Facing the currently unknown

ALL Devon- Rapid-fire CPD in Plymouth: Do more!

39 language teachers all together, buzzing, sharing ideas and reinvigorating each other. On a wet, dark Thursday evening. Absolutely blinking amazing. Sorry, I should say 38 language teachers and a senior manager coming to see what all the noise he'd been hearing was actually about!

We'd decided upon 4 topics for 30 minutes of discussion as a result of the suggestions given by teachers attending previous events. And so it was that engaging boys, effective ideas for Controlled Assessments, using technology effectively and differentiation were decided upon. Not the easiest things to discuss as all of them are at the very core of what language teachers are constantly trying to develop. 

I have to say that I found writing a presentation on engaging boys and trying to encourage spontaneity both incredibly frustrating and incredibly thought-provoking in equal measures- especially as I was desperately trying to fight off generalisations and presumptions even whilst talking about generalised issues. I think I failed on that one, but hey ho. I also fear that a large number of the slides deal with very basic ideas which we all do automatically- sorry for teaching great teachers to suck eggs, it was most definitely not my intention. I'd love your additional thoughts on engaging boys, please please get in touch.

Before you even think about looking through the presentation below, please read the fantastic blog post on the subject by Jo Quatsch- a lovely person and a great teacher.

 

Twitter and blogging

Right, these really are secondary elements of what I've been doing for the last 7 months, but especially in the fnial stages of my time, when the SoW were mostly in palce, they became quite important as I laid the foundations for future development. 

As I said in my previous post, Twitter was big in the school. Loads of the students used it, but very much in an inane, celebrity following kind of way. 

The ways I wanted to use the new @SpanishBCS account:

• communicating important reminders eg "don't forget your homework!"
• sharing key links eg to encourage students to do some work in the summer!
• retweeting news stories from around the Hispanic world!
• sharing departmental news and updates on events

The blog

I won't share any details about this now because it really is in its formative stages. I tried to get it off the ground in February but it wasn't right at the time- the content needs to drive the technology and most definitely not the other way round. However, it will become an important way of sharing the final projects at KS3 and drive peer assessment forward yet again, as well as providing an important motivational and public image tool. Should be fun- I'm really excited to see what my fantastic successor will do with it! 

Language Learning blog awards 2011

For some unbeknown reason some crazy individual has nominated this very under-utilised blog for the lexiophiles.com "Language Learning blog" awards. All I can say to the mystery nominator is thank you very much for a most unexpected surprise. If for some crazy reason you fancied voting to support this blog then you can do so here.

However, if I were you I'd make your vote really count and vote for some of the far better blogs that have been nominated who are making a real difference to language learning in this country and beyond- for example Isabelle Jones, Sam Lunn, Joe Dale or even 2 great school MFL blogs, Chiltern Edge or Gillots MFL . In fact there are loads of great resources and ideas to be found by exploring the list- especially on 2 of my favourite sites, Zachary Jones' Zambombazo and the Spanish NewsBites site.

Anyway, huge thanks again- it's very touching!

 

Moblogging from #ililc

Here we go, folks, my humble contribution to this weekend's festivities at University of Southampton. I'll endeavour to slidecast the presentation when I get hold of the audio, although I'm afraid I doubt that will be until next week now.

And so the point of my presentation really was to encourage people not to just assume that because we might be out on a trip, immersed in the target language culture and language, that we are maximising learning opportunities- for those on the trip or those back in the classroom. But see what you think and I'd love your opinions- and suggestions!

Moblogging - ILILC 2011

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Creative technologies for creative contexts

Something John Connor said to me on Monday struck a real note. As MFL teachers we don't really have any content. Yes we have language, but what to talk about? As a result we surely need to take great care when deciding upon what our content will be. What will stimulate, what will provoke thoughts, what will inspire?

On Friday I was delighted to take part in Neil Jones' Lead Practitioner Seminar up in London. Those of you who have ever listened to Neil before will understand that I was feeling more than a bit intimidated talking about using ICT to enhance creative contexts, precisely Neil's area of expertise. For those of you have never had the opportunity to attend one of his sessions, a) make sure you do and b) his main emphasis is on finding effective, culturally enriching contexts in order to truly give the language that we are trying to teach a value.

Neil was, as per always, fascinating, ranging from discussing similies to explore cultural similiarities and differences to the simple question of why we always teach pupils the phrase for hoovering (especially when dealing with hotter regions) when so few houses have carpet. Sounds silly when you write it down, but makes sense...

Anyway, compared to Neil's session of 455 slides, mine felt rather shabby, but I hope it manages to raise a few thoughts!

Creative technologies for creative contexts

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PS - the one slide I forgot to attribute was to Alex Blagona for the idea of contacting photographers through Flickr- cheers Blaggers!

ICT for PGCE students- what's out there?

I love working with PGCE students- their enthusiasm is so uplifting and their ideas have not yet been tamed by schools, as we've all so sadly seen at times. When I first began my own PGCE I couldn't even use PowerPoint and had no idea what was out there to aid with our teaching and, far more importantly, to help our students' learning.

A few key questions to consider when thinking about using ICT, for me, are:

1) Could we do this better without ICT? Remember, it's not about the whizzes and the bangs, it's all about the learning! Just think of those hyperactive PowerPoints we've all seen.

2) Can we provide further purpose for learning by using ICT?

Although you might not find all, or any, of the things mentioned below in school when you begin placements. But it is worth asking if you can try things out, as schools really benefit from your fresh input of ideas as well as you learning from the skills and experience of the teachers already in the department. And if I can help at any point, feel free to yell!

 

Thinking again about the I, the C and the T: for PGCE students

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Spontaneity, challenge and, above all, fun

On Friday I was delighted to be involved with the training day run for Plymouth schools under the PASH banner. I hope that it was a useful day for everyone involved and that some of my comments generated the odd bit of interest and thought. The day was focused on 2 main threads- the roles of spontaneity in our teaching and also that of the actual content that we are delivering. My main goal was to encourage people to think again about why they are delivering certain topics- is it because they always have and because that's what the text book tells them to do or is it because it's the most effective way to teach certain structures, to challenge our pupils and to really make them think. After all, in what other subject can pupils leave an hour's lesson having learnt nothing about the world around them but now being the proud understander of 10 new nouns?

Anyway, a large amount of the day was based on the concept indicated by this video- fun is good!

Spontaneous talk slideshare

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Step away from the textbook

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Download Topics and approaches for reappraisal

Encouraging creativity at UIMP, Santander

Last Thursday it was an absolute pleasure to spend a day in Santander, northern Spain at Universidad Internacional Menéndez-Pelayo. I had been invited to take part in a week's course about learning from recent advances in English education. All of the teachers are in some way involved in using English as part of their teaching, either as the central subject or to enhance their main subject, such as part of a psychology course. As such they were spared me presenting in Spanish... phew. My focus was on encouraging creativity and to demonstrate that it is possible to move away from "traditional" approaches and acceptances.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed ideas to these presentations. I tried to attribute as much as I could remember to, but if I've missed anyone out then yell and I'll alter things! A huge thank you to José Antonio del Tejo for organising the event as well, it was great fun. And thanks for organising a La Oreja de Van Gogh gig for that night too!!

What can ICT do for us?

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Creative Assessment

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Thinking about creativity

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Exeter PGCE- so what's next?

Apologies that it's taken a few days, but here are the materials from Friday's session in Exeter, I hope it was a useful one for you, even though you were all desperate to head off and celebrate your success at passing! The few games in the ppt at the bottom now have advice for use in the notes section under the slides. Many of the ideas are from Sara Sullivan (in Essex) and Neil Jones (www.mfljones.wordpress.com). There is also, I think, a huge ppt of ideas floating round on TES resources area. And if you ever need any help, feel free to get in touch.

So what's next?

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Download A few games

Southampton University- can we create a spontaneous classroom?

On Tuesday I had great fun at a Links into Languages event at Southampton University. Whilst their year 8 pupils were off having fun in language sessions a group of dedicated teachers crammed themselves into the Links into Languages resource centre. Amidst frenzied activity we managed to finally prove that I am no techno king- I really couldn't get to grips with that darned air-con unit! But the constructive, positive attitudes of the teachers involved and the experiences that they shared made for a really enjoyable few hours. I hope the ideas I shared then are helpful to anyone reading this now!

Using a shortened version of a ppt I'd used last week in Hereford we were looking at creating a spontaneous environment, breaking free from the teacher having all-powerful control and allowing pupils to be able to express themselves creatively, free from the constraints of their being a correct answer and then to have the power to argue their point using the language they want to use. We then moved on to looking at the role ICT might play in this, using highly motivational, effective tools to allow free expression and creativity. However, these really were just some of my ideas and some provided by great practitioners such as Rachel Hawkes, Greg Horton, Chris Harte and Neil Jones- I'd love to hear yours and keep the conversation alive.

Part 1: Thinking of your learning space and the learning content

Can we facilitate spontaneity?

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Part 2: Rethinking the I, the C and the T

Thinking again about the i, the c and the t

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