THE PROP ROOM

Sunday, March 18, 2012

PUBLICATIONS

The following articles - editted versions of longer papers posted on this blog - have been published in Humanizing Language Teaching Magazine. There are more in the pipeline:
1. I Will Shout It From The Rooftops! Writing A Reactıon Essay ; Apr. 2011
2. The Lord Said "Let There Be English Grammar" And There was Much Rejoicing; June 2011
3. To Cut A long Story Short; Aug. 2011
4. Read In The Name Of The Lord; Oct. 2011
5. Motivation: An Elusive Quality; Feb. 2012
6. New Horizons for Homework: Reading into Writing; April 2012
7. How Not to Teach Reading: Beware the Call of Functionalism; June 2012
8.Motivation: An Elusive Quality - An Analysis of Classroom Presence; August 2012 (The Current Issue)
Posted by The Oracle at 11:02 PM 1 comment:
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Labels: Publications

Saturday, March 17, 2012

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND HAPPINESS


By: Nicholas A. Christakis, James Fowler (12. 4. 08)

Http://www.edge.org/conversation.php?cid=social-networks-and-happiness


 Before or after you read this text, view the following. Thanks Ebru for the link!


http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/nicholas_christakis_the_hidden_influence_of_social_networks.html

Level of difficulty: **

This activity is dedicated to two friends with the warmest smiles I know: Ebru McCallum and Müjde Akmenek.Thanks are due to Füsun for providing this lovely text.

BEFORE YOU READ

1.       How often do you think you smile during the day?

2.       Now ask the student sitting next to you how often he / she thinks you smile during the day?

3.       When do you think you smile or conversely, why don’t you smile and look worried or harassed?

4.       What are the advantages of smiling? What are your reactions to a warm smile?

QUESTIONS

1.       Read the synopsis of the article. Which of the views below best summarizes all the views expressed?

a.       Happiness has a ripple effect

b.      People’s happiness is interrelated with other people’s happiness and vice versa.

c.       Happy people seem only to be friends with other happy people.

d.      Happy people seem to be more popular.

2.       What are the two most important feelings that govern us?

3.       We understand from paragraph two that in addition to the widely known causes of happiness, there is another. It is ……………………………………………………………………………..

4.       What was the two researchers’ hypothesis concerning happiness?

5.       What conclusion can we draw from the results of the experiment?

6.       Why do the researchers believe “emotional clustering” must exist in social networks too?

7.       What two conclusions were reached as a result of the study involving 1700 students connected in Facebook?

8.       What is the overall take-home point of the text as a whole?

WRITING

Write a paragraph describing the advantages of smiling. Alternatively, write short summary of the text of 120 to 150 words.



KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This brilliant and heartwarming text should be preceded by a class discussion. I think many people will come to realize how rarely they smile and conversely, how positively they react to people that do. This should help to predict the advantages of smiling as well. It would be a good idea to let the students see the original text on a laptop so they can distinguish the colors of the image at the end of the text. The beauty of this text is that it is original yet simple. It should, therefore, give students a sense of achievement.

1.       b

2.       Happiness or pleasure and pain

3.       The happiness of others

4.       The fact that emotions might spread more widely… (statements not questions)

5.       Emotions are collective phenomenon

6.       Because it is so fundamentally rooted in our ancient evolutionary psychology.

7.       People who smile tend to have more friends / Those who smile are measurably more central to the network.

8.       When you smile the world smiles with you.
Posted by The Oracle at 12:07 AM 1 comment:
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Sunday, March 11, 2012

AN EXAMINATION OF 21st CENTURY SKILLS (TEXT TWO)


http://www.frankfuredi.com/index.php/news/article/371/ A 5-year programme...
http://users.accesscomm.ca/vendra/EDU%20530/21st.htm An examination of 21. C Skills
By: Dean Vendramin, University College of Cape Breton; Published: February 19, 2004

Level of difficulty: ***

Thanks are due to my friend and colleague Füsun Savcı for finding this brilliant text. Read the teacher’s notes for my suggestions concerning exploitation.

QUESTIONS

1.       It is implied in paragraph one that the four skill categories we need to develop in emerged as a result of …………………………………………….. Now explain what competence in these skill categories will make possible.

2.       It is implied in paragraph two that the 21st century makes it mandatory that students have a different world view. What adjectives would best describe this world view? Use your own words.

3.       It is stated in the same paragraph that “the ability to decipher imagery, access information and appreciate cultural formations are now in demand”. How can the modern youth develop these skills?

4.       What do you think the word “hone” towards the end of the same paragraph means?

5.       In paragraph three, it is stated that the 21st century mantra is thinking outside the box. Describe in your own words what kind of a system would produce the opposite.

6.       Why exactly have communication skills become vital in the 21st century?

7.       What are the current standards of productivity?

8.       What change in current educational practice does the writer deem necessary in this regard?

9.       Read the last paragraph and decide which of the statements below best summarizes the writer’s views:

a.       The writer suggests revolutionizing educational practices.

b.      The writer states that past skills should be complemented with digital age skills.

c.       The writer states that past skills are, when all is said and done, still the best fundamental framework of education

WRITING TASK

Your teacher will talk you through the multiple text writing task.



KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This brilliant text should be examined in tandem with “What We (Really) Need to Know” ( also posted on this blog) as they cover the same issues and complement each other so very perfectly. There are two possible courses of action: either both texts and their respective tasks could be handled the traditional way or students could be divided into pairs to write questions for the texts. One pair could have one text, and the other could have the second one. After they have written questions, they could switch and answer each other’s questions and switch back to check answers. The teacher should then distribute a third short text: “A Five Point Programme for Policy on Education: How Do Policy Makers, Parents and Teachers Fit In?” by Professor Frank Furedi . Last of all, students can write an essay using all three texts; a seriously difficult feet.  One other point: this short text (An Examination of 21st Century Skills) is perfect in terms of organization, transition, structure and planning; in fact, it is one of the best I have had the pleasure of reading in a very long time. This being the case, time should be allocated to studying the text as a piece of writing.



1.       Recent technology/ Meeting the challenges of today’s digital world.

2.       Broad world view

3.       By combining basic literacy with new areas of literacy such as visual, informational, cultural and global awareness.

4.       To perfect

5.       An authoritarian one

6.       We live in an information age with high standards on productivity and in order to be successful, one must be able to access and share information effectively and responsibly.

7.       Persuasive communications…

8.       Reexamining evaluation techniques or rethinking the current practice of standardized testing. (Student’s own answer)

9.       b
Posted by The Oracle at 10:57 PM 2 comments:
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About Me

The Oracle
Hi,my name is Feride Hekimgil, I am an English teacher. I was born into a multicultural, multiligual family and brought up bilingual. I have spent my life surrounded by academics and academia all of which has led me to become one of those fortunate individuals who has not only found her vocation but has had the opportunity to practice it for 40 years at one of the best universities in Turkey. I have felt, for a while, that the time has come for me to share my observations and some of the conclusions I have reached with like minded individuals. This blog includes essays written by my students over the years. They have kindly allowed me to share them with you. They have all been carefully corrected. For reading, listening and writing material, visit my second blog theproproom.blogspot.com
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