Teaching Is a Hard Profession

 Teaching is a so hard profession.  Teachers must always stay aware of their mistakes. Professional development is a method that teachers can improve themselves. Professional development is a commitment to continue thinking about your practice and profession. It has to be continuous through their career. Teachers obtain knowledge, skills and attitudes.
  Many teachers participate in professional development to improve themselves in different areas. They work on improving classroom management abilities. It is common to face problems in managing the class. Professional development show new strategies and techniques to lead with this problem. Through professional development, teachers learn different ways of teaching. They are able to go back to the classroom and make changes to their lecture styles and curricula to better suit the needs of their students. In addition, teacher work on developing language. Language skills improve in terms of vocabulary, grammar and writing. That neither teacher nor students also benefit from professional development. Student learning and achievement increase when educators engage in effective professional development. The teachers can evaluate the effectiveness of the professional development process through their own students.
   Teacher can learn new ideas and develop themselves through many ways. Training, such workshop and conferences, are ideas to help a teacher. There they can meet colleagues and share experiences with each other. Reading and writing also help to develop language. Sharing and discussing is a way where teachers from the same or different school can talk about problems that they face. Peer observation is an important way in which the school provides their teachers with. To illustrate, a teacher attend and observe her friend’s class then they discuss and reflect about it. To add, social media I another way to get more information and stay updated to new strategies and techniques.
Teacher to improve themselves must design a professional development plan. This plan contains sustaining, designing, promoting, delivering and evaluating. First, identify your specific career goals. Second, identify what professional skills you already have and which you need to work on. Then, choose how you will accomplish your goals and develop a timeline for accomplishing your specific targets and goals. Finally, evaluate your plan and measure your progress. All teachers should be actively working on their professional development. Making time for your own development may be a challenge.
   There are many programs in which help teachers identify the educational needs. Program to succeed should be designed to be respectful, supportive and relevant where participants have opportunities to practice skills and apply new knowledge. Those programs can be very creative. Teachers can takes strategies into their classes. It gave teacher what they really need to be successful. It helps also in making the space where they work on to a funny and collaborative environment. 

I IMPROVED...

 It is amazing when you realize you have changed. In every step I took I knew it would add more knowledge. I went through many challenges. I take some points into consideration that help me in each experience.

• set goals 
• take action
• view challenge as opportunity
• reflect on your achievements

After every experience I again knowledge, ability, experience I learn, train, grow. 

Learning Online Challenges

• Switching from traditional classroom and face to face instructor training to computer-based training in a virtual classroom makes the learning experience different. It was difficult to me to adapt and understand this shift. 
• Many students are not provided with the high or the strong internet connection that online courses require. 
• Self-motivation is an eLearning essential requirement but I lost at the begging.          

    I faced these challenges at the begging. It was difficult to understand that the learning process was not the same. I lost many online session. I was only memorizing without understanding the importance. It was like a miracle happened for me to rest and sleep more. Now, this changed sure!! When I started working, I realized how useful online learning is. I ca work, rest, have fun and study all together. I just have to know how to organize my time.❤☺

How to Avoid Problems in Online Learning

 Teachers and students faced many problem during the online learning. Both of them did not foresee that learning process were going to be online.

Teacher's responsibility:

• Give instruction on how to use the applications involved on the learning process.
• Keep parents updated with the teaching  schedule.  
• Have a clear lesson plan to follow without wasting time.
• Start the lesson with something fun to motivate and grab student's attention.

Student's responsibility:

• Use a good device like iPad, laptop and computer.
• Sit in a calm place without distractions.
• Participate during the session by raising your hand.
• Keep the materials beside you book, notebook, and pencil.
• If you have any other problem, keep the teacher updated.

How to be a Digital Citizen!!!

   Digital citizenship refers to the responsible use of technology by anyone who uses computers, the Internet, and digital devices to engage with society on any level. 
  Good digital citizenship engages young students and shows them how to connect with one another, empathize with each other, and create lasting relationships through digital tools.
  Bad digital citizenship, on the other hand, entails cyberbullying, irresponsible social media usage, and a general lack of knowledge about how to safely use the Internet.
   If you want to teach digital citizenship, you'll want to focus on seven key concepts:

1. Empathy
2. How the Internet works
3. Understanding user data
4. Practicing digital literacy
5. Acknowledging the digital divide
6. Practicing digital wellness
7. Securing digital devices 

Tools that I Use in Online Assessment

   During this two years of pandemic of Corona Virus, many teachers faced difficulties to teach and assess students. Unfortunately, some teachers are not prepared to use technology successfully. I used my knowledge to face this problem. There are many tools that a teacher can use in their learning process. Based on my own experience, I find this tools very affective:

• Google Forms: it is easy and simple to use and create grade quizzes. Create multiple-choice quizzes or short-answer quizzes, and make an easy answer key with point assignments for each question. 
• Socrative: It’s an interactive digital tool that lets you quiz, grade, and assess students during online class.
• Mentimeter: It help teacher in some skills like a listening skills assessment, icebreakers, formative assessments, post-lecture surveys, and polls. Create quizzes and tests, manage student expectations, engage students.

  Now during EDUC561(Educational Media and Technology) course, I am adding many others tools to improve my learning techniques. All teacher should gain this knowledge in their teaching career. 

Integrating Technology

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 Technology should not be taught as a separate class, but must be integrated in the classroom. It also means that students use technology to learn content and show their understanding of content. The educational opportunities that technology gives to students are amazing. Students are supposed to be more creative, collaborative, communicative and transformative. The use of technology should be managed by the teacher to achieve her goals. A question to be asked for teacher that still think that technology is not helpful: 

 How we can teach in 21st century without using technology？

EDUC561 Class

 Educational Media and Technology

I started this course in fall 2021-2022 at Lebanese International University with doctor Amal Farhat.    This course explores technology integration strategies in education, and prepares future teachers to use technology as a powerful tool to enhance learning. The course also presents an overview of some learning theories and their implications on learning, and examines different technologies that can be used in education. It was very useful to learn how to include technology in my classroom nowadays. I will use all my knowledge and skills to improve my teaching style.  

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