Today I have the absolute delight of being able to do a learning walk with our school improvement partner. It was a great experience, because I had somebody challenging me on my observations and really got me thinking about how what I had seen would impact on my own teaching. Has definitely made me realise that learning walks are better done in pairs :)
This time I saw a year 11 science lesson, a year 8 RPS lesson, a year 9 maths lesson and a year 11 English lesson.
RPS was my favourite! It was a class with some tricky boyish characters and it was interesting to see them in another lesson. They were having a discussion about babies being special and the teacher had the pupils very well engaged in discussion, they clearly all wanted to take part and were not shy to have their say. I was inspired by the confidence and relaxed attitude that the teacher had with allowing the open discussion to flow and how even though it was teacher led in terms of organisation, it was the pupils who were driving the content. In my citizenship teaching I need to take a leaf out of this teacher's book! Just let the discussion flow from the pupils and see what happens... What's the worst that could happen?! I am aware that I am a bit of a control freak and I struggle to loosen my control of the pupils in the classroom, but as our SIP said today "pupils are most confident when they are doing". I am going to make that my target for next week - as many lessons as possible will have an task that involves more freedom and puts me out of my comfort zone (yes that's right, i am trying to organise freedom..!)
I picked up a really nice vibe around the school when I was wandering today. Was lovely to see pupils enjoying their learning so much and the relationship between them and their teachers - everything was so positive, and the positivity was showing through in the results of their learning. When speaking to individuals, everyone seemed to know what they were learning, their strengths, areas to improve upon, what they were meant to be doing in their tasks...
In fact, I have almost come away feeling slightly overwhelmed and unsure of where I need to go and I what I need to do next. Inadequate, almost! It's a great thing really, in that everything I saw was so good and Of course I wouldn't want to see anything bad, but I know that my lessons just aren't there yet and I really want them to be. But, hey ho, that is part of what learning walks are all about and It is experiences like these that will help me get there in the end! (hopefully...)
Thursday 10 November 2011
Wednesday 9 November 2011
Google Translate - an inevitable part of modern langauge learning?
I read an interesting thread on the TES website the other day about how teachers should get around pupils using Google Translate for their homework. Many people were suggesting that the way forward was a complete ban on any form of online translator, others openly embracing the use of these online tools.
In the past, I too have been irritated by the pupils who have clearly typed their whole paragraph into the translation engine, clicked a button, and then copied the end result, or even worse, just copied and pasted it into a document. But I think I am beginning to change my mind. Language learning is changing. When I was doing my degree, I did have one of those ridiculously large dictionaries, and I did use it too, but more often than not, I would resort to online dictionaries to help me to complete my work.
Granted, the difference between an online translation engine and an online dictionary is quite big, especially if you are a KS3/4 pupil with limited grammatical knowledge of a language. Online translators are so much better than they used to be, and are getting better all the time, and often there is little 'tweeking' to be done, whereas online dictionaries rely on users own knowledge of grammar and context.
We have recently invested in a set of dictionary Apps for our iPods. Far cheaper than buying a class set of dictionaries (£3.99, rather than £300!!!) and far better suited to a modern way of language learning and teaching.
These days, rather than 'banning' translation engines, I advise pupils that if they are to use them, they are to use them with caution. They may for example, type in single short sentences or phrases (not whole texts), and they should never write down or use anything that they cannot fully explain when later questionned. Anything that they do get from the translator should be double checked either with a dictionary or the work from their book. And instead, I show them online dictionaries and how to use them. With more able pupils I have started using Google translate myself to show common errors and ask the pupils to correct them as well.
I have only been using these methods for a short while, but so far the seem to be having the desired effect :)
Maybe these online translators aren't so awful after all...
In the past, I too have been irritated by the pupils who have clearly typed their whole paragraph into the translation engine, clicked a button, and then copied the end result, or even worse, just copied and pasted it into a document. But I think I am beginning to change my mind. Language learning is changing. When I was doing my degree, I did have one of those ridiculously large dictionaries, and I did use it too, but more often than not, I would resort to online dictionaries to help me to complete my work.
Granted, the difference between an online translation engine and an online dictionary is quite big, especially if you are a KS3/4 pupil with limited grammatical knowledge of a language. Online translators are so much better than they used to be, and are getting better all the time, and often there is little 'tweeking' to be done, whereas online dictionaries rely on users own knowledge of grammar and context.
We have recently invested in a set of dictionary Apps for our iPods. Far cheaper than buying a class set of dictionaries (£3.99, rather than £300!!!) and far better suited to a modern way of language learning and teaching.
These days, rather than 'banning' translation engines, I advise pupils that if they are to use them, they are to use them with caution. They may for example, type in single short sentences or phrases (not whole texts), and they should never write down or use anything that they cannot fully explain when later questionned. Anything that they do get from the translator should be double checked either with a dictionary or the work from their book. And instead, I show them online dictionaries and how to use them. With more able pupils I have started using Google translate myself to show common errors and ask the pupils to correct them as well.
I have only been using these methods for a short while, but so far the seem to be having the desired effect :)
Maybe these online translators aren't so awful after all...
Tuesday 1 November 2011
More learning walks
Today I saw an English lesson, a maths lesson and a geography lesson.
The English lesson was great and I got to see an idea in action that I have thought about using myself. The pupils had done an assessment and had been 'levelled' - it was then up them to go through the level descriptors to see what they had done really well and what they could improve on. At first the pupils were a little hesitant (it was the first time they had seen the descriptors) but they soon got into it and seemed to enjoy the responsibility of having an input in the marking of their work. It was a really clever way to get the pupils not to focus on the grade that they got, but the reason that they got it. The focus was on improvement and moving forward.
I think this would work in Languages too. I would like to give it a go, but I find the MFL NC level descriptors a bit awkward sometimes. I am going to have a go at re-wording and chunking the targets for the descriptors and see whether I can get my pupils analysing their work and having input in the marking as successfully as I saw today.
Geography was great fun! I only saw a couple of minutes as I was running out of time but I wish I could have stayed longer. Even just staying for that few minutes allowed me to see exactly what the learning objective was. The pupils were leading their teacher around the school using their newly acquired map skills, using what looked like a school map. It was nice to see the whole school being used as a resource an the pupils learning so practically.
For MFL a similar task could be created quite easily using directions in the TL, with the pupils also using QR codes to follow a treasure hunt around the school.
In the maths lesson that I visited was very interesting. You could actually feel and hear the brains working and the learning happening!! It was so positive to see that at this point in the lesson the teacher wasn't using any fancy technologies, or even colourful worksheets or anything, she didn't need them, she was explaining something simply to the pupils in a very practical and easy-to-understand way and they were 100% engaged and totally understood what they had to do.
I wish I could do that...
I am loving this learning walk thing, it is giving me a lot of inspiration and it is great to see such positive things happening in the classroom around the school. :)
The English lesson was great and I got to see an idea in action that I have thought about using myself. The pupils had done an assessment and had been 'levelled' - it was then up them to go through the level descriptors to see what they had done really well and what they could improve on. At first the pupils were a little hesitant (it was the first time they had seen the descriptors) but they soon got into it and seemed to enjoy the responsibility of having an input in the marking of their work. It was a really clever way to get the pupils not to focus on the grade that they got, but the reason that they got it. The focus was on improvement and moving forward.
I think this would work in Languages too. I would like to give it a go, but I find the MFL NC level descriptors a bit awkward sometimes. I am going to have a go at re-wording and chunking the targets for the descriptors and see whether I can get my pupils analysing their work and having input in the marking as successfully as I saw today.
Geography was great fun! I only saw a couple of minutes as I was running out of time but I wish I could have stayed longer. Even just staying for that few minutes allowed me to see exactly what the learning objective was. The pupils were leading their teacher around the school using their newly acquired map skills, using what looked like a school map. It was nice to see the whole school being used as a resource an the pupils learning so practically.
For MFL a similar task could be created quite easily using directions in the TL, with the pupils also using QR codes to follow a treasure hunt around the school.
In the maths lesson that I visited was very interesting. You could actually feel and hear the brains working and the learning happening!! It was so positive to see that at this point in the lesson the teacher wasn't using any fancy technologies, or even colourful worksheets or anything, she didn't need them, she was explaining something simply to the pupils in a very practical and easy-to-understand way and they were 100% engaged and totally understood what they had to do.
I wish I could do that...
I am loving this learning walk thing, it is giving me a lot of inspiration and it is great to see such positive things happening in the classroom around the school. :)
Thursday 6 October 2011
Learning to be an outstanding teacher
This year is quite exciting in school because after our OfSTED inspection just before the summer hols (which went rather well, by the way!) we are trying to get teaching across the school from 'Good' to 'Outstanding'.
Every member of staff is completing a learning walk this half term with a focus on looking for outstanding practice in the classroom.
Today I did my first one - I spent about 15/20 minutes watching a BTEC art class, which was lovely. The pupils were all fully engaged the whole time and the pupils were working in a very calm and focussed atmospehere. Progression was obvious - the pupils were making prints in a William Morris style and pressing them over a watercolour backgroud - the work they were producing was stunning. The other things that struck me was that the pupils seemed quite confident in what they were doing. Pupils that perhaps struggle elsewhere in the school and lack confidence to 'have a go' were really going for it and were proud of their work. The teacher had a really nice relationship with the group as well, she had them doing exactly where she wanted them and yet it still felt like they were working with her, not for her.
So how could I incorportae these things into my language teaching? Next week I am going to set one of my lower ability, less motivated groups off on an art project to help them with their German learning and I am now even more confident that this may work well. If I can get the pupils to be proud of their work in the way that this art teacher could, then I reckon they may well start to enjoy their language learning a bit more and grow in confidence. It also taught me that should learn to not feel the need to have every child under my full control all the time. I am not very good at letting pupils 'just get on with it' and promoting independant learning is not a strength of mine!
It was a very positive experience and I can't wait to visit the next class!
Every member of staff is completing a learning walk this half term with a focus on looking for outstanding practice in the classroom.
Today I did my first one - I spent about 15/20 minutes watching a BTEC art class, which was lovely. The pupils were all fully engaged the whole time and the pupils were working in a very calm and focussed atmospehere. Progression was obvious - the pupils were making prints in a William Morris style and pressing them over a watercolour backgroud - the work they were producing was stunning. The other things that struck me was that the pupils seemed quite confident in what they were doing. Pupils that perhaps struggle elsewhere in the school and lack confidence to 'have a go' were really going for it and were proud of their work. The teacher had a really nice relationship with the group as well, she had them doing exactly where she wanted them and yet it still felt like they were working with her, not for her.
So how could I incorportae these things into my language teaching? Next week I am going to set one of my lower ability, less motivated groups off on an art project to help them with their German learning and I am now even more confident that this may work well. If I can get the pupils to be proud of their work in the way that this art teacher could, then I reckon they may well start to enjoy their language learning a bit more and grow in confidence. It also taught me that should learn to not feel the need to have every child under my full control all the time. I am not very good at letting pupils 'just get on with it' and promoting independant learning is not a strength of mine!
It was a very positive experience and I can't wait to visit the next class!
European Day of Languages
I like European Day of Languages, because the pupils like it. It is so refreshing to have pupils showing genuine interest in different European cultures and embracing the day. I also enjoy the fact that it often leads to challengiung discussions with them about why MFL is an important part of the curriculum today. In school we had the canteen menu changed for two days to include more European inspired dishes, had quizzes going on, flag work, Who Wants to be a Millionaire in French, not forgetting of course the anual teacher competition for who can incorporate the most foreign language into their lessons.
This year we were also offered a fantastic opportunity by Kelda Richards (@ElKel99) of Isca College and Chris Fuller (@ChrisFullerisms), an independant consultant in Devon. They put together a brilliant day at the University of Exeter working for local schools, working alongside La Gourmandine creperie in Exeter (if you live near to Exeter, make sure you go there and have a tuna crepe for lunch, delicious!) Pupils were to create an advert for the company in French and then present their ideas to the other school groups at the end of the day.
I took two groups of 6 pupils from years 8, 9 and 10 and they had a brilliant day. They LOVED using the iPads that were provided by Isca and despite being quite shy at the beginning soon embraced the challenge of using French that they had never really come across before. They worked so incredibly hard and did Tiverton High School very proud, and their determination and enthusiasm saw them produce some lovely work that they should be very proud of.
The next part of the task was for the pupils to spread the links to their ads, which had all been put onto a blog. This really motivated the pupils who were busy rallying support from tutor groups and across the whole school.
The best things that came out of the day was that a couple of the year nine pupils said to me that they were now thinking about taking GCSE French - how fantastic is that!!!!
Thank you Chris and Kelda for such a brilliant day.
This year we were also offered a fantastic opportunity by Kelda Richards (@ElKel99) of Isca College and Chris Fuller (@ChrisFullerisms), an independant consultant in Devon. They put together a brilliant day at the University of Exeter working for local schools, working alongside La Gourmandine creperie in Exeter (if you live near to Exeter, make sure you go there and have a tuna crepe for lunch, delicious!) Pupils were to create an advert for the company in French and then present their ideas to the other school groups at the end of the day.
I took two groups of 6 pupils from years 8, 9 and 10 and they had a brilliant day. They LOVED using the iPads that were provided by Isca and despite being quite shy at the beginning soon embraced the challenge of using French that they had never really come across before. They worked so incredibly hard and did Tiverton High School very proud, and their determination and enthusiasm saw them produce some lovely work that they should be very proud of.
The next part of the task was for the pupils to spread the links to their ads, which had all been put onto a blog. This really motivated the pupils who were busy rallying support from tutor groups and across the whole school.
The best things that came out of the day was that a couple of the year nine pupils said to me that they were now thinking about taking GCSE French - how fantastic is that!!!!
Thank you Chris and Kelda for such a brilliant day.
Saturday 23 July 2011
First year - done!
Well, that's it, my first year is over. No longer can I hide behind my mentor when I get things wrong!! Scary!! But I have a had a brilliant year. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself and actually, secretly, I am kind of looking forward to September already...
People keep asking me what I have learnt this year, and I think that is the most difficult question to answer - not because I haven't learnt much - quite the opposite! I have learnt so many valuable lessons that I don't know where to begin!
My favourite bits have been:
Developping some really nice relationships with some great classes - and I get to keep lots of them next year too :)
Getting to about February and things feeling like they were slowly beginning to 'click' into place
Experimenting lots with all sorts of different creative teaching and learning techniques
Getting on Twitter and learning soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much from some very inspirational and helpful people
BLOGGING - thoroughly enjoyed reflecting on things I have done and sharing them on here (even if not many people read it ever!!)
Things I have struggled to enjoy as much:
It has taken me a while (and I am still not there yet) to learn not to take things personally. I still struggle a little bit with those very rare but hurtful remarks from individuals - despite fully understanding that they are not really meant to hurt me.
Time management - will I ever get good at this??? (Haha)
OfSTED - actually I enjoyed it on the second day but the first day was very scary!!
Not having my own classroom - I had to teach in 10 different rooms!!!! (Sadly THS was due a New Build, which was cancelled) But now I have one and I love it :) :) :) :)
So here's to a new year - better get my thinking cap on to come up with some more experiments before then!!
People keep asking me what I have learnt this year, and I think that is the most difficult question to answer - not because I haven't learnt much - quite the opposite! I have learnt so many valuable lessons that I don't know where to begin!
My favourite bits have been:
Developping some really nice relationships with some great classes - and I get to keep lots of them next year too :)
Getting to about February and things feeling like they were slowly beginning to 'click' into place
Experimenting lots with all sorts of different creative teaching and learning techniques
Getting on Twitter and learning soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much from some very inspirational and helpful people
BLOGGING - thoroughly enjoyed reflecting on things I have done and sharing them on here (even if not many people read it ever!!)
Things I have struggled to enjoy as much:
It has taken me a while (and I am still not there yet) to learn not to take things personally. I still struggle a little bit with those very rare but hurtful remarks from individuals - despite fully understanding that they are not really meant to hurt me.
Time management - will I ever get good at this??? (Haha)
OfSTED - actually I enjoyed it on the second day but the first day was very scary!!
Not having my own classroom - I had to teach in 10 different rooms!!!! (Sadly THS was due a New Build, which was cancelled) But now I have one and I love it :) :) :) :)
So here's to a new year - better get my thinking cap on to come up with some more experiments before then!!
Sunday 10 July 2011
iPods project - a summary
Well the iPods project is over for this group as they have now moved up into year 10 (we have an early rollover at THS). I think that on the whole it was a great success. Each of the 6 groups had a very different focus. Group one focussed on subtitling, which was really interesting and I have to say that they put me to shame with their skills in that area! Another group used Garage Band to sing the song 'Friday' by Rebecca Black, which they had translated into German. Another used iMovie to create a lovely movie based on the topic 'Meeting People'. Others used a mixture of programmes ranging from iPhoto to PowerPoint.
I think they learnt a lot. The thing that I enjoyed most about this project the most was that it was a complete experiment. I must confess that I am not the world's most 'tech-savvy' of teachers and I think that I learnt as much as they did! It was great that they were able to teach me little bits that they had picked up from IT lessons, and from just having iPods, and I think that they enjoyed this too. Equally lovely was that each student was completely engaged the whole way through - not once did I hear "But Miss, I HATE German..." or "This is just POINTLESS!!"
The downside to this project was that it was undoubtedly time-consuming. We were in the fortunate position of having plenty of time to complete the project - but I know that next time I will be planning to spend a lot less time on it! Now that I know what I am doing a bit more hopefully we won't need as long in the future.
I will definitely be doing this again with other classes. I have already started using iPods with others but have so far stuck to shorter tasks that can be slotted into any lesson plan to spice things up a bit and get them excited. That is the point of all this!
I think they learnt a lot. The thing that I enjoyed most about this project the most was that it was a complete experiment. I must confess that I am not the world's most 'tech-savvy' of teachers and I think that I learnt as much as they did! It was great that they were able to teach me little bits that they had picked up from IT lessons, and from just having iPods, and I think that they enjoyed this too. Equally lovely was that each student was completely engaged the whole way through - not once did I hear "But Miss, I HATE German..." or "This is just POINTLESS!!"
The downside to this project was that it was undoubtedly time-consuming. We were in the fortunate position of having plenty of time to complete the project - but I know that next time I will be planning to spend a lot less time on it! Now that I know what I am doing a bit more hopefully we won't need as long in the future.
I will definitely be doing this again with other classes. I have already started using iPods with others but have so far stuck to shorter tasks that can be slotted into any lesson plan to spice things up a bit and get them excited. That is the point of all this!
Wednesday 8 June 2011
Edmodo usage
If you look at my earlier post about Edmodo, you will see that year 8 were completely head over heels in love with it at one time. They still love it... most of the time!
I questionned them recently on their opinions of Edmodo and this is the result of that.
I questionned them recently on their opinions of Edmodo and this is the result of that.
- The vast majority of pupils (all bar one) said that they liked Edmodo
- The vast majority of pupils (all bar two) said that they prefered using Edmodo to do their homework
- The majority (about 70%) said that they prefered using Edmodo to 'normal' lessons
- All pupils said that they were happier to use both Edmodo AND their exercise books rather than just Edmodo - the reson for this being that they found it easier to revise from their exercise books than on a computer screen
Day 4 of iPods project
Woohoo!! Felling much better about it now that the groups have started recording and I can the fruits of their (and my) labours. 3 out of 7 group have now created something - it isn't perfect and they are learning things like 'if you record in a windy part of the school you won't be able to hear your voices' and 'if you try to record outside somebody classroom, you will be politely asked to go away' (both things that I warned them of prior to letting them go!!). But every cloud has a silver lining and this is the perfect opportunity to teach them how to edit their videos and sound clips using iMovie, something that the pupils claim never to have come across. That is a very exciting and I can't wait to get started with that.
So next lesson, they will be finishing their recordings and I will be starting to teach them about editing.
Still no joy with my blog access permissions :( ... think that this time I am just going to have to do all the uploading for them. Shame as I wanted the blog to be theirs, but nevermind!!!
So next lesson, they will be finishing their recordings and I will be starting to teach them about editing.
Still no joy with my blog access permissions :( ... think that this time I am just going to have to do all the uploading for them. Shame as I wanted the blog to be theirs, but nevermind!!!
Sunday 5 June 2011
Issues so far
So far I have come accross a few stumbling blocks. This is OK as I am aware that my project is a complete experiment, and that is what experiments are for! Hopefully I will learn from them so that next time things will run a lot more smoothly.
1. Things are running a lot less quickly than I was expecting them to. I am still not entirely sure why this is. I am thinking that perhaps next time I need to give pupils some more support initially so that things don't keep going wrong for them!!
2. The German being produced is of a good standard (generally speaking) but a lot of the groups have chosen the same topic (meeting people) and tried to cram a bit too much in. Next time I think I will give each group their topics to avoid this.
3. I think that perhaps it would be good if I had a bit more of a solid structure with more definite ideas of what I would like them to do each lesson. This is hard at the moment, because we are in the experimental stages, and again this will be a lot easier to do next time when I will know exactly how long things will take and what issue might crop up!!
4. For some reason, depsite having added everyone's email addresses to their blog, they are unable to write!! I have enabled them to be authors and shown them how to do it... So there is nothing on the blog yet which is a real pain and they are getting a bit frustrated. Thing I will have to start again with that one! I destroyed the paper with their email addresses on it for confidentiality/child protection reasons so I shall have to ask them all again...
So apart fprm all the above things are running fine. Hectically, but fine.
1. Things are running a lot less quickly than I was expecting them to. I am still not entirely sure why this is. I am thinking that perhaps next time I need to give pupils some more support initially so that things don't keep going wrong for them!!
2. The German being produced is of a good standard (generally speaking) but a lot of the groups have chosen the same topic (meeting people) and tried to cram a bit too much in. Next time I think I will give each group their topics to avoid this.
3. I think that perhaps it would be good if I had a bit more of a solid structure with more definite ideas of what I would like them to do each lesson. This is hard at the moment, because we are in the experimental stages, and again this will be a lot easier to do next time when I will know exactly how long things will take and what issue might crop up!!
4. For some reason, depsite having added everyone's email addresses to their blog, they are unable to write!! I have enabled them to be authors and shown them how to do it... So there is nothing on the blog yet which is a real pain and they are getting a bit frustrated. Thing I will have to start again with that one! I destroyed the paper with their email addresses on it for confidentiality/child protection reasons so I shall have to ask them all again...
So apart fprm all the above things are running fine. Hectically, but fine.
Days 1,2,3
So far this is how far we have got:
Once this is done (hopefully it shouldn't take longer than a lesson and a half..., I will give them a quick lesson on note taking (another importnat skill) and then expect them to take notes while I teach them how to use iMovie.
- I have taught all pupils how to use an iPod. This was interesting. I asked the class first of all how many of them knew how to use an iPod, and the vast majority of them put up their hands. I believed them, and then was very surprised by how many of them were still getting simple things wrong. Lesson learnt: Do not take for granted that pupils know how to use technology!!!!!
- All pupils have been introduced to the App "Puppet Pals" and know how to use it. This is a simple App that allows the user to create 'puppet shows' on an iPod with voice-overs.
- They have all planned out what they would like to include in their revision guides.
- All the German has been scripted by them and then checked by me.
Once this is done (hopefully it shouldn't take longer than a lesson and a half..., I will give them a quick lesson on note taking (another importnat skill) and then expect them to take notes while I teach them how to use iMovie.
iPod German project
At the moment I am working on a project with year nine. They have finished their FCSE exams and their official SOW for the year and they now have a bit of what I call ‘free-learning time’. I have about 5 weeks with them where they are still in German lessons, they have finished everything that they have to do in year nine but still need to be learning language. The class is a top set and about half of them are continuing with German at GCSE either next year or the year after.
The project:
· Pupils will have their own blog for uploading their work, asking questions, starting learning conversations.
· In the next 5 weeks they will be expected to produce revision materials for future year nine classes to use when they are doing their FCSEs.
· They have been given a range of tools to work with, including iPods, video cameras, laptops, and a couple of Apps.
· Each group has chosen a couple of themes to work with – the pupils taking German next year have been told that there must be a focus on grammar topics that they will also find useful next year.
Reasons for the project:
· For pupils to become more motivated in language lessons.
· I think it would be useful for future year nine pupils to have some learning resources that have been created by their peers.
· It is important that those taking German next year continue to learn as much as they can in terms of vocabulary and grammar – this can become increasingly difficult for a teacher to manage as the ‘non-linguists’ in class become more and more disengaged towards the end of year nine.
· Technology is something that I feel it is important to experiment with in all subjects in order to keep learning relevant and ‘skill – orientated’. The majority of pupils will undoubtedly find themselves in jobs where they are using technology in the future and so it is important that they gain the necessary skills for this in school. Equally it is a way of showing pupils how school subjects do fit into a modern way of life and making the subjects relevant to them.
Thursday 17 March 2011
Edmodo
"Miss. - it's just like Facebook!" Yup, it is. Edmodo cannot fail to win over teenagers with it's social networking feel and appearance. Introducing pupils to blogging (being new to the concept myself) was a daunting prospect, but one which I don't think I will ever want to move away from in my teaching career.
But why is Edmodo better than a regular blogging platform?
Well I personally felt safer, especially as a 'beginner', knowing that everything that I wrote and that the pupils write was totally private. It means that I can upload videos and photos, pupils' work without a cloud of 'what-ifs' hanging over my head. In order to see what is posted in the group, either I have to declare it as public or allow somebody to join the group with a special code.
Additionally, I can monitor who of my pupils posts anything. I can change their passwords, allow them to 'read only' and delete pupils if ever I need too.
And of course, the pupils love the fact that they are in posession of a group that is 100% theirs, with their identity stamped all over it and where they can show off what they can do without the embarassment of speaking in front of their peers.
There are obvious attractions to public blogging too - but I think that for my class of year 8 pupils, Edmodo offers the perfect balance; protection that comes with the privacy that the site offers whilst they are still young and learning about e-safety, and liberation that comes with being able to show off and express themselves on the internet.
But why is Edmodo better than a regular blogging platform?
Well I personally felt safer, especially as a 'beginner', knowing that everything that I wrote and that the pupils write was totally private. It means that I can upload videos and photos, pupils' work without a cloud of 'what-ifs' hanging over my head. In order to see what is posted in the group, either I have to declare it as public or allow somebody to join the group with a special code.
Additionally, I can monitor who of my pupils posts anything. I can change their passwords, allow them to 'read only' and delete pupils if ever I need too.
And of course, the pupils love the fact that they are in posession of a group that is 100% theirs, with their identity stamped all over it and where they can show off what they can do without the embarassment of speaking in front of their peers.
There are obvious attractions to public blogging too - but I think that for my class of year 8 pupils, Edmodo offers the perfect balance; protection that comes with the privacy that the site offers whilst they are still young and learning about e-safety, and liberation that comes with being able to show off and express themselves on the internet.
Mobile phones in lessons
I have to say that using mobile phones in a yr8 lesson on Monday was possibly the best thing I have done with them this year. Not only did they learn more than I could ever have expected, the relationship I now have with the class, three lessons on, is far better than it ever has been. Why? Well, they learnt more because they were engaged, communicating the way they know best and desperate to prove to me that giving them freedom to use their favourite posessions in class was a worthwhile experiment. And the relationship has improved because they see me as someone who wants them to learn and have fun, rather than just the annoying, moaning woman that stands in front of them twice a week to trying to convince them that languages are fun and worth learning.
I suppose it's simple really. Kids have changed - they live in a world where they are surrounded by technology and in order to make learning anything seem relevant to them, we need to speak their language and show them how our subjects can fit into their technologically orientated lives.
I suppose it's simple really. Kids have changed - they live in a world where they are surrounded by technology and in order to make learning anything seem relevant to them, we need to speak their language and show them how our subjects can fit into their technologically orientated lives.
Wednesday 2 March 2011
Food art project in German
Monday 14 February 2011
Language Workshops
I think langauge workshops are a great way to motivate and enthuse pupils and are great fun for teachers too!!! The idea is to spend half a day (up till lunch time) on each workshop and obviously time restraints are an issue!! These are some of the workshops that I want to try out in the future:
Languages Enterprise
This one I already have underway(ish) and hopefully it will take place one day in the Easter to May half term for GT students in year 8. The idea is that it is a Dragon's Den/Apprentice style day, where the pupils work in groups to invent a food product. They must come up with the packanging, and advert/poster and a pitch all in the target language, which they will then present to a small audience of guests. I am really looking forward to this!
Other ideas are a rap workshop, a graffiti workdhop, an fashion workshop, an art workshop and a history workshop. All of these would be designed for pupils of different abilities to motivate, enthuse and to inroduce them to the more exciting elements of the culture of the country that they are studying :)
Languages Enterprise
This one I already have underway(ish) and hopefully it will take place one day in the Easter to May half term for GT students in year 8. The idea is that it is a Dragon's Den/Apprentice style day, where the pupils work in groups to invent a food product. They must come up with the packanging, and advert/poster and a pitch all in the target language, which they will then present to a small audience of guests. I am really looking forward to this!
Other ideas are a rap workshop, a graffiti workdhop, an fashion workshop, an art workshop and a history workshop. All of these would be designed for pupils of different abilities to motivate, enthuse and to inroduce them to the more exciting elements of the culture of the country that they are studying :)
My new ideas
I have compiled a list of the ideas that I would like to try out in my classroom. All, I am sure, have probably been tried before!! And who knows which ones will work and which will fail? But you never know until you try :)
-Language Labs
My HoD and I are going to look at some in action. I think they are a really nice idea, and bring something to MFL that can set it apart from other subjects. Especially if used as a KS4 privellege.
-Chat facilities
I wonder whether MSN, Facebook, Twitter and blogging can be brought into MFL teaching. Social networking is such a big hit with students and is bound to 'up' the profile of a subject. Being communication tools, there can be many ways to bring these chat facilities into languages. Unfortunately, security is always going to be an issue with such technologies and this is something that needs to be taken into consideration before using them in the classroom.
-Mobile phones
I think these could be much more effective, much cheaper and much more useful than senteo pods. With sites like pollanywhere.com they have the same function and there are many other interactive communication games that a teacher can lead. I want to look more into this.
-Avatars
Because a lot of early language learning is about describing yourself, your surroundings and things that are personal to you, I think that avatars could be the perfect way to engage younger KS3 pupils. I imagine that the majority of year sevens would be eager to get their hands on a self-created virtual character for whom they could create their own world to be described in the target language!! I would have LOVED that when I was at school!!
-Graffiti vocab logs
For lower ability pupils who are just turned off by the idea of recording vocab in the conventional 'vocab book' way, this is sure to get them more engaged and be more useful to them as a visual tool when they come to revise for assessments. Also, there are so many great sites that allow to produce graffiti for free :)
-Recording music
Ipods have many uses in the classroom but one great one that could help massively with pronunciation practise is the ability to record music. Pupils could record themselves rapping or singing songs by TL artists. Not only will this help students with the pronunciation, it will also give them a great insight into the culture of the country that they are studying.
-Media
I am very keen for getting KS4 students to provide some resources for KS3 students. The first thing I want to get them doing is making an online magazine (termly or half termly?????) with stuff in it that younger students will actually be interested in E.g. football, maybe some rap lyrics, etc etc. Another idea is for KS4 to film themselves giving grammar explanations as podcasts and put them on our VLE for the younger students to access when they are doing their homework.
-Video Conferencing
Students seem to really suffer from 'exchange fear' these days. Whatever happend to the excitement of staying with a different family for a week?! I reckon some video conferencing with foreign schools, and maybe even local schools, would really helpful.
And last but not least...
-ICT project learning
I want to trial moving away from the traditional text book log and giving my pupils projects to be completed online. Bit like blog. Could be interesting... but need to get round the problem of some pupils not having computer access at home... perhaps they could have their own paper log in a folder.
-Language Labs
My HoD and I are going to look at some in action. I think they are a really nice idea, and bring something to MFL that can set it apart from other subjects. Especially if used as a KS4 privellege.
-Chat facilities
I wonder whether MSN, Facebook, Twitter and blogging can be brought into MFL teaching. Social networking is such a big hit with students and is bound to 'up' the profile of a subject. Being communication tools, there can be many ways to bring these chat facilities into languages. Unfortunately, security is always going to be an issue with such technologies and this is something that needs to be taken into consideration before using them in the classroom.
-Mobile phones
I think these could be much more effective, much cheaper and much more useful than senteo pods. With sites like pollanywhere.com they have the same function and there are many other interactive communication games that a teacher can lead. I want to look more into this.
-Avatars
Because a lot of early language learning is about describing yourself, your surroundings and things that are personal to you, I think that avatars could be the perfect way to engage younger KS3 pupils. I imagine that the majority of year sevens would be eager to get their hands on a self-created virtual character for whom they could create their own world to be described in the target language!! I would have LOVED that when I was at school!!
-Graffiti vocab logs
For lower ability pupils who are just turned off by the idea of recording vocab in the conventional 'vocab book' way, this is sure to get them more engaged and be more useful to them as a visual tool when they come to revise for assessments. Also, there are so many great sites that allow to produce graffiti for free :)
-Recording music
Ipods have many uses in the classroom but one great one that could help massively with pronunciation practise is the ability to record music. Pupils could record themselves rapping or singing songs by TL artists. Not only will this help students with the pronunciation, it will also give them a great insight into the culture of the country that they are studying.
-Media
I am very keen for getting KS4 students to provide some resources for KS3 students. The first thing I want to get them doing is making an online magazine (termly or half termly?????) with stuff in it that younger students will actually be interested in E.g. football, maybe some rap lyrics, etc etc. Another idea is for KS4 to film themselves giving grammar explanations as podcasts and put them on our VLE for the younger students to access when they are doing their homework.
-Video Conferencing
Students seem to really suffer from 'exchange fear' these days. Whatever happend to the excitement of staying with a different family for a week?! I reckon some video conferencing with foreign schools, and maybe even local schools, would really helpful.
And last but not least...
-ICT project learning
I want to trial moving away from the traditional text book log and giving my pupils projects to be completed online. Bit like blog. Could be interesting... but need to get round the problem of some pupils not having computer access at home... perhaps they could have their own paper log in a folder.
Sunday 13 February 2011
A new project
I have been asked to take part in a project to help boost numbers for KS4 MFL. I am working with the Head of New Technologies at the school and so far I have come up with a few plans to get me going. The idea is to use ICT and new technologies to motivate and enthuse students of French and German - this blog will serve as a log of all the new ides that I try...
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