Friday 17 February 2012

The project - A Nicenet classroom

"A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm" 
                                        Charles M. Schwab          



As I mentioned in my previous description of the 'class issue' that my school does not have the Internet in all classrooms, only the information technology classroom is covered with the Internet. The IT classroom can be used from time to time. Considering a technology-related change, I am thinking about creating the Nicenet classroom because 15 out of 17 students have regular access to the Internet at their homes. These two students, who do not have the Internet, will go to their classmates and they will jointly participate during the discussions. So, the students will be able to participate actively.
Inspired by our Nicenet classroom, I think that my students will be so motivated and they will be eager to learn more. Some of them think that they are not able to pronounce and write any word correctly. By creating this classroom, my students will also have an opportunity to interact with each other because it happens that they are sometimes shy to do it during the class. They will also be able to boost their skills of reading and writing which can lead them to achieve better goals in the future. My goal is to help them to understand grammar as much as possible so the students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge of grammar outside the class. When I create the class, I will give, e.g. five tenses with examples, where students will have the deadline to complete their tasks. I will also post some of rewarding web pages where my students can practice more. Students will also post comments about the web pages, e.g. what do they think about the web pages; is it a rewarding tool for them to improve their skills of reading, writing, speaking; is it suitable for them and so on.
The day has just come for creating my Nicnet classroom. Honestly, I felt very excited because this has been the first time for me to create such a classroom. On the other hand, I was worried because my students and I are on an enforced holiday because of snow. I worried whether I will be able to implement my project. Therefore, I created my classroom and I posted the topics for this week. Then, I decided to keep in touch with my students. So, I did it. I have to say that Facebook is also a good tool. As I have very diligent students in this class, I sent them the instructions how to log in on Nicenet. Luckily, they all managed to sign in the classroom at the first attempt. I was the happiest person in the world when I have seen them all on-line. Here is a photo of my classroom.

Nicenet
Classroom Internet Assistant
Rade Petricevic
Friday, February 17, 2012 7:13AM PST


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After that, the first students’ task was to introduce themselves and it was successful. I noticed that my students were very enthusiastic about introducing. They also have to comment about ground rules. Then, students had their assignments (the present simple and the present continuous). Students have to fill the gaps with verbs from the brackets, using these two tenses. When they finished it, students’ task was to turn the sentences into interrogative and negative forms.  I also noticed that some students, who are shy during the regular classes, actively participated and they  astonished me. What to say about this?
I have no any word to describe students’ enthusiasm and participation. As this is just the beginning of the project, I will post more the next week.


7 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Hi Rade,
    I'm happy for you! It that a NICE class or a NICENET class?. I think it's both. You have a great idea to use nicenet for your classes. I'm sure is so rewarding for you to see X number of messages posted every day on the topic you selected.
    Congratulations Rade!!!!!

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    Replies
    1. Hello Nando,

      Thank you so much for your comment. It is both a nice class and a Nicnet classroom. I have to admit that I am the happiest teacher in the world to see X number of messages that are posted every day. My students are very enthusiastic about this and they told me that they really like this classroom because they can benefit a lot.

      Best regards

      Rade

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  3. Hi Rade

    You know after enrolling in this course, I am sure that many of us, just like you, are going to start using nicenet. Definitely, Nicenet is a great tool because it lets students express their ideas without much pressure. I am sure your students are going to do a great job.

    Hugs

    Katya

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    Replies
    1. Hello Katya,

      Thanks for your comment. I have to say that a Nicenet classroom is so wonderful tool for students to develop their self-confidence. I am so happy to see my students' active participation in this. They also express their ideas and opinions.

      Best regards

      Rade

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  4. Well done Rade, this is great news and I have to tell you that I will try to make a nicenet classroom for my students as well, mainly to encourage the weaker students to participate because this is what I find to be the hardest in the real classroom, but if nicenet helps with this then here I come.

    Best regards!

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    Replies
    1. Hello Davor,

      Thank you so much for your comment. I encourage you to do this because it is so rewarding for students to improve many skills. I can tell you that I noticed some shy students progress even it was the first project week. I am looking forward for the second week.

      Best regards

      Rade

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