The 2018 EDU, ELT/ELL and EDTECH Conference Calendar for Canım Türkiyem…Ver 5.1

Sevgili Hocalarim,

I know I said that the last version of the Calendar would be the last – I guess the fat lady just hadn’t finished singing…

So, here we go…with a  couple of updates to details and contact info…and a couple of additions, too!

Let’s look at our events across canım Turkiyem first:

 

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MARCH 2018

EVENT: 5. Eğitim Teknolojileri Zirvesi (ETZ18)

• DATE: 03 March 2018
• LOCATION: Radisson Blu Hotel, Şişli – İSTANBUL
• THEME: TBC
• INFO: http://www.egitimteknolojilerizirvesi.com/

EVENT: 1^st ELT, DAF and FLE Conference

• DATE: 03 March 2018
• LOCATION: Wyndham Grand Hotel – Kalamis / İSTANBUL
• THEME: Transform Your Classes for Lifelong Learning
• INFO: https://www.eli-iber.com/konferans.php  and  banukocas@gmail.com

EVENT: 13^th GKV ELT Conference

• DATE: 17 March 2018
• LOCATION: Gaziantep College Foundation Department (GKV) – GAZIANTEP
• THEME: Effective Classroom Practices in 2018
• INFO: http://elt.gkv.k12.tr/default.asp

EVENT: 2^nd GELTUS Conference

• DATE: 23 March 2018
• LOCATION: Gazi University (Beşevler Campus, Block C) – ANKARA
• THEME: New Perspectives in English Language Education
• INFO: https://www.facebook.com/GeltusCON/  and  http://geltus.org/

EVENT: 5^th International NTELT Conference

• LOCATION: Hilton Hotel, Kozyatağı – İSTANBUL
• DATE: 30 March 2018
• THEME:
• INFO: http://nteltistanbul.com/  and  NTELTIstanbul@gmail.com

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APRIL 2018

EVENT: 4th Cukurova International ELT Conference (CUELT 2018) 

• DATE: 05-06 April 2018
• LOCATION: Çukurova University, Faculty of Education – ADANA
• THEME: Generic ELT Issues
• INFO: https://www.cueltconferences.org/ (Contact: Ali Ceyhun Müftüoğlu)

EVENT: 10^th International ELT Research Conference

• DATE: 25-27 April 2018
• LOCATION: Porto Bello Hotel Resort & Spa – ANTALYA
• THEME: New Perspectives in Quality Learning and Teaching in ELT
• INFO: http://eltresearchconference.com/  and  eltresearchconference@gmail.com

EVENT: 2^nd International Conference on Education and Learning 

• DATE: 27-28 April 2018
• LOCATION: Nippon Hotel, Taksim – İSTANBUL
• THEME: Generic Education Issues
• INFO: https://www.dakamconferences.org/education (Contact: Özgur Öztürk)

EVENT: X. TED ELT Conference

• DATE: 28-29 April 2018
• LOCATION: TED Mersin College – MERSIN
• THEME: The Wonderful World of Words
• INFO: http://elt.ted.org.tr/  You can follow the livestream of this conference on YouTube (see http://elt.ted.org.tr/ for details). 

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MAY 2018

EVENT: V. International Eurasian Educational Research Congress

• DATE: 02-05 May 2018
• LOCATION: Akdeniz University Campus – ANTALYA
• THEME: Changing Educational Paradigms: New Methods, Directions and Policies
• INFO: http://ejercongress.org/?en  and  ejercongress2017@gmail.com

EVENT: The 13th METU International ELT Convention

• DATE: 03-04 May 2018
• LOCATION: METU Convention Centre – ANKARA
• THEME: Teaching Beyond Boundaries
• INFO: http://www.dbe.metu.edu.tr/convention2018/  and  https://www.facebook.com/metuelt2018/

EVENT: 32. Ulusal Dilbilim Kurultayı

• LOCATION: DEÜ Sürekli Eğitim Merkezi (DESEM) – İZMİR
• DATE: 03-04 May 2018
• THEME:
• INFO: http://udk32.deu.edu.tr/  and  32udk@deu.edu.tr

EVENT: Sabancı School of Languages Conference

• DATE: 04-05 May 2018
• LOCATION: Sabancı University SL – İSTANBUL
• THEME: Pathways That Inspire Us
• INFO: http://schooloflanguagesconference.sabanciuniv.edu

EVENT: 4th International Conference: Plagiarism across Europe and Beyond

• DATE: 9-11 May 2018
• LOCATION: Palm Wings Hotels & Resorts – EPHESUS / İZMİR
• THEME: Fostering Academic Integrity Through Consistent and Transparent Approaches
• INFO: https://plagiarism.pefka.mendelu.cz/

EVENT: 1st Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Foreign Language Education Conference

• DATE: 11-12 May 2018
• LOCATION: Bandirma 17 Eylul University – BANDIRMA/BALIKESİR
• THEME: Trends and Best Practices in Quality and Accreditation
• INFO: http://qaafl.com and  dstaub@bandirma.edu.tr

EVENT: The 3rd BELL Intl. Graduate Student Conference

• DATE: 17-18 May 2018
• LOCATION: Dept. of English Language and Literature, Bülent Ecevit University – ZONGULDAK
• THEME: Generic EL and Lit. Content
• INFO: http://www.bellconference.beun.edu.tr

EVENT: 1^st ScOLa ELT Conference

• DATE: 26 May 2018
• LOCATION: Özyeğin University (Çekmeköy Campus) – İSTANBUL
• THEME: How to do the ‘right things’ by doing ‘things right’.
• INFO: https://scolaconference.ozyegin.edu.tr/ and scolaconference@ozyegin.edu.tr

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JUNE 2018

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EVENT: The 15^th Bilkent University (BUSEL) Conference

• LOCATION: Bilkent University – ANKARA
• DATE: 29-30 June 2018
• THEME: The Future of EAP: Provision, Standards and Practices
• INFO: buselconf@bilkent.edu.tr

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JULY 2018

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SEPTEMBER 2018

EVENT: 2nd International Black Sea Conference on Language & Language Education

• DATE: 21-22 September 2018
• LOCATION: Sinop University
• THEME: Emerging Horizons in Language Teaching
• INFO: https://www.blacksealanguageconferences.com/ and blackseaconferences@gmail.com

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Then, we add some ‘sauce’ – for those of you with a half-decent ‘conference fund’ and a School operational plan that covers ‘foreign jollies’:

Please note…the rumours are indeed true – the TESOL Arabia (TACON) event for this year has been ‘postponed’ (though people are being tight-lipped as to ‘why’) the ALLT Event in March (at Zayed University) is NOT a TESOLArabia ‘replacement’ for TACON…so if you were planning a ‘shopping trip’ to Dubai (again), try that one…or consider Doha!

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FEBRUARY 2018

EVENT: ELT Ireland – 4th Annual Conference

• DATE: 17-18 February 2018
• LOCATION: Griffith College – DUBLIN
• THEME: Improving Outcomes in ELT
• INFO: https://www.elt-ireland.com/annual-conference

 

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MARCH 2018

EVENT: Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching (ALLT) Conference

• DATE: 08-10 March 2018
• LOCATION: Zayed University – DUBAI / UAE
• THEME: Language Teaching and Learning in a Globalised World
• INFO: http://www.allt-uae.org/index.php  and  ALLT@mci-group.com

EVENT: The 53rd RELC International Conference

• DATE: 12-14 March 2018
• LOCATION: SINGAPORE
• THEME: 50 Years of ELT and Assessment – Reflections, Insights and Possibilities 
• INFO: http://www.relc.org.sg/Conference2018/ (Contact: Dr Alvin Pang)

EVENT: TESOL 2018 – International Convention & English Language Expo

• DATE: 27-30 March 2018
• LOCATION: CHICAGO, USA
• THEME: General Issues in ELT and ESL
• INFO: http://www.tesol.org/convention-2018

 

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APRIL 2018

EVENT: The 52nd IATEFL Conference

• DATE: 10-13 April 2018
• LOCATION: BRIGHTON, UK
• THEME: Generic Issues in ELT / EFL
• INFO: https://conference.iatefl.org/conference.html

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MAY 2018

EVENT: 5^th International Language in Focus Conference

• DATE: 03-05 May 2018
• LOCATION: THESSALONİKA / GREECE
• THEME: Comtempory Means and Methods in ELT and Applied Linguistics
• INFO: http://www.languageinfocus.org (Further info: lif2018@languageinfocus.org)

EVENT: GlobELT 2018: An International Conference on Teaching and Learning English as an Additional Language

• DATE: 10-13 May 2018
• LOCATION: 88 Rooms Hotel – BELGADE / SERBIA
• THEME: Generic Issues in EAL
• INFO: http://www.globeltconference.com/

 

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JUNE 2018

EVENT: The European Conference on Language Learning 2018 

• DATE: 29June – 01 July 2018
• LOCATION: BRIGHTON, UK
• THEME: Surviving and Thriving: Education in Times of Change
• INFO: http://ecll.iafor.org (Contact: Kiyoshi Mana)

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JULY 2018

EVENT: The 8^th Serious Play Conference

• LOCATION: Hylton Performing Arts Center, George Mason University – VA / USA
• DATE: 10-12 July 2018
• THEME: Serious Games
• INFO: https://www.seriousplay-dc.com/  and  info@seriousplayconf.com

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OCTOBER 2018

• EVENT: 6^th CEBS Sprachenforum
• DATE: 23-25 October 2018
• LOCATION: Bad Hofgastein – AUSTRIA
• THEME: (TBC)
• INFO: https://www.cebs.at/index.php?id=52 (specific website under development)

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NOVEMBER 2018

EVENT: 3^rd Practical Pedagogies Training Conference

• DATE: 01-02 November 2018
• LOCATION: St. George’s English International School – COLOGNE, Germany
• THEME: REAL training for REAL classroom teachers!
• INFO: http://www.practicalpedagogies.net/  and  russeltarr@practicalpedagogies.net

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Till NEXT YEAR!

Will PokémonGO ‘Save’ Education – and ELT?

 

As you might have guessed from my last (tongue-in-cheek) post, I’ve always had a healthy suspicion about blog posts that seem to jump on the latest bandwagon…or the next ‘big’ thing (esp. when that thing is technology-driven).

Sadly, even EDUcators fall for the pull towards the Dark Side:

…adopting a Kardashian-esque approach to drawing people to their Social Media sites!

 

As I mentioned, Pokémon GO is taking the world by storm – the new Social Media ‘drug’ that has busynesses asking how they can best leverage it (for profit, of course)…and thousands of kids almost getting killed as they cross the road! 

Those lovely chaps at Nintendo and Niantic are busy pushing the game with the very sexy tagline ‘The Game Is Only As Good As The Community’ – and seeing as though the second and last word of that tagline are currently all the GO with many a digital cheerleader in EDUcation, I thought I’d dig a round the web and blogosphere a wee bit and what we are saying about Pokémon GO in EDUcation!

See if I am right to be such a Doubting Thomas…by throwing a few rocks at the Internet!

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It was not long before one of my rocks ‘hit’ a website!

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A ready-to-GO lesson plan (a 26-page lesson plan…with 40 exercises) from BREAKING NEWS ENGLISH.com (a website developed and maintained by Sean Banville).

I’d seen a few of Sean’s lessons before – and his site definitely lives up to it’s name! Pokémon GO is ‘big, breaking news’…

Now, I am not sure if Sean is an EDUmarketing genius or whether he just accidentally tripped over one of the greatest ways to keep his site on everyone’s Social Media lips (Facebook mostly) – all the stuff on his site is going to be driven by every single trending hashtag (as soon as he gets it out there)! Excellent – bloody genius!

I can see how many teachers would love this material…indeed there are loads of personal recommendations on his Facebook page. I found myself admiring the sheer amount of work he has churned out and got up on the web (he has a wide range of other sites) – I just have no bloody idea how he finds the time!

The problem is that… he is an Arsenal supporter!

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No, shiriously – I just have a wee problem with seeing pages and pages of gap fill exercises, multiple choice questions, true / false reading items, and cloze tests…that I know (in my cynical, black, shrivelled heart) will just be printed up, blindly photocopied and used to breathe life the ‘twin sins’ we see all too often in ELL and ELT:

To be fair, I would be very pushed to brand Sean as the type of Social Media Whore (SMW) we see on so many busyness sites – he is just doing what he says he does (on the lid)…and hands out materials that TEACHers can (and do) use in their classrooms. Further, he does throw in a good range of semi-communicative activities (I just hope these are not the activities that TEACHers ‘skip’ to ‘get through’ all the other more suitable ‘exam prep-esque’ activities) and he clearly knows his ‘ELT stuff’.

Come on…you had to have seen that coming!

I guess I’d just like to see more evidence of sites like this encouraging teachers to ‘thunk’ or ask themselves bigger questions:

…or helping ELTers get ‘out of the box’ a bit more.

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I threw a few more rocks…

…and found the type of post I had assumed there would be thousands of!

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14 Reasons Why Pokemon GO Is the Future of LEARNing (by David Theriault) drew on just about all my tactics to reach his audience (just gotta find an image of him wearing one of those hats)!

Or, so I though initially (do NOT read the last TWO paragraphs of this post)!

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Come on…what self-respecting EDUdigitalcheerleader is going to ignore this wonderful listicle (OK – a list of ‘14’ is a bit awkward…but you gotta love the way he uses the phrase ‘Future of LEARNing’)!

What? I have done the same…SHUT UP!

Read on…

His post starts with the facts – kids love their Smartphones – and rolls smoothly into a ‘subtle challenge’ (to TEACHers). This he does just before making you feel a wee bit ‘guilty’ (if all you are doing is gap-filling and MCQs) by throwing the cornerstones of modern LEARNing at you: the creativity, sharing, community-building, movement, interactivity and virtual field trips enabled by EDtech Toys!

Many of you will probably cry out…

…but David’s post has got a lot of praise (and, more importantly, HITS)!

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This is also true of the third post I discovered. Written by Lori Gracey and entitled Pokemon GO: What Education Should Be, I had to have a read of this one, too! After all, Lori got as many HITS as David (I wonder if they compared stats, at all).

Lori does a wonderful job of explaining how much better the Android / iOS app version is over the card game (my 5-year-old daughter used to drag my wife and I to a darkened, underground warehouse to buy these when we were in Dubai…scarier than the drive to Ajman or Ras Al Khaimah for our monthly XXXXX XXX…but that’s another story)!

She admits that she is not really sure how Pokémon GO will help her meet her ‘vision’ – people coming together to have fun and solve problems – but she has a stab at a few decent suggestions…and it is the start of a pretty good vison!

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The thing is…the ideas both she and David discuss in their posts are really quite ‘nice’ – BUT, even together, just did not convince me that Pokémon GO is the Future of LEARNing:

It certainly won’t ‘save’ us from many of the EDUwoes we face today!

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That having been said their titles got our attention – and, even though these titles weren’t really the best lid for the tin,  I (for one) LEARNed some new stuff…and they got me THUNKing!

I was about to wrap things up when I came across a ‘not-PokemonGO-post’, you know, one of those posts that says it is NOT a XXXXXXXX post – from George Couros.

It was cleverly titled, too – ‘#PokemonGo, Being Observant, and Innovation’ (even had the hashtag embedded in the title…and the ‘gap’ removed – smart move, George)!

George plugged his new book (come on…who ain’t gonna do that?) but (more importantly) ended up making me feel a little guilty, too.

Why…you ask!

Well, I had been ‘bashing’ (albeit a wee bit tongue-in-cheek) people in the draft version of this post – and he reminded me that David (Lori and perhaps even Sean – though he did not mention them specifically) was “paying attention and being observant to our world” (mindful, perhaps)…and that these qualities are critical to innovation.

He was right, of course!  Isn’t that the very thing I was so nasty about when I had a go at Sean’s site and materials? Sorry, Sean…

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What we are seeing with the mad rush to get Pokemon GO posts into the blogosphere (I hope) by EDUcators is not thinly-veiled attempts at shameless self-promotion (and ‘HITS’…as my initial free advice suggested) – but rather, in George’s words, they are a few initial ‘iterations’ of how we can make Pokemon GO ‘fit’ the vision we have for EDUcation.

In order to do that, we need to be very explicit about what that vision is – and keep asking questions of the latest BIG thing in EDtech…

8…and never forget:

T..

3 Evidence-Based Tactics To Increase Traffic To Your Social Media Sites…RIGHT NOW!

Confused? You will be…

 

Pokémon GO is taking the world by storm (or maybe it’s just the stories that are cropping up about the players’ and their little adventures)!

 

This is a bandwagon you cannot miss out on…an opportunity to be ‘liked’, retweeted, poked, ‘favourited’ and even followed!

 

My FREE ‘marketing guru’ advice to you…exclusively for YOU is:

OK – perhaps No. 04 should have read “Use a snappy listicle of 3, 5 or 10”! Problem was I could not find my cute little number 4 graphic…

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The hat idea ‘works’ – just see how many ‘likes’ I got in the first hour!

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8T..

 

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..

 

 

When DIGITAL Natives… ‘Sleep’!

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I have been working far too hard these past few weeks – and, as we all know;

All work, and no play…makes Tony Hoca a “dull” boy!

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This weekend, I did a little webinar for those lovely boys and girls (all girls, actually!) over at The Spring Blog Festival – and talked about my own visual literacy “journey”.

I’m still getting the hang of this “webinar busyness” – time just whizzed by and I had so much fun doing it! And, to boot – I made some new “cyber-playmates”…

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THANK YOU – Nellie Hocam, Shelly Hocam and Slyvia Hocam 😉

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Doing that session (at 22:00 on a Sunday nite!) really helped me remember how important it is to thunk about visual literacy – in my bloggery…and my life in general:

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…but sometimes that “little boy” can go too far!

Camera…software…editing “time”:

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…on the sofa TONITE, I guess!

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Have a GREAT day!

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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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How long does it take to LEARN English, hocam? – The “10,000 Hour” Upgrade…

There is a lot of talk around canım Türkiyem these days about how many hours are needed for students to LEARN or “speak” English. In fact, we have even invented new acronyms to help us do this – classroom contact hours are now frequently referred to as GLHs (or “guided learning hours”).

What a queer turn of phrase – when what so many schools really mean is “bums on seats” and ears “pointed at” the teacher!

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These discussions have been “aided” by wider (mis)understanding of the CEFR (the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment)– now, you know the reason for the abbreviation!), and its six levels of proficiency from A1 to C2.

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Now, not everyone is a fan of the CEFR – mostly because it has been skillfully co-opted by ELT marketeers eager to sell their wares (by pasting on a EU logo onto whatever they are flogging)!

However (and in truth), the CEFR is refreshing change from the “fuzzy labels” of the past – “intermediate” or “upper-intermediate” or even “pre-faculty” (in academic contexts).

I never did really know what these terms meant anyways!

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Besides, the CEFR was originally designed to improve levels of “transparency” – always a “fan” of that (as is Julian)!

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YES…there is a “prize” for any non-Turkish speaker that can work out that one!

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In a way, it is impossible to accurately calculate the hours needed to LEARN a language – as it depends on factors such as the learner’s language background, the intensity of study and levels of individual engagement, the learner’s age and motivation (even “gender” – yes, girls do generally kick ass in the right environment), and the amount of study and exposure outside the classroom – in addition to the quality of TEACHing (we sometimes forget this one) …and how many iTunes downloads a student clocks up each week!

Many ELL professionals, for example, think it’s a total waste of time to even try and run a “time and motion study” on language LEARNing.

Afterall, it’s the “quality” rather than the “quantity” of hours that matter…isn’t it?

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So, what do we “know”:

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Yep, that bloody acronym…again!

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I really, really, really have my doubts about the recommended GLHs for C2 – most higher-level learners do not get to this level based on classroom GLHs alone (“talent” is a key factor, as is extended contact with native speaker-like environments – ….or taking a “spouse”…)!

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Also, the right kind of “interest” or “engagement” is soooooooo important – my wife has been an EL learner for 27 years (her first “second” language was French) and I do not think she would mind if I said she would probably struggle in a more “academic”  ELL environment – she would, however, wipe the floor with most native speakers on matters of a spiritual nature, reconnective healing, and…counselling workaholic EDUcators!

But, that’s for another post…

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For many hazırlık centres or “prep schools” at university level in Turkey the distinction between B2 and B1 is of more interest. This is because, in terms of the CEFR, most Turkish universities have selected a hazırlık “exit requirement“ somewhere between B2 and B1.

We see this more clearly when we look at IELTS equivalencies for these CEFR levels – somewhere between IELTS band 4.5 and 6.5 for those of you more familiar with IELTS.

Yes, you heard me…there are some “bodies” here in canım Türkiyem that believe that a student with a Band 5.0 in IELTS…can go onto a full-time, English-medium…undergraduate programme!

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BUT, maybe we should just avoid talking about IELTS…for now!

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You know me sooooo well!

I never did listen to my lawyers that much…

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Most “hazırlık centres” in Turkey are still to define their programmes and progression systems in terms of CEFR (the labels, we use…at least!) – TOEFL scores or IELTS bands are the more common form of currency when discussing what it takes to “graduate” from hazırlık into “freshman year”.

Top ranking universities in the UK currently all require an IELTS band of 7.0 and other “respectable” UK universities ask for an IELTS band of 6.5 (with no less than 6.0 in each module) for international students applying to their undergraduate programmes. These universities will also accept a band 5.5 for entry onto their “foundation programmes” – …the equivalent to hazırlık.

If you want to live in Australia (…forEVER – …speak to my wife before you do that!), you have to make sure you have an IELTS band of 7.0 – remember this!

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However, let me introduce you to my little friend:

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Yeah, I know some (very smart) buggers have been having a dig at Malcolm Amca…of late!

But, you know what, I like this 10K thunk of “his” (…and Anders Enişte).

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I was going to do an analysis of the 10,000 hour “rule” for ELL – but someone beat me to it…someone I love to bits!

Sarah Eaton, a wonderful ELL Consultant from Canada – and…

…fellow “Jedi blogger“. 

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I have mentioned Sarah a fair few times on allthingslearning – and she has often extended more than a helping hand to little ‘ole moi with my bouts of bloggery!

Sarah did a great paper on the time required to become “an ELL expert” – and published a version on her own blog (Literacy, Languages and Leadership).

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In her paper, she suggested a number of “scenarios” (you know how I loves me “mini-cases”):

Now, I know we ELL professionals are not that well-known for our “math skills” (I hate that my English is being “corrupted” by those guys “across the pond”)!

BUT, get your calculator out…NOW!

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Bet you didn’t!

The calculator thingy…that is.

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Bet you (real “cash” money…this time!)…you are thunking something like this…

…right now!

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I got thunking to meself…what if we did this for our hazırlık schools…here in canım Türkiyem!

I did, you know!

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Here goes!

This is what you WILL thunk…trust me…I’m a TEACHer:

Don’t believe me?

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Told you so!

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The solution?

Well, I guess we need to look at our tried and tested quality / improvement strategy – you know the one, çoçuklar:

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Yeah…right! Worked in the past…YES?

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Let’s crunch the numbers…with a calculator!

Double the number of contact hours (sorry, GHLs!)…and…let’s throw in a “summer school” – why not!

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You know what I am thunking, YES?

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YOU, too?

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Ask the students…go on, I dare you!

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So….what is the answer…Tony Paşa?

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Scroll up!

Yes, UP!

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What do my dogs say!

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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