Category: creativity

Last weekend I was privileged to present once more at ALL Language World, this year held at Hinckley island.

The theme of the conference was COLLABORATION and my session was entitled Engaging Hearts and Minds.
I’ve been playing with Google NotebookLM and asked it to summarise my presentation:

This presentation by Lisa Stevens advocates for a holistic approach to primary language education that focuses on connecting with students’ emotions and intellect. By fostering international partnerships and cultural exchanges, schools can broaden pupils’ worldviews, enhance their communication skills, and dismantle harmful stereotypes. The material highlights how cross-phase collaboration between primary and secondary teachers ensures a smoother academic transition for young linguists. Furthermore, the use of character-based learning, such as the “Language Superhero Squad,” helps students embody virtues like resilience, curiosity, and respect. Ultimately, these initiatives aim to elevate the status of languages within the curriculum while developing empathetic global citizens.

I admit that I was intrigued by the infographics that I’ve seen Jerome Nogues sharing on social media so i had a go, uploading my slides to see what I’d get. What do you think?

I was also intrigued to see if it could write my blog post for me. Didn’t do a bad job I have to say. Some minimal editing (removing American spelling mostly!!) here it is!

More Than Words: 5 Surprising Ways to Win “Hearts and Minds” in the Language Classroom

We’ve all been there: standing at the front of the room, pouring our passion into a lesson, only to be met with a sea of blank faces or, perhaps worse, the “polite compliance” of students who are doing the work simply because they have to. We don’t just want them to memorize verbs; we want them to find their voices. The relatable struggle for every language educator is bridging this engagement gap—moving students from “forced compliance” to a state where they are learning because they truly want to.

The secret lies in a philosophy often discussed by Lisa Stevens, a renowned language teacher [that made me smile] at Whitehouse Common Primary, Member of ALL, and British Council Ambassador. She champions the “Hearts and Minds” approach, a strategy that moves collaboration from the periphery to the very centre of the classroom. It is about fostering a community where emotional and intellectual support creates the trust necessary for deep, long-term learning.

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1. “Hearts and Minds” is a Strategy, Not Just a Feeling

Winning “hearts and minds” is often mistaken for a fuzzy, “soft” concept. In reality, it is a sophisticated pedagogical strategy. Dictionary and historical definitions describe it as gaining emotional and intellectual trust, specifically in contrast to “forced compliance,” where students accept a situation only because they have no alternative. In a primary language setting, we aren’t seeking to prevail through the superior force of grades or sanctions; we are making emotional appeals to sway our students toward a genuine love for communication.

“Mrs Thatcher said that economics is the means, and changing hearts and minds is the goal.”

Just as economics was the means for Thatcher, in our classrooms, the target language is the vehicle—but the true destination is a profound transformation in student mindset. We use the language to reach the heart, ensuring students feel safe enough to take the intellectual risks that fluency requires.

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2. The “Vision of Self” is Your Strongest Motivational Lever

To sustain effort over years rather than weeks, we must tap into how students perceive their future selves. Research by Dörnyei (2016) suggests that the “Vision of Self” as a second-language (L2) user is the highest-order motivational force. If a student can’t “see” themselves as a person who speaks Spanish or French, their long-term effort will stall.

We can understand this through the “Expectancy-Value Theory” formula: E×V=M.

• V (Value) represents the “Vision of Self.” If the vision is zero, the entire equation collapses, and motivation (M) disappears.
• E (Expectancy) is the student’s belief that they can actually succeed.

This expectancy is built through the “Competence” pillar of Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci). When we cultivate a sense of mastery, we fuel the intrinsic motivation necessary for the journey. According to this theory, motivation is powered by three essential needs:

• Competence: The need to gain mastery and control over one’s learning environment (Essential for building “Expectancy”).
• Autonomy: The need to feel in control of one’s own life and goals; fundamentally, it is about having a choice.
• Relatedness: The need to experience a sense of belonging and a deep connection with other people.

“The vision of who students would like to become as L2 users seems to be one of the most reliable predictors of their long-term effort.” — Dörnyei (2016)

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3. Creativity Actually Needs Constraints

It sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? We often think creativity requires a “blank canvas,” but the “Constraint Principle” (Boden, 1990) argues that total freedom can actually lead to cognitive paralysis. For language teachers, constraints are our best friends.

Think of the Sentence Builder—like the ¿Qué quieres? frameworks used at Whitehouse Common. By providing a limited “wall” of options (e.g., choosing between comer and beber, then selecting from a small list of foods), we aren’t stifling the child. Instead, we are giving them a safe structure that allows them to “play” with the language. Within these narrow bounds, students find the confidence to be linguistically creative without the fear of falling.

“Far from being the antithesis of creativity, constraints on thinking are what make it possible.” — Boden (1990)

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4. Collaboration is a “Team Sport” Within the Classroom

Collaboration should be a multi-levelled experience that turns the classroom into a “community of learning.” It begins with pair work (carpet partners) where rehearsal and “thinking time” provide the low-stakes support students need to build confidence. We then scale up to groups, using frameworks like “Voice21” to practice the “team sport” of turn-taking and building on others’ ideas.

The real magic happens during whole-class “Teacher vs. Class” or “Teacher + Class” dynamics:

• “Get into my head”: A high-impact game where students must predict linguistic patterns the teacher is thinking of, building a shared sense of community and pattern recognition.
• “Snowballing”: A primary process for building linguistic complexity where the whole class works together to grow a simple sentence into a masterpiece.

By aligning our lessons with school-wide virtues like Curiosity, Respect, and Resilience, we create a “family” atmosphere where mistakes are celebrated as a natural part of the team’s growth.

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5. International Links Break Barriers

Connecting with pen pals or global partners provides the “why” that makes the individual pieces of grammar and vocabulary fit together.

By looking beyond our walls, we achieve several high-impact outcomes:

• Mirrors and Windows: Children finally “see” themselves and their own culture more clearly while gaining a window into the wider world.
• A Tangible Purpose for Learning: Language moves from a “subject” to a tool for real communication, often leading to a sudden improvement in everything from speaking confidence to the neatness of their handwriting.
• Prestige and Ethos: Languages are no longer “forgotten” or curtailed; they gain status within the school, fostering a global outlook where every student feels valued.
• Challenged Stereotypes: Direct contact replaces preconceived notions with curiosity and awe-inspiring “WOW” moments.

One student at Whitehouse Common captured the human impact of this work perfectly:

“Everyone is different; if everyone was the same it would be boring. It will also prevent wars from happening so the world would be calm and peaceful.”

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Conclusion: Beyond the Classroom Walls

The “Hearts and Minds” philosophy is a call to move beyond rote instruction toward a pedagogy of connection. When we collaborate across borders and within our own classrooms, we aren’t just teaching grammar; we are transforming students into empathetic global citizens.

Are we just teaching our students how to speak a new language, or are we giving them a new vision of who they can become in a wider world?

If you are ready to move from compliance to connection and continue this journey of creative pedagogy, join the conversation by leaving a comment below. Let’s build those bridges together.

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of presenting at the PSB MFL conference via Zoom.

My presentation was entitled More than words with the subtitle Language learning is about more than learning lists of vocabulary. In it, I discussed my ‘idea of what ‘list of ingredients’ for language learning, particularly in the primary context. After discussing OFSTED’s 3 pillars and 3Is, I moved on to present my 7Cs!

And what are my 7Cs?
Context
Consolidation
Confidence
Communication
Culture
Celebration
Connection

I was thrilled with the response to my presentation and want to thank all the attendees for their kind words; I was floating on air all day despite an afternoon of stircrazy 10 year olds who’d not been out to play all day followed by parents evening!

If you’re interested in what else I shared, my slides can be viewed below.

What do you think? Have I missed a C? Let me know!

 

This year at Language World I was invited to present some ideas for using technology for collaboration in language learning. I teach primary so the focus was on that age group but there are many ideas and tools that are equally applicable for young and old! In spite of some technical hitches and running out of time as there was so much to share, the ideas were well received and I hope that this will serve as a reminder/update for those who attended, and a snapshot for those who didn’t.

Below is my presentation. Whilst all the links work, the videos don’t I’m afraid but you’ll find some below to give you a taster.

A little later than planned, and with huge apologies, here are my presentations from the East Midlands Primary Languages Conference held on Nottingham on 5th December!

Más vale tarde que nunca.  Mieux vaut tard que jamais! Besser spät als gar nicht.

Firstly, my presentation on Crosscurricular links:

And here’s the presentation on Technology for collaboration:

It was a pleasure to speak, and I was also able to attend a few other sessions which are sketchnoted below.

A marvellous keynote by the ever effervescent John Rolfe.

An inspiring session by Chris Henley about being BRILLIANT – finding my WHY? and being Ms Different.

A Taste of Spain delivered by Carmen Santos from the Consejería de Educación in Manchester – loved making – and eating – my brocheta de fruta!

And Elaine Minett charing her Healthy Eating resources based around the story ¡Hoy no, Claudio!

via GIPHY

Today is International Children’s Book Day and I’ve got a new book!

It’s called Presiona aquí and it’s by Hervé Tullet. It’s the Spanish version of Press here and I bought it to share with FKS and KS1, although I’m sure some of Y3 would also enjoy it!

The book starts with a single yellow dot and asks the reader to ‘presiona aquí y da vuelta a la página.’ Magically, another yellow ‘círculo’ appears on the next page, and there follow lots more pages with lots more instructions and lots more ‘círculos’ – grandes y pequeños; amarillos, azules y rojos. I like the simplicity of the illustrations as well as the text, and I think it would be a fun book to share on the carpet with children coming up to press buttons, or in small groups as a special treat. You can children enjoying it in the trailer for the English version below. In our Y2 Spanish scheme (based on Little Languages) they look at sequencing and this would be a great addition to the activities that include counting and sequencing buttons, shapes and any little things we can find (dinosaurs, cars, fruit…)

I mentioned that I thought Y3 would enjoy it, and with that in mind I’ve been thinking about what we could do as a follow up activity. When we were working on colours before Easter and talking about colour mixing I (perhaps rashly) said that we could do some painting in Spanish towards the end of the summer term when we’ll be looking at shape and colour once more. This would be a lovely way to introduce or revisit some shape and colour vocabulary, and I can see us creating our own versions of the book as a story board, perhaps diversifying into other shapes depending on what action the ‘reader’ does. Or perhaps we could use the same approach, an action leading to the appearance of a new item to create Miró-esque art? Still a developing thought…

 

After I’d started writing this, I discovered that there are  a couple of videos of the book too – see below – so it would be possible for class teachers who are non specialists to borrow my book and share it with their class. This video actually uses the book but lasts more than ten minutes and the presenter doesn’t just read the story but offers comments too. I wonder if Nursery and Reception would manage to sit still for that long, and worry that the ‘extras’ might put off the non-specialist teacher presenting as they don’t know what’s being said? The video below would be my choice as, although it doesn’t feature the book and the instructions are worded slightly differently, it is much simpler and lasts just over 5 minutes.

Hervé Tullet has lots of other lovely books too – I think I may need to get ¡Mézclalo bien! is this one is a hit…

ISBN 978-1-4521-1287-9

Link to buy ¡Presiona aquí¡ from Book Depository

More Hervé Tullet books in Spanish

There’s a very simple free worksheet on TES resources to accompany the story and here are some ideas of how to use the book including a fun activity called Fizzy colours.

EDIT – I’ve now found a Pinterest board of ideas here.

And I’ll definitely be trying this activity out in the summer – Press Here movement game

as well as making the chatterbox from this post.

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This time last week I was mid sketch note at Language World 2018, the Association for Language Learning annual conference. After a jam-packed, fun filled inspirational weekend, my mind was spinning with ideas and coupled with the last week of term, it’s taken this long for me to get my head together and get posting! So here goes a blog-fest over the next few days!I was thrilled to be asked to be Language World’s official Sketchnoter for a second year. Armed with pens, pencils and paper, I ‘live sketch noted’ each session I attended, before the finished product was whipped away to be displayed for everyone to see. I was pleased to see that there were lots of people looking at the notes as the conference went on, and it was really amusing to hear people talking about them in the dinner queue, not knowing that I’d done them!

I took photos of (most of) the sketch notes before they were displayed, but below are my sketchnotes or visual notes that ALL have now scanned and published on their site.

 

 

 

 

 

You can view all of Friday’s sketchnotes in one place by downloading this  – Friday PDF

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can view all of Saturday’s sketchnotes in one place by downloading this – Saturday PDF

I loved sketch noting the conference. I hope that those who attended enjoy the reminder of sessions you attended and that those who didn’t get a flavour of what they ‘missed.’ I’ll certainly be having a look at Clare’s notes too as there were several clashes that meant I couldn’t attend sessions I would’ve chosen (Nigel Pearson for the second year running was speaking at the same time as me for example!)

You can also catch up with the Twitter buzz from the conference via this Storify .

 

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Following on from the success of Practical Pedagogies 2015 and 2016 at International School of Toulouse, the third Practical Pedagogies conference is on the move to Cologne, and specifically St George’s International School.

I have been fortunate enough to be invited to speak at both Practical Pedagogies so far – in 2015 about Using technology to enhance Primary Language Learning and then, after my sketch noting caused interest,  in 2016 I delivered a workshop on Sketchnoting for Beginners and also sketch noted the conference. I was dismayed when I discovered that IST was unable to hold the conference in 2018 as it is such an amazing event. Fortunately, my dismay and disappointment was short lived as a new plan was hatched and it’s all systems for November 2018 in Cologne.

At this stage, the programme has yet to be set and Russel Tarr, Practical Pedagogies mastermind and the man behind Classtools and Active History, has issued a Call for Presenters. He told me today that there have already been 120+ ideas submitted – including one of mine! – and that there’s still time for more. The deadline for submission is 31st January and I’d encourage you to apply if you have an idea. It doesn’t have to be primary language related – it’s a conference for anyone involved in teaching and at whatever level. It’s international and one of the things I love most is being inspired by educators from around the world who teach in other educational systems, under different ‘rules’ and circumstances, and discussing with them how they experiences can be applied in other contexts. If you do want to submit an idea, you can do so via this link to the Practical Pedagogies site.

Once all the submissions have been reviewed, a programme will be drawn up and booking will open in March! The advantage of being a speaker is that you get to attend the conference for a highly reduced price (50 euros but you get your restaurant meal on the first night paid for which would cost that, more or less!) and you get your foot in the door before anyone else. Plus speaking at Practical Pedagogies is a great experience! This year, I’m really pleased that it’s taking place during half term so I won’t need to beg to be released from school if I’m chosen to speak – and I’ll get to visit Germany and try out my developing German!

So go for it – nothing ventured, nothing gained and then, fingers crossed and thumbs pressed!

 

Another purchase on my travels to Bilbao was this book entitled Veo Veo.
It’s a really simple board book about two ‘lunas’ or moons that go for a walk to the park and play I spy. I liked it for the simplicity of the languages, for the repetition and also for the simplicity of the images.

So how would I use it?

1. A book to read as the introduction to a guessing game: a number of images on the board and the leader says Veo Veo to which everyone answers ¿Qué ves tú? (the refrain in the book) before someone guesses which picture has been chosen. This limits the number of vocabulary items that need to be known to play the game.
2. As a variation on the above, the leader could say what letter the item begins with Empieza con … or say what colour it is Es (de color) …. or give other simple clues.
3. As above but using the whole rhyme that I shared in a previous post some time ago. (Sadly at the time of writing the link to the East Riding materials in the post is broken and I haven’t managed to track down if they are still in existence. EDIT: Now updated as I’ve found it!) It’s a call and response with the leader saying the parts in red and everyone else responding with the blue words before someone guesses.
   Veo veo I see, I see,¿Qué ves? What do you see?Una cosita. A thingY ¿qué cosita es? And what thing is it?Empieza con la ……. It begins with ………

   ¿Qué será? ¿Qué será? ¿Qué será? What can it be? (x 3)

4. It could even lead into a Wake up Shake up style activity or PE warm up using the MiniDisco video below; I can see my KS1 classes enjoying being letters and waggling their fingers (and their bottoms!)
5. Getting away from the song/game Veo Veo, I also thought that the book would be a good stimulus for some writing.
   The story has the ‘lunas’ seeing two items, one on top of each other, then on the next double page, a third item has been added underneath, and then another so that by the end there are five items:
   
   Una estrella sobre un pez.
   Un pez en la nube azul.
   La nube sobre un ciempiés.
   El ciempiés sobre un iglú.To limit vocabulary, you could provide a number of labeled images that pupils could cut out and stick in a tower as in the book. At the most basic level they could label the items and at the next level describe using simple prepositions like en and sobre in the style of the book: [noun] [preposition] [noun]
   A little more complex would be to add some time conjunctions primero, luego, después, finalmente etc to sequence the items.
   And to add extra difficulty pupils could choose their own items to arrange and describe, perhaps not restricting themselves to placing them on top of each other but also placing them a la izquierda or a la derecha, al lado de, entre etc to introduce further positional prepositions, and adding a verb to the sentence; for example, Hay un sacapuntas debajo del arco iris or La silla está al lado de la naranja.
6. The texts from the above activity could be used for listening activities with pupils sat back to back, reading out their description for the other pupil to draw before comparing images at the end.
7. Another listening activity would be with the teacher describing a stack of items (as in the book) from a bank of given images and pupils arranging the images according to the description. Or it could be a reading activity involving drawing or sticking the items.
8. Or if you’re feeling adventurous and have a big space, what about giving instructions to place larger items in a tower (being careful of H&S of course!); this might be a good idea for a smaller group or club.
9. An added challenge for pupils would be to make the items rhyme with each other; for example
   Una vaca debajo de una butaca.
   Un payaso en un vaso.
   Un sartén sobre un tren.
   There’s a PDF of rhyming words in Spanish here which is helpful as it gives meanings, and this post gives a download of some rhyming cards as well as more suggestions on rhyming word activities. More advanced learners could use Buscapalabras, but the meanings are not givens it’s hard for a (near) beginner to choose suitable words for their sentence.
10. And finally, why not have pupils making their own books – using an app like BookCreator if you want to use technology or a mini book if you want to go ‘analogue’ – using all of the above, and perhaps having the own characters.

So, there are my ideas. Have you got any to add? Leave a comment below.

Teaching the time is a trying task in any language; I’ve been comparing notes with my Y3 colleagues who have been battling through the time with their classes in Maths lessons as I’ve been working on it with Y5 in Spanish. And back in the day when I taught KS3 and 4 it was also a challenge as I invariably had to ‘remind’ them of how to tell the time full stop! It seems that, for some, the time is viewed much as the gif above – wobbly wobbly and hard to pin down.

So this year I put on my thinking cap and considered what might make it easier. Active things like TimeBallet help with hour and half past, possibly quarter past/to, but tends to get too complicated/fall apart for many with minutes. Singing songs like Uno dos tres ¿Qué hora es? works for the question form and hour/half past. Using mini clocks works for some but I wanted something a bit more supportive. So I decided we’d all make a prop to help them.

Cue the purchase of lots of paper plates and split pins, and the sharing of my gel pens, felt tips and fine liners. The idea – not very original perhaps but quite effective – was to make a personalised plate clock with key phrases on it to support learners as we rehearsed the time.

I demonstrated how to make it but also wrote a set of instructions (in 4 screenshots below and downloadable in one document from here) for the learners to follow after the demonstration, along with providing a larger image plate clock diagram between two so that the writing was clearer.

By putting the hours hand on top of the minute hand, I hoped to emphasise that the hour always comes first, and we wrote the verb Es la/Son las on it to remind learners how the sentence started. And by writing the hours and minutes in separate colours that corresponded to the colour of the hand was another attempt to make it clearer which phrase to use.

 

Everyone enjoyed making the clocks although some were a little wonky and needed a bit of ‘Sra Stevens magic’ before functioning correctly, and we’ve used them in two lessons now. On the whole, once we got over fiddling with the hands constantly and concentrated, it seemed to help some learners, and it was good to see them being used, much as they use the Maths equipment in numeracy lessons, to help children work out the answers to write in their books as well as in speaking work. Turn the hands to show the time then read the Spanish if the question is in English, or turn the hands so that they match the phrase in Spanish to work out where to draw the hands on a blank clock. Plus the children are all desperate to take them home which I’ve promised they can do once we’ve finished the unit.

There are some other good ideas on how to teach time here from Erzsi and Clare.

I’ve used the clock mini book idea in previous years with success as a self differentiating assessment activity:  pupils have to choose six times to demonstrate their understanding and confidence at telling the time so they need to choose carefully those that they know. Might yet do it this year…

If you have any ideas to add, feel free to leave a comment!

 

I’ve just got back from the Practical Pedagogies conference at the International School of Toulouse. Organised by Russel Tarr, the two day conference brought together educators from around the globe. Here’s the rationale behind the conference which explains why I travelled to Toulouse at my own expense to speak (I wasn’t paid to it):

“Educational conferences can be prohibitively expensive for ordinary teachers, and often focus on abstract theory delivered by professional academics with very little hands-on classroom experience. Such events often appear more concerned with making money than with genuinely improving the quality of education being delivered within schools.

In contrast, “Practical Pedagogies” comes out of the belief that the best teacher-training conferences are delivered by practising teachers, for the benefit of each other and their students, as not-for-profit events.”

I attended some excellent workshops and chatted to so many people that further inspired me.

Below are my sketch notes of the conference that document the sessions I attended. I hope that they give you a flavour of the conference. You can find out more by checking out the Twitter hashtag #pracped16 (which was trending at various points in various countries over the two days!) or by looking at the conference website. I’m sure that many will share their presentations and that there’ll be lost of blogging so I’ll update the post over the next week or so to share them.