Foreign language

Their strengths as a teacher.The majority of the participants, P # 1, P # 2, P # 3, P # 4, P # 5, and P # 7, examined their belief about the importance of creating a meaningful and friendly atmosphere in their classroom settings. P # 3 stated in her reflection “When I take the opportunity to enjoy passing the knowledge I have, I feel that my students become more enthusiastic learners.” Similarly, P # 1

provided the freedom for his students. Instead of insulting them, ordering them to do the activities, he gave them the choice to choose what they would like to do in the classroom. Moreover, by comparing himself with the other participants‟ approach to classrooms‟ atmospheres, P # 1 concluded that:

I put less pressure on my students‟ in the classroom and I relate my relaxed attitudes towards the students with my experience in teaching, I have been teaching more than ten years, so I am more aware of that controlling every step, every act of students does not lead success if student is not intrinsically motivated. If the students want to learn something, they can somehow learn it, not with my force or something like that. I realized this by teaching after some years, that‟s why I guess I have a more relaxed teaching atmosphere when compared with my friends‟ classes.
P # 2 stated the importance of creating a friendly and meaningful atmosphere in her classes, as well. She declared that:
I allocate some time to discussion sessions about some topics such as music or football, in which students can share their ideas with ease. During these sessions, I do not correct my students‟ grammar mistakes in order not to make them feel under pressure or stressed and my students are always aware that they will never be judged by me, their teacher, about their ideas or suggestions presented throughout the classroom discussion sessions.
Participants also used online discussion forums to define the relationship between themselves and their students. For instance, P # 5 stated that she was “trying to be friendly, not a friend of her students.” Five of her colleagues, P # 1, # 3, # 4,# 6 and # 9, were on the same side with her. They all believed that defining the borders between themselves and the students definitely helped them prevent anticipated or possible problems in terms of student-teacher interaction.

Providing warm-up exercises to focus students‟ attention before each unit was another technique that P # 4, P # 5 and P # 7 applied in their classroom settings. For instance, P # 4 stated in her interview session that

I believe that good classroom atmosphere ends up with good interaction and success. I believe that this is our job to make our students ready for the lesson. I mean, I always ask my students how they do during the school term. I sometimes start the lesson with a song especially in the morning. I bring videos and warm them up for the lesson by sharing that video which is related to the unit of course book. I feel myself better when I start the lesson like that and I am not that, you know, disciplined or strict teacher who directly starts teaching.
Considering the statements appeared in reflection papers, discussion sessions and interviews, it can be concluded that participants reflected on their strengths as creating a friendly and meaningful atmosphere, setting borders in their relationship with the students and implementing warm-up sessions to engage students more in teaching processes.