WEEK 3 : Experimenting with some websites for oral/aural skills and the bookmarking site 'Delicious'

Hello Everyone,

This week I feel like I'm climbing up the ladder of 'technology'. As a part of the discussion task, I read 3 research papers and visited some web sites for training listening and speaking skills of English as a foreign language learners. The discussion in the nicenet turns out to be a wealthy pool of ideas and recommendations. I really enjoy reading the posts of others and following their recommendations.

This week I also learned how to save bookmarks with 'Delicious'. I haven't heard of that web site before enrolling this course. Delicious is a very useful site to save your favourite web links in order to have access to them whereever you are. So you don't need to worry about carrying your tablet to anywhere you go. What you need is only an internet access!

In order to carry out the second project task, I skimmed through the sample projects that were done in the past. I chose one project title solely for the reason that it was carried out at the Department of English Education. The department is similar to where I have been working since 2004. However, when I read the project report in details, I grew respect to the project leader (Prem Bahadur Phyak). S/he carried out the project in an under-resourced teaching environment with 20 Master degree students who had no experience with the technology use. That initiation must require a big self-determination! S/he succeeded in involving a change related to technology use in his or her classroom. The positive outcome is for the benefit of the academia in the general sense. I hope my project will bring positive outcomes, too!!!

Week 2: ABCD Objectives

This week I have been working on the ABCD Objectives.


A is for Audience: Who are the learners?

38 English language teacher trainees studying at their 3rd year of undergraduate program that lasts for 4 years. All of them are Turkish native speakers. All of them have learned English as a foreign language in Turkey. None of them has formal teaching experience at a classroom setting.

B is for BEHAVIOR: What are the learners' observable behaviours?

1-Trainees are expected to observe an English language class at a kindergarten setting. During observation, they are expected to fill in an observation sheet that will be distributed to them earlier than the observation session.The categories to be observed are dealing with classroom discipline problems, conducting a teaching activity, using teaching materials, and assessing pupils' understanding of the course content.

2- Trainees are expected to conduct a micro-teaching session in groups of 4.Each trainee is responsible for the conduct of an activity (pre-task, main activity or Post-task).The activity content should be coherent with the learning goal.

3- Trainees are expected to design and produce a teaching material appropriate to their teaching activities. The teaching materials should be relevant to the learning goal. The materials should be designed according to the pupils' interests, age and proficiency level and should reflect the multiple intelligences theory.

4- Trainees are expected to assess pupils' understanding in-class by using different techniques.

5- Trainees are expected to maintain classroom discipline and deal with any classroom misbehaviors.

6- Trainees are expected to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses in teaching and suggest possible solutions to their weaknesses by writing on the blog.

C is for CONDITION: How do you reflect on learners' observable behaviours?

1-The trainer (myself) is going to discuss with trainees in groups about their observation forms.

2- The trainer is going to observe and video record trainees' micro-teaching sessions.

3- The trainer is going to reflect on trainees' self-reflections. The reflections will be based on each trainee's classroom practice.

4- The trainer is going to ensure that self-reflections are published on the blog. The visuals of teaching materials will also be published on the blog in order to provide samples for future classroom use.

D is for DEGREE: How do learners complete the task that is acceptable based on a definite criteria?

1- After the first micro-teaching session, each trainee is expected to conduct another micro-teaching session in pairs.

2- The second micro-teaching sessions will also be observed and video taped by the trainer.

3- The evaluation of the second micro-teaching sessions will be based on the self-reflections of the trainees about their first micro-teaching experience.

4- The trainees will be expected to improve their weaknesses written and/or observed during the first micro-teaching session.

5- The trainees will be expected to add more strong points to their classroom practices.

6- The trainees will be expected to put their solutions to their weaknesses into their classroom practices.

7- The trainees will be expected to write self-reflections about their second micro-teaching sessions as well.

8- The strengths and weaknesses of each trainee will be discussed with the trainer based on video taped classroom practices.

That's the ABCD objectives. I hope the project works well!

Greetings from Mugla, Turkey!!!

Dear Colleagues,

 

This photo is taken in front of the Convention Center at Mugla Sıtkı Koçman University.

I have been teaching at the Department of English Language Teacher Training, Faculty of Education since 2005. I teach at both undergrad and postgrad levels.

The courses I taught are TESOL for young learners, teaching practicum, conversation analysis based language education. 

 

Week 1 Reflection

This is my first blog!!!

I aim to improve my web skills and use them for teaching purposes. As a class, we are from different countries that would make the class discussions more interesting. I hope we form academic links and share our ideas during and after the online course.

I wish success to all : )