My portfolio

1
My portfolio

• Nadejda Rahmanova
• Uzbekistan,Namangan
• September22-November3

2
Contents

• I- introduction
• Personal information
• Reflections/impressions
• Photo collage
• II- 5 Lesson plans
• III-5 Strategies and strategies of other TEA
  participants
• IV- Research mini proposal
• V - Miscellaneous

3
Personal information

• Hello , my name is Nadejda Rahmanova. One man
  once said What will others say about you if you
  cannot tell yourself about yourself? Well, Im
  an English teacher from Namangan, Uzbekistan. I
  was born on January 2, 1982. Ive been teaching
  English for almost 6 years and I really enjoy it.
  I have a 7-year-old son, Leonid, and I have been
  patiently waiting for him to start going to
  school and be ready for me to leave him for
  almost two months. Im glad that he understands
  my wish to gain more experience and see the USA!
  As for my work- I teach English to 9-12 grades at
  regional Academic Lyceum Dustlik in Namangan. I
  am a secretary of NamUzTEA branch (Uzbekistan
  teachers of English Association) and a constant
  participant at its annual conferences at the
  capital, as well as Forum conferences held in
  spring. I also have participated at several
  workshops lead by PCVs and other specialists from
  the USA. Three times I participated in republican
  the best English teacher of the year competition
  as a regional winner. Im always open to
  something new and interesting, anything that
  might be useful at my work or worth teaching to
  my students. I like challenges and eager to
  expand my experience. Thats why I try to take
  part in any course available. Thus I successfully
  completed two on-line courses two years
  ago-        iEARN Distant learning course
  -        Business English international on-line
  courseAt my lyceum Im responsible for
  developing and improving curriculum, conducting
  workshops for other English teachers, sharing
  news and information got from UzTEA and
  conferences, teaching gifted students to prepare
  them for regional and national Olympiads in
  English, Resource center and Im also engaged
  into the staff aware of integrating computer/
  internet into the lessons. All these require lots
  of knowledge and skills and experience, but I do
  feel some lack of it. That causes me to
  constantly work on myself and achieve higher
  levels at teaching and learning English as well
  .I want to get Masters Degree and be able to
  teach students at Universities to make the future
  generation of my country better and more
  intelligent and eager to build a wonderful
  country-Uzbekistan.Im interested in lots of
  things chess, hiking, table tennis, foreign
  languages (Uzbek, French, English, German),
  internet searching, psychology, horoscopes,
  reading (Russian literature, philosophic stories,
  books by OHenry and H.L.Borhes, novels about
  love and life), and of course-making up my own
  poems in Russian(some of you already know that
  Ive recently published a book of my verse called
  Luch Nadejdi- a Beam of Hope).Im very happy to
  be a part of this great program-TEA, and of this
  great team from 11 countries.

4
These are the pictures of my native city
Namangan and my lyceum where I work, and also a
picture of mine in a national dress.
Pictures from fieldtrips to Washington,
Baltimore, Philadelphia, Mount Vernon
Pictures with GMU and JEB Stuart High School
teachers
The BEST Head of ESOL department Ive eve
met-Ruth DeJong and my wonderful mentor teacher
Susan Parker
Dr Steely ,IREX and other TEA participants
Dr Woody(Leadership)
Intensive technology training experts- Abel,
Sumanth, Mohan
MrGeorge Flowers (WATESOL Conference)
5
My reflections and impressions of TEA program,
GMU and JEB Stuart High School

• George Mason University is great!!!!Our
  teachers there- Dr Steely and Dr Shahrokhy are so
  experienced, kind and helpful!!! They provided us
  with laptops(one for each room at the hotel-so
  that we could do our assignments and write
  letters and reports in the evenings and on
  Sundays when we have our days off).I really like
  the program which they give to us twice a week
  we go to school, twice a week we have
  computer-technology classes and  three times a
  week we have lectures/trainings/workshops at GMU,
  once a week we have special guest-lectures, and
  on Saturdays we have extra curriculum
  activities-field-trips (October 4- we went to
  WATESOL Conference in Annandale, October 11-
  Baltimore and Annapolis (we were at dolphin show
  and inner harbor-they were incredible!!!),
  October 16- Philadelphia, October 18 -to the
  Smithsonian, October 25- to Mount Vernon!!!)-the
  organizers of the program really make our staying
  here sufficient, enjoyable and unforgettable. The
  topics and the lectures they choose are so
  interesting, new and indispensable at our future
  work as teachers that I cant stop admiring all
  the things and knowledge and experience I earn
  every day.
• Our computer training also is something
  incredible the trainers (Sumanth, Abel, Mohan)
  explain Microsoft programs in such a way that I
  can make wonderful things on computer myself when
  just shown once!!! As if Ive always had that
  knowledge and skills. Now I can create documents
  in Word, Power Point, Excel, my web-page and all
  that I managed to learn for only 3-4 weeks! They
  are magicians!!! And I was able to make this
  portfolio myself after all!!

• As for the school we go to -nine of us
  were arranged to go to JEB Stuart High School at
  Falls Church -it is also something unexpectedly
  great for me each our day there is so well
  planned by Ruth De Jong (the head of ESOL
  Department at that school)- we visited the
  meeting of community teachers on assessment
  system, we had a college career development
  meeting, we trained at PLATO lab to get
  acquainted to the new electronic system of
  teaching reading skills, we have an opportunity
  to observe 5-10 different lessons a day of
  different teachers of ESOL department(not only
  those of our mentor-teachers ),we also enjoyed
  the pap rally at school on Friday, we visited a
  typical American house of one of the mentors, we
  got information about Special Education and AVID,
  how to use OHP and Smart BoardAnd our mentors
  give us so many materials on lesson plans and
  strategies, handouts, assessment system at
  school, WIDA info, and many others. All the
  teachers at ESOL are so kind and helpful and
  ready to share everything they know and do, they
  are wonderful! My mentor teacher, Susan Parker,
  taught me a lot how to teach literature in
  English and helped me so much to prepare and
  conduct my lessons in her classes with American
  students. Those lessons are unforgettable
  experience of once being a part of this big
  system of education in this big country of great
  opportunities. I really love to be TEA
  participant and Im so proud to be allowed to
  show what I know and what I learned here.
•  

6
Lesson plansLesson1

•  
• PLANNING PHASE
• Topic Adverbs and proverbs
• Identify Performance Objectives
• 1. students will recall and remember better and
  know how properly to use English adverbs
• 2. students will work with proverbs and will try
  to remember most of them
• 3. students will develop their speaking and
  reading skills
• Lesson Outline
• Content-90 minute-lesson
• National/State/Local Standards
•  TEACHING PHASE
• Preparation
• Warm-up activity-
• Various adverbs are written on the big poster
  which is placed on the wall. Students in teams
  try to group those adverbs by underlying each
  with a definite color ( adverbs of manner/ time/
  frequency, etc.)
•  
• Prior knowledge
• Miming adverbs each student is given an
  adverb(on a piece of paper) and in turns students
  act in according with that adverb. The class
  tells the student at the blackboard to write
  something/to go to the door/open the book,
  anything, and the student does it in appropriate
  way(slowly, angrily, etc.)
•  
• Language Goals

• Activities
• Four skills listening and reading-
• Teacher reads out examples and students must find
  appropriate proverb from their lists
• Speaking students in groups try to come up with
  one situation on any chosen proverb(preferably
  from their own experience) and then share it with
  the class
•  
• Practice
• 1.paper on the overhead projector with incomplete
  proverbs( some have the beginning but not the
  ending,others have only the end but not the
  beginning).Students in groups discuss and
  complete the proverbs and the teacher writes down
  the answers on that paper.
• 2.in pairs (the lists of proverbs are put aside
  so that the students cannot cheat)- students try
  to recall as many proverbs and write them down as
  they can1)containing all/well/man/any
  adverbs,2)names of animals/numerals/it/adverbs,3
  )having the comparative degree/consisting of two
  rhyming parts/including repetition /adverbs.
  Share the results to the whole class
•  
• Evaluation
• 1.for participating in each activity students
  are given reward-cards-points-which are counted
  by the end of the lesson and added to their mark
• 2.reading,speaking and writing skills are
  evaluated
• - Other Activities
• - Follow-up
• if we have extra time-students will write
  equivalents to the English proverbs in their
  native languages
•  
• Homework assignments - choose one of the
  following
• Illustrate 3 favourite proverbs from the lesson
• Compose a short dialogue containing at least 5
  idioms or proverbs

7
Lesson2

lesson plan3

• PLANNING PHASE
• Identify Performance Objectives
• 1.develop critical thinking of the students
• 2.check studentsreading skills
• 3.enforce speaking skills through discussion
• Lesson Outline
• Content
• 1-bell work
• 2- prior knowledge and personal experience
• 3-reading the text in turns
• 4 discussion
• 5- working on vocabulary and literature terms
• 6-post-reading activities writing a paragraph
  how do I use my time?
• National/State/Local Standards
•  TEACHING PHASE
• Preparation
• Warm-up activity-bell work on inventors and
  inventions(match and make up sentences)
• Prior knowledge
• Ask questions

•  
• Intern Rahmanova Nadejda Grade Level
  esol level 1C
•  
• Title Time management Date 29
  october 2008
•  
•  
• Objectives
• Introduce fables to the students
• Develop speaking skills
• Develop writing skills
• Lead students to be able to manage their time and
  reach their goals
• Materials for Learning Activities
• Journal Forum(volume 20), white board and markers
• Procedures for Learning Activities
• Discussion
• What is a fable ? Do they know any examples? What
  are important things in life? Do they have any
  dreams or goals? Do they know how to make it come
  true? Will they have enough time for that? What
  is time management?
• New vocabulary fable/audience/crowd/pebbles/suspi
  cious(not trusting,hesitating)/priorities(sth
  that needs attention,consideration,service before
  others)/achieve(ment) (to gain as the result of
  action, to finish successfully)
• Read the text, Fable1 The Rocks, out in turns.
  Ill draw the illustration on the whiteboard
  meantime. Discussion while reading.
• Discussion what does it demonstrate?

8
Lesson4
Lesson plan5

• PLANNING PHASE
•  Identify Performance Objectives
• 1. The students will get to know with the
  famous American writer Edgar Allan Poe2.
  Improve reading skills(skimming, pronunciation,
  intonation, working on vocabulary and elements of
  literature)3) Develop speaking skills
  through discussion4) Halloweens coming
  discussion
• 5) experience the work of their heart through
  authentic video (from my camera)
• Topic of the lesson The Tell-Tale Heart
• Contents
• Before-reading activities
• Questions what do you think small children are
  most afraid of?(the dark/large strange
  animals/sudden loud noises/things they do not
  understand?) Are older people afraid of the same
  things? Do most people talk easily about their
  fears?
• How are they going to frighten somebody
  tonight(at Halloween)? Why will they do this and
  why they wont?
• Skimming and vocabulary (p.40 4)-take 60
  seconds to skim the text(quickly read the first
  2/3 sentences of each paragraph). Look at the
  three groups of words provided and decide which
  group fits the general idea you got from skimming
  the story A,B, or C?
• Show them the video I took in Philadelphia
  Franklin Institute inside the artificial heart
• Reading activities-
• I read paragraphs aloud(1-3 parag.)
• Students start reading in turns
• Post reading activities
• In written-Tests A on pp48-49(understanding the
  main ideas- cause and effect),peer checking ,oral
  checking
• Discussion C 1-the old man was dead but
  theyoung man believed that he could hear the old
  mans heart beating. Why? 2- what do you think
  will happen to the man after the police take him
  away? 3- do you enjoy horror stories or movies?
  Why?
• Home work write a Police Report following the
  instructions in the handouts
• TEACHING PHASE

• Intern Rahmanova Nadejda Grade Level esol level
  2
•  Title Famous people of Uzbekistan and their
  input into the world science and literature
  Date 10/17/2008
• I. Objectives
• -to introduce famous people of my country to
  American students
• -develop students reading skills (scanning and
  skimming)
• -develop students speaking skills
• -encourage group work
• II. Materials for Learning Activities
• A grid to fill in the facts, texts about famous
  people(see attached)
• III. Procedures for Learning Activities
• 1 - introduction( about Uzbekistan)
• Engage previous knowledge
• Model the group activity
• jigsaw group activities( groups A/B/C working
  accordingly with texts about Mirzo
  Ulugbek/Alisher Navoi/Al-Khorazmiy groups
  ABC,ABC,ABC)
• scan the text, look for the necessary
  information, fill in the lines in the grid, share
  within the group, exchange groups and share the
  information to complete the grid present the
  information on each person
• IV. Assessment
• My own reward cards for active participation and
  being the first/correct with every task a student
  gets a reward card.at the end of the lesson
  depending on how many cards students have they
  get their grades.
• V. Differentiation
• The first three groups were spread according to
  the seats(1/2/3rd rows),the second group division
  was done in jigsaw manner(see above)

Names Dates Field of study Published works Great achievements
Alisher Navoi
Mirzo Ulugbek
AlKhorazmiy
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Strategiesstrategy1
Strategy2

• Name of method or strategy
• Bell work
• When is this method or strategy useful?
• At the beginning of each lesson
• Why or how is this method or strategy useful?
• It helps to draw students attention to the
  lesson immediately after the bell,helps students
  to shift onto the English language smoothly and
  without delay,helps to get students ready for the
  main objectives of the lesson
• What are the steps involved in using this
  strategy or method?
• Before the lesson begins the teacher distributes
  appropriate handouts for the bellwork so that as
  soon as students come they will begin doing the
  tasks.
• Tasks may vary either they will touch grammar
  exercise or vocabulary, or the topic of the
  previous lesson. Usually it should be not a
  difficult and boring one.
•  When would this method or strategy be useful in
  your setting?
• Now Ill try to use it every time.All Ill have
  to do is to adapt proper tasks for my students.
• What would you like other teachers in your school
  to know about this method or strategy?
• It is the best alternative for the usual good
  morning/sit down beginning of the lesson in most
  ex-soviet countries.
•  

• Name of method or strategy
• Word wall
• When is this method or strategy useful?
• In learning new vocabulary
• Why or how is this method or strategy useful?
• In a formal vocabulary program throughout the
  year
• What are the steps involved in using this
  strategy or method?
• Words need to be posted on a wall to help
  students remember them and to remind teacher and
  students to use them throughout the year.
• Words can be put in alphabetical columns or
  posted in groups as they were learned. Teacher
  or students can be charge of adding the words.
• When would this method or strategy be useful in
  your setting?
• Each week a chapter from the vocabulary book is
  posted. Periodically lists can be reviewed and
  students can be assigned to use appropriate words
  in their speaking or writing.
• What would you like other teachers in your school
  to know about this method or strategy?
• It is extremely easy and requires no special
  materials. The words or lists must be neat and
  large enough to read from a distance. It helps
  the teacher to remember to use the words as often
  as possible and keeps them in front of the
  students so they can really become part of their
  vocabulary. If they are in groups it helps
  students associate the words with topics.
•  
•  

10
Strategy3
strategy4

• 1-Corners
• Processpose a question that has multiple answers
  or ask students to rank order several
  options.Give students time to consider their own
  thinking about the topic, they move to a corner
  of the room which has been designated as the
  meeting place of all those holding the same
  opinion.they discuss then report out for their
  corner.
• Sample topics which professions are most id
  demand now?/ which character in the book would
  you most like to meet?/name four inventions,
  which is most significant and why?/name four
  historical figures-who changed the world the most
  and why?
• 2-Frame of reference
• Purpose-these initial notations help students
  surface prior knowledge or related experiences.
  Process the topic to be discussed is placed in
  the center of the matted frame( like darts). In
  five minutes students brainstorm about the
  topic-on the mat area of the frame.then they
  write who or what influenced their thinking and
  jot it down in the frame area of the
  graphic.students share frame of references with a
  partner or groups.
• Variations historical person in the center,and
  around-their lives /events/people. Or the same
  about students themselves.
• 3-Graffiti
• Process write problems,formulas,sentences to be
  translated , ideas to brainstorm on pieces of
  large chart paper and post around the room.
  Students move in small groups from chart to
  chart.each group works on a different
  question/topic and writes responses/graffiti
  which can be short words,phrases,graphics on
  their chart paper.exchange the charts until all
  the charts are completed. Discuss.
• Variation at the beginning students may find out
  what they already know and can do in the middle
  it is a useful way to check on their learning. At
  the end students may predict what will be on the
  exam.

• Name of method or strategy
• Scanning/selective attention
• When is this method or strategy useful?
• When working with texts or any information
  (reading,writing,listening)
• Why or how is this method or strategy useful?
• It helps to focus on specific content information
  or vocabulary as students read/listen or write.
• It develops reading skills, helps to memorize the
  information or the vocabulary.
• Its good for follow-on activities ( filling in
  grids, discussion, comparing)
• What are the steps involved in using this
  strategy or method?
• Distribute the texts among students (either
  pair/group work or individually)or turn on the
  tape in the recorder(actually it should follow
  the explanations) and give them the points to be
  focused on. For example, if it is the text on
  famous people-students will have to fill in the
  grid of different facts about them, and thus
  while reading students should look for those
  facts in their texts and jot down that
  information (either into the grids or into their
  notebooks).
• As a follow-on activity teacher may use
  discussion/sharing the information, or group
  activities to complete the grid(jigsaw activity
  when each group had different information to look
  for and then to share with other groups)
• When would this method or strategy be useful in
  your setting?
• When working with texts or tapes, group work
• What would you like other teachers in your school
  to know about this method or strategy? It really
  enables students to look for the necessary
  information themselves and be able to share it
  with their friends later, thus it also provides
  developing speaking skills sometimes.
•  

11
Strategy5
Strategies of other TEA
participants

• Name of method or strategy
• using overhead projector with pictures/sentences
  and blanks to fill in with markers
• When is this method or strategy useful?
• As a warm-up activity,as a presentational or
  practice part of the lesson
• Why or how is this method or strategy useful?
• To teach beginner level students,to develop
  speaking skills and critical thinking,to
  reinforce vocabulary,to drill spelling,for
  spatial and linguistic intelligent
  students,requires little preparational time and
  saves time on learning process(instead of writing
  the same on the board)
• What are the steps involved in using this
  strategy or method?
• (there are lots of possibilities to use the
  projector-this is only one of many)
• Choose a transparent according to the theme or
  topic of the lesson(eg. Furniture/nouns/verbs)
• Put it on the glass of the projector
• Ask students to name the object and you write the
  word below the picture.
• Ask students to suggest verbs(as many as
  possible) to apply to the objects in the
  picture,and again write down those verbs near the
  objects.
• Sometimes ask students to spell the words/drill
  the correct pronunciation/write a sentence with
  the object and the verb in the picture into their
  note-books.
• When would this method or strategy be useful in
  your setting?
• Whenever it is possible for me to use a
  projector, to have appropriate transparent,
  mostly when I need to work with the vocabulary.
• What would you like other teachers in your school
  to know about this method or strategy?
• All that usefulness described above!!!
•  

• 1(Marinas)
• Name of method or strategy
• Project work
•  When is this method or strategy useful?
• It is useful as a way to revise and consolidate
  the material.
•  
• Why or how is this method or strategy useful?
• It is so because it is tended to develop
  listening, speaking, reading. The students are
  given enough time to be prepared. Moreover, this
  method is to contribute to the students
  collaboration, group working. Also it helps them
  to work with references, develops the ability
  drive to conclusions and makes the decisions
  within a group. What are the steps involved in
  using this strategy or method?
• The teacher is to arrange the plan of the future
  project in advance and to inform the students.
  The tasks are up to the teacher, but he/she
  should aim the student at them. For example, to
  use active vocabulary, cover this or that topic.
  After the presentation the listeners are to
  comment on the presentation from different
  aspects manner of presentation, usage of
  vocabulary, sequences of speeches, emotional
  environment an so on.
• When would this method or strategy be useful in
  your setting?
• In the end of the unit. But it also helpful in
  the middle of the unit if the teacher is aimed at
  consolidation and revision of a definite set of
  the material.
• What would you like other teachers in your school
  to know about this method or strategy?
• It is very helpful to develop students
  independence in communication, be able to express
  negative and positive views. But developing these
  abilities requires patience of the teacher and
  her/ his ability to manage the process.
•  

12
continued

• 2(Rusudans)
• Name of method or strategy
• Dividing a group into 3 different working groups
  (1) Small group (2) Independent group (3)
  Computer.
•  
• When is this method or strategy useful?
• While conducting a reading lesson.
•  
• Why or how is this method or strategy useful?
• It engages all students throughout a reading
  lesson. It is often difficult to get the
  attention of all the students during a reading
  lesson. So, this strategy helps a teacher to
  engage all the students in different group
  activities during the lesson.
•  
• What are the steps involved in using this
  strategy or method?
• A teacher makes a list of the students already
  divided into 3 different groups (A, B, C). These
  groups are then divided by the working group
  activities small group, independent group,
  computer group. At the same time, each group is
  assigned a different group activity.
•  
• When would this method or strategy be useful in
  your setting?
• It will be really a useful tool while teaching
  reading.
•  
• What would you like other teachers in your school
  to know about this method or strategy?
• I will introduce this strategy, and they will be
  able to use it during a reading lesson.
•  

• 3Name the method or strategy
• Video viewing
• 2. When is this method or strategy
  useful?
• It is useful if you have a short
  video on any topic in the curriculum.
• 3 Why or how is this method or strategy
  useful?
• This method catches the interest of
  the children.It gives variation to a regular
  class. It develops childrens viewing and
  hearing abilities.They also need to be alert as
  they have to take down points.
•  
• 4.What are the steps involved in using
  this strategy or method?
• The teacher gives a summary of the topic
  to be viewed.He asks children to take down the
  main points as they view.The teacher discusses
  the film and the children take down what they
  have missed.
• 5.When would this method or strategy be
  useful in your setting?
• It would be useful for any topic if the
  teacher is able to get a short film,no more than
  20 to 30 minutes.The children can then be given a
  worksheet where they put down the information
  they have collected.
•  
• 6.What would you like other teachers in your
  school to know about this method or strategy?
  
  
  
• This method would would generate a lot of
  interest and vary a regural classroom
  teaching.But if overused,it could become boring
  and probably put children to sleep.
•  
•  

13
continued

• 5(Lyudmilas)
• Strategies for Teaching Writing
• Explain to students that writing is a process.
  Students should not expect to sit down and 30
  minutes later have a finished product. All Write
  can serve as a handbook with good information
  about the writing process.
•  It may be helpful to the students to begin the
  writing process as a class or in small groups.
  Begin the writing project by showing students
  examples of the form of writing the students need
  to produce. Another option might be to begin
  prewriting in groups.
•  Have students explore where, when and how they
  write. For example, some students might prefer
  to write in a quiet library after school, while
  others might do most of their writing in their
  room at home with music playing. Some students
  prefer to write by hand, others on a computer.
  As students discuss their writing preferences,
  they can begin to take ownership of their
  personal writing process. You can use this
  activity as a class or group discussion or with
  the Sample Writing Anticipation Guide.
•  It might be useful to have writing groups for,
  where each student reads his or her writing out
  loud to the other members of the group and
  solicits feedback. Alternately, students in
  writing groups can each be assigned a role in
  which they look at specific aspects of the piece,
  such as topic sentences, verb usage, or
  transitions.
•  Try to incorporate vocabulary into writing as
  well as other units. Students could write a
  paragraph using a word bank of new vocabulary
  words, or to practice word families or different
  forms of words from the same root. Students
  could write a nonfiction piece or a fictional
  story. Students could work alone or in groups.
  You could also use this kind of writing as a tool
  for assessing vocabulary. Additionally, simple
  writing projects could provide opportunity for
  practice at peer response. You will find more
  tips on incorporating vocabulary into writing in
  Nonfiction Craft Lessons, pages 96 and 97.
• Have the students begin the writing process by
  prewriting. The following chart lists some
  prewriting methods, as well as resources where
  you can find more information, if available.
  Inspiration and Think Sheets are two software
  programs that many schools have that are great
  tools for prewriting. Check with your school
  about accessing these programs. Pages 19-32
  (1998 edition) or 36-50 (2003 edition) of All
  Write are dedicated to various prewriting
  techniques.
•  Sample Peer Response Sheet 1
•  Author name _________Essay title_________________
  ____
• Responder name _________ Assignment_______________
  _____
•  Directions Read the essay you have been given
  before completing this sheet. This peer response
  is worth 10 points. You will receive points for
  complete answers. Remember that your job is not
  to correct mistakes or to write the essay for the
  author. Your only job is to give the author an
  outsiders perspective on his/her paper. If you
  cannot understand something well enough to
  summarize it here, then let the author know!

• 4(Marinas)
• Name of method or strategy
• Foldable
• When is this method or strategy useful?
• Teachers use foldable to enhance the study of
  words in their classroom. After learners have
  been introduced to a concept, the teacher
  facilitates the construction and application of
  this three-dimensional organizer. As with all
  strategies, the creation process must be modeled
  .
• Why or how is this method or strategy useful?
• Learners retain more concepts due to the process
  of creation and manipulation
• Learners enjoy working with new words and
  concepts
•  
• What are the steps involved in using this
  strategy or method?
•  
• Learners use foldables to create tangible
  containers for their new words in a useable and
  hands-on format. Of course, the strategy does not
  end with the construction. The foldable must be
  used in some format to show application. Learners
  created the Matchbook by laying multiple sheets
  on top of one another at staggered lengths and
  folding over. This strategy enables what appears
  to be a single sheet of paper to contain layers
  of information about words. Learners can organize
  words into different parts or even write details
  information on a specific word.
•  
•  
• When would this method or strategy be useful in
  your setting?
• It can be used not only esl classes you can use
  at any subject when you want your students have
  useful guide in their hand
• What would you like other teachers in your school
  to know about this method or strategy?
• This is strategy which really motivates your
  students to learn new information

14
continued

• Part I Complete the following checklist
• Does the essay have
• _____ an introductory paragraph? _____ the
  required number of
• paragraphs?_____ a concluding
  paragraph? _____ the required length? ____ an
  interesting title? _____ one inch margins?
•  _____ 12 point Times New Roman type? (this peer
  response form is written in 12 points Times New
  Roman with one-inch margins)
•  _____ a header with the authors name, class
  period and the date?
•  Part II Introduction. Answer the following
  questions completely.
• Does the introductory paragraph have a thesis
  statement? Underline the thesis statement in blue
  on the authors paper.
•  
• Is the thesis statement well written (in other
  words, is it neither too general nor too
  specific, and does it give you a hint about the
  essay)? Tell why or why not.
•  Does the introduction contain background
  information that prepares the reader for the
  thesis statement? Underline the background
  information on the authors paper in green.
•  Does the introduction grab your attention? Tell
  why it does or does not here.
•  Sample Peer Response Sheet, continued
•  Part III Body. Answer the following questions
  completely.
• Does each body paragraph have a topic sentence?
  Underline each topic sentence on the authors
  paper in orange.
• Does each body paragraph have at least 3-4
  sentences giving an example to support the topic
  sentence? Write a one-sentence summary of each
  example here AND underline those sentences in
  purple.
• Body paragraph 1
•   Body paragraph 2
•   Body paragraph 3

• 6
• Name the method or strategy
• Self-presentation
• When is this method or strategy useful?
•  
• When you get to know with a new group of
  students, at the beginning of school year or
  school term.
•  
• Why or how is this method or strategy useful?
•  
• It gives you an opportunity to know about your
  students as much as possible in a very short time
  and organize friendly relationships inside the
  group
•  
• What are the steps involved in using this
  strategy or method?
•  
• At the beginning you give your kids small
  separate sheets of paper and ask them to draw in
  a simple way three most important points of their
  character in a three or four minutes. When the
  pictures are ready you ask kids to put them on
  the walls or on the blackboard in the classroom.
  And afterwards you all have a gallery walk around
  the class. Some students guess each other
  according to the pictures, the others try to
  guess. And the teacher has a chance to see a
  piece of his kids inner world.
•  
• When would this method be useful in your setting?
•  
• When I begin to work with a new group of
  students, or if Im asked to give a workshop to
  my colleagues in order to create a friendly
  atmosphere in the group.

15
Continued
Some posters and
photos

• Name of method or strategy7
• Field Trip to Philadelphia.
• When is this method or strategy useful?
• This method is used when the teacher covers
  materials in class about different topics from
  history or other. She can take students on field
  trip to see those places giving different tasks.
• Why or how is this method or strategy useful?
• When students learn different topics, seeing
  those things or places at the same time makes
  their understanding better. They can feel and see
  when they learn. Students find field trips fun
  and while the teacher also has tasks prepared for
  them.
• What are the steps involved in using this
  strategy or method?
• When the teacher decides to take students on a
  filed trip, s/he needs permission from the
  principal. H/se prepares tasks fro students, what
  s/he wants her students to observe or gather
  information about during the trip.
• When would this method or strategy be useful in
  your setting?
• This method will be very useful from my students
  as well. I have tried it once and it worked well.
  I will try to do it more often.
• What would you like other teachers in your school
  to know about this method or strategy?
• I will share this strategy with teachers of
  different subjects and I am sure they will also
  find it very useful.
•  
•  

16
Action research mini proposal

• Action research mini proposal
• My name is Nadejda Rahmanova. Ive
  been an English teacher for 6 years. I teach
  10-12th grades at academic lyceum Dustlik1 at
  Namangan Vocational Pedagogical Institute. There
  are about 1,500 students in our lyceum each
  group consists of 30 students. According to the
  chosen direction of studying and the curriculum
  some groups have English classes 6 hours per
  week, others 4 or 2 hours only. But knowledge of
  English is indispensable criterion when entering
  our universities and institutes. Thats why I try
  to do all my best to help my students develop
  English skills, increase vocabulary and improve
  their grammar knowledge. Yet the time allowed at
  classes is not sufficient. The process of
  acquiring a foreign language appears to be not so
  easy and exciting for most of my students, and
  Ive always been looking for something
  appropriate for them, something which would
  involve my students completely into the learning
  process and they would enjoy it. Gradually I came
  up with the idea of on-line projects with other
  schools from other countries. I became a member
  of iEARN (international education and research
  network) and took up two learning circles with a
  group of my students together with 10 other
  countries. I found out that my students got
  interested into those projects, they loved to get
  and send letters to other students from other
  countries. They were especially excited preparing
  a package to send to other schools and were so
  glad to get one from the USA. Their writing and
  speaking skills improved so much and so quickly!
  They even acquired basic computer skills due to
  that program. Unfortunately I had to give up my
  iEARN projects because of the end of the internet
  grant at our lyceum and also because of the fact
  that new groups of my students did not have
  enough competence even to read to say nothing
  about composing and typing letters in English on
  the computerLast year the enrollment of students
  in our lyceum was of much better level and when
  I proposed to take up one of such projects
  (e-pals and pen-pals), my students immediately
  agreed and started learning English harder so
  that this year they would be able to take part in
  international collaboration. Now Im
  here, in the USA, studying EFL/ ESL research and
  assessment, designing portfolio and acquiring
  leadership skills. I think now Im almost ready
  to conduct my own research in the field Im
  completely interested in and which will help me a
  lot on my coming back to my country, to my
  lyceum, to my classes and to my students. So my
  research question is
• How can I organize on-line
  collaborative exchanges among EFL/ESL teachers
  and students in other schools and other
  countries?
• The world becomes smaller day by day
  due to numerous and various international
  organizations, internet and means of
  communication. Meantime the world still remains
  rather enormous when you start thinking of other
  cultures, other nations, other religions and
  values. But not many would like to become a part
  of any collaborative work, they would prefer to
  stick to their own small world inside their city
  and country

• . Not many people would love to reveal their
  thoughts and share their knowledge and experience
  with others not many people would like to spend
  their time and perhaps money on internet to work
  for the project suggested. Ill have to keep that
  in mind when I start working at my research
  question Ill also have to take into
  consideration my own lack of experience in this
  field and the fact that not many teachers and
  students would be able to take an active part at
  these collaborative exchanges in spite of their
  willingness to.
• Eventually, Ive come up with the
  following possible steps and ideas on how to
  conduct my research and how to implement it into
  practice in future
• Through interview Ill find future partners among
  TEA participants in Virginia, Alabama and
  Nebraska
• Ill get in touch with Tom Holmes, a teacher from
  South Dakota, who showed his interest in the same
  work of an international pen-pals project and who
  is already ready to work with me on it( he might
  be very helpful in most questions)
• Ill reregister into iEARN on-line and look for
  any appropriate suggestions on this topic in the
  internet (i.e. the work that is already being
  done or planned among teachers and students of
  the world)
• Through interviews(oral or via-mail)well discuss
  plausible projects and possible ways to organize
  and lead these on-line collaborative exchanges
  among us and our students
• Im thinking of inviting the following people
  into this project Tom Holmes(US), Ann
  Naurouz(US), Valeria(Ukraine),
  Lyudmila(Ukraine), Sojida(Uzbekistan),
  Svetlana(Kazakhstan), Sunita(India),
  Humoyun(Bangladesh)
• Also on my coming back Ill ask my students to
  make up a list of topics they would love to
  discuss and work on with other students from
  other countries to describe themselves and make
  a summary of their life in lyceum and Uzbekistan
  and prepare a Power Point Presentation to share
  with other participants
• I would suggest doing the same to my colleagues,
  so that we could settle the initial project for
  our students and organize the whole work in such
  a way which will be appropriate, convenient and
  most useful for each participant of those
  on-line collaborative exchanges
• Perhaps some students would like to make video or
  prepare an electronic photo-album for other
  participants to see , and the other groups may
  follow them in that
• Ill design a new web-page devoted to this
  project (thanks to our trainers at GMU on
  Intensive Technology Training) so that the
  results will be available for all participants in
  the quickest and most comfortable way.
• As soon as this research work gets started and
  gets into the active process, I do hope that each
  participant will benefit a lot from that work and
  be able to share that experience with others,
  involving more and more newcomers, and therefore
  enriching our collaborative exchanges. Id love
  to make this enormous, sometimes cruel, world
  smaller, pleasant, friendly, and amazing for as
  many people as possible. And what is now mostly
  important for me that this project will
  definitely improve English knowledge and skills
  of my students and help me (and other teachers I
  suppose) make the learning process for students
  easier, more interesting and provide sufficient
  evidence of rapid improvement of EFL/ESL skills.

17
Miscellaneous

• What elements are essential for successful group
  work?
• After group discussion we came up with the
  following answer
• Time aspect- no more than 30-40 minutes in one
  group(if you switch the groups like in jigsaw
  activity-its OK),but preferably this shouldnt
  take much time at all
• The frequency and the variety of tasks and
  activities
• Element of competition
• Model the activity (students should definitely
  know how theyll work and what result is
  expected) or explain quite clearly
• Enough handouts/materials for everybody in the
  group
• Proper differentiation (level of knowledge, size
  of group, mixed groups, different activities)
• Mind the objectives both of the lesson and the
  group work itself
• Assessment- who and how will evaluate group
  work(the members themselves, the teacher, other
  groups)
• Explain the benefits of group work to students
• - Motivation for students to work in groups
• - 5 Rs- responsibility /respect/
  relationship/ reliance/ reflection!!!
• Planning stage what activities to use//how
  long/handouts
• Implementation stage - examples, explanation,
  everyone is involved
• Assessment stage- get a feedback be sure that
  everybody contributed into the activity
• Self evaluation
• - The teacher should be encouraging and
  motivating
• To have a checklist to concentrate on for the
  teacher(vocabulary ,grammar mistakes,creativity)

• How can group work aid your teaching?
• A lot!!! I always use group work at my classes
  and sometimes it is indispensable to. So,
• WHY do I need this strategy?
• Because I have multi-level classes of students
• Because I have 15-30 students at a time and want
  everyone to work at the lesson at least a little
• Because I do find it useful
• Because I need to develop such skills of my
  students as reading and speaking skills
• WHEN do I use group work?
• As a warm-up activity
• To present a new theme
• To reinforce the presentation/ practice part of
  the lesson
• When I especially need their speaking skills to
  develop
• When there is a necessity in discussion
• A project work
• A problem solving activity
• A role-play
• HOW group work helps me?
• To keep time management
• To get involved as many students into the
  learning process as possible

18
Thank you very much for your attention

• It was a great pleasure to be a part of this
  great team of TEA participants, of IREX people,
  of GMU teachers, of JEB Stuart High School ESOL
  department teachers.
• Dare to dream!
• Never give up hoping for the best!
• Nadejda Rahmanova
• Visit my internet page at http//nadejdateawinner
  .blogspot.com