WEEK 10 - Thoughts and feelings

This was the least demanding week in terms of work! Inevitably when things come to an end we tend to think what we have gained from the experience. Well, I am very pleased to be part of this diverse teaching circle. I gained a lot of knowledge regarding web skills and teaching languages. Our instructor Mr. Robert Elliott guided as through smoothly from the very beginning till now, supporting us when we needed it.
I have learned  and tried a lot during the last weeks; I particularly enjoyed nicenet, webquests, blogs, padlet, rubistar, delicious. What happens with integration of technology to the classroom is that teachers need to try and learn through trial and error. I intend to implement many of the new tools I have encountered in this course the next school year. I'm thinking of creating a new syllabus during the summer and adapt my material.
What I want to explore further is how to handle a class wiki, how to create a web page for my class and understand the use of platforms like moodle as well.
I wish to thank everyone for their participation and for sharing interesting ideas! Special thanks to Robert, our instructor for the organization, clear guidance and support.

THANK YOU ALL!

WEEK 9: Almost there!

So, we're heading towards the end of the course! During week nine, we had to submit the final project and study multiple intelligence in relation to technology. Gardner's theory on multiple intelligence is famous among teachers worldwide. For some years it had been the topic of discussion in educational seminars, conventions or conferences. Obviously it is helpful to know the learning styles of your students and cater for their needs. In addition, the integration of technology wtih this theory further increases a teacher's chances to create and teach lessons in a way that would make his students feel contented. However, technology and multiple intelligences are not panacea for dealing with problematic situations in a classroom or for making our lessons more attractive.

Gardner's theory also reminded me of NLP. Neurolinguistic Programming also takes into consideration, among other things, the senses. NLP examines how the human mind processes information using the VAKOG model (from the initial letters of the sensory-specific modalities: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, gustatory). For further reading I recommend you this link http://books.google.gr/books?id=JgIKNzpAnd8C&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=VAKOG&source=bl&ots=yLF8jXOjhK&sig=0etNZMJrKov_rFjWw_I8DnfjBa8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cZCrUZHwLInUswaM6YDYBQ&ved=0CIcBEOgBMA0#v=onepage&q=VAKOG&f=false
but mainly the book it comes from: "IN YOUR HANDS" NLP in ELT edited by Jane REVELL, Susan NORMAN. I have used some of their ideas in my teaching. Another book recommendation is Handing Over: NLP based activities for language learning by Jane Revell & Susan Norman.