More iPad fun this week

I have always been very clear in my head that technology should be used to do what you couldn't do on paper and therefore avoid using the iPads just for the sake of saying I've used them. This week, therefore, I tried something that I could have done with worksheets but that had an extra layer added due to the use of the iPads. 

I went for the "old fashioned" ... or maybe "new-fangled" translation exercise with Y11. This was an idea suggested by @missmclachlan the previous week, as something that she had tried and worked.

I created 4 sentences to translate, each converted to a QR code. One set of QR codes had French to translate into English and the other set of QR codes had English to translate to French.  As my classroom is set out in groups of 4, to facilitate cooperative learning (and to make the room seem a bit bigger), one pair in each group had the French set and the other had the English set. They were told not to let the pair opposite see their work (and they didn't!). When they finished, they swapped QR Codes and self marked the translations, to sighs it "I don't believe it, they had the answers all the time". I was then able to differentiate the activity as well, quite easily by creating some easier texts to translate.  However, because all of the work was in QR codes there was no issue with pupils feeling put out because they had been allocated an easier task, or pupils trying to avoid challenge by going for the easier choice.

We finished off, with a "Lino" to show what French they had learnt during the lesson, which it what the QR code at the tope of this piece links to.

 I will definitely repeat this activity with other classes, but for the coming week, I think it's going to be webquest quizzes about Christmas in other countries...

What will 2013 bring for Langwitch?

I was going to do a reflective post on 2012 but figured with family deaths, pet deaths and an Ofsted that is best left forgotten, it would be better to look forward rather than back.

Professionally, 2013 is looking quite exciting already. Most importantly I am going to be speaking a ililc3 in February. This is a fantastic opportunity that I am really looking forward to.  If you are a linguist and have never been but are looking for excellent CPD which doesn't cost a fortune, I can't recommend it enough.  You can book by following the link here.  Looking at the people who are speaking and themes for the weekend it should be fantastic. I'm talking about using Google Apps for Education and International Links. So I better get on and use them / do some before February!

Secondly, we have our first ever French exchange taking place in March.  I am really looking forward to that happening, as it can only help move our pupils forward in their language learning.

I will also be very sad to see my tutor group leave this year, as they are in Y11...but at least it means we have the Prom to look forward to :)

On a personal level, cycling is going to be my thing this year, something which I'm really looking forward to, I am also aiming to give the 365 photos a go again. Let's hope it lasts for longer than last year's!

Happy New Year, I hope that 2013 is a successful year for you all.

Active Learning - Quiz, Quiz, Trade

Since I'm on a roll, I thought I'd put together another little Active Learning post on one of my favourites.

As ever, I though "everyone" knew about Quiz, Quiz, Trade (a lovely activity taken from Kagan Structures) and I was late to jump on the band wagon. So, last Tuesday during our Active Learning INSET I mentioned it and actually found myself explaining how it works at several tables .  Anyway, I thought I'd explain it here too...it's a good way to avoid real work.

Give each child in the class a card with the TL at the top and English meaning at the bottom. Ideally, each child should have a different phrase which can prove quite difficult in a big class, I know.

Pupils stand up hand up pair up and work their partner, asking them to tell them what the TL phrase means.  If one partner can't do it, the other partner should support and coach them to help them. Once done, the other partner does the same and then they swap the cards and put their hands back up to move on to work with someone else.  This means that pupils work with a wide variety of language and also reinforce their language learning skills, whilst listening to, reading, and speaking in the TL.

For extension more able pupils could be asked to say the phrase in the TL rather than English and even...particularly if you're struggling to find enough phrases with a big class...give out a few blank cards for more able pupils to make up their own. You could also have differentiated cards of different colours and ask pupils to work with people who have the same coloured cards as them.

Instead of "stand up hand up pair up" you could play music and ask them to pair up with the nearest person when the music stops, or even have and inside and outside circle, the inside circle moves and stops when told to, then works with the person opposite them. This would work particularly well if you want to avoid certain pairings ;)

I have it on good authority that Quiz, Quiz, Trade can work in just about any subject area which is always good news.

Lingo Bingo

I always presume that activities I do to practice vocabulary are old hat and everyone already knows about them. Therefore I often don't tell people about activities I do, or don't expain them.

Lingo Bingo is one such activity. I know that many people do play this game in their classrooms already (because otherwise how would I know about it), however I also know many others have never heard of it before or struggled to understand my garbled tweets trying to fit an explanation in to 140 characters on Twitter the other day. I'm also pretty sure that it could be use in subjects other than Languages.

Anyway, for those of you who don't know how to play it here it is:

1. Give out plain paper - it doesn't have to be plain.


2. Pupils split the paper in half and draw a 6 / 8 / 9 square grid on each piece of paper - I'm thinking of making a ready made grid and sticking it in the back of pupils books or even laminating it, in order to save paper.


3. Number each box (1-6, 1-8, 1-9 depending on number of squares) on each grid but make sure there is still enough space to write in the squares.


4. Now put one of the grids to one side so that you are just working with 1 grid.


5. On the grid you are working with write 6 / 8 / 9 phrases - 1 in each box. I do it in TL but could also be in English, depending on skills you want to practise. This week I worked with connectives other than et and mais and opinions other than A mon avis.


6. Tear / cut up that grid so that you have 6 /8 / 9 little cards with individual phrases / words on them now.

With me so far?

Good ;-)

Now pupils work in pairs 1 partner will say a number (in the TL of course) and the other partner asks "Comment dit-on ....en anglais" (or similar). If they get it right they can place that card onto the corresponding number on their grid. The aim is to get 3 or even more touching squares for a full house. They can then swap and then move round the classroom playing other class memebers ad inifinitum...

The nice thing about this activity is that pupils get to experience a wide range of vocabulary and structures, including ones they wouldn't never have thought of using before. In addition, they can differentiate for one another. Allowing use of books if they feel their partner needs support or removing and hiding books, if they are feeling very mean! They get very competitive and are much stricter than I am! They can even switch and ask for the TL phrases as extension.

Of course at the end of the lesson you're left with lots of little bits of paper so don't forget to remind them to put them into the recycling as they leave...

Podcasting at Trinity Catholic College

Today I had to enormous privilege to go to Trinity Catholic College in Middlesbrough to share some ideas on Podcasting.

Below is the presentation.

I've included some quotes  from my lovely Y10 French class who have been making Grammar Podcasts over the last year. It gave me the opportunity to experiment with Google Forms to get the survey done. I have to say that I really liked it and can see me having a look in more detail at using Google Forms for pupil voice surveys in the very near future!

I hope that you find the presentation useful in some way.

The second slide contained a little video that Joe Dale showed when I went to a Podcasting Workshop that he ran for Links into Languages last July. It's describes very nicely what a podcasting is and can be seen here Podcasting in Plain English

Podcasting with Pupils 

View more presentations from Helena Butterfield.

Linoit vs Wallwisher

I am a keen advocate of Wallwisher as it it an excellent tool for pupils to use both inside and outside of the classroom both for collaborative work and showing me what they have learned and enjoyed. However, since September I haev found it to be more and more unreliable, particularly in the early evening when most of my pupils would be doing homework (I hope). I therefore stopped giving Wallwwisher activities as homework for some time.

Feeling that my pupils were missing out on an opportunity to share their work quickly and easily I set about finding an alternative. Someone from my Twitter PLN (I'm afraid I can't remember who now, sorry!) suggested I try Linoit. I did and found it really user friendly too. I have used it a few times recently both with pupils as plenaries/homework and for crowdsourcing ideas for a CPD session I ran on Web tools to use in MFL.

How do the two tools compare? Well, I really like Wallwisher as I can set moderation, which I like to do if setting homework (cough...wasn't working ealier!!)...it means that all of the pupils don't just then copy the first person's piece of work as I can moderate it all once the homework deadline has passed, it also means if anythere inappropriate were to be posted it wouldn't appear at all. Linoit on the other hand doesn't appear to have a moderation feature (unless I'm missing something). Therefore, I'm loath to set it for homework. I love it in class for plenaries etc..., but am not sure whether it would be quite as good for homeowords.  However, I do really like that you can lovely brighly coloured stickies on Linoit and also easily add images. There also seems to be more space

Whichever tool I decided to go for, one thing is for sure...my pupils really like both and love that they can give me feedback...or just say "hi"!!

What do you think?

Have you used either?

Have you used both?

Have you discovered a good way to moderate Linoit?

Let me know...and maybe we can learn together!

 

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?

The Wall of Language

The Wall of Language is a website that has been created by Nick Mair and Nick Friend with support of the Association for Language Learning and CILT for you to email prospective MPs questions about Language Learning. The website states

"Our aim is to make all political parties include a statement about the importance of languages in their manifesto."

It's easy to take part, just go to the website and follow the instructions on the Home Page. There are plenty of letters that have already been written that you can use and there's even a link for you to find out who your Parliamentary Candidates are.

This is a great opportunity to see what importance our prospective MPs place on Languages, with falling numbers at KS4 and so few University students opting to take a Language degree.

I've written to the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates for my constituency, however unfortunately I couldn't contact the Independent and UKIP candidates as they appeared to have no contact details. If someone could help me with that I would be very grateful :o)

Eurovision

Saturday night was one of my favourite nights of the year-The Eurovision Song Contest. I've always loved it ever since I was very young, I think even back then I was fascinated to listen to all of the different langauages.

Over the years it has gone in and out of fashion, leaving me feeling sometimes "dead cool" and other times "a bit odd" (no surprises there then!). All of a sudden it seems to be back "in", I don't know whether this is because of Lord Lloyd Webber himself wrote this year's ditty for the UK, whether it is the change of host - although I did find some of Graham Norton's comments quite similar to the whit of Terry Wogan in previous years!. Whatever the reasons, I sat down last night, with several fellow Twitterers (virtually, of course) feeling not quite so "odd" as in other years, looking forward to a night of cultural diversity and linguistic delight.

The event itself offered up its usual oddities with Gladiators in the Ukrainian set and opera singers from Sweden and, as ever I was able to learn some new languages. I was, however very disappointed in several entries who sang in English. How can we ever encourage our pupils that it's important to be able to speak different languages if all they see is speakers of foreign languages singing in and speaking in English? It just adds to the arrogant English attitude of  "everyone speaks English, so why should I learn a new language". Even at an event which celebrates cultural diversity! Why can't they celebrate linguistic diversity too?

That said, the competition was won by an English Language song...however, I didn't like the entry for the song, it has to be said.

I don't seem to be able to embed the video so you'll have to follow the link below to see why I like the song!

Alexander Rybak

 

(I also annoy me husband by getting cross with the news for dubbing over foreigners speaking their own languages, instead of giving subtitles!)