used. The fourth day is dedicated to Yama, the Hindu God of Death. He is prayed for long life. The fifth final day is Bhhaya Dooj dedicated for the brothers who are wished long life and prosperity by their sisters.