Halina's English Academy

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The Learning Styles

If you were one of those people who struggled through school, you may have felt like you weren’t smart enough and that you’d never be able to catch up to your fellow classmates.

Sadly, it happens all too frequently with students right through high school, college and beyond.

However, if you’ve ever felt this way, then it’s very possible that you weren’t being taught according to your learning style.

Luckily, you can totally avoid this problem with independent language learning. As an independent language learner, you can tailor your instruction in a way that best suits you.

Top 20 Innovation Articles of July 2016

Top 20 Innovation Articles of July 2016
To read.

Here are four more strong articles published the last week of the month:

• How to use Design Thinking to get fit and lose weight – by Jeffrey Tobias
• Innovate by Adopting a Role Model Organization – by Paul Sloane
• Innovation in the World Demands Adaptability in the Workplace – by Andrew Heikkila
• The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People – INFOGRAPHIC

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Join our social network!:
Connect with like-minded to explore new ideas!

M.A. Halina Ostańkowicz-Bazan

halina.bazan@pwr.wroc.pl

Senior Lecturer at Wroclaw University of Technology,

Foreign Languages Department and Department of Polish for Foreigners, since 1976.

http://www.sjo.pwr.wroc.pl/168019,131.dhtml

http://www.sjo.pwr.wroc.pl/89769,131.dhtml

She is  Polish Language 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.

Work Experience

at Wroclaw University of Technology

·       October 1^st, 1976 University Assistant

·       1980 Senior Assistant

·       1986 University Lecturer

·       1992 Senior University Lecturer

·       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.

 

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13 Free Teacher Downloads for Back to School

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.

 

Teaching Strategies

Teaching Strategies

Teaching Strategies

There are a variety of teaching strategies that instructors can use to improve student learning. The links below will show you some ways to make your classes more engaging.

• Active Learning - Active Learning is anything that students do in a classroom other than merely passively listening to an instructor's lecture. Research shows that active learning improves students' understanding and retention of information and can be very effective in developing higher order cognitive skills such as problem solving and critical thinking. 
• Clicker Use in Class - Clickers enable instructors to rapidly collect and summarize student responses to multiple-choice questions they ask of students in class.
• Collaborative/Cooperative Learning - Cooperative and collaborative learning are instructional approaches in which students work together in small groups to accomplish a common learning goal.They need to be carefully planned and executed, but they don't require permanently formed groups.
• Critical Thinking - Critical thinking is a collection of mental activities that include the ability to intuit, clarify, reflect, connect, infer, and judge. It brings these activities together and enables the student to question what knowledge exists. 
• Discussion Strategies - Engaging students in discussion deepens their learning and motivation by propelling them to develop their own views and hear their own voices.  A good environment for interaction is the first step in encouraging students to talk. 
• Experiential Learning - Experiential learning is an approach to education that focuses on "learning by doing," on the participant's subjective experience. The role of the educator is to design "direct experiences" that include preparatory and reflective exercises.
• Games/Experiments/Simulations - Games, experiments and simulations can be rich learning environments for students.  Students today have grown up playing games and using interactive tools such as the Internet, phones, and other appliances.  Games and simulations enable students to solve real-world problems in a safe environment and enjoy themselves while doing so. 
• Humor in the Classroom - Using humor in the classroom can enhance student learning by improving understanding and retention. 
• Inquiry-Guided Learning - With the inquiry method of instruction, students arrive at an understanding of concepts by themselves and the responsibility for learning rests with them. This method encourages students to build research skills that can be used throughout their educational experiences.
• Interdisciplinary Teaching - Interdisciplinary teaching involves combining two different topics into one class.  Instructors who participate in interdisciplinary teaching find that students approach the material differently, while faculty members also have a better appreciation of their own discipline content. 
• Learner-Centered Teaching - Learner-Centered teaching means the student is at the center of learning.  The student assumes the responsibility for learning while the instructor is responsible for facilitating the learning.  Thus, the power in the classroom shifts to the student. 
• Learning Communities - Communities bring people together for shared learning, discovery, and the generation of knowledge. Within a learning community, all participants take responsibility for achieving the learning goals.   Most important, learning communities are the process by which individuals come together to achieve learning goals. 
• Lecture Strategies - Lectures are the way most instructors today learned in classes.  However, with today’s students, lecturing does not hold their attention for very long, even though they are a means of conveying information to students. 
• Mobile Learning - Mobile Learning is any type of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed location.
• Online/Hybrid Courses - Online and hybrid courses require careful planning and organization.  However, once the course is implemented, there are important considerations that are different from traditional courses.  Communication with students becomes extremely important. 
• Problem-Based Learning - Problem-based Learning (PBL) is an instructional method that challenges students to "learn to learn," working in groups to seek solutions to real world problems. The process replicates the commonly used systemic approach to resolving problems or meeting challenges that are encountered in life, and will help prefer students for their careers. 
• Service Learning - Service learning is a type of teaching that combines academic content with civic responsibility in some community project.  The learning is structured and supervised and enables the student to reflect on what has taken place. 
• Social Networking Tools - Social networking tools enable faculty to engage students in new and different means of communication.
• Teaching Diverse Students - Instructors today encounter a diverse population in their courses and many times need assistance in knowing how to deal with them.
• Teaching with Cases - Case studies present students with real-life problems and enable them to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real life situations.  Cases also encourage students to develop logical problem solving skills and, if used in teams, group interaction skills.  Students define problems, analyze possible alternative actions and provide solutions with a rationale for their choices. 
• Team-Based Learning - Team-based learning (TBL) is a fairly new approach to teaching in which students rely on each other for their own learning and are held accountable for coming to class prepared.  Research has found that students are more responsible and more engaged when team-based learning is implemented.  The major difference in TBL and normal group activities is that the groups are permanent and most of the class time is devoted to the group meeting. 
• Team Teaching - At its best, team teaching allows students and faculty to benefit from the healthy exchange of ideas in a setting defined by mutual respect and a shared interest in a topic.  In most cases both faculty members are present during each class and can provide different styles of interaction as well as different viewpoints. 
• Writing Assignments - Writing assignments for class can provide an opportunity for them to apply critical thinking skills as well as help them to learn course content. 

                      http://www.merlot.org/merlot/materials.htm?category=2299&&