Cigdem Göle

The aim of this thread was not to favour student based learning but to discuss the effective ways of creating a satisfactory learning environment. However, I agree with Ms Walker. Young teachers have been told that the most useful method in class is the student centered approach. Teacher trainers dictate that the teachers who can make the students do all the work in class are the best educators. As Mr Simkin pointed out, I, too, have witnessed some good and bad examples of active learning. I oppose to the idea that the teacher should leave everything to the student as well as the opposite. The teacher knows his/her students' needs and learning styles well and uses the best approach in the class according to them It's wrong to promote only one teaching style and discredit all the other ways saying that they are old fashioned.

From Dumb & Dumber Harry: I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this. Lloyd : I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of s**t, man!

The Dardanelles War means victory for Turks, defeat for the Anzac, the British Empire and France but it also caused peoples of countries that are so far from each other to establish a connection which will live forever. Each year in April, we (Turks, Australians and New Zealanders) come together in Çanakkale to remember and pray for the brave men who gave their lives in Gaba Tepe, Ari Burnu, Seddülbahir and all around Gelibolu. I hope to meet my friends in Çanakkale again in April 2009. http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/ http://www.57ncialay.com/hava.htm http://www.anzacday.biz/anzac_day/archive/news.asp?index=204 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWdardanelles.htm http://www.anzacs.net/AnzacStory.htm

In my work life, if I can help my students to express themselves in a foreign language at the end of the academic year, I consider myself successful. Of course, the effort spent by the students plays the most important part in this. Also, as a foreign language teacher, if I can make at least one elementary level student understand the difference between the words "accident" and "incident" by saying "Every accident is an incident but not every incident is an accident.", I feel quite successful. In general, to me, success is being able to make someone smile.

Jonsi Birgisson's band, Sigur Ros (from Iceland) use minimalist, classical and melodic elements in their sound. Beginning from 1997, Sigur Ros have released five studio albums, one of which (Takk) gave them international fame. Almost all Sigur Ros videos have an outstanding art direction with beautiful scenery of Iceland. Vidrar Vel Til Loftrasa (Good Weather For Air Strikes) is one of the most powerful songs of the band and also its video is quite effective, but I decided not to give the youtube link to the video since some might find it disturbing. Saeglopur http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBTH2E5QPEE Glosoli Hoppipolla

We're told that the Longman Interactive Online has been added to this year's curriculum. It will be my first time using a software in the class, therefore I need feedback as to whether it is a satisfactory educational tool. I've also heard that both students and teachers encounter some difficulties in using the program. I'd appreciate if the teachers who use similar software in their classrooms post their opinions in this thread. TIA http://www.longmanenglishinteractive.com/home.html

Actor Jared Leto's band 30 Seconds To Mars have an EMO image but their sound is much better than many EMO bands. A Beautiful Lie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EcX4OtLWVs Arcade Fire - I'd strongly recommend their 2007 album, Neon Bible. Neighborhood #1(Tunnels)

Modern English Teacher http://www.onlinemet.com/ ESL Lounge - lesson materials, lesson plans, worksheets, board games and song lyrics http://www.esl-lounge.com/ Longman Pearson http://www.pearsonlongman.com/

Thank you very much for your input. I've been a teacher for twelve years and all this time the teacher trainers have told us the best way to use is the student centered approach. Yet, in time I've come to the same conclusion you mentioned, the best way depends on the students' needs and it's something quite changeable.

Glasvegas are a thrilling new band from Glasgow. Their debut album will be released on 8 September 2008. They have become quite popular by the release of the singles "It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry" , "Geraldine" and "Daddy's Gone" The songs have the 50s melodic atmosphere, which reminds us how beautiful the tunes of that period actually were. "Flowers And Football Tops" and "Go Square Go" are two other songs that are as compelling as the band's previous singles. Those who like oldies will also like Glasvegas. My personal choice is "It's My Own Cheating Heart...", a tune that will probably be one of the most memorable tunes of the 21st century. Geraldine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dquK43zFfKc&feature=user Daddy's Gone It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry

History of punk http://www.punk77.co.uk/punkhistory/the%20seventies.htm http://www.fastnbulbous.com/punk.htm Some good punk influenced newer bands are, Panic At The Disco The Killers My Chemical Romance Arctic Monkeys Simple Plan The Dead 60s

Some bands that are worth checking out, Modest Mouse The Fratellis The Mars Volta Death Cab For Cutie

She Wants Revenge - (from LA, California, they seem to be greatly influenced by Joy Division) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BIm8jcfWog Official website http://www.shewantsrevenge.com/index.cfm?n...0.0828938962774

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! ... Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope Joel (Jim Carrey) finds out that his ex-girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet) has undergone a mysterious medical procedure to erase him from her memory. Deeply hurt and disappointed by the news he has just received, Joel decides to do the same. When the procedure starts, he is happy, since the erasing begins with the most recent memories of them that are full of arguments and regrets. As Joel sees his memories being deleted one after another, he realises that there are in fact some moments he shared with Clementine that he never wants to forget. He changes his mind in the middle of the procedure but it is too late to stop it now. As the film goes, we see how desperately Joel tries to hide Clementine from the erasers. He feels that they won't be able to take her away from him if he keeps her in the most inner parts of his mind such as his childhood memories. However, each time Joel finds a safe memory where he can hide Clementine, the erasers reach them. While this heartbreaking journey continues inside Joel's mind, the medical team tries to understand why the process is not going as smoothly as planned. The idea for the film came from one of Michel Gondry's (the director) friends, who suggested, "You get a card in the mail saying : someone you know has just erased you from their memory". Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry offer a unique story accompanied by impressive performances by Carrey and Winslet that turns a movie into an emotionally unforgettable experience.

Grammar, vocabulary,listening, reading and spelling activities & quizzes. http://www.manythings.org/ Especially the audio section seems quite useful. http://www.manythings.org/listen/ Games, crossword puzzles and reading activities. http://www.eslactivities.com/

Since the airing of the pilot episode on 22 September 2004, Lost has become one of the most popular tv series around the world. The fans of the show have built websites, where they discuss numerous theories related to the mysteries in the show. At the end of each episode, the viewers are left with a question mark in their minds and that leads them to wonder about the next. There are also things in the show that the viewers do not expect to happen, things which do not normally take place in a long time tv series such as, the death of one or sometimes two of the main characters in the first and second seasons. Of course, the dead are replaced by new characters. By killing them, the writers of the show emphasize that the focal point should be the plot itself not the characters. One of the interesting aspects of the story is the past lives of the characters(the period of time before the plane crash), which are all related to one another (known only to viewers, of course). In daily life, you can easily hear heated discussions about the show almost everywhere you go. The viewers are divided into two : those who are in favour of Jack and those who are of Sawyer. (Personally, I always give my vote to Sawyer ) Maybe the reason why Lost is so addictive is our fascination for mysteries. The below link is a Lost discussion forum for the fans. http://lostfanatic.proboards43.com/

Two more examples of fantastic anime series, Last Exile Plot Summary: In a world that looks like the 19th century with anti-gravity devices, Claus and Lavie are pilot and co-pilot of a Vanship and act as couriers. They become involved with a mysterious mission after rescuing a little girl from a strange star-shaped killing machine. Not willing to let the girl die, they complete the mission by delivering her to the legendary mercenary ship Sylvana, only to become part of the crew as fighter pilots.Two orphans, Claus and Lavie make a living through delivering messages via their Vanship just like their late fathers. During a Vanship race, they rescue a foreign vanship from attack by a Guild machine. The pilot is seriously injured relinquishes his dangerous 7 star mission to Claus and Lavie - to deliver a little girl - Alvis to a famous ship, the Silvana. To get closer to their dream of crossing the Grand Stream, they enter the Silvana crew with Alvis to perfect their skills as a pilot and mechanic/navigator http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encycloped...ime.php?id=2294 Hellsing Plot Summary: Vampires exist. It is the duty of Hellsing, a secret organization sponsored by the British government, to hide that frightening fact and protect the blissfully unaware populace. Along with its own personal army, Hellsing has secret weapons. Alucard, an incredibly powerful vampire, has been controlled by Hellsing for years. It is unclear how he feels about being a servant to the Hellsing family, but he certainly enjoys his job as a vampire exterminator. Seras is a fledgling vampire and former police woman. Although reluctant to embrace her new self, she is a valued member of the organization. Integra Hellsing, the current leader, is usually fully capable of fulfilling her duty, but lately, vampire activity has been on the rise. Unfortunately, the cause is more alarming than anything she could have imagined. A group long thought dead has been plotting in secret since their apparent destruction over 50 years ago. Plotting to plunge England, and perhaps the entire world, into war. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encycloped...ime.php?id=5114

Hi Andy, I agree with your comment and I'm willing to take the blame as being a part of the education system. On the other hand, I think children see schools as places where they can get information by doing nothing but to sit in class. At this point, parents should also take the blame, since not many of them are aware of the importance of helping a child acquire self-learning. Most of the time, it depends on the ability of the primary school teachers to do so. If the students are used to the method of teacher being the only source of learning, it gets difficult to break the habit when they start university. Originally, I was going to make this a longer reply but it's hard to concentrate when you've got a cold with high fever on a summer day...

How much of the things we teach do students learn? I often get the feeling that however hard I try, the students get stuck at some point and their learning processes come to a halt. Of course, this makes me feel inadequate but I think the reason behind the problem is that the students expect to be taught instead of learning by individual effort and instead of realising the teacher is a guide, they see them as the ones whose job is to open up brains and stuff information in them.

Hitler's Lost Fleet lies at the bottom of the Black Sea.. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1577456/Adolf-Hitler%27s-%27lost-fleet%27-found-in-Black-Sea.html The submarines had been carried 2,000 miles overland from Germany to attack Russian shipping during the Second World War, but were scuttled as the war neared its end. Now, more than 60 years on, explorers have located the flotilla of three submarines off the coast of Turkey. The vessels, including one once commanded by Germany's most successful U-boat ace, formed part of the 30th Flotilla of six submarines, taken by road and river across Nazi-occupied Europe, from Germany's Baltic port at Kiel to Constanta, the Romanian Black Sea port. In two years, the fleet sank dozens of ships and lost three of their number to enemy action. But in August 1944, Romania switched sides and declared war on Germany, leaving the three remaining vessels stranded. With no base and unable to sail home - the Bosporus and Dardanelles were closed to them because of Turkish neutrality - their captains were ordered to scuttle the boats before rowing ashore and trying to make their way back to Germany. However, all three crews were caught and interned by the Turks. Now the submarines' hulls have been discovered by a team led by Selçuk Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, who will present his findings to a shipwreck conference in Plymouth this week. Mr Kolay established the boats' positions through research in German archives, interviews with surviving sailors and by sonar studies of the seabed. He has already completed successful dives to the wreckage of one vessel, U-20, two miles offshore in about 80ft of water. He believes he has discovered another, U-23, at twice that depth, three miles from the town of Agva, but bad weather forced him to suspend diving until the spring. He thinks he is also close to pinpointing the third boat, U-19, thought to lie more than 1,000ft down, three miles from the Turkish city of Zonguldak. "It's one of the least well known stories of the war but one of the most interesting," said Mr Kolay. "It is a quite incredible story. To get to the Black Sea these boats had to be taken across the land, and once they got there they had no way out." All three U-boats had been operating against British shipping in the North Sea. U-23 gained notoriety for scoring one of Germany's earliest successes, sinking a British ship off the Shetland Islands days after war began. It was later commanded by Otto Kretschmer, known as "Silent Otto", the most successful U-boat ace.

Almost every educational thread on this forum seems to be dead. I wonder where all the teachers have gone. ------ Lots of activities for ESL students http://a4esl.org/ A webpage with online courses in English, French, Spanish and Italian. I used this website very often when I was studying French, it's really helpful. http://www.parlo.com/ And one for EFL teachers http://www.onestopenglish.com/

The Enemy Within is a published book and as I recall, RFK writes about Hoffa and labor unions in it.

This webpage contains reviews of Orwell's works and also gives useful links such as a website where Animal Farm is available (the entire book). http://students.ou.edu/C/Kara.C.Chiodo-1/orwell.html ---------- Another link offering to provide essays for students who need to write about Orwell. http://www.georgeorwellessays.com/ "Stuck on a tough essay on Animal Farm or Nineteen Eighty Four (1984)? No problem – We'll write any essay or college paper on anything to do with George Orwell!" Such a website would have been helpful for the papers I had to write back in the early 90s.

For foreign language teachers, it is acting in a foreign language, which is harder, yet a lot of fun. I like it myself.