FIFTH DAY WAS EDMODO DAY (WEDNESDAY)

WHAT IS EDMODO? 

HOW TEACHERS CAN USE IT?

HOW TEACHER CAN CREATE GROUPS AND CLASSES?

HOW YOU CAN PREPARE AN ONLINE EXAM or POLL or so on...

These questions were answered on the fifth day of the course and we started exploring a program called EDMODO which is similar to Facebook. The difference is that, Facebook is just for fun and socialization but Edmodo is used for education. From the photos below, you can find its benefits for teachers and students, and the similarities and differences between Facebook and Edmodo:

If you want to learn more about Edmodo, you can visit its page can create your free account: https://www.edmodo.com/

FOURTH DAY WAS THE BLOG DAY

Buenas dias !

Good afternoon !

İyi Günler !

Before coming to the course, everyday we visited different places and on Tuesday we went to Madrid again to see the places that we hadn't seen before. We used train to go to Madrid and paid 6,80 Euro for each person. Our first destination was Puerta del Sol again because we hadn't taken photos in front of Biga Statue.

EL OSO Y EL MADRONO

Later, we started walking towards PALACIO DE CIBELES and through the way we took photos of different buildings. At last, when we came to the Palace, we climbed the building and had a wonderful Madrid view from its roof. It is the perfect place to see Madrid from a high building:

PALACIO DE CIBELES

As for the course, on the fourth day of the course, namely on Tuesday, it was a kind of hands-on training :) Our trainer Maria showed what we could do and we did as she taught. During this applied training, I have created my first blog. You can visit and see this blog using this link.
Today, we had a great problem about internet connection, because we were forty people and internet connection was terrible at the hotel. So, Cervantes trainers had to bring more wifi connection devices to make us connect to internet. However, it worked and we were able to connect to the net to work on our blog...

Also, you can see some pictures from our teacher's presentation:

A few pages from our blogging training

And as a result, at the end of the day I had my first blog:) I believe everybody learned something that day and happy about it...

Greetings from Turkey...

THE THIRD DAY WAS IN THE CLASSROOM

Hello again everybody!

Visiting the city and walking for sighseeing tours was really tiring and on the third day we were in the class, namely the meeting room in the Hotel Rafaelforum. You can find the link of the hotel if you are interested: http://www.rafaelhoteles.com/hoteles/forum-alcala-madrid/

We were a hardworking group :) We listened our teacher carefully and learned lots of theoretical things about making a blog and using Edmodo: 

Our trainer was cute, too :) Her name is Maria.

I love her... 

She was really helpful for us and did her best to help and teach such a large group within such limited time... She got tired, I think.

The funniest part of the first day is that a teacher should be like Professor Gadget. S/he needs a toolbox for his/her students and our teacher Maria asked whether we have such a toolbax or not????

Everybody should evaluate himself / herself thinking about his / her technological abilities....

Another thing that was stressed on the first day in the classroom was that new generation is totally different from us, our generation. Children of today are born into technology and they are digital native whereas we are digital second learner. This new generation meets technology when they are in their cradle :) But we met computers or other digital devices while we were at high school, or may be more later.  

As a result of the presentation of Maria: EDUCATION SHOULD BE LIKE THIS: 

THE SECOND DAY OF THE COURSE

Hola!

Hello!

Merhaba!

On the second day of the course, we met in front of Cervantes Statue at the Plaza de Cervantes and as a group we took photos. We had a cute guide helping us and he told lots of things about the history of Alcala de Henares. We learned that the history of the city goes back to Neolithic Times. During Roman Times; Complutum, as Alcalá was called in this time, is a name that it’s believed that it came from ‘compluvium’, a latin word which means ‘place where water converge’ since there are many streams meeting in here: Camarmilla and Torote merge with River Henares.

He was the only person speaking English in SPAIN :)))

History of Alcala from the nineteenth century to the present

The Nineteenth century is a time of disasters. There was the Peninsular War (1808-1814), Ecclesiastical Confiscations and the Complutense University moved to Madrid because a lack of students. Every building ever belonging to the university changed its activity, serving as barracks or other military uses.

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was a disaster for cultural artistic goods and treasures of Alcalá. These disastrous consequences lasted until the 70s, when the industrialization of Spain and Alcalá started. It brought money to the inhabitants of Alcalá, and it brought back social life and urban development.

Luckily a new law was made just in time to protect the most important urban heritages of Alcalá (but not all), and so the city center wasn’t demolish to build new ugly housing.

The XXth century brings a new growing touristic interest in Alcalá. It has brought back the University (even though it is not the University Complutense anymore but the University of Alcalá) and the old confiscated buildings have been reoccupied and restored.

The college environment that was lost for a long time but that has always been the spirit of Alcalá has been reemerging.

Do you want to learn more things about Alcala de Henares? In this link below I have more about the History of Alcala.

https://youtu.be/3VSIy-FKOoo

After we have listened the history of the city, we walked towards the street on which you can see  the first Alcala University. It was magestic! Everywhere is green and you can really smell the history inside it. 

During the sighseeing our next visit station is CERVANTES' HOUSE which is very popular here and a must see place. You can see and smell history there and try to guess that century and the life of people living at that time. As we were a large group, we entered the house in groups. Of course, we had lots of pictures there, too. 

In front of the house

His father's study room, he was a MEDICO :)

One of the pages from his book: DON QUIJOTE

After the sigtseeing with our tour guide we decided to go to TOLEDO which is the second famous place near Madrid. Everybody who came Madrid should see this city because it is another historical and religious city. We had fascinated by the view and the scenery. The streets were narrow, the buildings were historical and some people were still living in them.:

This city was a knights and soldiers city in the past :)

There were a lot of cathedral, churches and other religious buildings

A synagoge

And of course we had a video there too:) It wasn't very interesting but it was a fascinating memory for us...

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THE FIRST DAY IN MADRID

Hola a todos!!! 

Hi to everybody!!!

Herkese merhaba!!!

Me and my best friend Serpil :)

We arrived Madrid at 5 p.m. and took a taxi from the airtport to come to the city centre. At six o'clock we checked in our room on Gran Via 63. It is not easy to find the hotel building, because it is a normal building with no signs on which written a word about our hotel name. After a bit hesitation, we entered the building and the man on the first floor sent us to the fifth floor, which is the hotel :)

It was good, but not what I had expected :(

After we left our luggages to our rooms, we have changed our clothes and we went a sigtseeing around the city centre. We started our tour with the nearest place next to our hotel: PLAZA ESPANA...It is one of the most famous places in Madrid and there were a lot of people around. We blended with in the crowd, it was fun to be there after a long journey. 

While we were walking, we saw a green park and walked through in. The weather was sunny, everybody was enjoying themselves and there were a lot of people having great time and enjoying the sun. 

While we were in the park

After a while we continued walking, because we wanted to go other famous places which are really near our hotel before the weather gets dark. 

And.... 

Our first destination was PALACIO REAL (Madrid Kraliyet Sarayı, in Turkish:) 

It was huge, really huge guys! But of course everybody who goes Madrid should see this building. Because, this building belongs to Royal family. They do not live here of course. However, they sometimes have celebrations and ceremonies here. You can see how huge it is when you look at my photos below:

Next to Palacio Real, you will see another huge cathedral which belongs to Royal family again. The cathedral and the Palace are located in the same square. Its name is CATHEDRAL DE LA ALMUDENA. And if you are curious about the history of it, I can shortly tell you about it.
When the capital of Spain was transferred from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, the seat of the church in Spain remained in Toledo and the new capital had no cathedral. Plans to build a cathedral continued but the construction of this building was started in 1879. The cathedral seems to have been built on the site of a medieval mosque that was destroyed in 1083, when Alfonso VI reconquered Madrid. Francisco de Cubas, the Marquis of Cubas, designed and directed the construction in a Gothic revival style. Construction ceased completely during the Spanish Civi War, and the project was abandoned until 1950, when Fernando Chueca Goithia adapted the plans of the Cubas to a baroque exterior to match the grey and white façade of the Palacio Real, which stands directly opposite. The cathedral was not completed until 1993, when it was consecrated by Pope John Paul II. On May 22, 2004, the marriage of King Felipe VI, then crown prince, to Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano took place at the cathderal.

And next destination was Plaza Mayor... From Cathedral to Plaza Mayor we entered most of the souvenirshops and bought lots of presents for our families and friends. And the most interesting souvenirshop was Gepetto's shop. It was fun :)

Madrid is really a crowded city with its 6,3 million people living here. In fact, Madrid is like Ankara, the capital of Turkey. In the heart of Madrid, PLAZA MAYOR, you will see different people whom you can take a photo with:

You can watch the video of the square below:
https://youtu.be/SkeOIuhFT5A

That is us :)

If you continue walking, you will see Puerta Del Sol. It is anonther famous place in Madrid... You should absolutely see it.

Another great place: Puerta Del Sol

That is enough for the first day, because we were really tired and wanted to have a rest in our rooms in the hotel. Let's go back to our hotel...