ISTEK Semiha Sakir Foreign Languages Department E-Bulletin

Welcome back to another great year.

I really feel that it is my very first and upmost duty to say a very big THANK YOU to Mr. John B. for all his effort and support, not only as Head of Department but also as a teacher that all students have come to respect and admire. It was a pleasure working with him and personally I feel honoured to have met a genuine person as himself. I wish him and his beautiful family all the best… forever!!!

Having said that, I would like to welcome our new teachers for this year, Ms. Anna R., Ms. Laurel G., Mr. Matt G., Ms. Vanessa V., Mr. John K., and Ms. Sureyya Y. And last but not least, a big ‘welcome back’ to Ms. Yeşim Y. I hope we all have a wonderful teaching year as a great big happy department!

We have started the year at a great pace and it seems as though this busy start is going to continue in our effort to make it a meaningful year for everyone – students, parents, teachers!!!

I hope everyone at İSTEK Schools has a great year!

This will be our last post of the 2010-2011 academic year for the İSTEK Semiha Şakir Foreign Languages Department.

Looking back over the various posts we produced this year, we can happily point to the evidence of a very busy and eventful term filled with many accomplishments – lots of reasons for us to be proud.

We’re also ending the year on an especially high note:

Our blog has been awarded top place among the İSTEK schools for “BEST İSTEK Department Blog“!

Not bad for our first time out, eh?

Click on this link to see the full list of winners at the İSTEK schools, across all categories, recognized by the judges for their fine efforts.  It’s a perfect example of how offering a few small carrots can cause people to take notice and give a greater effort.

The rewards are generous and fantastic while the blogs themselves have shown a considerable growth and improvement over last year.  For our blog to be recognized for its excellence is an equal recognition of the blogging program across the Vakıf.  A great deal of thanks goes out to our Foreign Languages Department Coordinator, Ms. Burcu Akyol, for her encouragement and support of this on-going project and her commitment to bringing the opportunities and possibilities of the Web 2.0 world to the classrooms of İSTEK schools.

As the image above suggests, blogging has been a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase both the unique personalities and events you’ll find at İSTEK Semiha Şakir Schools.  Our unique character is seen in each blog, each team of teachers supporting and contributing to the blog, and the community of students and families who share and benefit from the process.  Through our blogs, local differences among İSTEK schools are indeed celebrated while our shared values and programs tie us together beneath a common banner.

We certainly hope you have enjoyed this year as much as we have.

Next year will see a small change here – I will be moving on and passing the controls over to Ms. Nikki M., our newly appointed Head of Foreign Languages at İSTEK Semiha Şakir Schools.  On behalf of all the staff and students of İSTEK Semiha Şakir Schools, may I wish the best to all of you in  2011-2012!  Thank you for joining us on this year’s journey.

It has been an absolute pleasure!

John B.

Head, Foreign Languages Department

İSTEK Semiha Şakir Schools

Tags: Semiha Şakir

Who doesn’t love a good game show?

We held the the annual German Trivia Competition this week and the students from our Grade 9 classes participated on stage in the Conference Hall before the rest of the High School as audience.  What is our version of the “Quiz Show”?  Think of it as a competitive showcase of mixed trivia, general knowledge and German language skills all wrapped up in one.  Or as Aylin B. explains what happened:

Traditioneller Deutschwettbewerb

Dieses Jahr beteiligten sich unsere 9 Klässler an unserem traditionellen Deutschwettbewerb. Die Klasse 9/B gewann, indem sie 42 Fragen aus 45 richtig beantwortete. Die Gegnerklasse 9/A war auch sehr erfolgreich und konnte bei 36 Fragen die richtige Antwort finden.

Anschlieβlich bekamen alle Schüler ihre Preiskarten. Unseren Zuschauern machte es auch Spaβ; sie besprachen untereinander die Fragen und versuchten die richtigen Antworten zu finden.

Once the hall was filled, the pressure was on.  Which group would read and comprehend the German to get the most questions correct?

As the question items were presented, the teams had to decide upon the correct responses.  The rest of the students in the audience were free to play along and test their understanding, too.

At the end, our Campus Director, Tayfun Bey, and one of our High School Vice Principals, Özlem Ö, counted up the answer sheets and found the lucky winners.  Congratulations to all participating students.  It was an interesting and fun afternoon event for all.

Tags: foreign languages, German, High School, Semiha Şakir, Trivia Competition

Our Grade 9 students came to the conclusion of a months-long project when they held their formal English oral presentations before an audience in our library.  One of our Lise teachers, Carmela D., began this project with the brainstorming of a topic and various sub-topics suitable for these classes to explore and research.

The main topic?  Healthy lifestyles.

It was an appropriate choice as we know that people today have learned to pay more attention to how they live, what they eat and to be more aware of the various issues and concerns that challenge healthy living in our modern world.  Such sub-topics as the rampant growth and causes of childhood obesity and eating disorders to the role of vitamin supplements in our diets or choosing to become a vegetarian, our students spent a great deal of time and effort learning more about their areas of study and assembling the information into a proper presentation.  Students created Powerpoint presentations as visual aids but spoke freely to the assembled group.

Here are some of those final presentations for you to look at.  Just click on the various topics below to view them as PDF files:

Vitamins

Bulimia

Vegetarianism

It was not only a chance to put their English skills to use, it was also a great opportunity for personal development, building self-confidence, exercising teamwork skills and doing a little creative problem-solving.

Tags: English, High School, Lise, projects, Semiha Şakir

The sun was shining brightly overhead so the tables and displays were wisely placed in the cooler shade of the building.  Class by class, students from the Barış Primary came down to visit the event where information, food, games and music awaited them.  Here’s the invitation they received announcing the event:

Culture Day 2011 invitation.

Students holding their "Culture Day Passports" and enjoying the event in Semiha Şakir's front garden.

Culture Day is an event planned and put on by the Prep students and teachers.  The spark for this celebration rests in the greater idea of developing an appreciation for cultural diversity in our students.  May 21st is the internationally recognized date for the United Nation’s “World Day for Cultural Diversity” and our little celebration shares its spirit and intent.  Groups of students were assigned various countries from around the world to explore, research and represent.  Their task was simple – create an interactive and informative cultural presentation of their country to the students of our Primary school.  The result?  A beautiful morning mix of costumes, music, delicious food, fun games and cultural activities, language lessons, and information displays with posters and pictures.

Something extra we included was the “Culture Day Passport,” a small booklet passed to every visitor.  Inside, each country had its own page waiting for a special stamp.  Our visitors had to go to each country, complete a small activity or game and, in return, they received a stamp in the passport.  Getting a stamp from each country was the goal for many!  Some of the activities they had to try?  Origami, bobbing for apples, pinning a tail on the donkey, learning some new words, and trying their best at new sports.

Bobbing for apples as a competitive sport?

Learning some new things about foreign cultures.

And the food.  We can’t forget to mention the food – tiramisu, noodles, marmite, sushi, rice, green tea.  The smells were one thing but the tastes were something else!  Take a look at our slideshow below for more pictures of this special day.

A lot of busy hands and active minds went into the planning and preparations of this special class project.  The smiles it brought to so many others made it all worthwhile!

Tags: Culture Day 2011, foreign languages, High School, projects, Semiha Şakir