If somebody had told me that “ It will be you, Didem, who would take a course from Hitomi Masuhara and Brian Tomlison, I would probably just say “Come off it”. But thanks to my school, İSTEK , I went to Norwich as a first runner up of The 2011 İSTEK Blog Competition to take the course, Material Development, from these two amazing renowed trainers.

” Norwich is East Anglia’s capital city. Its rich cultural, social and educational resources make it a fascinating place to explore and a stimulating environment in which to study. ” This is written on NILE web site for Norwich, but I assure you that Norwich is beyond this definition with its art galleries, museums, cinemas and theatres, pubs and restaurants. I especially liked the open air market and the castle in the city, moreover I was stunned when I saw the puppet theater which offers craft-based workshops for children and adults.

I liked the puppet theater, the open air market and  mustard in Norwich, but I mostly liked the course, Material Development. Thanks to this course, I learned that I am the only one who is in charge of my lessons apart from my yearly plans, daily plans and even my course book.  I don’t have to be dependant on my course book. If It is useful for my lesson, I can turn the book inside out. I can omit the activities or add new features to the activities. Moreover, I can share my responsibilty for my lesson with my students more than I did before. I think the most amazing part was realizing that even one poem can be the most effective teaching subject for pragmatic, discourse, strategy, genre, text type and critical awarnesses.

This course for two weeks was an important opportunity to see the British culture deeply and develop myself as a teacher. I miss that rainy weather, people who don’t hustle and bustle and the teachers and colleagues in NILE. Thanks to my school, I had a chance to meet Great Britain. And here before coming to end, I would like to share one of the poems we were taught during the course.

Didem TEMİZ

English Teacher

İSTEK Kaşgarlı Mahmut Kindergarten

“IN CASE OF FIRE”

Roger McGough

In case of FIRE break glass

In case of GLASS fill with water

In case of WATER wear heavy boots

In case of HEAVY BOOTS assume foetal position

In case of FOETAL POSITION loosen clothing

In case of CLOTHING avoid nudist beach

In case of NUDIST BEACH keep sand out of eyes

In case of EYES close curtains

In case of CURTAINS switch on light

In case of LIGHT embrace truth

In case of TRUTH spread word

In case of WORD keep mum

In case of MUM open arms

In case of ARMS lay down gun

In case of GUN, fire

In case of FIRE break glass

As we announced before, two teachers from each winning blog will be awarded a week (or two weeks) of teacher traning in the UK. However from the Department Blogs category, only one person will be awarded that is the department head who is running that blog.

If the teachers of the winning blogs are not able to take the course in the UK due to their holiday plans or other engagements, the award will go to the teacher(s) of the first runner up blog.

Best ISTEK Kindergarten Blog

Winner

ISTEK Bilge Kagan Kindergarten Blog

First Runner Up

ISTEK Kasgarlı Mahmut Kindergarten Blog

Best ISTEK Primary School Blog

Winner

ISTEK Kasgarlı Mahmut 5th Grade Blog

First Runner Up

ISTEK Semiha Sakir 3rd Grade Blog

Best ISTEK PREP Class Blog

Winner

ISTEK Acıbadem Prep Class Blog

First Runner Up

ISTEK Ulugbey Prep Class Blog

Best ISTEK Department Blog

Winner

ISTEK Semiha Sakir Department Blog

First Runner Up

ISTEK Atanur Oguz Department Blog

We would like to congratulate the winners and thank them for their hard work and enthusiasm.

We are happy to announce the 1st ISTEK Blog Awards!

Categories:

• Kindergarten Class Blog
• Grade 3&5 Class Blog
• Prep Class Blog
• Department Blog

(Only ISTEK blogs will be nominated.)

Two teachers of each winning class blog and the department head of the winning department blog will be rewarded a one-week teacher training in the UK.

There will be a group of evaluators who will be monitoring the blogs throughout the academic year.

Evaluation committee members:

Deniz Demirtaş – ISTEK Schools Advisor to the Chairman of the Board

Yıldız Köksalan – ISTEK Schools General Manager

Selcen Özkaya Seçil – ISTEK Schools Deputy General Manager

Burcu Akyol – ISTEK Schools Foreign Languages Coordinator

Gavin Dudeney – External Evaluator

Nik Peachey – External Evaluator

Shelly Terrell – External Evaluator

Competition Sponsors

• Cambridge University Press, Dünya Aktüel
• İnkaş, Express, Trinity
• Macmillan, Macenta
• Nile Institute
• Oxford University Press
• Pearson Longman
• Sempa

The blogs will be evaluated according to the criteria below:

POSTS

• Blog is updated frequently.
• Content is age-appropriate.
• Content is level-appropriate.
• Blog posts are supported with visuals and videos.
• Blog posts are neat and clear.

PAGES

• There is a page which gives information about the blogging teachers.
• There is a page for visitors (parents, etc.) to encourage them to leave comments.
• There is a page where students can find the ‘Blogging Rules and Guidelines’ and ‘Expectations from Students” (This criterion does not apply to Kindergarten and Department blogs)
• Pages are used efficiently to share static content. (e.g. newsletters, pages for classes, exam dates, performance tasks,etc.)

COMMENTS (These criteria do not apply to Kindergarten and Department blogs)

• Student participation is high.
• Students interact with each other.
• Comments are of good quality. (Content is more sophisticated than ‘hello, how are you’)
• Teacher(s) interact with students via comments.

BLOGROLL

• There are useful links on the blogroll.
• Links are categorised appropriately.
• Links are age and level-appropriate.

OVERALL LOOK OF THE BLOG

• Blog looks attractive in general.
• Sidebars are used efficiently.
• Widgets are age-appropriate.

INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS

• Teacher has built at least one international connection via the blog class (This criterion does not apply to Kindergarten and Department blogs)

GOOD LUCK TO ALL BLOGGING ISTEK TEACHERS!

]]> http://blogs.istek.org.tr/blog/2011/01/07/istek-blog-awards-2011/feed/ 0 http://blogs.istek.org.tr/blog/2010/12/19/istek-elt-weekend-workshops-i/ http://blogs.istek.org.tr/blog/2010/12/19/istek-elt-weekend-workshops-i/#comments Sun, 19 Dec 2010 19:49:22 +0000 admin http://blogs.istek.org.tr/?p=151

Last Saturday, a group of ISTEK Foreign Languages Teachers met for the first of the ISTEK ELT Weekend Workshops. Cambridge University Press trainer Devrim Ozdemir did a great workshop entitled “Using Dialogues in Various Ways”.

In language classes, using dialogues is a common practice to help students develop their language skills. In his session, Devrim gave us brilliant ideas about using dialogues in different ways.

This was the last weekend workshop of the year. We look forward to getting together in the new year at other inspiring sessions.

Burcu Akyol, ISTEK Schools Foreign Languages Coordinator

Geçtiğimiz Cumartesi günü, bir grup ISTEK yabancı diller öğretmeni ISTEK ELT Workshop’larının ilkinde bir araya geldiler. Cambridge Universitesi Yayınevi eğitmeni Devrim Ozdemir, öğretmenlerimizin de aktif katılımıyla “Diyalogların Çeşitli Şekillerde Kullanımı” adlı bir sunum gerçekleştirdi.

Yabancı dil derslerinde diyaloglar, öğrencilerin dil becerilerini geliştirmek amacıyla sıklıkla kullanılmaktadır. Bu sunumda, Devrim bizlere, diyalogların farklı şekillerde kullanımı ile ilgili çok güzel fikirler verdi.

Bu sunum, ISTEK ELT Weekend Workshop’ları kapsamında, 2010 yılının son eğitim çalışmasıydı. Yeni yılda, bize yaratıcı ve güzel fikirler verecek eğitimlerde bir araya gelmeyi sabırsızlıkla bekliyoruz.

Burcu Akyol, ISTEK Okulları Yabancı Diller Koordinatörü

According to the age groups they teach and their responsibilities in the department, 85 İSTEK foreign languages teachers have completed Teaching English to Young Learners, Teaching English to Teenagers and ELT Management courses which have been developed by Oxford University Press and Oxford University Department For Continuing Education.

We would like congratulate our teachers on their success. We believe they are going to transfer their knowledge and skills into their classes and do fantastic lessons.

Burcu Akyol, ISTEK Schools Foreign Languages Coordinator

ISTEK Okulları Yabancı Diller Bölümü olarak mesleki gelişimin sürekliliğinin önemine inanmaktayız. Okullarımızda, öğretmenlerimizin eğitim ihtiyaçlarına paralel olarak düzenlenmekte olan bir hizmet içi eğitim programı uygulanmaktadır. Bizler bugünün çocuklarına dünün metodlarını kullanarak yabancı dil öğretmenin pozitif bir öğrenme ortamı oluşturmayacağını düşünmekteyiz. Öğrencilerimizin ilgisini çekmek ve yabancı dil öğrenimini keyifli bir deneyim haline getirmek için de en son teknik ve yaklaşımlarla donanmış olmamız gerektiğinin bilincindeyiz.

Hizmet içi eğitim programımız kapsamında, 85 yabancı dil öğretmenimiz Oxford Üniversitesi Sürekli Eğitim Merkezi ve Oxford Üniversitesi Yayınevi işbirliğiyle geliştirilen, Oxford Teachers’ Academy sertifika programını tamamladılar. Öğrettikleri yaş gruplarına ve bölümdeki görev ve sorumluluklarına paralel olarak farklı gruplar için farklı modüller içeren kurslardan oluşan programları tamamlayarak sertifika almaya hak kazandılar.

Öğretmenlerimizi başarılarından ötürü tebrik ediyoruz. İnanıyoruz ki, bilgi ve becerilerini sınıf ortamına en güzel şekilde aktararak çok keyifli dersler yapmaya devam edecekler.

Burcu Akyol, ISTEK Okulları Yabancı Diller Koordinatörü