HAPPY NEW YEAR...

MAY ALL THE THINGS BE WITH YOU IN THE COMING YEAR.

WITH LOVE AND PEACE...

HAYAL KOKSAL

One More Year Fades Away...

Dear Colleagues,
I could finalize a very busy year with the 25-29 December Training in Erzurum which was a collaborative work of the Ministry of Education and Microsoft Turkey. 33 more teachers and principals had gotten the peer-coaching and leadership seminars for five days. From then on those innovative facilitators will train their colleagues with the support of their principals in their own towns or cities. I wish good luck to all of them. I have been proud of them.

The Turkish Center for Schools of Quality which was founded in 1999 in ıstanbul is moving to its new office on 4th January 2008. This new office is a belonging of QOMER and it will go on publicizing quality and innovative efforts in education and business more effectively from then on. Our new telephone and fax numbers are as follows:

TELEPHONE: +90 212 341 26 01

FAX: +90 212 341 26 02

I wish you a very peaceful and fruitful New Year.
Hayal KÖKSAL

From the Mount Palandöken to the Congress Building

Dear all,

I have been in Erzurum for three days to finalize the 2007 Seminars of the Ministry of Education & Microsoft Turkey's Innovative Teachers Program. We have started with the Peer-Coaching part and today we welcomed the principals of the innovative teachers coming from different cities of Turkey. The seminar will end on Saturday but this afternoon we organized a city tour to learn more about the historical and the cultural sides of the city. We started with the Mount Palandöken and then we visited Aziziye, Double Minaret and the Congress Building. The deep culture and also the hospitality of the city people have influenced us a lot. I hope you also visit this lovely city to see the different faces of our rich culture. Even though the temperature is around minus ten ot twenty, the warm blood of the inhabitants make you feel happy. With love and peace...

Hayal KOKSAL

2010 Istanbul Cultural Capital Project & Peace Center

Dear All,
We witnessed two wonderful events yesterday. The first one was in Vehbi Koç Foundation, Koç Private Primary School related to our 2010 Istanbul Europe Cultural Capital Project: BİGG-İST. The project circle (see the photo above) has already had 19 students, 6 teachers and some parents related to their 2 projects within the BİGG-İST. We shared the İmece (SQCC) Training with them and learned their planned steps of collaboration. We believe they will produce wonderful works. I say: Good luck to all of them.

The second event took place at the Albert Long Hall of Bogaziçi University. For more than one year, we were trying to found a Peace Education and research Center (BUPERC) under the umbrella of Boğaziçi University. At last we realized it. After the approval of the Higher Education Council and its appearance at the Official Gazette on 1st September 2007, we drew the Road Map of the Center and listed the upcoming projects and seminars. Yesterday we had a wonderful Opening Ceremony under the leadership of the rector Prof.Dr.Ayşe Soysal. We hope national and international collaborations will enrich our power on the way of world peace and unity. We thank to "WinPeace" for starting such a movement here. During our visit to CMS, in Lucknow, we had been in the Opening Ceremony of Peace Centre of Kingston Business College with the collaboration of WCTQEE and CMS. One of our founders Nur Martin and I had also been in contact with the founders of that Centre in India. Another collaboration is with Human Dignity and Humiliation studies Network in USA. Their 10th Annual Meeting will be organized in Istanbul in 2010 and I am the convenor of that event. In order to bring our power together for all these events, please keep in touch.
Tomorrow a new educational serial ic is going to start in daily Cumhuriyet. Figen Atalay will share her experiences and feelings about India-educational and social sides of it. I believe you will love it.
Tomorrow is one of our religious festival days: Feast of Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı). Although we, as adults, always share our nice, old memories related to those wonderful old days stating that "no more we witness such wonderful days", I believe that it is our main mission to provide lovely Festival days for our youngesters. We should never force our children to share the "bloody" side of it, but we should teach them the noble feelings of our religion such as; sharing, caring, helping the poor and the neighbours, supporting the needed people, and visiting our neighbours, relatives and respected ones. The coming four days, will create a good opportunity for families coming together, sharing love and respect and also resting just before entering a new year.
After the Bayram Holiday, I will go to a snowy region; Erzurum to give the peer-coaching and leadership seminars of Microsoft and Ministry of National Education-Educational Technologies Department. Meanwhile, I will give my final lesson of the term to my students at Boğaziçi University, and say goodbye to them. This is the life, isn't it? Meeting and departing... I send my best regards to all of you. Have a good week.
Hayal KÖKSAL

Dear All,

I am in Çayeli, Rize_ a very green and blue land of Turkey by the Black Sea. Here is just like a paradise hugging the blue sky with the green tea-gardens of the earth. We are staying at the In-Service training Center of the Ministry of National Education to present the second step of the Innovative Teachers Program of Microsoft Turkey. 21 Turkish Innovative Teachers are learning the "leadership" and "peer-coaching skills" of the program. They will be together with their principals after a two-day training to prepare their schools' Professional Development Program. We witness a very strong collaborative work which is called İMECE in Turkish culture. All these efforts are for our dear students. They should feel happy thermselves, for all these things are for them.

Meanwhile, we never ignore our fun. Learning without fun and joy is very dull. Through some trips to Uzungöl and Ayder valley we also refresh our bodies and minds. I will go on sharing our news with you. Have a fruitful and peacerful week.
Hayal KÖKSAL

From India to Turkey with many Projects

Dear Colleagues,

We came back from a dream-like visit to India. We (as a team of eight Turkish experts) participated in the 10th International Convention on Students' Quality control Circles (ICSQCC) which took place in City Montessori School in lucknow. We also saved some time for sightseeing in Delhi. With the special presenters as seen above we tried to share what has been doing in turkey about our fields to improve the quality. Furthermore, as the convenor of the next year's Convention we took over the flag of it. It was a very proudful event for us. Next year we have been looking forward to seeing you here, in Istanbul.
5th December is a very important date, an anniversary for Turkish women. Our great leader Ataturk gave the right of voting and being voted to Turkish women in 1934. Turkey takes place among the first countries in this equal rights matter for men and women. For instance, this was given to french ladies in 1944, to Italian ones in 1945. In Switzerland the date was 1971. We participated in different ceremonies on that special occasion and showed our great respect to him.
Yesterday we were at the Moda Primary School to hold the 3rd meeting of 2010 Istanbul European Cultural Capital Project of us_ "Bigg-İstanbul". Student teams from that school presented us what they have been doing related to the project. We are collaborating with four schools at the moments and we hope to have more partners not only from turkey but also from the other candidate cities Hungary, Germany and Greece.

Today is the great meeting date of ICT Seagulls Project circles of Istanbul. We will come together and finalize the project topics with the participants. This year 50 projects from Turkey and nealy 30 projects from overseas partners will be in this project. Please see the above broshure of the project and write to us to register.

With love and peace...

Hayal Köksal

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