What can I do for YOU?

The recent parliamentary and presidential elections here in canım Türkiyem left a lot of the so-called ‘white Turks’ a wee bit unhappy (to say the least). Muharrem İnce put up a brave fight as the CHP candidate…but most of knew it was always going to be a one-horse race!

The real surprise came, however, when Erdoğan announced his new cabinet. In the line-up, there was a face that many described as ‘totally unexpected’!

No…not that one…the ‘Son-in-Law’ just sent investors running for the hills and helped the dollar make a bloody great hole in my newly-painted ceiling!

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This one…

Ziya Selçuk…a well-known Professor from Gazi University…a progressive educational thunker and founder of Maya Okulları (originally in Ankara and now in Manavgat and Diyarbakır)…a teacher’s teacher!

A surprise? A surprise?

Shouldn’t every country have a Minster of Education with this type of background… pedigree…sense of humour, even?

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I guess many people thought it was unexpected because ‘Ziya Hoca’ had been the Head of the Instruction and Education Board (Talim Terbiye), a key arm of the Ministry of Education (MEB) when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) first came to power in the early 2000s…at the time Dark Lord Hüseyin Çelik held the reigns of power.

Ziya Hoca walked away.

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Others might have thought it was a surprise that Ziya Hoca agreed to take the appointment!

The MEB has the reputation for changing its ‘leader’ more often than its underwear (5 times since 2002 and the start of AKP rule). Sadly, all these leaders also demonstrated amazingly low levels of Educational Literacy and Turkish Educational policy, some might think, was produced by this type of discussion…

…and those very decisions then frequently falling foul of…

…’revisions’ that totally confused parents, students, teachers…even God herself!

This is not how Ziya Hoca does busyness and his appointment has, on the whole, been met with a lot of praise and given a lot of educators ‘hope’ (whatever you may think about Erdoğan, stupid he is not…not at all)!

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So, why am I writing this post?

Well…on a lot of the Leadership and Middle Management Training programmes I run, we talk about what ‘new leaders’ have to do in their first 90 days in office (regardless of experience, qualifications and ‘personal vision’)…

Top of the list:

• SHUT UP!
• ASK QUESTIONS!
• LISTEN!

Hence, the title of this post…

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I’ve been chatting to a lot of friends on the phone since the appointment (mostly because I can’t leave the house…after a ‘fight’ with a 6cm step left me with 4 fractures in my foot, a ripped calf on the other leg, bruised ribs…and a shiriously red-faced ego! Size really doesn’t matter!!!) and talking about what Ziya Hoca could do to improve the quality of language learning, teaching and assessment across canım Türkiyem.

A few ideas are:

• Work closely with the Council for Higher Education (YÖK) and Universities with ELT Departments to ensure teachers-in-training are given more opportunities to actually graduate with higher levels of fluency and accuracy (at least a minimum of CEFR – B2+/C1 or GSE 70-78) – via language support across all 4 years of their courses, 6-month exchange programmes with schools in the UK, US or Canada, etc.
• Ensure every school has access to a Professional Learning Budget for its language departments and has the authority to use this budget to meet the ‘bottom-up’ needs of teachers.
• Create training opportunities that tackle the serious issues of ‘content-driven’ or ‘activity-based’ teaching that are the product of schools’ obsessions with ‘covering the textbook’ and develop teacher ability to meet commonly-agreed learning outcomes by creating motivating and engaging learning opportunities – not simply turning pages like a burger-flipper at Macdonalds.
• Remove the current conventional wisdom that language tests have to be dominated by ‘objective’ multiple-choice questions and prepare the groundwork for a fundamental shift towards ‘formative assessment’ in our language classrooms and the use of valid and reliable ‘communicative tests’ which prioritise the importance of speaking.
• NEVER, ever…ever…repeat the ‘cock-up’ that was the Fatih Project!

There are many, many more…

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If Ziya Hoca asked YOU, what would you tell HIM?

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HERE’S the graphic on ‘trust’ that I could not add into the comments section (15/07/18):

 

Want to Build a GREAT School? Follow These 10 Commandments…

This was the post that I planned to use to re-launch my bouts of bloggery this summer…

 

In the end I went with an ‘easier’ option…because it was so bloody difficult to plan, draft and finish! I started by reflecting on all the schools I had worked with this year…and all the ways I had tried to support their plans and initiatives (an ‘annual’ review, if you will).

 

It wasn’t enough! So…I went back 5 years (and almost every blog post I had ever written)…still didn’t quite cut it!

I found myself going back to the work of EDU Jedi Masters and their discussions of ‘what works in schools’…combining this with the THUNKS of those that helped me consider ‘what matters in schools’…and, reflecting on all the pearls of wisdom I had picked up from the school improvement, accreditation and institutional enhancement programmes I had worked on.

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That got me closer (but I had close to thirty pages of notes) – it was time for a procrastination pill!

In the end, I decided to do a ‘career review’ – yes, reflect on the successes I had witnessed and LEARNed from, all my failures (because they helped me more than the successes I may have had and helped co-create) and all things I still have on my EDU Bucket List…after over 30 years in the busyness of LEARNing.

 

The listicle of my ‘Magic 10’ Commandments started to take shape…but then the last episode of this year’s Game of Thrones forced me to binge-watch the earlier 50 episodes!

What? I’m on holiday, too!

 

So…just to prove that all those quotes you can pull up (if you google ‘procrastination’) are hogwash…here you go:

If you want to build a GREAT school…

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Thou Shalt ‘begin with the end in mind’ and ensure that your school is built on a focussed and clearly stated purpose – and make sure that all members of the school community understand, share and are committed to this purpose and the goals of the school…

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Thou Shalt believe in the transformative power of LEARNing, place LEARNing at the heart of your decision-making and walk-your-talk…

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Thou Shalt recruit the best TEACHers you can, retain them (at all costs) and renew their talents, skills and knowledge at every opportunity you find…

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Thou Shalt plan, implement and renew a curriculum / assessment framework that emphasises LEARNing the ‘right’ things in the ‘right’ way…

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Thou Shalt provide caring and effective leadership, create the conditions for wider shared-, teacher-, and student-leadership – and evaluate the quality of this leadership in terms of the level of trust you build and the amount of LEARNing co-created across the school…

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Thou Shalt create an environment and climate that is organised, secure and safe – yet provides for risk-taking, creativity and imagineering at the student, classroom, departmental and school level…

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Thou Shalt create a culture that is driven by professionalism, collaboration, and stakeholder involvement – and is fuelled by an ethos of feedback, improvement and results… 

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Thou Shalt build and maintain a classroom-focussed LEARNing culture grounded on high expectations for both students and TEACHers, dialogic TEACHing practices and an approach to the adoption of EdTech driven by ‘fitness-for-purpose’ and ‘LEARNing first, TECHnology second’… 

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Thou Shalt adopt a research and evidence-based approach to change and planning – and balance the use of external best practices and internal research findings, as well as ‘big’ and ‘small data’…

 

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Thou Shalt use a range of policies, processes, and practices designed to evaluate and enhance the quality of decision-making, curriculum and assessment systems, classroom teaching, professional learning communities, allocation of resources, and stakeholder involvement across the school…

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That’s 10, right?

 

As I was boiling all the Commandments down, I did ask myself whether I need to ‘spell them out’ more. I hope they are clear…as I hinted, they are all backed by solid research and evidence-based practice (EBP) – but I have seen them ‘work’ and know they ‘matter’!

 

Can I rank them – in terms of importance or priority? Not really – but I’d be interested to see how you might…or (even more) see if you would add any others…

 

T..

 

 

The DNA of GREAT Teachers – 3 “listicles” you have to read!

Last week, allthingsLEARNing offered a bout of bloggery from guest-blogger Steve Brown (Is it all in the Genes?).

Today we have a follow-up guest-post from Cas Olivier (all the way from “Harties“, a small resort town in the North West Province of South Africa). I never actually got to Hartbeespoort on “my walkabouts” around South Africa – but now I have a reason to do so…next time.

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The story of how I bumped into Cas in the blogosphere is a funny one!

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About 8 months ago, I was desperately looking for some new images to “steal” for one of my own posts on “GREAT TEACHers”. Yes, I know…some of you “hate” this phrase – but, come on – who among us all does not want their students to say something like – “Tony Hocam is a GREAT TEACHer”?

…go on, tell the truth now!

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Well, I was at a total loss – couldn’t find anything new to steal…sorry, “inspire” me! I had got totally fed up of using “brains” and “mirrors”!

I had lunch with my big, little girl and told her what was going on (actually, she wanted to know what all the “swearing” was about…the foul language that had been pouring out of my study all morning)!

I mentioned that I had overdone the whole “brain” thing – but I (still) liked the notion of “organic” TEACHing! She looked up and said “Dad…what about DNA – that’s cool”!

I jumped up…kissed her…and ran back to the study!

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Not five minutes had passed…and the wave of obscene expletives began again – bloody Google had spat out Cas’ book The DNA of GREAT TEACHers (spat it out straight in my eye it did) and I hated him almost immediately…with a passion!

Hey, I am human – get over it! Least I’m honest…

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You see…the same thing had happened to me when I “invented” (yes, I also “steal” ideas from me daughter – I am THAT daddy!) the term ASSESSment Literacy back in 2011 (I still “hate” Richard Stiggins…not really!) – LEARNing, CURRICULUM and EDUCATIONAL Literacy, however, are still “mine” (and my big, little girl had nothing to do with them…that time it was “Dexter”, my dog…who will soon have a blog)!

I calmed down…and started “stalking” Cas via his website-cum-blog – LEARNingDESIGNs – could he be my long-lost brother (my dad had spent time in Cape Town, Durban and the Free State in the late-40’s), acaba?

Cas Hocam – I know you were born in the Free State…but, when exactly WERE you born? I want a date…and a pregnancy calendar!

 

I fell in love with the sample chapters that Cas was so generously sharing on his blog – I liked the complex simplicity of his THUNKs…and the common sense those thunks were screaming at me!

I forgave him (!)…got in touch via mail…and, his first act of cyber friendship was to send me a copy of his book. 

Paying It Forward is alive and well…in the “Harties”!

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Cas and I started chatting about him doing a follow-up to Steve’s post – and although neither of us are fans of “listicles” (TY – Kevin Stein aka @kevchanwow in the big, bad Tweetiverse) he thought it might be fun…to do THREE of them…in one post!

So, over to Cas!

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The DNA of GREAT teachers are described from a plethora of vantage points and they all have merit.

My vantage point is my latest book: The DNA of Great Teachers in which I use the ‘DNA-concept’ as metaphor to explain teaching paradigms and explain how teachers’ genetic teaching make-up influences their mindsets and teaching practices.

Once I started to “decode” teaching-DNA, I began to understand more and more about what made GREAT teachers so GREAT!

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Let’s start with beliefs – and my first “listicle”:

 

The 10 Beliefs of GREAT TEACHers

1. Teaching means to facilitate learning.
2. Lesson planning means converting the curriculum into learning challenges.
3. Their main tasks are to guide and support students.
4. Are firstly followers and then leaders.
5. Teaching is like developing new medicine. It must be based on patient needs and not the design preference of the manufacturer.
6. The momentum of great teaching is maintained by questions asked by both themselves and the students.
7. When students are not learning as expected, they change their approach.
8. They cannot teach learners anything, but can make them think.
9. Learning always starts from the known and progresses to the unknown.
10. Lesson must cater for ‘short-legged’ and ‘long-legged’ students.

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As Tony might say – have a THUNK about it.

How many of these reflect your understanding of your own DNA? How many of them are beliefs – that walk-their-talk in your classrooms? Are there any in there that you might disagree with? Why / Why not?

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The second of my “listicles” is more focused on the classroom (I’m not that sure if that term is growing on me or not)!

Before you read mine…What would your own Top 10 List include?

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The 10 Things That GREAT TEACHers “DO” in the Classroom

1. Determine the learning status of students and then become leaders to guide their learning.
2. Manage their classes through good relationships.
3. Deviate from their lesson-plan to enable students to gain quick learning-wins.
4. Provide learners with scaffolds to work out their own answers.
5. To achieve productive silence in a class, they ask questions. To achieve productive noise give students an activity to do.
6. Use at least 5 teaching methods.
7. Never give answers to questions. Rather provide students with scaffolds to enable them to work out their own answers.
8. Ensure learners are acknowledged and feel clever.
9. Ensure students master logical, critical, creative and big picture thinking skills.
10. Encourage learning risk takers to speak their minds.

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How many were similar to your own listicle?

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List 03 – now, this is one of my favourites.

None of us are “perfect”…we all have room to grow. But, GREAT TEACHers often take their DNA…and turn it into an “art form”:

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The Top 10 Things that GREAT TEACHers “do” to Improve

1. Discuss their teaching with colleagues.
2. Learn from any source to improve their teaching.
3. Appreciate positive and negative critique on their teaching.
4. Do not take critique personally.
5. Keep on looking for better ways to engage students in more creative and challenging learning.
6. Open to advice.
7. Willingness to change.
8. Remind themselves that they should not be the main source of information during lessons.
9. Keep on looking for ways students can discover and create their own answers.
10. Keep abreast by reading about teaching.

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Now, here’s a thunk or 2 (again, to “steal”…sorry, to be “inspired”…from Tony)!

How many of you work in schools that give you the “space” to do these things? Schools that create the conditions for “DNA mutation and adaptation” to take place – through LEARNing conversations between LEARNing teachers…

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Cas Olivier   –   www.LearningDesigns.co.za   –   casper@mweb.co.za 

Is it all in the Genes? (from GUEST BLOGGER – Steve Brown)

Today’s bout of bloggery is from Steve Brown (aka @sbrowntweets on Twitter).

I first came across Steve when I was pointed in the direction of his blog post “21 Questions for Language TEACHers”. I have to admit I had not stumbled upon Steve’s blog – the very-easy-to-remember “(The) Steve Brown Blog” – until Mike Griffin gave him a nod in one of his posts and I kicked meself for not seeing it earlier.

I loved his questions so I decided to stalk his blog pages a wee bit more. When I came up for air, I told him (via Twitter) that I was sorry I had had not recognised his “bloggery genius” earlier – and then asked if he’d be interested in answering a question (rather than just helping us thunk over his – he has just done another wonderful “quiz” for all us teachers, too…take a look)!

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He agreed – and here we are this morning!

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When Tony asked me to do a guest post on his blog I was flattered, then excited, then a bit scared.

I got (really) scared at the point when he “suggested” I try answering this question:

Freakishly scary, right?

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I mean, where do you start? This question isn’t just about what makes a good teacher, but what (if anything) is hard-wired into a person that predisposes them to effective, reflective, developmental teaching.

At least I think that’s what the question is!

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So, let’s start with a definition of a LEARNing TEACHer.

I would suggest that this is a teacher who continues to LEARN throughout their career. Someone who recognises that completing a teacher training qualification does not make you the “finished article”. Someone who realises that there is no finished article.

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Someone who constantly seeks ways to…

improve,

develop and

enhance their skills & talents.

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If this is our definition of a LEARNing Teacher, maybe we can identify what qualities such a person needs to have.

They need to be able to take new information on board, to respond well to feedback, to pick up new information and ideas, and to have the technical skills to put them into practice.

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Of course, much is made of such qualities in the world of ELT teacher training courses. Trainees are expected to make steady progress from observed lesson to observed lesson, absorbing new information from input and feedback sessions then putting it into practice at the very next opportunity.

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But all that stuff is LEARNable!

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You can LEARN how to manage a class, how to give instructions, how to do effective boardwork, how to clarify language, how to correct errors. This is what the ancient Greeks called poeisis – the implementation of techniques. You learn what needs to be done, then you do it.

Is that all that teaching involves though? Is it just a matter of following set procedures, using tried and tested techniques?

Sure, you need to be able to acquire those technical skills, but you also need to know when to use them.

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Teaching is an essentially human activity; you’re working closely with real people, and these real people will respond in very varied ways to the techniques you implement.

A sensitivity to these responses and an ability to react appropriately are therefore crucial. This is more like what the ancient Greeks called praxis – action that is informed by a wider context, taking into account the moral, socio-economic or political consequences that your teaching might have, beyond the classroom.

I mean the impact on the students’ lives, and the resulting consequences for society in general.

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In terms of what goes into a teacher’s DNA, therefore, the skills themselves are less important because they are LEARNable. What is more fundamental is an inherent AWAREness of the “implications” of employing these skills.

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But the question isn’t just about a good teacher; it’s about a LEARNing teacher.

So as well as an awareness of what you’re doing, there needs to be something else in the DNA that “drives” you forward, that keeps you “wanting” to LEARN more.

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I would suggest that this requires FOUR qualities:

Interest

You can’t LEARN how to be interested in something – either you’re interested or you’re not. So you need to have an interest in the subject you teach, and you also need to have an interest in the whole “business” of teaching and LEARNing.

Motivation

Again, this has to go in the DNA because you can’t LEARN how to want to do something. Desire to take action comes from somewhere very deep down. 

Inquiry

I suppose you could argue that this is very closely related to motivation, but it’s not exactly the same. While motivation is a desire to take action, inquiry is a desire to find things out. You can have your interest piqued or your curiosity raised, but I think that a constantly questioning approach to life, or a reluctance to just accept everything as it is, is something you either have or you don’t have.

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Humility

In order to get better at something, it is important to be able to recognise how bad you are at it. In fact, failures or shortcomings need to be welcomed and embraced as opportunities for development.

We tell this to our students, so we need to demonstrate these qualities in ourselves as well. Humility is certainly something that can be developed, but the ability to equate failure with opportunity is something that some people find very difficult, and others find impossible.

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I’m not sure I’m doing very well here in describing what the DNA of a LEARNing teacher looks like, though.

Can we visualise it?

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Apparently, regular DNA looks like this:

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You’ve got the four chemicals Adenine, Cyostine, Thymine and Guanine, surrounded by sugar and phosphate.

Maybe the DNA of a LEARNing Teacher can look pretty similar.

Replace the four chemicals with Interest, Motivation, Inquiry and Humility, and surround it all with…AWAREness!

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Of course this is incredibly “unscientific” and I apologise to everyone who actually knows something about DNA. I would welcome any comments from such people.

Trying to answer Tony’s question has raised three related questions for me, which I think I can answer now:

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Steve Brown

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What EXACTLY are the “Skills” needed by 21st Century TEACHERS? – The “Robocop” Upgrade…

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I have been heard to say that you can’t throw a rock into the blogosphere these days without hitting a post or article on the 21st Century “something-or-other”.

Love it or hate it – the notion of 21st Century Skills is one of those HOT topics these days – especially in Turkey. Sadly, however, the discussions on EDtech here seem to be dominated by some very strange creatures…you know them as:

…IDIOTS, mostly!

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The real problem is:

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IDIOTS that are breeding like bloody rabbits…on steroids!

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IDIOTS that (still) do not link the 21C concept to real LEARNing – choosing instead to focus on what seems to be both the engine and the fuel of the 21st Century…..

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Don’t get me wrong…I’m not some kind of EDtech luddite who wants to put a stop to the so-called tablet and akıllı tahta dönemi we are currently witnessing in Turkey.

Turkey is my adopted home, I am a “milli enişte” and I am amazingly proud that I helped co-create one of Turkey’s first “digital natives” (and also one of the toughest and most beautiful, too – ask me about the “Türk kızı” who took down men twice her size on the Turkish TV version of “Wipe-Out”).

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I am a “daddy”, too!

A very proud one….

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But, my business is LEARNing (as if you didn’t know) – not TECHnology. And, I’m interested in how we actually “do” something with all the talk-we-are-talking these days – talk about the new kids on the curriculum block:

• INDEPENDENT, CRITICAL and CREATIVE THINKING
• PROBLEM-SOLVING and CREATIVITY
• COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION and SHARING
• COGNITIVE and EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
• ETHICS, ACTION and ACCOUNTABILITY
• LEADERSHIP, AGILITY and ENTREPRENEURIALISM
• CURIOSITY, EXPERIMENTATION and RISK-TAKING
• SELF-DISCIPLINE, RIGOUR and REFLECTION

…even:

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IMAGINEERING

(a wonderful “skill” that brings many of the above together)… 

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We know here in Turkey (not that different to the rest of the world…really) that we still have major challenges with:

• ORAL and WRITTEN COMMUNICATION (the 3R’s in TURKISH) – of course!
• ENGLISH LANGUAGE (the 3R’s in ELL)

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But, the TECH (and the so-called “new digital landscape”) still gets many more column inches and pixels than student LEARNing.

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Our raging debate, a debate that others in the US and Europe have picked up, centres on Turkey’s plans to purchase 15,000,000 tablets over the next few years (as part of the Fatih Project) – and has international and domestic commentators really talking:

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Actually, I’m not sure if we should be talking about the tablets (the PM was today…again and again and again) – we should be discussing the skills the tablets are supposed to be ushering into Turkish schools.

…and, the impact of these skills on TEACHers.

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In an earlier post, I discussed how these 21st Century realities are creating a new set of roles for TEACHers:

However, discussion on how these roles translate into a new evolving set of teacher skills, literacies and fluencies has been (very) limited – especially, in Turkey.

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Isn’t it time we started to ask some REAL questions:

• What skills do TEACHers (in Turkey) need as we continue our march into the 21st Century?
• How many of these skills actually relate to how we deploy and use TECHNOLOGY?
• How many of them relate to effective LEARNing and TEACHing?
• What do TEACHers actually think themselves – and what do their LEARNers think?
• How effectively is TEACHer (and LEARNer) LEARNing being promoted and supported (in Turkey)?
• What else needs to change to make the 21st Century “wishlist” a reality?

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Hey, maybe we can even start asking some of the most basic questions.

Questions like:

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I’d love to see some fresh ideas and comments. 

If not (and you are a lover of “bedtime reading”) – here’s a little list of some resources on allthings21Cskills:

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Tony’s 21st CENTURY LEARNing Library

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2014 ELT and ELL Conference Calendar for Turkey…Ver 6.1 (Upgraded for May Events)!

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It’s been a while since I updated the infamous Conference Calendar – but with all the news I was seeing from BETT 2014 (a few weeks back) I thunked that I’d best get me skates on and do another update!

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Those of you that know the ‘ole Blog, know that I try to keep my ear to the ground on all the lovely conference events that are coming up in…

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This year I started well early. I did Ver 1.0 of the Conference Calendar just after Summer couple of months back. After a few upgrades this evolved into the last version (Ver 3.1) in December – time for Ver 4.1!

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Before we get to canım Türkiyem…as you might also remember, I usually start with the ones that only the “rich kids” can go to!

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As I said, 2014 has just kicked off with a “BIGGIE” – a very EdTech BIGGIE! So, I have removed the BETT event…

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Of course, the other upcoming “BIGGIES” are:

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• 13-15 March
• TESOL Arabia (20th International Conference) – Hyatt Regency (Dubai, UAE)
• Theme: Methods and Means in ELT

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• 26-29 March
• TESOL 2014 – Portland, Oregon (International & EL Expo)
• Theme: ELT for the Next Generation (See also #tesol14 on Twitter)

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• 02-05 April
• IATEFL 2014 (48th Annual International IATEFL Conference & Exhibition) – Harrogate (International Conference Centre)
• Theme: ELT for the Next Generation

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• 28 June – 01 July
• ISTE 2014 (International Society for Technology in Education) – Atlanta, Georgia
• Theme: Connected Learning Connected World

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…but, I also wanted to add a couple of others (that have great potential):

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• 15-16 March
• 35th TESOL Greece International Convention – Hellenic American Union, Athens
• Theme: Learning in the 21st Century

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• 03-09 August
• Pilgrims – 40th Anniversary Conference, Kent University, Canterbury,
• Theme: TBC (Details available soon) – @PilgrimsTT on Twitter)

STOP PRESS…Sadly, we got word last week that Pilgrims have decided to postpone this event. The good news is that they already have plans to try and pull it off in Summer 2015!

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…I know why you have really come to this post…the conferences and events where we can get some decent çay and (even a simit):

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Seriously, have you ever had a simit in London…in Ireland…in Harrogate (!)

…just don’t get me started on that crappy “tea” they serve there…!

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Türküz, Doğruyuz, Çalışkanız…ve daha güzel çay (da) yaparız!

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Canım Türkiyem has been building up a great reputation for its events over the past few years. The çay and simit help, of course, but it is the sheer range of our events that really does the job…and the dedication of the teams that put these events on!

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So, without further ado – here are the ones we currently have on the calendar, thus far:

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JANUARY 2014

• 27-28 January
• Hacettepe University – British Council CPD Conference – Hacettepe University, Mehmet Akif Ersoy Conference Hall (Ankara, Turkey). 
• Theme: Ideals and Realities: Continuing Professional Development for Preparatory Year Instructors (Contacts – yaseminyelbay@hacettepe.edu.tr  or jason.price@britishcouncil )

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FEBRUARY 2014

• 22 February
• Başkent University / Özel Ayşe Abla College – 8th ELT Conference (Ankara, Turkey)
• Theme: Children are the world’s most valuable resource (Contact: infoELT@ayseabla.k12.tr )

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MARCH 2014

• 01 March
• Özel Çevre College – 10th Annual Çevre ELT Conference (İstanbul, Turkey) 
• Theme: The Call of Carnival (…Check out their FB Page, too)

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• 01 March
• EALTA  SIG Conference – Çağ University, Faculty of Arts & Sciences / ELT Department (Mersin, Turkey)
• Theme: Assessment for Academic Purposes (Contact: Şehnaz Şahinkarakaş – sehnazsahin@gmail.com)

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• 15 March
• Terakki Foundation Schools – Terakki ELT Conference 2014 (İstanbul, Turkey) 
• Theme: From Here to Where? ELT in the New Millenium

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• 20-22 March
• English Beyond Borders Convention 2014 – hosted by Dokuz Eylül University School of Education (İzmir, Turkey)
• Theme: English Beyond Borders 

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• 22 March
• Şahinkaya College – ELT Summit II (Bursa, Turkey)
• Theme: Get The World – Global English Teachers

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• 27-29 March
• 1st International Conference on Applied Linguistics and ELT Department of the Faculty of Education,  Cukurova University – (WOW Topkapı Palace Hotel – Kundu/Antalya, Turkey)
• Theme: Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities in Linguistics and English Language Teaching

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APRIL 2014

• 05 April
• 4. Yeni Nesil Eğitim Konferansı – Acıbadem Doğa Koleji (İstanbul, Turkey)
• Theme: Eğitimde Değişim Hareketi (Doğa Koleji, İstanbul Üniversitesi ve Vitamin işbirliği ile) 

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• 05 April
• Nilüfer Eğitim Kurumları ELT Seminar – Bademli Kampüsü (Bursa, Turkey)
• Theme: On the Threshold of Excellence 

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• 12 April
• ODTÜ Geliştirme Vakfı Özel Denizli Okulları – The 1st National ELT Conference (Denizli, Turkey)
• Theme: ELT for 21st Century Learners

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MAY 2014

• 03 May
• Maltepe University and Marmara College – ELT Conference (Bodrum, Turkey)
• Theme: Tools for 21st Century Learning and Teaching 

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• 17  May
• 1st International ELT Conference – Yıldız Technical University (İstanbul, Turkey)
• Theme: SHIFTING PARADIGMS AND MINDS: the Implications of Innovations in ELT (Registration via Biletix)

 

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• 17 May
• INGED DramaFest – TED Ankara College (Ankara, Turkey)
• Theme: Helping kids enjoy English thru drama (Contact: ingeddrama@gmail.com)

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• 17 May
• INGED DramaFest – MEV İzmir Gülbahçe College (İzmir, Turkey)
• Theme: Helping kids enjoy English thru drama (Contact: ozlem.gonen@mevizmirokullari.k12.tr)

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• 24 May
• 7^th International FELT 2014 – Fatih University (İstanbul, Turkey)
• Theme: New Trajectories in ELT Teacher Profile

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• 30-31 May
• Sabancı University – LASIG Local Conference (İstanbul, Turkey)
• Theme: Learners &Teachers as Companions on the Road to Autonomy

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• 31 May to 01 June
• Eğitim Teknolojileri Zirvesi – Yıldız Technical University, YTÜ Davutpaşa Kampüsü Kongre Merkezi (İstanbul, Turkey)
• Theme: EDtech in canım Türkiyem

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JUNE 2014

• 27-28 June
• Action Research Conference – Gediz University Hürriyet Bulvarı No:16/1 Çankaya (Basmane) (İzmir/Turkey)
• Theme: Showcasing Action Research from across Turkey and Beyond (Contact; kenan.dikilitas@gediz.edu.tr)

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SEPTEMBER 2014

• 18-19 September
• The 1st Sabancı University International Freshman English Conference – Minerva Palace, Karaköy (İstanbul, Turkey)
• Theme: The Changing Role of Freshman English (Contact – freshmanconference@sabanciuniv.edu)
  

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As ever, there are a couple more in the pipeline – funny, there has not been as much scrapping for those ever-so-valuable weekends in March and April this year. There are rumours of a whole bunch of events in Konya…but someone is keeping details of these under wraps!

WATCH THIS SPACE…

I’ll let you know more details as more events are confirmed – but do drop us a comment or 3, if you hear of one that is a “go”!

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2012/13 Conference Calendar
2011/12 Conference Calendar

Back to Basics – “QUESTION Basics”, that is!

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I’ve been getting a lot of flak recently for doing so much on all that “bloody TECHnology stuff”!

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Come on…not my fault!

I’ve been doing a few programmes / projects of late that are designed to put the TECH into the ED…without forgetting the LEARNing – especially the TEACHer LEARNing!

Afterall…

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…and, Clay is a guy I choose not to disagree with too much

(unless it’s about hair-styles)!

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Now, the plan (for this current post) was to look at some of the questions that we (as TEACHers) really need to be asking ourselves as we look at ways to “use” (more) EDtech – to enhance what we need to be doing….to help our students do more with the stuff they are supposed to be LEARNing….with us!

Yes, that’s a mouthful…and a half.

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That’s because we need to be doing more than just “DOing” stuff in the classroom…

…we need to be THUNKing DOers – in our classrooms!

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What I was going to do (in this post) was look at a few of the questions all TEACHers need to ask BEFORE they jump on the latest band-wagon or hand over their credits cards to one of the many…

…that are out there – lots of whom (sadly) are TEACHers, too!

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You know, questions like:

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This one is even “sexier” (probably because I stole and co-opted it from Clay Christensen):

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Not only the EDtech you “hire” yourself…what the school also hires – for you!

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Why, Tony?

Why do we need to question everything?

I just want to get on with my job…

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Well, because…of what Uncle Clay (the first one) tells us above – but perhaps, more importantly,

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Let’s look at an example (very) close to home (if you live here in canım Türkiyem):

I am a Turk now – can say what I want about OUR projects!

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Did it work? Is it working? Will it ever work – if we throw more money at it?

Why not?

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What’s the price-tag?

Me thunks…someone, somewhere got some ‘splaining to do – to all us tax-payers!

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Questions, questions, questions…are GOOD!

Never let anyone tell you any different…

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If we start asking these types of questions (about allthingsEDtech), others just start bouncing around and out of the old grey matter:

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But, hey…why stop at student LEARNing:

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…when we can (also) do so much more with our own TEACHer LEARNing!

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Questions, questions, questions…

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…because we all know (especially if you speaks a wee bit of Mandarin):

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Now, that was what I WAS going to say (in this post)…but I won’t – because a few of you are a bit fed up with…all that “bloody TECHnology stuff”!

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So, let’s really get back to “basics”:

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NEXT TIME…söz!

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2013/14 ELT and ELL Conference Calendar for Turkey…Ver 3.0

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As you all know, I don’t usually get the Conference Calendar rolling till mid-November – but a couple of people asked me if I can spread the word about a handful of events that were coming up in…

…just after Summer. 

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So, I did Ver 1.0 of the “Conference Calendar” a coulple of months back…then, evolved this into Ver 2.0 in October – this is the second expanded version!

…and, as you might also remember, I usually start with the one that only the “rich kids” can go to!

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The International events over 2013-14… 

So, here you go…(still) without the “sauce” (that will be in Ver 3.0):

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Of course, we have the “BIGGIES”:

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• 22-25 January (2014)
• BETT 2014 – London (ExCel London – London’s Royal Docks)
• Theme: Generic 

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• 13-15 March (2014)
• TESOL Arabia (20th International Conference) – Location – TBC
• Theme: TBC

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• 26-29 March (2014)
• TESOL 2014 – Portland, Oregon (International & EL Expo)
• Theme: ELT for the Next Generation (See also #tesol14 on Twitter)

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• 02-05 April (2014)
• IATEFL 2014 (48th Annual International IATEFL Conference & Exhibition) – Harrogate (International Conference Centre)
• Theme: ELT for the Next Generation

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• 28 June – 01 July (2014)
• ISTE 2014 (International Society for Technology in Education) – Atlanta, Georgia
• Theme: Connected Learning Connected World

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…but, I also wanted to add a couple of others (that have great potential):

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• 11-15 November (2013)
• The Macmillan Online Conference 2013 – Speaker Schedule
• Theme: BE, ELT, EAP (Join for FREE right here)

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• 18 November – 13 December (2013)
• ELT Techniques (ELT-T) is the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) dedicated to the PD of ELTeachers worldwide.
• Theme: Listening & Pronunciation (Join for FREE right here)

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• 03-09 August (2014)
• Pilgrims – 40th Anniversary Conference, Kent University, Canterbury,
• Theme: TBC (Details available on 01 December – @PilgrimsTT on Twitter)

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…I know why you have really come to this post…the conferences and events where we can get some decent çay and (even a simit):

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Seriously, have you ever had a simit in London…in Ireland…in Harrogate (!)

…just don’t get me started on that crappy “tea” they serve there…!

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Türküz, Doğruyuz, Çalışkanız…ve daha güzel çay (da) yaparız!

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Canım Türkiyem has been building up a great reputation for its events over the past few years. The çay and simit help, of course, but it is the sheer range of our events that really does the job…and the dedication of the teams that put these events on!

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So, without further ado – here are the ones we currently have on the calendar, thus far:

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NOVEMBER 2013

• 08-09 November
• II. Ulusal Yabancı Dil Çalıştayı – Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitiesi Eğitim Fakültesi Yabancı Diller Eğitim Bölümü (Samsun, Turkey)
• Theme: Yabancı Dil Eğtiminde Eğilim Ne Olmalı

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• 15-16 November
• Gazi University – SFL (Ankara, Turkey) – The 1st International ELT Conference
• Theme: Reflecting on Classroom Practices 

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DECEMBER 2013

• 14-15 December
• 9th METU Postgraduate Conference on Linguistics and Language Teaching – Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey)
• Theme: Generic  (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/9thpgcllt/ – E-mail: pgcllt@metu.edu.tr)

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• 14 December
• ATAFEN College – 4th ELT Conference (İzmit/Kocaeli, Turkey)
• Theme: Keys ‘R’ Us (E-mail: atafenenglishteam@hotmail.com) 

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MARCH 2014

• 01 March
• Özel Çevre College – 10th Annual Çevre ELT Conference (İstanbul, Turkey) 
• Theme: The Call of Carnival (…more on the way soon)

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• 15 March
• Terakki Foundation Schools – Terakki ELT Conference 2014 (İstanbul, Turkey) 
• Theme: From Here to Where? ELT in the New Millenium

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• 20-22 March
• English Beyond Borders Convention 2014 – hosted by Dokuz Eylül University School of Education (İzmir, Turkey)
• Theme: English Beyond Borders 

 

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MAY 2014

• 27-29 May
• 1st International Conference on Applied Linguistics and ELT Department of the Faculty of Education,  Cukurova University – (WOW Topkapı Palace Hotel – Kundu/Antalya, Turkey)
• Theme: Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities in Linguistics and English Language Teaching

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JUNE 2014

• 27-28 June
• Action Research Conference – Gediz University Hürriyet Bulvarı No:16/1 Çankaya (Basmane) (İzmir/Turkey)
• Theme: Showcasing Action Research from across Turkey and Beyond (Contact; kenan.dikilitas@gediz.edu.tr)

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As ever, there are many, many more in the pipeline – I just love it when all the schools start scrapping for those ever-so-valuable weekends in March and April…but not as much as all the publishers and their staff!

I’ll let you know more detials as more events are confirmed – but do drop us a comment or 3, if you hear of one that is a “go”!

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2012/13 Conference Calendar
2011/12 Conference Calendar

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Does Twitter Help Teachers LEARN, GROW & “Get Off The Planet Faster”… (Pt 03 of 03)

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Some of you probably thought my use of the term “Twitterati” in that last post was a bit “cruel”.

I have to admit, it’s true that some definitions, like those at the Urban Dictionary – the ones I just pointed you to towards, look as if they could have been written by teenage geeks that secretly want to join the gang of “cool kids” at their High School (or were simply written by homophobes, perhaps).

There are no real secrets surrounding the Twitterati in any field/sector or interest area – they are dead easy to spot.

BTW – I hate the term “follower” with a passion…just so you know!

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Yes, some tweeps might prize their status in an “elite crowd”, they might have an ego bigger than a bus, and…they might even shed a tear when so-and-so manages to gather more “followers” than those in their own Twibe (go on – you know what this is).

It doesn’t matter really – in EDUcation, I define Twitterati as those who use Twitter…actively (or like me, over-actively) – regardless of the motivations for doing so.

The “elite” side of things is still there – this crops up because, as Tom Whitby has pointed out (in the case of the USA), there are so bloody few of us!

Now, you see why I asked the question I asked…

…not just because I am a High School “mean girl”!

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Is it only me that finds it ironic that so many of us promote the use of Twitter…to the so-called “unconnected” or “semi-connected”…by posting on Twitter?

But, then again – how do we reach them?

Neyse…

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Tom has calculated (or made a “calculated guess”) that there are only 200 to 300,000 “connected” educators in the US (the ones that would probably have a Twitter account and do loads more on-line stuff). This is from a total population of between 7.2m to 11m EDUcators…across the USA – that’s around 4% or 1.8%, if we use the extremes (read his post to find out why no one “knows” how many American teachers there are).

OMG! That ain’t a lot…ain’t many at all!

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Tom’s post also got me thunking – about how popular EDUtweeting actually is.

Taking my lead from him, I randomly selected 8 of my favourite EDUthunkers (and authors) and also 8 of my favourite “connected” EDUcators (people who have a decent digital presence and leave enough footprints to inspire me…and help me LEARN). In truth, there’s a bit of overlap between the two groups – but let’s not quibble.

As these people mean so much to me in my “second life”, I wondered how many other people might feel the same. Yeah, I had to use “followers”…sorry!

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Here’s what I came up with:

Kinda frackin’ drops off after “Sir Ken”, don’t it? 

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But, take a closer look…and then…compare those numbers with Justin Beiber or Paris Hilton (above)!

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Lady Gaga puts on a good show…I like the way she pushes the envelope in dance…love her views on “tolerance”! BUT, come on – how can she have 40,167,626 more followers….than Howard Gardner?

The man is an eduGOD!

BUT, then again…look at HIS followers.

Even our dear own RTE has more followers than the big, bearded guy in the sky!

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If these numbers are some / any kind of indication of the amount of thunking we are doing (across the planet…yes, the whole bloody world! ) with regards EDUcation, TEACHing and LEARNing….

…we are sooooooooooo screwed!

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When we think about Tom’s numbers…on connected TEACHers, the same type of worry starts to get to me. Of course, many of these non-TWEACHers (yep, you got it!), could be doing loads of other great professional development stuff (reading those “book-thingies” or doin’ some of that there book LEARNin’, for example) – we just don’t know…

In fact, no-one knows for sure how many TEACHers are actually on Twitter – especially…in…

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I tried to find out…let it never be said that I do not go that extra mile for you all…and got a high-priority, emergency tweet to Dick Costolo (CEO of Twitter) asking him a (very polite) question…

 …the buggar ignored me!

Does he not know who “I” am? At all?

 

Actually, way before this…I did do a bit more hard-nosed research.

Just before Summer, I was lucky enough to be invited to be a co-presenter at a series of technologically-themed professional development seminars. These were held over 3 glorious weekends (on the Island of Cyprus…the Northern bit!) and, in total, around 375-400 teachers (from around canım Türkiyem) participated in these 2-day events (and did a lot of dancing, too…a lot)!

As part of my sessions, I did a few quick straw-polls – you know:

A.   How many of you have a Twitter account?
B.   How many of you use Twitter to develop yourself professionally?
C.    How many of you use Twitter with your students (as part of their learning opportunities)?

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The responses:

Didn’t fill me with confidence!

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But, at least…a lot of people who came over to the Island (in Summer) said they would give it a try – many have tweeted me (yeah!)…lots have “friended” me on Facebook (I share a lot there, too).

This is how we reach our semi-connected or unconnected TEACHers…on Cyprus, in the Summer, while dancing!

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We collaborate (face-to-face),

connect (face-to-face) and

care (face-to-face)…too!

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I’m gonna need a “Postscript”

– ain’t I?

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NOTE from the CBO:

If you are interested in following some great EDUcators and TEACHers on Twitter, why not take a look at some of these lists:

• 100+ Connected EDUcators to Follow on Twitter (by Tom Whitby) 

• 50 Women TWEACHers: Women in EDUcation you should follow on Twitter (by Angela Boothroyd)

• 50 EDUcation Leaders Worth Following on Twitter (by Jeff Dunn)

• The Top 10 EDUcation Experts to Follow on Twitter (by Jenny Inglee)

• 10 EDUcators on Twitter You Should Follow (But Probably Don’t) (from TeachThought)

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And, give these ones a quick gander, too:

• 54 Smart THINKers Everyone Should Follow on Twitter (from Business Insider)

• 25 of the SMARTest Women on Twitter (from Fast Company)

• Ten Imaginative THINKers to Follow on Twitter (by Ashleigh Blomfield)

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I’ll be honest, I do not follow all of them – and there’s a couple of them in there that I wouldn’t be seen dead tweeting (or twerking) with…the choice is all yours!

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P.S: If you have found these last posts useful, why not print them out…”adopt” a non-TWEACHer…take him for coffee and “walk” him through the Twitter process (tell him about your experiences, show him your account & favourite tweets (& tweeps), let him ask his own questions…play around together!)  😉 

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Does Twitter Help Teachers LEARN, GROW & “Get Off The Planet Faster”… (Pt 02 of 03)

Now, I know that some of you might have thunked that those questions were a bit “silly“…certainly not the stuff of a serious scientific inquiry into TEACHer LEARNing.

Especially, that last one…Number 04.

I’ll come back to that later, promise!

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The thing is, you see, we need to remember that:

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Question number 01 was prompted by a recent report (sent to me as a Twitter “attachment” no less) – a report that tells us that Twitter is actually making today’s kids (our “dumbest generation” ever, many have suggested – people like Miley Cyrus as you might have seen in the first part of this series) …“smarter”.

Yes, I said “smarter”!

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This report is based on the work of Andrea Lunsford (a professor of writing and rhetoric at Stanford University) – and she suggests that the increase in writing (in terms of both quality and quantity) that her research has uncovered is down to the fact that students are doing more “life writing” (the social, fun variety that blogs and social media sites, like Twitter, encourage).

Now, there might be some academics out there that want to tear down Andrea (you go girl!) – but her work is adding weight to similar, earlier work. The work of Gary Small – work that has been picked up and made more “digestible” by guys like David Weinberger (yes, you can “click” on these little red links…and crawl further down the rabbit-hole)…

…as well as a few of my favourite (paper-based) BEDtime READing over the past few years (you HAVE TO read these books):

• Everything Bad is Good for You  (by Steven Johnson)

• Why Do I Need a Teacher When I’ve Got Google?  (by Ian Gilbert)

• Smarter Than You Think  (by Clive Thompson)

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The bottom line is that there is now a tidal wave of thunking (and research) that is showing us that TECHnology (and Twitter) is helping kids and young adults…LEARN faster – and, inşallah, better.

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I guess the question I was really toying with is…

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There’s certainly a great deal of interest in helping TEACHers get better at “doing” Twitter – more tips and hints than you could shake a stick at:

• A Refreshingly Simple Guide to Twitter for TEACHers (by Jeff Dunn)

• TEACHer’s Guide to Using Twitter in the Classroom (by Patrick)

• The TEACHer’s Guide to Twitter (from Edudemic)

• The A-Z List of EDUcational Twitter Hashtags (from Edudemic)

• Using EDUcation Hashtags on Twitter (from Promethean Planet) 

• 13 Great Twitter Chats Every EDUcator Should Check Out (By Susan Bearden)

• Twitter for LEARNing: 7 Ideas for Using Hashtags in the Classroom (by Anibal Pacheco)

• Dipping into Social Media in the CLASSroom – Nuggets of wisdom from Twitter’s most active TEACHers (from edSurge)

• Twitter for TEACHers: a Professional Development Tool (by Bernadette Rego)

• 10 Steps for EDUcators New to Twitter (by Justin Tarte)

• 10 Commandments of Twitter Etiquette (by Vadim Lavrusik)

• The DOs and DON’Ts of Using Twitter in the Classroom (by Mark Anderson)

 

Then, TEACHers can go “PRO” – with Social Media (non-TEACHing, yani) Gurus:

• 8 Great Twitter Tools That Will Get You Tweeting Like a Pro (by Leo Widrich via jeffbullas.com)

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Some of my favourite ELT bloggers have done some excellent posts on the benefits of Twitter for teachers – Vicky Loras did a great post in her recent “PD in Focus” series. 

However, it does not stop there – Primary Teachers, like Karen Lirenman, have done the same in posts like “Using Twitter in a Primary Classroom” 

Work in the College or H.Ed arena? No worries – try Suzanne Holloway’s “Using Twitter in the College Classroom“. 

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We even have stuff for kindergarten TEACHers –

• “You’re Doing What!?”: Using Twitter in the Kindergarten CLASSroom (by Mary Westman).

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All great stuff…GR8 stuff!

…and some of you (them…) are gonna “hate” me for this!

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Remember what I was saying about the type of 21st Century LEARNing Culture…you know, the one we all need to “live within” to LEARN, GROW…and get off the planet (as quickly as we can):

It’s a bit more than “pretty graphic” – designed for a pain-in-the-ass friend of mine!

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There’s certainly a lot of LEARNing to be had from these tweets and posts!

The other question here (of course), to borrow Tom Whitby’s lovely turn of phrase…

Yani, how many semi-connected or unconnected TEACHers “read” this stuff?

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…and then, we have the matter of my second question:

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