Go animate 4 schools

 

A few weeks ago I recieved an email from Go Animate about their new education site Go Animate 4 Schools. I signed up for a "Teacher Plus" Account which gives me unlimited access to all Go Animate 4 Schools features and my pupils access to creating 2 minute videos, Text2Voice, Voice Recording and own music uploads all for free! You can get a "School Plus" Account, but as I am as poor as a chrurch mouse I decided to go for the free version.

Last week I got confirmation that my account was now ready to go, so I set up a class with Usernames and Passwords (really quick and easy to do) and took the opportunity to make very short "Love Stories" on Valentine's Day with on of my Year 8 classes.

The results of the lesson can be found here

I was pretty pleased with most of the classes results, specially as most of the class had never used Go Animate before! Obvioulsy in the future I will be looking for much more French!!

Some reflections on Go Animate 4 Schools:

• I like it! I find it much easier having all of those animations in 1 place rather than having to get pupils to email me the embed code. I find this much more convenient.


• The pupils like it! Some were keen to have a go at home (not sure how many will...we'll see after I show them the animations tomorrow and try to enthuse them for half term!)


• There is a text-to-voice feature. I didn't know there was one on Go Animate. Unfortunately only in English as yet :( However...this confused my class a little as some typed their French in there reather than in the speech bubbles so we got a garbled odd kind of language coming though!! This was probably my fault, as , had I realised about the text-2-voice beforehand I would have guided them in the right direction.

Also there are many other features for teachers, a lesson gallery for those who may want some inspiration as to what to do with their classes on Go Animate.

So, all in all, a positive experience! I can't wait to get back doing some more, both with that class and will many more. Thanks, Go Animate 4 Schools!

Controlled Assessment - an interesting idea!

 

When the GCSE Exam for MFL was reviewed and changed, someone in their wisdom decided to invent something wonderful called "Controlled Assessment".

Designed to move away from Coursework, which was open to "interpretation", Controlled Assessment was supposed to give teachers and pupils more control I suppose, and also take away pressure of the final all or nothing exam (particularly the Speaking Exam). In MFL Controlled Assessment accounts for 60% of the final grade; 30% for writing over 2 pieces and 30% for speaking over 2 pieces.

I have to admit, when I first heard about Controlled Assessment, I thought it was a wonderful idea. I had it clear in my head how I would teach the GCSE and how I would make sure my pupils performed well at their CA...then the complications began...

Pupils were allowed a 40 plan or prompt sheet or...call it what you like, really. Good idea thought I, naïvely. Then it started.

Some exam boards allowed pictures, some didn't.

Some discussed conjugated verbs...were they or weren't they allowed for some they were, for some they weren't.

Then there was the moving of the goal posts half way through the course.

Then there was the changing of job half way through the course, thus changing exam boards and a whole new approach to CA, quite different from what I had imagined.

This is all alongside the poor, almost forgotten about, GCSE pupils who are being subjected to Controlled Assessments and Modular exams every other week of their KS4, stressed out permanently and actually not gaining much in terms of linguistic skill...in languages at any rate. We find ourselved teaching to the test more than ever and what's more, wasting valuable lesson time in the preparation of CA tasks, where we are not allowed to have any input so just supervising while the more diligent pupil prepares but several see it as an opportunity to catch up on the latest gossip.

Over the last few weeks I have been engulfed in the delight that is Controlled Assessment with my Year 11 classes and all I seem to have spent the time doing was apologising! Apologising for not being able to help, apologising for the way the exam is structured, apologising that I'm not prepared to bend the rules, apologising for apologising... I even spent one lesson reading the teachers' guidance for CA out to my Y11 so that they knew I wasn't a big bad (Lang)witch who made up the fact she couldn't help and couldn't correct what they were doing now.

I have heard that there is a plan to go back to the final all or nothing exams and that these Controlled Assessments are on their way out as quickly as they arrived. I have also heard some people (not many) praise CA and others saying that a final exam is the best way forward. I'm not sure I'm the best person to make judgements on how Languages should be tested but I do know that anything is better than what we have now...isn't it?