Week 10

Hello everybody,
Is it true that we are almost at the end of our training? The one who wanted to give up some times ago, now doesn't want it to finish! Just to tell you how happy I am to be able to remain in the team till the end of race. What a wonderful team! I haven't thought that I will feel like this at the end of the training.
I learn very much in this training. It is true that whenever you are preparing a lesson you write objectives, but the ABCD model of objectives is something which helped me clarify better my objectives for all my lessons now.
Using technology tools in my class also allows me to change my way of having class and it lets me think that my former way of doing things was only teacher-centered approach. Now using downloaded materials in class allows my students to gice their own opinion with joy and make be engaged in going to Internet and find more information about what we had in class.
I would like to create a padlet for my class because it is a useful tool to share like nicenet. Next year at the beginning of the school year I will try to,introduce padlet in my classes of higher students and a Nicenet too. We are almost at the end of the second term and the third term of the school year is very short for me to use these technology tools. I hope that next year I will have Grade 11 to 13 students so that they will improve their writing skills through these tools.
I haven't been able to do the Powerpoint assignment because I didn't know it. But I will learn how to use it with an elder colleague here and I think I will have a lesson presentation in a poweroint format!
I know I haven't learnt everything about this training but I think that what I grabbed will be very useful for my teaching.
I hope all of you have the same feeling of having spent a wonderful time together. I am grateful to all the group because I really gained a lot.

Best regards,
Bénéwindé

Week 9

Dear colleagues,

I hope you are all doing well. It is like a dream to see that we are going straight to the end of the training! I thought that sending the final paper will be something easy and I waited untill Friday here to start. I was about to fail to respect the deadline. But I was lucky to succeed during the last minutes to send it.
For the week assignment I found them not too difficult this week. Yet I got confused during some downloading and that is why I didn't understand well the document. I hope  my best to comment during the two postings.
I also filled the file about the evaluation without difficulty.
As a whole, this week was vey important for me because I didn't classify my students according to learning styles and strategies and I wasn't considering this as a problem that can 'block' their learning. Now knowing it will give me the opportunity to try and understand and know better my students learning styles and strategies.

Thanks and kind regards,
Bénéwindé

Week 8

Hello colleagues,
What a busy week! To write and send the draft was like going up a high montain for me. But with the help of the instructor I was able to send it. Later when I filled the checklist of my partner's draft, I posted it without allowind her to be able to read it! Don't laugh at me because I was so sorry that I asked her to forgive me. In fact I din't know how I managed to send the checklist and she couldn't have access to it. But I hope that I solved the problem.
About the discussion assignment and the task, it is when I posted my comment and was looking for the second task on Nicenet that I noticed that the two activities have been combined in a one activity!
So much the better for me because I did all the assignments and I am really relieved because these two last days, I had to work with other colleagues here for a National English Dictation. We took the the whole day of Sunday to mark the papers and give the feedback to the students who took part to the competition.
Let's hope that the remaining weeks won't be so hard for us.
Take care.
Best,
Bénéwindé from Bukina Faso

Week 7

Dear colleagues,
I hope you are doing well, and you autonomous teachers with autonomous students! It is interesting to be autonomous, isn't it?
This week, the padlet creation was the most difficult task to do for me. I asked Russell for help and finally I succeeded.
The discussion was intersting with the provided readings. What is a pity for me me is that in our area, mobile phones are not allowed in classes because some students, instead of listening to teacher to interact, will sit with their phones and  send messages to others or they get connected to internet and watch films or listen to music! The thing that should be considered as a learning tool about technology integration in classes is just a tool for entertainment for our students. I hope that in the near future we will be able to help them understand the importance of their phones as far as learning is concerned. And that our headmasters will let us use these mobiles devices so that the students become really autonomous learners.
I am happy this week because I was able to do all the assignments, and I do think that I am not the only who feels satisfied to have been able to finish.
Best regards,
Bénéwindé

Week 6

Hi colleagues,
I am again put in front of my incompetences. I haven't created the interactive powerpoint because I have never used a powerpoint before to do something. For the other assignments, I did them but for the project I will wait a little bit again to find the right technology use for my class. I have seen your PPT on the course wiki and I feel very frustrated because I am not able to have mine right now. I read the pdf about ceating interactive PPT but I still don't know how to use it to get mine. Perhaps I will continue reading the instructions so that at last I will will be able to create it.
Best,
Bénéwindé

Week 5

Hi colleagues,

How are you doing? What a week! It 's now that I see the challenge in front of me. I have to keep up with this training because I have started. Thanks to God and to you all ffor your support, I am still part of the team, a special and dynamic one! I am learnig more than I am sharing in this training. When you are not used to something and suddenly you want to do it, it is not easy at all. But I am hopeful and think that I will get the best part of that.

Take good care of yourself.
Best,
Bénéwindé from Burkina faso

Week 4

Hello dear colleagues

As you may have noticed,  I did nothing this week. On Monday after 5pm (our local time) I came back from school and downloaded the websites for the assignments to read first before doing the different activities. Two days later I finished my readings and I came back on Internet to start my comments. Unfortunately the network wasn't working well and I couldn't post anything. And to make things worst, I fell sick, unable to sit in front of the computer and work. Today is the deadline and I haven't done anything to post. I am writing here to tell you that I didn't resign; if it is possible I will continue with the following weeks as everybody. I will do Week 4 assignments for myself so that I will understand the upcoming assignments.
Take good care of yourselves and "see you" soon online for Week 5 assignments!
Best,
Bénéwindé, Burkina Faso

Week 3

Hello colleagues,
I hope you are doing well and that you have finished posting your Delicious account. I have been able to create at last my Delicious account and to tell you the truth I am now relieved because I was about to stop the training. So, I am again happy to continue with you.
I found the week assignments worthy because they allowed me to go beyond my own limits. I read a lot about the aural/oral skills for the discussion and I discovered many things that I would try in my classes. Making my students listen to a record and let them discuss what they heard will be very productive for both my students and me.
About the comment on report projects samples I chose the final project of Mr. Nikiema from Burkina Faso because it fits my present context, that is, the use of technology in large classes with little or no technology equipment. The way he organised his project helped his students start using the internet for their own interest.

Best regards to all you all,
Bénéwindé, Burkina Faso

Week 2

Hello everyboby,

For sure I am the last one to post my week reflection on Blogger. This week was very hard for me because everything was a discovery for me. At a given I thought of giving up the training, but just after I thought again that I should follow this trainig by any means to be able to improve teaching methods. I really learnt this week about web searching which was the first task of the week. I am like a tortoise, running after you! I need your support to continue the race with you. I am not used to technology in my teaching and this is a challenge for me.
Thanks to all of you who read my postings and suggest to me ways and means to so that I overcome my illiteracy!
Sincerely,
Bénéwindé

Week 1

Hi everybody,
I don't know how well you succeed but I must tell you that I had all the difficulties in creating this blog. As I said I am very illiterate as far as technology is concerned. I hope you won't be be discouraged to work with such a person.