Saturday, August 29, 2015

#30Goals: Give yourself a pep talk!



   

Sometimes we stop believing in ourselves. Sometimes we think that we will not make it. Sometimes we are so tired that we just want to stop.
Remember, you are not the only one!!
Millions of people fight to survive every single day.
Think, plan, dream, inspire!
You don't have to be perfect. Be who you are. Do what you can do.
You can do it!
Remember:

#30Goals: Inspire with a #hashtag

Although I love making #hashtags up, this time I thought I should support a more meaningful (to me) subject.
#keepmoving for me has a special meaning and does not only have to do with movement.
It has to do with motivation, inspiration, going forward, but also nutrition and fitness.
From now on, I will be posting both on my personal blogTwitter, Facebook and Instagram:  pictures, quotes and little stories and keep me moving and maybe could inspire other people to move forward.
I hope you guys join me and inspire each other!!

Monday, August 24, 2015

#30Goals: Inspire them to inspire


This goal is the best follow up to my presentation at the 30 Goals Convention this summer!!


 
#30 goals hero from Theodora Papapanagiotou

Trying to make our students better people, I think that teaching them empathy is one of the greatest values they should learn.
Issues that could be covered with our students are:
  • Disabilities
  • Vulnerable children
  • Poverty 
  • Racism
  • Kindness
Role play,  organizing or taking part in charity events, bringing guest speakers to the classroom are some ideas.
You could use lesson ideas from the Disabled Access Friendly site  
or get information from various charities in your corner of the world!
Few ideas for Greece:
 Helping people gives so much joy....
 

Sunday, August 23, 2015

#30Goals: BLOG!!

                                     
Well I have been blogging for years, but how about our students?
With my classes this year, in the STEAM lesson (A for Arts) we talked about blogging!
We have shown the students different kinds of blogs, talked about why we blog and also created our own blog account at kidblog.
I chose this platform because it is actually very safe for children, nobody can get in unless you give them a code. It is a nice way for students to communicate outside the classroom and show their parents and friends the work they have done.
So first of all the kids made a profile - played with the pictures and the extra features:
 Then the kids wrote something about themselves and at home the students from different classes commented on each other
    
My colleague Thanassis who is in charge of STEM and me (in charge of the A in STEAM!!)
In some posts, we put the videos we worked on our English class
Our favourite songs and images.
Homework: How will life in the future be?
I have to say that the students loved it, no matter their age and we intend to keep this blog next year as well!!!
As an alternative, we have made a padlet with their ideas for the summer:






#30Goals: Thank a teacher mentor


I started teaching 20 years ago.
When I graduated from the university, I didn't really know how to teach, I mean, we had courses like linguistics and literature and theories on methodology, but nobody  actually taught us how to go into the classroom and do what...
So, when I found my first job,  teaching a beginners' class in German, I didn't really know what to do.
So I got the book, the workbook and the grammar and that was it... I was "teaching"
I have to say that there are a LOT of teachers still doing that and that is what is expected by everyone.
But somehow it didn't seem enough to me.
So some years later, I decided to go to the British council and attend a course on teaching children and teenagers. Fist of all because I wanted to expand my knowledge in teaching English as well and secondly because I needed new ideas to make my lessons more interesting.
It was the last year that the British council offered classes in Thessaloniki, so this was my last chance I guess!
I had the luck to meet Olha Madylus and she made a tremendous impact in my life as a teacher.
When you go to a course or a seminar or a convention, you know that the person who trains you has a huge experience on the subject, lots of studies and lots of recognition.
The moment I went into the classroom, Olha asked us to call her by her first name, after all we were all colleagues....
  • Olha taught is not to be dependent on the book.
  • We learned how to do research on our own.
  • We learned different kind of activities,
  • We learned how to use music.
  • We learned how to organize projects.
And the best part: She taught us that we have to try the activity ourselves first. How will you know if it's fun for the kids if you don't have fun yourself?
I have to say a big thank you... Without your guidance I would never have developed to the teacher I am today.... 


#30Goals: Learn outside the classroom

I have always believed that learning outside the classroom is the best way to learn! That\s why a lot of the projects I organize with my students take place outside.
"On the air team at the city port"


  • Learning mission no 1: Learn your city! This project took place during the "We're on the air" project. My students and I devoted a whole day going around the city, looking for information on historical and cultural sites and made a video, which was presented to students in 4 different countries, who did the same about their hometowns!!

Lieblingswort exhibition - Goethe Institut - Thessaloniki

Herzliche Gruesse Exhibition - Goethe Institut - Thessaloniki
Music section - Lieblingswort exhibition - Goethe Institut - Thessaloniki

  • Learning mission no 2: Exhibitions! There are wonderful photo - painting exhibitions around the city and also exhibitions that have to do with the language!! Why not have your students do a little research on a museum or a gallery exhibition, give them questionnaires while  visiting and let them create!

Uwe Kind performing
  • Learning Mission No 3: Take them to concerts that have to do with the language. There are wonderful teachers performers like Uwe Kind (in German) and Jason Levine (in English). If you don't have a gig near you, organize a music (karaoke) evening at your school!

  • Learning mission no 4: Take them out! If you have to do with older students (teens or college students), why not take them out in a cafe or a restaurant and have a conversational class with them in different surroundings?

  • Learning mission No 5: Make a movie or a video clip: In our "8project" some years ago, we went out to the part to "shoot" our creation.

Learning mission No 6: Take them out to do something different and write about it!!! The pictures above are from the professional photo shoot I had with my student Konstantina. I don't say that you have to hire a professional photographer to do this, but students can visit a place or a professional and write reports!

Learning has to do with fun! Pleasant experiences make the brain ask for more!!

#30Goals: Enjoy a zen moment!



What I have learned in the past 20 years I have been teaching is that there is at least one time in our lives that we teachers will suffer from burnout. There will be a time when we will realize that we have worn ourselves out, taking care of our students' needs but we have forgotten to take care of ourselves first.
Don't worry! It happens to everybody!!
So you should find ways to unwind! You need to stop being a teacher and be there for yourself!

  • Watch what you eat: I know that some of you will not consider this as a zen moment, but actually it is. If you take the proper amount of nutrients, you will feel better, happier and have more energy. Most of us teachers do not eat at all, drink a lot of coffee and then come back late at night and consume large quantities of junk food. Toxin, toxins and more toxins! Treat your body right and gain the energy you need!
  • Yoga / breathing: It doesn't have to be a yoga class. Just devote a few minutes to yourself. close your eyes and try out some breathing / meditation techniques. It works! It clears your head, it releases you from stress and negative thoughts.      

 
  • Running/ walking: I know that some of you will say that they don't have time to devote because of work. I know. I work 13 hours a day. You have to make time though. 30 minutes, three times a week. If you don't consider yourself fit to run, walk. Get up half an hour earlier in the morning or get back from work on foot. It helps, it makes the blood flow, it gives you the chance to change scenery, to stop thinking about work, to listen to your favourite song. I am lucky enough to live in a city with a wonderful seafront - it is a fantastic place all year round to walk or run!




  • My ultimate zen moment is exercise: It's the time I leave everything behind, concentrate, focus on my goal and have a feeling of achievement at the end of the session.
What I have realized all these years is that in order not to suffer from burnout in every profession, the rule is one: You don't live to work, you work for a living.
It doesn't matter if you love your job, you have to take care of you so as to be there for others.
Do one thing that you love. For me is movement, for you it can be reading, solving crosswords, knitting. Being with other people who are not teachers is also crucial.
Don't forget!  #Selfcompassion #Selfcare
 

#30Goals: Get them moving!



When I saw this goal, I thought to myself, ok this is me! Being a kinaesthetic person, I always try to get my students move.
I have been trying to have at least one movement activity that has to do with language, miming, games with running, balls, coordination, even singing.
One example of German teaching vocabulary is this song:
I got this song from Uwe Kind, who has dedicated his life to give movement, dancing and singing in German (and other languages as well)
I also had the luck to present a movement project at the TESOL Macedonia Thrace Convention this year, together with my wonderful trainers, Nick Maragkos and Penelope Tourtourea, proposing activities combining movement and language:
  • Vocabulary activity throwing a ball to each other, where the player who has the ball has to name a word that has to do with the theme. For example, if you have the theme "environment" in your cycle, some of the words to call are "recycling", "pollution" , "rain forest" e.t.c.
  • Running game: one player runs a distance gets a balloon which contains a jumbled phrase, goes back to their team, burst the balloon, find the pieces of the phrase and put them together! Great fun! Works great with idioms and grammar rules!
                                         
 


  • Running dictation game or should I say: Relay. Students get a small text and have to memorize it in a few seconds, they run to find their partner, write the text on their partner's back and it goes on!!

  • Direction game (blindfolded if you wish). You give your students a map, one is giving directions to the other! And off you go!
Movement is a great way to have fun and your students will remember everything they have learned!
You can adjust everything to fit your classroom if you can't get outside!

Monday, August 17, 2015

#30Goals : Share EdTech Success Story



   
When I saw Sylvia's Goal, this video clip came to my mind!  And here is its story:
I have to say that I have always been computer illiterate compared to my students!
Some years ago, back in 2012, working on a joined project, my student Konstantina took a wonderful initiative.
We were working on a song "I don't want to miss a thing"  with a lot of creative activities (which were presented at TESOL conventions in Greece)

So the idea was:

  •  Listen to the song
  •  Try to understand the meaning and picture what is happening
  •  Collect key words
  •  Find definition of the key words
  •  Find pictures that have to do with the meaning of the words (abstract or concrete)
  •  Make a video (Windows movie maker or Animoto or Slideshare)

This kind of activity can be done by one student ore a group of students - you can also have a competition among your classes or your groups and also involve parents (make a video clip day)






Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Summer adventures: #TOBELTA Conference

It was a decision of the moment!! Why not?
Christina was going to talk about extensive reading and portfolios and I was going to to talk about reading and writing activities, creating a portfolio while preparing for exams!
Piece of cake...
A sudden health problem changed our plans though..
And although I wanted so badly to do this with Christina, it just couldn't be done right now.
People at BELTA were really nice, they gave me the chance to present on my own....
But... My presentation was for 20-25 minutes...
And not that exam oriented...


So I decided to show a lot of my students' work... and a lot of the activities we had prepared on my blog. So the presentation included:
  • Book and character descriptions
  • Creation of leaflets (tourist information/ islands/ archaeological places)
  • Urban legends
  • Videos - book presentations
  • Movie night & creative writing
  • Poems (Haiku / cinquain) to revise & consolidate vocabulary
  • Lot's of self- and peer assessment.
I have to say that the BELTA audience is pretty different from the conferences I am used to. I don't know a lot of people and the atmosphere is  more serious, which is necessarily not a bad thing. Just made me nervous.
I had the luck and honour to have my very good friend Vicky Loras as a moderator, which was a great relief and her help mean a lot!!!
All in all it was a different but wonderful experience!
You can find all the sessions over here!

  A big thank you for the chance to learn new things and watch so many amazing educators!

PS. Hopefully the original presentation with Christina will come alive some time in the near future!

Summer adventures 2015: MOOCing

Others go to the beach...
I MOOC!!
Some wonderful free courses going on and I could not miss them:
A wonderful course offered for free by #iTDi and Dr. Stephen Krashen.
THE path to academic English
Traditional teaching approaches vs innovative teaching?
All combined with wonderful stories by Dr. Krashen with his unique style.

Dyslexia and foreign language teaching
As teachers we all have to know something about learning difficulties and how to recognize them. In this 4-week course you get the chance to learn different approaches how to handle students with dyslexia though:
  • differentiated instruction
  • multi-sensory approach
  • IT
Lot's of videos, resources, teaching samples and materials offered! At www.futurelearn.com

 Interested in psychology? Having to do with kids?
How do we deal with vulnerable children? What are the boundaries of our profession?
Caring for vulnerable kids is another interesting course by future learn

And of course catching up on the live webinars I missed at:
#iTDi Summer Intensive
#TOBELTA
#MMVC15



Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Summer adventures 2015: Summer intensive iTDi


When the summer was approaching I couldn't help but ask Chuck if there is going to be a summer MOOC and if they were accepting applications to present!
The answer came later - I was one of the lucky people who had the honour to be part of this wonderful initiative!
Where else could we have the chance to listen to all these wonderful teachers from around the world who are willing to share their ideas?
What I love about iTDi is that everybody is willing to help each other, exchange ideas, give advice.
It makes no difference who is the better teacher, if you are rich or poor, if you work with 100 students or with just one, there is no competition here, we are all one fighting together to make a better world for our students.
So guys (and girls) I'd like to say a BIG thank you for making this happen.
So grateful for being among the teachers who made this happen.
For giving me the chance to learn new things and be different.
For always being there for me.
For letting me express myself and be myself.
For the advice and the friendship I have received!






I'll be strong!


'cause we are invincible!

Keep up the good work!!!!

 Click here for the recordings! http://itdi.pro/summer2015.php

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