A Great Farewell!

 Hello for the last time dear readers!

As the term comes to an end, I want to take a moment to evaluate the journey and share my thoughts about “Current Issues” course. Creating real-world teaching materials, like AI-integrated worksheets, has given me a brand new perspective on teaching. However, the heavy reliance on technology at some times felt overwhelming to me.

While brainstorming creative ideas came natural to me, mastering tools like Canva and Wordwall required patience and practice. But once I got the hang of them, though, they became quite enjoyable to use!

My favorite task was the superhero activity. It brought together creativity and teaching perfectly. My least favorite was the theoretical assignments, as they lacked the excitement of applying concepts in real-life scenarios.

To next year’s students: Embrace creativity and don’t shy away from challenges. The more you experiment, the more you’ll learn!

This course taught me how to effectively use technology to design engaging lessons, which is a valuable skill that will enhance my teaching career. It’s truly been an excellent and enjoyable experience!

Goodbye for now, and thank you for joining me on this journey!

Bringing AI Superheroes to Life!

 Hello everybody! Today I want to discuss our most recent activity: "Create the Superhero" using artificial intelligence!

This time me, Pelin and Nisa investigated the ways in which generative AI technologies can improve language acquisition and creativity in EFL classrooms.

What did we do?

For high school prep students, we built a course in which they used AI technologies such as DALL-E to construct superheroes!

 There were three components to the activity:

1. Practicing descriptions while watching an AI-generated superhero.

2. Using an AI tool, they create their own superhero and write down its characteristics.

3. Using comparison structures, they contrast their superhero with the teacher's.

The Equipment

We created graphics using DALL-E and utilized a worksheet to help students with comparisons and descriptions.

Why artificial intelligence?

It makes studying interesting and efficient by fusing creativity with language practice!

If you want to check our worksheets, here is the link!

See you in the next blog!

Paris Where History Meets Beauty and Flavor

Bonjour, my beloved readers!

I want to take you on a magical trip to Paris, one of the most adored cities in the world, today. Paris, also referred to as the "City of Light," is a cultural, artistic, and gastronomic paradise. Me and my friends, Pelin and Nisa, have created a guide based on interactive resources to make this experience more interesting. Let's explore this wonderful city's highlights!

The Content

Important landmarks, cultural lessons, and a delectable examination of Parisian food are all included in our visually appealing content. The arrangement consists of:

1. Eiffel Tower: Insightful inquiries such as "What do you find most fascinating about its design?" promote more in-depth consideration of this famous building.•

2. Notre-Dame Cathedral: Activities include considering the effects of the 2019 fire on cultural assets and highlighting the building's significant architectural history.

3. The Louvre Museum: Using the glass pyramid, discover its distinctive fusion of contemporary and history.

4. Parisian Foods:

 • Entertaining exercises examining traditional dishes like colorful macarons and fluffy croissants.

• A QR code that may be used to explore French cuisine through interactive learning.

Consideration of the Content

We tried to strike a balance between visually appealing components and dense content when writing this tutorial. Every segment is intended to hold readers' interest while encouraging critical analysis of history, architecture, and culture.

Possible Difficulties

Using such resources in a learning environment can present difficulties:• Accessibility: When using external platforms or online resources like QR codes, students might require assistance.• Time Restrictions: It might be too ambitious to cover every section in a single session; modifications might be required.• Student Readiness: To guarantee that students get the most out of these reflective assignments, it may be helpful to offer preliminary explanations.

Concluding remarks

In addition to exploring Paris, this guide encourages readers to delve deeply into its history and culture. Here is the link if you would want to view the entire document: [https://www.canva.com/design/DAGagg-Qlys/yueI3T75UeDsk8dGZNPmLQ/edit?utm_content=DAGagg-Qlys&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton ].

That concludes today! Let's continue to discover, learn, and appreciate the wonders of the planet. À bientôt!

From Homework to Classwork: The Magic of the Flipped Classroom

Hey, everyone! Today I want to talk about our (Pelin and Nisa) with new project, on how to use  ‘The flipped classroom’. 

Let me start with what is it?

The flipped classroom approach is a teaching strategy in which students watch videos to acquire new material outside of class and then practice under supervision in class. It enables students to learn grammatical principles at their own speed and to communicate and apply what they have learned in class. Although it encourages active learning, obstacles include making sure students use the content at home and granting them access to technology.

Our Grammar Instruction Assignment

Teaching the modal word can from the MEB PROGRESS Preparatory Class Student's Book was the main goal of our group. We described the shape and purpose of cans in our video.

To keep students interested, our greatest challenge was striking a balance between innovation and intelligibility.

The Tools

We used Canva, to create a video where we were able to insert images and recordings of ourselves. And for our activities, we used Wordwall to create effective and catchy activities! You can find both of them under the text.

Watch and Practice 

*Video Link: https://youtu.be/4KdB9MhnjGw?si=FE_vmYKnRwZRxaT_

*Can Grammar Activities: https://wordwall.net/resource/83424903

We hope our video helps students confidently use can in their daily conversations!

The Difference Between Either and Neither

 Hello dear readers! Today I want to talk about a way of teaching guided by the usage of corpora. For this task, we, with my friends Pelin and Nisa Nur, created a worksheet and a lesson plan according to the ASSURE model focusing on the correct usage of the conjunctions ‘either’ and ‘neither’ for the 10th grader Turkish EFL students. Through a corpus-based approach that promotes language discovery through real-world examples, the goal was to empower students to recognize, evaluate, and appropriately employ these conjunctions.

The Material

 It is catchy to eye as it contains retro visuals and includes series of tasks, such as;

1) Circle the correct option: In context-based phrases, students select "either" or "neither.

2)  Corpus Exploration: Students examine phrases that contain the words "either" and "neither" by visiting a website such as CorpusMate.

3)Multiple-choice questions ask students to choose the appropriate conjunction in a range of situations.

4)Gap-Fill Exercises: They use the appropriate conjunction to finish phrases.

We wanted this worksheet to challenge students to actively apply what they have learned while keeping them interested.

Reflection for the content and lesson plan

 While creating this lesson plan, we aimed to a balance between vibrant visuals with language-focused functional content. The retro design of the worksheet offers an engaging aspect that is essential for sustaining student interest. Furthermore, using technology in the form of corpus tools exposes students to real-world language usage, which improves their comprehension of collocations and the context-specific uses of "either" and "neither."

Potential Problems That Can Occur In Learningi-Enviroment

In my opinion,  few problems could occur if this were used in an actual classroom:

• Technical Barriers: Students with low levels of digital literacy may find it difficult to use or access the online corpus tool.

• Time management: It may be overly ambitious to do all of the assignments in a single class; this calls for alterations or simplification.

• Student Readiness: Students who have little experience with independent language analysis may find the corpus-based approach too demanding, requiring further practice or scaffolding.

To make sure every student understands the lesson's main ideas, I would think about giving more thorough instructions for the corpus activities and setting out more time for group discussions in subsequent iterations.

You can find our lesson plan and material here;

https://onedrive.live.com/personal/0670929f9c7e5bc2/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc=%7B710a079c-be42-4619-bb0b-a0f73a80953d%7D&action=default&redeem=aHR0cHM6Ly8xZHJ2Lm1zL3cvYy8wNjcwOTI5ZjljN2U1YmMyL0Vad0hDbkZDdmhsR3V3dWc5enFBbFQwQi02NnNhbkFfdnZUbW1Tal9qN1ZuT1E_ZT14OFhOQlc&slrid=4dab69a1-7017-a000-c406-dc6814410606&originalPath=aHR0cHM6Ly8xZHJ2Lm1zL3cvYy8wNjcwOTI5ZjljN2U1YmMyL0Vad0hDbkZDdmhsR3V3dWc5enFBbFQwQi02NnNhbkFfdnZUbW1Tal9qN1ZuT1E_cnRpbWU9eWs1Sk5fc1MzVWc&CID=6833ceb0-e7ae-4031-a6fc-cb6234144084&_SRM=0:G:34

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGXUrTi_Og/L4f5ONlDdcyvHVvAEoqPyg/edit

That is all for this post, see you next time :)!!

WHO AM I?

Hi dear reader, 

I'm Selinnaz, but you can call me Selin in short! I am 20 years old and am currently studying English Language Teaching at Marmara University. I hope to become one of those cool and passionate English teachers that you must have come across at least one point in your life! I believe English has become an inseparable part of our lives, and it is working as a bridge between people. Join me on this exciting journey as we explore the nuances of English together!

Can't wait to get started!