https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y Reflective Journal en-us 2022-06-21 19:56:50 UTC 2022-06-27 13:46:18 UTC hello@padlet.com hmerveozturk97 https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y/wish/2227135613 Today we started out with a game called "2 Truth&1 Lie". It's a great example of simple ice-breakers. In fact, I'm definitely going to use it. Then we discussed the difficulties we might face during listening sessions. At the end of the day, it's all about choosing the appropriate material for your students. We need to consider their background knowledge, needs, and  interests while adapting or creating a listening activity.
One of the most important points is to decide wheter we use an authentic material or not and also being clear about the purpose of the activity. 
We also talked about the importance of peer assessment which was an issue that I haven't been paying attention until today.]]> 2022-06-21 20:42:03 UTC https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y/wish/2227135613 hmerveozturk97 https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y/wish/2229176951 Today we focused on speaking activities. And I think one of the most common problems teachers in my district deal with is finding an effective way of drawing their students' attention. Most of our students are afraid of speaking, even in their native language. The reason behind it might be their background (strict parents or even teachers in some cases ). We usually fail providing them a safe space.
I think what we learned today is going to be really effective in our classrooms. Take paperslides for example, it might help the less confident students to have more time to prepare and to feel more confident. And they don't need to show their faces and speak in front of the whole class. Also the tips about preparing a speaking activity are very useful. I already knew most of them but I either forgot or never got the chance to apply them. (The importance of using realia, giving enough time to think, drilling and repetition etc...)]]> 2022-06-23 21:04:18 UTC https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y/wish/2229176951 hmerveozturk97 https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y/wish/2229670473 Working in groups may draw my students’ attention because that would make them feel more confident and have fun with their friends. Working alone scares them most of the time. Also knowing that they don’t have to write long paragraphs would relax them (snack writing). Using padlet or other web 2 tools for writing is always a great idea, especially for homework. And I think my colleagues will find those apps very useful because writing is the weakest skill of most students and those apps would help us make writing more fun and easier.]]> 2022-06-24 09:16:15 UTC https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y/wish/2229670473 hmerveozturk97 https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y/wish/2230423550 Firstly, instead of asking the students if they think celebrations are necessary (or not) , we can start with asking them which kind of celebration means the most to them. ( It can be done in groups or they can write it down on a piece of paper and go around asking their peers "why?" ) Then we may ask them to find and/or underline the types of celebrations in the text. That will lead them to scan the text. Finally, we ask them to prepare a presentation about their favorite celebration as groups of four on Genially.

And I believe my colleagues will be surprised to hear that reading out loud is not as crucial as we thought it was and it's not a must.
P.S: I will always remember the  importance of using lower-case while preparing an activity :)]]> 2022-06-25 20:55:55 UTC https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y/wish/2230423550 hmerveozturk97 https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y/wish/2230427580 Today was one of the most interesting ones for me because I had my doubts about the way I teach grammar and vocabulary. At the end of the day, everything was more clear to me than ever. Trainees' Pack page 45 was the hero of the day and I think the tips written by Scott Thornbury were and will be very helpful while teaching vocab. They really are applicable. Also the web 2 tools we discovered today will help us a lot when we go back to our classrooms.

-Vocabulary Notebook-
* words should be used in a way that means something to them (they don't have to write the sentence(s) I give as an example.)
* we should add silly details to sentences to make them remember easily.
*writing the meaning only is not acceptable. 
*the notebook should be colorful so that it can draw more attention. ]]> 2022-06-25 21:18:08 UTC https://padlet.com/hmerveozturk97/stld1d19vp8yk01y/wish/2230427580