Project Works

We were given two group projects as take home assignments. Each group consisted of four or five members. We were four in the group; Sonam Tenzin, Jigme Norbu, Lhamo and me.

Though we were introduced to wiki site for collaborative learning and also to work on our group assignment where we can share and edit each other’s work, we were not able to use it effectively so we created a group chat on wechat. We did try to discuss both our projects through wiki, we landed using the wechat the most.

Project 1: Creating Quiz 

Like the Google Form we used to create the survey questionnaire, the Wonder Share Quiz Creator also showed the different question types that we can use while creating the quiz questions. Firstly we discussed the types of question we should be making and then we divided the types of questions amongst the four of us so that we can experience ourselves:

ü  True/False and Short Essay Type: Lhamo

ü  Fill in the blanks and word bank : Sonam Tenzin

ü  Matching, sequence, and click map questions : Jigme Norbu

ü  Multiple choice and Multiple response : Me

This was another tool that we can use to tackle students of the 21^st century. By learning how to create quiz, we will be able to do away with our age old ways of conducting quiz- picking up paper for the questions, handing over it o the quiz master, reading and responding to the question. Adding animated images, Flash movies and sound effects will make the quiz fun and interesting. Each child is a unique individual with a distinctive learning style so conducting quiz can cater to the diverse learners of our classroom.

In our classroom, we had been using class test and interview based performance task to assess children’s learning. Creating a quiz can be one fast way to evaluate children’s understanding of a chapter. Instead of conducting a chapter end test all the time we can now create a quiz                    (individual or group). It will generate the marks at the end of the quiz lessening the correction that the teachers need to do after a class test. So, I will create a quiz in my teaching and learning process to save my time and to develop interest in learning in children.

Project 2: Video Tutorial

To complete this project work we were asked to use Camtesia Studio 6, record and produce our video tutorial of 15 minutes. We chose to work on Class IV Mathematics on Diagonals and Symmetry.

We discussed on the class, subject and the topic and then I agreed to write the draft lesson plan which I posted on wiki and shared with my group. My friends and I together made the final lesson plan and divided our parts for recording as follows:

ü  Introduction- Sonam Tenzin

ü  Lesson Development- Sonam Tenzin

ü  Activity 1: me

ü  Activity 2: Jigme Norbu

ü  Follow up and Closure : Lhamo

All recordings were shared to Jigme Norbu to produce the video tutorial through Google drive. While Jigme worked on producing the video tutorial he captured what he was doing and sent to us on wechat. He called us and fixed a time so that we can also learn how it was done. He told us how we can record it directly or otherwise import it from the videos that we already have. It should be in the format that Camtesia Studio 6 accepts, if not we need to convert it using some other converters. Once we have imported the video, we need to drag our video to the story board, then we can trim, add effects, music, etc to produce the final video.

I tried to do it myself after his explanation and I realized that I did this kind of video making helped by my brother using Movie Maker to produce a video clip on “Seasons” as an assignment for Creative Arts during Semester Five. I needed to compose a rhyme and then add images and animations to produce a video (I have already shared this video on my Blog). My friend Kuenzang Yangden and I are also in the process of making another video to mark the Reading Year. I will share it on my blog once it is launched.

Learning different things brings joy and we are happy when we near success. If we are able to use this kind of software we can create video tutorials to substitute our class when we stay on leave. We can create songs and rhymes as children in the lower primary love singing and dancing to a tune. It also develops their oral skill and hence improves their communication skills. So, let us learn all new things and create a better teaching and learning environment with whatever ICT facilities we have in school.

I have developed an interest to work with Camtesia Studio 6, I will create some more video tutorials, songs and rhymes, dances so that I can use it in my classroom to enhance my teaching and share it with my friends so that they can also use it in their class.

Lastly I would like to thank our tutor Mr. Chenga Dorji for making us work on such projects. We have learnt a lot and this is really going to cater to the digital native students.

Thank You

Sing...Sing along !

This is a video which can be used in your classroom as a supplementary to teaching seasons in the lower grades. Hope you will enjoy it.

Blog, Blogging and Wiki

Day VI                                                                 - 10th July

I am very much familiar with the posts on facebook and I have seen blog page been shared there. I did not know we can also have a page of our own and I never bothered about it. But as my tutor presented about it and how we can share information and receive comments, I thought it would be useful in our teaching learning process. This was a new experience for me.Blog is a type of website maintained by somebody to share information to others. It is a kind of online journal/diary maintained. It has an area for people to comment or respond to the blog post but one cannot edit the blog post.
We can create a free blog site by logging into our Gmail account. In the following few lines, I would like to write down few steps to create a blog page for one self. They are:

•   Login to your Google account

• Click on Google apps

• Choose Blogger
•  Make an address (URL) and give a blog title
• Choose a template
• Add your personal profile
• Customize your blog- make it the way you want your blog to look like.

To post on your blog, go to new post and a page will open up. You can write, add image , add video to your post. After you have finished writing the post, click publish to share with your friends. 

Wiki is yet another site. This is wonderful site for a collaborative work. Unlike the blog, wiki allows anyone on our team to edit the work. To create a Wiki Page we can do the following:

1. We can login to our google account.
2. click on the google apps and find sites. 
3. Click on sites and add the necessary information to create a wiki page.

These pages will be useful to us as teachers. Without spending much time we can share our writing or notes to our colleagues. Any announcements or notices can be circulated instantly without letting the office messenger running to every class with the announcement or notice register. If we start using these pages then we can organize a lot of activities which will save a lot of our time and resources. An information can be disseminated within a short period of time if there is access to internet.

I would like to share this with my colleagues here at the school. To make a start I can asked the Staff Secretary to create a wiki for the school. Share with all the teachers. Then minute the meetings here so that it can be circulated within a short period of time. Then I would also suggest my friend to share their lesson plans, yearly plans and other materials so that we can share each other's ideas to develop ourselves professionally. This can be a great tool to organize our daily activities in school. 

Story Time, Charos

This is the script I wrote as an assignment for the Creative Arts Module. I would like to share this so that as you get bored during your teaching and learning process you can just read to them the story to refresh yourself and your students. This can also be performed as it is in a script form.

It is entirely fiction. It is a depiction of how materialism is also evident in the psyche of students of students at a very young age. 

Hope you will enjoy READING. Happy Reading Year!

THE GOLDEN PEN

By Sonam Choden

Cast of Characters

PENJOR, a class three student, nine years old, son of a night guards.

TSHEWANG,  Penjor’s best friend. He is tinier than Penjor.

 KINLEY, son of a rich businessman and a bully, who regularly torments Penjor and Tshewang

Setting

A classroom during self study for final examination

Time

Towards the end of academic session, late autumn

Prologue

( The class is cheerful. The students of Class Three ‘A’ sit at their desks. The teacher is sitting on his chair, leaning his elbows on the edge of the table. He looks slightly tired and bored. The students whisper among themselves. Some of them snigger behind folded arms and you can hear the whispers grow louder. The teacher, a man in his thirties, with high cheek bones straightens in his chair and stretches his arms.)

SCENE 1

INT. CLASSROOM. MORNING

TEACHER:  It’s self study time. Study the important chapters for the final exams.

(The whispers grow louder as the students open their bags. There is sound of bag zippers open and close. There is shuffling of pages and yawning, a lot of yawning.

PENJOR, a small nine year old boy, with dry, uncombed hair stretches his arms. He manages a small yawn. He sits facing another small boy, with slightly longer and well managed hair, TSHEWANG. Tshewang is tinier than Penjor. Penjor and Tshewang both wear faded ghos that have tattered collars.) 

TSHEWANG:   (Whispering) Humjaiga

(Penjor  and Tshewang laugh quietly but uncontrollably.)

TSHEWANG:  Humjaiga

(They both laugh again. They gaze at the teacher’s table from time to time. The teacher stretches some more and decides to go out of the class. As soon as he leaves, a group of students gather around KINLEY, an eight year old boy who looks older and bigger than the other boys in the class.  Kinley has well combed hair, cleaner and fairer skin and his sleeves are as white as paper. His gho, despite it being towards the year end, is new and bright.

The group grows louder and bigger. Penjor and Tshewang are left outside the circle. They are not sure whether to join in or continue with their own jokes. )

GIRL IN THE GROUP:  Kinley, can you show us the man running in your watch?

(Kinley folds his sleeves and a shiny, big, deep red digital watch is exposed gleaming in his hand. He presses some button and a fluorescent shape of a man, runs across the screen of the watch. Everyone is amazed and looks at the watch like it is showing some kind of a magic trick.) 

KINLEY:  Do you know where my father got this from? (After a silence, waiting for response) From Bangkok. He is planning to take me this winter too.

(Kinley picks up his bag and shows it to the group. It is brand new and made of jeans.)

KINLEY:  Even this one.

(The girls and boys in the group are also amazed by the sight of the bag.  From inside the bag, Kinley takes out Ben 10 toys and the boys want to touch them and play with them.

Aside, Penjor and Tshewang are jealous.  Their faces reveal the two of them dislike Kinley.)

PENJOR:  Kinley is showing off his things again.

TSHEWANG:  I know. He always does this during self study.

PENJOR:  He is so stupid. He thinks he has a lot.

SCENE 2

(Kinley puts his hand in his bag and brings out a shiny, golden pen. It is an unusual pen and not the kind people normally see at school. The black pen has gold plating and has carvings on its surface.)

KINLEY:  This is what my father gave me for getting through the mid terms

(A girl in the front holds it from Kinley and smells it.)

GIRL:  It smells of sandalwood

(Even Tshewang is amazed by the pen this time.  He goes to the front of the group.)

TSHEWANG:  Can I see the pen and hold it?

KINLEY:  No, you cannot. Poor people like you may not have seen a thing like this. But it gives me no reason to let you touch it.

(Tshewang is embarrassed and angry but he cannot do anything. He stays quiet, his face buried.)

PENJOR:  He may be poor but that can change in the future

KINLEY:  You stay quiet. You are a night guard’s son. You are poor too.

(Penjor is silent. He cannot respond back. He slowly takes Tshewang aside.)

PENJOR:  It’s so sad that Kinley gets gifts for just being able to pass the exam

TSHEWANG:  I know… and when you get nothing from your father for coming first again. You are the one that deserves the pen.

(Penjor is silent but has a serious glare at the pen. The bell rings. We can hear few students shout out “Lunch!” at the same time and the class breaks for lunch.)

SCENE 3

INT. CLASSROOM. AFTER LUNCH

(Kinley is already sitting on his chair. The rest of the class has not returned back to class after lunch. Kinley has a dismayed look and is about to burst into tears. Gradually, the students enter into class. Penjor and TShewang also enter and sit on their chairs. When everyone has entered the class, Kinley stands up and..)

KINLEY:  Someone stole my pen. I have lost it.

(There is chaos in the class. Everyone is surprised. “Who is it? Who is it?” the children whisper among themselves.)

KINLEY:  Whoever it is, come forward and give me back my pen. Or else I will tell the teacher.

(Kinley looks around the other students who are looking at him with bewilderment and excitement with what had happened.  He turns to Tshewang and points at him.)

KINLEY:  You! You stole my pen. You are angry with what I said this morning and you took it. You are in love with my pen.

(Tshewang does not respond just like in the morning.  He is angry but he cannot do anything. He just shakes his head. Penjor does not intervene this time. He is as flushed and nervous as everybody.)

SCENE 4

(The teacher enters and Kinley hurries over to him.)

KINLEY:  Sir, Tshewang stole my pen.

(Kinley starts to cry. The teacher tries to console him.)

TEACHER:  There, There. Kinley, don’t cry. Tshewang! Did you steal his pen?

(Tshewang does not respond. He has shrunk in fright. He is nervous and starts to sweat. He could only shake his head to say “No”)

TEACHER:  Okay then. If you do not admit, you can give back the pen when school ends today. It’s better if you return it before we take you to the Principal or worse, the disciplinary committee.

TSHEWANG:  But Sir, I didn’t do it. I didn’t stea…….

(Tshewang is cut off by Kinley’s crying. It gets louder and uncontrollable. The teacher holds Kinley by the hand and takes him outside.  Kinley carries his bag with him. He won’t let it leave his sight.)

TSHEWANG:   (In between sobs) I didn’t steal. They have no proof and want me to return the pen.

PENJOR:  It’s so unfair how the teacher favors the rich.

(Tshewang starts to cry, disappointedly.)

TSHEWANG:  I know you stole the pen, Penjor.

(Penjor looks at him, and gulps with guilt. He stays quiet.)

TSHEWANG:  But you shouldn’t tell them it is you. You are a good friend and a good student. If you admit that you stole the pen, they will humiliate you. You must think of getting back the pen without letting them know it’s you.

PENJOR:  I am sorry. I just wanted to teach Kinley a lesson. I didn’t know they’ll accuse you but don’t worry, I have a plan

TSHEWANG:  What is it?

PENJOR:  First you must go to the principal before they take you, and tell him that you didn’t steal the pen. That way the principal will clearly believe you’re not the thief. A thief will never go to the principal directly. When the Principal calls the teacher and Kinley, I can sneak back the pen in Kinley’s unattended bag.

SCENE 5

INT. PRINICIPAL’S OFFICE

(The Principal is sitting on his desk writing a letter and signing it. He is a man in his early forties, roundish looking with a clear receding hairline. Tshewang enters inside.)

PRINCIPAL:  Yes, what is it?

TSHEWANG:  Sir. Sir Raghunath is accusing me of stealing Kinley’s pen without any proof.

PRINCIPAL:  What? A pen? Aren’t you in Class three? Are you even supposed to use pens?

TSHEWANG:  No sir, but Kinley brought an expensive pen and lost it and is accusing me of stealing it.

PRINCIPAL:  Well. Did you?

TSHEWANG:  No Sir. I didn’t.

PRINCIPAL:  Okay. Call both of them.

(Tshewang leaves the office. The Principal continues with the letter. After a while, Tshewang returns with the teacher and Kinley at his heels.)

PRINCIPAL: Mr. Raghunath. What is this I am hearing? This boy says you are accusing him of stealing a pen.

TEACHER:  No..ah..Yes Sir. It seems Tshewang has stolen Kinley’s pen

PRINCIPAL:  Seems?

TEACHER:  I mean he stole it, Sir.

(The teacher is nervous and stammers.)

PRINCIPAL:  How do you know he stole the pen?

TEACHER:  I don’t, Sir. Kinley told me he saw him steal the pen.

(The Principal looks at Kinley. Kinley doesn’t say anything.)

PRINCIPAL:  But how can you accuse a student without any proof? Don’t you know he’ll be humiliated? Stealing is not an easy thing to be accused of.

TEACHER:  Yes, sir. I know sir. I mean, I am sorry sir. I have not been having a good day since morning, Sir.

PRINCIPAL:  Is he even allowed to use pens? I thought it was clearly stated in the assembly that students below class four are not allowed to use pens.

TEACHER:  Yes, sir. It was very clear. Kinley, why did you bring the pen to school?

Principal:  I believe it’s an expensive one too. Kinley, where did you get it?

(Kinley is nervous just like the teacher. Tshewang is a bit relaxed and sighs deeply. Kinley looks at Tshewang and then back at the Principal.)

KINLEY:  I…ah. My father gifted me when I passed my mid-term exams.

PRINCIPAL:  Really? I know your father. He was disappointed by your mid-term exam results. I doubt that he’ll give you an expensive gift. Do you want me to call his office and find out?

KINLEY:  No, Sir. Please don’t. He didn’t gift me the pen. I stole it from his drawers. Tshewang didn’t steal it. I must have misplaced it. I will check my bag again. It must be somewhere in it.

PRINCIPAL:  You must swear to return the pen to your father. I will make sure of that.

KINLEY:  Yes, Sir.

PRINCIPAL:  Okay. All of you can go now.

(The three of them leave the office. The teacher and Kinley have buried themselves in shame while Tshewang breathes a sigh of relief as they exit the office.)

SCENE 6

(Penjor and Tshewang sit on their respective seats. Kinley picks up his bag and looks in the bag and finds the pen. Penjor winks at Tshewang.)

PENJOR:  I am sorry for putting you in so much trouble. This will be the first and the last time I steal something.

Tshewang:  Humjaiga!

(They both laugh.)

THE END

I t is a depiction of how materialism is also evident in the psyche of students at a very young age

Co-constructive Tools- Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Forms

Day IV and V                                  -  8th and 9th July

“Tell me and I forget, Teach me and I may remember, Involve me and I learn”- Benjamin Franklin

To make us understand the topic of the day’s session, our class today was hands-on experience learning. We were introduced to the Google Apps; Google Drive, Google Doc and Google Forms and were given adequate time for practice and application. It can be accessed through Gmail so we created a gmail account to take the advantage of these apps.

Brief Summary of my understanding of the topics

Google Drive is an online drive. It is like the pen drive that we had been using to store and transfer our documents/files. Unlike the usual pen drive, Google drive saves our document online so it is easily accessible or share with other with an internet connection. We can store all types of files/documents, photos, videos, etc…

Google Docs is like working on MS word. In Google docs, documents and spreadsheets can be created, edited and shared online. We can also access this document from anywhere if there is an internet connection. We can use Google docs to minute our meeting, write lesson plans so that it can be shared with our friends. It can be also used in our classrooms to have lessons on word building, story writing, and word search and so on.

Google Forms can be used to collect data/information in a faster way. We can create our survey questionnaire online and then share it to our friends. After the responses are made by our friends, all of our form responses are stored in Google spreadsheet which can be easily used to analyze our data collected. This is another app that can be useful in our day to day life. Visit this website for step by step learning- http://www.mattsilverman.com

On 9th July, we were given time to work on our assignment using Google Forms. It provided us time to interact with friends to learn about the app. The tutor was there to guide and support us to complete our assignment. 

 Critical Analysis

It was an enriching learning experience as I have learnt to use the google apps which are useful in our daily lives. We move from place to place to attend meetings and workshops. Sometimes  we need to move in a rush forgetting the documents which are necessary, but if we have stored all documents on google drive, then our problem is solved.  For example, I received a call from the Thromde Office asking me to report to the office with my LPC (last pay certificate). I handed over my LPC and they also asked my marriage certificate which I was not carrying. I asked if he was using internet and within no time I was able to print and hand over to him. I need not rush home to get a copy of it.

During the residential school, after we were asked to create an online survey questionnaire, I just wished if I had known this app before. In the course of my DE program, I had to prepare survey questionnaire for some modules. I made it on MS word, printed and then distributed to my friends around to gather information. Then after that I had to collect and then analyze the responses. It was time consuming and taxing. But with Google Forms I can do it in a faster way. I have had very good opportunity learning about all these apps.

Committments and Sharing

Back in my school I have shared this with my friends. Most of them knew about the Google drive but Google Docs and Google Forms were new to them. During my free periods I showed them how to go about with these apps. My husband needs to do a lot of data collection so I have showed him how to do this using Google Forms and he is excited about it.

Lastly, I would like to once again thank my tutor Mr. Chenga Dorji for his valuable presentations on these apps during the RS classes.