Week 3!!!

So week 3 is coming to an end and I had barely had enough time to do all the tasks.
But first things first! I started with Delicious site and created my own account with it https://delicious.com/pcv2002. I would like to say that it was like an eye opener for me as I have often thought that it would be great to be able to do bookmarking which I could use on any computer but somehow I 've never heard about special sites for social bookmarking which could be virtually always with you provided you have the Internet access))) So I am really grateful for the enlightening me in this aspect))) Now I will never lose or forget the useful site address. Moreover, I like the fact that you can follow and share the sites bookmarked by others which means you can always learn something new!!!!

Now, speaking about aural/oral skills. I enjoyed reading the articles. For me they were especially interesting as one of my methodological problems I worked on for about 4-5 years was "Using authentic audio and video materials at the lessons". So it was interesting to compare what I already new with what I learned in this course. I found a lot of helpful and interesting sites. The one I liked in particlar is http://www.esl-lab.com/.  It provides pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening activities and as well as listening tasks for all levels. I have alreay tried some of them with my students and they liked them so I am going to incorporate more of them in my lessons. I guess  it will take weeks to browse through all the sites and interesting links in detail but I am going to savour every moment of it))))

Reading of the sample projects also proved very interesting and educational. First of all, now I at least have some idea what we will have to write at the end of the course. Besides, I guess, it was my pure luck again))) I chose to read the sample project written by Camelia Pagila from the School with Classes I-VIII, Academician Marin Voiculescu in Giurgiu, Romania. In her project she was uses interactive web for developing multiple intelligences. I also worked with this theme after I returned from my internship with MSU but I never thought that I could combine the theory of multiple intelligences by Gardner with technology so I got a lot of new ideas for myself from this project. 

Now it's the end of the week and I must admit that I feel a bit tired but nontheless, I am looking forward to week for and more discoveries)))))

Week 2 is nearly over))

So week 2 is coming to the end and I can already share some ideas and emotions I had during this week. First of all I should say that I ABSOLUTELY loved the tasks!!! At first glance it looked like a huge amount of work but what I like about this course is that all the tasks are here for you to see and to plan your schedule accordingly. This really helps with time managing and I would like to thank Donna for that!
I enjoyed reading all the materials and was especially interested in the revised version of Bloom's taxonomy. I downloaded a lot of materials in PDF format from one of the additional resources sites provided on the course tasks page( http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy ) and I hope to use some of the ideas in my classes.
Another source of constant pleasure and interest was the "search engines quest")))))I had no idea that there could be so many useful and specialized websearching engines and at first I felt like a child in a candy shop)))) I didn't know what to download first and what to look for in the first place. I have already been asked by my colleagues at school to share the information I am getting in this course with them and I am sure that not only me and my students will benefit from this knowledge and information I am getting but much more people will be able to use it all.
I also would like to comment on writing ABCD objectives task. Frankly speaking, before I read this material and tried to write my own objective I had a very vague idea about writing lesson objectives in general. We have quite different system in our institutions so it took some time to adopt out tasks to this matrix. But I just loved the methos as it really helps to make a clear, precise and concise objective. By the way, after reading objectives written by my coursemates, I also got a lot of useful ideas so I think it's a great way to learn as much as possible from such sharing.
Project task was also interesing. It gave the possibility to compare classes and systems around the world and it was quite educational. There are some problems which we all have in common like lack of facilities, but at the same time I am impressed and even a bit envious that so many schools have the possibility to teach English 5-6 times a week. That's really great.
I can't wait for the next week as I am sure that we'll learn even more exciting things about the ways of using web interactively!!!!

Week 1. Introduction
I should say that participating in this course and learning how to do all this, trying to figure out how the website works and how to create my own first blog is both exciting and fun. At first I was a bit worried that it can be difficult, but now I can see that I can manage, at least so far the tasks are not that difficult. Though I still find some things confusing, I hope that by the end of the week I will feel more confident and by the end of the course I will be able not only operate with all web tools but also will integrate them into my everyday teaching.

The first week is coming to the end. I feel that the "wheels" of our course are "gaining momentum". It's still a bit confusing in spite of all the detailed instructions kindly provided by Donna, but I am becoming more and more confident in what I am doing on the websites of the course and I see the opportunities they can offer to the students in the classroom.