Thursday, August 26, 2010

Teaching and assessment opportunities galore!

Today we had a lecture on Wikis. The first day when I heard the term I didn't quite understand what a Wiki entails. Now I know what a Wiki is and also what the purpose of the Wiki is. In my previous posting I mentioned that we have to accelerate with what we are doing with our technological knowledge and skills regarding the computer. The Wiki is a collaborative tool that we can apply to enhance our work at school. With its special features, we will be able to engage the learners with groupwork contributions on one or other topic. The learners will be able to edit each others work and I will be able to monitor the contributions of each learner. Indeed a very helpfull tool for groupwork. I am learning from the reflections of my fellow students on their bloggs and I guess the impact will be the same on the Wikis.For our own  personal Wikis, the updateable feature is also great. Remember we have to be one step ahead of the learners otherwise  we will have a situation where  the teacher and student will have to switch their positions.

To all the future librarians: "Be bold and take the lead!" ( "Show dem" and " Make da  circle bigger!) These are the links to software that we can use when we create Wikis.
This is a "Multi media" blogging  site. The following Wiki is for teachers. Have a look of the outlay and the different features.

PS. A journey starts with one step! Enjoy the journey!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

We need to accelerate!

Today I followed  links from Shahieda and Nazeem's bloggs. I found the sights very insightfull. It is hard to keep the children interested in our lessons nowadays. The site Nazeem recommended is worth looking at. Ouite a mouthful to absorb. The site is about social media.We need to accelerate to keep up with the development of ITC-applications. It's a matter of adapt or die! I linked Shahieda's tip also to my blogger. This is good for anybody who believes in God.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Can't wait to be a member of one or other listserv

I definitely have a problem with my E-Mail system. Cannot get somebody to fix it for me. My time is running out. I don't like this at all. Here is my link to WCED.  Useful  information about Nelson Mandela to create a time line. Today my class practiced "long division" in the computer lab. The children enjoyed it very much. The technology of today really opens doors for me. I was afraid of computers at first, but I think I am a computer addict now. Can't imagine my life without it. Another way of adding images
My Kitty "Cup Cake"

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Waiting in antisipation to be a subscriber of one of two listservs

I posted more than one request forms to infolink and another listserv, but did not get any e-Mail yet. I hope there isn't a problem with ..........configuration, as I won't be able to figure out what to do.Is there anybody out there who can help me with this problem please? I find this application amazing, as I hope to come across people with the same interests as me and if I am lucky enough, I won't be on an island with my  Grade 4 work anymore.

They say patience is a virtue, but I my patience is running out.(Not positive thinking........yeah .....I know.)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Practising hyperlinks

This is my link to :
  URL's list:
  1. Nokuzula William
  2. Fezie
  3. Josephine
  4. Silulami
  5. Wendy
  6. Nihaad
  7. Michael
  8. Denise
  9. Belinda
  10. Charlene
  11. Shahida
  12. Nazeem
  13. Nadeema
  14. Thulani

Making use of information gained, to write an essay

Dear reader

Phew! I think I have an overload of information. Sandy also gave us a link to Internet filtering (25 pages). With all the others, it is a lot to absorb.My eyes hurt.Normally I make printouts, but my ink is up.

 Mother tongue learning is the best. I am really struggling with the second language. Some of you may be shocked and say: " But you are a teacher!" Yes I am a teacher, but at a Afrikaans Medium school. I envy the people who are good at both languages. To all the Xhosa speaking students: I have great respect for you who can handle three languages!

I must also mention that I learned a lot more english words because I was forced to sit down with more than one dictionary to help me make sense of what I read. They say:" No pain, no gain!"

To all the other students who have the same problem that I have, ENJOY THE LEARNING AND KEEP ON EMPOWERING YOURSELF. IT WILL PAY OFF!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Practice makes perfect

We were discussing the difficulties of ICT applications and all that I want to say is that you must practice. You can't learn to drive a car if you don't have a car. You can't practice ICT applications without the Internet. I have sympathy for all those who do not have acces to the net at home. The topic around internet filtering was a great eyeopener for me.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Getting information for my essay.

I got information to help me with the definition from different sources as well as for the rest of my essay. I have to think of an argument to bring the statement across. Perhaps I must link my URLs to my blog to make it easier for me. Nope, not a good idea.Perhaps another time.

I was lucky today because the internet was in working condition at school. I had my class to do some research about " bedreigde diere in Suid Afrika" Damian and a few other learners really impressed me because they understood what they should do. Only a few learners needed help. Now to get them to engage with the information and do all the other steps. I can clearly see their progress after the third round of research. I also asked some teachers that they should give me their research topics for the future, as I want to create a blog with a lot of information that they can use. Now that I know how to hyperlink I feel I can fly, because my work will be done much more easier.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Did my blog dissapear? ........No comments

Make this journey worth a while.
Hi girls and guys,
I want to learn from all of you. Would you please comment on some stuff I mentioned, or tell me whether I am off track. Come on Nihaad, Charlene, Wendy, Josephine, Shahieda. Did you read my comments ? I tried to write some comments on your blog.