Keep on trying!

I have decided to only post my blog once per week, so that I have enough time to follow the 30 blogs set up by my students. For most of them, this was their first blog ever and for those who may have blogged before, it is their first reflective blog. I am so impressed that my students have embraced this space to express themselves as they "reflect thoughtfully on their thinking as they experience this class." The course requirement is that "each entry should reflect issues related to new ideas, challenges faced, insights or “aha” moments, thoughtful questions, clarifications needed, and/or appraise opinions related to the ideas studied or expressed in the articles, or discussed in class." My students are really digging deep and paying attention to what they are learning about themselves and their practice. So what did I learn from my classes this week? I learnt that people rise to challenges, if they are motivated to do so. Most of my students are motivated to do their course because they want to be better teachers. People also want to be actively involved in their learning: after all we remember 90% of what they do. My technological "aha" moment for the week was try it, and if it fails, try again. Don't give up. Because you did not give up on using computers, or trying to set up a blog. You can read this today. All the best!
 

I'm Blogging Too!

Hello, I could not let you have all the fun, so here I am! This blog is intended mainly for the participants enrolled in my two Fall classes. I believe that as educators we should walk the same journey that we ask our students to, so I too will be reflecting on my learning experiences over the semester. I had my first two classes this week and what strikes me most is how alike teachers are all over the world. This made me wonder whether or not teachers have similar personalities, drives? What makes us so similar, yet so different from other professions? The other inspiring thing for me is to see how groups of teachers can be motivated to want to continue to learn, despite the challenges they may face. All of this is being done for the benefit their students! So my congratulations to all of you for taking this brave step forward and best wishes for the course. My significant technological learning points for the week were: remember to bring adapter cords and flash-drives as back-up; use cut-and-paste less often; and save, save, save files. I know these things, but my experiences this week have reminded me that I can forget. Socially, I have learnt that although we may be culturally, linguistically or nationally different, we reach others when we reach from the heart. See you next week, inshaa Allah.