Week 5 Half the way

This week we replenished our knowledge reading suggested material on Project-based learning, Web Quests and Rubrics, acquired urgent skills for creating Rubrics and Web Quests with the help of Internet tools, discussed their feasibility and possible applications into our classrooms, devised ways of implementing technology tools into our teaching and came back to reflecting the fulfilled work in our Blogs. I find this week very fruitful and beneficial.

I will naturally try Web Quests with my students. Web Quests are motivating, fun, reflect real-world roles and tasks, invite collaboration, promote and exercise higher-level thinking process and practice skills inherent to any language learning project, such as reading for main ideas and detail, negotiating meaning through spoken and written communication, incorporate listening skills, peer teaching and interaction. I can use them at least once in a thematic unit. I am sure my technologically hooked students will love them.

Now I will not be able to do without Rubrics in numerous aspects of my teaching and especially project-based learning. I am thinking about sharing this knowledge with my colleagues during first August town meeting of foreign language teachers.

I am full of plans as to using Internet tools in my teaching this school year: Blogs, Electronic portfolios, international e-mail exchange, Wikis, Websites with authentic material, Web Quests and international projects. Thank Camelia I have already had a tempting suggestion for collaboration. I will definitely take advantage of this offer. I will also be able to use our Interactive whiteboard in a new context now when it is connected to World Wide Web. If you have access to the Internet, whether for yourself or for your students, you have the world's premier ESL resource at your fingertips.

And let me thank everyone for your fruitful cooperation and congratulate on the traversed half way.