d.
Developing Your Own Knowledge of the Resources
Having
made decisions about using some of the resources and opportunities
in tandem, it is important for the teacher in the case study to
get to know the resources well enough to feel confident about
using them in the classroom. It is also important that the pupils
will feel comfortable about using resources.
We
can focus on this with an exercise that requires that you get
to know the CD-ROM with Transactional Writing material on it.
You will see that the CD-ROM is really a web site, just as it
would be on the Internet, and that it contains a whole range of
material beyond the writing - material on Shakespeare, on other
writing skills and on examination techniques and coursework production.
We shall come back to this - for now it is important to start
with the Transactional Writing material.
First,
you need to get the CD-ROM working. In order to do this, load
the CD-ROM into your machine and follow the instructions that
come with it. Have a look around it and take a particular look
at the Transactional Writing resources.
Then
answer the following questions - just to give you some focus to
begin with:
- Go
through the whole package for this writing skills area quickly,
and note how many and what kind of pieces of writing students
will develop when they work through it.
- Are
you satisfied that the range of products above will meet the
demands of coursework for your school or board? If not, feel
free to add some further work of your own.
- Look
now in a little more detail at the maps section of the package.
Make sure that you personally understand how the maps work -
perhaps by trying the exercise yourself in note form - and that
you would feel comfortable to advise a pupil on what to do with
it.
- Look
finally at the house plans that come toward the end of the package.
Make sure that you find where the hot-spots are on the house
plans - they hyperlink to more resources that will help pupils
provide depth to their work.
When
you have looked at the CD-ROM in the light of these questions,
and perhaps written some worksheets of your own to go with the
CD-ROM, you should discuss with your mentor what you want to do
with the resource in the classroom. This can be done in a mentor
visit, over the telephone or by e-mail, and should serve merely
to satisfy you that you are on the right track with your use of
the materials.
 e.
Planning the Work of Learners
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