ENKOS KAKHULU -THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Just want to convey my deepest appreciation first to Prof. Rubel for a lovely journey we had in class. It was really fun and I would also like to express my gratitude to all my classmates who were ever willing to help when one needed help. To all I would like to say ENKOSI meaning Thank you all in Xhosa language. Wish you all the best in your next adventures.

Journey of a Thankful Heart

Knowing that we are coming to the end of this brings me mix motions. One that celebrates the journey and the growth one has experience in this class in terms of professional development and skill set and the other feeling is a sad feeling that this journey is coming to an end. Even though it was an online class, the collaboration we experienced during this class as equal as to be in the physical class with all those wonderful people. The skills and information we gained in this class is beyond my initial expectation. I wish we could some sort of an archive where we could store all the information and resources we gathered in this class. I hope I am not the only one who has enjoyed this class. Hope all of us will apply in our classes all what we have learned and shared in this class. Thank you all for being a part of my journey. Thanks a million, Prof Kimberly for all the support and lectures.

Reflection # 13: DigiStori

Today as I reflect on the assignment for this week, I couldn’t help it but be thankful of the journey I took when I enrolled in this class. I also considered that this assignment provided me with necessary and relevant skills I will use in my class to present lessons on video. I really enjoyed the trial and error period as I was trying to come up with the relevant short digital story. Starting with deciding what story to tell to finding the right images, audio and script to use for this story.  I enjoyed every step of it. Please enjoy my journey.

Reflection # 12: Digital Story

Today’s assignment on digital story assignment resources were eye opening in the sense that many if not all of my students can benefit from short and interesting movies about any topic that could be adapted to any situation. With such flexibility, I believe I can make social stories my students can see and identify action words as compared to just reading them. I really taken by the simplicity of how to create impactful and professionally looking videos in just few clicks. Hope we can have an archive of such resources for both teaching and leisure for our students as well as parents and teaches.

I believe if these resources can be made available to all the stakeholders, they can contribute to the advancement of learning and communication processes. Just imagine difficult communications simplifies in just few images and some music and demonstrations. This can take our educational partnership with our parents and students to the next level.  I hope to embark on a journey of finding more easy to use and inexpensive resources for my teaching and collaborating with my fellow teachers and parents.

Reflection # 11: Virtual Reality Education Platform

The resources for this week’s assignment were awesome. I really liked the discussion on virtual reality as shaping the way we teach.  It is somehow overwhelming at some point to know that, as old school teachers, teaching will never be the same as we know it. But it is interesting to venture into this little-known terrain. What concerns me is the level on which is unleashed to the education platform. The pace is to much. I feel we need to establish some guardrails as to prevent unplanned accidents and mass exodus of old and traditional teachers because of the pace on which it is unleashed. If it could eased in in small chunks that are manageable, may the old guards like myself can stay a little longer while trying to marry our old ways with this new found teaching platform.

Reflection # 10: Audio and Video Projects

I really enjoyed the activities on this assignment. I more than the other enjoyed the audacity assignment because it was short and easy. However, the massive features in the audacity are great and sometime seem intimidating. I was able to record the assignment and many more which many of you may not be privy to. The other assignment was really engaging and challenging for me because it required me to type fast of which I have deficit on. It took me longer than needed. It also gave me problem with editing. But I am glad that I was able to to figure a way to align the text with the spoken word. Another nugget I enjoyed was the website Newsela. loved it. It fits well with my students who perform at different levels.

REflection # 9: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

This project has been an eye opener and a bundle of both the good and the bad. First, the good. I finished the power point. It was a tasking experience to prepare the presentation. I started by deciding which presentation style I would love to use to make it simple and engaging.  The bad was that I tried several software tools like Prezi but only to find out that it posed technical headaches for me. I then tried some of the software suggested in class but could not marry the presentation with many different software. It was a heap of clumsy and confusion. Indeed, in times of such level of confusion and stress, I decided to settle for what is easy and simple to operate, that is, the one and only traditional power point presentation.  In this presentation tried to ensure that I condense important information as a guide as to how the lesson will go. I really enjoyed trying different options when planning my classroom lessons. It was an eye opener.