eTwinning

I returned home this eveing after an exhausting day of newspapers and a singing lesson and finally got round to checking my email to open a mail from the eTwinning people that we have been awarded the National Quality Label for our Je blogue, tu blogues...let's blog! project. Hooray :o) This means we've been awarded one in France and the UK. I believe that this means we will have automatically receive a European Quality Label sometime this year (a bit late for the January ones though).
Well done us - pupils of Ian Ramsey and St. Exupéry (oh and teachers too!)

Newsday 2008

Well, we finally did our Newsday 2008! I thought it would be a lot worse than it was, it must be said but all in all, we had a great day.
We managed to produce 2 newspapers, one in French, on in German without the aid of our FLAs, because, when I arrange the date and put it on the calendar, I forgot that the FLAs are out at college on a Wednesday and therefore wouldn't be around :o(
However, our fab student, Lisa helped this morning and our new Head of Area helped this afternoon. I must admit that I could have killed our Head of Area at one point...he came along this afternoon and told me the Queen had just died!!! I am still reeling with the emabarrassment of racing across the room to tell the editors that they needed to change the Headline. It was one of those situations that, when I realised it was a wind up, I couldn't stop laughing,,,in fact tears were streaming down my face. Let's just say...I never forget!!!
The final versions will be put onto my Langwitch class blog so that our pupils can see / read them, once I get them printed and enlarged and sent off tomorrow.
What a great day :o)

Chocolate!

It's on days like today, I really love being a teacher. It's been great (and hectic)..more about that in later posts!
I got a lovely present of a (huge) bar of chocolate today from one of my tutor group. I'd helped her out of a tricky clothing situation on Monday and her mum sent me a lovely letter today and a bar of chocolate. It was a really lovely thing to do, specially since what I did was what every other tutor would have done, given the same situation.
The chocolate, needless to say was devoured quickly - but not all by your's truely, naturally I shared it with my "news team" (they needed a sugar boost!)

Freezers!!!

Our fridge freezer broke on Saturday morning...just what we needed :o( So we headed off to local electrical stores to check out what was available, me dreaming of beautiful, huge, silve creations to find that because of the width of the hole we had to fit it in, we were rather more limited in choice than we had hoped (damn that boat over the road stopping us from selling our house - or is it the poor financial state of the country??).
We dutifully purchased our goods and arranged delivery for today and made arrangements for in-laws to come and let them in. The fridge freezer arrived and...it was dented! We are now left with a quandry...do we just keep it and get some money returned from the company (not a bad choice, given the amount of magnets and childrens' work that we acquire on our fridge door), or get another one delivered in its place (thus having to inconvenience other family members again).
Oh the traumas of every day life :o)
Atleast it gave me a good excuse to a) avoid doing the grocery shopping yesterday and b) not go to choir (far too traumatic and it gave me a headache...lie, lie, lie...)
Graeme will have to decide on this one, I fear :o)

Year 9 creating Vokis

We made Vokis during our lesson in the computer room with Year 9 this week.
As we're working on the topic of school, I dedided that we would write a paragraph about school and make a Voki from that.
First, as a class we wrote what we would say (a safer option, I felt, as this particular class could have taken weeks to produce the same piece of work on their own!).
I then took a lesson to explain to the task to them, in order to make sure they know what to do (cough very loudly!).
Then on on Friday we actually completed the task.
We recorded our paragraphs using Audacity...unfortunately we had to do that in 2 shifts due to lack of working microphones! Then we went on to the Voki.com website and logged into the account that I had created for them and created our Vokis, adding our soundfiles in the "give your Voki a voice" section and then saved what we had done.
A few pupils got their's completely finished some will complete them next time.
I do find these things take a long tome to complete, but it's worth it in the long run when they can see what they created on the web and show their parents. A great advantage is that, although when doing this with a class of 30 it can feel like you've taught 5 lessons in the space of one, it does mean that they don't have time to faff on trying to listen to their music stations or go onto games as they're too busy being fascinated by what they're doing...and of course it give much needed practice at speaking!
Some of the completed work can be viewed here at my Langwitch blog. More will follow sa they get finished :o)
I put instruction on how to do all of the work on my Langwitch Wiki. Just a quick request though,if you want to use these intructions with your own classes, please set up your own account with Voki :o)

Langwitch blog has new Domain Name

On Wednesday, I decided to take the plunge and register a Domain for my Langwitch class blog. The www.irsdeutsch.typepad.com was just too long for the kids to type in - I can rarely do it correctly - and this was always a good excuse for not being able to do stuff :o(
So I boldly followed Typepad's advice on Domain Mapping and went for it. My class blog can now be found at www.langwitch.org (much easier to find in my opinion!) It can still be accessed via the other address but it didn't seem to display properly last time I looked.

The blue screen of death!

I got very worried last night when my computer just crashed and the screen went blue with lots of writing on it!
I hurridly informed Graeme, who pulled a face and said that it could be very bad news as these things are sometimes called the "blue screen of death"! Anyway, like the hero that he is, he delved into the bits of the computer that I'm scared of and discovered that I had a (some!) virusses (ir is it viri??) since st somepoint my anti-virus software had been told to stop working - not by me :o(
It's now de-bugged and working fine. What a hero my husband is!

Langwitch explores Gypsy Moon

I've been on my travels again in SL and discovered a great place call Gypsy Moon (can't do the SLURL thing because it just crashed on me). Anyway it's very...hippy (just my kind of place!)
Thought I'd add some pictures...they're not brilliant, it would see that I'm as good at photography in SL as I am in RL :o)
Put it into a Bubbleshare Slideshow "to save time" :lol - am learning txt lang :o)

BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Langwitch learns some Japanese!

Our Japanese Intern, Nariko (?), has arrived to work with us for the next 10 months. She came to work with my Year 8 class (and I though "oh dear" - bit lively they are). However, they were wonderful and so was Nariko. The class listened transfixed as she told them about Japan and Japanese culture. They all felt her Kimono as she walked around the classroom (...she did ask them to do this) and were able to answer questions that she asked them. The icing on the cake was finishing off with some origami...We all made a star...I was so proud of them (and myself). We can't wait to learn more in two weeks' time when she is with us again :o)
(Well, actually I'll repeat the lesson again tomorrow when she's with my Year 7 German class)

Ian Ramsey Redesignated as a Language College

We were all pleased to receive the news today that, following our successful OfSted Inspection in October and all of the additional things we had to do after that, we have been redignated as a Language College by the SSAT...so our jobs are safe for the next few years anyway. We were very pleased, as sometimes it's easy to forget the good work that we do in the MFL department and across the school and LEA

Yr 8 G&T Podcast

I was over the moon today, when my group of lovely Y8 G&T kids were able to produce the most wonderful podcast in French about their New Year's Resolutions.
I guided them last week in the production of the language for talking about what they're going to do and they completed them very proficiently on their own, emailing the completed ones to my specially set up account for them. Then today, with a little prompting, they produded the podcast, using Audacity for our eTwinning Blog Je blogue, tu blogues...let's blog! What is so great is that I encouraged them to make "noises of agreement" in the background...kind "good idea" etc...in French and one of the girls found a list of that type of phrases on the internet and they added them in.
They even seem keen to set up a podcast similar to the Ramsey Deutsch one (but hopefully with more success!), wanting to choose their own name for it and everything.
Watch this space...
Nos Résolutions du Nouvel An

My new Second Life...

...as Langwitch Shostakovich (I knowm but I liked the idea of the compose thing!) - Don't like the picture but don't know how to take a picture properly yet!
Having read about Second Life, I became very curious and wondered whether I could persuade anyone in the LEA to fund a project for linguists within Stockon. So...I decided that I sould venture into the unkown and start to lead a Second Life, myself.
A week in and I thought I'd share some thoughts.
Firstly, I like it..if only so that I can create a "me" that looks like I might look were ito not for the fact that I'm a teacher, 36, a mother of 2 small children and not able to stay in the sun long enough to get a deep tan!
I spent the first 3 days alone on Help Island, picking up freebies and trying to fly...at one time I nearly fell into the sea and thought I would drown (can one die in Second Life, I wonder?) I met some people (male, of course, since my avatar is female) and even added one as a "friend"...although have never seen him again. My other encounter was with a dodgy Italien guy who spoke English and French (who said languages wouldn't come in handy). After 3 days one of my RL friends invited my to join him somewhere or other, so I left Help Island forever (once you leave you can never og back) and ventured out into the big wide world.
I must admit that it wasn't a scarey as I thought it would be, however, I've spent most of my time"shopping" and changing my appearance - me, vain?
So, after a week do I think it's worth it? Well, I think it's enjoyable and think that pupils could really benefit from it (once they've got over changing their appearance). Don't know whether my husband would agree...I think he's worried I'll meet a virtual hunk and have a virtual affair...that's if I dare ever speak to anyone other my my RL friend...
If you are a member of SL and don't want me to feel so lonely, please contact me / add me to your friends :o)

Daniel is 3!

I can't believe it but 3 years ago today, our lives were once again changed forever when the lovely Daniel arrived (4 days late!). Having a girl already,we didn't know what to expect - apart from horror stories of friends with boys :o)
3 years on it must be said that boys and girls are completely different. It took Dan until a month ago to figure out what the potty is for but now doesn't have nappies at all - even at night. Alice was out of nappies during the day by her 2nd birthday, but older than 3 on a night. In addition, Alice's vocabulary and language acquisition was amazing, while Dan is only just beginning to master more complicated sentences and words. On the other hand, Dan's hand-eye co-ordination is miles better than Alice's was at his age, as are his fine motot skills (or are they the same thing ??). He also has the cheekiest smile and hits the ground running from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to bed! It's so interesting having a girl and a boy and seeing the different ways they develop.
Life is never dull with both of them around, it must be said! We wouldn't swap them the world - when they're in bed asleep :o)

Ian Ramsey amongst " most improved schools in the country"

We were informed yesteday by our Headteacher that Ian Ramsey was ranked 67th out of 400o schools in the table of most improved schools in the country for A*-C (incl. Maths and English) resulst from 2003 - 2007. There were only a handful of schools in the Northeast in the top 200, so this is quite an achievement. You can read more about it here by following this link Evening Gazette
You can also catch a glimpse of our LRC and Headteacher with some of our pupils.
He asked us to publicise this as much as possible ...don't know if he meant this :o)
Go Ian Ramsey :o)

La fête des rois

Until this year I didn't know about this...what kind of a French teacher am I? (One who prefers German, that's what!).
Anyway, being in France last week and (of course) having to have a bit of "booze cruise" trip to Carrefour aCité de l'Europe, I came across a wonderful Galette des Rois with Pirates of the Caribbean crown and fève. Well, being an admirer of Johnny Depp's and Orlando Bloom's "acting talents"(yum), I naturally love Pirates of the Caribbean with all that swashbuckling and unkempt hair etc... so I couldn't resist. Well, I heated it up and divided it in 4 - Alice was very excited at the thought of being a "princess" - and...I won! Got a great "Black Pearl" in my bit of pie. Poor Alice was devastated, so as "Queen" I allowed her to be my princess and wear the crown (which fitted her better than me, anyway). What a nice tradition, and hopefully one we'll keep up in the future (I think I might even be able to stretch to baking my own apple pie). Next year we will also be making the neighbours think we're very strange by doing the old chalk writing thing...20+C+M+B+08 thingie on the door. Isn't it nice being an MFL nutcase, bringing all of these lovely foreign traditions to our homes :o)

New Year's Resolutions ramblings

It's that time again, when we all start to think about how we are going to improve ourselves and set ourselves (in my case, usually) resolutions that we can stick to for about a day. Anyway, in keeping with tradition here are mine:

1. Eat healthily and do some exercise - an oldie but a goodie. This year I will lose 2 1/2 stone and feel good about myself on holiday :D

2. Spend less time on the computer - some hope...but maybe when the kids are still up try to avoid "just doing this / that"

3. Find a new job - no comment :o)

4. Move house - been trying for some time now and no success. (A boat held up by an old wooden chair at the house over the road doesn't help at all)

5. Have more self confidence - remind myself of what my friends like about me (what friends?) and what the Ofsted inspector said about my lesson that he observed from time-to-time (often needed after a lesson with 9qF5 on a Thursday afternoon)

6. Use "poinsigog" more often in everyday language - see previous post

There, in December next year, I'll look back on theses and see which I managed to keep going until February :o)

Disneyland Paris

After a day of recovery, I can now reflect on DLP.
We had a strange start to our break, after staying at the Travel Inn in Folkstone we got the Shuttle to Calais. Not something we've done very often (apart from once, when we had the caravan and as Calais approached it was very stormy and I wimped out of a ferry crossing - that venture cost us over £300!!!!!). Anyway it was very straight forward and I'd definitely recommend it, specially in the winter if you don't fancy a rough Channel crossing!. The people in the car infront of us not only were in the Travel Inn, but were also going to Disneyland and came from Hartlepool!!
Our time in Disneyland was well spent, eating all things bad for you and going on "It's a small world" and the Teacups among other things. It was packed and freezing. We spent the New Year in our hotel (the Dream Castle) with lots of other Brits and there were fireworks. Dan got a bit upset when he lost his newly acquired Lightening McQueen but was thrilled when some boys returned it to him and Alice wore her new Sleeping Beauty dress. Both managed to make it to midnight and even gave us a lie in until 8.15 am the next day! New Year's Day was also spent in Disneyland and we managed another go on "It's a small world" and the Teacups and a Lightning McQueen ride in Walt Disney Studios - although that was a bit too much like the Waltzers for my liking. We even managed to stand still long enough to see the "Once upon a Dream" parade which included Santa and his (real) reindeer (including Dave!).
We had a lovely (although very cold) time. In addition, my mum's predictive text gave a new word that we've decided to try to get in the dictionary - poinsigog (should have been smashing - no idea how it came up with that one). So one could say we had a "poinsigog" time and look forward to going again soon but probably in the summer time and definitely when Dan is a little older and doesn't want to be carried all the time (despite us having his stroller with us)
Now it's back to the harsh reality of everyday life and having to think about less fun matters such as work :o(

Thawing out!

Just checking though my various bits that need checking through on a regular basis and finding out what I've missed.
We've had a great time away but will update with pics and stuff when I have time to sort things out. Suffice to say that Disney know how to "do" Christmas and New Year...even if there was no "First Footing" in a traditional North Eastern manner so no one crosssed my palm with silver or entered the "house" with coal ...oh well there goes our good luck for another year (what luck...?) but there were fireworks, fake snow, great "once upon a dream" parades (although photos are rubbish due to Kodak Easyshare camera and batteries saga), crowd and freezing cold temperatures...bet they don't have to contend with those in Florida and California :o)
Drinking my last Stella before the New Year drinking ban comes into being tomorrow...oh and eating ban of course...and looking forward to the snow that is forecast.