Today we learned about aphasia disability and our colleagues explained a Lesson plan on how students with this disability can understand and participate in lessons. Then, in the discussion part, we looked for solutions on how to be inclusive to people with aphasia disability and how to face this situation in daily life, both as a teacher and as an individual in society. It was an enjoyable and informative presentation

Foreign students in our country

The importance of incorporating students' cultural and traditional backgrounds into classroom discussions was highlighted. Using examples from various cultures, especially those of refugee backgrounds, creates a more inclusive and comfortable learning environment.

Meryem Kablan

honestly this was the first i learned about aphasia with valuable insight. i believe the way they chose this rare language disorder was essential for us to gain more awareness.

foreign children presentation

i believe this was a successful presentation and it was about such current and important issue that needs more strategies for teachers to practice in their classrooms. i liked the flash card activity especially because it was fun and easy and would focus on diverse needs.

trauma sensitive / adhd / presentation

in this presentation, they mentioned valuable strategies such as positive reinforcement, enabling children to use a planner to help their self regulation skills for adhd children. generally, i liked that they included group sharing in activities to promote social-emotional skills.

Presentation 1 for Aphasia

Specific disability is Broca’s Aphasia which is also called as non fluent aphasia. Individuals with Broca’s aphasia cannot express themselves fluently and clearly .They are also aware of their circumstances, therefore they feel so insufficient and depressed. We need to decrease their stress level and increase their confidence by using convenient lesson plans for those special individuals. They mentioned the therapy approach for them. But, Çiğdem hoca has wanted them to create a product, too. We are waiting for them to show us their product to teach them English in a special way for people with Broca’s aphasia.

Presentation 2 for cultural interaction

They prioritizes the importance of cultural interaction and parental involvement for students with different cultural backgrounds. They mentioned about their materials, assessment methods , methodology, objectives . They said that they would use flashcards , storytelling and posters specifically designed for those students.They also said that they would use universal design for learning and collaborative learning methods. It is so beneficial and informative presentation. I really like their approach for specific group of people in public school.

Presentation 3 for ADHD

They mentioned about their materials attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. They said that they would utilize the power of positive reinforcement. They aim to develop executive functioning skills.They also prioritize the importance of social and emotional support. They use conjunction cards as material.They said that they use the e portfolio as an assessment method which is a digital collection of students’ work over time.

In the first presentation, I learned about aphasia, which is a condition that affects a person's ability to communicate. It's caused by damage to the part of the brain responsible for language. I learned that there are different types of aphasia, like expressive and receptive aphasia, and each type affects communication in different ways. I also learned how important it is to be patient and supportive when interacting with someone who has aphasia.

In the third presentation, I learned how to create an e-portfolio, which is a digital collection of work and reflections. I found out that an e-portfolio can be a great way to showcase your skills, achievements, and learning progress over time. It's also a useful tool for self-reflection, as it helps you track your growth and set new goals.

In the fourth presentation, I learned about strategies to create an inclusive environment. I learned that inclusion means making sure everyone, regardless of their background or abilities, feels welcomed and valued. Some strategies I learned include using clear communication, being respectful of differences, and adapting the environment to meet the needs of all individuals. It really made me think about how small changes can make a big difference in creating a more inclusive space for everyone.

From this presentation, I learned that aphasia is a language disorder caused by brain damage, often after a stroke or injury. It affects speaking, understanding, reading, and writing. There are different types, like Broca's aphasia (difficulty speaking) and Wernicke's aphasia (trouble understanding). I realized how important communication strategies and patience are for helping people with aphasia.

2. E-Portfolios for ADHD and Trauma Students

This presentation taught me how e-portfolios can support students with ADHD and those who have experienced trauma. E-portfolios give students a way to showcase their progress, reflect on their learning, and feel more in control. They encourage creativity and help build confidence. I also learned that flexibility and personalized approaches are key to making these tools effective for such students.

3. Linguistic Human Rights

From this topic, I understood how language is connected to identity, culture, and human rights. Linguistic human rights focus on protecting minority languages and ensuring everyone has the right to learn their mother tongue. I also learned about the challenges speakers of minority languages face, like discrimination and loss of cultural heritage. I found the discussion question really unnecessary.

Teaching ESL to Students Who Experienced Trauma and Have ADHD

The presentation provided the audience the necessary information about students who experienced trauma and who have ADHD. Suitable and supportive classroom environment and interaction, assesment and evaluation techniques and modifications and necessary adjustments were the points put emphasis on. I really liked how they focused on the target students’ possible communicative problems and how we, as teachers, can encourage them to participate in social contexts in a way that they will feel content overall. They also introduced e-portfoilos by examining their shortcomings and potential benefits.

Translation and Interpreting for Linguistic Human Rights

They started by introducing technical strategies and how to integrate those into the classroom and make them practible. Planning and using methods such as Differentiated Instruction and UDL.

I really liked the discussion activity. I had the chance to see and reflect on the drawbacks and advantages of different strategies in the case of having multilingual students speaking another langauge at home. We also tried to find a solution to the communication problem causing the parents not to keep up with their child’s progress in the course.

I learned the aphasia disorder, and the information given for it was in great detail. I really liked the presentation overall, and I liked the discussion part as well.

E-portfolios:

The useful aspects and drawbacks of e-portfolios were emphasized. I liked the presentation very much because it had a very understandable and unbiased approach.

Linguistic human rights:

In this discussion section, cultural values were emphasized. The level of detail of the questions was low, the solution to the second question in particular was very obvious and the question felt a bit ineffective. The answer we gave as a group to the first question was misunderstood by the moderator of the discussion questions section, probably due to the fact that the question was not detailed enough that it led to a misunderstanding. Other than that, it was a presentation that I found quite fluent. Even though so little time was given to discuss the topic with our friends before discussing with the whole class, it is always a great pleasure to share ideas with each other.

Refugee Presentation: I really like the

activities our friends came up with. They seem very well thought off.I really like portfolio based learning. Overall, interesting topic and setting and good activities.

Adhd and trauma presentation: I liked the small game that was created, I thought it was very interesting and creative. As for assessment tools I like the idea of e portfolios, although I am not sure how would you rate and feedback student's progress. I might have missed that part, a very nice presentation 🔥🔥

Aphasia

In this presentation, I learned more about aphasia as a condition and how it can have different effects on each patient. It helped me to empathize with them on a different level. I was aware of this condition before thanks to linguistics courses i took in previous semesters, but this was the first time that I viewed this condition through the eyes of a teacher and reflected on my knowledge to come up with differentiated learning techniques to help my students. I think that they did a good job highlighting a possible circumstance that teachers can observe in their professional life with their students. I like that they came up with questions that encouraged us to contemplate about the situation at hand.

2nd Final Presentation

Syrian students

This presentation is quite to the point considering the current discussions in Türkiye’s political and social scene.

It was informative and inspiring. I appreciate that they emphasized the importance of ensuring cultural awareness and collaboration in classroom environment because these are the essential elements that establish equity and trust in education process. I learned that education is one of the foundational steps to take towards the “social cohesion.”

I learned that trying to strike a balance between Turkish students and Syrian students can be hard for both parties. I realized the importance of being aware of the possible hardships that can take place while trying to make an inclusive classroom.

I like the use of Bilingual materials.

The most interesting part for me: Feedback is on effort and growth

Portfolio based assessment was inspiring

3rd final presentation

Trauma & adhd responsive

With this presentation, I learned the Importance of routine for this specific students and the necessity of building trust in the classroom environment to nurture a safe learning experience.

Differentiation according to needs was the main theme, which I appreciate because each individual is unique with different needs.

The use of Planners was influential because students can get distracted or discouraged from time to time, which makes the use of planners and establishing a set program necessary.

Conjuction card draw activity: authentic, interesting, encouraging socialization

Process based assessment is central which is interesting and effective.

E portfolio is a great way of assessing and keeping track of the progress while making it personal and periodical.

Bilgesu Bağcı

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Also I learned about e-portfolio, I thought of it as a nice tool because I found it nice to assess the progress rather than the end product because one might seem ahead on the surface but might not actually be that way in reality, in terms of progress. This year in our language acqusition course we learned a language learning progress called "U shaped learning". I will explain it with an example, a child learning english may produces the word "went" in the earlier stages but as they learn about grammar, they may change their word usage to "goed" and later on revert it back to "went". On the surface level, the "goed" usage might seem wrong with an end product assesment, but there indeed is a progress going on. Process detecting is more valuable than standardized testing.

But even after thinking about these aspects of it it still managed to amaze me by explaining how flexible digital tools are, with the help of them they can write freely from the cognitive and phsical constraints. I didn't even think about it even though I wrote similar things to my lesson plan for Maya last week. It broadened my perspective.

I find portfolios as an assessment tool very interesting so to speak since they are a relatively new way of measuring learning for me. I heard about keeping a logbook on the subjects of an architecture course. The logbook and portfolio are similar in that matter. However, the difference between them is that portfolio is to be displayed so that people (or the teacher) can see the achievements of the person. Logbook is kept more for personal reasons. But they both can provide teachers with a tool to include all students in assessment process and give everyone a fair chance of showing off what they learned.

Bexultan Koizhanov

Then, we talked about the situations of Syrian students in Turkish mainstream schools. We talked about language barriers for both the students and their parents. We discussed what to do so that we can efficiently teach English to a Syrian student who does not speak Turkish and how to communicate with his/her parents in the teacher-parent meetings if we couldn't find translators. I really liked this topic as well because it is realistic in our case in Turkiye.

Lastly, We talked about students with ADHD and PTSD. My friends talked about some tricks that we can use for students with ADHD as they lose focus very easily while learning. Keeping the activities short for them or allowing them to take breaks keep them in track so that they can come back to learning easily. This was really interesting as well because as a future teacher I should have some knowledge about disorders like these that are very common nowadays. Dealing with students who have short attention span or staying away from the learning environment because they have traumas is tricky. My friends said they can sit in the back silently without taking part in anything and this hinders their learning which is something I would not want to experience in my classroom.

Overall, these final presentations were really nice to listen to and think upon because we need such scenarios to work on with our instructor to give us feedback and guide us before becoming a teacher and know nothing about including a child with a difference that has no idea about how to fit in. Therefore, if we are clueless as teachers, it will turn into a disaster.

Duygu Ayata

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Then we had our second group of friends who prepared an excellent plan to help Syrian and Turkish students coexist and be tolerans towards each other. I really liked the content, because especially these years this is a huge problem in our schools and everywhere else in the country basically. But if we start educating young learners like our friends did, in the future we wouldn't see so much racism.

And finally we had the third group planning lessons and materials for the adhd students with trauma. The combination was interesting, and we talked about the importance of feedback. Not the frequency of it, but the quality of it. It was overall very useful and inf ormative.

The second presentation of the day focused on refugee students and their learning needs. They shared lots of different activities that can be utilized in actual classrooms with real students.

Barış Mutlu