Skill-Building Websites

Using certain websites in the learning process, mainly in the classroom, is just excellent. Often we teachers view certain sites, and we wish our students could be exposed to them. While preparing my post, I had to take into consideration several points:


1st – Since I mostly checked websites that assist students in writing, I could see that a teacher has to be careful about the level of the learners targeted and the topics suggested.


2nd – The writing activities suggested are linked to each other to get to the final product which is writing an essay or creative writing etc. It is a lengthy process, and the teacher has to decide at which point he/she should resort to the website. It has to be the part that coincides or parallels his/her way of instruction. Students shouldn’t be confused about multiple inputs especially at the Middle School level.


3rd – There are websites that are interactive wherein the students can submit their work and expect feedback. It is better for teachers to try them before. Others offer valid and attractive resources. In that case and when it comes to writing, teachers can collect these resources and share them with students on handouts or prepare a PowerPoint presentation that can be very helpful for visual learners. In other words, a teacher has to consider necessity: Can he/she have the same objective acquired by a variety of learners and at the same degree without the assistance of the website? What could a website offer the class that was previously lacking? Putting this in mind would help the teacher decide and choose the right website.


4th – A teacher has to also consider feasibility. There are always logistic problems: in my case, thank God, there is an e-room, but
· it is a recent addition, so we are not used yet to integrating its use in our lesson plans
· it is just one for a huge school, so each teacher has to make reservations beforehand and justify the need
· it is far from the Middle School building so that time is taken out from the teaching period for students to get there


As I was coming up with a learning objective, I was thinking about all the above to see the possibility of using such a method in my classrooms. I am lucky to have the means, so I think it would be a waste if I don't pick up the challenge, do the necessary preparations, and use them. That is mainly why I am taking this course after all.



I added a picture of one of my grade 9 classes wherein students were working in groups, and they could use my laptop to look for pictures and check some words. They would even look for more information if anything in their articles is not clear or incomplete -they were lucky to be in the only classroom that benefited from the wireless connection in the administrative floor right above them!!!!

Effective Web Searching: Google & Beyond

It’s been quite a challenging week in terms of assignments for me. At the end of every post, I’d feel there is more to be done; there is something missing, but then again, that is what makes teaching so captivating.

I did make a list of personal notes which I’m sure will shape my performance from now on. I can call some of them personal strategies:

To begin with, the search engines suggested by the NoodleTools were all new to me. I reminded myself that, like in the “Shaping” course, I should be thinking outside the box, and should be giving most of them a try. Searching the net is already time consuming let alone if you are using a new search engine that has its own specificities and interface. Google has already become familiar and kind of safe. After having gone through most of them, I have to admit I couldn’t evaluate accurately which would be of more use than others. I think I need several trials and authentic situations where the need is real and the objective specific. For that reason, I made sure that most of these search engines are added to my favorites so that I would make it a point to use them on daily basis. That way, I would be more likely to favor one over the other. Already it was obvious to me that some are much more scholarly and helpful than Google.

Moreover, the subject of useful websites was already ongoing in the Discussion Posts. Though there is a number of websites I use often, it was not easy to remember them because I had never thought of making a list of them and jotting down how they are useful. Again, I decided to keep such a record as it is an important skill that any learner/teacher should have.