About me

I am an EFL teacher,teacher trainer and a certified e-moderatpr. I've been working with young and very young learners for 7 years now and I'm the coordinator and the leader of the kindergarten department for four years. I'm working as a freelance teacher trainer for British Side,Magenta, Macmillan and Oxford. I'm also working for an American film company, Mindactiva as the educational coordinator of a DVD project that aims at teaching very young learners English through animations, songs, games etc. and a jump start to English. I am very interested in digital environment in language learning, practical application of the new technologies and social software known as Web 2.0 such as blogs , tags , technorati, RSS news feeds, flickrblogs,wikis, del.icio.us , vlogging, etc. and the ways we can adapt them in to our teaching. I have my own course for English teachers about Web 2.0 tools, digital story telling, eportfolios, blogs and wikis. I have written two story books for children and both were animated by 6 year old students! You can watch this video:

Here are the courses I've attended: BRITISH COUNCIL'S E-MODERATION COURSE (2009-6 Weeks) The aim of this course is to introduce some of the skills and techniques conducive to creating a successful, constructive online learning environment. * Module 1 - Introduction to Online Learning,Moderating and Tutoring * Module 2 - Online Trainer Skills ( Roles of an online moderator, constructivist learning, strategies for time management, strategies for an online community) * Module 3 - Managing Forums (The key features of a forum, effective forum management, online roles) * Module 4 - Managing Wikis (The key features of a wiki, benefits and challenges, problems using wikis, wiki resources) * Module 5 - Giving Feedback (Principles of giving feedback, making negative feedback constructive, reflective practice) PILGRIMS READING COURSE (2009-24 Hours) The course aims at improving reading skills and offers different reading activities. TESOL ONLINE SESSIONS: BECOMING A WEBHEAD (2009) In the course of the 6 weeks, I learnt collaboratively and hands on to: * use various synchronous and asynchronous web tools for learning and teaching EFL/ESL, * interact through e-mail, text chat, voice chat, voice and video mail, and distribution lists, among others, * create wikis, blogs, podcasts and interactive exercises related to their own contexts, and, * reflect on ways of applying those tools to their teaching, either online or face-to-face. I'm a proud WEBHEAD now! TEACHING VERY YOUNG LEARNERS (2008) This is a 12-hour course in teaching English to very young learners.The course was about practical ideas to use in the classrooms. The course covers these areas: *Very Young Children's Learning Styles - Cognitive Differences *Lesson Types & Adapting and Developing Course Materials *How to Manage the Nursery Classroom *Songs and Stories for Teaching Purposes in the Nursery classroom PILGRIMS CREATIVE METHDOLOGY COURSE (2008) The course aims to energise and to offer some alternative activities, strategies and approaches to teaching & learning. The course coveres these areas: *Humanistic Methodology (Silent Way, Lexical Approach,Physico Drama in Linguistics.) *Language Awareness ( Chunking and Spoken Grammar and Computational Linguistics. *Learning Styles and Teaching Styles *Enlivining Text and Exercises and Skills Work *Group Formation and Group Dynamics. *Ludicness. TESOL ONLINE SESSIONS of EVO ESL and EFL VIDEO SLIDE SHOWS and VLOGGING (2008) Both video slide shows and vlogs can be made available to a wide audience via the web and can therefore become powerful motivational tools. In addition, slide shows can be created in little time with minimal equipment (camera phones and a computer), so they are particularly suited to teachers with limited access to IT resources.In this course , I learn how to use student-produced slide shows and vlogs to enhance classes. TESOL ONLINE SESSIONS of EVO GETTING THE MOST OUT OF WEB (2008) This EVO 2008 ESP course focuses on the understanding and practical application of the new technologies and social software known as Web 2. 0 tools to create new cultures of learning and teaching in ESP courses. TESOL ONLINE SESSIONS of EVO TEACHING WITH POWERPOINT (2008) The goal is to show how PPT can be used by both teachers and students. Teachers learn how to use it effectively for their own teaching, e.g. to support a lesson, as well as a tool for collaborative student projects. The workshop combines technical training and expertise with pedagogical insights and focus on practical applications in the classroom. The course begins with an introduction to power point to power point at the beginning level, followed by intermediate and advanced power point instruction and classroom applications. BRITISH COUNCIL TEACHING ENGLISH TO YL (2007) I have learned about children's learning styles, types of lessons, evaluating course materials and making books, dapting and developing course materials, how to manage my class, songand stories for teaching purposes in primary classroom. BRITISH SIDE DRAMA IN ELT (2007) I have learned about why to use drama, how to adapt it into my teaching, different drama techniques. TESOL ONLINE SESSIONS of EVO DIGITAL LANGUAGE LEARNING (2007) I have learned a great big deal about ho wand why to investigate the role of computer games in language learning and teaching. I have examined CDROMs and online games specifically aimed at language learning. I have learned about Second Life and the opportunities that it serves us. I have read so many articals, I have listened to online chats, I have learned how to use digitals tool for my own development. Even I have this wiki because I have learned about it just in this online course. Please see the link KARI SMITH TESTING (2006) BRITISH COUNCIL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSE (2005) I have raised awareness of key characteristics of teenagers, their learning styles, and cognitive preferences, and to relate this to how teenagers think.