Week 13: So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye...

-

This course is coming to an official end, and with it, my blog. I could lie and say that I will continue to update once this course is complete - but knowing myself, and the busy nature of life as a whole (and particularly the final season. yikes.), I probably will not do so. And, honestly, no one will read it either unless I email them to do so. Plus, there are much more fascinating blogs out there on the web. (Stay tuned for the next department newsletter for many wonderful recommendations... this is also my last opportunity for a newsletter plug.)

I want to say a quick thank you to all the participants. The learning experience was much more worthwhile, as I found the collaborative discussions meaningful and thought-provoking.
And of course, Avraham, thank you for putting the course together and making sure that it was both user-friendly and #relevant.

It is important to note the end of this blogging chapter is not the end of my (or our) learning. Technology continues to advance and with it our need to stay in the loop with the developments and changes in the 21st century.

This course has shown us all a lot of great tools, but I do not personally value the attitude of complacency and hope to continue in expanding my current knowledge. The 21st century is only 20 years young. And as time continues to pass, the face of the century continues to change.

So, unofficially, the course continues. True - We aren't being graded. That's probably a relief for most. But, whether we want it to or not, whether or not we are fully present in viewing and recognizing change, the responsibility as future teachers remains. Stay in the loop. Keep reading blogs. (Not this one.) Pay attention to different social media platform shifts. Be aware.

So - so long to the blog, farewell to the forums, goodbye to the checklists...
But, to the course, I say auf Wiedersehen (which does mean goodbye, but literally translates to "until we see each other again" - kinda like להתראות.)

Signing off,
Michali Mazor

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 3: Tech Tools for Teachers

-
Image
I remember using Quizlet and other important self-study tools in high school. The flash-cards and self-check options really enabled me to prepare myself for exams. As a future teacher, I also recognize the benefits of this self-motivating and fun study system. However, I found myself thinking about how these tools can help second language learners. The reality of virtual studying is that it often is only applicable to students with a certain level of English ability. At the very least, the students using these tools all need to know how to decode. How do we help our younger learners using technology? In my perusings of various articles discussing the integration of technology into the classroom, I came across a fascinating tool called Pear Deck. This tool can be easily incorporated into elementary school classrooms. In addition to the functions that Quizlet serves, Pear Deck allows for students to draw what they hear. This really creates an environment where the non-decoders can pa...
Read more

Week 2: Technophobia

-
Image
I have met a fair share of teachers who are extremely wary of technology. You know the type. The one who shudders at the word “powerpoint”, who thinks that QR Code sounds like the name of one of those new-age sci-fi movies, who thinks that Tik-Tok is just the sound that a clock makes. The ones who start their sentences with “Back in my day…” or “When I was younger” and will probably end with them saying something like “we had AOL chat rooms, and they were very cool. Much cooler than your chatsnaps or whatever they’re called.” For this type of teacher, the use of a marker and a whiteboard is sufficient. And it works. Because it always has. And it always will, right? ...Right? Now, this teacher can cause some serious problems in our classroom. Even if we have an entire school that values advancement and technology integration, it is entirely possible that the class won’t advance. Why? Vicky Davis broke this problem’s effect down into a series of not very mathematical equations...
Read more

Week 10: Research Tools in the Classroom + The Google Scholar Challenge

-
Image
Hello Fellow Students! Wow it has been a while... I think of all the tools that I looked at, the one that most excited me as a future English teacher was Simple English Wikipedia. The reason being, these are great options for texts that I could bring into my classroom. In a different course we are taking, incidentally with the same lecturer, we discussed the importance of differentiating content in our classrooms - one way being according to readiness level. Being exposed to this particular tool can help us in this seemingly time consuming pursuit.  As opposed to the regular Wikipedia, which is long-winded and has difficult collocations, these articles are short and to the point. You now have two text options on the same topic - both provided by Wikipedia. Regular Wikipedia and Simple Wikipedia. Let’s take Healthy Habits and Diets, for example. The famous Present Simple topic. Here are two text options that you can just copy and paste without much effort. Option 1 - S...
Read more