Erzurum Journals by Kader ÖZDEMİR

Reflection for the day 2 in PDC Meetings

kaderozdemir043 — 2023-11-19 20:32:37 UTC

1. Which of the tasks from today’s sessions would you like to use in your PDC meetings?

I think that I am going to definitely use the task where we chose a grade level / age group, talked about what they can/can’t do, like and need. Because I like the way each teacher group chooses a different level and then regroup to present what they got. In this way, I could realise even if all the primary school students are named as young learners, in a way they individually differentiate in terms of needs, abilities and likes. I mean I also want my participants to be aware of this and use activities suitably.

2. Give the name of the tasks and a brief explanation why you think they would be useful in a PDC meeting. Talk about what your role as a facilitator would be for each task.

4 corners- I think this would be very useful to know my participants’ opinions about languge learning and teaching and to move on a later stage of the meeting. As a facilitator, my role can be observation the most unlike opinion in the class and ask them to share why they think so.

Jigsaw reading- I think it is much more fun to get some knowledge through sharing rather than being in a lectured-centered environment, and being a passive listener. As a facilitator, my role can be managing the time and making sure each group member shares some ideas while talking in English.

Gallery walk-I think this was the most useful one for my prospective PDC meetings because while we were wandering around each poster, not only I learned but also I got a chance to present our work and it made me feel much more belonged to that meeting and it also provided me to break some shyness:) As a facilitator, my role can be again managing the time for each corner and make the groups move to another in the specified time. Observation is also very important to make sure each member is active.

Reflection for the day 3 in the PDC meetings

kaderozdemir043 — 2023-11-20 18:22:16 UTC

1. Is it possible to match the stages of this session with the stages of the PDC cycle?

Yes because we chose a dialogue from our own coursebook, we tried to prepare a lesson plan according to the stages that we discussed before so we are engaged in the meeting and also I think sharing the posters with peers and deciding whether it is fun and motivating can be matched to stage of sharing for a PDC meeting.

2.What changes would you make if you were working with teachers from your PDC on using dialogues more effectively in the primary classroom?

I’d prefer asking firstly each member of the groups to choose a grade level and then prepare a lesson plan for one dialogue maybe just like a draft and after that want them to share their ideas with their groups instead of wanting groups to prepare a lesson for a dialogue altogether. Because I realised that some participants were just looking at the other group members since one person just got the writing job for the group or some other participants were unwilling to do the task. I mean it was supposed to be a group work but in reality it was not looking like that. Maybe trainer could give roles to the members just like we did before for another task such as writer, reporter, etc. so that each one of members could give a contribution. And also, I think in this way we could have much more lesson plans to get some different pespectives to use for much more dialogues from various grade levels.

Well done Kader!

2023-11-21 04:08:22 UTC

Thanks for your reflection. I enjoyed reading it. I like that you’ve included the task instructions for each section as it makes it clear what you are taking about. I also feel you have really reflected on why the tasks would be useful for your PDC meetings. You have given your personal feelings but also considered what your role would be as a facilitator. This will be useful when you look at the padlet after the course. I’m looking forward to reading your reflections in the coming days. You need to check your settings as they don’t allow comments on the posts. Check this with Burcu. Thanks! Lise

Comment by BURCU

burcumss — 2023-11-21 17:54:23 UTC

Thank you for your reflection on today's sessions. We are trying to modelling PDCs in each session. Don't forget PDCs aims while prioritizing the tasks as they need to promotes active participation and collaboration between the members of PDCs. Individual works must be done but you should also think ways to share their ideas.

Reflection for the day 4 in PDC meetings

kaderozdemir043 — 2023-11-21 21:59:09 UTC

1. For Session 4 (spelling) reflect on how your trainer organised this session (materials preparation, the way the tasks were organised and the objectives of the tasks)

Firstly she regrouped us, gave a number for each group, handed out two sheets on which there were 5 questions about the purpose of the activity, what level/age it would be suitable, whether it would be motivating and easy to be used with our classes, what adaptations could be made. Our aim was answering those questions for 5 different activities given each group by taking turns in a limited time. At this point I think the trainers’ purpose was showing us various activity ideas that we can ponder on and at first, I personally got a little bit confused about what we are supposed to do. Maybe she could tell us the purpose of the sticked numbers on the tables which were going to be matched the numbers under each question on the handouts. After finishing all of them, we came together again to talk about which one we liked the most and shared it with other groups. Then, we tried to create an activity for a chosen grade and level with the same group again in a limited time. For this point, I think she wanted us to have something creative maybe by seeing some mistakes and being aware of not including those in our activity or adapting it just to be perfectly suitable as we chose grade and level.

2. If you used these ideas in a PDC meeting, what would you need to prepare as a facilitator? What would your role be for each of the tasks? 2) Which stage of a PDC meeting would this be?

I would need some handouts, questions, activity ideas and maybe a smart board or speaker to use for time allocated. Besides; blanks pages, crayons, tape, glue, etc. to be used while groups are preparing activities. My role would be giving a clear instruction, monitoring, managing the classroom, being sure that everyone is involed in doing tasks, suggesting some ideas to groups. For the last question, I think that would be an “Reflect and evaluate” stage of a PDC meeting.
Thanks a lot:)

Reflection for the day 6 in PDC meetings

kaderozdemir043 — 2023-11-23 16:16:00 UTC

1. Which aspects of classroom management we’ve covered would be a useful PDC topic for teachers in your area?

I think that negotiating and trying to find some solutions for what can be done or what strategies teachers use when students go off task during a pair or group work and start speaking Turkish and also when they don’t remember the langauge they need to use during an oral practice task would be useful for teachers in my area. Because the students are not used to work in pairs or groups when they have other lessons as far as I observed. I mean they are not familiar with those kinds of activities. That’s why they get confused of what they should do, start speaking Turkish and they have really huge misbehaviours. We can discuss this to find a solution altogether with a support from the class teachers or exchange our techniques, methods, activities, tasks, etc. that we as English teachers normally use to familiarise the students. Besides, I think that some teachers in my area don’t focus on speaking at all, they just think that “it is waste of time since the students cannot talk any English already” so we need to talk about the importance of oral tasks immediately and how they can manage it by sharing our ideas or showing/ giving them some examples from other countries to raise their awareness for the fact we as humanbeings cannot speak any langauge all of a sudden.

2.Which aspects of classroom management would be useful to you for using with your own classes?

I think that having a couple of rules, routines and responsibilities for me and students would be useful for me to manage my classrooms in a more friendly and productive way because I realise the impact of using a call back activity or stirrers-settlers during PDC meetings. I am definetely going to have much more routines for my classes to make my students more enthusiastic for involving in the lessons and to fulfill their needs, interest, etc. I also really liked the way trainers used stirrers and settlers, I think they are very crucial to keep students focused, relaxed while moving on the stages of lessons.
Thanks a lot:)

Reflection for the day 7 in the PDC meetings

kaderozdemir043 — 2023-11-24 15:10:11 UTC

1. Reflect back to the PDC planning cycle and discuss how you could adapt this content for use in a PDC meeting with participants with considerable experience of formative assessment and participants with limited or no experience.

In my opinion, I would definetly add a warm up to gather participants’ previous knowledge about what the formative assessment is such as “K-W-L” chart like we did today for those who has considerable experience and a gallery walk activity by dividing the class into three groups for writing what the formative assessment is, when it should be used and why. I would hide some information about these questions and make the groups to find them outside and come back to class, write as much as they have got like a list on cards and then go outside, stick them on the board and do a gallery walk by mixing the group members to exhange what they have got. I would use this activity for those who has limited or no experience. After trying any one of these activities, I would share the exact explanation for these questions to the participants through a ppt presentation to answer any posssible question marks. For the “Engage and Share” part, I would use an acitivity like “Unscramling-Jigsaw” for both types of participants. I would scramble some parts of new formative assessment techniques to be given as a group work and ask them to unscramble it according to the headings “What it is, when it can be used and for what and why it can be used” by giving them some time. After finishing, I would share the expected paragraph order with them and then ask them to share ideas whether they would use that technique or it is useful or not, for which grade/age group they would use it and how they would adapt it. Next, I would ask them to rotate the techniques so that everyone can see each technique and to talk about them. For the reflect and evaluate part, I would ask participants to choose a coursebook with the same group members and adapt the technique they have got to a unit they select as a poster dijitalle on a Padlet walk link that I will share with them in order that everyone can see each poster similtaneously. I would do this because each group will have different techniques so there will not be any chance to cheat and I think this would be betten to have access afterwards.

2. Think about the materials you would need to prepare for ypur meeting.
I would need a ppt presentation, handouts of the techniques, some sticky notes and internet accesss, a computer and projector or smart board to share ppts. The participants are also going to one PC to be used as a group.