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 Pictiwrs Picasso CD-ROM. You will see that the CD-ROM
is really a website, just as it would be on the Internet, and
that it contains a whole range of material beyond the writing
material on Welsh literature, presentation skills, and other reading
materials.
First,
you need to get the CD-ROM working. In order to do this, load
the CD into your machine and follow the instructions that come
with it. Have a look around it and take a particular look at the
resources and instructions for creating a website.
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 website section of the package.
Make sure that you personally understand how a website works
- 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.
- Make
sure that you find where the hot-spots are on the pages - 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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