PINAR BOYNIKOGLU’S ELT BLOG

Here’s another terrific ELT event from Middle East Technical University, School of Foreign Languages. It’s going to be the 11th International ELT Convention between 31 May and 2 June, 2012. The theme is “Embracing Challenges”, which means the participants will be able to have a chance to identify the challenges which not only learners but also teachers have due to changing needs and growing demands of learners, technological advancements and globalization.

This year, the plenary speakers are:

• Simon Borg • Martin Dewey • Claudia Harsch • Eli Hinkel • Nicky Hockly • Deniz Kurtoğlu Eken • Ted Rodgers • Nina Spada

If you are interested in submitting for talks, workshops, e-sessions and posters for the convention, the deadline for proposal submission is 13 February 2012.

Should you need further information, please visit;

http://dbe.metu.edu.tr/convention2012/index.htm or contact;

Zeynep Aksit / Basak Agin

Middle East Technical University School of Foreign Languages

Department of Basic English

Phone : +90 312 2103978

Fax : +90 312 2107985

E-mail : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

It’s September and time to go back to school again. You know nobody is happy because holiday is over- even the teachers! However, when we enter the school and breathe that air in, we all come to realize that we miss teaching, we miss students, indeed. Here I want to share a poem which means that exactly;

Back To School Blues For Teachers

Oh where did the summer go, it's lazy days all too soon slipped away,

Didn't I just pack up my classroom and strip the walls bare in silence lay?

Vacation seemed to pass so quickly and the new school year looms in view.

I'm getting a migraine just thinking of all the things to do.

I think fondly of beaches, clear blue water and white sand

Of sunsets and picnics and picturesque lands.

But I quickly snap back as I make my list of things to do,

My brain is so taxed as I think this new year through.

Time to unpack, stock and plan lessons without end,

Do bulletins boards, centers, and write letters to send.

I'm pulled away by meetings and workshops to bear,

I'm bombarded with papers and agendas to share.

I need desperately to work in my classroom, my nerves to steady,

My room is a disaster, for that ominous first day, will I EVER be ready?

Time to think of each new student and what new experiences they will bring,

I'm getting that all too familiar excitement when I hear the school bells ring.

And even though I'm exhausted already, and knee deep in paper and books,

I imagine the first day with all the anticipation and nervous looks.

I can put aside all the hours and hours I prepare,

And think of these bright minds that I'll open with care.

Just maybe I'm getting that teaching passion anew,

And amidst all the yet million things to do,

I yearn for the difference I'll make in each life,

I put aside my weariness and my overwhelming strife.

And I look to this new year as fresh and alive,

With possibilities to make great strides.

So I persevere and push on with all the preparations,

I slog through the posters, the folders and decorations.

To welcome my students into a haven of learning,

To open my arms and meet each yearning.

Yes, I miss vacation and the endless summer sun,

But I look forward to each young life, so my quest has begun.

- Heather Skipworth Craven, Heather's Bells, August 2005

That’s really us, isn’t it?

We’ll start a new academic year and we’ll meet new students. At the first week, they have a lot to share about their holiday, so we do. Here are also very practical and hands-on ice-breaker activities I’ve complied, which make the first classes warmer, energetic and fun. I hope you enjoy them!

Grab the Finger

• This is a stimulating activity to get people together, focused, having fun and ready for action. You can play it in pairs, group or as a whole-class. Beside you can use this activity as an ice-breaker to introduce themselves at the first days of the school year, you can also get your students gain attention or get ready for the class throughout the year.
• It works with any size groups, indoor and outdoor.
• Students stand in a circle, arms out to the side. They put left hand palm up, right index finger pointing down and touching on friend's outstretched palm.
• "When teacher says ‘1,2,3! Go!’, students try to do two things at the same time; They try to grab the finger in their left hand, and prevent their right finger from being grabbed.
• The students whose fingers are grabbed introduce themselves.
• They repeat it several times.

Mingle!

• You need enough space for this activity.
• Get students to stand up; say “Mingle!” and play the music.
• Students dance along music mingling. When you stop the music, they are supposed to grab a friend and ask some questions like; “What’s your name?, How old are you?, Where do you live?” etc..
• Let students ask and answer each other and then play music again to get them to dance. When you stop music, students sit down.
• Have the partners who have grabbed each other in front of the board and ask them to introduce each other to their friends like; “This is Ece. She is 9 years old. She lives in ….
• This is a great game to use as an ice-breaker and will also give you an opportunity to gauge your students’ ability.You need a stopwatch.
• Each student has 15 seconds to tell the teacher as many things as they can about themselves.
• They get a point for each new piece of information. The person with the most points wins the game.
• Information to award points for: name, birthday, city, country, nationality, family, pets, favourites or anything else that comes to mind.

15 Seconds of Me

• This is a great game to use as an ice-breaker and will also give you an opportunity to gauge your students’ ability.You need a stopwatch.
• Each student has 15 seconds to tell the teacher as many things as they can about themselves.
• They get a point for each new piece of information. The person with the most points wins the game.
• Information to award points for: name, birthday, city, country, nationality, family, pets, favourites or anything else that comes to mind.

Call My Bluff

• A different kind of an icebreaker or get-to-know-you activity which engages and challenges each group member in a fun way.
• Students need paper and pens.
• Explain that in this activity each person writes two truths and a lie about themself and then they will try to guess each other's lie. e.g., "I am Turkish. I am vegetarian. I live in ……. “
• The goal is to: a) convince others that your lie is truth (and that one of your truths is the lie) and b) to correctly guess other people's lie.
• Allow approx. ~5+ minutes for writing 2 truths & a lie.
• Students take turns to speak about their truths and lies.
• Emphasize that people should not reveal their lie.
• Then, let others to guess their friends’ bluff.
• The exercise can be run competitively.

Circle in Circle

• This is another ice-breaker and getting-to-know activity which works well with allages.
• Divide the class into two groups and ask them to make two circles, one inside the other.(You can make four groups with larger classes, two circles within each other.)
• Both circles walk in opposite directions as music is played.
• As soon as the music stops, the circles face each other and the ‘pairs’ introduce themselves to each other, saying their names, naming one or two hobbies they enjoy and two or three things they don’t like.

As teachers, we like talking! In the classroom, we talk and talk to be understood clearly. As we talk we suppose students learn better. However, the more we speak, the more students fall asleep or the more they get distracted. In Power teaching, teachers speak less and briefly; students talk, repeat and paraphrase what they have learned with the help of “Teach-OK!” technique which increases Student Talk Time and reduces Teacher Talk Time.

How does “Teach-OK!” work?

After presenting some information using gestures, tell your students that they are supposed to tell their partners the things you teach them when you say “Teach!”. You can encourage them saying they are all teachers and their partners are their students. They need to teach each other. They have to respond you “OK” after you say “Teach!” in the way you say “Teach!” just like “Class-Yes!” step. This is the fun and motivating part of the process. If you clap your hands twice and say “Teach!” students are also supposed to clap hands twice and start teaching each other paraphrasing or repeating what you have taught them. “Teach-OK!” can be done in two ways;

-When you say “Teach!” and students respond you “OK!” they can speak at the same time repeating many times.  The noise level can go up meanwhile but students concentrate to repeat what you have told them and the repetition helps them keep the knowledge in their short term memory better. Besides, it is fun for the students.

-You can also assign students to ‘A’s and ‘B’s. When you say ‘Teach!’ and they say ‘OK!’, first ‘A’s teach ‘B’s and then ‘B’s teach ‘A’s. Here comes ‘Switch!’ technique which will be the next step in Power Teaching Series. Keep reading Power Teaching Series!

According to the researches pupils learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process. Students who repeat or paraphrase what is taught tend to learn more and retain it longer than when they just hear it. The result is that students feel more connected, motivated and engaged because they are also more proud and satisfied with what they are doing-which is ‘TEACHING!’.  Furthermore, this technique engages students visually, auditory and kinaesthetically and an effective and whole-brain learning takes place .

While your students are teaching each other keep monitoring them moving around the classroom and encourage or help the students who have forgotten the information. Also, it is important to encourage students to encourage each other. Here, making pairs of one strong and one weak student works a lot in terms of supporting the weak students at risk of failing to comprehend the information well.

When  time is over, call your students “Class” and get them to respond you “Yes” which is the technique - we mentioned in the previous post- to get their attention back to you.

Let your students be little teachers who teach each other! And do it in a more controlled way managing your classroom successfully with “Teach-OK!” component of Power Teaching. You will be astonished by the result!

Happy Power Teaching! J

“Class-Yes” is the first step of Power Teaching and it is a great way of grabbing pupils’ attention.  We all know that the first thing we need for an effective teaching & learning is the appropriate environment. It might be hard to get the students from chatting and keeping them quiet. They might be even louder at your each request and you start to ask for their attention again and again maybe a little bit louder. Of course, it may depend on the age and profile of your classes. But you are not only the one who struggles to keep the classroom noise level low and teach effectively at the same time.

You can catch your students’ attention with this simple technique; “Simply say ‘Class!’ and ask them to respond you ‘Yes!’. The thing which makes it fun is that they reply ‘Yes’ in the way you say ‘Class!’. For example, if you clap twice and then say ‘Class!’ they are supposed to clap twice and say ‘Yes!’. Or if you click your fingers and say ‘Class, Class, Class!’, they also click their fingers and say ‘Yes, Yes, Yes!’. If you say ‘Classity Class!’ they say ‘Yessity, Yes!’. You can even find funnier or more attractive ways of saying ‘Class, Class!’. They also have to imitate your tone; if you whisper they whisper. If you say it in funny voice, they say ‘Yes!’ in very funny voice, too. You should tell your students ‘Class-Yes’ means they have to look at you and listen to you very carefully at the time you say ‘Class!’. No doubt, it takes students some time to get used to this technique. Don’t give up! It will be just like a ‘Raise your Hand’ rule after a while. You will see how effective it is. Follow Power Teaching series, this is just the beginning!

For the further info; www.wholebrainteaching.com