1st International ELT Conference

        Hello everyone!

          Today is an important day for me as it's the first time that I've attended an ELT conference named ''Shifting Paradigms  and Minds: The Implications of Innovations in ELT.'' It was held in Yıldız Technical University. I was waiting  impatiently to attend the conference. I had a good time there. Now, I want to share my experiences with you.

          First, we listened to Adrian Underhill's speech which is named ''The Jazz of ELT.'' As we know that all teachers prepare lesson plan before coming to the class. And, they always stick to this plan. When unexpected things happen, they don't know what to do. And, depart from the plan. The same happens when jazz improvisers depart from the jazz music. In jazz, no one knows what's going to happecn next. In ELT, spontaneity is very important. Because, while a teacher is listening to his student, he should think of the answer at the same time. He describes listening as a queen of skills. He talked about John Fanselow's notion of ''Do the opposite.'' which means to break the rules so that a teacher can be alert in the class.
         I learned that  a teacher should reflect on himself and be open to innovations. Also, he should be prepared for unexpected situations in the class.
        At the end of his speech he sang a song which he named  ''Reflective Practice Blues'' with his guitar and I enjoyed it so much. I liked his speech. When I talked to him, he was so kind and asked me what I thought about his speech.
          Then, we listened to  Garry Motteram's speech on Innovations Learning Technologies for ELT. First of all, he talked about historical stages of technolgy up to now. His speech was familiar to me as we've already learned the technlogical tools that he talked about in our lessons  this term. He emphasized the role of technology in these days is undeniable and we should keep up with it.
         

     

   

Glogster

Hi everyone!

   This week we had an easy and enjoyable task Glogster. In this project we were supposed to work in pairs and I worked with Teodora in this project. We created an online poster and we showed what 21st century communication meant to us. We found sites which are related to our topic. Then, we put their logo and add web addresses of each logo.

   Actually, I liked Glogster, As it is so simple to use and very beneficial for EFL learners. I'll definitely use glogster with my students in the future. I may want them to create their online poster. For example, they can create a poster about their hometown by using pictures, or they can talk about their best friend. I can change the topics regarding their ages, their interests or their point of view. And, I am sure they'll love it.

   Thank you. I'll keep blogging.

Digital Storytelling

  Hi everyone!

  This week our project is to create a digital story. I must admit, it was the most difficult project that I have ever had so far. Luckily, I worked with my dear friend Teodora in this project.

   First of all, we wrote the script of the story. I think it was the hardest part. Because, we spent so much time on it. We had lots of different ideas for the story. But, we had to choose one of them and do our best.  As the story wouldn’t be so long, we kept it short as much as possible. We created our main characters, climax for the story.

   After writing the script, we had to find relevant photos for the story. As we both aren’t good at drawing, we photocopied lots of pictures from our colorful books. Then, we cut them and put our story.

   We used pipets to move our characters, but, unfortunately, whenever we opened video recorder and start to tell our story, the pictures fell down. We got annoyed a little bit. Because, it took our time. We glued the pictures on pipets again and again. But, they fell so many times. And, it was driving us crazy. Then, immediately we found a solution to this problem.

       Eight hours later, finally we finished the project and we were so tired because of doing the project without stopping a second. But, anyway, we were able to finish it. Yes, it was a long and tiring process. But, indeed we had so much fun, and enjoyed it. 

       I am aware that I talked too much. But,also I wan to share something with you. After finishing our project, Teodora and I wanted to take a video to explain the process, to remember it and smile it later. While we were recording ourselves, suddenly video recorder turned off and everything we recorded was deleted. We couldn’t find our videos. We got anxious, and thought we had to do it again. After a few phone calls J we opened and closed the recorder. And, when we opened it up again, we saw all our videos were in it. We were relieved and we sighed. Finally, this adventure was over.

    It was a long, tiring and hard project, but I enjoyed it. And, definitely I want to use it with my students in the future.
      Here is my video. I hope you like the story that we created. Take care!


Digital Storytelling Project: Henry The Brave from Theodora on Vimeo.

Let's Watch Ted Talks

 
  Hello everyone,

While I was looking for helpful videos on teaching, I found a video by Chris Emdin. He is a science advocate who uses hip-hop to make better teachers.
Chris Emdin believes traditional education theory is failing students. That's why he founded Science Genius B.A.T.T.L.E.S. (Bring Attention to Transforming Teaching, Learning and Engagement in Science), which takes the techniques for self-expression and engagement used in hip-hop into the classroom. At first, it seemed weird to me. Seeing that most of the rappers are self confident and they use their body language effectively to take audience's attention, it is not impossible. Yes, it looks a little bit strange, but I think it's worth to try.
  

My Comic Strip

Hello everyone! Here is my comic strip with one of my favourite cartoon character Garfield. I didn't  have any difficulties while I was doing it. Because, it was so simple to use and enjoyable. As you see I used an idiom in my comic strip. And, I think it is very helpful for EFL learners to learn English idioms in this way. They prepare such comic strips so that they can't forget these idioms, and keep them in their mind.
If you want to create your Garfield comic strip you can click here.

Kid President’s 20 Things We Should Say More Often

Here is my cute and clever Kid President, Robby Novak again. He is such a self-confident and lovely boy that I can't help myself admire him. I am sharing another video of him. Hope you like him too.

Kid President’s 20 Things We Should Say More Often - TeacherTube

My Kid President Candidate :)

Hi again!
    Here is my kid president.

    "Don't stop believing unless your dream is stupid. Then, you should get a better dream."