every season it has been offered.

With so many successful programs, we

thought we should put together a publi-

cation by and for ELT professionals, and

here it is. It was created in celebration

of International Education Week 2011,

but with your contributions it can con-

tinue to appear and carry articles about

your experience as participants in pro-

fessional exchange programs. These can

inspire your colleagues to try various

models and methods in their own class-

rooms, adopt or adapt them to the needs

of their students and never stop learning

and growing professionally.

I would like to use this opportunity to

thank the Ministry of Education, Re-

search, Youth and Sports for its contin-

ued support for our programs. It has

been a successful partnership that we

value and wish to continue and grow.

I congratulate everyone of you for your

efforts as educators, and I wish all of

you the best in your careers. I invite all

of you to use the ELT resources youll

find out about in the following pages

and I hope to hear more about the suc-

cessful activities you conduct with your

colleagues and students.

Edwina Sagitto Cultural Affairs Officer

U.S. Embassy, Bucharest

As the new Cultural Affairs Officer at the

U.S. Embassy in Romania, I am pleased

to greet the English teachers commu-

nity. Let me say up front how much Im

looking forward to meeting with as

many of you as possible during my term.

I am impressed, and so are my col-

leagues, with the level of English young

Romanians speak so correctly and confi-

dently, and Im sure this is due to your

hard work and desire to learn English.

As you know, the U.S. Embassy in Bucha-

rest has supported, and will continue to

support, reform of the educational sys-

tem. We have brought programs here

sponsored by the U.S. Department of

State; we have designed programs and

activities locally for teachers and stu-

dents of English; we have funded their

participation in international programs

in the U.S. or elsewhere; and we have

encouraged alumni to come back and

share.

Over the past decade, we annually

brought Senior English Language Fel-

lows to conduct in-service training for

young teachers within the first five years

of their careers, mostly from rural and

economically disadvantaged areas.

Within 10 years, the program reached

almost all Romanian counties; some

were visited more than once.

We also had a few Junior English Lan-

guage Fellows at universities who taught

courses on English teaching methods for

students preparing to go into teaching

upon graduation.

Many of you have participated in our

digital videoconferences with American

specialists on teaching democratic princi-

ples through English. Others have par-

ticipated, together with small groups of

students, in the Teaching Tolerance

through English Summer Camps that the

Regional English Language Office at the

U.S. Embassy in Budapest, Hungary, has

been running every summer for six

years. Several Regional English Lan-

guage Officers have participated in the

conferences organized by the Romanian

Association of Teachers of English (RATE)

or its regional branches.

We have been happy to sponsor the

participation of Romanian EL teachers in

TESOL conferences in the United States or

in regional professional conferences in

Europe. And, over the years, the Interna-

tional Visitors Leadership Program

(IVLP), the State Departments flagship

exchange program, has included many

teachers and inspectors of English from

Romania.

We also have nominated teachers for

participation in the E-Teacher Program

About the International

Visitors Leadership Pro-

gram

2

About the

E-Teacher Program

9

About the

English Language Fellow

Program

25

About the

Study of the U.S.

Institutes Program

41

About the

Teaching Tolerance

through English Camps

46

The American Corners

Program in Romania

53

Whether its a summer course, a semester immersion, or a degree program, study abroad can be

one of the most rewarding experiences in a young persons life. International students enrich

classrooms and communities with their ideas, perspectives, and culture. And when they return

home, they bring new knowledge, new perspectives, and a deeper understanding of the world.

From:

Video Message on International Education Week 2011

from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

To listen to the whole message and learn more about International Education Week, please visit

http://iew.state.gov/

IEW 2011 THEME:

International Education: Inspiring Students Locally

to Succeed Globally

http://iew.state.gov/

TTTE

P A G E 2

Anca-Mariana Pegulescu, PhD ELT Inspector General

Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports

I took part in the International

Visitor Leadership Program from March 27 to

April 17, 2008 and such an event was at the

same time a challenge and a reality. The

project had the theme Teaching English as a

Second Language and was administered by

the Academy for Educational Development

and sponsored by U.S. Department of State.

I could observe and understand

the organization and methodology of a wide

variety of ESL teaching programs and teacher

training practice in the United States, includ-

ing bilingual programs in elementary and

secondary schools. The variety of programs

incorporated English programs for immi-

grants, college preparatory programs, com-

puter-assisted language learning, adult basic

education, TESOL conference and applied

linguistics.

The Washington, DC program was

the opening moment and it introduced me to

the worlds capital with everything that

means political life (White House, the Capitol

Hill), cultural and educational activities (the

Academy for Educational Development, the

Smithsonian Institution and the J.F. Kennedy

Center) as well as the mission and activities of

the American Federation of Teachers.

New York City the largest city

in the United States, considered to be the

countrys leading financial and commercial

center, is generally viewed as one of the

world centers of finance, theater and fashion,

with Wall Street, Broadway, the Fifth Avenue.

It also means the symbol of freedom and

democracy with the Statue of Liberty, wel-

coming all the tourists eager to be near it or

the immigrants wanting to remain in the city.

New York, situated at the joining of the Hud-

son and East rivers, is a city of islands. Our

group, including 24 representatives of 24

countries from all over the world (continents

like Europe, Asia, Africa, South America) was

located at Hudson Hotel, very near Central

Park. We attended the 42d TESOL Convention

and Exhibition. The theme of the event was

Building Communities of Practice, Inquiry and

Creativity. More than 7600 ESL/EFL profession-

als from 96 countries took part, best in their

profession, ranging from pre-k-elementary

schools, middle schools, secondary schools, 4-

year colleges, graduate and postgraduate insti-

tutions. I was impressed by the opening ple-

naries quality (names like Lia Kamhi-Stein,

Sandy Briggs or Penny Ur brought topics like

Building Classroom Communities Through

Teachers Lived Experiences, Creating Inde-

pendent Language Users or Correctness and

Correction) of the sessions referring to mentor-

ing (I attended Angi Malderez workshop on

Mentoring as Support for Teacher Learning

exploring different ways of thinking about

kinds of support a school-based mentor can

provide) as well as by the working atmosphere

of several workshops I attended (having as a

topic successful classroom activities). I could

compare with what was happening in the

Romanian educational system and retain the

domains that have not been so much explored

by the Romanian professional associations

conferences I usually attend (I am referring to

RATE and AsMeRo): computer-assisted language

learning, international teaching assistants,

teacher education, video and digital media,

curriculum/materials

development, integrated

skills.

After New York

the group divided into four

teams and we traveled to

San Diego, San Francisco,

Portland, Oregon and Seat-

tle, Washington.

I was assigned

San Francisco group, to-

gether with the representa-

tives of Angola, Costa Rica, Egypt, the Repub-

lic of Tajikistan and Senegal. The main

theme was TESOL in the community. We

visited schools and observed classes at New-

comer High School. I liked the way support

staff members were working collaboratively

with teaching staff members and students,

serving as liaisons between parents and

community agencies to provide social, health

and mental health services and promote

educational success. Students are here pro-

vided with the proper academic grounding

for moving to the comprehensive high

schools. Our visits included also Intrax Inter-

national Institute (welcoming more than

8ooo students annually and providing inter-

national students with quality English lan-

guage programs including ESL classes,

TOEFL, TOEIC preparation, Business English),

American Language Institute, San Francisco

State University, Mountain View-Las Altos

Adult Education Center. The last mentioned

institution assists adults in completing

school equivalency as well as pursuing life

long learning goals. Among teacher training

institutions Transworld Schools from San

Francisco, offer internationally recognized

teacher training (CTESOL Certificate in

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Lan-

guages) and ESL programs to both native

and non-native speakers.

The project closing and evaluation were done

in Boston that is a major Atlantic seaport and

the largest city in New England. Boston holds a

unique position in the annals of American

history. Boston was the cradle of the citizenrys

revolt known as the Boston Tea Party. Here

was heard the revolutionary slogan taxation

without representation is tyranny. Past into

present mingles in the cobblestone streets,

bold buildings of government, marketplaces.

Here are found the world- renowned Ballet,

Opera Company of Boston. The city is also a

leading educational center in the United States.

We visited The Boston Language Institute, the

Center for English Language and Orientation

Programs, Northeastern University, Harvard

Institute for English Language Programs. I

particularly enjoyed the Museum of Fine Arts

that houses and preserves preeminent collec-

tions and works of arts. It provides information

and perspective on art through time and

throughout the world. I also visited J. F Ken-

nedy Library and Museum, dedicated to the

memory of American Nations thirty-fifth presi-

dent. This institution aims to advance the study

and understanding of President Kennedys life

and career and the times in which he lived. For

any visitor it is also an opportunity to under-

stand better Americas political and cultural

heritage, the process of governing and the

importance of public service.

All the other three groups shared what was

really important during the visits and we

concluded on the following general common

aspects:

in large classes teachers have difficulties

evaluating students and monitoring

individual progress;

the real danger here is that some stu-

dents can become passive;

higher level students can assist lower

level students and teachers should bal-

ance their talking time versus students

talking time ( concise directions on

board);

teachers should openly speak about the

cultural differences if they do exist in the

class;

teachers should manage different levels

of motivation, reluctance and fear.

Back in Romania I presented to my

colleagues inspectors the most important as-

pects of such a life long learning experience

and I especially insisted on strategies linked to

our students language learning objectives.

That is why even today Romanian teachers of

English can insist on:

changing activities gradually (serious

fun serious fun);

teaching things that are relevant;

not letting any activity drag too long;

spend extra time motivating students;

make everybody in the class feel part

of a team;

mix up different techniques in the

same class (visual, audio, oral, writ-

ten) and accommodate all the learning

styles in the class.

Such teaching styles are still

debated as student teachers education has

undergone major changes in Romania. The

Romanian educational system is experiment-

ing decentralization that is a common real-

ity in the American educational system. The

American education budget is 10% funded

by the federal Government, 70% by the state

the school belongs to and 20% from the

local taxes. Public education is free and

goes until 16 years of age, while private

education displays religious programs.

Detailed comparisons can con-

tinue but the conclusion is that teaching

English as a second language in Romanian

(or as a modern/foreign language) is per-

formed in a great majority by qualified/

trained teachers who continue their profes-

sional development through training

courses, seminars, conferences, blended

learning. The majority of our students dis-

played good results in their final exams

where the evaluation of linguistic compe-

tences represents a compulsory test.

International Visitor Leadership Program

The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is the U.S. Department of States premier professional exchange pro-

gram. Launched in 1940, the IVLP is a professional exchange program that seeks to build mutual understanding between

the U.S. and other nations through carefully designed short-term visits to the U.S. for current and emerging foreign lead-

ers. These visits reflect the International Visitors professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United

States.

There is no application for this program. International Visitors are selected and nominated annually by American Foreign

Service Officers at U.S. Embassies around the world.

The International Visitors Leadership Program has recently celebrated its 70th anniversary. http://exchanges.state.gov/ivlp/ivlp.html

P A G E 3

Roxana Marin, George Cobuc National Bilingual College, Bucharest

Few experiences compare in im-

portance to my participation in the Interna-

tional Visitors Program. In 2006 I was invited

to apply for the Grassroots Activism stream.

My work as a human rights and anticorruption

activist has been equally important to my

teaching all along my career. Due to my Roma

heritage, these two things became obligatorily

intertwined from the onset, and thus I have

often used my teaching as a platform for

activism. In the late 90s it was not a common

occurrence to have high school students offer

to help with community organizing in Roma

slums or, as a result of their participation in

anticorruption groups, refuse to use house-

hold objects or simply goodies that their

parents had received as bribe. Naturally, it

was not easy to have

students willingly and

actively participate in

activities of a type that I

designed as experiential

learning opportunities for

them,

but

clearly stemming from

my human rights and anticor-

ruption activism. Things changed

incredibly after my participation in

the International Visitors Program.

But before I begin to elaborate on the mechan-

ics of this incredible impact, I would like to

bring back a few highlights of my experience

during the actual program. The benefits of

participating are manifold, and they range

from personal to professional in a wide array.

I met people from 4 different continents and

each difference and similarity we discovered

was a wow factor. The friendships established

during those incredible four weeks are defi-

nitely in the long-lasting, if not lifelong, cate-

gory. Also, the program exposed us to an

incredible variety of communities, projects,

institutions and even climates which is not

mentioned here only as a joke in fact. The

aridity of New Mexico is a key factor to the

local politics, and virtually everything is about

water rights for New Mexicans. I had not once

before thought about the importance of water

rights until then. There were many other eye-

opening or simply very touching experiences:

meeting Libertarians in the flesh, hanging

out with Native American chiefs, watching the

stream of day-workers coming in and out of

the U.S. at the border with Mexico, learning

about the ways in which educators in the

South are trying to make sure an increasing

number of immigrant kids are not deprived of

their right to education.

I would recommend the IVP pro-

gram to any educator for at least one of the

interactions we had, nevermind their totality.

Your approach to teaching can simply not

remain the same after youve experienced

what you have as an International Visitor.

Ah, and I simply love how one must always

use caps for these two words. In truth, they

are special.

And now to why my IVP experi-

ence has had such a huge impact on my ca-

reer, as well as a good few hundred young

people. After I returned I was invited to apply

for an IVP Alumni grant. The 3,000 dollars I

got allowed me to fulfil an old dream: setting

up an alumni-driven centre of extracurricular

activities at my school. Many of my Romanian

peers said at the time that this was a scenario

that was never going to work, it was too much

like what one sees in sappy Hallmark movies

but onwards and upwards I went, and now

CARE Center for Action and Responsibility

in Education is an integral part of the

school community, and it has actually re-

cently won the school substantial points with

a quality certification body. We are unique

because all our activities are alumni-run or at

least alumni-supported. The initial grant

allowed us to secure the room that the school

allows us to use. We secured it by investing

the money in equipping the room and putting

it at the schools disposal for any type of

extracurriculars, not just those we run. In

other words, any initiative a teacher or group

of students may have, from an arts club to a

workshop on project management for teens,

there is a homebase that has everything they

need. And that is CARE. We operate on a pay-

it-forward sort of principle, whereby alumni

provide mentorship and resources for specific

activities, either weekly or periodically.

Besides running our own clubs public

speaking, debate, addiction studies, arts

we have also partnered up with a good num-

ber of programs and organizations: gender

equality and LGBT issues with ACCEPT,

H.Arta/Timisoara, ALEG/Sibiu, Roma culture

and human rights with Agentia Impreuna,

ARDOR and OvidiuRom, icons of communism

with Auburn University in the USA, nonformal

education with KaebNai in Basque Country.

The concept we operate on could not be

finalized outside the experience and support

provided by my participation in the Interna-

tional Visitors Program. Besides the grant

that enabled me to set the Center up, my

understanding of how alumni support educa-

tion in the U.S. was instrumental to clarifying

my vision.

And the story continues It is a

never-ending string of opportunities and

challenges, challenges and opportunities

Once an International Visitor, always an

International Visitor. The words are magic,

thats why we spell them with capitals.

Roxana Marin and the alumni at CAREvarious activities

P A G E 4

P A G E 5

My American experience started

in the spring of 2003 with the visit of an

English Language Fellow (ELF) in Brasov. At

that time thirty young teachers of English

from Brasov and the county attended training

sessions during the weekends and had team-

teaching sessions with the ELF in their own

classes during the week. The program proved

to be a success, both for us, the School In-

spectorate in Brasov (teachers, schools and

myself, the language inspector) and for the

ELF, who underlined the commitment of the

teachers, their enthusiasm and open-

mindedness.

It was the beginning of an

adventure that developed in the years to

come, covering more and more areas of my

professional life, reflecting positively in the

work with my students and with my fellow

teachers of English. In the following pages I

will try to give a glimpse of what these ex-

periences were and how they influenced our

lives.

The International Visitor Program a

successful experience

My long-lasting cooperation with

the Public Diplomacy Office started in 2005

with the invitation to participate in the Inter-

national Visitor Program. The visit to the

United States was carefully designed and well

balanced so that at its completion I had a

clear image of the American teaching-

learning system. Visits to different schools,

discussions with policy makers, officials and

teachers in schools, both private and public,

offered me opportunities to get familiar with

various aspects of the American school from

the central decisional level (Washington, DC)

through the tertiary and secondary levels

down to the nursery one. School visits and

the exchange of opinions and experiences

with fellow teachers was probably the most

interesting part of the visit tour as it gave me

an instructive insight of the educational

system and different approaches to teaching

languages and teacher education.

Besides the professional visits and

meetings, I also had the possibility to see

representative monuments of American culture

and civilization (The Capitol and The Smith-

sonian Institutes, White House Visitors Centre,

Lincoln Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial,

Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC; New

York by night and by day). Walking in the

street and shopping, dining out and talking to

people were all valuable American experiences

for me.

Coming back, I transferred to my

students some of my experiences related to the

American culture and civilization I witnessed,

especially peoples tolerance, their democratic

behavior and the fact that school is a serious

matter.

As an inspector of English in Brasov

county I tried to offer colleagues another per-

spective on education, a training-learning

process entirely focused on the students and

their needs.

The Uncle Sam Events - a successful

project

In July 2005, Doina Teodorovici (a

visitor in the 2004 program) and I applied to

the Alumni Grant Program; we dreamt at a

project to bridge our American experiences and

students thirst for an American perspective on

things and life; and we won it.

The project was meant to support

the promotion of the American culture and

civilization issues within the optional curricu-

lum for the bilingual and intensive English

classes. It was launched in schools in the fall of

2005, the target group being made of 11th and

12th graders, who attended bilingual or inten-

sive English classes, and their teachers in

schools in Brasov.

The project aims were to promote

American culture and civilization issues, to

encourage teachers involvement in out-of-class

activities and net-working, to develop students

integrated communication skills (networking,

library research, internet, IT literacy, practic-

ing language), to develop students presenta-

tion skills, to refine their writing skills, to

provide schools and teachers with additional

material on American issues.

Research on topics related to

literature, arts, education, social life, person-

alities of American culture and civilization,

history has offered students the chance of

approaching American society from different

perspectives.

Both students and teachers bene-

fited from the valuable help of an American

consultant, Ms. Jen MacArthur, senior Eng-

lish Language Fellow at US Embassy in Bu-

charest.

The final products of the project

were the students papers presented both in

front of their peers and publicly and a bro-

chure including the 30 summaries of the

papers.

The English Language Fellow - a suc-

cessful training program

In the fall of 2006, Cynthia Yoder,

Sr. English Language Fellow, landed in

Brasov to begin a training program with

newly certified teachers. What a luck to have

again an American trainer at home, I

thought, and so it was. Twenty-four very

young teachers met Cynthia and they started

their adventure together. The young teachers

mastered their subject (language and content

its logical organization and evolution, in

connection with other subjects and the real

world), but had only theoretical knowledge

of teaching methodology. They lacked teach-

ing experience, they lacked reflecting skills,

they were unaware of the complexity of the

curricula and its structure, they were unfa-

miliar with school environment and organ-

izational culture.

All these were challenges young

teachers had to face. Thus the training fo-

cused on teaching strategies and techniques,

the way the teachers should use their knowl-

edge creatively, on class observation and

feed-back, on peer observation, on reflective

skills, on lesson planning (selecting and

offering students specific knowledge taking

into account their learning capacity, needs

and interests needs analysis), on student-

centered teaching and on class management.

Cynthia Yoder not only had training classes

with the young teachers but she also visited

their schools and worked together with them

Magdalena Man, former ELT Inspector Braov County Inspectorate for Education

on designing and applying effective and

attractive teaching strategies related to

envisaged aim and content and taking into

consideration individual and group age

characteristics; urging the students to get

involved in the learning process.

You can imagine how happy the students

were, since most of the young teachers were

employed in rural or small town schools.

In January 2007, Cynthia Yoder

and myself were invited to present the suc-

cessful experience we had in Brasov, in

Budapest, at the annual program meeting

Linking English Language Programs with

Mission Objectives. Our presentation enti-

tled Working with newly certified teachers

was based on the observed teachers profes-

sional development during the training

period and on their personal more positive

feelings towards the teaching profession.

The Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program a

successful exchange

2007, fall Ms. Wendy Blume began her

exchange visit in Brasov, Romania, as part of

the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program for

administrators. Ms. Blume was, at the time,

the dean of Camden Community College, New

Jersey. For her, this six-week visit was an

opportunity to discover, for the first time, the

Romanian system of education. She witnessed

the process from the inside, visited schools,

observed classes, talked to teachers and stu-

dents, attended teachers methodological

activities and the ELT Across the Curriculum

teachers conference in Brasov, visited sites in

Brasov and the surroundings and also places

in Romania.

The visit was also important for me, for the

School Inspectorate in Brasov and for the

teachers of English in the county.

2008, spring I traveled to the States on

my exchange visit to Wendy Blumes institu-

tion, Camden Community College. This visit

offered me the chance to get familiar to

another level of American education, higher

education, its organization and impact on

society.

Both visits, Ms. Blumes and

mine, meant a deep mutual understanding

of each others countries, social and educa-

tional systems, culture and civilization.

In conclusion I can say that the

most important things I have learned about

the United States and the Americans are

tolerance, democracy and equality, respect

for the man and its values, for law and

regulations.

Magdalena Man, former ELT Inspector, Braov County Inspectorate for Education

governmental organizations, the arts, public health,

international security, business and trade and other

fields.

My three-week visit to the U.S. took place between

I was most fortunate to be selected

as one of the participants in the International

Visitor Program (IVLP) in 2005. The IVLP is

sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the

Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the

Office of International Visitors (which manages

and funds the International Visitor Leadership

Program), also by the Local Program Sponsors;

my program was coordinated by the Institute

of International Education.

The aim of the IVLP is to build

mutual understanding between the United

States and other nations through carefully

designed professional visits to the U.S. for

current and emerging foreign leaders. The

visits reflect the visitors professional interests

and support the foreign policy goals of the U.S.

government. Each year, 4,500 participants from

all over the world are selected by U.S. embas-

sies to travel to the U.S. to meet and confer

with their professional counterparts. Thus,

they gain a greater understanding of the cul-

tural and political influences in U.S. society

and enjoy their experience of the U.S., of the

American people and of their culture.

Visitors in the program represent government,

politics, the media, education, non-

16th of April 7th of May 2005. The program

included meetings in Washington D.C., Burling-

ton - VT, San Diego CA, Minneapolis MN, and

a cultural weekend in New York NY.

To give an idea about the real spiri-

tual and informational dimension of this visit, I

have to say that I met the representatives of the

Institute of International Education in Washing-

ton, D.C., who gave my colleague Magdalena Man

(former ELT inspector in Brasov), and myself a

very warm welcome and informed us about all

the details of our visit, together with our inter-

preter, Ms Irene Vianu, an American citizen of

Romanian origin. Also in Washington, D.C. we

were informed on the U.S. education system, the

U.S. language policy, the EFL Teaching in the

U.S. and also on the federal role in education and

English language programs by institutions like:

the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department

of Education, Georgetown University, the Interna-

tional Center for Language Studies, the American

University (the Department of Language and

Foreign Studies, TESOL Program), the Commis-

sion on English Language Program Accreditation,

the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign

Language, the TESOL representatives, Rock Creek

International School, the Center for Civic Educa-

Camelia Bojescu, ELT Inspector Vaslui County Inspectorate for Education

Camelia Bojescu (right) and Magda Man (left) at TESOL

P A G E 6

tion and George Washington University.

Besides these very enlightening and fruitful

meetings, where we exchanged opinions on

the study and teaching of foreign languages,

in general, and especially about EFL, we

could visit the capital city of this large and

important country, we saw important places

in its history and culture (the White House,

the Capitol Building, the Library of the Con-

gress Building, the Lincoln and the Jefferson

memorials, the Washington monument, the

National Cathedral, the Smithsonian Institu-

tion, the National Gallery of Art, the National

Museum of the American Indian, the Arling-

ton National Cemetery in Alexandria).

The cultural weekend in New

York made us see the glamour of the art-

ists world since we were accommodated in a

Broadway hotel and had the flash of the

advertisement signs right in front of our

eyes. The connection with the artistic life

was even closer since the organizers pro-

vided us with tickets for one of the best-

known musicals Chicago in the classical

theatre atmosphere of the Ambassador

Theatre on Broadway Avenue. Of course, we

could not miss seeing the famous Central

Park, Empire State Building, Rockefeller

Center, Guggenheim Museum, former Ground

Zero, the Grand Central Terminal and, at a

distance, the Statue of Liberty, walking or

traveling by bus, metro or train.

Our itinerary in the U.S. included

visits to two Burlington area universities: the

School for International Training and the

School of International Studies at Saint

Michaels College, where we had appoint-

ments and observed four courses in order to

see how students are prepared to teach

English abroad and in the U.S. and how

American culture and democratic values are

integrated in the curriculum. Moreover, we

had the chance to learn about in-service

teacher training programs and how English

programs for recent immigrants are designed

and applied.

Next on our program was a trip

to the west coast, in San Diego, close to the

Mexican border and on the Pacific Ocean

coastline. In San Diego, the weather was

splendid, with showers that jammed the

traffic, which could not stop us from having

seven meetings - three of them visits to public

schools. At San Diego State Universitythe

American Language Institute, San Diego Com-

munity College DistrictContinuing Education

Center, Sweetwater Union High School District,

Kit Carson Elementary School, San Diego State

UniversityLanguage Acquisition Resource

Center and Catholic Charities, we explored

language learning and bilingual education at

the primary level during visits to local

schools; and we also explored the integration

of technology and teaching methods to en-

hance language learning, we found out about

evaluation and testing of language programs,

about English and foreign language instruc-

tion for adults in encounters at San Diego

State University, the Community College and

the Catholic Charities. We also had the time to

visit sights in San Diego (the island of Coro-

nado, the old town San Diego, the Seaport

Village).

The last stop my colleague and I

had in the U.S. was again back north of the

country, in the twin cities of Minneapolis and

St. Paul. The program in this city was very

dense and complex. We had 13 meetings in

only three full days, to get information on the

state-level policies and standards, on the

certification for foreign language teachers, on

the secondary school ESOL and foreign lan-

guage programs, on the participatory teaching

and learning styles, on the methods of enhanc-

ing the students learning experiences and on

community involvement with education and

civic education from such institutions as:

Minnesota Department of Education in Rose-

ville, World Cultures Magnet School and Ad-

ams Spanish Immersion Elementary School in

St. Paul, Alliance Franaise, Minnesota Inter-

national Center, Washburn High School and

the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. We

also had the chance to explore the twin cities

in crossing them many times on our way to

the appointments we kept and admire the

architecture (the new one and the very well-

preserved old one), as well as the public care

for the citizens and their welfare.

What kept my attention through-

out this visit was the focus of educational

factors at all levels to enhance the study of

foreign languages, EFL in the case of immi-

grants and non-native speakers of English,

together with a special care for the students

own culture, traditions and language back-

ground. I was impressed by the bilingual

programs offered by elementary schools,

high schools and colleges in order to help

their students learn a new language while

they still develop knowledge and skills in

their mother tongue. I think this is a very

good illustration of the student-centered

approach (moreover, since 2005 was de-

clared by the State Department of Education

the Year of Education in the U.S. with the

motto No child left behind) as well as a

good cultural and democratic lesson with

respect to preserving what is characteristic

for a cultural group (language, traditions,

customs, history). And this is what I told my

colleagues when returning home, as well as

my students and their parents. This is ex-

actly what I have been trying to do ever

since when sensing the needs of my stu-

dents: I have tried to teach them English, to

open their mind on the American culture,

comparing it to the Romanian culture,

emphasizing the differences between these

two cultures, but also the similarities, try-

ing to develop their civic spirit and to build

the community spirit the way I had the

chance to see when visiting schools, educa-

tional institutions in the U.S.

I consider myself fortunate to

have had the chance of being a beneficiary

of the International Visitor Leadership Pro-

gram, but so do my colleagues and my

students, since America the United

States of America has always constituted

an attraction for people in my country, due

to its history, its culture, its greatness and

its world political and economic influence.

So it was easy for me to get impressed with

what I saw during my visit and it was easy

for me to impress my colleagues and my

students with the aspects from my visit I

shared with them. I think I ought to say that

the impact of the program was maximum on

me as well as on the others I disseminated

the information to.

P A G E 7

Cam

elia

Bo

jesc

u, T

each

er o

f E

ng

lish

, EL

T I

nsp

ecto

r, V

aslu

i Co

un

ty In

spec

tora

te f

or

Ed

uca

tio

n

P A G E 8 The E-Teacher Scholarship Program offers

English teaching professionals living outside of

the United States the opportunity to take one of seven

innovative, online graduate level classes through the

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the

University of Oregon. The courses explore major areas

of the academic specialty of Teaching English as a

Foreign Language (TEFL).

The E-Teacher Scholarship Program is open to non-

U.S. citizens living outside the United States. Inter-

ested English language professionals should contact

the Public Affairs section of their local U.S. Embassy

for up-to-date information. U.S. Embassies manage

the selection and nomination of candidates.

The Office of English Language Programs

does not accept direct applications.

COURSES

Building Teaching Skills through the Interactive Web

This course is designed to deepen participants

understanding of the theory and applied use of

computer assisted language learning (CALL) princi-

ples in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

classroom. This course strives to accomplish the

following goals:

-Model innovative online teaching practices

-Improve understanding of and actively engage in the

analysis and systematic adoption of innovative mate-

rials and tools for English Language Teaching (ELT)

-Offer opportunities for EFL educators to observe and

analyze real-world application of such new materials

and practices

-Provide educators with support and problem-solving

mechanisms as they implement new materials and

practices in their teaching

-Act as a train-the-trainer model so that participants

can move forward with concrete dissemination plans

Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL)

This course is designed to introduce participants to

the theory and practice of teaching young learners in

the EFL classroom. The course will investigate ap-

proaches for teaching language within a meaningful

context as well as the different techniques for making

language input more comprehensible and encourag-

ing student participation. We will look at the major

principles that govern language teaching based on

the four skillslistening, speaking, reading and

writing.

In addition, we will study both traditional and mod-

ern instructional strategies and techniques for teach-

ing EFL and look specifically at the application to

young learners, including the classroom language

necessary to teach English through English. Through

academic reading and writing assignments, individ-

ual learner-centered activities, virtual collaborations

with a mentor, and online discussions, participants in

this course will explore various aspects for teaching

EFL to young learners.

Critical Thinking in the English as a Foreign Lan-

guage (EFL) Curriculum

The goal of this course is to deepen participants'

understanding of the theory and applied use of

Critical Thinking (CT) principles and practices in the

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom by

engaging in the following activities:

-Reading and discussing professional information

and articles to develop an understanding of CT

theory and practice and its relationship to current

topics in language pedagogy

-Identifying, evaluating, and applying materials and

techniques to enhance CT practices in the classroom

-Interacting with colleagues regionally and interna-

tionally who share an interest in stimulating CT in

their EFL classes

-Creating teaching plans that demonstrate under-

standing of course topics

-Adapting and enhancing existing materials and

techniques so they are more appropriate and effec-

tive CT tools in each participants specific teaching

setting

English as a Foreign Language Assessment

This course is designed to introduce the partici-

pants to the theory and practice of foreign language

assessment and testing. Participants will explore

the following topics:

-Differences between assessment and testing and

how they can be used to make effective decisions to

support teaching and learning

-Important concepts to consider when developing

assessments and tests, such as validity, reliability,

and practicality, as well as different kinds of assess-

ments and tests (formative, summative, diagnostic,

proficiency, achievement, product-oriented, process

-oriented, alternative assessments)

-Test specification writing, item development,

analysis, and editing, and the creation of a final

assessment instrument that is reliable, valid, and

useful

-Rubric development to assist with grading and

scoring and to make the assessment process trans-

parent to all stakeholders

Reading materials, presentations, and online re-

sources will provide the foundation for interactive

discussions on practical applications of all issues

discussed throughout the course. The assignments

will help participants expand their repertoire of EFL

assessment strategies and will prepare them to

share their findings and conclusions with the local

community.

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Best Practices

The goal of this course is to develop participants'

knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward designing,

implementing, and evaluating English for Specific

Purposes (ESP) courses based on best practices in

the field. Because the foundation of this course is in

best practices, new and experienced ESP practitio-

ners are welcome from all areas. For example,

participants may choose to focus on the following

courses:

-English for Academic Purposes (EAP), which ad-

dresses the needs of learners preparing to study in

a specific academic discipline at a university, e.g.,

business, medicine, or law

-Vocational English for Specific Purposes (VESP),

which addresses the needs of learners studying at a

vocational or technical secondary school

-English for Occupational Purposes (EOP), which

addresses the needs of individuals already in the

workplace who need English as a tool for their job

The course will address the need for training in

ESP to promote education and economic develop-

ment at the local and national levels.

Methods Course I: Survey of Best Practices in TESOL

This course is designed to provide participants

with current methodologies associated with teach-

ing English language learners (ELLs) of different

ages in various learning contexts. Participants will

read, write, discuss, and research a wide variety of

strategies and techniques for teaching English to

speakers of other languages (TESOL). While explor-

ing best practices for teaching listening, speaking,

reading, and writing, including grammar and

vocabulary, participants learn how to create an

effective and communicative language classroom

for ELLs. In addition, participants will examine

what best practices mean in the context of teaching

English in the 21st century, where English is an

international language and the use of English

incorporates modern technologies. Through indi-

vidual learner-centered activities and small group

collaboration, participants in this course will put

theory to practice using an experiential approach.

Methods Course II: Developing EFL Literacy through

Project-Based Learning

Participants in this course will learn about both

the theoretical and practical aspects of project-

based learning (PBL) through a review of current

articles and videos on this topic along with partici-

pation in class projects and discussions. Topics

covered in the readings include theoretical founda-

tions of PBL, learning objectives and course design,

alternative assessment, motivation, collaborative

and cooperative learning, learner autonomy and

learning styles. Video segments include insights on

the planning and implementation of PBL in lan-

guage learning classes, teacher interviews, student

testimonials, PBL in action in a classroom setting,

and models of assessment for PBL. Participants will

have many opportunities for focused and contras-

tive analysis of classroom practices in the videos,

with ongoing guidance in developing appropriate

application of observed techniques in their local

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching

environments. Video footage will be available

through the YouTube-UO website.

Participants will be required to complete individ-

ual and group projects in order to experience PBL

from a student perspective and to gain insights and

understanding of the benefits and potential chal-

lenges of PBL from an instructional standpoint.

Cosmina Alman, Octavian Goga National College, Sibiu

Join the associated Ning

(http://www.shapingenglish.ning.com)

to participate in discussions, view or download

video and other materials from the sessions, and

access recordings of the webinars.

P A G E 9

The teaching profession is never

a boring one, but every once in a while we

find ourselves trapped in the routine we

follow without being aware of it, and if

something jolts us out of our complacency,

it is worth pursuing and rewarding in the

end. For me, that something was the realiza-

tion that many of my high school students

pursue a career in the field of economics

and that it would be useful to them if I

could try to introduce them to the fascinat-

ing world of business and do this in English.

A legitimate question might be:

Why teach Business English to students who

are still completing their general education

and who have not opted for an economics

school? The answer is quite simple: general

education and occupational training are no

longer antagonistic, as the formation of

citizens and workers are now intertwined.

As Enrique Pieck points out, To be pre-

pared to cope with change and accept per-

manent learning, to adapt oneself to a soci-

ety built around knowledge and be compe-

tent in it have become essential conditions

for social interaction, everyday living and

[] for employability. (6)

Designing an ESP course for my

students was a challenge that I welcomed: it

gave me the impetus to do research in an

area of English language teaching I had not

tackled before, but which has gained

ground constantly since the 1960s. Educa-

tion in the 21st century focuses on bringing

practical, life education to self directed

learners and an ESP course on Business

English would fit perfectly into this category

of educational efforts. Attempting to teach

ESP is therefore a challenge mainly due to

the interdisciplinary nature of this enter-

prise. It requires teachers and students alike

to think outside the box, to breach the

barriers of traditional teaching and studying

one discipline and to approach it differently,

while putting to use the transferrable skills

that will equip them for success.

I was lucky enough not to be

alone on this new path, but to be accompa-

nied by professionals whose ideas, experi-

ence and enthusiasm have given me the

strength to pursue this project with more

confidence. These professionals were my

trainers and colleagues from the Spring

2011 online ESP Best Practices course or-

ganized by the University of Oregon, Lin-

guistics Department, American English

Institute (UO AEI) in the period April 4

June 10, 2011. My participation in this

program was made possible by a tuition

scholarship from the U.S. Department of

State as part of the E-Teacher Scholarship

Program- English Teacher Professional

Development Distance Learning Program.

The course was meant to give the partici-

pants instruction in the most recent English

language teaching methods and techniques,

while also introducing them to American

educational values and it did just that. It

was the first time I had used the distance

learning technology to interact with U.S.

experts and fellow teachers and it was a

unique experience.

The ESP Best Practice Course

was an extraordinary opportunity for me to

learn by sharing and by doing, which is a

method rarely applied in our country. This

is what made it challenging at the begin-

ning, because we were asked to offer con-

stant feedback to the other participants

posts, but in the end, exercising critical

thinking skills was extremely useful and

rewarding. The participants were devoted

professionals from all over the world and

their contribution to the course was valu-

able because it was based on their profes-

sional experience. The trainers were also

very competent in their role as guides and

prompters, as they introduced topics of

discussion that everybody benefited from.

We all ended up developing our knowl-

edge, skills and attitudes toward design-

ing, implementing and evaluating ESP

courses based on best practices in the

field.

Based on the information from

the course, I could approach the task more

professionally, following the required

steps I had not been familiar with. The

way in which the planning of the course

must be done was made very clear

throughout the course, offering us practice

in elaborating a Target Situation Analysis

(TSA) (target learners goals, needs, de-

sires), a Present Situation Analysis (PSA)

(current level of knowledge, wants in

regard to English language teaching) and a

Context Analysis (stakeholders, teaching

environment, nature of the course, teach-

ing resources). Needs analysis is one of the

characteristic activities to be undertaken

when teaching an ESP course and its im-

mediate result is that it makes the course

focus on specific language, tasks or skills,

thus catering for the interests of the

course beneficiaries. This analysis is meant

to identify the training gap (Frendo 15)

which the teacher would need to address

through the course design to make the

instruction learner-centered. It was useful

to find out that "ESP is an approach to

language teaching in which all decisions

as to content and method are based on the

learner's reason for learning" (Hutchinson

and Waters 19).

These preliminary stages helped us clarify

the course of action to be followed and

allowed us to draw a course map based on

very clear decisions concerning the learn-

ing activities.

Another aspect that I particularly appreci-

ated was the hands-on approach: the par-

ticipants designed and sequenced objec-

tives, planned and shared learning activi-

ties, elaborated assessment tools to be

used for specific activities. It was made

very clear to us that authentic materials

are the most valuable, especially in the

case of ESP; they are not created for the

purpose of language teaching, therefore

the language used in such materials

reflects the genuine purpose for which

the material was created (Ellis and John-

son 157). In attempt to assist us in select-

ing the most appropriate materials, the

trainers provided us with a complex list of

resources to be found online. What I found

particularly useful was the reference to

podcasting sites such as http://

www.digitalpodcast.com/, http://

epnweb.org/, http://

www.podcastalley.com/, http://

www.podcastingnews.com, http://

www.businessenglishpod.com/ which

provide a way for learners to access up-to-

date, authentic audio and video materials in

any content area that interests them. I found

a wealth of materials on these and other

websites that I put to use successfully with

my students.

The ESP Best Practice Course has definitely

been a fantastic opportunity for me. Profes-

sionally, I have improved my knowledge of

the language by taking in some specialist

vocabulary and I have varied my teaching

methods in order to meet the needs of the

learners. Bringing a new perspective to the

classes the challenges of everyday business

life using carefully planned activities and

authentic materials added both variety and

meaningful communication to the study of

English. It has also been beneficial for my

school, as a Business English course is now

taught by one of my colleagues who devel-

oped an interest in this area after finding out

more about how to plan an ESP course. I was

glad to share my experience and my re-

sources with colleagues from my school and

from another local school, who have ex-

pressed an interest in developing profession-

ally as well. On a personal level, it also gave

me more confidence to try and tackle new

situations (and teaching new variations of the

language) in the future. As my target learn-

ers were high school students who were still

considering their options in terms of possible

careers, I was glad to notice that taking the

Business English course helped them make a

more informed choice. At the end of the

course the students felt more confident in

their ability to interact with other speakers

in simulated business situations, to make

presentations, to use appropriate vocabu-

lary to socialize and to react to various

business situations. They had been faced

with situations in which they needed to

find information or make assumptions to

solve problems, plan a reasonable ap-

proach to a problem, design business

strategies. The planned activities not only

enriched the students vocabulary and

improved their fluency, but also broadened

their understanding of business, and gave

them valuable lessons for the future.

The fast pace of change in the modern

society and the shift in approaches to life

in general require a change in the way in

which we perceive the teaching-learning

process and in the aim of our educational

efforts. It is generally acknowledged that

the task of teachers in the 21st century is

becoming more and more difficult. I think

Karl Fisch best sums it up in his Did You

Know series "We are currently preparing

students for jobs that don't yet exist, using

technologies that haven't been invented, in

order to solve problems we don't even

know are problems yet." (http://

thefischbowl.blogspot.com/). All we

can do therefore is help them acquire the

ability to deal with the unforeseen, by

being flexible in our teaching approach

and moving with the times.

Bibliography:

Ellis, Mark, and Christine Johnson. Teaching Business English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994

Frendo, Evan. How to Teach Business English. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited, 2005.

Hutchinson, Tom, and Alan Waters. English for Specific Purposes: A Learner-Centered Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987

Pieck, Enrique. Work - oriented education for youths and adults . BULLETIN 50: Santiago, Chile, December 1999

Cosmina Alman, Octavian Goga National College, Sibiu P A G E 1 0

The Voice of America continues to reach out to new audiences in innovative ways, and now VOA is using Facebook to teach English language

lessons as part of its popular on-line learning program called The Classroom. Heres how it works. Four times a day, the icon on VOAs Learning

English Facebook page changes to indicate a live, on-line class is in session. Students can submit questions and be part of a free, hour-long,

interactive language learning experience that uses materials and lessons from The Classroom, which is now averaging more than 180,000 users a

month. One of The Classrooms Facebook teachers calls herself The English Doctor. When her class is in-session, users will be learning from

Nina Weinstein, the author of dozens of books on teaching English as a foreign language. Another VOA Facebook teacher,The English Traveler,

also has classes twice a day, and there are plans to add more instructors to the line-up. You can get to the Facebook class directly from

www.voanews.com/theclassroom.

In addition to Facebook lessons, The Classroom also has a new Business Wordbook with hundreds of business terms, pictures and sample dia-

logues to help users learn American business English.

For more about VOA Learning English visit www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home. For more about any VOA programs, or for the latest news

and information, visit www.voanews.com.

Camelia Pgils 2010 - 2011 class blogs

http://cami-5thgraders.blogspot.com/

http://cami-6thgraders.blogspot.com/

http://cami-7thgraders.blogspot.com/

http://cami-8thgraders.blogspot.com/

My one in a life-

time chance was to

attend the 10-week

online course on

Building Teach-

ing Skills through the Interactive

Web, offered by University of Oregon,

Linguistics/American English Institute ,

between June , 21st and August , 27th

2010.

This course is designed to deepen par-

ticipants' understanding of the theory

and applied use of CALL (computer as-

sisted language learning) principles in

the EFL classroom. It strives to (1) model

innovative online teaching practices, (2)

improve understanding of, and actively

engage in, the analysis and systematic

adoption of innovative materials and

tools for ELT, (3) offer opportunities for

EFL educators to observe and analyze

real-world application of such new

materials and practices, (4) provide

educators with support and problem-

solving mechanisms as they implement

new materials and practices in their

teaching, and (5) act as a train-the-

trainer model so that participants can

move forward with concrete dissemina-

tion plans.

The course period was one of my busiest

periods of learning. A huge variety of

cultures gathered online with a com-

mon aim: teachers who wanted to learn

more, who spent their summer holi-

days in front of their computers, pray-

ing for the Internet connection to last

long enough to do their tasks. Over-

worked, under paid, teachers contin-

ued their labour of love against all

odds.

The first week was the first fruitful experi-

ence. I created a blog on

www.blogger.com using the instructions

in Blogger how-to and shared the URL

with the group. Having created the blog on

Blogger, I wrote about what I had done

and what I had learned in the course until

then. The next week I participated in the

weekly discussion about web searching.

After being fed with amazing articles I laid

my hands on different search engines, I

analyzed them in terms of use in my own

classes and shared their advantages and

disadvantages in posts on Nicenet, which

included the web page, the search term,

and my recommendations about the search

engine. Another difficult, at first, task

seemed to be the ABCD (Audience, Behav-

iour, Condition, Degree) model for behav-

ioural objectives. But all things are diffi-

cult before they are easy. After reading

about the ABCD model, I shared some

behavioural objectives for a class on the

Nicenet platform and I have been using

them so far in all my lesson plans. Even

more, with the help of Blooms Taxonomy I

found out the appropriate action verbs

able to help me align objectives to an

observable behaviour and effective in

making them clearer for my students. Even

better, though, was to think at higher

levels of Blooms Taxonomy and how to

get my students to analyze a particular

cause critically or provide reasons why

something occurred. Moving my learning

objectives beyond the lowest levels of

thinking, I realized how to improve my

courses .Another useful thing was learning

how to use Delicious.com ,a free and

useful Web 2.0 tools tool ,which was

going to help me save and share the sites

important to me . Furthermore it helped

me find bookmarks from other users on

my network.

During the course our instructor, Deb-

orah Healey, fed us with a lot of manda-

tory readings and even extra. I spent

hours and hours reading and not in vain.

One of the main advantages of this way of

studying was that we had to apply what

we had learned and discuss on our read-

ings on the Nicenet site. Even more, at

the end of each week we had to reflect on

what we had read, learned, discovered or

created the previous week.

For instance in the third week, after

reading the webliography, we had to

explain how we might use technology to

improve our students aural/oral skills in

at least one post on Nicenet . I found out

that I should try to create authentic

environments of learning, which should

always have the following features: visi-

bility of the speakers, participation of the

listeners, environmental features, and

real-life language features. I realized that

I should integrate listening with other

teaching activities for example some

useful practice may be obtained by the

use of pair-work or group-work (students

take turns to repeat the listening part)

and when students listening is improved

through repetition to some extent, a role-

playing and imitation are appropriate to

them. It is a process where remembering

is changed into understanding. This way

the oral activities improve students aural

abilities.

After listening, reading the materials is

Camelia Pgil, Acad. Marin Voiculescu School, Giurgiu

Camelia Pgils 2011 - 2012 class blogs

http://3graders.blogspot.com/

http://cami-4graders.blogspot.com/

http://cami-5graders.blogspot.com/

The Office of English Language

Programs promotes quality English

teaching by providing academic

expertise, consultative assistance,

and materials resources for English

teachers and learners worldwide.

http://exchanges.state.gov/americanenglishonline/

Teach English

Learn English

American Culture

Exchanges

Resources

Publications

P A G E 1 1

also a good opportunity for others

to practice their listening, which at the

same time makes students be accustomed to

varied accent.

Furthermore, accuracy of pronunciation

through reading is improved. Then, doing

blank filling and writing down their opinion

about listening materials will help students

understand them correctly and fully.

Usage of more (than the usual 3 of mine)

skill-building sites (already added up in my

delicious treasure) helped me create a

wider and more efficient way to capture my

students interest. Introducing them to the

world of web tools is the best way to ex-

plore and develop their higher order think-

ing , more valuable because such skills are

more likely to be usable in novel situations

(i.e., situations other than those in which

the skill was learned). Then we had to

appreciate how much some websites could

help involve our students in real-world ,

authentic materials with the help of text,

video, and voice tools. At that point on our

Nicenet discussion about this topic there

was a huge amount of information about

aural/oral skill-building websites which I

had to explore and bookmark on my Deli-

cious page.Week 4 made me aware that the

Internet spans an unlimited array of web-

sites extremely helpful for enhancing each

of the English skills. The weeks discussion

made us read some articles about how to

use computers to enhance ways to teach

reading and writing. We had several multi-

skill websites on our list this week and the

list became even larger after my colleagues

posts. Individually we had to find two or

more specific web pages that would work

for us in our class. I investigated and in-

cluded the specific web address (URL) of the

pages, their titles, the target stu-

dents, why I thought it would work, and why

I thought it would be useful. I also developed

ABCD objectives to go with those pages.

After being introduced to PBL, our trip of

discovery was guided toward WebQuest , a

technology-enhanced cooperative and collabo-

rative way of putting it into practice . Most or

all of the information that students explore

and evaluate comes from the World Wide

Web, it usually involves group work, and it

can be as short as a single class period or as

long as a month-long unit. Students have to

learn how to learn, and learn how to work

with each other. The teacher, as a designer,

builds the base of resources which is used by

students to complete the task. WebQuest has

been designed to help students develop their

high order thinking skills: critical thinking,

problem solving, analysis skills, and their

decision making skills. Anyway, it is a tool

that requires a certain level of reading ability

and it cant be used with beginners. In the

same time it cannot be helpful to teach fac-

tual pieces of information .By using multime-

dia, WebQuests also help with multiple intel-

ligence work, addressing to all of them. In

the same time I was introduced to rubrics.

Having clear criteria to assess will prevent me

of evaluating holistically, subjectivity will be

lower, and my students will have clear objec-

tives to go for. Moreover, involving them in

creating some can definitely help them clarify

their process of thinking and organizing.

The next week were the chance of discover-

ing useful materials about learners auton-

omy, about free tools to create exercises or

tests to print or on line and discuss about

learning styles and ways of tapping them

with technology.

From week 6 we had to put together our

final project whose first points to think

about were Who are the learners?

and Issue or problem to be addressed

that technology can help with. Aiming at

improving my teaching with

technology I thought more about

my students and I created a

SWOT analysis on them. After having read

everything with a fresh and keen eye I

thought all my students needs could have

as a common root the fact that I hadnt

thought to address all their learning styles.

All their weaknesses could exist because of

the external threat coming from me that I

had not taken into consideration their

different ways of learning. Their internal

strengths and the external opportunities

made the perfect blend of a great base for

planting technology in diverse ways. So,

the next step, take action!

Blogs strike the perfect balance of provid-

ing information anytime and anywhere,

social networking and interaction, and the

ability to openly share thoughts and

achievements. To address all learning

styles in my final project I believed the

blog enhanced with multi-media was the

solution. Besides engaging students in their

learning I can also use it to extend collabo-

ration with classmates from all over the

world.

This course outlined the development of an

interactive, technology-based teaching

strategy using interactive tools. This way I

have created my final project, the class

blog, which was put in practice immedi-

ately after graduation. My paper was cho-

sen as an exemplary high quality piece of

work and published online to serve as a

work sample for prospective E-Teacher

educators and as concrete evidence of

participants' success.

[Education] consists mainly in what we have unlearned. Mark Twain

The object of teaching a child is

to enable him to get along without

a teacher. Elbert Hubbard

P A G E 1 2

Cam

elia

Pg

il, A

cad

. Mar

in V

oic

ule

scu

Sch

oo

l, G

iurg

iu

See Cam

elia Pag

ilas cou

rse grad

uation p

roject at

:

http://u

mbc.uor

egon.ed

u/eteac

her/pro

jects/20

0904_E-T

eacher_

Pagila_

Romania

.pdf

P A G E 1 3 Simona Anca Mazilu, Mihai Viteazul National College, Ploieti

I am more than grateful for

having been given the opportunity to apply

for the Critical Thinking in the EFL

(English as a Foreign Language) Cur-

riculum one of the major areas of the

academic specialty of Teaching English as a

Foreign Language (TEFL) - offered through

the University of Oregon, Linguistics/

American English Institute, as part of the E-

Teacher Scholarship Program.

The course introduces the most

recent English language teaching methods

and techniques, offers the opportunity to

engage in an innovative distance-learning

program that employs the latest develop-

ments in modern technology, and provides

direct access to U.S. experts with whom

participants might not normally have the

opportunity to interact.

What did I hope to learn?

As a teacher trainer I was

highly motivated to work with Critical

Thinking in the EFL Curriculum,

especially on account of my ever-growing

interest and continued activity in the field.

As a dedicated promoter of educational

debate, with emphasis on developing sound

reasoning and logical argumentation, as

well as powerful advocacy skills and pro-

active citizenship within students, I trusted

all my skills and abilities would be en-

hanced and taken to a higher level of un-

derstanding and expertise.

In addition, I hoped my ability

to do thorough academic work and my

general computer literacy would be en-

riched and bettered in terms of practicality

and efficiency, so as to benefit my students

even more. After many years of devoted

study and work, not only at my school, but

also in other teaching/learning environ-

ments, I was confident that, by applying

the newly acquired knowledge and innova-

tive teaching techniques in the EFL class-

rooms and engaging in a multitude of

critical thinking activities, I would provide

my services as a teacher and colleague in

the best way possible.

Brief course description

This 10 week-course is designed

to deepen and fine-tune participants under-

standing of the theory and applied use of

Critical Thinking principles and practices in

the EFL classroom by engaging in the follow-

ing types of activities:

(1) read and discuss professional information

and articles to develop a deeper understand-

ing of current topics in language pedagogy

as they relate to general critical thinking

skills;

(2) identify, evaluate, and select web-based

materials and tools for use in the classroom;

(3) interact with colleagues regionally and

internationally who share similar pedagogi-

cal interests;

(4) create classroom materials and projects

that demonstrate an understanding of course

topics, and

(5) adapt and enhance existing materials so

that they are culturally and age appropriate

for their schools local curriculum.

Course Goals

By the end of the course, participants are

expected to:

Understand and explain critical thinking

concepts and patterns;

Identify relevant resources for developing

and using critical thinking;

Identify and analyze teaching techniques

and materials to incorporate critical thinking

in

teaching and learning;

Apply critical thinking to classroom teach-

ing and materials development: redesign and

implement instructional units and lesson

plans with activities that require critical

thinking.

Course Topics

A. Developing Critical Thinking Skills for the

Teacher:

Understanding critical thinking;

Applying critical thinking to teaching;

Blooms taxonomy;

Socratic questioning;

The elements of thought (reasoning);

the universal intellectual standards; the

essential intellectual traits (virtues);

and strategies

B. Lesson and Unit Plan Redesign:

Developing critical thinking for stu-

dents;

Redesigning instruction to include

critical thinking;

Instructional strategies: affective, cogni-

tive;

Assessing critical thinking skills;

Evaluating teachers critical thinking

approach and application of critical thinking

tools.

C. Developing an Action Plan for Implementa-

tion of Critical Thinking:

Identifying constraints and finding

solutions;

Formulating an action plan;

Looking critically at critical thinking

There is a substantial amount of

work in this course. I had to put aside 4-6

hours each week on average to do the read-

ings on current issues from online journals,

reports, and guides etc, participate in discus-

sions, and complete the tasks. I had to take

time to think about my weekly schedule and

to plan so that I could do a little course work

each day or every other day instead of wait-

ing until the end of the week.

Post-course reflection

After nearly ten weeks of intense immersion

in a highly challenging and intellectually

rewarding course, here I am, pondering

which three significant ideas that I have

learned from reading, discussing and/or

completing the tasks to choose from the

oceans of new information, with a view to

elaborating on their impact upon my grasp

and application of critical thinking. Which-

ever my choices may be, focusing on solely

three feels as relative to me as grossly unfair

to the host of other pertinent ideas that I have

to leave out.

Upon reflection, I will look at the following:

1. The interrelationship between the Ele-

ments of Thought/Reasoning, the Intellec-

tual Standards, and the Intellectual Traits,

as major components of critical thinking:

I have learned that:

the elements of thought inform us

that all reasoning has a purpose, is an

attempt to answer questions or solve

problems, is based on assumptions, is

framed by a specific viewpoint, is

dependent on information, data, and

evidence, contains inferences, or

interpretations - which lead to con-

clusions - is expressed through con-

cepts and ideas, and has implications

and consequences;

the universal intellectual standards -

clarity, accuracy, precision, rele-

vance, depth, breadth, logic, signifi-

cance, fairness, etc. are used to

analyze and assess the quality of

reasoning, as a guide to better and

more refined thinking ;

the universal intellectual traits

intellectual humility, intellectual

courage, intellectual empathy, intel-

lectual autonomy, intellectual integ-

rity, intellectual perseverance, confi-

dence/faith in reason fair-mindedness

are interdependent and develop

best only in concert with each other.

The elements of reasoning enable us to

analyze our thought, the standards are

there for us to assess and evaluate our use

of the elements, and the consistent and

disciplined application of the standards to

the elements leads to the development of

intellectual traits in the mind of someone

who is steadily turning into a cultivated

critical thinker.

2. Designing or re-designing a unit or a

lesson activity with the help of Blooms

Taxonomy of Learning Domains Original,

Revised and Digital Versions:

Following the thinking process, Blooms

Taxonomy, whatever the version, is a con-

tinuum that can guide me, from LOTS

(Lower Order Thinking Skills) to HOTS

(Higher Order Thinking Skills), in writing

instructional objectives aware of the

difference between goals and objectives and

in choosing what Critical Thinking strate-

gies to explore, while bearing in mind the

existence of both affective and cognitive strate-

gies, with their macro-abilities and micro-

skills;

3. Constraints on Teaching Critical Thinking:

Week 8, with its wealth of readings and re-

quired assignments was most enlightening: I

had the chance to learn about the various

constraints on teaching critical thinking, about

an entire range of obstacles that are holding us

back, sometimes even unbeknownst to us,

becoming aware of such a multitude of limita-

tions with their subtle and complex implica-

tions being critically important at all stages

of the instructional process:

Students limitations (Taking Students

Limitations into Account, by Richard

Paul & Linda Elder) and their cognitive

development, especially dualism and

multiplicity, with its epistemological

nihilism so typical of sophomores, and

how I can design and organize instruc-

tion with such valuable insights in mind

(Perry on Cognitive Development);

The climates of constraint law and

order; the conservative climate; the

climate of pathology and pessimism; the

competitive climate that are sure to

discourage teaching for meaningful

learning and critical thinking (Climates

of Constraint/Restraint of Teachers and

Teaching, by Catherine Cornbleth);

Teaching for the test (Whats Wrong

with Teaching for the Test?, by Jack

Kaufhold) - I elaborated on it in my

experience-sharing piece;

The relationship between incompetence

and lack of awareness of incompetence

another possible constraint to have in

mind when designing critical thinking

lessons (Incompetent People Really Have

No Clue, by Erica Goode)

Integrating critical thinking skills into

the EFL/ELT context

Aiming at sharing my understanding of the

theory and the applied use of Critical Thinking

principles and practices, I engaged in the

following types of activities:

In the EFL classroom:

Students had to take an article that had

been assigned to read for class, and com-

plete a template specially designed for

analyzing the logic of a piece of writing.

Specifically, they had to identify and state

the elements of thought/reasoning in it:

the purpose of the article;

the key question that the author is

addressing;

the main assumption(s) underlying

the authors thinking;

the main point(s) of view presented

in the article (What is the author

looking at, and how is this seen?);

the most important information

(facts, experiences, data the author is

using to support their conclusions) in

the article;

the key concept(s) and idea(s) read-

ers need to understand;

the main inferences/conclusions in

the article;

the main implications and conse-

quences

As follow-up and follow- through activities,

students participated in:

a peer assessment session (group

work), in which they had to analyze and

critique a classmates pr