Facing the currently unknown

Route 39 Academy MFL

Well, I’m back in the game.

I’ve been asked to create a Spanish department in the Route 39 Academy, a free school which has been open since September just along the north Devon coast from where I live. The school is driven by a forward-thinking, Project Based Learning environment and the Head has given me a fantastic brief- innovate, push the students forward in a way that makes them think and in turn be creative themselves. Just my cup of tea.

As such, at the moment, given that I am starting on a very limited timetable from after half term as I serve out some of my existing consultancy commitments (I’ll still have 2 days a week working freelance), I’m in the process of creating an ideal world scenario in my head and then seeing how many of those elements I can incorporate in the department which will be growing in September. The students (all years 7 and 8) currently have a very mixed view towards the language learning experiences that they have had previously but are used to working in an independent, reflective way. They have had a large amount of input on the use of Learning Habits / BLP and so these are elements that I have to take into consideration.

 

 

Essentials

• Creative content- I’ll be opening up with a unit on Mexico (thanks @geoblogs for the discussions) designed to encourage students to reflect on “otherness” and through that to reflect a bit about themselves. The conceit is that they will be designing and describing a character who lives in Tijuana, just over the border from San Diego. The long and short of it is that they will have to decide where their future lies and whether they take the risk of crossing the border in search of a different life. This will be accompanied by a technology project to design the wall of crosses which represents those who’ve lost their lives, as well as creating a visual representation of the things that they will hold dear in the country that they choose.
• Phonics- will be at the core of everything. I’m also in the process (thanks @joedale) of putting together QR codes to add to Rachel Hawkes’ Phonics poster to make a classroom display (and a handout for their books) which will enable students to listen to the phonic sounds whenever they want / need them.
• A blog- I want the students to be creating and to be reflecting- for me, a blog is essential. It also presents the department in the right, outward-facing way and engages parents, who play a big role in the school’s DNA.
• Group Talk / arguing- within the first month I want students to be able to pause (pues, a ver, es decir, sabes) and argue (qué va, no estoy de acuerdo) and then justify (porque, ya que). That means, for me, setting up contentious positions where students are able to develop genuine opinions- again, looping back to the content.
• Flipping- in line with the school’s emphasis on PBL I like the concept of Flipping the classroom- giving the students the skills and knowledge in advance and then allowing them to examine and implement those elements in the lesson time where I can then support those who need additional help and enable those who are ready to fly. I think Wildern School in Southampton have been doing some great work on this front recently- see their http://www.fliplearningmfl.blogspot.co.uk/ for some fascinating ideas. Sam Broom’s also come up with some great grammar videos http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXD7mnOYRYNrK58Fszv5ZPw . I’ve created http://route39mfl.wikispaces.com/ to start compiling different materials and give students a go-to space for learning materials.
• Edmodo- this is a possibility, not a definite- I’m looking forward to going to a session at #ililc4 next week about it to make some final decisions- what I don’t want is to overload students from the start but I do want to provide them with a venue to discuss and share ideas, especially relevant for when they’re working on projects when they’re not in the same physical space as each other.
• Wespeke- as soon as possible I want to get students communicating for real- I think Wespeke can provide a fantastic tool to do this, communicating with real classes all over the world, easily and for free. Result.
• Twitter- again, I want to provide real world interaction. Not many of the students use Twitter yet, but I'm hoping that some of their parents do and so can use Twitter as a way of engaging with their children's learning. I also want to use it to provide opportunities to contact the rest of the world. So please follow @route39MFL 
• I've agreed to run a learning evening for parents a few weeks into my contract. Plenty of phonics, plenty of thought generating, probably a cheeky Wordle and the odd glass of wine, all while showing parents how they can support students at home. I'm really excited about this.

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.

 

Adding deeper meaning- making language learning relevant and engaging, Plymouth schools, October 2013

Last Friday I was privileged to work with MFL teachers from across Plymouth on a subject that is very close to my heart. Those of you who have ever had the misfortune of chatting to me or attending any of my sessions will know that I think that we generally undersell ourselves in the MFL community.

 

How engaged would you be in discussing something which you already know about? My most pertinent anecdote deals with my first week of university (after another birthday this week that feels like a long, long time ago!). In my first small group Spanish session we were asked to introduce ourselves to the person sat next to us. We duly chatted and discovered that my new friend Nats and I came from only a few miles down the road from each other- in fact, our shared attitude to life has now lead us to still be good friends many years later. But when we walked down the corridor to our first small group French class we naturally sat next to each other. When we were told to introduce ourselves to each other again we pretty much sat in silence. Not because of any linguistic issues but simply because it felt like now we had nothing to talk about- any words we uttered felt pointless. I fear that's often the case in many MFL classrooms. So much of our teaching time is spent focusing on words and constructions to describe subjects that our students already know about- the "old school" subjects like house and home, healthy living, local area. Subjects that get dealt with at KS2 in many cases, then again at KS3 and are finally flogged to death at KS3. I know that I've always struggled to vary the content and approaches hugely between the revisitings when I've been expected to deal with them in their traditional forms. If we are to encourage engagement we need, need, need to engage our students with the content that we are dealing with- demonstrating the intercultural elements that undoubtedly grabbed all of us language teachers when we were first learning the language. When we've done that we need to actually give them the tools to get their hands dirty with the content. Language of discussion, of debate, of disagreement, of approval. 

The session also looks at a few ways to build the profile of MFL departments, following 2 strands. The first is my old drum of providing audience through blogs, podcasts, Twitter feeds and even guerrilla QR codes around the school / community. The second is something that in my current freelance role is occupying far more of my time, and which I'm incredibly passionate about- developing projects to motivate students and demonstrate how language really can be used creatively for a real world purpose. If any of the bullet points make sense and you'd like to know any more then please, please get in touch. Equally, if you've got your own ideas washing around in there, I'd love to hear them and see if we can make them become reality!

 

Exeter PGCE- "Voting with their feet- why vote MFL"

Over the last few years I've always enjoyed providing the finale for the Exeter PGCE course. However, the feedback was that groups would have liked the session earlier in the year and that they just want ideas, ideas, ideas.

So this year I ran a session earlier in the year (this afternoon) and crammed it with ideas. So, apologies to anyone who's brain hurt by the end of it, or whose yawns were starting to get painful! However, I hope it helped.

If, as many of you indicated, you were keen to get on to twitter, start off by signing up and writing a bio piece EXPLAINING THAT YOU ARE AN MFL TEACHER. Important, that bit, because none of us want to interact with the banana eaters on twitter. Then get following the people on the list at http://tweepml.org/joedale/MFL-Twitterers . It's also worth downloading a free programme, TweetDeck, which makes it all make a lot more sense.

Anyway, the presentation...

 

Exeter pgce voting with their feet, why vote mfl slideshare

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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

Language Show 2010

The Language Show is always one of the highlights of the calendar, and it was an honour to be involved again this year. Even despite the noise from the neighbouring session, I really enjoyed it and hope that it sparked some thought amongst the people who were able to attend / hear me! Alas, the noise levels lead to the session's recording sounding like I was doing the hoovering rather than presenting at Earls Court, and as such I haven't been able to add the audio over the PowerPoint. Nonetheless, I hope this is still useful to refresh memories and to share with other colleagues.

If I can be of any follow-up help or if you'd like me to clarify any points, feel free to get in touch and I'll do my best.

 

Rethinking the i, the c and the t

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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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