This predominantly rainy day started at the college at 8:00 am. While the Dean was busy, we walked over to the private school right next to the teacher's college. There an American expatriate is principal. This was a surprise visit (do you see a pattern?), but we were welcomed and showed about the place graciously. One particular teacher was eager to discuss her situation with us; her tour and chat illuminated Dominican education for me. I will tell you a little more about this intriguing woman in a later post.
The rest of the morning, and into the afternoon, was spent helping two lecturers (not teachers, not professors, those who educate teachers at this college are lecturers) bring technology into their courses. Both self-professed a technology deficiency, but I found no such thing.
The first lecturer expressed an interest in improving how she demonstrates corrections to paragraphs. Currently, she is writing on the chalk board, making changes in different colors of chalk and losing her class' interest. I suggest using a Google Doc that she invite her students to. Since she had material from a student in an email, she simply copied and pasted it into her new document. She bookmarked and emailed it to herself, so she has easy access from two spots! I have tucked away social bookmarking for discussion later. She literally stared at the computer for a while, grinning, and I believe she was planning ways to tap all the wonders that exist in Google. The Dean commented on her obvious pleasure and she just could not believe how easy this could be. Technology challenged no more!
The second lecturer had a simpler task for me. She wanted to create something more interactive than the PowerPoint presentations she has been delivering to her class of in-service teachers. We settled on a Powerpoint Jeopardy game as this productivity tool was familiar to her. For those of you who have not done this, it involves linking slides from questions to answers and back to the game page. Time consuming in some respects, but gaming is engaging! The pictures that head this post show one question, answer and the student's response to getting it right. The in-service teachers learned something about Martinique's history (in French) and how they can use Microsoft productivity tools in their classes. They expressed interest immediately following the lesson. I thought it a success!
Day Two ended around 4 pm, without a lunch break at all. Thankfully, the Dean shared a mango with me - it was delicious! Day three is booked with Moodle sessions and more meetings. I am starting to hit my stride!
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Thanks for blogging Shelley, this is very interesting. I don't know very much about this project or this initiative, but it's really fascinating to read about your experience and the discrepency in your expectations, and their expectations of you! I know your thoughts on PD are very different from what you're currently being expected to deliver - so it will be a challenge in unanticipated ways!
ReplyDeleteThanks Monti! I am learning so much from these educators. I hope I can really help them professionally through extended contact; if they continue to seek help with small things, they can work toward big things! I am really excited about the one-to-one work, though. I have tried to keep digital citizenship and TPACK at the forefront, turning the PD into an onion.
ReplyDeleteShelley,
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying following your blog. I am sure much of what you are teaching in Dominica would help teachers in Canada. It sounds like they are even further than many of our colleagues.
You go girl! Keep up the good work.
Wait until they get a load of Moodle!!! That's the one thing that really changed everything for me.
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