Some advanced PowerPoint controls seem enough to start a new busy day bursting with activities. We learn how to interact with the audience thanks to some tabs in the Control Toolbox, which is really interesting. Those who pay attention to the presentation can wholly involve through some communicative tasks like ticking the box or writing the answer on the main screen. Unlike what we have known, a PowerPoint Presentation can be easily managed even when it comes to slide show.
Secondly, Copyright issues which have always been a hot topic are introduced with a lot of warnings from the teacher. It dawns on us that for a long time we have seemed to neglect to cite or give enough reference information. We mistakenly take pictures, videos and texts from the Internet without thinking about copyright or intellectual property. Even though we create something for academic purposes, it is essential to take Copyright matters into consideration. Our group then wonder whether some of our pictures posted on the Blog need to be added the source. Ya, who took them, from which sources, do we still remember? Of course, we will take a look to check this.
Then the whole group rush to another thing: find the Annotated Resource document. We have five members. Each finds at least three useful sites for teachers and three for students. At first it seems to be simple and easy. However, the more we embark on this task, the more tricky and complicated it becomes. It is because Internet offers an ocean of websites for English teaching and learning. A sea of it look so appealing. Are we going on the right track? Which 30 websites can be taken and which 4 can be introduced on the blog? It takes us the whole morning break and midday lunch to search, read then gather information. Even though we use the criteria to evaluate a good Website, we still need to add some more in the evening because the PowerPoint Presentation for tomorrow requires much more time to discuss.
If the teacher doesn’t remind us, we may not come back to elaborate on tomorrow’s work. The last day will be the heaviest. We need to complete 5 blog entries, presenting ideas for the project in the presentation and finishing with the Annotated Resource. Sitting in group, we are totally engaged in the preparation. The topic is so fine – UNDERSEA WORLD, yet how to develop it? How to make the lesson realistic and cater for Students’ need? How to integrate the use of Technology? These questions keep coming up in our talk. The lesson plan is drafted which objectives and activities for each day and the Softwares we intend to use. Hot Potatoes, Webquest, Webpage and Video, with their useful applications are on top of our choice. Perhaps, we will need to carefully design each activity for the lesson, yet the first ideas are important. As usual, we think it is better to invest time in the first stages so that we won’t get lost half way through. That is why we spend the about 2 more hours after class preparing then assigning the role for tomorrow’s preparation.
Sometimes during the discussion some shout aloud, wondering are we overloaded. It is easy to understand because when 5 of us get of the gate, almost no one else in the University. It is dark and the street is busy with people hurrying on their way, preparing for the holiday. Never before have we worked until 24 Lunar New Year. Yet, this year is an exception. None of us says anything but deep inside our heart we long for our effort to be returned, to be changed to something really motivating. Above all, we are ready for tomorrow.
