THANKS!

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but also the parent of all other virtues. - Cicero

I was taught it is important to say "Thanks."It would be remiss of me if I ended this aspect of blogging and did not say, "Thanks."
I want to thank our wonderful, knowledgeable, dedicated and hard-working lecturers. Mrs Aisha Wood-Jackson(ever-smiling), Mrs Murella Sambucharan- Mohammed, Mrs Cherisse Mahabir-Cletus, I Thank You All. May God bless you all as you continue to share your love for teaching technology to educators as myself.
Thanks to all my reading specialist bloggers, those who left comments and those who read and did not comment (as I sometimes do). I Thank You All for the support. May we continue to collaborate with each other in our reading specialist journey.
Thanks to all my followers especially Eve Mohammed( my first follower).
Thanks to Junette and Lynette who are truly friends in my need and friends indeed.
May we continue to support, encourage, motivate and collaborate with each other as we seek to use technology to teach our students and fellow teachers(I am not there as yet. I am working on it though). GOD BLESS US ALL.

Those who bring joy into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.

MY ICT REFLECTIONS

I entered the ICT class with mixed emotions, with eagerness and trepidation. I was eager to learn how I can use technology to help my students and in my function as a Reading Specialist when I graduate. I was not too eager because I am not techno-savvy and it seems I have too left hands when I am learning things dealing with technology. My interest in the Computer was to type my work, receive and send email messages and access myelearning to gather information for my courses.
I must say for the past two months I was bombarded with technology to use in teaching. I had a faint idea about some of them but some I had never heard about. Digital Storytelling, Podcast and Wikis (I know about Wikipedia) never heard about them! Blog, saw the term online. Never was tempted to click on it to find out what it was all about. Ebooks a faint recollection. Webspiration, I saw it being used by Dr. James in his presentations. The majority of us were in awe. Never knew we could download it for free! I never knew so many technologies could be downloaded for free. Like everyone else, I came out smiling after learning about ebooks. I went home that same night and made one. I could hardly wait to make one (some) for my class. I now enjoying blogging and receiving such wonderful ideas from my colleagues. I still have to get some more practice in Wikis because I love it since it encourages collaboration. I still need also to practice the Digital Storytelling before attempting to teach it. I was sorry that we did not have hands on practice in using Podcast since I realized it is ideal for fluency in Reading especially since we have to write lessons using the technologies we have learnt. How about you? How was your ICT experience?

Podcasting - Anyone?

Most students even educators dislike proofreading their written work. I read this article about how pod-casting aids in proofreading but it is called proof-revising. Podcast is an audio recording that can be posted on a blog. In order for proof- revising to be done, students has to open the podcast of their story on a class blog and use their individuals blogs to follow. Podcasting helps students to listen to what they have written critically. It also encourages students to be actively involve in their proof- revising since they have to monitor, diagnose, revise and edit their writing. All these skills are essential for improvement in writing.

The method of using podcasting to revise writing is difficult and time consuming but there is no doubt that it improves students' communication skills and literacies. It is recommended that this method should not be used daily but it should be done on selective pieces of writing to highlight both the students' strengths and weakness. Anyone willing to take up the challenge?

References:Davis, A. & McGrail, E. (2009). "Proof-Revising" With Podcasting: Keeping Readers in Mind as Students Listen to and Rethink Their Writing. The Reading Teacher, 62(6), p522-529. DOI:12.1598/RT.62.6.6