My Learning Diary

eTwinning Ambassador Course 2019-Module A:Task1

About Me

Who I AM

   

    My Name is Hayfa Majdoub. I'm an English language  teacher from Tunisia. I teach secondary school students aged from 15 to 18 years. I like my job,  eventhough it is tiring. I've been teaching since 2005 and an eTwinner since 2017 . I'm a lifelong learner,  dedicated to my professional development and putting in practice what I learn, adjusting it to my classes' social and cultural background.I had the chance to mentor groups of new eTwinners in Tunisia. It has been a unique experience being able to share my knowledge and experience with other educators. It was a wonderful self development journey for me at a personal and professional level eventhough it was full of challeges, but that's why I like it. The training sessions were both face to face and online, and that's the most challenging part of it. Being able to assist and guide other eTwinners online was not within my comfort zone and as such this experience has allowed me to grow even more as an eTwinner and as a trainer. Hopefully, this year, our school will be eligible to apply to become an eTwinning school.

My Teaching Context

I teach English as a foreign language in Bachir Nabheni High School. It's a small public school in the southern suberb of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Most of the students there are high achievers. More information about our school are in the sway.

Apart from teaching, I'm also an eTwinning coordinator for the regions of Tunis1 and Manouba.

eTwinning Ambassador Course 2019-ModuleA: Task5

eTwinning Benefits for my School

I first discovered eTwinning in 2013 through some colleagues' posts (colleagues who were eTwinners) through social media and the activities they shared caught my eye. It was clear then, that eTwinning was what I looked for in my teaching context, at least as far as English was concerned. As mentioned in a post above. I teach in Tunisia where Arabic is the native language, French is taught as a second language and English as a foreign language. My concern was to give more opportunity for my students to practise English in real context beyond the 3 to five weekly hours they were taught in school; eTwinning was the answer! Actually eTwinning provided the secure enviroment I was looking for through its free and safe plateform.

I've joined the eTwinning family back in 2017 with another colleague from my school. Since that time the eTwinning family in my school has grown with many colleagues teaching various disciplines joining in. Obviously, eTwinning had a positive impact not only on my students and myself as a person and teacher, but also on the other students and teachers in the school.

I've created this infographic to illustrate the benefits of etwinning in my school.

eTwinning Ambassador Course 2019-ModuleA: Task2

Task 2 : eTwiam Slow Chat

eTwinning Ambassador Course 2019-ModuleA: Task3

Task 3 : Quiz Answers Screenshots

eTwinning Ambassador Course 2019-ModuleA2: Task1

Task 1 : Quiz Answers Screenshots

eTwinning Ambassador Course 2019-ModuleA2: Task2

Task 2 : Promotion of eTwinning the Local Community

Apart from its benefits on schools, eTwinning has many benefits on the community. In this blog post, I share with you some of them. You are welcome to add more benefits to my list :)

eTwinning Ambassador Course 2019-ModuleA2: Final Task

Final Task : A letter to the Board of Education Head

eTwinning Ambassador Course 2019-ModuleA2: Supporting eTwinners in my Community

Ways of Supporting eTwinners in my Community

I think that the roles of an eTwinning ambassador are important. However, I believe that disseminating the benefits of eTwinning in the community and motivating other eTwinners are really influencial.

I have the chance to be appointed as an eTwinning coordinator and that helped me support eTwinners in my community. I have been able to do this in a variety of ways. I organised face to face workshops, webinars thanks to the live event tool available in eTwinning live. The online sessions recordings are then shared on YouTube and on the facebook group " Les eTwinneurs"_ it is a network of Tunisian eTwinners from different areas.

I will share with you a link of the playlist grouping the videos of recordings on my YouTube channel.

And to be more supportive and close to the eTwinners I am in charge of mentoring, I moderate a Facebook Group:

Moreover, with this group of eTwinners we have also a messenger discussion group

eTwinning Ambassador Course 2019-ModuleB:PBL Task1

Task 1 : Project Based Learning

What is the difference between Inquiry Based Learning and Project Based Learning?

Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) and Problem Based Learning (PBL) are two methods that are used for the purpose of developing students' competences. While IBL and PBL are different, yet, they overlap. To be able to distinguish their differences, we have to look closely at the characteristics of each one. In this post, I share with you an infographic based on the EU Academy video entitled: How to Design Project-Based Learning Activities, in which I share the differences and similarities of both. IBL and PBL put the learner at the center of his/her learning, becoming autonomous, and active. While the teacher becomes a guide and a facilitator. .

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You can read more about Inquiry-based Learning and Problem-Based Learning in the following resources: Problem-Based Learning
Inquiry-Based Learning
Problem-Based Learning

Module B:PBL task1 PBL & IBL applied

Reflect and share one example of a problem based learning project you conducted or would like to conduct and one example of inquiry based learning you have conducted or would like to conduct.

In an eTwinning project I conducted with my partners in the school year 2017-2018, in which we integrated several methods all putting the learner at the center of learning. Applying a project approach was the umbrella under which other methodologies were integrated. Part of PjBL, I will explain how PBL and IBL were applied. The project title is GRANDMA STORIES in 2080. The final output is eBooks of stories for children in 2080, when the students who participated in the project will become grandparents. The idea is to have the students imagine, create and write stories they will tell to their own grandchildren. The authentic problem they will work on is to imagine solutions for today’s problems such as poverty, education, gender equality, pollution and many other issues that would be related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of 2030.

The students needed to know how to write stories for children (They started by sharing the stories told by their grandparents and had to find common features in all the stories from the different nationalities in addition to a conference with an expert on the writing fairytails), They also needed to search the sustainable goals using a webquest https://twinspace.etwinning.net/43648/pages/page/316609. Sample questions that are included in the webquest:

The webquest is an example of IBL, the activity itself is one of the scaffolding activities for the final output of the project, namely story writing. The students use their knowledge from this activity to create the stories. They reflect on the most important goal for them and team up with the students who have chosen the same SDG and collaborate to come up with a story including a resolution for the problem the chosen SDG deals with, thus applying PBL. These premises enhanced autonomous work among students who were involved in planning, implementing, and assessing the various activities. The teachers supervised the work progress, guided the students when they needed help. Furthermore,it enabled the students to develop their competences; higher order thinking skills, problem solving,information processing along with other working habit skills that the students improved such as developing collaborative skills, self regulation, independent work, organisation.

eTwinning Ambassador Course 2019-ModuleC: The Benefits of eTwinning for Schools in Rural Areas

Benefits of eTwinning for Schools in Rural Areas