Back to School Essentials!

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed the summer of '17 as much as i did and had the chance to relax :) I'm sorry i haven't posted for a while but i'll try to keep this blog updated as much as possible from now on. It's September so it's time to be productive, haha! I thought listing the important stuff would be helpful for all the students. (The post will probably be in favor of girls but i'm sure there are still some things you might wanna check out.)

Apparel & Shoes:

• Sneakers (I think a black or gray Nike trainers are a must-have! I have Nike Air Max and they're so comfy! You can of course get Adidas, Vans or NB, it's up to you.)
• Backpacks (I prefer the faux leather ones and the sporty ones like Kanken, Eastpak or Herschel.)
• Sweaters/Sweatshirts (Not to mention a gray hoodie is a life-saver on midterm/final weeks!)
• Jeans (High rise skinny jeans are my favorite but mom jeans and boyfriend jeans are cool too.)
• Leggings (Black leggings are great, you should definitely own a pair.)
• Scarves (They'll complete your look.)
• Fabric bag (You can put extra stuff here.)
• Make-up bag (All your hair ties, lip balm, moisturizer will be safe here.)
• Tote bags/Shopping bags (Longchamp bags are practical and stylish but you have many other options too.)

School Supplies:

• Pens/Pencils/Highlighters
• Notebooks
• Folders
• Usb drives
• Post-its (Don't forget the important notes!)
• A mini agenda (You can easily carry it everywhere and write down everything you need.)

Just In Case:

• Umbrella
• Lip balm (I'm obsessed with lip balms! Maybelline Baby Lips or Eos are both nice.)
• Sunglasses (I love the cat-eye ones!)
• Travel mug (You might want to make your own coffee/herbal tea.)
• Hand cream/Moisturizer
• Body spray/Deodorant

            

Course Evaluation

     Hi everyone, in this post i'll briefly talk about my opinions/suggestions about Technology & Materials Design course whose instructor is Dr. Gökçe Kurt in ELT Department in Marmara University.

    My general view of the course is highly positive as i believe i will realize its contributions in the near future in my department or in the field. I really liked every material that we went through and i promised myself to use them with my future students. My only suggestion arises from my curiosity. We've tried everything by ourselves and it was highly beneficial but what if we tried these tools with actual young learners? I know we'll have the chance to try them in the future but i think practice makes everything perfect. I think it would also encourage those who don't agree to use these materials in their language classrooms. 

A Creative Tool for Young Learners: "Makebeliefscomix"

     Hi everyone, in this post i'll talk about a tool which i think you'll find as a useful resource in helping young learners to express themselves and communicate. Of course, the site is also for people of all ages who like to play and explore.

     The creator of the site, Bill Zimmerman says ‘’By giving you a choice of characters with different moods and the chance to write words and thoughts for them, you will tap into your creativity and explore new possibilities. After all, there is no greater force in life than the power of the imagination to free us from our immediate problems.’’

     www.makebeliefscomix.com is a really creative site where you can make your own comic strips, find over 500 interesting printables, search for different ideas or reach some fun free-time activities. 

     There is also a Special Needs section where you can reach feedbacks of parents or teachers who use the site with students who have a wide array of disabilities. You can find comic characters with physical disabilities to reflect the diversity of users, including those with special needs.

     How to use it?
     First you should click "create comix". Then you'll see the page where you'll be working on. You are given different panel choices right at the bottom, pick one to start. You can scroll to view characters and don't forget, most characters have different moods displaying emotions! You can also pick animated characters. You have again various options for backgrounds, objects and words. If you want a plain background you have the chance to choose colors. The talk/thought balloons with different sizes are given down in the middle. There are also panel prompts such as "the next day", "suddenly", "to be continued" etc. to make your comics like an actual comic strip. On the left side there are some tools to edit your comic and they include; move, scale (enables you to change the size for anything), bring to front, flip and delete. To use them, first click on the tool you need, then click on the object in your panel for the action to occur. Once you're finished you can review, print & save or email it. 
Here is an instructions page that we created for Turkish users:

We've also created our own comic strips outcome about "Travelling":

We have a student task about "Feelings" for young learners too:

     I think makebeliefs comix is an amazing site because it opens a whole new world for youngsters. It is so much fun for them. There are wide range of characters and real-life like backgrounds such as a street in Paris or Egyptian pyramids. I think teachers can give the situation like we did and let students fill in the speech bubbles themselves. Another task can be finding common favourite topics and making the students create a comic strip about that topic in pairs or in groups.

     The site deserves a chance so please give it a try and i'm sure you'll love the outcome as much as the kids do :)

Digital Storytelling: ''I want to grow up''

     Hi everyone, i have a new creative project to share with you: digital storytelling. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do. 

   Firstly, me and my friend Mehmet Ali, wrote a short story containing good advices. Then, we drawed/printed the images. Drawing and colouring part took us back to our kindergarden days – loved it! :) When the scenes were ready, we recorded the video with my friend's phone. We created the story on Movavi and uploaded it on Vimeo.

   As we are so picky we had to record some scenes over and over. Also, vocalizing the characters was tricky for me since I had two characters. I'm afraid my voice sounds a bit squeaky when i vocalized ''the sister''.

   We had great collaboration because we brainstormed about it together. I strongly recommend it for students because it's so much fun and they'll love to see their unique outcome which will make them feel much more confident with English.

Here is the link to my friend's blog: http://blogonlanguage.blogspot.com.tr/

Here is our digital story: 

I want to grow up from Mehmet Ali Tarakcıoğlu on Vimeo.

Mobile Learning: A fascinating English learning app for kids - Lingokids

   In this post, I'll introduce you a mobile app called Lingokids for young learners of English.

   First of all, when you download it on your mobile device, it requires you to select your child's English level. Low level is for kids who can only use individual words, medium is for those who can use simple phrases and high is for the ones who are able to communicate their needs. I checked out the medium level. Then it asks the age of your child, you can choose between 2-7+. I chose 6 just to start. Lastly it asks for gender. I chose the girl and wrote a random name. It was all ready.

   The app is free for a month and one of the best qualities is that it has content from Oxford University Press. (e.g. The second activity in the picture below)

                         

   Kids can even join online live English classes with teachers who are native speakers of English and connect other kids from across the globe! I suggest this because it will be a great opportunity for them.

   Parents receive weekly reports. The app also includes printable materials.

  The app is 100% Kid's Safe as it follows COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection) regulations.

   I tried cursive writing exercise. The kid follows the sign with finger and when the letter is completed, a figure appears which starts with that letter. I tried ''r'', a rabbit appeared. It started to jump and the app repeated rabbit & jump a few times. It is a good vocabulary practise for children. The app promises to teach over 3000 words and all learning process takes place naturally.
You can explore the app if you like. Here is the website: https://www.monkimun.com/

Website Evaluation: A gate to a new world- EnglishClub

     In this post, I'll share my evaluation about an ELT website. I hope you find it beneficial.

     www.englishclub.com has 8 moderators and was founded in 1997 by Josef Essberger, a British who has taught English in Europe and Asia since 1990. The following year he founded TEFL.net, a site dedicated to English teachers. He also sells books, games, videos, and other resources for English learners and teachers on EnglishClub. With a background in publishing and photography, Josef is the author of several articles, short stories and books, including a travel guide named Monopoly London.
   
     On EnglishClub learners can;

• create their own English page with blogs, photos, videos, music, groups and friends
• test their English level and get help
• study English grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation
• play English games, quizzes or find jokes, idioms, slang
• chat in English with other students and teachers from around the world
• find schools where they can learn English at home or abroad
• meet penpals for English practice.

     EnglishClub is for anyone learning or teaching English. Students use it to improve their English whereas teachers use it as a resource for lesson plans and jobs.

     

     EnglishClub is like a Self Access Centre so it allows anyone to work in their own way and at their preferred time. The purpose is for users to choose their favored method. The site has last been updated on 12th of April, 2017. It is an up-to-date website.

     I haven't encountered any errors or broken links on the website but my only criticism is about the images. As the site is filled with advertisements, some of which are the founder's other websites, the place left for images is limited. Moreover, the remaining images are not high quality. I think this makes the website less appealing to the target audience.

     Thanks to blogs and news on EnglishClub, i think teachers can keep up with the field. They can find lots of materials and discuss some issues with other teachers from forums. Students should try it since they not only practice school-related stuff but also they are introduced to everyday communicative situations such as; connecting with penpals, making online chats and even learning  new slangs, phrases and idioms!

A film review: A truly Hollywood masterpiece - LA LA LAND

   For this project, we had to write a film review about Academy Awards Nominee & Award Winning Films. I worked with my friend who was also my partner in the previous project (podcasting). You can visit his blog here: http://blogonlanguage.blogspot.com.tr/

 
   The project was really cool as it made us gain a new identity by creating the opportunity of expressing ourselves in a different area. Working with a partner on a wiki page turned out to be effective for us because we found out that we watched the film from different point of views and sharing those details made us realise important things about the film. Also, we criticised each other objectively and this made our wiki as substantial as possible before we completed it. If you have different interests when creating a wiki, it might be a little harder.

 
   We la la loved this film even to the point where soundtracks were playing in the background while we were writing the review :)

This film will warm the cockles of your hearts! Here is the trailer: