Bolton Blogging - BBC News Live

BBC News has reported from Heathfield CP School in Bolton (@heathfieldCPS) due to their pupil blogs. Each class has a blog, as well as the teachers, and their website shows examples of pupils work with peer assessment. I look forward to reading it in more detail...

ICT Links into Languages Conference 12-13 Feb 2011

A second fabulous day at the ICT Links into Languages conference at Southampton University. My brain is full, ideas are refreshed, and my motivation is renewed. Everyone was such fun and it was great to be around such inspirational practitioners, some of which I had met for the first time and some I was meeting again after previous conferences or videoconferences. My Flashmeeting for Easy Videoconferencing session went well (thank you to Joe Dale - without your prompting I wouldn't have had the guts to try such a risky adventure!), and the delegates were both attentive and ready to input their ideas. I also have a BIG thank you to make to @josepicardo who patiently sat the otherside of the videoconference link, helping out with the demonstrating of various FM tools on his Sunday. I have uploaded the presentation to authorSTREAM ready for download for reference. It will also be on the Links into Languages conference page with all other presentations from the conference over the weekend.

Well done to Zena Hilton, Joe Dale, Sara Vaughn and all of the Links into Languages team that organised the whole event.

I'm tired now, updating my twitter list of contacts and thinking of the path ahead...

Flashmeeting for easy videoconferencing ililc

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Thank you again for leaving positive feedback:

ICT Links into Languages Conference 12-13th Feb 2011

What a fantastic first day at the ICT Links into Languages conference. It has been wonderful catching up with MFL Twitterati friends and getting to know new ones behind those avatars. I encourage anyone at the conference who is not already a member of Twitter to join up and begin networking. It has done nothing but enhance my ICT knowledge and confidence to try out new things.

There have been a range of sessions today which have all gone really well and have received good feedback (see Twitter feed #ililc for details). My session entitled "Using ICT to Enhance Teaching and Learning in MFL" went well and the audience was a kind one given the tired brains! Thank you for listening so intently and for your positive feedback. The PowerPoint from the session is saved on authorSTREAM where I have made it available for download for those that requested it if the above stream doesn't work. It has been an honour to speak alongside such esteemed and knowledgeable colleagues. I look forward to tomorrow for more!

E Hardman Using Ict In Mfl To Enhance T&L

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Thank you also for the kind feedback that I received after the session:

MYLO Teacher Feature

MYLO are encouraging teachers to provide feedback on how they are using MYLO in lessons. CILT are posting a MYLO Teacher Feature on their website which also features on the MYLO Facebook page. Click on the links for updated feedback features.


We are also getting more teachers signed on and creating groups at The Weald of Kent Grammar School. MYLO has a great inbuilt motivation system: avatars which are unlocked the more points the students get, competitiveness between individual students on activities, between classes/teachers, between individuals on a national level and lastly between schools nationally. This multi-layered motivation system drives the students interest to look into more language learning activities. We look forward to higher rankings!

MYLO's Winning Formula

Well it's a sunny day (what a difference the sun makes!) and time for another MYLO update. Having set up another 2 sets of classes on MYLO recently I have been reminded of it's key to success - competition. Members of one class announced that they had been on it in their own time unprompted, with one girl gaining 700 points within a week! The development of personal avatars is another hit as students gain options for personalising them once they have worked through various stages. Valerie McIntyre, another MYLO ambassador, is using it successfully in her MFL department and has written a comprehensive write up on the Merlin John Online website. See the MYLO site for more information.

ICT Links into Languages Conference, 12-13th February

Fancy some professional development on using ICT in MFL teaching and learning?

The ICT Links into Languages conference 12-13th February 2011 is being at Southampton University, Avenue Campus. With a range of speakers across the two days, plenaries by Joe Dale and Rachel Hawkes and a chance to contribute to Show and Tell events there is a lot to gain from attending! I'll be providing two sessions: "Flashmeeting for easy videoconferencing" and "Using ICT to enhance teaching and learning in MFL", and I'm very much looking forward to it. For more information or to book follow this link. Scholarships are available.

FIFA HQ World Cup Presentations

It's a snow day today, preventing the school from opening, so I'm at home catching up on world news, watching the live country bids for the World Cup in 2018. Once again I am reminded of how important interpreters are in helping ease communication between the various nations and the communication of their speeches to the rest of the world. Here is The Guardian's write up on our chances. Come on The Lions! Live coverage of our bid on SKY NEWS channel 517 NOW! SKY updates

Webcam Wonder

To the MFL Twitterati:

Perhaps we should try this next FM Meet?



Esther :o)

The Importance of Learning Languages

The recent media coverage of the Chilean miners rescue has highlighted the importance of languages in the global community. You only had to witness Tim Wilcox, prized journalist for the BBC, switching effortlessly into Spanish in order to interview the family of a miner and then translating the conversation back into English again for the viewers at home, to understand how much of an asset his knowledge of Spanish was to the BBC at this crucial time and indeed, for making him, usually the studio anchorman, the ideal man for the job abroad.

"And the other secret weapon the BBC had was its remarkable on-site anchor, Tim Wilcox. He is normally an anchor on the domestic BBC News channel but he was sent to Chile three weeks ago and he showed a remarkable change in persona anchoring on-site rather than from the studio. It was obvious how well he knew his story, that he knew and had spoken to all those involved – officials, family, and the like, his Spanish was impeccable in being able to interview family members and officials live and give instant translation – he was just so natural." (http://followthemedia.com/writeon/bbcchile14102010.htm)

His Twitter feed also shows the benefits of his language knowledge, as well as the power of Web 2.0 technologies:

Just spoke to the father of the first miner expected up, Florencio Avalos. Father Alfonso says he is excited but anxious.
1,286,908,596,000.00 via web

Interpreters were also important in the international communication process of the rescue attempt:

The voice of an interpreter on hand to translate the words of the miners and rescuers for the English-speaking audience watching at home, could sometimes be heard directing the miners to get out of the way of the camera set up to beam images across the planet.
http://www.nowtoronto.com/daily/story.cfm?content=177177

Interpreters were also used to communicate Presidential speeches abroad, and Chile's President, Sebastian Pinera, even showed up or own PM by speaking to him in fluent English.

All in all languages were at the heart of international affairs. So if you want to get ahead in the world - learn languages!

MYLO 1st Lesson

The first MYLO lesson with my year 8's was very successful today. We were based in an ICT room which allowed us time to set up individual learner accounts for each student. As the school administrator I had previously registered the school online and then set up teacher accounts. Each teacher then sets up groups which the students join once they have each set up their own learner accounts. To do this last step you provide the students with a website link and the username/password of the site, and once they have set up a learner account they simply "Join a group" with the group name that you created it under and the access code that you were provided with at the time.

Once I'd got more experience of the "site map", as with all new websites to navigate, and tried a few activities under the guise of my own Screen Name, (Speedy Gonzales...watch out I'm on the leader board!), I became more familiar and realised how easy setting up learner accounts for the students would be.

TOP TIP FOR SETTING UP LEARNER ACCOUNTS:
1) Ask students to use their school email when creating accounts in case your school blocks access to their personal email accounts - they can always forward the details to their home account later; 2) Remind students to take care with the spelling of their email addresses (yes a few rogue emails have been sent out there - only 6/30 so not too bad), and 3) Remind students to create "acceptable" screen names...

All in all the set up took about half of the lesson (25-30 mins), but this process will only need to be done once. This time period includes troubleshooting which was more often than not correcting student's typing errors when entering the email addresses/user names etc... Note: If you are a current user of the trial site, warn the students that when first entering the site the username/password may need to be entered a few times i.e. there isn't a problem with the page. This will be rectified when the site goes fully live. We were then ready to start some activities. However, prior to letting the students "loose" (they really were chomping at the bit!), I asked them to fill in a vocabulary table that I had prepared of the phrases needed to complete the activities online (English provided, they find the French in the phrases list on screen). This was with the intent of the students retaining a written record of the phrases once having left the ICT room. I am planning also to use it for reinforcement activities once in a normal classroom (i.e. acting out the role plays).

As we are trialling the online software I decided to record our students' opinions of their experience so far - albeit limited. They had some interesting things to say, including comparisons with other online language learning sites. My publishing of the students' comments on this subject are not intended to be to the detriment of other language learning sites, yet to discover what MYLO can offer that is different through the students' eyes. As a teacher I am also aware that the excitement of a new technology can cloud a student's judgement to a certain extent. The range of language learning sites already on offer on the web are vast and of a high quality. It is the interactive features of the MYLO site (students competing against other students and the storing of personal scores) that are sticking out for me on first use in comparative terms. However, what I will be looking out for is the quality of LEARNING that takes place regardless of it's software features.

Note: the student interviewer (budding journalist in the making I think!) and the students' comments were completely unscripted.

MYLO 1st Lesson Student Feedback

Esther Hardman's Podcast

Until the next MYLO update!

Esther Hardman

Successful Videoconference with France!

On the 31/03/10 we held a successful videoconference at school between the French and English sides of our French work experience exchange. We set up 15 web cams on our side, with the students sharing in pairs, whilst the French side used one web cam interchanging the students as they took their place to speak. Time was tight given the only mutually convenient time was 8.30 am to 9.00am that morning. However, 10 of the students from the Weald of Kent Grammar School held conversations in French with their corresponding partners in France. Eventually no photos were uploaded from the French side but the time was used with the English students posing questions in French to the French students about their on coming stay in France in June. At first the students were nervous to take part and speak on camera, however, they were eventually encouraging us to use as much of the time as possible to allow as many students to take part. All in all a successfull videoconference which we hope to follow up with another before June so the French side can practise their English.

This has been a successful use of our recent purchase of 15 web cams for the MFL department and we hope to integrate their use in other exchanges across the department. Videoconferencing provides students with authentic language experiences which help improve their confidence in the use of the target language.

MYLO

Have you heared about MYLO? See this link for School Teacher information. It is a government sponsored initiative to bring the "real world" back into the classroom making languages relevant and engaging for 11-16 year olds, and it's free! Having been to a meeting back in February at CILT (the National Centre for Languages) I was given a taster and the concept is an exciting one.

What will learners do? The website above states: "MYLO is organised into a series of challenges. Each challenge is designed to offer a fully-rounded and self-contained learning experience, promoting language learning through creativity, problem-solving, decision-making and enquiry." These challenges have the potential to be very engaging as the innovative use of "best breed technologies and interactive routes to learning" culminate in "a social approach to learning and creative output". This embraces the rise of the "digital world",(even the PM is delivering speeches entitled: "Building Britain's Digital Future"), and how education is moving with the times.

MYLO is marketed as "Engaging, Valuable, Creative, Real-Life, Flexible, Innovative, Complementary and Evolving". Reading futher into the justifications for these descriptive words provides a sense of a well planned and conscientiously put together educational tool. My fellow MYLO Ambassadors (links to follow...) and I were given the opportunity to meet the designers from Lightbox Education and to feedback both positive and constructive comments as to its design, potential for implementation and impact on learning. This brought alive the concept of MYLO's "evolving" nature as they welcome feedback from both learners and teachers as the project develops.

I, for one, am looking forward to putting MYLO through it's paces in the classroom in the near future and will feedback on how my classes gained from the "stimulating content" and "innovative online environment", along with any reflective feedback in terms of any improvements that could be made if there are any to be found. I am eager to put into practice the different stages of the MYLO learning journey: Meet the contact, Get the skills, Compete, Take the challenge and Review my work, and to see the process through from beginning to end and how the students react to it's imaginative link to the real world via new technologies.

On y va!

ICT in MFL Presentation

On the 22nd February 2010 I delivered a presentation to the whole school teaching staff re our developments in the use of of ICT in MFL. The idea was to share our ideas across the school and to inspire the use of web 2.0 tools in education to address the knowledge that will be coming up from primary levels of education in years to come (if not indeed now). Here is the presentation - spot the members of staff dotted along various slides...

ICT in MFL 2009-10 - INSET Presentation

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Successful Flashmeeting with France #2!

Excellent! We have just completed another staff test of the Flashmeeting videoconference software with our partner school in France. Both sides were able to load pictures (excuse the bucket - it was a practice!) and URLS which will be useful when asking the French side of students to familiarise the English side with where they will be staying prior to our trip out there in June. This time the test was based on our respective school sites. Next stage the videoconference itself!

iTunes Podcasts

I came late into the day in using podcasts (iPod/Broadcasts) but am enjoying them more since getting to grips with iTunes and my iPod. I

Personalised Learning Networks

Another nod to the power and usefulness of Personalised Learning Networks (PLN's) recently researched in the TES article "Technology - Pick of the Crop" 26th February 2010. Thanks to ICPJones for the heads up via Twitter!

Flashmeeting Practice with France

How very exciting! I set up a practice videoconference using Flashmeeeting with an exchange partner English teacher in France yesterday and it went excellently! I used the whiteboard function which I had not used before and by trial and error learned how to upload photos and draw squiggly lines. I'm not sure of a use for the latter but using shapes to disguise photos then perhaps slowly reveal them for a KS3/2 videoconference that I have planned for later might work a treat. I will play some more with that. However, for the up and coming French work experience exchange videoconference with our year 11s the photo option will be useful for the French students to show photos of the area / house they live in to help familiarise the English studenets before they go. The URL tool will also be useful to upload links to their home town etc... I saw these potential activities forming before my eyes as we played around with them. It's nice to see there is more potential to Flashmeeting than I had realised and that it can be used for a real purpose.

MYLO Ambassadors Meeting 08/02/10

I've picked up my violin again yesterday after years of not playing (happens with renewed enthusiasm once a year!) and having bashed my way through a page of sheet music it struck me again how languages are like music and the words and grammar that tie a language together are like the musical notes that create the sound of a musical piece (how high brow!). I took part in discussions during the MYLO Ambassadors meeting today at CILT re their Goverment funded online language learning project, and I was reminded again a) how I love learning languages and b) how I liken the skill of speaking and listening of a language to music (amongst other codes that exist - hence my blog title). To imitate a speaker you need to copy their sound, and their intonation like the rise and fall of a melody. The "code" of a language is not just the words but the rise and fall of the language aswell. The Swiss are often teased by the French not just for their slower pace of speaking, but also the rise and fall of the sound of their spoken French.

"What about SingStar?" I thought. Using SingStar technology to aid learning the intonation of target language expressions. As important as the pronunciation if you want to gain confidence and sound authentic I say. (I was so happy to get karaoke into the day's events somehow!).

More information on MYLO as the technology develops and classroom trials have been carried out...

Languages Save the Day!

I went to buy a Spanish newspaper today (well a French one actually but they don't sell them any more). The shop owner couldn't tell me how much it was in English £ - despite scanning the international prices small print. Feeling the pressure of the growing queue behind me on a busy Saturday morning I had to help him out...

OK, I admit, the guy was set up into making knowing languages look good by my fair handed self - however it felt good at the time :o)

Mind42 Mind Maps

I've been playing around with Mind42.com's web mind map tool. I created a mind map on the topic of "Communication". See the results below:

Communication

MFL Dept Blog Training 08/12/09

Dear Colleagues,

Today we are going to learn how to create a blog; add text, photos and web links; embed html codes for youtube videos, podcasts, PowerPoints and photo slides shows.

At the end of the traning please add feedback on the training session by clicking on the wall below. Please consider whether the training as a whole has helped you become more confident in using blogs to enhance the teaching of MFL with your students:

TDA Course Feedback

Here we invited our attendees to give feedback on the course as a whole.

ICT in Primary Languages (Easi-Speak, Audacity, podcasts...)

Here will hopefully be some feedback from today's session to test out this new gadget I've found. Hopefully the session attendees will find this useful in their classrooms too!

Homework / Les Devoirs / Los Deberes... by Miss E Hardman

Oh look - you can just "share" it as a link into your blog too...

Homework / Les Devoirs / Los Deberes... by Miss E Hardman

Wallwisher.com

Going to trail this website for homework ideas. Different to Wiki in that can't edit work of others but easier to access as no need to set up pupil accounts - at least it seems not at the moment. Will experiment with one of my classes. See below:

ICT in MFL - Sound files training morning

I'm looking forward to a morning training session that I'm leading for some local primary school teachers tomorrow. Preparing the final touches to the session notes. Should be good fun: recording with Easi-speak microphones, Audacity, and all the fun that comes with it, followed by uploading into www.podomatic.com for later use in classroom blogs. So much to do and so little time!

Tips on Videoconferencing

I'm not sure where Tip #1 went...



P.S. the below contains a joke which may or may not be suitable for your classroom students!

Wordle

Just discovered Wordle.com where you can make creative word clouds. However, the code they gave me for the one I created doesn't seem to work in this post box. Here is the link for the time being until I work it out...


Got it! Needs to be in an HTML gadget on the right....

Check out Tom Barrett's Edublog for "Thirty-Eight Interesting Ways to use Wordle in the Classroom".

Songs in MFL

I love using songs in MFL, whether they are songs that are already published or ones that I have made up myself. I don't do the latter often but early in my teaching career I gained some great inspiration from Steven Fawkes, formerly from the BBC and now working for the Association of Language Learning (ALL). He often demonstrates at language shows how he puts target language to popular well known songs. I have one example of my own here, put to the tune of "Mamma Mia", which is to help me teach the French rule for "à + towns" and "au/en + countries" (annoyingly the authorSTREAM format is too wide for this post list but I can always email it to you if you leave a comment with your details):

In / at / to + places (French)

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TIP 1: I use kareoke CD's as the originally sung lyrics of a song would interfere with what you are trying to sing in the target language in the classroom. Ones that I have used in the past come from the Avid label from which I have used the Kylie Locomotion successfully with Spanish Classroom language (cheesy kareoke beats but it does the job - I'll add the PowerPoint with lyrics...). However, this time I used an Abbamania CD which is less cheesy but does have light singing of the chorus in the background (no bad thing if the song flops in class eh?).

TIP 2: If you need access to the original lyrics of a song to work out the rhythm of the words without incessantly rewinding (gosh that just made me feel old!)/ replaying your music source, try a lyrics website such as Lyrics Freak

It can take some time getting words to fit the tune of song, which is why I only tend to do it when inspiration hits rather than seeking to do a song for the sake of it. However, the results are worth it. One of my year 7 classes, to whom I taught Spanish classroom language using the Kylie locomotion tune, used to sing it, without prompting, whilst running around the track during their PE lessons (so I'm told!), and they could still sing it word for word when they reached year 10. On one occasion they burst into a rendition of it as I entered the classroom for a cover lesson those 3 years later. That was one of the best moments of my teaching career so far. Enjoy!

Intercultural Understanding

Check this video out: Eels

I love this video as it really shows the need for Intercultural Understanding. As we welcome our new year 7's into the school we are embarking on a transition project which includes Intercultural Understanding. This features in the KS2 Framework for Languages and we hope to build upon this as they begin their KS3 language studies.

I have just discovered the delights of SKY TV via my SKY+ box. Much to my father's dismay I have refrained from subscribing to SKY Sports, but have subscribed to the Style and Culture package instead which provides TVEi on channel 795 (Spanish) and TV5 on channel 799 (French) TV programmes. Cinémoi movies is a French cinema channel on 839, but you have to subsribe to another package to get this.

Combining two loves...Food and French!

After a near paradise experience whilst eating a Croque Madame (a Croque Monsieur with an egg on top) in Calais back in 2000/1, I set my sights on a World Tour...the aim? To experience as many Croque Monsieur/Madames as possible and to rate them out of 10 with my Calais experience as the bench mark.

The Big Question: would I find one as good as this again?

So what made the "Calais Croque" so good? To experience such a cullinary pleasure set against the back drop of the industrialised port of Calais begged the phrase: a jewel amongst rocks, a rose amonst thorns...

The Croque Tour so far:

Location: Calais 2000/1
Rating: 10/10
Comments: What a memory, what a dream! Alas the image remains in my head. Yet the comination of an unexpectedly large (size in food terms matters) Croque Madame with a large (again good) pile of French Fries as accompaniement, with the remaining space on the large (good) plate filled with a large (g...) pile of lucious lettuce dripped delicately with a subtle French salad dressing, created a meal made in heaven...oh but the "pièce de la résistance" was the small glass of red wine to accompany such a feast. "Does a humble Croque Monsieur meal live up to the class of a good glass of red wine?" I hear you ask. "Who cares!" I cry. It worked! Especially the cafe style glass that it was held in. Oh I could go on... Now for the rest...

Location: Geneva 2005/6
Rating: 0/10
Comments: Disappointment on first sight. Bad "pain de mie" bread and dry. The Swiss should stick to what they do best: chocolate and Swiss watches.

Location: Rouen 2006
Rating: 2/10
Comments: No notes made so can't remember the rating...Can't have been amazing. Satisfactory at best.

Location: Paris 2008
Rating: 8/10
Comments: What a great find! In the fashionable area of St Michel we sourced a bar that would serve our World Tour delight. Good portions, fries, salad and wine (with good company!) made this an enviable contender.

Location: My flat 2008
Rating: 6/10
Comments: Wonderful! Had a great time sourcing a good recipie (no it's not just a cheese and ham sandwich...) and making it for my good friend Anabela. Insecurities on using too little cheese resulted in too much cheese and big fat bellies afterwards. Indeed we were unable to finish - a shocker and source of much pride breaking on my part. Nevertheless, lesson learned and more shall be attempted in the future. (I cheated with frozen chips but when one is busy...)


Location: Versailles 2009
Rating: 4/10
Comments: This rating is generous. The cheese was nice but the sauce lacking. The bread was toasted - possibly as using up the previous day's bread.

The bottom line - is it right to rate it against a classic? In fact is it right to mess with a classic at all? In the light of this we placed it in a category of its own: "Tartine facon Croque Madame" / Bruchette (I was assured by our French colleague on the exchange that the latter exist "au resto à Nice qui semble des Croques Madames ouvertes").


We move on...

Location: Eurodisney 2009
Rating: 5/10
Comments: Classed as a "Euro Croque" we gave the following critiques: Miss Hinge - Bechamel sauce good and not too heavy but more ham needed. Grilled bread not good. Miss Hardman - good top bread layer, soft and springy, with a layer of soft grilled cheese. The runny sauce was nicely warm.

Overall, however, is it right to compare a Croque Monsieur with a Croque Madame (the latter being my true love of the two and source of this World Tour)? However, I think it fought it's corner well - despite the lack of fries and salad as accompaniement.


A last attempt on this leg of the tour...

Location: Service station, France 2009
Rating: 3/10
Comments: Satisfactory - surprisingly good for a service station or does my memories of English services stations marre my open mindedness on this matter?











This post shall be continually updated as I yearn to seek the eternal pleasures that are held within the humble meal of a Croque Monsieur/Madame...but for now some advice for anyone inspired to embark on similar such tours: do your research, know what to expect, and aim high!

One might say that I have too much time on my hands, yet the promise of school reports as my next task forever pushes me to further creative ventures.


The next generation...

Location: Starbucks, Kent, June 2009
Rating: 0/10
Comments: The "Starbucks Croque Monsieur Panini"....panini??. Ghastly idea. Didn't even go there. I refuse to mess with a classic (see comments - Versailles 2009). No photo, no rating, no nothing. The tumble weed moves on...

WKLF MFL e-learning Group Videoconference

I have just finished a successful videoconference between myself, Weald of Kent Grammar School in Tonbridge, Stewart Dearsley at Mascalls in Paddock Wood, and Anita De at the Tonbridge Grammar School, also in Tonbridge. We were trialling the Polycom PVX software in order to move further foward with projects involving other schools within Kent, both Primary and Secondary, and hopefully also with other schools abroad. This was a successful first step in our MFL e-learning group's vision to use the software on a bigger scale in order to bring students together from different classes, year groups and countries.

Language Labs, Videoconferencing and Blogging

A big thank you to Joe Dale and his great efforts in editing our recent interview and creating such comprehensive blog notes to accompany it. In it we explore the use of language laboratories, videoconferencing and blogs within education. It was exciting to exchange ideas and for me, to continually learn about new Web 2.0 technologies as a result. I am continually impressed by his blog and the wealth of information and practical support that is contained within it.

My First Podcast!

Get me! Used Audacity to record a short sound bite of myself speaking using my recently purchased Logitec headphones, saved the file. Created an account with www.podomatic.com where the MP3 file could be uploaded to. Then sent the html text via it's "share" facility to my own blog! How great is that. (For those of you who don't want to use 3rd party applications to upload sound files use typepad.com for your blog. It costs a small amount but I'm assured it's a bit more flexible than blogger in terms of sound files etc...). A big thanks to Joe Dale for pointing me in the right direction with this and for the earlier Audacity tutorial. I see no end of possibilities ahead with personal or classroom use. No webcam use means no child protection issues (although I will double check that as one cannot be too careful these days). I might trial a webcam version of myself too, but that can wait until I've washed my hair...

I love playlist.com! Check out my current use on my other "just for fun" blog: http://thewonderfulworldofesther.blogspot.com/ (make sure you have your sound on). However I really want to use this on a classroom blog but with French music.

As a filler I sometimes access http://www.mcm.net/programmes/top50/ to enrich my student's knowledge of the French Top 50 in a desire to a) provide some intercultural understanding of the target country of the language we are learning, but also b) to destroy the myth that French music is not "cool" (I'm not allowed to say "hip and happening" - no one says "hip and happening", my year 9 1.2 class told me so). The dominance of English and American cultures has a lot to answer for in terms of the lack of appreciation of foreign music in the eyes of our youth.

We choose a song to play, hopefully with a video to accompany it, from the Top 50 French charts (refusing point blank to play any anglo/US music despite the agonising adolescent pleas), then I ask them what they think with a show of thumbs. Some groups and singers have come up trumps so far - check out the weblink list on the right under "Music Matters" (Kidtonik is an S-Club juniors equivalent don't you know).

I wanted to develop this further by searching for our favourites on playlist.com in order to create a specific French music playlist for a classroom blog. However no searches provide fruitful, apart from Vanessa Paradis or MC Solaar which, although current artists, are not proving that motivating for my pupils.

Any ideas to help with my search for modernity welcome...

Cryptic Reports

Inspired by the Independent's "Get The Picture" regular series of cryptic puzzles and searching for an innovative procrastination activity, with one set of class reports down and one to go, here is my own version. Answers on comments please. No prizes. Just for fun.

The Pink link with the "en" pronoun

This is my latest inspiration for teaching the "en" pronoun in French. Check out Pink's "So What" song (see below video 01.06 minutes in). It's a motivational starter / brain break tool to help pupils remember the "en" pronoun rather than teaching its use specifically. However it's fun nonetheless to see your pupil's faces when you break into ""Unh Check my flow Uohhh" in a Pink stylee in the middle of a French lesson...


Or use this link - http://www.muvids.com/4117_video_pink_so_what

Interestingly enough you can find this "sound bite" spelt out in lyrics at: http://www.lyricsyoulove.com/p/pink/im_yours/

OK so the quoted "Uohhh" delivered delicately by Pink is not 100% the sound of the "en" pronoun ("Uohhh" / J'"en" veux deux), but there is a tenuous link if one wishes. All in the aid of making MFL teaching fun.

So all that leaves me to say is: "Unh Check my flow Uohhh"/"en"

This blog post is dedicated to my 8D French class for putting up with my Pink impressions and also Andrew Stapley and Huguette Hopkinson at Norton Knatchbull for our recent enjoyable ideas bouncing session where they humoured my madness, and I theirs.

Symposium Language Laboratory

We are using the Symposium Language Laboratory suite at school. I've just recently delivered a practical workshop on using Symposium for teaching MFL at the SSAT SE Regional Language College's Network Meeting. I focused on it's practical use in a series of language learning activities as opposed to just looking at the technology itself. I also provided notes on how to successfully mananage a language laboratory lesson, looking at the things that you need to consider which are specific to managing pupils and teaching in language laboratories as opposed to normal classrooms. I received 100% "excellent" feedback from the delegates which made it worth while. Check out the Activa website for our case study at Weald of Kent Grammar School

Languages lead to...

One evening in to hosting our French exchange lead teacher and I'm reminded why I love learning languages. If it wasn't for learning French I wouldn't have travelled to France, if it wasn't for travelling to France I wouldn't have eaten in nice restaurants or stayed with welcoming families, and if it wasn't for these experiences I may never have discovered CHEESE & WINE! The combination of creamy, tangy, salty, savoury cheese, washed down with a fruity, medium bodied wine of the red variety is pure gourmet heaven...

My cheese favourites: (This is a work in progress - I'll add as I discover!)

Camembert (French)
Brie (French)
Wensledale and cranberry (English)
Emmental (Swiss)

My wine favourites:

I never remember names, but I do remember grapes. However my latest trick is taking a photo of a well enjoyed bottle on my mobile phone to add to my current library, ready for referring to when in the aisle of the local supermarché. Highly effective for the visual learner you know (the obligatory education link!).

Personalised Learning Networks

There is a whole new world out there. I've just joined Twitter and discovered a whole new universe of contacts. Investigating joining a teacher network. Take a look at Joe Dale's write up of the twitter world. Contains some good links and information for productive use. I'll add more here when I've had time to get to grips with it.

Follow my twitter upates on the right hand menu...

Interesting Twitter Articles:
Tools to Keep Your Twits Organised
Thirty Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom

Videoconferencing in MFL

Have you ever Googled yourself? I know this seems like a completely self indulgent thing to do but in order to procrastinate and thereby delay starting my 60+ year 8 reports I decided to quickly update my blog i.e. delay what you don't want to do and do what provides you gratification first whilst the oven is warming your dinner - it's the way forward you know...

I hadn't yet entered links to a past, yet still relevant, videoconferencing project that I completed with a colleague using Flashmeeting in 2007. Not being able to find the presentations at home I searched for them by my name on the internet, knowing they were added as links on to various sites (see below right on the menu of links). In looking for the links to post I found my photo on the web! So much for hiding behind my virtual Voki physique. So here I am in the middle being presented with a certificate at the Teachnet Awards 2008 for the work we did on the project.

Daftness aside I hope the videoconference resources on the Teachnet site are useful to anyone hoping to embark on such a cross phase project (KS2/KS4 French). See also Joe Dale's blog write up of our project.

Easi-speak

I'm experimenting with inputting sound files into a PowerPoint document which I understand need to be WAV files. Easi-Speak microphones are easy to use in the classroom and fun for the pupils, however they seem to automatically save in MP3. Instructions say toggling between MP3 and WAV is possible but I've experiemented with no joy. If anyone has had any success let me know.

Update 13/05/09
Success! We have successfully changed MP3 files to .wav files via CDex software (thanks goes to my ICT department at school!). We then discovered how to add these onto clip art within the PowerPoint so that the sound file still works once sent outside of our network. We did this by right clicking on the clip art, selecting "Action Settings" and then browsed for the sound file...

Easi speak microphones have proved to be easy and effective ways of recording in a classroom with the ability to charge the microphone in the USB port whilst setting up the class. Once an opportune moment in the lesson has been found and recording has been completed, immediate play back is possible, again via the USB port which means that pupils can self analyse and record again quickly in order to correct their language as necessary. I love using them at the moment and hope to order more!

Dyslexia and L2 learning

I am curious about dyslexic students. My question is does interference in the aquisition of first language (L1) learning also interefere in the learning of a second language (L2), or is it specific to the L1 where the learning of L2 allows for the neurological / cognitive links to be created afresh? I don't have any answers yet but will add to this post when I find more research on this topic.

Le Foot!

In the search for resources that might motivate boys when learning languages, I've stumbled across Girondins de Bordeaux club (see web links on the right) - lots of play lists, top scorers, field positions etc. There is a web link to the Girondins TV channel too with the video feed itself below the posts on this page. Not to be out done by the French, check out the Arsenal Double Club link too.

BUUUUUUUUUUUUT!

International Edublogger 562

It's official! I've been accepted into the International Edubloggers Directory, member number 562!

Thank you Patricia!

Why Learn Languages?

Preparing to take part in an assembly talk on the importance of learning languages at another secondary school, has made me relive all that learning languages has done for me: prompted travel opportunities both prior and during university, gained me employment, saved me from redundancy, kept me in higher paid temp jobs when redundancy finally did occur (in the financial sector!) and finally helped me pursue the profession that I am still in today. The benefits are still relevant given the economic crisis and rise of job losses on what seems like a day by day basis during some periods. So I can only encourage you to learn languages!



3 Oct 2009 - An update to the cause of the importance of learning languages:

Guido Westerwelle snubs BBC reporter for English question at press conference

Café Life

I love this photo. It was taken out of a coach window (hence the reflections!) during a school French exchange trip to Versailles palace May 2008. It epitomises French café life for me with the trees, table layout, sun umbrellas, window shutters of the background building and people enjoying lazy afternoon refreshments.

Here is another one taken that same week. It's in the streets of Paris in the St Germain area. Spurred on by our hunger we eventually headed to La Taverne de Cluny, 51 rue de la Harpe, 75005 Paris where I did my usual Croque Monsieur rating commentary...