I am currently at the aPLaNet launch conference in Istanbul and thoroughly enjoying it.

The day started with music from the ISTEK Chamber orchestra (photo below). I think it's always nice to start a conference with something completely different, and today's musical selection was a great choice. It provided a moment of reflection and relaxation and set us up for the day ahead.…

Hi :)

    These days , i am really determined to improve my teaching skills as a non-native…

Pagina proiectului aPLaNet este acum tradusa si in limba romana! Gasiti aici informatii despre resurse ICT pentru profesori de limbi straine, un sistem de mentorat bine pus la punct, tutoriale self-access pentru profesorii care vor sa foloseasca retelele sociale pentru dezvoltarea lor profesionala, tutoriale video si multe altele:…

Dear aPLaNet ning members, 

Here you are in the ning already and I am announcing the new webquest recommended for self-piloting teachers who will benefit by beginning with this one if they are not familiar with nings. 

You can find it here http://aplanetningquest.pbworks.com/w/page/53291161/Home%20Page 

We have organised it in a pbworks wiki and all the steps (pre and…

Message in English follows

Dragi colegi va rugam sa nu uitati sa completati chestionarele pentru evaluarea pilotarii.

Daca nu le-ati completat pe cele in limba engleza, cele in limba romana sunt disponibile aici:

Pentru grupul self-access:…

Just signed up to aPLaNet courtesy of a Mr Joe Dale.  A willing participant as got lots of language teaching ideas and not sure how to get them out there and get people using them.  Hopefully an upcoming Head of French position will repand them (really hoping that répandre has an English derivative there...) but would like to use social media.  Any ideas?  My own website?  VLE?

I was very happy to discover a research report on the potential of using Facebook as a learning management system.

Facebook popularity and the ease with which most teachers and learners can create an account these days was, after all, one of the reasons our aPLaNet project team decided to include Facebook as one of the three Social Networks which may help teacher with their professional development easily and with complete…

Did you miss us today (Wednesday)? We know some of you turned up for lunchtime chat.  Sorry we’re all at IATEFL enjoying the conference and getting ready for our symposium toDAY!!!!!!.

We’d love you to join us online. We’ll be holding an #eltchat from 15.50 to 18.20 GMT on the topic of social networking and continuous professional development to coincide with our…

Yup, this is my opinion, after trying out quite a few alternatives: Google Plus Hangout is hard to beat!

There's a bit more on my blog about this; let me know what you think so we can try a Hangout together!

I've decided to stop using handouts and worksheets completely (though I do use cards and pictures), and have replaced them with a class wiki that I prime with materials and tasks. Students have their own pages to keep their notes on, and can access all materials at any time. I'm not dispensing with a syllabus, or chucking out materials, it's just that we now have a great deal of flexibility to go materials-light, or use existing materials, or create new ones at the drop of a hat, depending…

Thanks to all of our volunteer mentees for your patience.

We are now ready for the next stage of the process. first of all, we would like you to all fill in the pre-piloting questionnaire, which will give us a better idea of your needs, and help us to find a mentor for you.

The questionnaire is here: http://bit.ly/xVINH0  

Once this is completed, we'll be in touch with you later in the…

Readers of this blog and colleagues I interact with every day on Twitter and Facebook, on Ning and Grou.ps, on LinkedIn and group.ly, on wikis and blogs, will probably feel this is one post too many on the value of creating a Personal Learning Network and maintaining contact through all these social networking sites. 

This is not about preaching to the converted, then, but about converting more teachers and bringing them into a digital family of ELT educators who are…

Some of my friends ask me some questions concerning my passion for Children's Literature.

This is my "manifesto" for them. I am passionate about Children's Literature because:

1. It is totally boundless. A novel written for adults has to be labeled under a genre. But for children's literature this happens very rare. In children's literature, you can follow fantasy and you can come back to real world and again constantly you can make this way back and forth.

2.…

At school I created a "Mythology Corner" where I hang the the stories each week. My 4th graders are reading these stories and presenting them in ppt format. They enjoy learning about the mythological characters. This activity helps them to understand the concept of "fantasy" or "real" also it is helpful for them to be open-minded kids.

My 3rd and 4th grader students create their own books. Every week on Friday I choose a different student as the "Author of the Week". This student writes her/his own book and presents it on mondays. This is a fresh start for the authors of the future!!…

Everyone in their life feels fulfilled with something they do. In my case this fulfillment comes out of Children's Literature. I feel extremely close to children's literature than any other literatures maybe because its constructive approach towards life. For an average person, children's literature sounds so "childish" to deal with, however, they should remember Swift's Gulliver's Travels which is a satirical piece of art presented into "childish" children's…

Experiencing the new year welcoming at a primary school is totally fun.The last week of december we prepared lots of new stuff with the kids. They prepared christmas trees, they created their own Santa Claus, they prepared a wishlist for themselves. They were very successful to express themselves clearly. Most of the kids wished a new "Nintendo" from Santa Claus. After their wishes they listened to songs, watched stories on Bristish Council's Kids and they played "Run Santa Run" game which…

In November, I attended Dogus University’s 1st International ELT conference. At the conference, Philip Kerr mentioned the importance of translation from L2 to L1 as because he states that taking L1 from the classes means “a loss of identity” for the children.  As my “Fundamentals”, I never use L1 in the classroom. However, I realized that I cannot check my kids' vocabulary input if they understand the  meaning correctly or not. I noticed that some of my pupils “coded” some of the words…