Katie Quartano at ISTEK 2013
In the lead up to the ISTEK Schools 3rd International ELT Conference, we’ll be introducing some of the presenters on the blog. Next up is Katie Quartano…
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I have a background in business administration and tourism, worked for Swissair and Austrian Airlines for 15 years in Thessaloniki, and I am now employed by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Together with Paul Shaw and other volunteers I run the Disabled Access Friendly campaign, which uses ELT to raise awareness about issues facing people with mobility disability.
What is your teaching background?
I have a CELTA qualification and have worked since 1999 as an oral examiner.
Tell us a bit about your session.
I am going to show you how your students can learn English through the eyes of a person with a mobility disability. I’ll be giving you practical information on how the Disabled Access Friendly’s free teaching resources can help you teach more than just English. This material prompts students to step into the shoes of someone with a disability for a better understanding of their needs and feelings. The ELT classroom becomes a place where you can raise awareness about the world and help make it a better place.
Why are you interested in the area you’ll be presenting on?
The more training seminars I do that raise awareness about mobility disability, the more I realize how deeply rooted stereotypes of disability are, and what a need there is to encourage critical thinking on the subject.
What should your audience expect to learn?
They will learn how to approach this topic of mobility disability in the classroom, which many may feel is too sensitive or upsetting to talk about with young children. They will learn that even at young learner level, by using the Disabled Access Friendly campaign’s material, they can touch on abstract issues such as attitudes towards disabled people. They will be stimulated to examine their own preconceived ideas about disability, and learn about the traditional medical model of disability and the more enlightened social model of disability. They will see how other teachers have successfully used the campaign’s material in class and hear students’ feedback on the issue. They will be reminded that education is more than just acquiring skills and knowledge.
What are three words that sum up your session?
Inspiring! Meaningful! Worthwhile!
Which other presenter(s) are you looking forward to seeing?
I am particularly looking forward to seeing Sue Lyon Jones and Jeffrey Doonan.
Do you blog? Tell us about it?
Not really, but I know I should get more involved in this! 24 hours in a day is just not enough for me.
Can we find you on Twitter or Facebook?
Yes:
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/DisabledAccessFriendly
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DAFCampaign
Have you been to Turkey before or is this your first time?
Yes, I have been to Istanbul before, and I think it is one of my favourite cities in the world. Delicious food, a mixture of cultures, friendly people and lots to see and do.
What other aspects of the conference are you looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to everything! The talks and workshops, the people I will meet, the friends I will reconnect with, the city and the good food!
Jan Blake, Keynote Plenary Speaker at ISTEK ELT #istekelt
(Image from aberstory.wordpress.com)
At ISTEK ELT, we will be very fortunate to watch one of the most well-known contemporary storeytellers: Jan Blake. She has been a storyteller since 1986 with a great number of awards for her amazing work, the latest being in 2012, when she was named Outsatnding Female Storyteller by the British Awards for Storytelling Excellence.
Her keynote plenary, They Don’t Care About the Vocabulary, They Care About the Characters, will delve into what children need from stories in order to grasp the language.
Watch her in action in this video, where she tells the story of The Leopard Woman:
J.J. Wilson at ISTEK 2013
In the lead up to the ISTEK Schools 3rd International ELT Conference, we’ll be introducing some of the presenters on the blog. Next up is J.J. Wilson…
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Besides family, I have two great loves in life: teaching and writing. I will be a teacher and a writer until the day I die. I’m highly privileged to work as Writer-in-residence at Western New Mexico University, U.S. They let me indulge my two loves and they don’t seem to care whether I produce fiction, textbooks, or more academic work.
What is your teaching background?
I’ve taught students of all ages from 5 to 75 and I’ve taught in Egypt, Lesotho, Colombia, the UK, Italy and the U.S. I currently teach writing and ESL methods courses to university students.
Tell us a bit about your session.
The session is about strategies to help students learn. It won’t be a typical ‘sage-on-the-stage’ plenary; it’ll be very practical. I hope the session will be enjoyable as well as informative.
Why are you interested in the area you’ll be presenting on?
Because at every stage in my teaching career I’ve seen that those students who are independent learners, who are curious, and who are strategic in the way they approach their education tend to be the most successful language learners.
What should your audience expect to learn?
Some theory related to learning strategies and lots of practical ideas that they can implement in class.
What are three words that sum up your session?
I won’t know until after the session!
Have you been to Turkey before or is this your first time?
This is my fourth time in Turkey. I love it here.
What other aspects of the conference are you looking forward to?
I always enjoy meeting new people, especially teachers, and seeing old friends. The social programme looks rather tempting, too.
Conference Preview for ISTEK ELT by Esat Uğurlu, GLOBED #istekelt
Esat Uğurlu and GLOBED
Esat Uğurlu has shared a lovely summary of his concurrent keynote speech (Saturday, April 27th, 14:15 – 15:00, B312).
E-Learning: There is nothing to be afraid of and plenty to discover
Nowadays all we talk about is 21st Century learning environments, tablets, laptops –basically e-learning in general. In a complex and highly technical world we live in, content and the effective delivery of it in and outside of classrooms is essential. Through Their Eyes is a powerful theme and unless we pay serious attention to learners’ perceptions, our efforts can be counterproductive.
Our presentation will focus on award-winning, research-based online content and platforms (e.g. UNICEF World Education Games, BrainPOP, Oddizzi, Reading A-Z, Sesame Street) and we will explore why millions of teachers and students from around the world make use of these innovative resources. We will also talk about differentiated instruction, global/digital citizenship, and playful learning.
About Esat:
Esat Uğurlu spent more than a third of his life abroad, consulting with hundreds of educational institutions in more than sixteen countries including the USA, Thailand, China, S. Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Since his graduation from Brandeis University in Massachusetts, Esat’s main interest and focus has been on using various technologies for better, more effective teaching and learning. After completing his duties at UNESCO Bangkok – Education for Sustainable Development unit, Esat worked with Asia-Pacific’s leading distributor of e-content and due to recent developments in the Turkish e-learning market, he moved to Istanbul in 2012 and founded GLOBED (www.globed.co), an e-learning content distribution and consultancy company that serves K-12 schools.
Conference Preview at ISTEK ELT by Joel Josephson
Joel at TEDx
At ISTEK ELT, Joel will give a summary of his TedX talk he gave this week and discuss how his projects funded by the European Union, move the education system toward the target of a Creative Classroom through taking a holistic view were multiple elements and subjects work within a motivational structure to build the potential for self-learning, learning to learn, collaborative learning, feedback and assessment, all the skills children need for our developing and dynamic world.
We will then complete the PopuLLar project, one of the most effective, fun and exciting projects for languages. In this project students are taking complete control of their learning, teachers have been pushed out of the classroom.
We look forward to attending Joel’s workshop!
Ralph Tabberer, Keynote Plenary Speaker at ISTEK ELT #istekelt
Ralph Tabberer
At ISTEK ELT 2013, we will have the honor of listening to Ralph Tabberer’s Keynote Plenary talk, Global Trends in Education. Ralph’s interests include leadership, curriculum development and assessment.
He has a great blog called Always learning, where he shares his thoughts about his areas of interest.
In the 2009 New Years Honours, he received the Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (CB).
Join us online or in person on Sunday, April 28th, 09:30-10:30 am for Ralph Tabberer’s plenary!
Eda Demirci, Merve Karaca, Ezgi Özel and Seçil Uygungil at ISTEK 2013
In the lead up to the ISTEK Schools 3rd International ELT Conference, we’ll be introducing some of the presenters on the blog. Next up are the Yeditepe ELT students…
Could you tell us a bit about yourselves?
We are Eda Demirci, Merve Karaca, Ezgi Özel and Seçil Uygungil. We are all ELT students except Seçil. She is studying translation and interpreting. In addition, we are all student tutors at Yeditepe University Writing Center. We could say that teaching has always been one of our biggest dreams. We hope to develop our teaching practices and perceptions by attending conferences which we see as opportunities to meet experienced ELT personalities and share ideas with them.
Tell us a bit about your session.
As students of ELT, we have many concerns and questions in our minds and we thought this is a great way to look for answers. In our presentation, we have four ‘mirrors’ who will answer our questions and enlighten us.
Why are you interested in the area you’ll be presenting on?
Because we would like to be good teachers. We will graduate soon and we do not want to have countless questions in our minds when we graduate. We think that this presentation will give us the opportunity to meet many ELT professionals and find answers to our many questions.
What should your audience expect to learn?
Students like us, who share similar concerns, may find answers to their own questions. And teachers or other ELT practitioners may relate these concerns to their own experience, share their own solutions and answers with us, which we would strongly appreciate.
What are three words that sum up your session?
Curiosity, sharing, experience
Which other presenter(s) are you looking forward to seeing?
We feel lucky because even though there are many presenters we would love to meet, four of these big names, Ken Wilson, Luke Meddings, Teresa Doğuelli and Jamie Keddie, will be with us to answer our questions. This will be a great experience for us and we are already very excited about it.
What other aspects of the conference are you looking forward to?
We are hoping to meet as many ELT people as possible, share ideas, attend keynote sessions and workshops. We are also very excited about the open mic night and other social events.
Introducing… Eva Büyüksimkesyan
In the lead up to the ISTEK Schools 3rd International ELT Conference, we’ll be introducing some of the presenters on the blog. Next up is Eva Büyüksimkesyan…
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m an EFL teacher and teacher trainer. I’ve been teaching English for 24 years and I love it.
Tell us a bit about your session.
Teaching teenagers is very challenging as they frequently need to be motivated and inspired. Using songs in the classroom always works because they energize the students. I’m also interested in using technology and web 2.0 tools in the class. I will mention some sample follow-up tasks that students can create using these tools.
Why are you interested in the area you’ll be presenting on?
First of all, I believe it works. I’ve seen quite a lot of good examples and I also believe music is a shared language. It is in every minute of our lives.
What should your audience expect to learn?
How I use songs in the lessons to pre-teach, practise grammar, vocabulary, listening or writing
What are three words that sum up your session?
Energizing, fun and practical (ready-to-use on Monday)
Which other presenter(s) are you looking forward to seeing?
It will be difficult to decide but I will do my best to be present at all the sessions.
Do you blog? Tell us about it?
I blog about my journey in teaching English at http://evasimkesyan.edublogs.org
Can we find you on Twitter or Facebook?
Yes My twitter handle is @evab2001 and I use Facebook for professional development as well.
What other aspects of the conference are you looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to meeting my friends. It will be another fantastic tweet up.
Introducing… Adam Simpson
In the lead up to the ISTEK Schools 3rd International ELT Conference, we’ll be introducing some of the presenters on the blog. Next up is Adam Simpson…
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I have been fortunate enough to spend the last twelve years of this journey as a life long learner working with others in what some call the ‘language classroom’.
What is your teaching background?
I am currently privileged to have the opportunity to help young adults meet their educational goals at the School of Languages at Sabancı University in Istanbul. My professional interests include flexibility within the curriculum and the considered use of technology in the classroom.
Tell us a bit about your session.
‘When in doubt, strike them out’ suggested Mark Twain. Conversely, comedian Dennis Miller admires ‘the strutting pageantry of the adjective.’ However, American intellectual Clifton Fadiman best exemplifies the language learner’s dilemma, describing them as ‘the banana peel of the parts of speech’. Adjectives enrich learners’ language, but are dangerous beasts. The workshop, which I’m delighted to be co-presenting with my colleague Deniz Özden Rodrigues, will present five strategies for developing effective adjective use.
Why are you interested in the area you’ll be presenting on?
My favourite teaching book of all time is ‘Vocabulary Myths’ by Keith Folse. Folse talks so much common sense about the under-teaching of vocabulary in language classes that it is amazing that his ideas haven’t become more widespread. It will be a pleasure to deliver a session that will be lexically-focused.
What should your audience expect to learn?
Together with Deniz I will be providing a series of practical and easily adaptable strategies for enriching learners’ knowledge and use of adjectives. The activities we’ll present are practical in nature, encouraging active participation, both individually and collectively. The act of participating in these activities allows the teacher to gauge current knowledge and facilitate new adjective acquisition. Another benefit of these activities is that they are easily adaptable to the level of your learners and the degree of challenge you wish to set. Additionally, these are activities which can be used with any course book.
What are three words that sum up your session?
Practical, thought-provoking, adaptable
Which other presenter(s) are you looking forward to seeing?
A lot of my professional heroes will be delivering sessions at this conference, too many to mention here.
Do you blog? Tell us about it?
I occasionally find time to blog about my life. My blog is:
Can we find you on Twitter or Facebook?
@yearinthelifeof on Twitter
theadamsimpson on Facebook
What other aspects of the conference are you looking forward to?
I have so many friends from around the world who will be attending this event; it will be good to catch up. Also, I’m looking forward to the people I’ve become acquainted with recently who will be coming to ISTEK.
Zeynep Ürkün, Keynote Plenary Speaker at ISTEK ELT #istekelt
Zeynep Ürkün (Photo taken from Sabancı University website)
On Saturday April 27th, in the afternoon, we will have the chance to listen to Zeynep Ürkün‘s keynote plenary Assessment: A Matter of Perception?
Zeynep teaches at the School of Languages at Sabancı University, Istanbul.
Her areas of interest are Assessment of skills, portfolio assessment, assessment of content-based curricula.
Here is a video of Zeynep’s talk last year at Bilgi University, Resources for ELT Assessment: Where Are They?
ISTEK Schools Third International ELT Conference 