Group blog addresses

Dear FLE 200 Section 01 members,
Below are Section 01 group blog addresses:
1.http://canankilic.blogspot.com (Canan Kılıç, Gülşen Özsan)
2.http://personalfactorsfle200.blogspot.com (Begüm AKÇELEBİ, Fikret ARSLAN, Fatma BAŞKAYA, Mesude CİVELEKOĞLU)
3.http://deliktas.wordpress.com (Aysun Deliktaş)
4.http://socioculturalfactorssema.blogspot.com (Elif Çevik, Şerafettin Ayançang, Alp Tekgül, Mert Can Aydın)
5.http://nurten-ozge-aycan-begum.blogspot.com/(Nurten Çelikkol, Özge Aydın, Begüm Abalı, Aycan Çağlar)
6. http://affectivefactors.blogspot.com (Neslihan Bozoğlu, Sevda Aydın, Hayal Akyıldız, Züleyha Ağırsoy, Halnur Çankaya)
7.http://fle200-learningstylesandstrategies.blogspot.com/
(Seda CAN, Özgül BAŞARAN, Melek BAŞDAL, Deniz Hande ÇAKMAK)
8.http://instructionalprinciplesandmethods.blogspot.com/(Samet, hande, nesrin, ersin)
9.http://multipleintelligenceandnlp.blogspot.com/ (Betül Baldan, Şakir Aşçı,Harika Başpınar, Cuma Altunay)




Note: Due to my unexpected health problems, I could not post group blog addresses earlier. The deadline for comment submission is June 16 (Midnight). By the way some of our section members have not sent their blog addresses yet. I am expecting their adresses as soon as possible.

Speaking Skill Lesson_Canan

Here is the link for the speaking lesson I have chosen:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7972705000241772426#

1)Gaining attention: With a smile on her face the teacher starts the lesson with a common question: How was your weekend? After hearing students' answers(not only she listens but also responds to their answers), she starts to talk about what she has done at the weekend. She says sha has bought a bunny and then write down the world on the board and ask the srudent id they know and expain what it means(bunny: a small rabbit). Then ask the student if any of them have a pet or not.

2)Informing the learner of the objective: After some students talk about their pets, she says that they are going to have a debate, then again ask if they know what debate is. And she explain how debates occurs and says that they are going to have a debate on pros and minus of having a pet. After talking about and write on the board minus and pros. She continues with controversial issues topic.

3)Stimulating recall of prior knowledge: The teacher writes the board pros and minus part and the students says some adjective funny, dirty depending on their experince and knowledge about having a pet's good and bad sides. When she passes the controversial issues part she want them to think about and then say the controversial issues in America.

4)Presenting the metarial to be learned: According to the students ideas about the topic, she writes theird words on the board under either the pros or minus part.

5)Providing learner guidance: While getting the ideas of the students, to make them involve more she encourages them to speak. So she talks about her own pet-her bunny and want them to think about how it was when they had a pet. When somebody says something, she makes them explains the reason.

6)Eliciting performance: When somebody says some word, she makes them to explain their reasons. For example one student says ''time'' to be written under the minus part and she want him to explain what he means with it. She want them to think more and come up with ideas, so that sometimes she gives clues to them. When no answer comes , she tells them to images how it would be, what challenges or good thing they would have if they owned a pet.

7)Providing feedback: Everytime when a student come up with a word to be written on the board, for example she say yes, it is so because.... and she first writes the words said by her other students on the board and then explain it to the whole class.

8)Assessing performance: The teacher is relax and the atmosphere in the classrom is friendly. The student makes jokes about their topic and the teacher responds them and also she herself makes fun of with words said. She reinforces her students to talk and gives possitive responds to their ideas. She smiles all the time.(Maybe that sound not good, but you can see that the teacher is not pretending but she is honest in that)

The lesson was good and informative. The students were foreigners. And they were learning English as a second language not a foreign language so that only the target language was used in explainations, it was useful for the students. The teacher sometimes used her mimics to make explainations. Yes, the lesson was really informative for the students, they made brainstorming and learned about the contorversial issuses in America(the country in which they live). The start of the lesson I mean the warm up was good and the teacher was successful in making connection between the topic and the warm up. However the introduction was wrong. What I mean is that the teacher said that they would have a debate but it was not a debate at all. It was just a brainstorming about the topic. The teachers presented the controversial issues and explained it. The student thought and come up with the ideas in the pet activity part. So, I guess she shouldnt have said so. All in all, it was a speaking class and the teacher was good at it. She encouraged the student well and tried to involve each one of them.

Lesson Plan Self Evaluation (to be done individually)

SELF-EVALUATION OF LESSON PLANS
You need to report on the difficulties that you have had during the process of lesson plan preparation, the limitations that you have felt during the preparation of the lesson plan, the points that you would like to change about your plan, the benefits that you think you have gained out of the lesson planning process.

LESSON PLAN EVALUATION

1.You also need to examine TWO of the lesson plans submitted by other groups and evaluate it from the following aspects:
a) the appropriacy of the lesson plan format (for the teacher and for the observer)

b) the relevance of the objectives for the teacher/learner activities (Are the objectives stated in the lesson plan well-formed ? /Do the objectives in the lesson plan cover all the activities?)

b) clarity concerning the descriptions of teacher and student activities (can a teacher or an observer follow the teacher and student activities by looking at the plan?)

c) Variety (does the lesson plan include a variety of activities with different interaction patterns, and in different teaching modes (i.e., the pair/group work, individual activities)

d) smooth transition between activities (whether there is a link between the activities)

e) timings ( Are they clear? Do you ‘believe’ them? Do you think they are realistic? )

f) who does what? (Do you approve of the patterns of interaction?)

g) What do you think of the effectiveness of the closure part (the follow-up task and the assessment of learning)?
h) Is it a good plan? (i.e., what would you a) leave out? b) add to? c) bring in? or d) change completely?
i) Do you find their rationale realistic/ In what ways?
j) Is the learners' previous knowledge specified clearly?
k) Are the unexpected problems and their solutions adequately specified? In what ways?

EVALUATION QUESTIONS FOR BLOG READERS

EVALUATION FOR BLOG READERS

1.Choose any TWO GROUP BLOGS that you liked and comment on them (on all the parts on the blog: Reading materials (articles and/or different extracts of information, discussion questions, pictures, videos, the group blog video and the questionnaire/poll). For each blog, you need to choose ONE FROM EVERY PART (e.g., one reading material, one discussion question, picture(s), one video, the group blog video and the questionnaire/poll). Give the rationale for your choice as well(i.e., why do you think so).
YOU NEED TO GO TO THE GROUP BLOGS AND MAKE YOUR COMMENTS ON THESE BLOGS WITHIN THE BLOGS THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN INDIVIDUALLY.
2. Evaluate the group blogs that you have chosen according to the following criteria.
(TO BE DONE ON THE CLASS BLOG INDIVIDUALLY)

1= Strongly agree 2= Agree 3= Neutral 4= Disagree 5= Strongly disagree



Put an X next to each of the options that you prefer (Please specify which group blog you are referring to when evaluating)



Features:

I. Pictures:

a) Interesting:

1= strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



b) Well-prepared

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



c) Useful

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



d) Informative

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



II. Questionnaire / Survey (If available)

a) Interesting:

1= strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



b) Well-prepared

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



c) Useful

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



d) Informative

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



III. Articles

a) Interesting:

1= strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



b) Well-prepared

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



c) Useful

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



d) Informative

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree











IV. Discussion Questions



a) Interesting:

1= strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



b) Well-prepared

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



c) Useful

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



d) Informative

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree





V. Videos



a) Interesting:

1= strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



b) Well-prepared

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



c) Useful

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



d) Informative

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



VI. Useful Links



a) Interesting:

1= strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



b) Well-prepared

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



c) Useful

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



d) Informative

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree

VI. Group blog preparation video
a) Interesting:

1= strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



b) Well-prepared

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



c) Useful

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree



d) Informative

1 = strongly agree 2= agree 3= neutral 4= disagree 5= strongly disagree

GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GROUP BLOGS
1.What did you find interesting about the blogs that you have chosen? Why?
2. What did you find informative about the blogs that you have chosen to comment on? Why?
3. What did you find useful about the blogs that you have chosen? Why?
3. Was there anything that you did not understand about the blogs that you have chosen to comment on and needed further clarification /explanation? If so, what was that?

4. What would you like to change about the blogs that you have chosen to comment on? Why?

5. What did you like best about the blogs that you have chosen to comment on?

6. Specify something useful to you that you learnt from the blogs that you have chosen to comment on and did not know until you read the blogs, and specify in what ways you find that piece of information useful

7. By referring to the group videos that the group owners made, how similar and how different their blog preparation experience is as compared to you?

SELF-EVALUATION FOR BLOG OWNERS

SELF–EVALUATION FOR BLOG OWNERS

1.Explain the steps you went through during the preparation stage of your own blog (i.e., how you set up the blog, how you chose the layout and the group name, how you collaborated within the group, how you decided on the job division, your selection criteria for the relevant materials that you put in your blog, the sources of the blog materials, any difficulties (i.e., technical difficulties, etc) that you experienced while preparing your blog, the length of blog preparation)
2.Reflect on the blog preparation experience as a group ( mention your feelings about the group work experience, the effectiveness of the group work, how effective you think the blog preparation experience is for you, the benefits that you think you have made by preparing the blog, the things that you have learned through the blog preparation experience, the aspects that you like about your own blog, the aspects that you would like to change about your blog) .
3.Choose the interesting comments that you have obtained in relation to the the entries in your blog (including the comments on the video extract and the discussion questions) and explain why you find them interesting.

Vocabulary Skill Lesson

1.Gaining Attention: This is a video lesson given through internet by a teacher. Before starting, teacher asks how his students are. He asks this question in a funny way that and doublessly it helps students to warm up. He tries not to oppress his students. By using comic mimes and gestures, he gains students' attention very well. It is one of the ways of starting a lesson I like.
2.Describing the goal: The topic of the lesson is "Slang Words". He says the letters of the word slang one by one and respectively. A sound which is thought to be students' repeats the letters. It creates an enjoyable atmosphere. Then he gives a definition of the topic. He tells what slang word is. He mentions about where it is used, what it contributes to the daily speaking and how it is important. He also says generally young people use it and it may be effective to get attention of young students.
3.Stimulating recall of Prior Knowledge: Teacher gives example of slang words. He chooses the slang words which may be used instead of the words frequently used in daily speech. He gives money and great as examples. Then he gives other slang words and explains their meanings. While describing their meanings, he uses the words students should know before the lesson. In other words he chooses the words that help students remember their prior vocabulary knowledge.
4.Present the material to be learned: At the begining of the lesson he tells what they(students) will learn at the end of the lesson. He shows a note ,for example, as a concrete material. Because of the topic, teacher has no chance to use a lot of materials. He presenting the words and then just give their meanings.
5.Provide Guidance for learning:During the whole lesson, teacher teaches the words by using gestures and mimic. He explains the words in a funny way. He is a teacher who has a sense of humour and this feature of him helps students to learn easily. He also appeals to students' eyes with the help of his funny appearance and movements.
6.Elicit Performance: In the middle of the lesson, teacher tells the commonly used slang words and their explanation one after another. He gives examples. Meanwhile, students takes the meaning of words and examples. At the end of the lesson, he finishes the lesson by using slang words. All these will help students elicit their performance because teacher gives them the meaning of words in a perfect way.
7. Provide Feedback: In the video, you can not see a giving feedback step because this is a video lesson. Unless it was not, teacher would give feedback to students by giving a daily dialogue between two people which is consisted of slang words and then he would want students to prepare a dialogue by using slang words. After they present their dialogue, teacher would give them feedback in terms of usage and pronunciation.
8.Enhance retention and transfer: He uses gestures and mimes while transfering the words and these gestures and mimes are the ones which will stick in the students' mind. His intonation also may be effective to enhance retention.
9.Assessing Performance: During the lesson, we hear background sounds such as applause or congragulation sounds. These sounds reinforce the students. They are like a teacher's saying well done to his students who succeed.