Institutional Culture

             Should you let it get under your skin?

I believe each and every institution has its own unique culture that determines many things such as:

·     The relationship between teachers and students

·     The interaction among colleagues

·     The quality of communication between the teachers and their supervisors

·     The communication between parents and teachers

·     How the institution do things/do business

·     The quality of meetings

·     How content the teachers, students or the parents are

·     Teachers’ future career

·      Teachers’ perceptions about their job

·     How much quality time is spent at work

·     (Sometimes) How teachers and

 administration spend their free time

·     How teachers and administration make decisions

·     Level of stress of the people working in an institution

·     How much employees and supervisors can find ways for self-actualization

·     Employee empowerment

And many more.

So far I have worked:

·     For state schools

·     For a very prestigious private school

·     On private language courses

·     As an English teacher in the UK.

And I’m currently working at Gazi University as an English Instructor.

Based on my experience of working for different organizations, I think it is possible to say that institutional culture sometimes might be like a virus and it may start to penetrate into skin if you are not fully aware of it.

How to avoid it:

I believe the most important thing to do is try to be a global teacher.

 To achieve that ask yourself these simple question:

·     ‘Am I qualified enough to work for a private school?

·     What about a private university?

·     Can I work on a language course?

·     If I have a chance, will I be qualified enough to work abroad? How would I fit in if I had a chance?
Or even better how about these questions:

• Am I willing to improve myself?

• Am I willing to be at my best?

• Am I willing to adapt, change and learn?

• Am I willing to reflect on my own teaching?

 I believe as long as we ask these questions- or similar ones- to ourselves and  give ourselves a room for questioning the things around us, wemight as well be a global teacher.

Cem YILMAZ ACTIVITY

I think it was a couple of days ago when my students got a bit bored towards the end of the lesson and they asked me if they could watch a video on youtube and I said it was fine. Then they watched the following Cem Yılmaz's video that I immediately decided to use as an activity:)

I believe this activity could be used for a variety of purposes and below you find how I use it:

• First, students watch the video below [Cem Yılmaz speaking English and telling a Turkish joke]
• Then, they just listen to the video without actually watching it and fill in the blanks

Here is the original script:

Nasrettin Hodja went to the lakeside. He was carrying a yoghurt cap and he was.... he was eating the yoghurt and errr someone from the village asked him:

‘What are you doing Hodja? What are... Hodja, Hodja,Hodja..’He says:

‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m mayaliing, I’m mayaliing the lake. What do I have to do? I’m mayaliing the lake.’

‘Hodja, come on! You cannot’ and the village guy said ‘Hodja, come on! Come on Hodja! What are you doing there? You are, you are.. you cannot, you cannot maya the lake!

You got it? I’m going on.... and Hodja was surprised.

‘What are you doing? You cannot maya the lake, come on Hodja.’

And Hodja turns and Hodja turns and smiles and

‘What if it happens?’...

This joke, this joke is from the 13^th century..yeah...you know Nasrettin Hodja..you know him. He’s a fantastic figure of human history and he’s really great and he’s funny though. You see, you got the motto?

‘What ..what if it happens?’

Here is how I used it in my classroom (elementary level/ A2- young adults)

Nasrettin Hodja ­­­­­­­­­­­­___________  to the lakeside. He was carrying a ____________ cap and he was.... he was eating the yoghurt and errr someone from the ____________ asked him:

‘What _______ you ______ Hodja? What are... Hodja, Hodja,Hodja..’He says:

‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m mayaliing, I’m mayaliing the lake. What do I have to do? I’m mayaliing the lake.’

‘Hodja, come on! You cannot’ and the village _______ said ‘Hodja, come on! Come on Hodja! What ______ you  _______ there? You are, you are.. you cannot, you cannot maya the lake!

You got it? I’m going on and Hodja was _____________.

‘What _____ you _______? You cannot mayaliing the lake.’

And Hodja turns and Hodja turns and ________ and

‘What if ____ happens?’...

This ________ is from the 13^th century..yeah...you know Nasrettin Hodja..you know him. He’s a _________ figure of human history and he’s really ________ and he’s funny though. You see, you got the motto?

‘What ..what if _____ happens?’

 I believe this activity might also be useful for teacher trainers ( subjects like the difference between spoken and written grammar etc.)

Teachers' Reflections After My Session on 'How I Handle Grammar Using 5E Model'

 Here are the reflections of the teachers who participated in my session:

1.

• I see how important it is to motivate our students
• To make them engage we can do many things
• To group them or pair them we can do many things
• In fact it is all up to us if the class is good and effective or not because as a teacher we should set the scene
• Changing sth simply can change the atmosphere

                 these are about me:)
about you;
You are active and energetic which makes us energetic also. You listen to all of us. Eye contact is really good because whenever I look at you I see you looking at me also.
In general it is good. Thanks a lot

2.
It was useful for me, because I realised that I needed to remember 'What is constructivism, how can we use it, is it useful?' I learn more about it. Thank you for it.

3.
Firstly, I want to say that I've chosen picture 1 :)
I have learned more about constructivism. I've remembered some points thanks to you and other instructors. I've also learned 5E model, especially function and form questions in elicitation part and some adaptations to teach grammar effectively. It was a good presentation:)

4.
I've learned some enjoyable and useful activities. It was very beneficial. Thank you for everything.

5.

As a student, we were dealing a lot with the elicitation questions. Is this sentence a correct one to elicit this function or form? Actually we have spent most of our time with that stuff, but today I learnt more than just elicitation part of teaching actually handling grammar:)
I realized more about each stage. What is more, it was fun to be with you. We had great time together. We were active in the process what constructivism suggests:) Thanks for everything! :)

6.

 As a teacher I recall my previous knowledge about constructivism and see method and I have had some more practical methods to use in the class:) Thank you!!!

7.

1.The 5E model is a way of grammar teaching that we had talked about in our courses in university, but I hadn't thought about putting it into use during my lessons very clearly. This session we had today reminded me all those points that I had started to forget about the model. I can now think of making use of them in my lessons. It was a useful and informing session. Thank you for it!

2.I think you were really positive during the whole session, and it helped to create a positive and relaxed environment. Also, your activities were useful. They reached their aim of focusing us on the necessary points about the model. Again, you were very friendly:)

8.

First of all, I'd like to thank you for such an enjoyable session. Teaching grammar is known to be the most boring part of English Teaching. Actually with a little spice we can make it more enjoyable. You've made us remember this fact. Secondly, I wasn't fully aware of 5Es and it was beneficial for me to understand what exactly are 5Es. Thanks

9.

In this session, I've learnt that learning is like constructing a building, so students learn new things based on their previous knowledge/experience. Keeping this in mind, all the items and activities should be meaningful for the students and they should discover the rules, the language items themselves..etc. Apart from the background information, the teacher should act like a guide/helper in the classroom and s/he should encourage students to be autonomous and take the responsibility of their own learning. In the sample lesson plan, I learned the difference between form or function related questions in 5E Model. You are a princess! It was a good presentation. Thanks


And here is my reflection about my session:

• I paired the participants in a very similar way twice (choosing cards and then choosing postcards) I should have paired or grouped them maybe using different ways.
• The second part of the session, I had time management problem. The session had to be a lot more faster because we were running out of time.
•  Unlike the first part of my session, my teacher talking time was really  A LOT in the second part of the session.
• This is a personal reason: Since I had not been sleeping properly for the last two days, my energy went down drastically during the second part of my session.And it had an effect on the teachers as well.

A Sample Grammar Lesson (using 5E model)

This is a sample grammar lesson that is prepared by me and a colleague from METU (Elit Aydın Vural)  and I used it in my pre-service training session at Gazi University.

 

A) Discuss the following items with your partner (ENGAGE)

·         How are you feeling at this very moment? Tired, happy, bored, content, etc?

·         Where do you want to be now? At home, on a beach, etc?

·         What do you want to do at the moment? Sleep? Watch telly? etc.

B) THIS ONE OR THAT ONE?? WHICH ONE? (ENGAGE)

 Which one would you like to be for a day?  Why?

                                                                             1

      

                                                                           2

3

4



                                           TIME TO RELAX                                

C) Listen to the song. What is the song about? Choose the correct one. (EXPLORE)

·         The man in the song is very hungry so he wants to eat some animals.

·         The man wants to find a beautiful woman and get married.

·         He wants to be free. The song is about freedom

·         He wants to buy a pet for himself.

D) Listen to the song again. Put the strips in order.(EXPLORE)

E) (ELICITATION/ EXPLAIN) ( FIRST FUNCTION/MEANING QUESTIONS THEN THERE ARE FORM RELATED QUESTIONS BELOW)

1.   Read the sentences below:

  ‘I’d rather sail away like a swan.’                       ‘I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail.’

• Does the writer like the nature?
•   What does he want to do?
•   Does he like freedom?
•   Which animals does he sing about?

• Which one does the writer choose to be?

                         1)   a) sparrow    b) a snail

Read the sentence below:

                                                 ‘I'd rather sail away.’

—  Does the singer choose to sail away or not?

—  Does he describe a preference?

—  What is his preference?

Read the sentence below:
                                  ‘I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail.’

—  Is the singer choosing one of the two things?

—  Does he prefer one of them?

—  Which one does he prefer?

—  Which word gives us his choice between two things?

2.

   ‘I'd rather sail away’                                     ‘ I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail.’

·         In these sentences is the singer talking about present or past time?

·         What do you think the long form of I’d?

‘ I'd rather sail away’                                          ‘I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail.’

•      Do we use ING form of the verb after ‘I’d rather?

•       What form of the verb do we use after ‘I’d rather’ ?

•       Why do we use ‘be’ in the second   sentence?

Can you guess how we make a question? Choose the correct answer.

1) A) Would rather you swim or sunbathe?

    B) Would you rather swim or sunbathe?

2)A) Would you rather be a musician or a painter ?

    B) Would you rather to be a musician or a painter?

 3) A) Would you rather travel by plane than by bus?

     B) Would you rather travel than by plane or by bus?

F) EXPAND/ELABORATE:

                                      

                                                              QUESTIONNAIRE

                   Are you a live wire or couch potato?

—Do the questionnaire.

—Give 1 point for each ‘true’ and 2 points for each ‘false’ and see the results

1. I'd rather spend my holiday lying ona beach doing nothing than go sightseeing in different countries.

True                                                                                           False

2. I'd rather watch football on TV  than play it.

True                                                                                         False

3.I'd rather take the lift than walk up a flight of stairs.

True                                                                                            False

4. I'd rather spend this evening in front of TV than go to a disco.

True                                                                                        False

5. I'd rather buy a comfortable sofa than a bike.

True                                                                                            False

6.I'd rather get up late than get up early and go for a walk in the fresh air.

True                                                                                           False

7.I'd rather celebrate my birthday with a few friends than organize a crowded party

True                                                                                            False

8.Although it is not too far, I'd rather drive to work than walk there.

True                                                                                          False