Reflection of Week 2

Review of Week2:

We didn't have even a short break and week2 started. I was worried about how I did week1. I mean if I made some mistakes in accomplishing the tasks.

The first task I did was Discussion: Search

Robert helped us in this way:

You can also look at the link to Web Searching Tech Tip for ideas about techniques for searching. Try some of the search engines or portals to see which ones work best for academic searches and for information for your class.

Try something that is NOT Google, then post a comment in the appropriate discussion on Nicenet about:

§         which search site you used

§         what you searched for, and

§         whether or not you would recommend this search site.

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My Post on Nicenet:

I was really confused from where to start but when I read everyone's discussion, I was energized to start myself. I am very happy to note that there are really many nice search engines beside Google. 

Which search sites I tried:

The ones I tried were: searchedu, freefind, parabara, philb, iseek, etc.

What I searched for:

I searched for 'teaching method, online training, etc.'

Whether or not I would recommend any:

I tried many but the one I really liked and enjoyed is 'www.philb.com' and I recommend this site. I think it's superb.

What I tried on www.philb.com
a) Internet search: (mouse pointer on the menu)
b) Which engine when? (mouse pointer)
c) Miscellaneous engines (click)

There I found 'Spellings & Words'

I clicked on 'Abbreviation' which was on the first 

The rest one will know when they try, it's very nice.

Thanks friends for such healthy discussion.

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The second task I did was: ABCD Learning Objective

In the beginning, I thought it was difficult but when I read the links given, I found it easy and much useful. I really had not thought that way. I really enjoyed creating as well as learning myself about ABCD learning objective.

My Post:

My abcd objective:

Teaching the students of grade 10 in my country from age 15 to 17 how to differentiate between adjective and noun by making them clear that it is noun that comes after adjective like hot (adj.) coffee (n.); beautiful (adj.) scene (n.); white (adj.) coat (n.), etc., they will be able to identify the exact words without memorizing the rules in depth and they will also be able to either tell the class or underline the words (adj./noun) 80% in the paper, copy or the text book.

Felipe Rodriguez's comment on my post:

Hello, Dipendra.
Teaching the location of adjectives is not very common in tenth grade in my country. This topic corresponds to the sixth or seventh grade, but when there is some doubt is important to solve the student's questions. Your adjective is good but it can be better. When you say: They will be able to identify the exact words without memorizing the rules in depth and the ....... it sounds a bit vague. It can be referring to nouns too; it could be like this: They will be able to underline the adjectives from a list..... Or they will be able to differentiate the adjectives from others words. On You Tube we can find a variety list of videos about it.
I am glad if you have a nice day!
Felipe Rodriguez.

My reply:

Hi Felipe, thanks for your suggestion on teaching of adjectives.

Yes, even in my country students are taught about adjectives and nouns from grade 4 & 5 but the problem is that when you ask the students of grade 11 or 12 to identify adjectives or nouns, they fail to respond you, it's only because they know the definition of the rules only for examination point of view but they cannot apply them while problem-solving practically.

Yes, I agree with you that 'They will be able to underline the adjectives or nouns from a list or a box.' But since the students of grade ten are much familiar, they can be asked to do some difficult things.

Dipendra

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The third task I did was: FINAL PROJECT - Step 1, Describe a Class

Because I am involved in many educational institutions, I was confused which one's class to describe. I finally decided to describe my own language institute.

My Post:

SUBJECT: Describing a Class I teach

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.

Setting:

A private English language institute (Popular English Language Institute) situated in a city called Birgunj, Parsa (Nepal). I have a bit well-equipped class-room where 25 students study in a batch for an hour everyday from Monday to Friday. It's well-lit and airy. It has a tape recorder (cassette player). The students practice listening as well as record their voice on a blank cassette when they get to the level to understand foreign accent and communicate in English a bit. There's also a desktop computer-set equipped with multimedia and internet facility. They watch video-clips and other language materials on it off and on.

The number of girls (8) is less than that of the boys (17). The students, age group from 18 to 30, come to learn English of different levels. The learners are generally from college level to professional groups.

Study Program: English as Foreign Language

i. Basic Level

ii. Intermediate Level

iii. Advance Level

Mission: To enable the learners to write correctly and speak fluently.

Learners of Basic Level:

– learn the patterns of various sentences like simple, complex as well as joint sentences (no specific grammatical items except the use of articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, etc.)

– learn ready-made sentences so that they make similar sentences of their own.

– learn new vocabularies and their use with correct pronunciation

– learn how to make new sentences with Grammar Translation method

– learn how to introduce themselves in front of the class (with mic in their hands).

Allocation of students:

– Entrance test is given them to measure their skills in English and thus, similar types of students are kept in a batch.

Teaching Strategies:

– Lectures

– Asking vocabularies, checking their homework

– Demos

– Audio-visual

– Grammar Translation (esp. to weak groups)

– Homework

Assessment:

– Assignments

– Class Test

– Aptitude Test

– Weekly Test

– Monthly (final) Test

What learners want?

– They want to learn many things in English especially the grammatical items they don't know. Many of them want to develop their writing skills much more than speaking because they simply want to pass their academic (college) exams. However, they show eagerness for spoken (conversation) classes.

– Professionals come to make their spoken strong to communicate with their seniors, colleagues fluently. They also show interest in professional writing like formal letter-writing, report writing, job application writing, preparing for job interviews, corresponding emails, etc.

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 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, I generally have to explain everything in details with no cross-questions from them which sometimes makes me feel as if I teach to the objects which cannot interact. It also sometimes makes the situation frustrating.

Dipendra,
Nepal

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The fourth task I did was: sharing my reflections

I took out some time to remember minutely about what I did all the previous days being very cool-minded and then I have written everything over here.