Year 2015

2015 didn't go as I wanted but it went well in some other ways. I presented 6 papers at different conferences though couldn't publish any. One poem got published in a journal http://www.ijells.com/volume-4-special-issue-1/  and my insight on education got published in an online news portal http://en.ntvbd.com/comment/5957/Learn-it-%E2%80%98that%E2%80%99-way?fb_action_ids=993626264030049&fb_action_types=og.shares&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=[829036897172990]&action_type_map=[%22og.shares%22]&action_ref_map=[].

The year started with a presentation in BELTA International Conference on 2-4 January 2015. It was on 'performance based learning'. I keep asking my students to perform from literary texts and they come up with wonderful renditions. The presentation went really well except just one arrogant question maker from the audience.

National Academy for Educational Management, Dhaka

I started an online course 'Shaping the Way We Teach English I' in February on Coursera with University of Oregon and as I predicted the 5 weeks passed by like a hurricane with assignments, readings, video watching, quizzes. Fortunately, I ended up with a distinction. It was indeed very fruitful!
file:///E:/TY%20Certificates/PDF%20Format/Coursera%20shaping1landscape%202015.pdf

I presented another paper in an in-house seminar on 13th February 2015 in which I also took part as an organizer. I worked on the areas where teachers' beliefs control the actions with the iceberg philosophy. It's actually amazing to see how many of us attend workshops/seminars/conferences, glean the best of methods for teaching, and then end up going back to the old styles.

Seminar at Uttara Campus

Speaking for myself, even after attending Google Summit in February, I haven't started using the education features of Google! When Claire Bradin Siskin joined our department as a foreign faculty for 6 months, I again became aware of this fact. Attending Claire's super-precise and eye-opening workshops was another reward of the year. I also had to work closely with her as the department thought of reorganizing language course materials. It was indeed an honor to be chosen to work as a group head among the four faculty members. Due to this involvement Summer 2015 semester went very hectic.

At Claire's Birthday Party

I attended the first Graphimedia conference organized by ULAB in June 2015 and presented a literary paper on Latin American dictator novels at the International Conference organized by ULAB on 10-11 July 2015.

I thought of going to Indonesia for a conference and then left the idea thinking about all the hassles of traveling there. This ultimately proved very ironic! Instead of attending international conference abroad, I chose to attend all the conferences taking place within the country. I stretched myself in attending one at Rajshahi for BELTA National Conference on 10-11 September 2015 and presented a joint paper with Harun Vai and Arpita on 'emotional intelligence'. The preparation part was really exciting as this was the first time I worked in collaboration with others for a presentation. The rehearsal before the final day was fun too. The conference also gave a chance for an outing that I craved for with Arpita.

George Mesthos Handing Over Certificates to Us

Two more national conferences were organized by Daffodil Int. University on 19th September 2015, and South East University on 10th October 2015, and I presented at both. Daffodil's topic was on 'web tools for literature courses' and South East's on 'repressive state apparatuses in Latin American dictator novels'. I had an embarrassing moment right after my introduction to the keynote speech when Fakrul Sir pointed out in public how I kept evading my research work for MPhil under his supervision.

The Gathering at Daffodil's Conference

Suddenly the opportunity to work in Banda Aceh, Indonesia appeared and I took it after having a family discussion. It was tough to do as 26 days of absence was too much to ask for from me to be away from the family. However, the experience was the most rewarding one in terms of mingling with a culture and adopting to a new environment and foods, experimenting with teaching, making new friends and surviving alone. I had to teach faculty members, administrative staff and students of Universitas Ubudiyah Indonesia. During my stay there I was treated like a queen and showered with gifts at the farewell party. Towards the end I was terribly homesick but managed to explore Bali and Jakarta a little bit before coming back home. 

I also attended couple of workshops - one to strike me was Aisha Walker's one on technology. We also had to say goodbye to Jahangir Kabir sir from Uttara Campus. I went on the first ever family tour abroad - in Thailand during the Eid vacation. My left knee gave me trouble when the patella displacement suddenly started on its own. The year ended with a mind-driving workshop on 'Optimizing Performance' on 23 December conducted by Mr. Ali Khan which jolted me like anything and made me think over about what I am doing with my life. The MPhil research has been in hibernation for long and this year I will try not to lose energy in attending lot of conferences as a presenter and concentrate more on getting the research done. As usual my students still provide the strength and motivation to move on in this profession and I consider myself lucky to be evolving for them. Wishing a happy 2016!       

Authentic Material & Project-based Learning

As I took up MOOC for the first time and started the first week of this great online course at Coursera offered by University of Oregon, I felt that things were familiar... The course is similar to what I have done for the Webskills course the way it is dealt with. And I feel quite at home! The number  of participants is higher than the previous course which creates an overwhelming sense sometimes. But it offers more chance for sharing and learning.

The videos and reading materials for the first week are about using authentic materials in the classroom and guidelines for effective project-based tasks for the class. As I think about realia used in my classroom, I remember one class in particular. It was in a course 'Public Speaking' and I asked the students to bring something which is important for the student to show to the class. It was their self-introductory speech and the students were supposed to connect their introduction to the object they were supposed to bring. One student brought a piece of embroidered cloth which she made because she loved sewing.

Turkish students brought realia to introduce their culture

Language teachers in our country tend to use the ready-made materials available in the books or in the Internet as their classroom materials. I have used Somerset Maugham's short story for reading and writing, cartoon strips for dialogue writing, motivational blogs or newspaper articles for summary writing, the band Corrs' songs for listening practice etc in my language classrooms. But I have seen problems too. Authentic materials should be chosen very carefully so that they fit into the context, for example - the level of the students, the purpose of lesson and the task itself.

Project-based tasks offer a wider chance to students for collaborative tasks and learning by doing. I loved reading about Susan Gaer's projects and took up a project for my literature students one year back. The result was very stimulating for me as a teacher and I strongly believe that it can enhance learners' language skills in an integrated manner. The new understanding for me after reading the given article is - to involve learners in structuring the project in the class so that they can have a sense of belonging when they work for the project.

Screenshots of the video presentation of my students

Year 2014

I was so detached from my blogs for over a year that it surprises me! As I look back, 2014 has been not so fruitful academically. Took my same old WebQuest presentation to two conferences - one in Nepal and another here in Dhaka. Presented a literature paper in Thailand which eventually got published - my first international publication! Another literature paper got published in Stamford Journal of English. But all these works were done in 2013. I din't read much, didn't write something new, didn't work on a new project with students. I just went on with my regular teaching and news presentation. There was upheaval in the personal life which ultimately caused all this.

One very inspiring thing which happened was the publication of M.Phil first year result. I passed with 59% marks. The traditional assessment and grading system doesn't allow students to grade higher. Nonetheless, I am very happy with this achievement. Teaching my students has been always rewarding. When a poor performing student comes up to me with a pen as a goodbye gift on the last class day, it brings happiness!

I enrolled for another online course on Coursera which will start from January 5, 2015. I think this will help me read more and be up to date with the recent trends in teaching English. I will also try to present papers at 2/3 conferences and publish myself. Towards the end of this year I am feeling very motivated about learning and moving on with more academic ventures. For the first time I have set academic and professional goals for 2015 which I am sure will be achieved if I continue to have the family support that everybody is envious of and put my mind into them. Keeping my fingers crossed for the next year!

11^th Asia TEFL International Conference

Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines

The 11^th Asia TEFL International Conference 2013 on “Englishes Across Asian Context: Opportunities and Challenges” was an academic multicultural gathering at Ateneo de Manila University’s beautiful green-clad campus. The Opening Ceremony took place at its Irwin Theater on 26^th October 2013 with the national anthem and the invocation to Ateneo de Manila Glee Club. The welcome address was presented by Jose Ramon Villarin, S.J., President, Ateneo de Manila University and opening remarks by Hyo Woong Lee, President, Asia TEFL.

Right after the formal ceremony, the insightful keynote speech on “English as a Multicultural Language and its Pedagogical Implications” by Nobuyuki Honna, Professor Emeritus Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan was presented to the hallroom-packed audience. Mr Honna sketched the diffusion and the intercultural adaptation of English language. He showed with proofs how the modified, realistic Japanese English Speaker Model proved to be fruitful for the English learning situation in his country. Variations of word play such as ‘paper driver’, ‘hot carpet’, ‘one-man bus’ etc along with bilingual ambiguity and pun are infused in Japanese English. Thus, he professed for intercultural literacy by improving sensitivity to and tolerance of linguistic diversity. He then provided examples from entries in ESSC (Extremely Short Story Competition) conducted by Japanese Association for Asian Englishes and published in The Japan Times website.  

The 3 day-long conference held 6 Plenary Presentations out of which the followings are worth to be mentioned: “Language Variation and Education” by Ahmar Mahboob, University of Sydney, Australia; “Competence and Capability: Rethinking the Subject English” by Henry Widdowson, University of Vienna, Austria; “Non-native English Speakers and Pronunciation Teaching: Myths, Realities and Practicalities” by Ee Ling Low, National Institute of Education, Singapore; and “Teaching, learning and context: What we can learn from studying the lives and careers of English language teachers” by David Hayes, Brock University, Canada.  

Bangladeshi contingent with Mr. Henry Widdowson

About 400 paper presentations in 18 sessions along with poster presentations, teaching demonstration and workshop sessions in these mind-boggling 3days were held at Loyola Schools of Ateneo de Manila University. There were also Featured Presentations at the conference which would later be published. Professor Dr. Arifa Rahman, presented her research on “Conditions for English Language Learning in Bangladesh: A Sociological Perspective” at one of the sessions. There were two paper presentations by Bangladeshi academicians – “Madrasah Students' Learning Styles, Techniques and Their Preferences” by Harunur Khan (Professor,  Dept. of English, East West University) and “Creating Materials for the Class: A Student-Centered Approach” by Tahsina Yasmin (Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Daffodil International University). In the midst of all these intellectual discussions and sharing, participants enjoyed lunch at the Loyola Schools Covered Courts.

Receiving certificate after presentation

The Closing Ceremony began with the message by Bernard Spolsky, Publications Executive Director, Asia TEFL, in which he pointed out the changes and transformation of ELT ideologies and practices over the years.

The Turnover ceremony was conducted by Hyo Woong Lee, President, Asia TEFL and Isabel Pefianco Martin, 11^th Asia TEFL Conference Chair. They handed over the Asia TEFL drum to Ganakumaran Subramaniam, 12^th Asia TEFL Conference Chair. The program came to an end with a multimedia presentation of the 12^th Asia TEFL International Conference which would be held in Malaysia in August 2014.

The mingling lingered for one more day on 29^th October 2013 for the participants who enrolled for the exciting Villa Escudero tour at the outskirt.

Villa Escudero

My WebQuest Project at MELTA

I took my project that I developed and executed for the Webskills course, and attended the 22nd Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA) International Conference from 28th to 30th May 2013 at Persada Johor Convention Centre, Johor Bahru. The theme of the conference was “Innovations in English Language Education: Evolving Policy, Envisioning Curriculum, Empowering Practitioners.”

 Some snaps of my presentation

People I met during the conference

I presented my paper titled “Language Learning through Literature via WebQuest” in the afternoon session on the first day of the conference. My paper exemplified how combining a classic literary text and a web-based tool – WebQuest in teaching can make learners become more confident users of English by critically thinking and creatively producing. I implemented the project with my tertiary level literature students and found them taking interest in the task as it offered them a chance - of getting out of the typical way of passively studying a literary text, of using the language creatively and of videocasting. The WebQuest example showed how learners became autonomous and produced content for the web through the process of self-evaluation. At the end of my presentation I showed a video clip of my students’ performance.

The conference had Prof. David Wray from University of Warwick, UK as the plenary speaker who spoke on “Changing Times: Changing Literacies.” This speech drew on the technology tools used by students and the concerns regarding this. It also showed four models that educational institutions can adopt to accommodate new literacies.

Nithya Sidhhu, a columnist from STAR conducted a workshop on “Teachers’ Writing – The Power of the Shared Experience” which was motivational. She offered simple tips for writing and introduced SLURP to remember the simple guideline. 1. Keep it simple 2. Look outside, look inside 3. Unite all links 4. Respect your reader 5. What’s your point? She quotes Nancy Kelton, “Send your inner critic on holiday. Just do it, man. Just do it.”

Dr. Willy A. Renandya from NIE, Singapore gave a talk on “Is there a place for extensive listening in the L2 classroom?” as the plenary speaker. He firmly says that though language teachers focus more on extensive reading and writing, extensive listening is an inseparable idea in language classroom to ensure better language learning.

I attended a presentation on “ESL Undergraduates’ Attitudes toward Using Wiki and Skype in Completing Project-based Tasks” by Yolanda Hiew & Tan Bee Hoon which attracted my attention much as this was similar to my presentation being linked to PBL. The presenter proved by her survey that students preferred Skype as it offered them freedom but Wiki had more substantial amount of learning in the two projects that she conducted with her university level ESP learners,

Another presentation which caught my attention is by Faizah binti Jaafar. She spoke on “Reader’s Theater: A Step in Learning Literature.” I attended two Bangladeshi presentations. One was by Md. Imran Khan on “Understanding and Sharing between Two Generations of Teachers: The Bangladesh Context.” The paper detailed how psychological aspects impact the sharing of two generations of teachers and how team teaching can improve the overall scenario of English teaching-learning in Bangladesh.

Md. Ziaul Karim and Md. Jamal Hossain talked about the controversy in the grading system prevailing in the private university education system and professed for a uniformity for the benefit of the students in their paper on “Grading Controversies in the Assessment of University Graduates in Bangladesh: An Insight into Uniformity.”

The gala dinner was fabulous with all colors. The theme was ‘Colors of Malaysia, Colors of Unity.’ It was royal in style as Raja Zarith Sofia binti Sultan Idris Shah sponsored the dinner and attended it. She came to the stage with the President of MELTA, Prof. Dr. Ganakumaran Subramaniam to distribute awards. There was a cultural show starting with Malaysian songs and dances and having Indian Vangra, Frank Sinatra song.

It was an enriching experience as I visited a new country and made new friends along with learning new ideas.

Week 10 Transformation

In the final week while writing this post, I experience a mixed bag of feelings - a tinge of sadness in parting ways, a sense of accomplishment (except for the LoTI survey ;), an understanding of the power of the new knowledge to bring about more changes . . . As Maya Angelou says, "When you know better you do better." And I have learned! During these 10 weeks I have equipped myself with many Web tools and strategies. I have created my own blog and also have been using blog posts for my class. I use Noodletools and also introduced it to my students. I have a Delicious page. I explored the Web for teaching oral, aural, reading, writing skills. I learnt about Google docs, Rubric, PBL, WebQuest, interactive power point, online exercises, and ANVILL. Discussions took place on Bloom's Taxonomy, learning objective, teaching large classes by integrating technology, learner autonomy, alternative assessment, one-computer classroom, learning styles and MIs.   The guest moderators enlivened the discussions with their tips and guidance for us. I developed a project plan using WebQuest during the course and now I'm implementing it. I was benefited from the reflective teaching through the blog posts each week. I think the key strategies that helped me survive are – 

• managing time properly 
• following the guidelines and instructions of Courtney 
• watching others' works 
• being positive all the time.

If I look back I've to admit that the active participants of the Webskills course contributed to the understanding of each other a lot. I became enriched not just from the reading materials but also from the Nicenet class discussions, and revelation of others' context and practices. Izela has been very good at summarizing reading materials in her posts and active in using all kind of tools; Hulya has made me realize how technological tools can be adopted in our similar contexts ; Nataliia has worked like a peer-mentor, and shared her works and ideas enthusiastically; Mariam, has had a depth of understanding regarding matters; Hector has been a spiritual guide through his wonderful posts in the blog; Krishna's excitement has been contagious and the list goes on . . . I have been fortunate enough to get this opportunity to make friends with all of you in this course. I'm grateful! So my words for you will be -

Courtney has been a helpful, encouraging, enthusiastic, precise and organized mentor for all of us. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her (officially!) for her great work, guidance and aid to us. Hats off to you!

As for my future plans regarding the use of technology in my class - I see myself LoTI level 2 - Exploration now. But as I implement my WebQuest project, i might reach the next level Infusion. I want to see myself reach Level 4b - Integration: Routine in a year from now. The ways to do it are -

1. Conduct workshops and collaborate with colleagues at my workplace by which almost all courses will integrate technology according to the comfort level of the instructor so that when students take a course which demands the use of technology on the part of the students, they will not feel alienated.
2. Develop course sites with the help of which students will be able to work on their own and practice self-directed learning.
3. Adopt the use of more technology-based tools for certain lessons, course and assessment where I've the freedom within the university set course modules. 

At the tertiary level in Bangladesh inertia, ignorance, absence of standardization, insufficient time, lack of proper methodology, lack of educators are all evident in case of technology integration in teaching-learning scenario. It's through a little step at a time by which we can pave the path. Participating in the Webskills course was one big step that I'll always remember as it transformed me. All the staying up at nights, surfing the sites, participating in the class discussions, writing the blog post, working on the given tasks paid off with a richer insight, a better understanding about how technology can be of great help to enhance learning and a transformation into a more equipped teacher. I understand there is no end to adapting to changes as a teacher, and there is always a world of possibilities for everyone to have a better life.

Week 9 Reflection and more reflection

Such a happening week! It started with the course evaluation by taking a survey set by AEI Distance Education program. The survey was like a reflection to my learning. Another reflection was added to the list through an opportunity of writing participant story to share my experiences and/or stories about the impact of the course.

  

Then there was the weekly discussion topic on the use of technology to cater to different learning styles or multiple intelligences. This was also a reflective task as I have taken a quiz on learning styles at Edutopia to know about my learning style and I've to admit that the result was bit surprising. I always deemed myself to be a visual-spatial learner but it seems my learning style leans more on linguistic and interpersonal styles. I pondered on the link between my learning style and the way I teach. As a reflection I might just admit that I concentrate more on linguistic, visual-spatial and intrapersonal learning style for my students when I teach a class. Surprisingly, my lowest score came for visual-spatial style. But I use images, videos, maps in my classes frequently. 

PBL is a wonderful way to cater to different learning styles and intelligences. Projects might be extended to sharpen students' weak intelligences. Because we assign students with activities that they are comfortable with but do not push them to the limits with the intention to improve their enervated intelligences. I also assessed my WebQuest project in terms of MIs. 

This knowledge or awareness of students' learning style is not to make tasks easier for them but to enhance effective learning. Technology has a huge impact in the form of a simple photograph projected in the class which can trigger great learning to an interactive power point or a project based task on the Web. I also think it's a good idea to prepare a list of activities brainstormed by the learners even before the learning takes place so that their interest and learning styles are reflected on as Jane Carlson-Pickering says, "any time I begin to develop a curriculum unit, I seek ideas from the class first." 'Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits' published in the New York Times says the more you sweat to learn something - it is hard to forget. This actually reminds me of the initial stumbling I had to face when I was given technological tool-based tasks for this course. 

Finalizing my project was an easy job by editing the write-up as per the suggestions of Hector and Alina (my peer reviewers) as I wrote a project plan and not a report. I mentioned the project to one of my classes (as we had strike I couldn’t meet the other group) and asked them to pair up. It’s a slow start but I’ll bring up things slowly so that the project doesn’t cause any discomfort to my students. Reading others’ (Alina, Saida, Hector, Krishna and Izela in particular) projects and learning about the different contexts was also interesting. I’m planning to read all the projects.

I tried to create a lesson at ANVILL but failed. I need to see more of it before jumping onto a task.

A good news came through the acceptance letter from MELTA which caused a great happiness! I’m taking my project to the 22nd Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA) International Conference titled “Innovations in English Language Education: Evolving Policy, Envisioning Curriculum, Empowering Practitioners” to be held from 28 to 30 May 2013 at Persada Johor Convention Centre, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Feeling bit sad as the Webskills course is approaching an end. That's why I added cartoons to this post as a means to lighten things up. I got my life so tuned into this weekly schedule that I believe I’ll feel empty when it’s gone! Another reflection!