Category: ICT

A thought provoking video from José Picardo posing the question of the title, and reflecting on the changing needs of our students.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AWYIit1uNk

Thanks to Jess for making me watch it again!

Today I was part of an ICT and Creativity in MFL day run by Links into Languages West Midlands at Aston University.

Below is my presentation about free tools that can be used to enhance language teaching and learning.

Here is the Slidecast of my second presentation from Brighton.

Apologies for the audio cutting out before the end – no idea what happened there!  Perhaps the iRiver overheated!

Apologies to @wizenedcrone for forgetting her real name – it’s Fiona Joyce!!!

And the German site I mentioned was called GenkiGerman.

I normally make Slideshares of my presentations and add the audio for Slidecasts.

However, the lovely @eyebeams was UStreaming the MFL Show and Tell from Nottingham today so I’m able to embed the video of my presentation!

Hope you find it useful.  Although my pupils are primary aged and some of the ideas are very ‘primary centric’, I think that there are many things that secondary colleagues can take and adapt to their situations.  teh fun doesn’t have to stop at the end of KS2, you know ;o)

A not to be missed event fast approaching is the 3rd MFL Show and Tell.

Following on from the inaugural event at the Isle of Wight conference 2008, and the second edition held in Coventry in November 2009 , José Picardo (he of the sexy Spanish accent and highly informative Box of Tricks) has volunteered himself and his school for the 2010 edition.

As José himself explains –

The idea of the MFL Show and Tell session is to give teachers an opportunity to share good practice on the use of technology in the classroom in a relaxed, informal environment.

The session will take place in our brand new 6th Form Centre, where there will be access to a networked laptop computer, speakers, Wi-Fi, a data projector and screen for presentations.

If you want to sign up for the event, either as a speaker or as an attendee, pop along to José’s school site

The event is by teachers for teachers, and is all about sharing experiences.  Whether you’ve been teaching since the Stone Age or don’t remember life without the Internet, YOU have something to say.

I’ll no doubt throw in my ‘euro’s’ worth on a yet to be decided subject – good to keep you guessing ;o)

Thanks to Nottingham High School and Links into Languages East Midlands, the event is FREE!

Bargain!

I came across this wonderful website today, linked from Teaching Ideas site.

Chillola.com is a multilingual site, offering simple resources in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.

There are attractive vocabulary presentations accompanied by audio on subjects like colours, numbers, months, fruit and vegetables and body parts.  There are also very simple printable activities and colourables.

It’s a great resource for introducing vocabulary and for individual access, as well for raising awareness of other languages that are not necessarily taught at your school.

My favourites are the hamster teaching prepositions and the lovely illustrations for the opposites.

The site also offers links to several other websites about which I’ve never previously heard.  I feel more posts may be forthcoming…

Second of my upcoming ‘gigs’ is in Enfield, London, at London ATI.

Another of my ‘hats’ is as an Apple Distinguished Educator, and it’s in this capacity that I’m taking part in the Apple Teacher Institute (ATI) at Enfield CLC on June 16th-18th.

As the blurb says –

Over three days you will have many opportunities to explore and discuss with Apple Distinguished Educators how digital media and Apple technologies can be used to engage and motivate students. The aim is to promote teacher confidence and develop capacity in a relaxed and friendly manner for everyone, regardless of experience.

There will be workshops on iMovie, animation, podcasting, iWeb, music in Garageband, iPod Touches in the classroom and also a couple of more advanced workshops on Final Cut and Logic.

A great way to start off using a Mac:  you choose several workshops over the first two days then, on the third day,  work with a group of delegates to complete a project of your own devising, using the skills you have learnt – and quite possibly a few more you discover as you go along!

If you want more details you can download the following PDF giving details of how to register – London ATI

And if London is inconvenient for you, there are other ATIs around the country too – Doncaster, Liverpool and Stockton all host an ATI  in June / July.  If you want to know more, send me a message below or  via the contact form.

First conference in which I am taking part is the Linguascope Conference in Brighton at the end of June.

Entitled Inspiration for Motivation, the two day conference taking place at the Thistle Hotel in Brighton promises to run at a more relaxed pace than the usual frenetic conference with one hour sessions punctuated by  30 minute breaks to allow brains to take in what they’ve heard before being filled with ideas once more.  It also allows time for viewing the exhibition and for networking.

You can find out more by accessing the conference site and downloading the PDF.

My sessions are entitled Using Youtube in the classroom and Tips to motivate in the Primary Language Classroom.

Very much looking forward to this conference, not least for the seaside, the conference dinner (which promises to be spectacular) amd meetiong up with friends

As well as teaching Spanish at Whitehouse Common Primary, I am also often asked to speak at conferences about Primary Languages and how I teach using ICT.

I really enjoy speaking (as those who have met me already know!) and see it as a way of sharing my passion and enthusiasm with others.  Just as I use my blog as a way to share with others, when I’m presenting I’m passing on experiences and ideas that I have gained over time.

Over the next three posts I’ll be sharing details of three conferences at which I am speaking over the next term.  Perhaps one of them will attract your attention.

Just realised that I hadn’t blogged the Wallwisher made by Year 5 just before Language World.

Created with Padlet