Facing the currently unknown

Practical Pedagogies conference, Toulouse- Doing things differently in languages

It was an absolute honour to be invited to present at the International School in Toulouse this weekend as part of the Practical Pedagogies conference. After 3 years of hard work there are a huge number of ideas that I could have shared in terms of methods we have implemented to try to stimulate, challenge and encourage curiosity in language learning. We're a long, long way from having cracked things, but hopefully we're on the right path- it's definitely an interesting one!

With huge thanks for all of those people who came along to my session, I really enjoyed the conversations we all had. If you want to try any of these things get in touch and I'll try to help as much as I can. 

 

Doing things differently- Practical Pedagogies conference, Toulouse from Route39MFL

Newton Abbot / ALL Devon languages conference, Feb 12th 2016

Hola a todos,

it's with great delight that I can finally launch on here the flyer for this academic year's Newton Abbot / ALL Devon languages conference. The last 2 years have been fantastic days, and we're delighted that this year we can continue to offer both a primary AND secondary thread- although this year's primary event will be run as a masterclass with the inspirational Sylvie Bartlett-Rawlings, a prominent primary language expert who will be joining us for the day, coming down from her school in Kent.

The secondary sessions will be keynoted by Juliet Park, a former SSAT Lead Practitioner and frequent conference presenter who has also been heavily involved with developing the new GCSE with AQA. Also joining us, and with a pleasing local emphasis this year, are Nina Elliot, Ben Rowe, Chris Wakely and myself. Chris and I will both be leading sessions which address transition and the start of secondary learning, whilst Ben, Nina and Juliet will all examine strategies to prepare students for life at the new GCSE. Juliet will also be offering a fantastic session on KS5 languages, which so often sadly gets neglected in terms of support offered.

I really look forward to this event every year as the sessions are great and the buzz and conversation is always dynamic and inspirational. So please, please come and join us for some superb learning and fun, which also happens to be fairly cheap too!

ALL London Webinar, Thursday 30th April- Doing things differently, building engagement with languages

Last night it was a real pleasure to present a webinar for ALL London, organised by the lovely Helen Myers. It was a nerve-racking experience, as one of the main points that I enjoy about presenting is normally the sense of interaction with the other people involved, but the feedback and responses seemed really positive, so many, many thanks to everyone who was involved. As I was presenting about our efforts down here at ROute 39, and as it's therefore incredibly personal, it was a very odd, but ultimately enjoyable experience!

Along with the presentation, which I have embedded below, please find uploaded a few documents which people requested. 

Peer-leveling example:  Download Environment assessment levels peer feedback

Tallying peer-assessment example:  Download Presentation feedback sheet points scoring

Learning Habits with Learning Objectives slide:  Download LH LO slide

 

Language World 2015- doing it differently, building engagement from Route39MFL

Language World 2015- Doing it differently, building engagement

Language World is a real highlight of the annual calendar for me. Yes the range of sessions are always great. But more than that it's an amazing opportunity to catch up with colleagues and friends from across the country to discover their ideas and successes.

This year I was asked to present about our efforts at Route 39 Academy to develop a language provision with genuine real-world meaning and which is far more student-driven than anything I've been involved in before. I confess (and I confessed before the session) that I felt really, really nervous presenting this year as the work shown in the slides has been well and truly produced at the cost of, well, definitely sweat and at times verging on tears (mainly of exhaustion). 

The main threads really are:

- students need to be engaged by the real-world content

- students need to know how to take responsibility for their own learning and how to develop their own progress

- students need to develop their skills, both of decoding new language and then starting to piece it together in a creative, risk-taking way (it was great to hear the emphasis put on these by all of the presenters talking about the new GCSE)

We're a long, long way from where we'd like to be still (does anyone else find that no matter how many jobs you get done there are always a thousand more that you can think of which need doing!). However, we're absolutely delighted to have appointed a fantastic new teacher to join us in teaching Spanish (both in and out of the classroom) next year, Luke Webb, and can't wait to make the most of his skills and ideas!

 

Newton Abbot conference- 13th February 2015

Duplo sentence building

A while ago I read a cracking blog post by the fantastic @dominic_mcg, who was describing an idea that he had learned from the wonderful @bellaale in this post. Duplo. Something that I spend a massive amount of my time playing with at home with my kids. And sentence building. Something that I spend a massive amount of time working on with my students at work. At the time I read it I put it to the back of my head. In most classroom settings that I've been in the idea would've been nigh on impossible.

Bam!

Thank you, gents.

At school we are encouraged to really push our practice, to get students exploring rather than us explaining. So when I was stuck for how to get new students building their Target Language usage in the classroom, and as such building short sentences, Duplo popped up. And I love it. Please, please go buy some Duplo blocks.

OK, the way it works...

1) Colour code the language you want students to use (our first week was spent working on key verbs in order to start sentence building from the outset).

 

2) Print it (in colour) for each table / group.

3) Each table needs the word sheets, some whiteboard pens and some baby wipes.

4) Get building!

 

Initially I challenged the students to build as many 4 word towers as they could- basic requests. I then gave them 10 minutes to build as tall a tower as possible (1st word at the top then build down). You write the Spanish on one side and the English on the other (which also then helps when we look at word order). 

Next stage: peer feedback on how to improve- write "La frase fue"+ an opinion and then tell the other team how to improve it on a post-it for them to respond to, using the spontaneous language mats in each table box (see a screenshot below)

And then get building again. The biggest tower? 54 blocks- almost as tall as one of its makers! Way to go for week 2 of Spanish learning! 

I love it, I love it, I love it- and so did the students, who all felt that they were now able to create and develop short sentences. In fact, the only colour of block that we ran out of was orange- connectives!

 

Developing spontaneity- table boxes

One of my main priorities in February when I started teaching part time at Route 39 was to increase both the ability and desire of students to use the Target Language. Taking over part way through a year adds massive challenges to this in terms of developing the right mentality for this, but we're getting there...

Along with wall support, an emphasis on using key verbs to springboard into sentences, a group talk variant and thinking skills tasks such as reading images, each table (4 students) now has their own spontaneity and support box. I share the classroom with an English and Humanities teacher, so can't tape things to desks or leave things out permanently, but this solution actually brings students back a bit closer to their primary school days where table boxes tend to be a norm. 

Each box contains:

• 2 x dictionaries- it takes a strong learner to stand up and walk across a room to find a dictionary, grabbing the attention of everyone in the class. This way they just reach across and look things up.
• 4 x red / yellow / green flicker cards. Students are becoming familiar (still a way to go for it to be fully integrated) with the need to indicate their comprehension and confidence levels with the appropriate colour card. They also know to support their team group, so if someone has a red card out they should receive immediate attention from someone with a green card on their table. Only if that doesn't work during a task should things fly up the chart to me. I want my students to be thoughtful, not dependent, learners, and sharing knowledge reinforces new learning.
• A-D cards for voting
• 2 x spontaneity mats- although I want to get students to redraft these themselves next term.
• Download Spontaneous language mat May 2014
• 2 feedback mats- to try to develop feedback in the target language peer-to-peer and also to allow me to then develop the level of TL that I can use myself for feedback, which at the moment (5 months in) tends to be predominantly in English as we develop students understanding of my expectations and how they need to develop themselves.
• Download Oral feedback form (massive thanks to Nina Elliot for this idea and the original grid)

However, with summer ahead, I'd love to reflect on how to improve the boxes- any ideas, folks?

 

Doing things differently... PE in Spanish

Howdy y'all. Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged, been a bit busy...

Anyway, with term having finished last Friday my thoughts are now turning to the course that I will be running for the next 3 weeks in Exeter, supporting PE teachers who will be coming over from Madrid to prepare for bilingual teaching. This follows on from the course I ran with a great PE teacher from South Devon, Sophie Steer, last year, and then my inspirational colleague David Fawcett over in Madrid in February, March and April. The main emphasis of the course is not compromising on high quality PE teaching despite the inevitable difficulties of students and teachers operating in a second, non-native language. In fact, we want to improve the quality of teaching in both facets- language and sport.

During the weekend in March I sent my Principal an e-mail asking whether she would be interested in exploring the possibilities of adopting the techniques overselves at Route 39. We are constantly on the hunt for ways to add real purpose for learning how to communicate in Spanish- this fits perfectly for many of our students. 

However, to really make it excel and fit with our student-lead perspective, we will really need to think incredibly carefully about how we plan and how we give students the linguistic capabilities to interact, challenge and provide feedback for each other in the second language. Below are a few ideas- but I'd love to hear yours, please!!

• FLIP-style videos, in the Target Language, to be watched for Independent Study (due to our extended school hours students don't have homework but have assigned periods during the day to work on tasks). They then complete a Google Doc about the key points / language so that I can gauge their linguistic progress and understanding. These will be shared on a wiki.
• Sport Ed roles- students all have cards detailing, in the Target Language, their roles and responsabilities for sessions within their assigned group. At first these will probably include key phrases / items of vocabulary in TL + English to support interaction without having to be taught specifics
• Independent Study tasks will also intermittently include key verb learning tasks. For exmple, the very first week of study will include a task to learn a number of key verbs (depending on the level of the group), including Quiero (I want), Tengo que (I have to), Voy a (I am going to) and Acabo de (I have just)- all of which can be followed by an infinitive to allow for more spontaneous target language use as we rack up our infinitives.
• Laminated feedback charts which can be used by student monitors during sessions which will stay the same and so build familiarisation over time.
• An end goal- we are in the process of finalising details of a tie-up with a school in Madrid whose teachers I have worked with before. This will lead to the swapping of materials and "how-to" guides (both by students and staff) and will culminate in an exchange, including fixtures. During those fixtures in Spain students will be shown the Spanish card for speaking in English, leading to a 2 minute sin-bin.

 

However, I want to know more and learn more- so if you have any thoughts at all, please share, chip in or advise!!

 

 

Language World- Thoughtful Contexts, Thoughtful Learners

Thanks to everyone for your positive comments after my session today at Language World up here at the UNiversity of Lancaster. It was very intimidating standing in front of the Lecture Theatre like that, so it's been great to hear your positive feedback!

Anyway, please find 2 things below- the presentation and links to 2 Dropbox folders containing the 2 units that I described- please don't convince yourself that the materials are world-changing, they're really not!

Link to the ShelterBox house and home materials (beware, some of these are very scratchy!)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gizxpkxnzzabuhf/Q-tjL9hFec

Link to the Uruguay health unit:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/62cf7yo2do3sntl/ELYvyNfjx8

 

PLease also have a look at https://www.smore.com/5j3b-the-shelterbox-mfl-challenge to get involved in the year 8 national competition with ShelterBox- the ShelterBox MFL Challenge to allow our students to be creative! 

https://www.smore.com/5j3b-the-shelterbox-mfl-challenge

And if you fancy talking about possibly forming a hub for the European Day of Languages iPad competition, YELL! 

 

Language world thoughful contexts, thoughtful learners web from Chris Fuller

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.