Saturday, October 10, 2015

WiseMapping

 


     In my relentless pursuit of more effective mind mapping tools, I think I have come across a good mind mapping tool, which is not only user-friendly, but also free . This tech tool is perfect because it makes brainstorming easier and more accessible to my learners since I can download my "mind maps" as pdf or image documents.
   With these posts, I meant to share my mind maps with my students after a whole class brainstorming activity. Mind maps or wise maps, in this case could be used as visual documents that could remind the students of the key elements of a chosen topic. Making learning more "visual" through these mind maps could be of a great benefit for learners, if they have a high predilection for retaining information visually.

This is the link to this online free app, and below are some images of the wise maps I have shared with my students.
WiseMapping

BTW, I am not paid to post this link in my blog. I am just sharing one app that I liked and I think it will be a useful tool for teachers who are keen on using mind mapping tools, while planning their lessons.
Wishing you Happy Surfing and Happy Discovering of this Mind Mapping tool.




Thursday, October 1, 2015

World Teachers' Day

       

           Dear Teachers,


   Happy Anniversary! This is an open letter to every teacher in the world.



           You are important !
           You matter!
           You are making a huge difference in the life of your students!
         Never get disappointed and carry on your noble career with a lot of diligence and hope ! You are the light in the darkness. You are not only enlightening minds but also building generations. The more hopeful, tolerant and ethical you are, the more hopeful, tolerant and ethical are your students!
We are here to join hands, stand by each other and spread peace and love. We are the messengers of love and fraternity. We defend the oppressed and stand by them. We enlighten the obscure paths and plant seeds of Hope, Love and Peace. We are eternal because in every corner, in every street, in every city, in every country, there's a teacher who toils to make tomorrow a better place.
       It is true we do not always get what we deserve but we are not waiting for an instant recognition, we are patient enough to know that our value is far more important and it yields a lot in the future than the present moment.
      Undeniably,We are humans. We have weaknesses. We get angry . We get bored. We feel desperate! But once the students' smiles and flashy eyes transmit emotions of gratitude, we are back on track and we feel we can move mountains.
     Let us be grateful today to our teachers because without them we would not have achieved anything. Thank you my teachers for being so patient, so considerate and so supportive!
Just one last thing to add is that on this special occasion, I would like to give a special thought to a dedicated and exceptional teacher who has passed away and left a big void in the ELT Tunisian community. He was an outstanding teacher and did not spare efforts to encourage Tunisian ELTs. He had a road accident and left us all totally at a loss. RIP Tarak.. You will never become a memory because your outstanding work is eternal and your devotion to your work is a light that illuminates our career paths.
I would like to quote Tarak ( this is a very deep quotation that I found among his conversations in classroom20.com) "Yesterday, I was having a coffee with a colleague, a teacher of French at the same school. We were chatting about many things. But, there was something he said that I thought was really interesting. Making a difference, he said, in this world starts not from a lavish President's or Governor's desk but it starts from the humble desk of a teacher. What this means is that teaching is much deeper than just teaching equations and grammar rules. It is about inspiring, caring, sharing and extending…"

      Tarak inspired me a lot in my teaching. He was very resourceful and supportive. He created the First onlineTunisian ELT Magazine and he had special skills in graphic design.He was the first Tunisian to interview ELT Luminaries such as Larry Ferlazzo , David Kapuler, etc.. He also managed many blogs: Please have a look and share his work. The legacy of our colleague will outlive thanks to your efforts.
Here is a list of his blogs: http://poemsbytarak.blogspot.com/
http://tunisian-etforum.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html
http://tarakbr.blogspot.com/2008/08/about-me.html
   Rest in Peace Tarak...


  Thank you Grammarly for the suggestion to write and share insights about the World Teachers' Day! Here is an interesting inforgraphic shared by Grammarly.

World Teacher Day