My own challenges and opportunities

If I think about the challenges in my personal life, I would say that combining my work, my family and the training course was a huge challenge. luckily I have some wonderful colleagues, friends and family. They have helped me to make it through. Also at the training course I have come to meet some wonderful people, and together with them I have made it this far.

Challenges at my workplace: At my school we are trying to do a lot of administration digitally, because at this moment a lot of administration like marks etc, is filled in manually and it can be strenuous. But not everybody is happy because some of them still do not see the benefit of using technology, so what we have to do, we have to convince these colleagues to use ICT.

At the course I would say that one of the challenges was to work in a group, sometimes a lot of problems occurred because they did not keep their promises if it came to working on the assignments etc. But it was also an opportunity for me with regard to my leadership skills, which was to be able to let the group work together through it all. So after the assignment was done, I felt satisfied that even though it was not always simple to work together, we still did it.

One of the projects I am particularly proud of is the project of module 17 with regard to one of the MDG's, in our case it was decent work and economic growth we did a project about teaching students how to write a business plan and in this way encouraging entrepreneurship.

We started from the bottom and the result was amazing.

Multiple Intelligences

The theory of multiple intelligences according to Dr. Howard Gardner is that determining intelligence based on IQ testing is very limited and he proposes eight intelligences to determine human potential in.

The challenges is to creat such an environment for the students with multiple intelligences in mind.
Not everyone learns the same way.

My Personal Info

Hi all,

My name is Peggy Amat.

                                                                            

I am a teacher at IMEAO-3, which is a business school at secondary senior level. I teach English as a foreign language and ICT. Beside teaching I am also part of the management team; I'm vice principal; I take care of the finances, I help to coordinate and create school policies etc. It is a very demanding but at the same time also very rewarding job.

I attended the Sint Theresa elementary school at Moengo. Moengo is a small town located in the east of Suriname. It was very important for the export of bauxite in those years. After that I went to the Abu Hanifa secondary school, which is a secondary school located in the city of Paramaribo; because of the Interior War I had to move to the city. Then I went to college (AMS) and finally the Teachers' Training College (IOL).

At present I am doing the ICT in Education training course, I'm in the third and final year. I wanted to take a new challenge after so many years of teaching ( I have teaching experience of more than 20 years), because after so many years of teaching you tend to get stuck at one place and doing the same stuff over and over again, year after year. Not that I am complaining, but I wanted to learn new things, I wanted to learn new ways or gain new insights on teaching, on how to make lessons more interesting, how to engage students more etc. And after three years of doing the training course I can say that it has met my expectations, of course there are some issues to be resolved, but all in all I have gained lots of knowledge and insights with regard to teaching in the 21st century, using ICT tools in the classroom, gaining insights on 21st century skills like collaboration, critical thinking etc.

I hope to receive my bachelor's degree at the end of August, so wish me luck :)

My teaching philosophy over the past three years.

If I think about when I  started the ICT in Education course and now, three years later, I can say safely say that the course has taught me  a lot with regard to teaching, using ICT's in the classroom, using 21st century skills, approaching my students etc etc.

As for tools, I have started using certain kinds of tools like Toondoo, Popplet, YouTube etc in the classroom and I have noticed that the students performance is much better.

Also at school we are starting to use more and more ICT's among colleagues and and among students.
Nowadays sometimes students deliver assignments through email, something that was not imaginable some years ago.

I have started using collaboration, flipped classroom, problem solving etc in the classroom now, and seeing the results I'm also trying to persuade my colleagues to do that also.

I realize that by using 21st century skills, we can enhance the performance of the students.

Doing all the project in groups has made me better equipped to collaborate, communicate and to think critically.

IBO Festival Suriname - BE Streaming 2016 (Science Fair)

This was a festival held from Thursday 11 to Saturday 13th February 2016. It was a collaboration between the Ministry of Education and the Basic Education Improvement Program (BEIP).

The purpose of this festival was to make children at an early stage acquainted with scientific and technical education.
Students were given the opportunity to do different experiments related to science, technology, engineering, languages, arts and culture, and mathematics (STREAM).

The Coordinator of this project was Mr. Padhu and the students of the ICT in Education program assisted the children in carrying out the experiments.

It was a huge success and the intention is to keep give the festival a permanent status and to organize it nationwide.

Module 17: Project and Product.

The final product of module 17 was writing a lesson plan and taking all that we have learned in the past three years into account.

I decided to write a lesson plan for the fifth grade of the primary school about "waste".
And finally it became this:       FINAL PRODUCT  (Lesson Plan)


Beside the product we had to write a report about a project we did. And in contrast to the lesson plan, which had to be done individually, the final project was a group assignment.

The group consisted of the following persons:
- Afanaisa Gallant
- Harold Simson
- Peggy Amat

We chose the project we did in module 13, because this was a project we executed and felt very satisfied about. The project was about encouraging entrepreneurship among students. The reasons why we did it, the tools we used, the 21st century skills we applied etc, all of this can be read in the
final report of the project.

So this was the FINAL PROJECT

Module 16: PAR

During this module we had to do a Participative Action Research.

My research question was: Hoe kunnen de resultaten bij het onderdeel “Summary” (=samenvatting) voor het vak Engels verbeterd worden.”

- How can we improve the results of summary writing for English (as subject).


And this was the     FINAL RESULT

Module 10: Lesson Plan

In this module we had to write a lesson using 21st century skills.

This lesson plan was to be written according to a template which we received.

This is the     Lesson Plan Degrees of Comparison   which I submitted for Mr. Fred.

During the practical lessons at school, we also had to deliver some lesson plans. These lesson plans had to be executed during school hours in the classroom.
Before making a lesson plan we got some INSTRUCTIONS and the lesson plan had to be written on this TEMPLATE

My tutor was Mr. Andy Plak.

During this time I submitted Lesson plan Access

Before that I delivered this  Lesson Plan Samenvatting (Summary)

Module 12: System Thinking

At this module we had to do a group's work creating a video and a report about system thinking with regard to the 6 P's of sustainable development goals which are: Planet, Peace, Prosperity, People, Partnership and
Paramaribo became the sixth.

This was our VIDEO

This was our   REPORT

Module 13 : Educhange

In this module we had to collaborate with stakeholders to identify and address a local problem for which education can create a positive effect.

As SDG we choose " Decent Work and Economic Growth.
Our project was about teaching students of the economy stream of IMEAO-3 who are in their final year to write a business plan.

Our stakeholders were:

- The school (IMEAO-3)
- The students
- The Ministry of Education
- The Ministry of Trade and Industry
- The Chamber of Commerce.

The project was successful thanks to the effort of my group members and the different stakeholders.

You can see the whole  development of the process here

We also worked on this document.

Here are some impressions.

                         This was at the start of the project. Talking to one of the stakeholders.

                                   Student engagement

                            The students presenting what have been taught to them so far.

                              Last day of the project. Students getting their certificate.

ROLE PLAY Stakeholder engagement for buy-in.

During this module we also had to do a stakeholders' interview. The goal was to see an interaction between the stakeholders, using an interactive format of stakeholders' engagement, a round table discussion where you present your project in front of a small assembly of stakeholders.

Role play stakeholder engagement

Module 14 : Adult Learning

ASSIGNMENT 1: PERSUADING OTHER ADULT LEARNERS TO USE ICT'S IN THE CLASSROOM.

(Group assignment)

Groupmembers:

- H. Simson
- P.Amat
- J. Van der Zijde
  R. Bergen
- B. Cotino 

Description of the video

               ASSIGNMENT 2:  TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

There are a lot of benefits of using technology in general but today I would like to discuss the benefits of using technology in the classroom.

I am a supporter of using ICT's in the classroom, because:
- in today's world, ICT is a part of everyday life. Students use it, teenagers love it and to keep them interested in the subject matter, they should be allowed to use technology during classes.

- Using ICT's in the classroom is more fun, for example you can let students do a lot of creative multimedia projects e.g. like using Toondoo to make a story around a certain theme e.g. poverty, letting students do interactive and dynamic presentations etc.

- Nowadays almost every student has a mobile phone. Teachers should make use of that, because now information is available at just a push of a button in contrast to my days where I had to go to the library to gather information about a certain subject. It is also a way to test the students' knowledge about a certain theme or sublect before a test e.g. socrative.

- Ofcourse one argument of teachers who don't want to use technology is, that students get easily distracted, but I believe that with the right coaching and monitoring of the teacher, that can be minimized. It is beyond of a doubt ofcourse that using technology in class rooms should have an educational purpose.

- What's also important for the students to get motivated is that the teachers must also be motivated, they must be willing to learn new things, because if they are not motivated, their behavour will also reflect upon their pupils.

- There are not a lot of  schools in Suriname that are seriously thinking about ICT in the education of the students, to implement ICT. I think that that should change because using ICT's in class in a responsilble way,  will certainly lead to the improvement and benefit of the students.

ASSIGNMENT 3: MENTORING AND GIVING FEEDBACK

Peer lesson of Miguel Cramer

The lesson was a physics lesson, about length.

Good:
The lesson was clear, the voice loud enough and there was interaction. The personal guidance of Mr. Cramer of the students was good. The use of ICT's was good. He used google to answer questions of the students. He taught them how to go to the site. He asked questions and he encouraged the students.

Improvement:
He told the students at the beginning of the lesson, that they had already heard about the subject earlier, but it would be better to ask the students if they still remember the subject and what they still remember. All the ICT's which he had to work on, in order to save time, he could have done them before the beginning of the lesson.

But all in all it was a good performance.

ASSIGNMENT 4: MY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

My CAREER DEVELOPMENT you can read here


My Personal Development Plan

What is my current state?
What are my strengths?			Strengths: 1.       Communication skills 2.       Empathic
What are my weaknesses?			Weaknesses: 1.       Impatience 2.       Hesitant
What are the common feedbacks (positive & negative) that I received from others?			Positive: 1.       I can motivate and inspire others 2.       I come up with very good ideas Negative: 1.       I have to slow down my phase 2.       I am pre-occupied 3.       Distracted
What other performance indicators can I notice?			Performance indicators: 1.       Team Player 2.       Efficiency 3.       Taking initiatives
Decision on priority focus areas derived from the above.			Focus area priority: 1.       Work on time management 2.       More confidence 3.       Result oriented
What is my desired state?
What do I hope to improve/achieve?		1.       Ambition: management 2.       Problem solver 3.       Good listener 4.       Improve learning and teaching methods Why do I want it? 1.       For my own personal development 2.       Making a difference in students’ learning/education 3.       To keep me motivated and focused
How do I get there? What is needed?
What must I improve / learn/ experience to achieved that desired state? What are the possible resources to learn/ experience/ improve?	Requirements: 1.       I need to make a planning, work out my time management program. Divide my time wisely between my family, my job and the training. Create a balance. 2.       Work on my self-confidence, be less pre-occupied with what others say. 3.       Keep myself motivated, focused and up to date. Learning new things, enlarging my teachers’ circle, visit educational sites like sites that are about teaching methods etc. Resources: 1.       A mentor with teaching experience and who uses ICT in the classroom. 2.       My colleagues, who can make me see teaching from a different perspective. 3.       The internet 4.       Social media 5.       The Ministry of Education who can for example organize trainings, workshops for teachers to keep them up to date and giving them tools to use with regard to teaching.
Timeline and Schedule
When do I want or need to achieve the desired state? What is my schedule to work on these focus areas?			Monday - Friday: 7.00 – 13.00 : Teaching 13.00 – 14.30: Picking the kids op. 15.00 – 17.00: eating/resting 17.30 – 20.00: Kids/House/Schoolwork 20.30 – 22.10: entertainment (TV) etc. 23.00 : Sleeping Saturday: 7 – 12.00: Teaching 12.30 – 15.00: schoolwork 15.30 – 20.00 : Bringing kids to sports training and staying with them. Sunday: 8.00 – 11.00 : Sunday Market Focus area: Thursday and Friday: 18.00 – 21.00 : focusing on the ICT training, doing assignments Sunday: 17.00 – 20.00: Doing assignments, visiting educational sites like Socrative to think about new ways of teaching.	Start date: Monday 13 February 2017 Short term goal: -          To keep up to date with the ICT in Education program, so that the assignments do not get piled up. Medium term goal: To get my certificate. Long term goal: To be an innovator at the school where I teach, by helping my colleagues using ICT’s in their classroom too. By getting stakeholders interested to implement ICT's in the curriculum,