Zehra's Blog

ABOUT THE VIDEO

2008-04-26T02:41:00.000-07:00

I want to talk about teachers who do not know the names of their students. It may be because of the teacher's characteristic. Some people are not good at learning names. However, if there are few students in a class, teachers should do their best and find ways to learn the names of their students. When the teacher call students with their names during class activities, the students feel confident because they feel they have an identity.Moreover, students in Turkiye are often exposed to irrelevant and unnecessary information. It is impossible for them to learn each and every item, so they have difficulty in choosing which information to be learned is important and which is not.

REINFORCEMENT!

2008-04-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
There is a boy in 2nd grades and he is a naughty student. Our mentor teacher uses reinforcements such as chocolate, pencil sharpener, etc to motivate him. Actually it works. He has started to keep silent during the lesson and to participate in the activities. I believe that reinforcements are the only way to motivate such students.
However, I have doubts about his future. In the future, he may want reinforcements for each and every good behavior. When he cannot see any, then he can give up appropriate behaviors. Great Dilemma:)
Do you agree with me?

PRACTICE TEACHING

2008-04-21T02:36:00.000-07:00

Hi!
Have you decided on the date of your practice teaching?
The ones who have decided can state its date so that we can arrange ours without causing any clash?
Thank You

ALMOST ALL STUDENTS SAY " I'm go to school." :(

2008-04-21T02:19:00.000-07:00

Hi Again...
You know I am working in Final Dergisi Dershaneleri. I have one-to-one teaching sessions and students maka me crazy sometimes. They insist on saying "I'm go to school."
I started to think that the reason why ther are not able to say the correct form is that they start learning English with the subjects: greeting, giving information about oneself or others. They form sentences such as:

I'm Zehra. I'm from Erzurum. I'm ten years old. I'm a student.
After some time, they start to acquire "I'm" as the subject itself. It is the same for other subjects: She is do her homework. They are play football.

Do you think this can be the reason? and
Do you have any suggestions how I can teach the correct form?
Thanks...

RETIREMENT AGE???

2008-04-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody!
I really wonder what you think of the retirement age in Türkiye?
I don't approve this application. Do you?

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

2008-04-16T06:16:00.000-07:00

Hi again!

For the ones who want to work at private schools...

Here are some questions for the interview...

TED ANKARA KOLEJİ VAKFI ÖZEL İLKÖĞRETİM OKULU İNGİLİZCE ÖĞRETMENLİĞİ SÖZLÜ SINAV KONUSU

2007-2008 Teachers’ Interview Questions

How would a sample unit plan be for “Across Cultures” on page 93 in Challenges 3?
How many hours would it take to cover the “reading comprehension” part including “vocabulary”?
Would you give any additional vocabulary other than the given ones (bold words in the text)?
How long, do you think, it will take for slow learners? What other techniques can be applied in such cases ?
How many hours will it take to teach the grammar section, which is “reported speech” in this unit? How would you present the reporting verbs?
What do you think of pair /group or individual work / activities in a class of 32 students in terms of language teaching?

!!!LETTER FROM 2051!!!

2008-04-16T05:58:00.001-07:00

Hi everybody
How are you! I missed you so much. Ohh, We haven't seen each other since 2008. You know I am still teacher. In my first years of teaching, my students called me "mum". Now, they are calling me "Grandma!!!"
I often get sick and cannot walk in the classroom, so I always sit down. While my students are doing group or pair work, I cannot observe their performance. In addition, their noise make me sick.
Unfortunately, I am about to get retired(!) I will miss my grandchildren...

How do you do these days?

LUCKY KIDS

2008-04-07T01:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Again
Do you remember your first years at your secondary school? How much time did your teacher spend teaching "simple present tense?"Especially the ones who were state school students which did not have preparation classes?
Only ONE lesson or TWO lessons to teach the structure!!!
POSITIVE
I/you/we/they + V1
He/she/it + V1 + (-s)
NEGATIVE
I/you/we/they + DON'T + V1
He/she/it + DOESN'T + V1
QUESTION
DON'T + I/you/we/they + V1
DOESN'T + he/she/it + V1

What more?
Some examples for each form and then fill in the blanks activities.
In the second grades at METU Collage, the teacher spends more than 2 weeks to teach only
"positive sentence structure with the subject 'I'" Many enjoyable activities are done as well.
I'm sure that it aims to help the pupils ACQUIRE the language, not LEARN!
I think they are very lucky...

AFTER A LONG TIME...

2008-04-07T01:36:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody
Sorry for waiting for a long time to write. I hope my exams will be accepted as an excuse. I'm dealing with the presentations and exams.
I want to share my experience with the second grades. I taught "telling the time" and "present simple tense- positive sentences with the subject 'I'". You know they are kids and they did not hesitate to participate in the lesson althogh they were being taught by a new teacher. They behaved in the manner that they behave when their English teacher is teaching. I think if they were students at high school, they would not accept me as a teacher and would make fun of me. I'm happy to be teaching to these YOUNG LEARNERS:)

5 Things about me

2008-03-10T01:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Nice to share 5 things about me with you. First of all, since I like children very much, I want to teach to YOUNG LEARNERS very very much. I know they are sometimes very naughty, but still I believe that they are harmless creatures. The second thing is that I hate cold weather. Do you know where is the hottest city/country in which I can have a chance to live and teach English to young learners? If you know, please let me know:) Thirdly, I can say that I like sitting on the seaside and watch the waves. Moreover, I hate using buses, but unfortunately I need to do. Lastly, I like cooking very much.

I will be glad to learn about you...

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS

2008-03-10T00:58:00.000-07:00

When we went to Metu Collage to meet our mentor teachers, I realized that everything I had expected before our visit was available there. First of all, the attitudes of the administrator and the English teacher towards us were positive. They were very kind and did everything they could do to satisfy us. The English teacher tried to arrange the hours for our observations with great effort. She tied to provide us with the opportunity to observe the lessons of the experienced teachers. At that point, it is clear that the teachers in the collage are professional and we are given a chance to observe their lessons, which was one of my expectations. Also, her effort shows that they are really doing their job. Moreover, when we entered the school and went into the library, we saw that it is a really colorful environment. Walls, tables, chairs, and etc. had various colors which was very attractive.

It was very normal to hear some warnings about our dresses because teachers’ appearance in the classroom and in the school is very important. Since they are models for the students, the administrator needed to talk about what we should wear.

As I had expected, we saw many facilities for the students in Metu Collage such as library, grounds for various sports, and etc.

Hello Everyone

2008-03-04T06:10:00.000-08:00

I believe that these blogs will be very useful for all of us. Please do not hesitate to write comments. We will improve ourselves by the help of each others' comments on our writings.

See you...