HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY

DEAR ALL,
I WISH A VERY HAPPY "MOTHERS' DAY" TO YOU.
THIS IS MY FIRST YEAR WITHOUT HER. I MISS HER SMILING FACE, HER WARMTH AND HER LOVE SO MUCH.
THIS IS THE LIFE!
IT CONSISTS OF A CIRCLE: BIRTH, GROWING UP, MATURITY, PRODUCTIVITY, GETTING OLD AND DEATH...
HOWEVER, THE EXISTENCE OF OUR CHILDREN, OUR DOSTS AND OUR STUDENTS KEEP US STRONGER BEFORE THE SAD EVENTS OF LIFE.

PLEASE HUG AND KISS YOUR MUM WHEN YOU STILL HAVE HER.
LOVES,

HAYAL KÖKSAL

Plans for this Month

Dear all,
This month is so important for the Turkish schools and also for parents. The schools will close in the middle of June and these days are very busy for all students and teachers. They are taking exams, presenting projects and entering very important national exams for their future years. On the other hand, the lovely weather of the spring time puts some kind of obstacles in front of them. Their minds and eyes are in the parks and at the seaside. In fact, this is same for all age groups. The awakening nature is also a sign of the awakening minds. Most of our National Festival days take place in April and in May. Last month we celebrated the Children's Festival Day on 23rd April. The 1st day of the May was important not for all the workers but also for all as the Spring Festival Day. Now we have the Youth and Sports Festival Day on 19th May. It is the starting day of the Independence War of Turks. All those days remind of us all our duties and responsibilities as the children of our great leader Atatürk.
Let me share my plans for the month with you...
My lessons at boğaziçi University will go on until the end of May. The final exams will take place between the 1st and 9th of June. This summer I will have two courses at the Summer School of my university. One is elective and its name is: "Teachers of the Future".  It was designed for the junior and senior students of the Faculty of Education. We will share the characteristics of the schools of the future and then learn the responsibilities and characteristics of the future teachers. We will conduct the course by remembering the old sdystems and projecting  to the future. 

This week the specil week for the Disabled People. That is why I invited a challenged friend to my classroom to share his difficulties and expectations concerning the disabled from the future leaders. I am thankful to Mr. Ahmet Bağbekleyen who is the director of a Rehabilitation Center and also an ex TV programmer and Journalist.  My students have gained awareness concerning the above mentioned problems. They learned that feeling pity and sadness is not the solution but accepting as a human being equal to the abled ones. We also stressed the importance of the training of the abled ones before the disabled. I present my good wishes to all challenged dosts in the world.

On 11th may, there is the Peace Culture and Education Workshop at the Rectorate Hall of Boğaziçi University. BUPERC, YEKÜV & HumanIst co-ordinate the event. It will take place between  9.45-17.45 and it is free.
13th May is ther special day for our mothers. We always love and respect our mothers but that day is a symbolic one and sometimes it is needed to realize the warm communication between mums and children. Remembering must come from the heart not from the purse! :)
Two precious American writers will participate and give a talk on their recent book, titled: "Anatolian Days and Nights" in my classroom on 22th May. You are all invited!
We are within the last month of the International ICT Seagulls Project. All the circles will deliver their web pages/Blogs within the first week of June. Most of the teams are finalizing their projects and organizing their last performances. I wish good luck to all teams.
I wish you a very happy, fruitful and healthy May to you. Sincerely yours,
Hayal KÖKSAL

Anatolian Days & Nights

Peacebuilding through the Art of Storytelling 

Joy E. Stocke &  Angie Brenner wrote a wonderful book about Anatolia:

Anatolian Days & Nights: A Love Affair with Turkey,
Land of Dervishes, Goddesses, and Saintswww.anatoliandaysandnights.com

They will be in Istanbul in May and...

They will honour me with their existence in my classroom.
I would like to thank them on behalf of my student at boğaziçi University

Interview with Joy E. Stocke/Wild River Review:

http://www.wildriverreview.com/Interview/Memoir/Joy-E.-Stocke/Anatolian-Days-and-Nights/Leesha-Lentz

Interview with Angie Brenner/San Diego Union Tribune:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/mar/31/talking-turkey-the-country/

Courses start with SQC/İmece Training

Dear All,

The year 2012 has started with lots of seminars and travels for me. Even though Turkey has had a snowy winter, we have continued sharing our experiences and excitements with our colleagues and students. First of all, we were in Trabzon to give a "Project management and ICT Seagull Seminar" to teachers working there. Then, I was one of the speakers of the Association for the Graduates of Yıldız Technical University. I shared my WCTQEE and CMS experiences with the audience. yesterday there was a meeting at sabancı university concerning "University-Industry Partnership" held by ARTEV. I will be in Brussels to participate an EU project named "People 2 People". Thus the first two months of the year will be ended with a busy agenda. 

Today and on Friday I will be starting my SQC and TQE Seminars to the students who elected my courses. In my courses I always use the project-based training to teach the future teachers the most helpful and fruitful methodology. They learn it, they try it and finally they like it. Mostly it happened like this. My seminars of this week are open to all participants. Today, it will take place on the North Campus of Boğaziçi university (YD 106) and on Friday at YD 116.

The registration period of ICT seagulls Project will end on the first week of March. ıf you are interested in it (www.bilisimcimartilar.com), please hurry.

Have a happy week.

Hayal KÖKSAL

New Term will Start Tomorrow

Dear All,
A new term is going to start tomorrow at Boğaziçi University. I have been looking forward to meeting  100 teacher trainees. This excites me because I believe that teachers are the essential elements of a community since they have been holding the forming power of future generations.

For the last four days I was in Trabzon to give a seminar to the teachers concerning ICT Seagulls seminar. The interest and participation of them made me very happy and hopeful for the future. My visit there was the result of great efforts of one of my ex-students_ Aygül Aydın Öztürk. I had taught English to her and her classmates in Göle High School between the years of 1978 and 1981. After ages, she found me through Facebook and we made plans to come together. Technology assists people to find their past friends and it did the same for us. I have been very happy to see my ex-student and her family. They provided us with a great opportunity of meeting new friends and learning more about that Black Sea Region city and its culture. My thanks go to Öztürk Family.

The registration time will end on 1st March for the ICT Seagulls Project. I hope more international teams take part in it. The picture below is from the Long Lake of Trabzon. Loves,

Hayal KÖKSAL

Happy St. Velentine's Day!

PEACE AND LOVE ARE THE BASIC NEEDS OF ALL.

HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU.

TURKISH SCHOOLS & TERM HOLIDAY

Turkish schools started their fifteen-day-holiday yesterday. I wish a peaceful and fruitful holiday to all students, teachers, administrators and also parents. Universities also ended their final exams and students have started their one-month holiday. If you ask about the instructors; we will rest after checking the final papers and projects, make the necessary preparations for the next term and most probably we will also set aside some days to rest.

I am planning to rets for some time during the first week of February. I will also take some exercice to feel healthier for the coming days. For, I will give two courses and most probably I will have 90 more very precious students like the previous ones. One is an elective course named; "Non-violence in education". It is for the junior and senior students of all faculties. It will be the second time to be instructed. I know it will be a very useful one for the future teachers. They will produce many projects to be ornamented with SQC philosophy. The other is a compulsory course for the freshman students: "Introduction to education". Being an experienced teacher does not mean to stay without doing anything about the new term. It necessitates harder work to renew ourselves. that is why I will be reading many books during the holiday. I will also finalize editing a book about "Village Institutions". It contains 35 projects concerning that wonderful philosophy.

I will go on lecturing about ICT seagulls Project after the holiday. On 11th February I am one of the speakers of the Monthly Seminars of the Alumni Center of Yıldız Technical University. On 15th I will be in Trabzon to inform all the educators working there including the Black Sea Technical University. This year, the interest of the universities seems to be more intensive then the previous years. Yalova University will also ve with us soon.

I would like to share a photo from the ICT Seagulls Award ceremony in CMS, Lucknow, India on 3rd December 2011. Prof.Richard Ennals is getting the awards of Kingston university teams.I hope this year we will be organize one in Turkey and one in Nepal. Sincerely yours,
Hayal KOKSAL