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Hello to all of the teachers and facilitators:)

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At first I agreed that 'Children learn languages more easily than teenagers and adults so they should start learning early.'
Because according to me, children have a young brain and they can record everything they hear. At young ages we can learn something easily because our brain is empty.
But now I changed my idea. I understand that children don't learn the languages, they acquire it! I will keep in my mind While I'm teaching to my students.
Learning languages depens on learners conditions for teenagers and adult learners I think.
The other opinion is that I agree 'Children focus on the meaning of situations rather than paying attention to the words and the grammar.' I understood that children give less attention to the words. The words are not very important for them. They can easily understand what is happening by using context clues and what is people's aim.
Today we wrote sentences like ‘I’ve done bungee-jumping.  I have never eaten sushi.’ Then all of the teachers stood for sharing these sentences to others and got score. I can use this activity when I teach the subject Like and Dislike. They will write their likes and dislikes and get the marks. Getting mark is very enjoyable for YLs I think.

There was a listening activity in the afternoon that I liked more. There were 3 children on the board. Our facilitator gave us three pieces of paper and we wrote children’s names. Jon said sentences about their physical appearance, body clothes etc. Then we raised the right paper. I think I can adapt this listening activity to many subjects. For example, at ‘My Friends’ unit for 4th grades.

Today we also learned some songs and chants. I like them so much. I think they are very efficient to take students attention. Songs and chants add to the fun of learning and make language more easily remembered. And when they are singing and chanting I think they practise a much more natural English.

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What I learned today is a bit of a challenge and full of new techniques and methods about speaking activities for me.Normally, if I was going to do a dialogue activity in my class, I would read the dialogue myself first. then I would choose 2 students and have them read.

But today we prepared a detailed plan. Firstly we adapted a dialogue according to checklist. Then we set the context and describe how we will do this dialogue. Next, we practiced it first as a whole class drilling, second as a group and last as a pair work. We performed the conversation as fixed firstly, but later we could come out and say the dialogue in different ways.

I was surprised to study so hard on a dialogue activity that I thought was very simple. It taught me a lot and certainly I changed my perspective.

So, what are the benefits for  my students in terms of developing their speaking skills like that?

I think, we build confidence in students.  If they perform well, they receive positive feedback from us, which can help build their confidence in speaking. The more they practice, the more they feel comfortable.

They also develop their pronounciation.

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1.Do you think Shared Reading is a suitable procedure to use with L2 children? Why or why not?

I think, it is obviously suitable. Because  Shared Reading  provides opportunities to introduce and expands vocabulary. It also provides general understanding. It demonstrate expressive reading. It helps create vivid connections and memories. It create opportunities for children to connect with others and develop speaking skills. It prepares children for reading. It fosters an interests in books. It helps children to gain knowledge and it creates a group learning environment.

2.Is there anything in the sessions today that you found particularly interesting and would like to find out more about?

Of course I liked Shared Reading activities and I think it is very interesting and useful. I want to find out more about pre and while-reading activities. We studied in groups today and we did several activities like BINGO, Letter Games, Word Masking, Pelmanism (Memory Game) etc. I know there are more and I would like to learn more about them.

Writing activities were also good. We did spelling activities and they were fun.

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1.Are there any tips or techniques from the sessions today that you could use to manage your PDC’s positively?

Today we studied on classroom management and assessment.

We started with Chinese Whisper as a warm-up activity. We talked about ‘’Settlers and Stirrers’’. We did an activity about this. Our facilitator described some activities to us and if it was a Settler Activity we got relaxed and calm down or if it was a Stirring Activity we moved around as much as possible.

How can we manage the activities? Choosing a good activity for young learners might be challenging, but what is more challenging is setting up and managing the activity. Settin up contains anchoring, doing an example, doing time limit, instructions, giving out materials, demonstration, checking instructions and preparing the environment.

Today’s another activity was also fun. Our teacher hung twelve sentences out of the classroom.That was pair work. There was a runner and  a writer. I was the runner. I run out of the class try to memorise the sentence and came back to class to say the sentence silently. Then the writer tried to write the sentences correctly. I like this one and if I have enough time I will apply on my PDC meeting and also in my classrooms.

2.Are there any other elements of classroom management in your PDC’s that you will have to think about?

Of course I have. I have to think about myself, participant’s behaviours, materials, time, feedback and setting up activities. Especially I think, I should use setting up activities effectively.

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1.What do you consider the greatest benefitof being in a Professional Development Community for teachers of English in your local area?

As a teacher of English I think, the greatest benefit of being in a Professional Development Community collaborate, share experiences and ideas with teachers that in our local context. Because we have same or similar problems.

2.I want to talk to you about How do you plan to benefit from the networks you have built throughout the training when you establish a PDC in your area? I am not sure about it.

3.How do you expect the PDC sessions in the programme would help you to deal with possible problems about planning and conducting PDCs in your teaching context?

I think it is a guide for me. You are excellent trainers (both İlkay and John).You tell us everything  about possible problems. If we accross an unexpected situation or problem, I am anxious about this.