There is Method to My Madness

some practical stuff and news to help you teach English

[nilguniner]

[nilguniner]

15 Assessment Activities That Are Fast, Fun, and Formative

Check out these great assessment activities you can use in your classrooms—they're fast, they're fun, and they're formative.

[nilguniner]

Cambridge YLE

Cambridge English Language Assessment has announced that there will be both new tasks and new assessment criteria next year. After the revision process of the Young Learner Exams, they decided on  new Listening tasks in Starters and Movers and new Writing tasks in Movers and Flyers. They also updated Speaking and Writing assessment scales. You can find a summary of the changes in the chart below. 

You can find a recorded webinar on YouTube. Here is the link.

If you are interested in a fresh webinar, there are going to be two of them on  Monday 22 May 2017, 14.00- 15.00 (UK time) and Wednesday 24 May 2017, 10.00-11.00 (UK time).  You can register here. 

[micdotcom]

Watch: The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur nailed why millennials get so much sh*t. 

[classroomchaos]

[nilguniner]

'Back to School' Sadness 😖 (I miss my kids, though.)

[nilguniner]

Blendspace by TES for the ones interested in flipping the classroom Have a look and then you can see more videos about it on TES Teach with Blendspace channel.

[nilguniner]

[nilguniner]

Notes from Think Global, Act Local International ELT Conference, Gediz University & NILE

Live from the conference..

Since 10 in the morning, we’ve had and listened to discussions about Professional Development in ELT besides some action research and lesson studies. It’s a great opportunity to get to know new people in the field and listen to precious writers and trainers.

I’d like to share what Dave Allan, director of NILE stated today.

“There’s no danger in moving slowly - the only danger is standing still.”

Loved it.

[nilguniner]

“When Feedback meets the Screen Recorder”

I have been thinking about having a YouTube channel where I can post videos to help my students practise or revise the things they miss in the class. Therefore, I was googling a screen recorder  to download when I came across this perfect idea: Use a screen recorder to record your oral comments and written notes on students’ works on your computer and email them to your students. 

If you are interested in this effective idea by Russell Stannard to give a high-tech feedback, click on the link below.

https://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/seminars/how-technology-can-revolutionise-way-we-give-feedback 

Have a nice weekend!

[givology]

Givology's goal is create a world in which education is accessible to all children. One of the most important ways to support this mission is to learn about the issue. Documentaries and films are a great way to do that. Here's our top ten!

[nilguniner]

I have a mixed-ability class this year. A very mixed one, actually. Therefore I decided to do some extra work. First I started with "differentiated instructions". You know, ongoing assessments, group works, lots of activities which include lots of collaboration, handouts and other digital materials which are students' own choice... I also tried to focus on real life skills and encouraged them to explore new ideas and develop them.

We should be very thankful to Bloom who made us meet "Mastery Learning" decades ago; however, last week, I reviewed the last assessmet's results and realized that I needed 'really' more extra work here. I had been thinking about having a flipped classroom for a few weeks when I learnt something new: Flipped Mastery. (Sorry, I may have been a little late to hear.) As anyone could understand from the term itself, it is Flipped Classroom+Mastery Learning!

First 24 hours after I had heard it in an ELT conference (Empowering the Educator VI in Izmir), I thought I was done with the problem in my class. Because it was motivating, encouraging and sensible. Today I doubt it.

A few years ago I tried using EDMODO with my 5th graders. Did it work? Yes. With all of the students? No. Why? 1.Some of my students didn't have access to the Intenet. 2.Some of my students didn't have enough time to go on the Internet after they had finished their other homework. 3.Some parents didn't understand why we were doing that.

It seems that I will come out with a newer term. Just kidding, but I will find some kind of eclectic solutions.

To have an idea about the process of a Flipped Mastery lesson, you can watch the video by Cara Johnson.

Have a nice week everybody!

[nilguniner]

Bill & Melinda Gates: Our Big Bet for more: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/#

[nilguniner]

ETZ 2015

Do you want to be the first to hear about the future of education or businesses?

Do you want to make new connections to shape your future?

Do you want to improve your collegues, employees or pupils bringing in Educational Technologies to your institution?

Do you see your title below in the visual?

Then, the date of the 2nd Annual Educational Technology Summit (Eğitim Teknolojileri Zirvesi '15) has been announced.  It will take place on 14th March '15 in Besiktas Campus of Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, Turkey.

Graham Bell, Assoc. Prof. Steve Wheeler, Dr Gary Motteram and Shelly Sanchez Terrell are some of the notable speakers.  Yeah, I said Graham Bell.

Got interested? Click here.

[nilguniner]

49th Annual IATEFL Conference

Ann Cotton, Carol Ann Duffy, Joy Egbert, Donald Freeman and Harry Kuchah. Where? In Manchester on 10th April 2015. 

49th Annual International IATEFL Conference and Exhibition is taking place in Manchester Central, UK.

Today, 29.01.15, is the last day for earlybird booking! 

You can download the brochure clicking here or you can learn the details from the website.

[nilguniner]

Conference Alerts!

Here are the upcoming seminars in Turkey.

12th ODTU International ELT Convention

First International Foreign Language Teaching Conference- Autonomy in an Age of Uncertainty

Looking Back and Forward: “Bridging Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Education Programs in English Language Teaching”

[nilguniner]

HappyDoll.org

Hi! I'm going to mention about a great organisation that you should know about :)

"HappyDoll works to support children in challenging circumstances by providing a uniquely designed doll in exchange for a blank doll that they can specially design for the next child in need." They have sent about 4500 dolls to the children across the world so far.

This organisation aims to make children realize that they can make a difference in the world. How? By love, generosity, compassion. With adorable happy dolls. They design unique dolls prepared by the volunteers beforehand and send them back to the organisation. HappyDoll.org provides the materials, cleaning, shipping and tracking of the dolls, which means you do nothing but give your kids an opportunity to help the other kids.

I think it is such a terrific way to let the children feeling isolated far away that they are not forgotten in fact. A way to say you are aware of their presence. 

Kids do not have to wait to grow up to improve the lives of other kids. 

There are several different ways of getting involved. You can donate if you can. You can sew beautiful dolls if you have a sewing machine. You can choose it as a birthday party theme and have the kids design happy dolls. 

My pupils get involved via school exchange program. Nozomi Terao, the founder of the organisation, helped us to connect our pupils here in Manisa, Turkey with the children in Calvert School in Baltimore, US. 

You can have a look at the website. (happydoll.org)

Related pages: https://www.facebook.com/HappyDollOrg http://instagram.com/happydollorg/ http://www.manisahaberleri.com/video-detay/odtu-ulkem-den-turkiye-de-bir-ilk/1211/ http://www.ulkemkoleji.k12.tr/tr/4/haber-ve-etkinlikler/odtu-ulkem-koleji-happy-doll-bebeklerini-hazirladi-news