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-How did your first day go?
-Did it meet your expectations?

Unexpectedly, the first day was very productive for me. I did not think that there could be harmony between me and my colleagues and that we could work in such harmony. The first day was very satisfying to me. Although the first information we learned scared me about becoming a facilitator at the end of the seminar, it encouraged me at the end of the day. As I became more knowledgeable, my doubts about becoming a facilitator continued to disappear.

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Thanks, Gözde. Could you please change the privacy and comment settings so that we can comment on your reflections😉

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-Have your ideas about teaching young learners change in a way? If so, how?

Today we talked about 6 characteristics of children after the first break. These features were actually not very different from what we saw and were familiar with at the university. It was a repeat event for me. However, after a little brainstorming with our group friends over the questionnaire, my opinion about the sentence in the 6th statement caused me to change it from disagree to agree. The statement was ''Children have a good 'ear' so initial teaching should focus on developing good pronunciation.''
Why and how I changed my mind:
I thought that it would be more beneficial for students to use the language instead of asking for the best pronunciation, but I changed my mind that it should still be emphasized in order not to reinforce the poor pronunciation.

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-What needs to be adapted most in your coursebooks to help children improve their skills?
-How can PDCs help you with that issues?

Children need a lot of exposure to language in order to develop oral skills. I think that we should expose children to listening activities, just as we are exposed to listening to language for 1 year before we start saying our first words at the age of 1. That's why we can do a lot of Listen&Do activities for children. We can help them become familiar with words and sentence structures by using their imitation features.

In our PDC meetings, we can increase the number of examples of activities that can be done with our local teachers, and expand our horizons about activities that can be done by brainstorming and exchanging ideas.

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-Do you think Shared Reading is a suitable procedure to use with L2 children? Why/ why not?

I think shared reading is suitable for L2 students. Because they feel more secure during the event as they do not have too many responsibilities. They are aware that they will receive support from their teachers in any mistake. Even if it is an activity that they cannot read by themselves, they can feel part of the activity and enjoy it by being supported by their teacher. It also contributes to the development of language skills.

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"Maintaining a balance between
children's enjoyment and acceptable
behaviour is often one of the greatest
challenges that Primary language
teachers face'.
1.Do you agree or not?
2.What challenges do teachers face?And
how do they manage it?

I agree. Classroom management is more difficult because primary school students are more energetic and hyperactive than students at other levels.

Teachers need to be more engaging and more energetic than students to provide classroom management. They should discover their areas of interest and teach a lesson in that way. She/He should also be an understanding and supportive teacher. In this way, the attention of the student is drawn to the teacher and classroom management is provided.

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1. Are there any tips or techniques from the
sessions today that you could use to
manage your PDCs positively?
2. Are there any other elements of
classroom management in your PDCs
that you will have to think about?
(managing Feedback for example)

In our PDC meetings, we should start with warm-up activities first and then draw attention to ourselves. I think that one of the easiest elements to get attention for adults is "Using a call and response technique". If we can get attention to ourselves, after this method, we should use the techniques of holding the attention on us. The variety of activities and interaction patterns are one of the features we can benefit from.

I think I should be a little more motivated about classroom management. Breaking the ice for adults is a subject that can be a bit difficult. If there are no willing teachers, it is necessary to provide this environment.

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Has your view of assesment changed? How?

When I examined the exam given at the end of the book, I realized that I had made such an assessment. Although not exactly, they have very similar aspects. I will pay more attention to peer, informal and self evaluations rather than formal evaluations. It is more important for me to use more encouraging smiles and stickers, not with definite judgments as in formal.

Not a monkey observing and disturbing with his eyes in the tree. I will be the encouraging teacher who surreptitiously monitors students' progress.

Of course, I have never been such a strict and mechanical teacher, but I realized that I shouldn’t care about the grading expected from us, and that I should prioritize the development of the student.

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1. What do you think will be the greatest benefit of being in a Professional Development
Community for the teachers of English in your
local context who join your PDC meetings?
2. How do you feel the PDC sessions you have
studied in this face to face training programme
will help you deal with possible problems when you are planning and conducting PDCs for teachers in your local context?

Since all our teachers do not have the chance to attend or reach this seminar at the moment, it is their greatest chance to reach the same content by the facilitators trained. I think that they will see the same applications and topics, and they will get the maximum efficiency because they can apply this one-to-one after each meeting and give and receive feedback.

Even if I was told how to deal with the problems I might encounter, it was a relief to experience them one-to-one. (I have not encountered such a problem) But inferring and experiencing the approach of our facilitators prepared me for my own meetings and made me feel more comfortable and confident with each step forward.

Thank you for your smiling faces :) It was a great journal for me and i will never forget these days :)