In Full Swing

“I move like the wind. Don’t hold your breath, because you’ll only slow me down.
”

― Jarod Kintz

In full swing, moving forward in full force, accomplishing many things. This is me. This is my students. This is life right now.

It's amazing how much we can accomplish in such a short time. The term has been in full swing for almost five weeks. The pace at which we've been moving is amazing. Amazingly fast. So fast that when we think back for a moment, it's a wonder how we've achieved so much, but we have.

I think about the students in my Oral Communication Skills class, and how just five short weeks ago, they were hesitant speakers of English. Last Friday, they were having conversations about complex topics, using new vocabulary, supporting each other, and speaking with increased confidence. I've been working hard to make this a reality. One of the biggest contributors to this was the work they did on their recent projects and presentations. I had them plan an adventure trip and present the trip to the class. More details about this project can be found on the Webquest that I created. Check it out and enjoy!

Speaking of projects and language learning, I recently conducted a two hour workshop with teachers on Project Based Learning (PBL), which is a communicative approach to language teaching and learning. I'm an advocate for PBL. It's an approach to teaching that promotes interaction, increases student motivation and learner autonomy, and allows learners to highlight their strengths. To learn more about PBL and the workshop I conducted visit my PPT Presentation.

Participants in my online Webskills course will be learning more about PBL in this upcoming week. I know they were very busy last week, as they've been during all weeks of the course. They've learned about online tools for both speaking/listening and reading/writing skills, written a technology enhanced lesson plan, learned how to write objectives in the ABCD format, created blogs and Delicious pages of their own, all the while working on their action research plan for the final project. I know how accomplished they feel because I get to read about it in their weekly blog updates, where they reflect about all they've been learning in my course and how it applies to their teaching context. How lucky am I that I get to share in all of their achievements?!?!

To say that I've been in full swing, moving in full force, accomplishing many things, feels like an understatement. The last five weeks have been incredible for both myself and my students. Together, we continue to learn. We are in motion, moving forward, and growing with every step along the way.