It’s been a long time since I posted my last entry. While describing blogs as ‘frequently updated websites’ in my talks, there seems to be a contradiction between what I say and what I do:-)
I can say that I have experienced one of the busiest times of my life but I can’t complain because I had a great time as well.
First, the ISTEK conference… I really enjoyed organizing it and with a dedicated group of teachers who worked very hard, it has proved itself to be a successful event. It was wonderful to read blog posts and tweets about it. Thanks to all who blogged about ISTEK ELT and thanks a lot to my PLN who sent motivational tweets and DMs during and after the conference. I am glad you exist!
It is a great pleasure for me to share the links of the blog posts about ISTEK ELT:
Shelly, I copied this list from your blog:-)
From PLN to ISTEK 2010 by Sean Banville
Not virtual but virtually there: an intimate but by no means inferior Istek experience! by Mark Andrews
ISTEK Conference Review by Andy Chaplin, Olaf Elch
The ISTEK Conference, Istanbul by Ken Wilson
What makes a good conference Pt 2 – a kind of twitter update by Jeremy Harmer
Motivation and Inspiration by Eva Büyüksimkesyan
ISTEK Glogs March 27th and March 28th by Sibel Taskin via Nicky Hockly
and….
ISTEK and My One Year Twitter Birthday by Shelly Terrell
Some photos from the conference:
I must say that the IATEFL conference last year inspired me to organize the ISTEK ELT and this year’s conference in Harrogate was even more inspiring than the previous one.
It was wonderful to meet so many friends from Twitter. The IATEFL Harrogate online team did a fantastic job. All the plenary talks were streamed online and watched by thousands of people from all around the world. A lot of people were tweeting from the sessions using the “iatefl” hashtag and a lot of teachers joined Twitter during and after the conference. I’ve been to very successful and inspiring sessions by Russell Stannard, Ozge Karaoglu & Shelly Terrell, Petra Pointner, Marisa Constantinides, Sebnem Oral, Andy Hockley and Shaun Wilden. The Pecha Kucha evening was hosted by Lindsay Clandfield who always has a great calming effect on the Pecha Kuchaists:-) I cannot think of a Pecha Kucha without Lindsay. I think all the PKists did very well!…and it was streamed online too.You can find all the recordings and some fantastic interviews on the Harrogate Online Web Site.
A final note: I was planning to write a more detailed and probably more lively post about these two conferences one of which is my baby and the other, my source of inspiration. However, for the last two weeks, I was really very tired of following the destructive and immature posts about the ISTEK conference and myself, and unfortunately it threw cold water on my willingness to write… but it will not last for long, because I am starting to organize the next ISTEK Conference very soon:-) The 2nd International ISTEK ELT Conference. April 2011…
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December 13, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Dear Burcu,
I have been inspired a lot after your organization which I admired. Thank your for your effort as I have been taking the same responsibilty to have 2nd Elt Atafen College at my school. I truly believe that you did your best. Meanwhile I would like to invite you and your team for our conference in Kocaeli. It will be great honour to host you.
Very best wishes.
Mürüvvet Çelik
Head of English Department
Atafen College
December 19, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Mürüvvet Hocam,
Thank you for your nice words. It is very good to hear that you have decided to organize a conference. I wish you all the success. I would love to be there. I will check my calendar and write to you. I also hope to see you at our next conference in Istanbul.
All the best,
Burcu
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May 3, 2010 at 12:25 am
Welcome back, Burcu – you’ve reminded me that I need to start blogging again too. I’d like to echo the comments here about ISTEK – it was a fabulous conference and the first time I saw the amazing power of the PLN come to fruition, something which carried on into IATEFL too…it’s certainly been an eventful two months.
May 2, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Hi Burcu!
First ISTEK Conference and then IATEFL are great inspirations for me to have new desires about my teaching for the future.
Never! mind negative comments! We all know you did great!
Thank you so much!
P?nar Boyniko?lu
May 2, 2010 at 8:55 am
Hi ! I have mentioned your blog on my own one (http://bit.ly/bE6kxG) because I think it is worth visiting.
This is part of an initiative called “Vale a pena ficar de olho nesse blog” (“It’s worth keeping an eye on that blog”). The chosen blog has to embed the prize picture with a link to the blog she/he has received the prize from, and write ten more links to the blogs which he/she thinks are well worth a visit.
Thanks for your interesting blog!
Cheers
.-= Juan Ignacio Castro´s last blog ..It’s worth keeping an eye on that blog. =-.
May 1, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Dear friends,
Thanks a lot for your enormous support! Hope to see you all at the next ISTEK conference:-)
All the best,
Burcu
May 1, 2010 at 3:24 pm
It was nice to (briefly) meet you at IATEFL, I’m really sorry I wasn’t able to attend ISTEK, looking forward to next year’s event.
.-= Adam´s last blog ..Let them down easy? Dealing with students who fail exams =-.
April 28, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Hi Burcu
I would just like to extend my best wishes and support for you and your whole team’s groundbreaking endeavours at ISTEK this year. It was definitely the place to be judging by all accounts and even though I wasn’t there in person, I was able to join in with a lot of the fun from afar.
You are a strong person and so you will overcome this as you are already doing, and become much stronger as a result.
Take care
Janet
.-= Janet Bianchini´s last blog ..It’s Worth Taking a Look at this Blog =-.
April 28, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Burcu,
Welcome back! I’ve said everything I wanted to say about ISTEK and IATEFL elsewhere, so I’m not going to say much more than the fact that they have been my favourite two conferences of the year so far. Can’t wait for next year in Istanbul and Brighton.
Gavin
.-= Gavin Dudeney´s last blog ..IATEFL Pwned =-.
April 28, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Hello Burcu
It’s fantastic you are back – ELT needs you
What you achieved at ISTEK was incredible. Hopefully you will have time from now to see how great an accomplishment it was. I wonder how many people could pull together such an event that was so wonderful, special, vibrant and memorable; one that made people feel so great. I spent my two days at ISTEK like a deer caught in headlights at meeting so many great people.
Many people willed you to do so well, from your opening speech to your closing one. You touched many hearts as you spoke.
I owe you a special thanks. ISTEK was my first overseas conference – ever. You asked me to present. That experience really filled me with confidence to present more. In 1996 I was asked to say my name in a lecture full of fellow Master’s students. I trembled at the thought – way too much public speaking for me. I’ve moved on a bit since then, but ISTEK was the icing on the cake for me to finally end my fear of public speaking. There. That’s one tiny story of how what you did through ISTEK brought about change.
And talking about change – I suppose you better get used to being an agent of it. It’s fantastic ISTEK 2 is in the making. We all know it will be another special event. Your efforts will contribute towards the creation of an IATEFL Turkey, and more. So many people wish you well in this endeavor.
And a final thank you for looking after us so well. I will digress a little… My first trip to Turkey was as a backpacker in 1986. I befriended four young guys from the Lombardini Motor Factory (does that still exist) who spent five days showing me the city they loved. I was overawed by their friendliness and incredible hospitality. I eagerly returned to Turkey years later on another backpacking tour and then in 1993 to do my TEFL certificate in Izmir. Needless to say, I again encountered quite stunning hospitality. And so to ISTEK. Another wonderful time in my life. I can only think of the many Turkish teachers I met at the conference with a warm smile.
So… thank you Burcu for adding to my love for Turkey. You are a true ambassador for ELT and, more importantly, your country.
Sean
April 28, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Hi Burcu,
First of all I must say that the 1st ISTEK conference meant lots to me as it was the first one I attended as a speaker and while doing it I learned a lot.
I met my PLN and had great time with them.I really enjoyed these two long days and I’m looking forward to the second one.
Eva
April 28, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Hi Burcu,
I’ve been following your blog for a bit now and I kept wondering why you hadn’t posted. I thought that you must be busy with the conference etc. I was sad to read this blog and to see that you’d been temporarily put off writing. Human nature is cruel and human beings can be very mean, especially when they are jealous,like so many have said.
Great to see you back and keep up the good work!
Thanks Leahn
April 28, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Hi Burcu,
It’s great to see you blogging again, and great to hear your ISTEK event went off so well.
I did post something on my blog which mentioned you (as you know) and was meant to showcase how a rather innocuous series of events ought NOT to be interpreted or responded to, but it was obviously not taken that way and therefore not well written. My apologies for that, and the whole post and comments it generated have been wiped and replaced with a formal apology:
http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/2010/04/contemplating-fallouts-from-the-istek-conference-and-what-they-might-say-about-plns.html
As I said, it was actually written to basically defend you (and an issue in general), but from feedback it seemed it attacked you. The comments it then generated just turned a silly little campfire into a horrible conflagration. Rather devastated to be associated with that, but that whole 24 hours of blog time has been erased – and have no fear: the wrath of the PLN has descended on me with both frost and fire!
So I hope you’ll accept the apologies and if so, I look forward to continuing to work with you.
Oh, and by the way – can’t agree with Marisa more: it’s great that big TEFL events are happening around women, mothers and bilinguals (I loathe the term “non-native speaker”, absolutely loathe it!). That is absolutely tremendous for our profession.
All the best to you,
~ Jason
.-= Jason Renshaw´s last blog ..How do we "grade" creative writing? =-.
April 28, 2010 at 11:35 am
Lovely Burcu,
Well, if ISTEK’s your baby, you should be a very proud mummy!
You already know how grateful I am to you for including me in the ISTEK experience. It was a wonderful event, executed with pure finesse. I learned so much and was delighted to meet members of my PLN and interact with such interesting and knowledgeable individuals. I, like Marisa, think you should be so proud of your achievement – you are an inspiration. I loved every minute of it, and magical touches, like planting a tree for every participant, made it extra special.
I have been shocked and saddened by the personal comments I’ve read over the past couple of weeks and think that those who wrote them ought to be ashamed of themselves. But there’s always someone out there who wants to rain on your parade. That’s life, I guess, and I think it stems from jealousy and insecurity. And, despite what I’ve read, every member of your staff that I spoke to had nothing but respect, praise and warmth for their boss. And I didn’t ask – they volunteered this information.
Just know that the people who see you for the wonderful lady you are don’t give a shit about what the haters have to say,and are looking forward very much to what ISTEK 2011 has in store…
Warmest wishes, Callie
April 28, 2010 at 10:12 am
The blog posts of many of the presenters bear evidence to an event which was remarkable, organized with great efficiency, vision and passion for quality and excellence.
The pursuit of excellence is one my major goals, too, and it is great to see it in other people, as most are content with just being mediocre.
ISTEK will always stay in my memory, and I think in many other people’s, as the first major get together of a fantastic PLN who got know each other on Twitter and it was you, Burcu, who had this idea to bring us all together and I shall always be grateful to you for including me in.
ISTEK was a major conference and kudos to you and your fantastic team for pulling it off and setting a precedent.
I just want to make a small but important point which has been overlooked, I think, so far:
The triumph which was ISTEK was not pulled off by a team of male, native speaker experts but was headed by a non-native speaker young female Turkish professional. I love this!!!
To be compared to IATEFL with a 44 year history is a major triumph and the congratulations a must.
When there is such a great triumph, it is natural and inevitable that there will always be small creatures which will want to gnaw away at it by scurrying here there and everywhere trying to soil its image. It’s a gene thing, Burcu. Human genes are selfish and jealous and always wish they had done it themselves – if unable to, bring it down!
Accept it and move on.
April 28, 2010 at 9:59 am
The ISTEK Conference was one of the most inspirational and greatest successes this year. I walked away feeling more passionate about my job and had the tools to make myself a better educator. For every incredible achievement, there will be people who are irked by it. This means you accomplished something incredible. As far as the negative posts, this is one of my favorite quotes that I will give to you…
“When a true genius appears, you can know her by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against her.”
Jonathan Swift
.-= Shelly Terrell´s last blog ..Upcoming Conferences You Don’t Want to Miss =-.
April 28, 2010 at 9:28 am
ISTEK Conference was a turningpoint for me, Burcu.I started tweeting, met people who are so supportive and caring, and now I started blogging! You are the reason for all! Thanks for your desire to learn, share and care. You did a great job, i would like to thank you once more: Not only for organizing a great conference but also for daring to be a tree bearing fruit:)
April 28, 2010 at 9:00 am
I really enjoyed the ISTEK conference, Burcu, and thank you to you and your team once again for organising such a fantastic event. The groundwork for much of the tweeting at IATEFL Harrogate was laid at your conference. Well done!
Nicky
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April 28, 2010 at 3:36 am
‘Pick yourself up, dust yourself down, start all over again!’ Jerome Kern, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
From what I hear and read, I only wish I’d been at the ISTEK conference! But the feedback I’ve read (and I see why it may upset you) is interesting, and thought-provoking even if it’s not fair …
Still, remember that Ginger Rogers said, ‘I did everything Fred did, but backwards.’
Don’t doubt what you’re doing, sister, it takes a lot of courage.
Simon