A BIG LAUGH:WEEK TEN

THE TERM IS OVER

What started as an endless journey has finally come to an end. I will not cry nor mourn for this is not love gone sour nor a marriage gone to the rocks. This was a ‘pass out’ parade for sterling soldiers ready for battle. The tough training has made me hardened and skilful in jungle manoeuvres. Yes, I am a soldier ready for battle.

Indeed I found the course challenging and terribly tough and at the initial stages I wondered whether I was doing the right thing or simply wasting my precious time and sweet sleep. I used to wake up at 4.00 am or earlier to read things that I hardly understood. My problem was compounded when colleagues asked me what I was doing and I found it hard to explain.  Was this course going to bring me promotion? They teased me. Ironically, the more they teased me the more I felt the urge to forge ahead .I started working with my laptop in the office any time I was free and my departmental colleagues started appreciating the gravity of the matter and thought maybe some promotion was imminent.

The good thing about the course is that one does not need to be an expert in computer -to echo Robert’s words- as long as one has friends to consult. Robert was a big inspiration- a teacher par excellence. The classmates were selfless and shared their knowledge freely and all one was required to do was read comments from those in the know and get the right direction. It was very wise of Robert and University of Oregon to admit students of different levels of technology qualifications for as they say a blind cannot help a blind to cross a road.

To new students my advice is; the road may be bumpy but as long as there are Roberts behind the steering, there is nothing to fear.

My final words: I will not regret going for nights without sleep and skipping lunch sometimes, for I am now ‘reborn’.

Thank s to Robert and the university,

 Thanks to all colleagues for being wonderful sons and daughters of God

God bless all.

9Th WEEK - THE WEEK OF STYLES

This week was a bit relaxed as compared to week 8. There was a lot of learning especially from the passages provided. Dr Howard Gardner deserves a big pat on his back for coming up with the various learning styles which, were teachers to follow them faithfully, we would never lose potentially bright students. Howard says that we have all the intelligences but no two people are exactly alike.

Any experienced teacher must know that we have all types of intelligence in our classes and it is our duty and obligation to nurture them to make responsible future citizens. This can be enhanced by application of the right tools as suggested by Gardner. Teachers can identify the students’ intelligences to determine the appropriate styles to use and the appropriate technological tools befitting each individual. Using well balanced styles is the best way to produce credible results.

We also learned about different types of learners namely; reflective/active, sensing/intuitive, visual/verbal and sequential/global learners. With this knowledge, we can easily understand how to handle our students.

PEER-READING

The online peer reading is a very innovative  way of making it possible for learners to read, comment and correct each other’s work without face to face meeting. We see technology making the world smaller by making me communicate with someone in Venezuela and South Africa as if they were just next door.

I found this process very valuable because it helped us to exchange intelligences and one cannot help to see as Patu says, that some people are more intelligent than others. The process helped to create a bond between peer readers (as Carol says).Let me also quote Panida who feels that getting feedback from two or three people can establish our writing confidence. At least we were able to apply one learning style: interpersonal learning style.

WHAT A WEEK IT WAS

Welcome week ten, eagerly waiting