I must say that I am proud of myself for trying out new technology as
it becomes available. This pride is yet another encouraging factor that
keeps me loving my job and looking forward to how it continues to
change under Web 2.0.
Please understand this raving about online tools doesn’t mean I never
get overwhelmed by them. When I attend a tech-heavy professional
development session, I still leave with my head in a cloud and
experience the same amount of panic all of us feel when something new is
put on our plates. What I have learned about the benefits of embracing
these tools is that I just need to always be on the hunt for technology
that will make me a more effective and more efficient teacher. “Doing
technology” just for a check-mark on my summative evaluation is not
going to achieve anything substantial.
She is PolishLanguage Teacher as well as Teacher of English, English Literature, English Drama,
Business English and different English Exam Preparation (Cambridge FCE).
Education - University of Wroclaw Poland, Philology, Linguistics Jul 1969.
·1974 M.A.
thesis Efficiency of Polish Phonological
Systems, the work was written under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hab. Jerzy
Woronczak. The effectiveness of Polish Phonological and Phonemic Structure:
evaluation of the Excellent.
·1979, she
started a Ph.D. thesis on; Theoretical Ground Rules of The Stages of
Effective Communication. She had
not finished her dissertation.
·July 1994 – Diploma
Proficiency
British Consul.
·June 1995 - Diploma of the Polish-American Postgraduate Study of Communication in The Organization
and Management, organized by
Wroclaw
Polytechnics, the University of Wroclaw and Central Connecticut State
University.
·1995 – 2000
Senior Lecturer at Polish-American Postgraduate Study of Communication in The Organization
and Management
·2011 Premium
Teacher on WizIQ
·October 2013
Freelance Senior Lecturer at Wroclaw University of Technology
She has been teaching Polish
as a foreign language and English, since 1976.
M.A. Halina Ostańkowicz-Bazan
also gives lectures in English on Polish History and Culture for students from
all over the world. She has been looking for some inspiration and learning how
to teach using new technologies, since 2010. WizIQ fascinated her since she found the Platform.
In addition to this, Halina is
extremely interested in Cultural
Diversity. Furthermore, she believes that teaching language using songs is
a powerful and enjoyable way of improving communication skills. Her educational
approach recommends singing a language, meaning that we don’t speak the
language, but we sing it.
Halina is a long-life learner,
so she has been working on improving her teaching/learning skills for a very
long time.
Additionally, she is for blended
learning as well as flipping classroom techniques. She also finds Virtual
Classes tremendously exciting and challenging, as they make attendees feel like
having a real meeting and discussion. In Halina’s view, Visual quality and
non-verbal communication tools, you can share with attendees are particularly
significant. Moreover, an opportunity to communicate online with people from
around the world is an overwhelming experience as well as an excellent chance
to connect for teaching and learning. An occasion to meet and connect with
people from the entire Globe is one of the reasons she appreciates online
communication, very much.
13 Free Teacher Downloads for Back to School:
All of Edutopia’s downloadable and printable back-to-school resources are collected here for easy classroom reference.
For my students.
“Any time a student learns, at
least in part, at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and, at
least in part, through online delivery with some element of student control
over time, place, path, and pace. The modalities
along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to
provide an integrated learning experience.”
The most significant piece of the
definition is the “element of student control” highlighting the flowing
instructional models to enable improved student-centered learning, giving
students greater than before control over the time, place, path, and the step of their learning tracks.
Blended learning offers a balanced approach,
focused on redesigning instructional models first, then applying technology,
not as the driver, but as the supporter, for high-quality learning experiences
that allow a teacher topersonalize and make the most of the learning.
The technology
helps to supply instructors with data, expand student choices for educational
resources and learning materials, and deliver opportunities for students to
practice and to exhibit the high-character performance.
Broadly speaking, I am for
blended learning, which means taking advantage of both traditional f2f techniques
and possibilities presented by new technologies.
Flipped Classrooms provides
pre-recorded material (video or audio) followed by classroom activities.
Learners watch the video before or after the class;
this happens outside F2F meetings. Thank’s to that classroom time can be
used for interaction, such as Q@A sessions, discussions, exercises other
learning activities.
This is the
perfect way to “invert” doings in the class with activities outside the
teaching space.
Flipping is not just about video
and technology.
Moreover, technology does not
replace good teaching. It enhances good teaching.
Flipping helps us to get the best
use of class time. It is a methodology that permits the instructor to involve
students intensely in the collaborative community and produce a shared
problem-solving workshop.
Sometimes, instead of giving
lectures, I call for scholars to watch chosen PPT, videos or podcasts at home,
so when we gather in the course of work, we can
concentrate on the debate, as well as interpretation of the problem.
In my point of view, there are
some significant ways to involve students during a lecture such as short
demonstrations, surveyed by group debate as well as PPT lecture, followed by
expounding, discussing and particularizing the material.
Flipping provides students
opportunities such as; interactive questioning, mind exploration, answer “why
this is important for me to recognize this?” and student-created content.
During my language classes, I
also use flipped methods because I believe in learning by researching as well
as having fun while studying.
Wolff, Lutz-Christian, and Jenny Chan. "Defining
Flipped Classrooms. “Flipped Classrooms for Legal Education. Springer
Singapore, 2016. 9-13.
“Any time a student learns, at
least in part, at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and, at
least in part, through online delivery with some element of student control
over time, place, path, and pace. The modalities
along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to
provide an integrated learning experience.”
The most significant piece of the
definition is the “element of student control” highlighting the flowing
instructional models to enable improved student-centered learning, giving
students greater than before control over the time, place, path, and the step of their learning tracks.
Blended learning offers a balanced approach,
focused on redesigning instructional models first, then applying technology,
not as the driver, but as the supporter, for high-quality learning experiences
that allow a teacher topersonalize and make the most of the learning.
The technology
helps to supply instructors with data, expand student choices for educational
resources and learning materials, and deliver opportunities for students to
practice and to exhibit the high-character performance.
Broadly speaking, I am for
blended learning, which means taking advantage of both traditional f2f techniques
and possibilities presented by new technologies.
Flipped Classrooms provides
pre-recorded material (video or audio) followed by classroom activities.
Learners watch the video before or after the class;
this happens outside F2F meetings. Thank’s to that classroom time can be
used for interaction, such as Q@A sessions, discussions, exercises other
learning activities.
This is the
perfect way to “invert” doings in the class with activities outside the
teaching space.
Flipping is not just about video
and technology.
Moreover, technology does not
replace good teaching. It enhances good teaching.
Flipping helps us to get the best
use of class time. It is a methodology that permits the instructor to involve
students intensely in the collaborative community and produce a shared
problem-solving workshop.
Sometimes, instead of giving
lectures, I call for scholars to watch chosen PPT, videos or podcasts at home,
so when we gather in the course of work, we can
concentrate on the debate, as well as interpretation of the problem.
In my point of view, there are
some significant ways to involve students during a lecture such as short
demonstrations, surveyed by group debate as well as PPT lecture, followed by
expounding, discussing and particularizing the material.
Flipping provides students
opportunities such as; interactive questioning, mind exploration, answer “why
this is important for me to recognize this?” and student-created content.
During my language classes, I
also use flipped methods because I believe in learning by researching as well
as having fun while studying.
Wolff, Lutz-Christian, and Jenny Chan. "Defining
Flipped Classrooms. “Flipped Classrooms for Legal Education. Springer
Singapore, 2016. 9-13.
Simulated immersion is based on the idea that the best way to improve your listening is to be immersed in the target language in a native speaking environment. In the absence of such an opportunity, we try to simulate the conditions that make immersion favorable.
Those conditions are:
Large amounts of time spent simply hearing the language - several hours per week rather than mere minutes spent in a typical class
Maximal exposure to authentic texts
Exposure to a wide range of situations and language forms
Emphasis on bottom up processing to aid in real-life scenarios
Practical ideas
This is my daughter listening.
Hearing versus listening
In class, teachers invariably set tasks to accompany ‘listenings’. This is understandable - it would be a bit weird to simply press play and hope the students got some value from it.
But simply hearing a language - being exposed to it in the background, in the car, on the radio or TV, or in the form of music, for example, is extremely valuable. It’s a much looser, less structured form of practice than is found in class, but it acclimatizes the learner to the sound systems and structures of the language. I will call this type of listening passive listening.
Global standards are everywhere. In business, energy, science and nature. Even chillies have their own scale! So why not English language learning? Why is there no single standard that every person, company and institution can use to benchmark learning progress? Well now there is - the Global Scale of English (GSE), the world's first truly global English language standard which will allow you to measure progress on your English language journey. http://www.wiziq.com/halina-maria-ostanko
This year, AFS-USA will be participating in Global Leadership Week, a conference that brings together administrators, teachers, nonprofit leaders, and students to inspire advocacy in global education. This weeklong conference (April 25-29th) is free to the public with the primary objective of connecting leaders in global education to encourage dialogue and promote resources to foster global competency.
AFS-USA will be hosting a virtual event that will demo an eLearning tool to foster global competency through Intercultural Learning. By exploring different topics, Culture Trek: Classroom Connections, will challenge students to think critically about pressing world issues and the important role of youth in promoting peace. Participants will be provided curriculum resources, lesson plans, and links to relevant online platforms in order to successfully embed global learning into classroom studies throughout the school year.
To learn more about the events that will be taking place during GLW, please visit the GLW Event Directory. We encourage you to join an event and participate in the discussion using the hashtag #globaled16.
Many people assume that a training course is valuable – even essential – preparation for professional English language teaching. But does training really help ... or is it just a waste of time and money? Should we call a halt to teacher training? Our two speakers will debate the issues. Please come along, have your say, ask questions – and join in the vote.
Speakers: Peter Grundy & Penny Ur
Chair: Graham Hall
