Week 2: A B C D....Ready, Set, Go.....!

I visited Ruslana's Blog and I am in awe; she is incredibly focused and so clever with Blogging! I am inspired to say the least. Her learners are incredibly fortunate to have so creative a teacher! Visit her here!

What a clever way to prepare us for what's on the way over the next eight weeks.

Week two definitely took more time than I allocated for this course! Luckily, I am enjoying the transformation I am undergoing.

The four broad areas this week has set the scene for what constitutes half of this course: The Project. The Discussion, Web Searching Tools and Techniques; the Project Task, Describe your class as it is now; and the Task, Learning Objectives with the ABCD model as well as this weekly Blog has been cleverly and carefully crafted to prepare us for the main assessment which will by synthesised application demonstrate in the project whether or not we have achieved the broad-based course goal to incorporate technology into our teaching or class preparation and to share these ideas with the group.

By describing the class I am going to design the project around I was forced to focus on my action research target group. It was a great exercise for me as it focused me on the class profile and while we have sixty-three TEACH Ambassadors in the TEACH South Africa Programme, I had to decide which group to target. No prizes for guessing as English is my specialisation and it always makes sense to begin with what you know and then move into unfamiliar territory. My challenge is that I need to apply for permission from the Board as this is a research-based project. I have. I hope to have their approval before the actual interaction with the Ambassadors begins. I think I have motivated my ‘proposal’ well but only the outcome will tell. I certainly hope this will be a case of the early bird catching the worm. However, as the eternal optimist, I have begun to put my database together and build a class profile.


Using the ABCD model to craft a Learning Outcome/Objective at this stage of the course is also well advised. The Learning Outcome that I crafted is more aptly a course/project goal. It is however articulated on the ABCD model. I must add here however, that I think that found Ashley Tan’s slideshow ABCD Slideshow partially confusing. Because I tend , like Atticus says in “To Kill a Mockingbird” to “walk around in someone else’s skin before judging (if at all), from the perspective of a teacher who has hitherto not encountered any formula for writing objectives, no specific mention is made of the “key concepts” that I use when training teachers to write outcomes. I like the catchy mnemonic but that’s all.

Also, I disagree with his planning process. I prefer Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design methodology UbD Review and UbD Overview where you start with the end in mind, consider how you will garner evidence of what your learners can do and know, and then begin to shape the learning activities that will lead to the achievement of the outcomes/objectives. Of course the process is iterative and one moves back and forth but although one may design the actual assessment tool at the end, the decision about what type, form, method and tool of assessment to use is done in the second stage of planning. Assessment is integral to teaching and learning and not penned in at the end.


As for the web searching tools and techniques, wow! To use a cliché, the more I know the more I know how little I know. There is just so much information out there that as teachers I feel strongly that being able to surf the net (Hey, I’m getting the hang of the lingo!) is not a luxury; it should be accessible to every child in every class around the world. Ja, ja, (South African, Afrikaans expression) I know I am the eternal optimist and a romantic caught in a time warp but really, huge conglomerates should make it a part of their corporate social investment policy to prioritise this. I love Google, but there is so much more out there!


Finally, ten weeks down the line, this blog is going to make it very easy for me to reflect on what I learned this week, last week and in the weeks to follow. The reflexive practice is essential for development, but hey what a bonus to have fun and learn while doing it! I inserted my first blogged hyperlink myself....YIPEE!