Farewell

ED 638: Teaching with the Internet
Dr. Matilda Naputi Rivera


Farewell Comments


Giving a “farewell address” or “saying good bye” to a person whom I have known for quite a while, who have contributed too much for my educational achievement, is very hard. In fact farewell and goodbye are not part of my vocabularies and that is why it is very hard to mention them. In as much as how patience and dedicated you are in providing a quality education on my behalf, there are many things that I should be thankful to you about in taking this class.

First and foremost, for helping me overcome one of my phobias. Computers always scare me since I am a novice one; any time I use a computer, I am very uncomfortable. However, this class have helped me become more confident with computers and also greatly helped in doing my assignments and projects. Computers to me now are a helpful tool to teach as well as to learn new things and ideas.

Secondly, thank you for showing me the benefits of using computers. With the many sites that you have given and the many reading assignments that I had to do per class requirement, I can now use the sites to be current on new methods, ideas, and skills to use so that I can improve our students’ learning achievement. On top of this, I can also use the sites to develop plans, share what I have with other teachers, and communicate effectively and efficiently to the parents, students, administrators, and fellow teachers as well. We can also tap into the newest research findings from the many experts and use those that are relevant and appropriate to our own situations.

Last but not the least, thank you very much for being there when I needed you the most. There are times when I was on the verge of giving up but you have given me the reason and the courage to face the many problems and overcome them. An example of this is the last assignment, the geo-narrative report. As it is out here on the islands, only a few people who know computer have heard about google earth. As I did the assignment, things were not encouraging because of our lack of knowledge about google earth. But then you did an excellent and elaborate job in helping me with it.

With all your encouragement and coaching I am very grateful to you. I wish there is a much greater word than simply saying thank you very much because that would be the most appropriate word to say to you. As it is, I am now comfortable using the computer and the net. Computer has helped me a lot in my lessons and many things.


Rick

ED 638: Teaching with the Internet
Dr. Matilda Naputi Rivera


Final Reflection


Managing this course is not very easy for people who are considered as novice when it comes to using the computer. And I am one of those whom I describe. As I started taking this class and the other (ED 638), I encountered new topics which I am not familiar with. Some of these are Moodle, Livetext, and Blogger. These are new concepts for me which makes it difficult to manage. However, I am very grateful to my two professors, Dr. Rivera and Dr. Stoicovy. Without their support, assistance, and guidance, I would not be where I am right now. I know that I am very far from becoming efficient with the computer, but what I learned from them so far helped me to complete the course works.

In my previous comments, I described how I managed these classes comparing it to Chuukese children entering schools on Guam or in the mainland. These children first dealt with the English language and then the content of their classes. For me, it’s the computer and the Internet.

There are times when unexpected things happened at my end that I could not have control over. One example is the power situation on our island. Some times we don’t have power. At other times our generator broke down in which I have to wait for a day or two to do my work. Again thanks to Dr. Rivera and Dr. Stoicovy because they are very understanding.

As I am nearing the end of the session, I felt great and elated because I have learned so much from these two courses. For example, in ED 641, I have learned new approaches, new methodologies, and new skills to improve students’ achievement and performance. This is just the theme for this year education symposium in Chuuk, “to improve students’ achievement and performance.” What I learned from Dr. Stoicovy, I shared it with the teachers. What an achievement! In ED 638, I learned how to make lessons easier and efficient by tabbing into websites that are ready to assist teachers to improve the quality of their works so that students performed to our expectations.

What I learned so far from both classes will not only benefit my self but would also benefit the whole State of Chuuk since I feel that it would be a disservice on my part if I don’t help our teachers improve the quality of their teaching by updating them on the best practices that are relevant and appropriate to our own situation.

Thank you very much Dr. Matilda Naputi Rivera and Dr. Catherine Stoicovy.

ED 638 is the vast ocean to tame and conquer; with patience, persistence, and perseverance

one may overcome all odds and be rewarded with the many resources it offers.

Wind, current, stars, and the waves are guidance to navigate with.

Blogger, ClassCentral, HotChalk are guidance to ED 638.

So much to thank about!

Wind, rain, or sun there is something to celeberate. Culturally, celeberations signal the completion of a task.

Thank you so much Dr. Rivera for your encouragment. I had something to celeberate!

WASC visiting member, Mr Yamaguchi of Hawaii

visited our campus and was welcomed to set foot

on our canoe.

ED638: Teaching with the Internet
Dr. Matilda Naputi Rivera

Reflection # 2

Looking at how much have I fared so far, I would say I’m improving a little in using the Internet. What I could not do so far is to access the Live Text. Every time I tried to get in, it said invalid login. I tried using my user and password given to me from those moodleroom people at UOG along with my COM-FSM user password, it kept rejecting them, saying they are invalid. So this is one thing that I could not do so far.

As for the reading assignments, I’m beginning to enjoy them and to get the feel of them. I realized how outdated I am on the new ideas and ways to improve the students’ knowledge in reading and writing.

I’m beginning to also understand that the Internet is a wealth of knowledge and that all I need is to use it. There are thousands of new ideas, new methods, new skills, used in different settings which I can tap those that are appropriate to our Chuukese culture and setting.

Recalling the motivation behind my pursuing graduate studies in language and literacy is the fact that students can not do well in English. One prominent reason would be the lack of trained teachers in the field. I know that one person would not solve the problem, but if we can show the teachers how they can improve their students’ abilities in reading and writing in English, provide training to those teachers, then maybe we can convince them to become active participants in the development of our students’ learning abilities in the English language.

As Dr. Mary Spencer, UOG Professor, pointed out in her study back then about our Micronesian students’ abilities in English, our eighth graders are equivalent to that of the second graders in the U.S. I know that here in Chuuk, this is still true as I teach developmental English Classes here at the College of Micronesia-Chuuk Campus.

Thank you very much.
Rick

Class reflection

ED 638: Teaching with the Internet
Dr. Matilda Naputi Rivera

Class Reflection Assignment#1

To begin with, let me summed up what I have been thru from the first day that I received the information tried to digest and understand it.

When I looked and reviewed the syllabus that you e-mailed me, I was so confused and my mind was totally blank. I really couldn’t do anything about it. To make matter worse, I for the first time, encountered terms like College Live Text, Moodle, and Blog in which I don’t have any idea what they are. This reminds of an activity that I used any time I teach a story or a new concept to my students. To make them understand what they’re going to read about, I tried to develop an understanding of the story by activating their prior knowledge and developing background information. It is through this course that I realized how important is to apply both skills.

Putting my self into the students’ shoes, I pictured how hard it might be for a student if that student doesn’t have any prior knowledge about the material being presented. It is through this experience that I affirm to always activate the students’ prior knowledge and develop their background knowledge any time I presented a lesson.

Going back to my reflection on this course, I am confident that I will catch on despite the fact that I am struggling to understanding what I should do in order to access these sites to doing my assignments.

As of now, I am able to get to the Moodleroom to send my assignment, enter the discussion forum to post a comment, and be able to give you my reflection of this course in your blog.

I am very grateful to you for widening my horizon that what I learned is an asset and will benefit myself as well as my students.

Thank you very much.

Rick