Happy New Year =)
Idea Under Construction's First Meeting - 25 November 2010
Elif Avcıbası talked about the dilemma she had faced and she explained that in English exams there is always a writing part. The students are expected to write guided compositions since theyare young leraners and their time is limited. In the exams they are asked to answer the given questions and they are expected to write accordingly. Although there are set questions, some students write irrelevantly. What should we do with these compositions? Should we evaluate them according to the scala provided or should not we give any points?
After she listened to the suggestions her colleagues made , she took her notes. These are what they suggested doing.
1. Before the exams , the students can be given quizzes and they can practice the writing part by using the guiding questions. If there are students that write unrelatedly then the teacher can conference the students.
2. In the exams , there can be a checklistfor the students to see if there are any missing points they missed.
3. Just to get the students on the right track, the beginning and the end can be given and then they can go on writing.
4. The guiding questions can still be given to help the students with ideas but they may not have to be answered by the students. If the student has a different idea, then he should be allowed to use it freely. He should not miss any points for not using the ideas the teacher wants him to use.
5. The scala can be prepared according to the aim of the lesson. If writing is important , there shouldn’t be compulsory questions to answer. If answering the questions is important, then they should be tested in another part of the exam.
CFG Grade 1&2 Session 2
Notes on CFG Session 2 Grades 1&2 English teachers 7.12.10
Question: How Can We Utilize Music in the Classroom?
Facilitator: George Duvoisin
Presenter: Frank Canarella III
Protocol: Consultancy
Frank presented the topic with several handouts regarding using music in the classroom and the impacts of music on learners (see link to handouts given at the end of this blog post).
Benefits for Ss:
Link to handouts: Music in the Classroom
Team:Eda Çetintaş,Zeynep Yağcı,Gökçe Keskin, Pınar Taşcı,Alex Avşar,Alison Bahadır,George Duvoisin,Frank Cannarella
- Simulates Ss in a positive way
- Improves Ss memory
- Motivates learning
- Makes learning fun
- Helps Ss absorb material
- Music playing in the corridors during break time may help Ss transition.
- Music can be used to express emotions for Ss and Ts.
- Everyone agreed that most children love music; however, Ts should consider rhythms, timing, and level of sound when using music in the classroom.
- One participate mentions how they used different songs & rhymes for classroom management and it worked great. For instance, songs or phrases for clean up or to indicate that its time to listen to the teacher's instructions.
- Several participates agreed that their 1st & 2nd graders love using I-Dictionary (a software program) in the classroom.
- A couple of participates mentioned using classical music as a method for stress reduction and productivity.
Link to handouts: Music in the Classroom
Team:Eda Çetintaş,Zeynep Yağcı,Gökçe Keskin, Pınar Taşcı,Alex Avşar,Alison Bahadır,George Duvoisin,Frank Cannarella
Blogumuza Yeni Tasarım
Merhabalar,
Dün aklıma esti, blogun şekli şemaliyle oynadım biraz. Değişen bir şey yok. Her şey aynı sadece vitrini düzenledim. Öyle arada blogumuzu farklı görürseniz şaşırmayın, Berna yine ekran ayarlarıyla oynamış diyip geçiniz.
Bu arada dün Critical Minds olarak 2. kez toplandık. Presenter - Alex ve Facilitator-Simge rehberliğinde. Çok güzeldi. Her geçen gün yeni bir şeyler öğrenmek ve paylaşmak insana iyi geliyor. Alex ve Simge toplantı özetini yazacaklar. O zaman daha detaylı paylaşırız neler konuştuk ettik.
CFG 8&9 Session 2
Topic: What is the course content for Grade 9 English and what are the expectations of the English teachers?
Presenter: Jenny Chavush
Facilitator: Özer Gülen
Protocol: Tuning
Objective: To inform Grade 8 teachers about what's going on in Grade 9
Özer welcomed the group and reminded them of the protocol steps which were displayed on the board.
Jenny proceeded to give an overview of course content. Please see following link.
Clarifying Questions:
Q:How many exams do students have?
A:Used to be 3 per subject, now changed to 3 Language, 3 Literature &2 Writing
Q: What's the logic behind 3 exams for Lang. &Lit?
A: This is a subject that needs to be discussed.
Q: Are Writing exams based on what ss learn in class?
A: Usually based on activity in course book.
Q: How many oral grades do the students have?
A: Two
Probing Questions:
Q: You spoke only of written assessment. What about on-going assessment?
A: There is continual assessment of projects, class presentations, class performance, HW & quizzes but no Writing quizzes as the component is only 2 two hours.
Q: How do you assess listening?
A: We don't have it at the 9th grade level.
The teachers examined the resources and made notes for feedback.
Warm Feedback:
* Great presentation* Good research on student profile
* Informative
* Wide variety of materials
* Nice to see students' improvements from folders.
* Nice idea keeping students' works in teachers' files.
* Home reading assignments.
* Nice to give them a choice for home reading.
Cool Feedback:
* Too many exams
* Lit. exams...some memory questions.
* Exam and worksheet headings are not standard... different fonts being used.
* Not enough space for students to write answers on worksheets
* Long vocabulary lists
Jenny: Need to examine number of exams.
Some memory questions to make students read.
We need to look into using different fonts and formats.
When it comes to space on worksheets, students write lit. answer in their notebooks.
Vocabulary lists contain words chosen by the students and vary according to the
length of the stories.
Özer wound up the meeting by asking how useful the protocol was.
For feedback please see the following link
green school + Sir Ken Robinson videos
check these out!
green school in Bali
http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hardy_my_green_school_dream.html
Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the Learning revolution
http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html
Sir Ken Robinson: Schools kill creativity
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
green school in Bali
http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hardy_my_green_school_dream.html
Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the Learning revolution
http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html
Sir Ken Robinson: Schools kill creativity
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
CFG 8&9 Session 2
Date: 14.12.2010
Time:15:45
Location: Pink Meeting Room Secondary School
Topic: What is the course content for English at Grade 9 level and what are the teachers' expectations?
Presenter: Jenny Chavush
Facilitator: Özer Gülen
Protocol: Consultancy
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Time:15:45
Location: Pink Meeting Room Secondary School
Topic: What is the course content for English at Grade 9 level and what are the teachers' expectations?
Presenter: Jenny Chavush
Facilitator: Özer Gülen
Protocol: Consultancy
Looking forward to seeing you there!
ORTAK PAYDA UÇUŞTA'NIN İLK TOPLANTISI
Ortak Payda Uçuşta grubunun ilk toplantısı 03.12.2010 tarihinde Anaokulunda yapıldı.
First Meeting of The Survivors
Survivors' First Meeting
Survivors' First Meeting took place on the 23rd of November. Our topic was “How to Deal with Different Academic Levels in the Same Classrrom”.
Sevda Uygun was our presenter and I was the facilitator and we had chosen the Consultancy Protocol to discuss the topic.
Sevda started off by framing her question. She shared what sort of problems she faced in the classroom. She usually had weak students who needed more practice as well as strong ones who grasped the subject quite easily. The question was how could she reach, motivate and folllow all these different level students in the same classrrom without falling behind the curriculum.
The group asked Sevda clarifying questions after she finished. These were short answer questions. The group asked her the levels she was teaching, how many students and how many mixed abilities did she have.
Later we moved on to probing questions part. The group started asking Why and How questions this time. They asked her, if she had tried different techniques and if she had any positive results. Why didn’t some students learn for instance?
We gave Sevda 15 minutes to answer these open ended questions. The group in this step started discussing the problem and Sevda only listened and took notes. The participants discussed what they did or tried in similar situations. They shared their own learning styles. Sema Tekdoğan and Aylin Geron said that they also had problems with Maths at school. Sema’s solution had been to study with students who were good at Maths after the lesson. Aylin said that in 8th grade they were using a new method to motivate the students. The teacher went into the classroom with a box of varied questions. The students were given some assignments from this box, according to their level of English and if they successfully completed it, it they got a ticket in return. When these coupons reached a certain number, the students grades rose. Mazal Dozbahar and Jeremy Hardy suggested the Tiering Method they were using in High School. Each week they were preparing three different level activites for Prep students all on the same topic. The activities ranged from simple and guided ones to more complex ones. Sırma talked about how she worked individually with some students who were weak in English this year in Primary School.
In the final stage, we were all happy to have discussed this issue. Sevda said she would like to meet some time again to talk about it because she said she had got some great ideas from the group and we all agreed to do so.
Here are some ideas Sevda got from our meeting:
1. Use group work to diffferentiate learning in the classroom. For example prep classes in High School are doing different papers but the students do not know this.
2. Breaking prejudices is an important thing because as we grow older they get harder to break. Aylin said, this was a difficulty ishe faced in her maths lesson when she was a student.
3. Sırma said if weak student are not guided they stop trying.
4. Student interest is important and daily life facts can be used in math teaching.
5. Checking weak student at the end of the class and using peer pressure was an another idea.
6. Preparing different levels of papers and give students time to solve them. Use tickets to reward them
7. Students can teach and help each other better too.
8. It was a good session but at the end of the day, I realised that we had focused on weak students more although my intention had been to discuss all levels.
Sırma Demirel
Session 1 "Busy Bees"
Session 1 "Busy Bees"
Presenter: İlknur TOSUN
Facilitator:Ediz KAYA
Date: 30 November 2010
Topic: What changes should be made to the planning and organization of student admission at different levels?
Toplantıyı Ediz açtı. İlknur bize konuyla ilgili hazırlamış olduğu power point sunumunu yaptı. Ardından bu konuyla ilgili herkesin düşüncesi soruldu. Sonra çözüm önerileri alındı.
Öneriler:
- Senede 2 veya 3 Ara sınıf nakil sınavının yapılması
- Her düzey için öğrenci alım kriterlerinin belirlenmesi
- Sene başında sınav komisyonlarının belirlenerek ; görev dağılımlarının eşit bir biçimde yapılması
- Sınav 2 aşamalı düşünülerek ; her düzeyde bir sınıf ortamı yaratılarak, öğrencilerin sosyal ve davranışsal olarak Rehber öğretmen ve sınav komisyonunda yer alan öğretmenler tarafından gözlenmesi, ardından öğrencilerin topluca düzey düzey yazılı sınava tabi tutulması; burada da bir gözetmenin görev alması
- İngilizce yazılı ve sözlü sınav sorularının her düzeyde hazır bulundurulması
Toplantımız zaman yönetimi dikkate alınarak Ediz tarafından sonlandırıldı.
Sunumumuzu görmek için tıklayınız
The Bald and the Beauties Meeting 1st December
The first meeting of The Bald and the Beauties was held on 1st December.
I presented the dilemma, Ülkem Karakaş facilitated and we used the Consultancy Protocol.
The dilemma was 'How can we help our 'gifted' students. This question was originally submitted by Handan Bayraktar but I presented the subject from my perspective as an English teacher.
I presented my question to the group and during the subsequent 50 minutes a variety of suggestions were put forward.
Here is a summary of what was discussed:
Differentiated instruction is applied in the high school to deal with mixed ability classes.
Students could be given alternative texts/materials to read outside of lessons that they could present to the other students.
Students could teach the rest of the class under the teacher's supervision.
Additional teachers can take the students out of lessons for special attention but it was
concluded that this is not a long term solution.
Putting students into small mixed ability groups can give the stronger students additional roles and responsibilities.
Assessment of the extra work carried out by the gifted students was discussed but it was decided that assessment is not appropriate here as our aim is simply language enrichment and development.
I received lots of nice ideas and concluded the following:
These 'talented' students could play a part in choosing material to bring to the lesson.
I can use these students as teacher helpers in the lessons.
I can assign different texts for the students to read within the lesson.
I am not alone in feeling that we could be doing more to help these students.
We all agreed that the Consultancy protocol was appropriate for this dilemma.
I would like to thank my Bald and Beautiful group members for their time and positive contributions. Thanks Ülkem for your very professional facilitation skills and thanks to Gökçe for taking great notes. Thanks also to Canan and Gökçe for the snacks. See you next time.
Beverley Eaton
I presented the dilemma, Ülkem Karakaş facilitated and we used the Consultancy Protocol.
The dilemma was 'How can we help our 'gifted' students. This question was originally submitted by Handan Bayraktar but I presented the subject from my perspective as an English teacher.
I presented my question to the group and during the subsequent 50 minutes a variety of suggestions were put forward.
Here is a summary of what was discussed:
Differentiated instruction is applied in the high school to deal with mixed ability classes.
Students could be given alternative texts/materials to read outside of lessons that they could present to the other students.
Students could teach the rest of the class under the teacher's supervision.
Additional teachers can take the students out of lessons for special attention but it was
concluded that this is not a long term solution.
Putting students into small mixed ability groups can give the stronger students additional roles and responsibilities.
Assessment of the extra work carried out by the gifted students was discussed but it was decided that assessment is not appropriate here as our aim is simply language enrichment and development.
I received lots of nice ideas and concluded the following:
These 'talented' students could play a part in choosing material to bring to the lesson.
I can use these students as teacher helpers in the lessons.
I can assign different texts for the students to read within the lesson.
I am not alone in feeling that we could be doing more to help these students.
We all agreed that the Consultancy protocol was appropriate for this dilemma.
I would like to thank my Bald and Beautiful group members for their time and positive contributions. Thanks Ülkem for your very professional facilitation skills and thanks to Gökçe for taking great notes. Thanks also to Canan and Gökçe for the snacks. See you next time.
Beverley Eaton
CFG 1&2 Session 2
CFG 1&2 Session 2
Topic:How Can We Make Better Use of Music in the Classroom?
Presenter: Frank Cannarella III
Facilitator: George Duvoisin
Protocol: Consultancy
Date: 07.12.2010
Time: 15:45
Place: English Resource Center
Topic:How Can We Make Better Use of Music in the Classroom?
Presenter: Frank Cannarella III
Facilitator: George Duvoisin
Protocol: Consultancy
Date: 07.12.2010
Time: 15:45
Place: English Resource Center
Laughter is the soul's medicine!
Children Are Quick
____________________________________
TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America .
MARIA: Here it is. TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ? CLASS: Maria.
____________________________________
TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables. __________________________________________
TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it. ____________________________________________
TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.
__________________________________
TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago. WINNIE: Me!
__________________________________________
TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are. _______________________________________
TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with ' I. '
MILLIE: I is.. TEACHER: No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.' ________________________________
TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.... ______________________________________
TEACHER: Now, Simon , tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook. ______________________________
TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's.. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.
___________________________________
TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher .
__________________________________
:))
____________________________________
TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America .
MARIA: Here it is. TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ? CLASS: Maria.
____________________________________
TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables. __________________________________________
TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it. ____________________________________________
TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.
__________________________________
TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago. WINNIE: Me!
__________________________________________
TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are. _______________________________________
TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with ' I. '
MILLIE: I is.. TEACHER: No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.' ________________________________
TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.... ______________________________________
TEACHER: Now, Simon , tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook. ______________________________
TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's.. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.
___________________________________
TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher .
__________________________________
:))
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