Öğrencilik yıllarımı düşündüğümde teknolojinin derslerimize dahil edilmesine ilişkin hatırladığım ilk şey lisede İngilizce derslerimizde okuma parçaları ile ilgili sahneleri gösteren negatiflerin duvara yansıtılmasından ibaret. O hareketsiz çizimlere bakıp bir yandan da okuma parçasını kasetten dinlerken sürükleyici bir dizi film izler gibi büyük keyif alırdık. Tabii bir de tepegözler vardı. Okulda bir ya da iki tane olan tepegözün sınıfa gelmesi pek şaşalı olurdu. Adı gibi kendi de havalı olan tekerlekli ama ağır olan bu alet ya bir görevli ya da sınıftan seçilen bir öğrencinin öğretmene eşlik etmesi ile bir duvarın karşısına güzelce yerleştirilir ve derse başlanırdı.

Televizyon kanallarının birkaç taneyi geçmediği, interneti, akıllı telefonu bırakın cep telefonlarının bile olmadığı o yıllarda öğretmenlerimizin işi daha mı zordu bilemiyorum ama hayatımızın her alanında yer bulan teknolojinin eğitim ile de ayrılmaz bir bütün haline geldiği günümüzde biz öğretmenlerin işi çok daha zor olduğu tartışılmaz.

Siri gibi uygulamalar sayesinde sesli olarak sorulan sorularla bilgiye ulaşılabilen, Line gibi mobil mesajlaşmalarda görüntülü sohbetler yapılabilen ve hatta Second Life gibi yazılımlarla sanal dünyalar kurulabilen bir dünyaya doğdukları için“dijital yerliler” (digital natives”) dediğimiz öğrencilerimizin dikkatini cezbetmek elbette kolay değil.

Gün içerisinde görsel ve işitsel bir çok uyarana bilinçli veya bilinçsiz olarak maruz kalan öğrencilerimizin motivasyon ve verimini arttırmak adına kullandığımız tüm araç ve yöntemler tabii ki iyi niyetle atılmış, emek ve zaman verilmiş değerli adımlar. Peki, bu süreçte bir öğretmen, bir eğitmen olarak nelere dikkat edilmelidir?

Bugün ne yapsam?

• Bugün ne yapsam? mantığı ile yaklaşıp kullanılacak teknolojilerde rastgele seçim yapmaktan kaçınılmalıdır.
• Sınıf yönetiminden dijital hikaye anlatımına, online proje hazırlığından animasyon video yapımına kadar pek çok Web 2.0 aracın ücretsiz olarak sunulduğu internet ortamında hangi aracı kullanılacağına karar vermeden özellikle öğrencilerle etkileşim halinde bulunmanın amaçlandığı konular ve etkinlikler için ihtiyaç analizi yapmak yararlı olacaktır.
• Her ne kadar dijital dünya ile çevrili olsalar da öğrencileri teknoloji yağmuruna tutmaktansa, bir ya da birkaç tane Web 2.0 araç kullanarak bebek adımlarıyla ilerlemek gelişimlerini olumlu etkileyecektir.
• “Eğitim araç-gereçlerinin öğretim sürecinde etkili, yerinde ve amacına uygun kullanıldıklarında, eğitimin niteliğini ve öğrenci başarısını arttıracağı bilimsel bir gerçek olarak kabul edilmektedir.” (Uşun, 2006)

Sosyalleşelim

• Sosyal medyanın yaygınlığı kadar etkisinin de büyük olduğu göz önünde tutulmalıdır. Eğitimde sosyal medya kullanımı genel olarak derse olan istek ve ilgiyi arttırsa da öğretmenler doğru kullanım konusunda bilinçlendirilmelidir.
• Öğretmenler paylaştığı yazılar, görseller ve yorumların öğrenciler, diğer meslektaşlar ve yöneticiler tarafından da rahatlıkla görülebileceği göz önünde bulundurmalıdır.
• İlk ve orta eğitim ile lise öğrencilerinin 18 yaşından küçük olmaları sebebiyle, öğretmenlerin sosyal medya, websitesi ve bloglarda öğrenci görüntü, ses ve video kayıtlarının ancak öğrenci velilerinin izniyle, 18 yaşından büyüklerse de kendi izinleriyle yayınlanması gerektiği unutulmamalıdır.

Adab-ı muaşeret

• İngilizce’de “netiquette” (net + etiquette) denilen internet adabına her türlü platformda dikkat etmek gereklidir. “Elektronik olarak iletişim kurduğunuzda, karşınızda tek gördüğünüz bir bilgisayar ekranı. Ne demek istediğinizi anlatmak için yüz ifadeleri, hareket ve ses tonu kullanma fırsatı yok. Sahip olduğunuz tek şey sadece yazdığınız yazılı kelimeler.” (albion.com) İşte bu yüzden, hiçbir zaman karşıda gerçek bir insan olduğu unutulmamalıdır.
• İnsanlar herhangi bir şekilde istismar edilmemeli, gerçek hayatta olması gerektiği gibi kişilerin inanç, düşünce ve kültürlerine saygı duyulmalıdır.
• İğneleyicilikten kaçınılmalı, kaba ve sert değil uygun bir dil kullanılmalıdır. (education.com)
• İnsanların zamanlarının değerli olduğu unutulmadan kısa ve öz olunmalı, bunu düşünmeden kişiler paylaşılanlara rastgele etiketlenmemeli ve çoklu ileti veya mesajlar yollanırken de aynı dikkat sürdürülmelidir.

Alıntı mı? Çalıntı mı?

• “Başkalarının fikirlerini ve başkalarına ait söylemeleri kendine aitmiş gibi göstermek anlamına gelen intihal (plagiarism), ahlaki bir sorun olmanın ötesinde, birçok ülkede olduğu gibi ülkemizde de suçtur ve cezai yaptırıma tabidir.” (Al, 2007)
• Sosyal medya sayesinde gün içinde paylaşılan birçok şeyle insanlar, birbirlerini özellikle kişisel öğrenme ağını (PLN) sürekli etkiliyorlar. Bu sebeple “İlham alınan” şey bir başkasının ürettiği yazı, makale, etkinlik veya sunum ise kişi ve kaynak belirterek mutlaka atıf yapılmalıdır. “Araştırmanın kendinden önce yapılmış olan çalışmalardan yararlanması ne kadar doğalsa, doğrudan ya da dolaylı, her alıntıda alıntının kaynağını göstermesi de zorunludur.” (Dinler, 2006)
• Bir başkasını taklit edercesine “Kes, yapıştır” (copy paste) dünyalar kurmaktansa kendine has bir tutum alınması daha uygundur.

Teknoloji ne kadar ilerlerse ilersin özellikle eğitimde insan faktörü önemini yitirmeyecektir. Bu sebeple, biz eğitimcilere düşen görev her zamanki gibi çok büyük. Konu internet ve dijital dünya olunca karşımızdaki öğrenci de olsa öğrenmeye açık olmalı, kendimizi geliştirmeliyiz. Bunun yanında, internet kullanımı ve adabıyla ilgili bilgileri öğrencilerimize aktarmakla kalmayıp meslektaşlarımız, anne babalar ve çevremizdeki diğer kişileri de bilinçlendirmekten kaçınmamalıyız.

Kendi kişilik ve özelliklerinizin yanında bir de “dijital ben” olduğunu unutmadan gerçek hayattaki tutum ve hassasiyetinizi sanal ortamda da sürdürmeniz dileğiyle…

KAYNAKLAR

Al, Hamza. Bilimsel Araştırma Yöntemleri – Akademik Yazım Kuralları, 2. Baskı, Sakarya Yayıncılık, Adapazarı, 2007, ss. 152.

Dinler, Zeynel. Bilimsel Araştırma ve e-kaynaklar, 5. Baskı, Ekin Kitapevi Yayınları, Bursa, 2006, ss. 127.

Uşun, Salih. Öğretim Teknolojileri ve Materyal Tasarımı, 1. Basım, Nobel Yayın Dağıtım, Ankara, 2006, ss. 281.

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/introduction.html , 23 Mart 2015

http://www.education.com/reference/article/netiquette-rules-behavior-internet/ , 23 Mart 2015

Bu yazı ilk olarak burada basılmıştır.

I attended a face-to-face course at NILE earlier, but I learnt about the online ones after I was nominated for a scholarship by the British Council Turkey. I was so happy after receiving the news that I was chosen. Thanks to the British Council Turkey for giving me this great opportunity.

When the course started, I was a bit nervous because I thought it would only be composed of reading some documents, submitting tasks and writing comments to some open activities.

It seemed like a hard thing to continue for 60 hours because there was even a risk to lose the control and maybe give up.  After a couple of tasks, I saw that everything was interactive. We did not only read and write but also watched videos, recorded our own ones, gave feedback to each other and had fun too.

Being with colleagues from different parts of the world was great. We learnt from each other and shared our experiences. We also had a couple of webinars where we discussed the topics in some units and to be honest that was the time most of us felt that we were ‘real’ and that really improved the group dynamics.

Everything on the platform was user friendly, but there was a technical support team helped when needed. Another great thing about the course was the activities which were very well organized and planned. All the texts presented and issues raised were based on real life experiences and that was my favourite.

There was always a link between the course and our classrooms too. We always received immediate feedback and help from our great tutor Csilla Hös who was so encouraging, motivating and inspiring.

Well, that’s my little journey so far. Don’t forget that everything happens for a reason. I hope you now know why you are here and why you are reading this. All you have to do is to pick the course you would like to register. That is just going to be a door that will lead to many more new doors. Take the step and open the door to your dreams. It is just a click away…

Sending you all my best wishes from Istanbul, Turkey

This post was first published here.

I am very proud to be one of the volunteers to moderate a course and I will be so glad and honoured if you join me to share your experiences.

Here is the information about the course:

Refresh your class: We have just left September behind and made a new start to another academic year. As autumn prepares the nature to new beginnings to bring us a new life, this online course will provide you with invigorating ideas to refresh yourself and your class. It will offer practical ideas that can be adapted to all levels and ages.

Here are the “autumn fragrances” the course will bring you:

• A sweet breeze that will gently cool your approaches on four skills
• Colourful web tools that will rejuvenate the energy of your students with fun activities
• Useful classroom management ideas that will surround you and your students as autumn scents

If you want to awaken the love for English in your class, do not hesitate! Come and join in to let the seeds sprout.

The course is starting on October 28, 2013. You still have a chance to join me there

Do not forget to open an account and become a member before you follow anything on the platform. I am sure you will find many useful things on SEETA and enjoy being a part of it.

Creating an account

Enrol in my course

More about SEETA

Merlin on ©BBC

You fancy learning English and you really want to improve your spoken English, but you don’t know what to do.  Then you’ve come to the right place! Merlin, the young Warlock is here to give you some magic tips. If you want to be a powerful ‘knight’ of English language, just have a look and follow Merlin’s advice. You won’t believe how fast your English will get better!

Tip # 1: Merlin says “Rise and shine!”

Learning a new language is not easy, but it is cool. To taste the fun part of it, you need to start with a good move. Planning and thinking may not be enough. You need ‘action’ and it is never late for that. So why don’t you rise and shine! Yes, now, in this very moment! Stand and begin from somewhere.

Tip # 2: Merlin says “The more you listen and read, the more powerful you will be!”

If you want to speak English, you should listen and read more. Each step you take will make you more powerful. Songs, cartoons, movies and TV series are very helpful and fun. Decide on your favourite ones and ‘open’ your ears while you are listening or watching. Try to understand the words and phrases. Rewind back and follow the subtitles when you need. Join the song you are listening to and see if your pronunciation is similar with the singer’s or not.

Tip # 3: Merlin says “Sharpen your sword!”

To win a battle, you need a sharp sword and in learning a language ‘sharpening your sword’ can be considered as ‘practising’. Be brave and practise. Think about an enemy opposite, you don’t stand with your sword in your hand and think about which moves to take. You just do it. It is the same in learning a language. Don’t wait for making the ‘perfect’ sentence with the ‘perfect’ grammar. Jump in and speak. After some time, you will see that words become phrases and phrases become sentences. If you can’t find anybody to practise, you can try to record your voice. You may start with one minute and extend the time later. Talk about anything you want. Your ideas about a topic, the things you did that day, the film you watched, the people you talked to, the dream you had the night before etc.

Tip # 4: Merlin says “Take notes!”

Taking notes is very important. It helps you to learn new words and phrases. Taking notes is not writing each word you hear, so do not panic! Focus on the new things you hear, the ones you are curious about. If you see or hear a word more than once or twice, that means it is important. It is time to learn about it. You can take notes in your favourite notebook, on your smart phone or on your computer. They are all OK! Just make sure that you use them later. Without using and practising they are nothing but it’s just losing time. You can aim to learn a word a day. Writing “today’s word” on a piece of paper and posting it on your mirror, cupboard or fridge can be useful. You can even type it on your phone or computer, munch the screen and make it a wall paper. By seeing the same word there for the whole day, you will be learning it very easily.

Tip # 5: Merlin says “Never give up!”

No matter what happens, don’t quit! Don’t forget! This is a new language for you. It is very normal to make mistakes in speaking and writing. Mistakes will help you to shape your language and your English will be better day by day. You need to be patient! Keep up your practice and don’t give up!

Tip # 6: Merlin says “Use the right ingredients for your magic potion!”

You need ingredients to make a magic potion and if you don’t have the right ones, it can be a disaster. Then, you should always look for the ‘right’ ingredients. As a language learner, your ingredients are your books, notes, handouts and other resources, but they are not enough. You need some visuals and audios as well. What you have to do is to decide which ones are the best for you and your learning style. Internet is a great option for that. There are lots of links to online resources for listening, reading, vocabulary and speaking materials. You are very lucky because most of them are free.

Here are some of them:

Stories and Poems

Listen to stories and poems and do the online activities. If you have any difficulties, follow the transcript of the listening materials.

The Teacher

You will love the videos of this funny and crazy teacher! They are awesome to learn new idioms.

How to Videos

These short videos will teach you some tips about fun and cool things. You can try the activities and check the transcript when you need.

I Wanna Talk About

These audios are great examples for you to improve your speaking. Don’t miss the follow-up activities. Maybe you can record your own ones later on.

Britain is Great

Learning a language is also learning about a culture. You don’t have to fly to Britain for that. These videos are giving information about the country and they are very enjoyable. The tasks are fun, too.

Fun and Games

Whenever you want to give a break, stop by these games and have fun. There are also apps for your smart phone.

Tip # 7: Merlin says “You have magic!”

Believe in yourself! Be confident! You don’t need to compare yourself with your friends or other people. Each person has different skills and features, so the time of the learning process can be different for everyone. No matter how old you are, where you are from or where you live, you can still learn a new language! Be brave and take risks. Make mistakes and keep going. Practise, practise and practise. Give time and energy. Don’t give up your dreams because ‘you have magic’ 

This post was first published here.

I really don’t remember calculating my age before ‘29’. Everything started after I turned 30:) Today is August 18^th and it is my birthday. Just having another discussion (with myself) about how old I am turning. I was born in 1976 and that makes me a ‘Dragon’ in the Chinese Zodiac. So am I ‘36’ or ‘37’? Some people say that you cannot count the year you were born, because you don’t just appear in the world when you are ‘1’ year old. If you think that you are ‘zero’ year old when you are born, then I must be turning ‘36’ today:)

36 or 37… It really does not matter, because every year has its own magic. With another magic age I am getting, I decided to share these classroom tips with you all. Schools are already open in some countries and they are about to open in others. These tips can help you to cope with some classroom management problems, to have a good rapport with your students and your students can enjoy their time while practising.

Tip #1 Greet them by singing: We all greet the students when we enter the class and expect them to reply back. Instead of a monotonous way, why don’t you use a song to greet them? This may be really fun especially for young learners. You can use the rhyme of a well-known children’s song and add your own lyrics or you can create a rap one with these lyrics. Here is very simple rap greeting I created:

Teacher: Hello Hello Hello everybody!

Students: Hello Hello Hello Ms Oflaz!

You can also change the word ‘everybody’ with some other words such as 4B, my dear students, dearies, sweethearts etc. This will surprise your students.

Tip #2 Pick a game: Think about games which can be played in the class and write the titles of them on cards. Put the cards in a box. If you want, you can ask your students to write down the games they’d like to play but make sure that you check them to see if they are appropriate or not. Students can colour or decorate the box with stickers or pictures. Whenever you want to give a break, you or your students can pick a game from the box and play altogether.

Tip #3 “Teacher! You’ve got mail”: Sometimes, it is difficult for students (especially the shy ones) to communicate with the teacher. This is a great idea to make them share anything they want. Make a box with a hole (maybe a locked one) and ask your students to write you notes or letters and drop it in. When students send you their message, they can write “Teacher! You’ve got mail” on the board or leave a message on the table, so you can check. You can reply their notes or talk to them afterwards. Another thing you can do with the mail box is to encourage them to write messages on special days, to cheer up their friends or to inspire each other.

Tip #4 Get together at break: As teachers, we all need a break to relax, have a cup of tea / coffee or visit Mrs.Murphy:) but it is extremely fruitful to spend time with students at the break time. Stay in class, hang out in the corridor or go out to the garden to chat with your students. Not all the time of course. Once or twice a week. Play games, eat together, listen to music or just make compliments. This unthreatening atmosphere will make you get to know them better and create a special connection with your students.

Tip #5 Who’s the teacher today?: Students, especially younger ones like acting as teachers. They sometimes play games acting as teachers and students. I used to do that a lot when I was a kid. I even had a little chalkboard. Why don’t you ask your students to become the teacher for five minutes and continue the lesson? You can start with the volunteers and ask them what / when they want to teach. You can add their names on the class calendar, so they can plan and get prepared. When the time comes, let them go through an activity, carry out a discussion, lead a game and so on. I’m sure this will be great for the students to become more confident and it will also help to improve their empathy skills.

Tip #6 Bring lucky charms: You can invent lucky charms to motivate your students or reduce their stress. Bringing a ladybug toy / picture before an exam, drawing an Irish shamrock on the board during a competition or hanging a blue bead after they perform well can change the atmosphere for a while. It can make them laugh, increase their motivation and have fun, but you shouldn’t exaggerate. Avoid changing the class into a tent full of totems:)

Tip #7 Arrange a ‘Fun corner’: You can leave a part of the bulletin board for this. Ask students to bring jokes, cartoons, inspirational quotes and interesting news they like. They can put these on this corner and share. Make them change the stuff regularly. You can even create a rating game at the end of the term / year and choose the funniest, the mosy interesting or the weirdest.

Tip #8 Silence is normal: This may not happen very frequently, but when it happens it might make you feel weird as if you have to start speaking immediately. If your students just stare at you or keep silent, that does not mean that there is always something wrong. Students may need time to digest. They might be thinking about the topic / lesson you are busy with. They may be brainstorming or reflecting. Do not panic and give them time.

Tip #9 Let them enjoy a ‘crazy moment’: As you can understand from the title, this is a crazy activity. Try not to use this activity very often not to lose the magic of it. When you feel that your students are completely lost in thoughts, tired or reluctant, tell them that they have 10 seconds to do anything they like. They can stand up, walk around, scream, dance, sleep, look out of the window etc. Ring a bell when the time is over and ask to sit properly and silently. Don’t forget to warn them about the actions they will do. They shouldn’t hurt their friends, offend each others’ feelings or damage the school property. I recommend you to inform your neighbours next door (other classrooms or the administrators nearby), so they won’t get shocked when they hear the ‘crazy’ sounds:)

Tip #10 Make them reflect: Students make a special page /section on their notebook and decorate it if they like. After each unit / theme, tell them to think about the things covered in class and write what they can do. This will be very good to make them reflect on their own work and performance. Seeing their own progress will be motivating as well.

Tip #11 Give them awards for nothing: Awards always motivate students and they get crazily happy if they deserve one. Some students can really feel useless if they can’t get any and the whole thing can lose its effectiveness. You can sometimes award them not for the things related with the lesson but with the special skills or features they have. Award for a sweet smile, award for a tech wizard or award for a helpful fairy etc. Check here to see more ideas on this.

Tip #12 Make a ‘class’ wall: You can change the classroom wall into a Facebook wall. I hope you have enough space for this. If not, you can use the windows or the doors of the cupboards. Students can share their photos of special moments and add captions to them, write their feelings or opinions. You can add your own and motivate them to comment on each other. This can be turned into a spoken activity at the end of the day or used as a warm-up activity. If students like each others’ posts, they can draw little hearts on them.

Tip #13 Give no homework for today: Decide on a day and don’t give homework on that day. Share this with the other teachers as well and encourage them to do the same. Students will love this. Having a day without any homework will make your students release the pressure of the school and relax.

Tip #14 Keep calm and come back: Choose an area in the class and put a ‘keep calm’ sign / poster there. Tell the students that they can use this place to get better whenever they feel down or angry. You can put a chair or a pillow there. They can sit, close their eyes or put their headphones on to listen to some music. The time they use at this area should be limited. They should go back to their place after 2 or 3 minutes.You can use the same place to show that you are not happy with an attitude or a misbehaviour but avoid using it very often.

Tip #15 You’ve got a message: Tell the students to write their names on a piece of paper and leave them in a box or plastic bag. Then allow them to pick one. If they pick their own names, they should change. Ask them to write an inspirational message for their friends and give it to them. Students will learn how to cheer up each other and improve their friendship with the help of this activity.

Tip #16 Help your buddy: Put the students into pairs at the beginning of the year. Tell them they are ‘help’ buddies during the first month. They are supposed to help each other about lessons, the new school / system and so on. This might be really good for the newcomers.

Tip #17 ‘Joker’ for homework: Homework can be boring for some students although you do your best to make it fun and catchy. Tell your students that they can have a ‘joker’ after each 5 / 10 homework. Once they get a joker, they can use it for any homework they like and skip that one. This can have some weaknesses such as missing things on the related piece of homework or receiving complaints from parents, but it can also motivate students to do more homework.

Tip #18 Reading time: Ask them to bring the book they are reading on a specific day. Friday can be a good day as it is the last day of the week and most of them can be tired. If a student does not fancy books, this can be a good start. Tell your students it is the reading time and allow them a specific time. You can begin with 15 minutes and extend the time later. You can also play classical music during this time. By the way, don’t forget to bring your own book to join them.

Tip #19 Share what you read: Bring a book you already read or you are reading and put it on your table or another place in the class. You can allow the students to have a look at it and raise questions aterwards. Then, ask a volunteer to bring a book and do the same. You can continue this activity till everybody talks about a book.

Tip #20 ‘Special days’ congrats: Use the doors of the students’ lockers for this activity. Learn their birthdays at the beginning of the year and put messages on the door of their lockers on their birthdays. You can also congratulate them for other special stuff like winning a school match or getting a poetry award. They will feel that you care about them.

Tip #21 “Who is the ‘prefect’ this week?”: Choose a prefect from the students. If you want, you can choose more than one at each time. The prefects can be your assistants during the week and learn to take responsibilities and maybe gain more confidence. You can change the prefects every week till everyone becomes a prefect at least once.

Tip #22 Group names: Divide the students into groups according to their seating plans and ask them to find a name for their groups. It might be good to call out their group names while warning instead of using the names of the students. This way, they can warn each other to stop the misbehaviour, listen to others more carefully and participate. You can give and take points to encourage the students and choose the champion group of the day / week / month.

Tip #23 Dance dance dance: This can sound a bit crazy if you have never taught young learners, but believe me it even works with university prep students. Just play a popular song and dance with them. You can do it in the middle of the lesson when you see that they are lost or before you start a lesson or a specific activity. Tell them that they are free to do any dance moves for blah blah minutes. When the music stops, they should calm down and sit quietly to get ready for the lesson / activity. Remember that moving can increase the brain power.

Tip #24 Make them talk for one minute: Tell them they have to talk to their pairs for one minute without stopping. They may talk about anything that comes up to their minds or on a specific topic. After some time, you can extend the time and make them talk for a longer time. This is a very helpful activity for their fluency. You can find more details about this activity here.

Tip #25 Share something about your childhood: Students can sometimes be very curious about their teachers. So why not using this for the sake of your lessons:) Show them photos from your childhood and tell them ‘stories’. Be sure that they will listen more carefully than they listen to other stories, because it is all about you. They can ask you questions when you finish or guess the end of the story.

Tip #26 Do not fear to share your feelings: If you are having a difficult time or if you are overjoyed, do not fear to share this with your students (unless it is very private:p). You can just tell them or write it on the board like a Facebook status and if they want, they can ask you questions about the details.

Tip #27 Watch a video: Do not wait for the perfect time to use videos. A short youtube video can change the mood of the students. It can make them smile and motivate for a hard work coming up or inspire them before a writing activity. Bookmark the videos you can use in your class and use this library whenever you need.

Tip #28 “Do you know what I did last weekend?”: Tell the students to bring an object related with what they did at the weekend. Tell them to show it to others and take a guess about their weekend. They can ask questions to learn about the details. If you want to save time, you can make students work in pairs / groups.

Tip #29 Tell them to dream on: This is one of the silent moments you can all enjoy:) Choose an appropriate piece of music preferably instrumental ones. Tell them to close their eyes and just dream on. They are free to dream about anything they like and they don’t have to talk about it afterwards.

Tip #30 Remember: Music is a therapy: Music can reduce stress, encourage positive thinking and even implant creativity. Do not fear to use it during the lessons. The only thing you should be careful about is to choose the right piece of music for the right time. Considering the activities you are dealing with, decide if you need something stirring, calming or relaxing. Here is a great link to choose a piece of music according to your mood. Some titles here may not be appropriate for the age of your students, so check before you use it in your class.

Tip #31 Why don’t you go out?: You don’t have to lock your students in the class all the time. Take your students out to the garden or use the other parts of the school. Make a good plan about the lesson you will follow there and be sure everything is under control. Inform your head of department or the vice principal beforehand not to cause any problems.

Tip #32 Invite guests: You can invite your colleagues (English teachers or teachers of other subjects), the head of department, vice principals or the principal to your class not to observe you but to encourage the students. When they are ready to perform pair work or group work activities, show & tell projects or just to play games, you can invite someone to your class. (Inviting more than one person can be threatening for them.) The aim here should be to praise the students. When they hear that a teacher or an administrator they care is appreciating their work, they will be really happy and motivated.

Tip #33 Give them coupons: Make coupons to be given as awards after any good work your students perform. Tell them to collect their coupons to reach other series of awards. You can learn more details about this activity I created here.

Tip #34 “What was the best thing today?”: Make students reflect on the lesson and their work at the end of the day / lesson. Then ask them to share it in pairs or groups. You can also tell them to share the same with their family when they go home. You can inform the families beforehand. This will help your students to focus on the positive things more and create a bridge between the school and home as well.

Tip #35 Change is good: You can change the decoration of the classroom by playing with the desks and chairs (if you can) or the seats of the students. You can make your students look after plants, add new parts on the bulletin board and so on. Change is good but it might drive some students crazy, too, so you should know your students well before you decide on a change. You can make it in steps and try to prepare them.

Tip #36 Enjoy the Colour’ful’ days: If wearing uniform is not mandatory at the school you are working at, this can bring ‘colour’ to your classroom. Decide on a colour and tell your students to wear something with that colour on a day you will announce. If they can’t, they can also bring some accessories. You can join them as well. You can read a text, sing a song or watch a video related with the colours. You can discuss about the effects of colours on people, colour therapy or play games related with colours.

Tip #37 “What’s your favourite photo shoot?”: Ask your students to take as many photos as they can at the weekend or on winter / summer holiday. After deciding on their favourite photo shoot, they can bring it to class (hard or soft copy) to share with their friends. Then, they can come to the front, show and tell. They can ask questions to each other. With the help of this activity, they will be sharing their experiences and have some fun.

Hope you will find these tips fun and useful for your students. Please feel free to add your own and share your ideas.

Oooh yes, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” to me:)

This post was also published here

SONG: ‘Give me some sunshine’ by Rajkumar Hirani

LEVEL: Elementary / Pre-intermediate

AGE: Teenagers / Young Adults / Adults

As an ‘enthusiastic’ (or maybe a crazy English teacher:) ) I always feel like the antennas of a radio receiving every little signal around so that I can find something useful and enjoyable for my students. It really doesn’t matter where I am, who I am with or what I am doing. Anything can seem to be a tool to be used in my class or any visual or auditory material can turn into a fun activity for my students. Especially if it is a day I am visited by the ‘Muses’  That can happen while hanging out in a toy shop, gazing at the ads in the metro or even flying in a lucid dream

Well, a couple of days ago, I was watching  ‘3 Idiots’ (which has been the only film which made me laugh and cry so I strongly recommend). The music was as good as the awesome story. Anyways, I decided to prepare the following set of song activities and I think the 33^rd Blog Carnival will be the most conducive atmosphere for sharing it. Thanks to my dear colleague Eva Buyuksimkesyan‘s CALL for blog posts to be hosted on her fabulous blog at the carnival.

The activities below are all about ‘Give me some shine’, my favourite song in the film I mentioned above. Although a big part of the song is in Hindi, I found it very meaningful and enjoyable. I even visualized myself singing it with the students joyfully and using some gestures and mimes.

Below are some ideas about how you can use this song in your classroom. I hope you will like them:)

BEFORE SINGING

• Make the students listen to the chorus and ask them to sing along. Repeat it altogether till they can do it alone without hearing the music.
• Tell them that they have to stop what they are doing and sing it when you call out ‘GIVE ME SOME SUNSHINE’. If you want, you can even add some gestures and tell them to imitate you.
• Give each student a piece of paper and ask them to draw and colour ‘some sunshine’.
• While they are drawing, stop them by calling out ‘GIVE ME SOME SUNSHINE’ and sing the chorus with them. When they finish, ask them to continue  to draw their picture.
• Repeat the same a couple of times till they finish their own ‘sunshine’ picture.

Give Me Some Sunshine CHORUS.

WHILE SINGING

• Play the English part of the song and tell the students to hold up their ‘sunshine’ pictures when they hear the word ‘sunshine’. They can also sing along during that.
• Ask the students to work in pairs / groups and give them a set of word cards (the lyrics of the song).
• Tell them to put the words in the right order while they are listening to the song.

Give Me Some Sunshine ENGLISH PART.

• Before playing the full song, inform the students that a big part of the song is not in English but in Hindi as it is one of the songs in an Indian film called ‘3 Idiots’. Encourage the students to guess what the lyrics may be by watching the video clip.
• Tell them to get into pairs / groups again and share their ideas. They may also share their ideas with the whole class.

Give Me Some Sunshine FULL SONG.

• Finally, play the song with the English subtitles. You can choose the group with the closest answer in the end and reward them with a smiling sun on the board.

Give Me Some Sunshine LYRICS (Hindi and English).

AFTER SINGING

• Ask the students to change some words in the English part of the song and create their own lyrics.

Here is mine:

Give me some chocolate

Give me some sweets

Give me another piece

I wanna eat them all

• Then, they can sing their parts in the class or record it to play for their friends.
• As an extension activity, you can make them watch the film in the class or at home. They can write their comments on their ‘sunshine’ picture or post them on the class blog / wiki  etc.

P.S 1:  Watch the film before you decide to use it in your class. I think it is not a good idea to use it with young learners, but you can still use the English part of the song with them.

P.S 2: Please don’t go mad with me if you keep singing it in your mind again and again for the whole day or maybe week:)

Please do not hesitate to share your experiences if you try any of these activities. Let me end the post with another version of the lyrics:)

Send me some comments

Tweet my post

Send me your ideas

I wanna hear them all

It is believed that each number has a special meaning. Since it is the last three days of the Blogathon, I want to devote this post to the number “3”. Three is a sacred number in most of the religions because of being the number of divine. Three was also considered the number of harmony, wisdom and understanding. You can check the other details on mysticalnumbers.com.

As Blogathon runners we have been racing in great harmony by writing and reading regularly. We’ve been supporting each other with great comments, sharing our ideas in an unprejudiced manner and spreading the wisdom. We’ve been  asking each other without any hesitations to learn from our experiences and with a great understanding we’ve been replying. I think number three is also representing the “beginnings” and “endings”. Think about how a marathon starts: “Ready, Steady, Go” and the countdown “3-2-1” in the end. Here are my three wishes:

1. Hope this ending will be a new beginning for you all.**
2. Hope you will never lose the desire to learn
3. Hope you will keep blogging after the Blogathon

TWO

There is a common Turkish expression about working together. “There is a sound of two hands clapping, but what about one hand?” Number two reminded me this and here at the Blogathon we were never alone. The comments (though they were more than 2:) of the other bloggers, guests and the Blogathon team supported and motivated us. I was having a little doze before I started this post and guess what I was dreaming about. “Ying yang”. I was telling someone about the meaning of ying yang,  “the two faces that keep the universe in perfect balance”* and drawing the symbol to explain it. Having a dream about that on the day of writing about number 2! What a coincidence! Or just the impact of unconscious thoughts:)It is 11th February today. 1+1 makes 2 and February is the second month. The best day to write about number 2:) Helps me to find examples about it:)) I think I am so lucky. Only two days to the finish line. We, the Blogathoners are all tired, but excited and impatient to see the results. Whatever the results are, taking a part at the Blogathon the second time (ooooh number 2:) was much more fun (and challenging). I’m so glad to have met new colleagues and share lots. Some of you have been my constant readers and that made me so happy. I’d like to thank you for all the contributions. I think I will miss the spirit, but I’m sure most of you will show up with your own blogs in the blogging world soon and we will keep in touch. Ooooh number two Please make this true )*

ONE

The last day of the Blogathon. There are only hours to the end. As Blogathon runners, we are entering our last posts before the finish line.The last number in the countdown: “Number 1″. “The number of being the best”*. I assume that number one represents each Blogathoner at the race. Each of us is unique and each piece of post is special in its way. Number one also displays a truth: No matter who we are, no matter where we live and who we teach, we are all the same.  With this in our minds, we have shared our experiences, without any prejudices we read each other’s posts and contributed the comments. That makes us all champions. We are the best and we are the stars. Though it would be fantastic to win it, finishing will be the real spirit of the marathon.  Writing about number one reminds me a great album of Omar Faruk Tekbilek, a Turkish composer and musician. I’d like to share something from the album called “One Truth”.

The song is called “I love You”. I’m dedicating the song to all of you, because I love you. Thank you for caring to share your knowledge and experiences and making this race so special. It was totally number one:)

This post was first published here

Me & Barca :p

I’m happy to be in Barcelona (after a cancelled flight and another one delayed because of the heavy snow in Istanbul). I feel like an author or a journalist writing on a journey during that journey:) I have always wanted to do that and here I am:)One of my colleagues and I will present an article we wrote at the 4th World Conference on Educational Sciences. It wil take place in Barcelona University.  It’ll be interesting and of course challenging to continue running at the blog marathon here in Spain, but I’m so excited. Tomorrow is the first day of the conference. The opening will be huge as far as I guess. There will be hundreds of academicians from different countries. I will try to share things about the plenary speeches and workshop sessions I attended. I may not be so active in reading and commenting, but I will do my best

DAY 2 ‘Hola’ from Spain

Me, just before my presentation at Barcelona University

We all like to attend conferences and enjoy being a part of the audience while we are watching our favourite course book author or a world famous presenter and digesting the concurrent sessions. There are of course other sweet things like seeing ex colleagues, meeting new ones, stopping by the book stands, munching the cookies and biscuits and looking forward to raffle time to get a prize.What about being there as a “presenter”? If you have never attended a conference or a seminar as a presenter, it is time to take a step. I know that some people do not like to be on the stage, but if you have a little bird twitting in your heart and telling you to do so, it is not difficult to reach your aim.

Here are some suggestions from me:

-    Decide on the type of the conference you would like to attend. An ELT conference or any other one such as Educational Sciences, Social Sciences etc.

-    Start with baby steps and try a local one, then you can go on with the international ones.

-     Try to be unique in some part of your presentation, so people will not forget you. -     Follow and watch the presenters and trainers, but never try to act like one of them.

-    Never think that your ideas are not valuable.

-    You can enlighten the way of (a) colleague(s) with your experiences.

-    Believe in yourself. The door of the courage is already in your heart, waiting to be opened.

Buena Suerte (Good Luck in Spanish:)

DAY 3 Tapa Tapa

Happy and relieved after I ate up my 'tapas':)

After people heard that I was going to Spain, they suggested me to eat “tapas”. When I first heard about it, I thought it was a specific dish with some kind of sauce. I don’t know why, but the sauce was visualized in my mind as a green smoothie. (human mind is strange, esp. mine:))) I don’t like reading or searching about a place before I visit it (the same strange mind again:))), so tonight I tasted my first “tapas” and understood what it really is. (actually it was more than one )“tapas” is a dish of different kinds of snacks and appetizers. You have the chance to get a small or big dish, but I preferred the small ones to taste more of them at the same time. Yummy! They were delicious. Now, I’m back to my hotel room and reflecting about my day to decide on the post of the day. What I just realized is the similarities between “tapas” and English lessons. A good lesson should include bits of pieces (as different tapas dishes) to keep the attention. Imagine yourself in a lesson working on the same type of activity using the same skills or having different type of activities appealing to different skills. Which one would make you feel better? Would you prefer a cauldron of beans to be eaten without any pauses or little dishes of “tapa” (food) with a wide variety of food to be enjoyed:)

P.S: Thanks to Turgut Turunc, my colleague, for suggesting me (at the dinner) to write about “tapas” for today’s post though it was a bit challenging for me to connect it with English lessons:)

DAY 4 The Soul of the Flamenco Dance

A shot from the awesome Flamenco Dance Show

Tonight, we were at ”El de Tabloa Carmen”. It was a tremendous dance performance. Watching a live Flamenco dance show left me breathless though I was not one of the dancers:)) I admired the performers who were in such a great harmony. Their handclaps and steps were increasing the speed of the dancers’ movements in some parts and slowing down in other times.  A story seemed to be hidden behind each dancer’s own mimes and gestures. Imagining a Flamenco dance show as an English lesson, I would probably be the handclaps and steps and my students would be the dancers adjusting their movements according to my actions.What about you? What part of the dance show would you be as an English teacher?Hope you can catch the soul of the Flamenco dance in your English classrooms:))

DAY 5 ‘Woke up’ in Spain and ‘Slept’ in Turkey:)

Me and my dear colleague Turgut Turunc (Thanks to him for making this 'conference' journey so special) - We are posing with the 'dragon fruit' before tasting it:)

I woke up in Spain and slept in Turkey yesterday. The world conference is over and I’m back to my home sweet home.Luckily it was my half day today and I woke up late. Today was the beginning of the second module at the university I am working. I was so excited like a little child. Although I’ve been teaching for fourteen years, I always have this feeling before I start a new term at school.  Teaching at a university preparatory class is a bit different. You do not teach the same classes for the whole year. There are 3 modules and in each module your classes change. The first module takes 17 weeks and the others are 8 weeks at my university. This makes 3 different starts:) New beginnings are always nice and refreshing, but some teachers think that teaching the same classes during the academic year is much better than this. The teacher can develop a better rapport with the students in a longer time and can also be more beneficial. What about you? Do you think teaching the same group of students in a shorter term is better? Why? Why not?

P.S: Today was also the first day of the primary and high school students in Turkey. Wishing all the teachers a nice and successful term / module. Welcome back to school

This post was first published here

Hello from a Liverpool Online blogger:) IATEFL 2013 is starting today. This year I had the chance to attend the conference in person. There are 2500 ELT professionals from 100 countries and there will be 500 talks and workshops and it is such a great pleasure and honour to be one of the presenters. I’m very excited about it all.

It’s a four day programme full of inspiration and wonderful ideas and if you want, you can follow this great event online for free.

Click on the image to connect Liverpool Online!

If you miss it, you can watch the recorded sessions and interviews. You can also have a look at the posts of other Liverpool Online bloggers.

Here are the other details about the conference:

Follow @iateflonline on Twitter

Twitter hashtag for the conference #iatefl

Conference Programme

The time of the sessions are given the UK time, so don’t forget to check your local time.

Enjoy and stay tuned:)