Technology ----------> Teaching Writing

HOW TO INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING WRITING

The world is going through a technological phase. As you can see, everything in this world revolves around technology. From surfing the web to microwaving foods, technology had a big influence towards us. It is understandable why technology is important to us and we can see the good things that technology brings. Technologies also have a large contribution in teaching. We can get a lot of teaching aids, especially in writing from the internet and can be easily accessed. But I do wonder, how are we going to integrate these technologies into the everyday, run-of-the-mill writing classes?

Well, for starters, using e-portfolios is the best way to integrate technology into writing classes. Traditional old portfolios are time-consuming, taking a lot of spaces and just plain heavy. It’s even harder to find materials because it is not easily accessed and we can only find them in journals, magazines, articles and other written-related materials. Using e-portfolios, we can keep all the works inside the computer, specifically using the internet. It doesn’t take a lot of space and we can get a lot of materials using the internet. E-portfolios can help in teaching writing because the students learn how search for materials, analyze information and evaluate what can be used. Besides that, they can learn how to search for grammar mistakes and learn the correct grammatical structures thus enabling them to write correct sentences.

Other than that, we can use the internet to help in teaching writing. The Internet is a vast puddle of information and we as the users can use it to benefit us. There are a lot of online teaching tools to help improve the students’ writing. In one example, we can use a comic creator to teach writing. We just create a comic strip with a situation and just let the students’ imagination run wild. 

As a conclusion, technology brings about new changes towards life. Everything in life revolves around technology, including teaching. So we should benefit from these technology and help make the world into a better world.

Quotes about teachers :)

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”-William Arthur Ward

“They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even when you don't know it” -Nicholas Sparks, Dear John

 I found some of these quotes online and I feel that it is really meaningful and worth sharing. Maybe this post is not about teaching but I just want share that we shouldn't be too involved in work until we can't enjoy life to the full. Get what I mean? :)

Mini Test 1 : part two.

Q2. You are teaching the theme of 'Environment' to a form three class with intermediate level of proficiency. Describe one activity on how to integrate the following thinking skills into your lesson.
a)  analysis
b) application

 


You are writing an essay for a 'Save The Earth' competition. Based on the mind map given, write a short essay about ways to keep the environment clean. Your essay should at least consist of three examples and not be more than 180 words.

Basically, I want to feel the students to feel like they are writing some meaningful for the world. Using a mind map is the best way to help them and they can use it as a guide to help them get started. Maybe this kind of activity is a bit boring but it's a good way to help them learn writing.

Mini Test 1~

Q1 : Use the picture given to write instructions for TWO activities. Your instructions must be specific and engaging.

(a) I am a tourist. But I lost my way on my vacation and wound up at Wisma Merdeka. How can I go to the police station. Write me directions from Wisma Merdeka to the police station. Your instructions must not be more than 100 words.

(b) You are entering 'Visit Sabah' poster competition. You are required to describe some places that are interesting located in Kota Kinabalu. Using the map given as a guide, describe 3 places that you find interesting. Use the words below to help you with your description :

i. beautiful
ii. near the sea
iii. located in the middle of town
iv. near shopping complexes
v. many public transportation

Your description should not be more that 100 words.

Do you have anything to ask? Please, do so. :)

Assessing and Responding to Students - My Style!

Time to do my job as a future teacher. Yeah! It's time to learn how to grade my student's... I mean Miss Yoon's students and their essays. My group *all males which consists of Ethan Lau, Declan, Teacher Glenn and myself, ahah* have decided to give this particular essay entitled 'A Scary Experience' a 13 out of 20. The main reason why we gave this mark to this particular students is because the plot of the story is clear and you can the flow from the introduction until the conclusion.There are some grammar mistakes like wrong use of tenses and spelling mistakes but overall, this student actually has some good command of the English language like using the phrase 'person of good intentions' and others. And the mechanical errors does not affect the flow of the story. Overall, we gave this essay a PASS!! :D
If you want to see the essay, just look below. :)

 To sum it all up, this particular student have grammatical problems and get the words jumbled up and wrong. The first thing I would to correct this mistake is make one-on-one conference with the students who are having this kind of problem, to assess the students better and identifying the areas where they are having those problems. If a lot of them are having this kind of problem, then maybe I'll arrange a group work with the students to let them know how to correct their mistakes.

For the activities, I would devise somewhat like a fill in the blanks kind of questions, but instead of only words, I'll be asking the students to continue the sentence with their own words. This is an example :
1) Mary goes __________________________
2) Ethan is ______________________

The reason why I'm doing this is because I can assess their grammatical proficiency so that I can know what's the cause of their grammatical errors. These questions can tell you a lot about the students' word choice, sentence building, tenses and other grammar mechanics.

So, is it good? :)