Anastasia's Thymniou Learning Diary by Anastasia Thymniou

Who am I ?

anaisthy — 2015-04-19 13:40:27 UTC

My name is Anastasia Thymniou. I have studied greek literature and language at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and I have been working in the general sencodary education for the last 10 years. I'm currently working in the general high school of Aridaia. I teach ancient greek language, modern greek language and literature, latin and philosophy. I'm really interested in new technology and the ways we can use in education

My school...

anaisthy — 2015-04-19 13:49:49 UTC

The school I'm currently working is general high school of Aridaia. Aridaia is a small town at the borders of Greece. The school has 35 teachers and 390 students. Unfortunately it is not well equiped. It has only 15 computers, 3 projectors. We have 3 tablets but it is difficult for teachers to use as there is not an internet connection throughout the school.

The new versus the old generation...

anaisthy — 2015-04-19 13:53:49 UTC

Module 1, Q1: Why use tablets?

anaisthy — 2015-04-19 14:06:31 UTC

For me the main answer to that question is that we should go along with the new generation. Unfortunately what we ''offer'' in education is not interesting for the students and so tablets and new technology can make it interesting. The world is progressing and so should we. WWW is a whole community where anyone has the opportunity to learn in the way and the conditions he wants.

Module 1, Q2 : What whole-school challenges do I already face or do I anticipate facing when using tablets?

anaisthy — 2015-04-19 14:43:08 UTC

I think that the main challenge for my school and mainly for greek schools is funding. Others is technical support and pedagogical support. Few of my colleagues know how to use tablets.

Module 1 : App for teaching: Edmodo

anaisthy — 2015-04-19 14:53:52 UTC

I've heard of Edmodo last year, I have an account but I haven't used it in my classes.

Module 1,Q3 :What classroom challenges do I already face or do I anticipate facing when using tablets?

anaisthy — 2015-04-19 15:00:45 UTC

The main challenge when using tablets in classes is to not have the students distracted and not using tablets for learning. We also should use the necessary apps and provide an e-safe environment

Module 2,Q1: Learning Scenarios: What do you make of LS?

anaisthy — 2015-04-25 12:09:35 UTC

I have participated in '' Future Classroom Scenarios'' course, so I'm familiar to LS. It is a good way of organising teaching and making the lesson more interesting for the students.

I have also used LS in a subject called ''Project'' which is implemented in greek educational syster for the last 4 years.

Here is my LS from the course mentioned above:

Module 2,Q2: Identify at least one idea for content's creation: Timetoast app

anaisthy — 2015-04-27 18:31:38 UTC

It is a great app for making timelines.Here is a timeline my students made for a project about the history of radio. Sorry but it is in Greek ;-)

More apps:

anaisthy — 2015-05-01 08:31:46 UTC

Socrative is an online tool for making quizes you can use for lessons. I've learned about it at a previous course of European Schoolnet Academy. I've used in a class of Philosophy.

More apps:

anaisthy — 2015-05-01 08:34:39 UTC

A great site for making comics. Its use is very simple. Use it!!!

More apps:

anaisthy — 2015-05-01 08:49:17 UTC

Educanon is a tool for editing questions in a video from Youtube of Vimeo.

More apps: Booktrack Classroom

anaisthy — 2015-05-01 08:58:35 UTC

Booktrack Classroom is a site that you can edit books and add music and sounds connected with the book you read. It is great app for making kids be interested in books and have their own on-line book library. The extract I used is from a greek novel called ''Little octopuses'' (I don't know if the translation is ok) I've put the sound of seagulls where the author talks about the seagulls. Sorry for using a greek text but I'm a greek litterature teacher :-) Also, I think that you sould have an account so as to see what I've made

Module 3.Q1:How do you keep your students focused and on track during collaborative projects? How do you ensure all students contribute to the task? If you have organised a similar project share your experiences (positive and negative) here.

anaisthy — 2015-05-01 09:25:13 UTC

I believe that it is very difficult to achieve all these goals especially in the school I work. It is a high school where students are being prepared for the national exams. So we don't use much collaborative projects. But I could say answering the above questions that for me it is very important to give to students specific goals, specific time for completing the task and a role for each one. When having a collaborative project the students usually have a learning diary where they write what each have done during the project.

Module 3, Q4:What do you think are the success factors for a school-to-school collaboration project?

anaisthy — 2015-05-01 09:58:03 UTC

I'm a member of e-twinning but I have not yet participated in an e-twinning project. I have applied for an Erasmus+ project for my school. I think that the most important key to success is the passion of the teachers. Also it is important the good preparation and evaluation during the project so as to make changes which will help to completing the tasks and the goals of the project.

Module 3,Q5:What other strategies have you used to assess group work? What are the main challenges for you when it comes to assessing group work?

anaisthy — 2015-05-01 10:07:47 UTC

Assessing group work is a very difficult task. Many students tend to let other work and are expecting to get the same grade. Teacher must have many eyes so as to watch what they are doing and in what way they are participating inthe project. Some strategies for assessing group work:

-each student must work according to his/hers skills, so as to be motivated with the project. Many times students can't participate and work because they can't do it...

-learning diaries

- individual assessments before, during and after the end of the project.

Module 3,Q6 : Apps for collaboration projects

anaisthy — 2015-05-01 10:24:58 UTC

Module 1,Q3: a piece of content for a content creation project:PowToon

anaisthy — 2015-05-02 16:12:06 UTC

Α PowToon presentation I've made with the golden rules when using a tablet!!!

Module 4,Q1: personalised learning

anaisthy — 2015-05-09 19:01:05 UTC

In Greece there are made few attempts of personalised learning through the national curriculum. It's up to teachers to personalise the learning of their students,though it is very difficult. Here's a document I found from UK about personalised learning

Module 4,Q1: differences between personalised learning and individual learning

anaisthy — 2015-05-09 19:08:04 UTC

Module 4: personalised learning

anaisthy — 2015-05-09 19:09:29 UTC

Module 4: flipped classroom

anaisthy — 2015-05-09 19:10:31 UTC

My lesson plan

anaisthy — 2015-05-09 19:25:26 UTC