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.

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.

Food art project in German

My year nine class did an art project in German to help them learn some key phrases and opinions about food that are personal to them. They did extremely well and these are some of the pieces of work that they produced.