Facing the currently unknown

Are we underselling our subject?

I do sometimes wonder. I blogged about FLAME earlier on today, and have just had my first chance in a while to flick through my Feedly feed of other blogs that I enjoy reading. As always, Alan Parkinson (@geoblogs) leaves me marvelling at some of the fantastic, thought-provoking materials being developed and made available to Geography teachers. From map-overlays to Mission Explore fun to examining Facebook check-ins, Alan has an amazing ability to bring our wider world to life, as do many Geography teachers that I've been fortunate to come into contact with over the years. How often do we do that as language teachers? Flicking through a lot of our MFL blogs, written by great teachers, it struck me how often we carry on teaching the same things which have, well, always been taught. Maybe with slight tweaks in the delivery of the content, but nevertheless the same content. Healthy living. School. Local area. You know the rest. Are we really pushing our students enough? When they get to deal with fascinating topic material, substance that really affects how our world works, is it a wonder why in many cases they don't choose languages for post-16- the time when our exam boards finally expect us to be analysing the wider world? In MFL I know teachers create fascinating lesson content at this stage- bye ek, I've said many a time before how much I imagine I'd have learned in, for example, Neil Jones' classroom- the man creates fascinating resources, such as this one. So why can't we, and publishers, and exam boards, and everyone involved, think again about WHAT we are teaching lower down the scale, not just HOW we are teaching it?

Just a thought...

The FLAME initiative

I love a good bit of CLIL. I'm not a fan of teaching about content which I don't have any interest in, which my students have no interest in and which doesn't help anybody to learn anything about the wider world beyond their own immediate vision. Over the last few years I've taght about climate zones, poverty factors and factors which influence immigration, the impact of drugs in South America and about the good work of the Shelterbox charity around the world. I find those interesting. I think they help expand perspectives far more than learning about the contents of a pencilcase. So anything that can further that is most definitely a good thing with me.

I'm late to the party in blogging about FLAME, but hopefully every little bit counts. Someone should use that line, it's a good'un.

The Association for Language Learning have developed the initiative in order to facilitate the sharing of experiences and resources from those teachers and schools around the country who have been getting their hands dirty with teaching language through the medium of other subject content. Anyway, as always I'm not the right person to explain it, but only to encourage people to find out more and to get involved! So to do so, click here and get onboard. If you've never experienced CLIL before then don't be scared, have fun- your students will love you for it!

Shelterbox for year 8

What do you really need to live contentedly?

What would you do after a disaster? How would you cope and how would you feel?

To be honest those were my basic premises for putting together a unit about the Chilean earthquake of 2010- a disaster that struck a beautiful part of the country that I'd visited only a few months before. I'd put together a unit on Haiti a few years ago for French so wanted to see if I could do something similar in Spanish and really challenge my year 8s to think about how fortunate they really are, even just to have a solid roof over their heads, decent food and, although they often don't accept the point, a good education provision. 

Again I wanted to focus on discussion and debate in this unit as well as creativity and empathy- hence why the unit was building up to a reading image task to be shared on Voicethread - a site which I often feel is very underrated simply because it doesn't offer all the whizzbangs but which is great for sharing discussions and encouraging peer assessment.  

So here it is. Nothing special but hopefully a tad thought-provoking...

Download 2- Shelterbox

Health- getting controversial?

I hate teaching about healthy lifestyles. There, I've said it. I find it boring and too often it actually becomes mildly patronising. Yes, it's ok for me to enjoy a beer or a glass of wine (which are both bad for the health, depending on which study you read, of course) because "I'm a grown-up". Yes, even though I really don't like cucumber you should always eat things that are healthy. Yes, you should drink lots of water. We all know it. But what's worse is that our students are so blinkin bored of hearing it every year that they no longer pay any attention whatsoever.

So I wanted to do something a bit different. Because I'm stubborn like that. And because I could. And because I'm stupid and wanted to create loads of extra work for myself.

And because I wanted to actually get my students thinking. Oh, and I wanted them to learn something about the world, not just some words in a strange language. Ah, Intercultural Understanding.

Colombia. Land of drugs and violence AND THAT'S IT. Well, in the eyes of your average year 8, anyway. Having taught some absolutely lovely Colombians a few years ago I know that's most definitely not the case. It's a beautiful country that's been deeply, deeply effected by the issues connected to the drug trade that stretches well beyond just "people take drugs". In rural areas there are real issues to do with lack of infrastructure and health provision where the authorirites simply can't reach out safely. So that was my first thought. 

But then I got sidetracked. That happens quite frequently when i'm trying to devise modules.

Did you know that Uruguay, the relatively small and underappreciated nation sandwiched between the powerhouses of Argentina and Brazil, is proposing to becoming the first nation in the world to legally approve the selling of marijuana? They're convinced that current policies across South America and the world simply don't work. Beyond that they're also scared that the drug violence and culture sweeping the continent will reach them soon. 

So what do ou r students think about that idea? Let's discuss it. Yes, let's learn a wee bit about how to be healthy, but only as a springboard on to something far more meaningful. I love using Eva Lamb's idea for wordmats to allow students to have all the language they'll need at their fingertips before you start teaching, saving time on pointlessly introducing it when thanks to their phonics work they should already be able to say it!

Yes, it might be a bit strong in places- I think the Spanish government's campaign materials on the subject are superb (they're in one of the folders in the unit below) and would make great display materials supporting a strong PSME anti-drugs message. When I discussed the concept with some year 8s before writing the module they were blown away that any country would be "crazy enough" to legalise any drug. But then they really started to give me some very thought-provoking opinions- exactly what I want classes to do, just in Spanish.

So this is one that I didn't get to teach in my short time in the school, but really would love to and will do so as soon as I get the chance (if I head back into the classroom!). All feedback HUGELY appreciated. (apologies for typos + Word autocorrects by the way!)

Download 3- health

 

Putting words into action

I had always said that I didn't want to be out of the classroom for any longer than two years. I talked in presentations at conferences about things I'd done and was passionate about- not just things that I'd thought about or heard about, so I was keen to get back in and not only see if I could still "do" it but also put into practice the theories that I'd developed, learning the lessons from the inspirational people that I've worked with over the last few years.

As such, in January I took up a new post near Southampton for a 7 month blast at seeing how much change I could help to bring about, primarily in a Spanish department but also by bringing new ideas into a language department overall. I've no idea how much impact I had, but I'd like to hope that I helped my students to learn and helped other teachers to learn too. Cos I sure know that I learnt a lot from those students and teachers and that the feedback I got was very positive.

I feel like I'd lost my passion a touch at first, but seeing some of the things that I'd thought long and hard about becoming reality helped rekindle it. What's next? Who knows. But before I step out into the big scary world again I'm going to try to write a few reflective posts and share some of the lessons I've learned, some of the materials I created and some of the thoughts I've got about what worked and what didn't. So hey, here goes... 

Language World 2011

Last weekend was one of the annual highlights of the language year- Language World. Every year it turns into a crazy dash, balancing catching up with old friends from across the isles (and this year from Canada as well, well done Sylvia for making it over, wow) and trying to navigate the best path through the HUGE number of training sessions on offer by some of the best practitioners in the country.

My session on the Saturday afternoon aimed to look at how ICT can enhance the integration of creative contexts in the curriculum and how it can facilitate creative language use. Apologies for the fact that it turned into a manic gallop.

 

Creative technologies for creative contexts

View more presentations from Chris Fuller.

Rethinking the I, the C and the T- #Linguascope conference

On Friday, despite my current state of baby brain, I had the privilege of presenting twice at the Linguascope conference in Brighton. I used a title that I used when presenting for Neil Jones last December, but my own learning journey made me want to really change it to focus on the kind of learning I want to be able to facilitate. The first element was to look at ideas for use with an IWB for encouraging group work with no right or wrong answer, rather than encouraging the use of an IWB for just one learner at a time, with the others just expected to sit and watch- not my favourite style of lesson. The second element was to show a few tools that learners can use to create creative, open tasks using ICT, releasing the neat control that we all often insist on in favour of a slightly... messier form of learning where making mistakes is cherished, and to a certain extent encouraged. Nothing groundbreaking, I'm afraid- especially as in one session I felt incredibly humbled to have the likes of Eva Lamb and Lesley Welsh sitting in and, for which i was really grateful, chipping in as well.

Anyway, I also said that I'd suggest a "starter list" of blogs for some new Google Reader accounts. Well if you look on the side of this blog you'll see a list of some great ones to add- and if you want any help with anything just give me a shout.

So there we go... thanks for a great day yesterday, everyone.

 

Thinking again about the I, the C and the T

View more presentations from Chris Fuller.

Unicef's School Land campaign

At the moment I'm spending a lot of time investigating ways to add extra... depth to the traditional topics. At Key Stage 4 I'm often told by learners that they feel like they're simply rehashing what they did a few years earlier- hardly what I'd call progression.  From my point of view we're not going to persuade our students that learning a language, and continuing to learn a language into post-16 and beyond, is really going to take them anywhere in life if they're constantly learning about more complex ideas in other subjects. 

So when I saw a tweet from @unicef_es just now my interest was very much piqued. They've created a Facebook app to support fundraising for a school construction project in Zambia (form more details and to access the app see here). The idea is that users can play around with the interactive school buildings and think about what they see as being important in a school. Is it the teacher's desk that's important? The training that the teacher's had? The kit in the kitchen, the sporting equipment? What is it that makes a school... a school? Users can then "donate" those items which will be put in place when the school is built for real.

I think this could be a really interesting way to get learners reflecting on items in a school, what their ideal schools would be like, comparing different items, even reflecting on what makes a good teacher. I'm hoping that Unicef will keep updating their information on the project as if they do it could be a really rich source of information for teachers. After all, when studying about school we don't just have to look at our own.

Video shorts- so simple, so effective. I must use more!

Neil Jones' superb posts and resources invariably make me think and get other ideas flow through my head. His recent post about the superb 7.35 de la mañana, coupled with just having read the ever-excellent Isabelle Jones' post about using short clips got me thinking yet again about the power of interpretation. The clip below is a really, really powerful one for me, providing huge and varied opportunities for exploitation. Prediction tasks (actually, with this particular clip there are quite a few opportunities to stop the clip and do further prediction tasks as the story unfolds as it's hard to guess what twist's coming next), writing the script, stating how the person is feeling, using the perfect tense to reflect on what has or hasn't happened to lead them to these positions, using the simple future to write about what they are going to do, comparing and contrasting direct and indirect speech and even, very simply, focusing on adjectives to say how they're feeling. And all with no right and no wrong answers. Love it. All ideas as to how else to exploit it would be warmly received!

My contribution to the great #ililc debate- but is there any debate?

Rather than saying my thanks at the end of this post, I think it’s fitting given that we’re in awards season to put them at the beginning. To Zena Hilton and also to Joe Dale and Jo Rhys-Jones can I please say a huge, huge thank you. Last weekend at the University of Southampton for the ICT Links into Languages conference was the best teaching event I’ve been to in many, many years. It continued the fantastic spirit of the Isle of Wight conferences in that every presentation was relevant, of the highest quality but also, and crucially for me, sparked off learning conversations. Teachers were discussing pedagogy, not just methodology- the why and not just the “how?!”. There was no separation of presenter and delegate and no whizzes and bangs for the sake of it- everything was about the learning. About the impact of the 2 days I don’t think there can possibly be any debate. I just wish I’d got the chance to listen to Isabelle Jones, to Alex Blagona or to Suzi Bewell but alas there really just wasn’t time to be inspired that many times in what felt like an incredibly short weekend. But I think Lisa Stevens sums up that element far better than I could ever express.

Another reason why I enjoyed #ililc , and to some degree the main reason why I feel like I personally benefited, was that I met knew people. I’ve commented many times before that some conferences tend to include the same faces presenting and in the audience, the same conversations take place over a cup of tea and the impact isn’t what it should be. I met some great practitioners who I felt like I knew so well from the community that is Twitter (Alex Bellars thank you for a lot of fun and interesting... exchanges), finally got to meet Sean Terry (honestly, check out his ideas and resources, well worth a few minutes of your time), met folks from the MFL Resources support network and also met many who’d never even heard of either support mechanism, people reaching out to learn. And I loved it. Looking around the room on Sunday morning as Chris Harte presented his inspirational thoughts on Languages: reboot and the SOLO Taxonomy (thanks to John Connor that section can be seen here) I saw a lot of people for whom those words were a total departure from what they’d always been told, but not from what they’d always believed. That was impact. The message had spread. And yet so many people again said to me that they’d be returning to a school on Monday morning where those messages would not be well received. They were prepared to fight, to evangelise and to convert, but could they and should they necessarily have to? So the question we need to ask again is how do we keep spreading the message of dynamic, engaging teaching and learning? And not just to those who are keen to listen right now.

At this point I feel I should step away for a moment. This is a conversation I’ve had many a time and yet I don’t feel like I’ve got any closer to the solution. On Twitter not too long ago I had an impassioned exchange of message with Bill Lord, Dughall McCormick and David Rogers about the very concept of spreading the message- in that case about cross-subject Teachmeets (if you don’t know what a Teachmeet is then don’t despair, just watch this video from BETT). It was suggested, I think by Bill, that we need to initiate a “bring a virgin to a Teachmeet” plan. Taken out of context I could see that being a problem, but the concept was very straightforward- that we need to spread the word about peer-to-peer training and support, and the best way to do this is to keep introducing “new” people into the mix. And yet nothing’s come of it, and it’s very rare that it does, because it always relies on one or two individuals to grab hold of the reins and really slog. Especially where the principle might need to include economic inducements at a time when it feels like we’re having some of the support removed- especially, and sadly, Links into Languages.  And at the end of it all there’s always the risk that we’ll end up with the same conversations when we do get people there because how do we get them involved, enthused and sharing as well? This time, however, I'm hopeful as that concept and the need to talk about how we brake down barriers is spreading. To read a far more eloquent description trust in Alex Blagona.

So as both Rachel, in her really quite moving keynote, and Chris said, language teaching in this country is far from dead, in fact to a certain degree it’s in reasonably good health because of the grass roots... activism of many high-quality professionals. Professionals from across the country who were prepared to give up their free time and come to the south coast to learn and to engage in at times heated (but always open and constructive) debate. I was asked the question a couple of times whether this happens in other subjects, and my answer was that I genuinely didn’t think so (except to a certain degree in Geography!).  Great active-research and experimentation  are taking place in the world of MFL- not just amongst those who were present over the weekend but across the country, including many great teachers who have no desire whatsoever to become "connected", all overcoming some of the many barriers that have been put in our place over the years, and continue to be today. But what I passionately believe we need to do is ensure that this verve and passion can reach the places it needs to more- and that’s where the debate really is and needs to be. I guess I'm just greedy- #ililc was superb... I just want more, especially in the long term.