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Thanks for the drawing, @catairf 🙂

I was rather gobsmacked when Zena asked me to do the closing keynote at #ililc5. An offer I couldn’t refuse but daunting nonetheless. Especially as there was no ‘theme’ this year so I could talk about ‘anything’ according to my instructions!

As Christmas came and passed and I still hadn’t really been inspired, I grew more concerned. It wasn’t until mid January that a seed of an idea formed in my head. I’d been prepared to talk about Cupcakes and Smiles at TeachMeet BETT, a short presentation on education being about ‘feeding’ minds but also celebrating and rewarding learning, and that we did it for those ‘smiles’ that happen when the lightbulb goes on, when the unexpected happens, when you’re speechless at something a child has said and so on. There was no time for my presentation then – although I still shared my cakes. I was a bit annoyed as lugging a few dozen cupcakes from Birmingham and around London on the train and Tube is no fun and nor is being told off for daring to ice them in the presence of Sir Ken Robinson but that’s the way it works. Still, I liked the idea of cupcakes and when there were queries as to why I made cupcakes for TeachMeetBETT but not ILILC, the idea began to germinate.
Over the next few weeks I still wasn’t entirely sure what I’d say but a thought here and there occurred to me. Stupidly I didn’t write them down and I’m sure some ‘got away’. However, with help from my husband John (who must be fed up of my food/language analogies!) who told me to get a grip (and a notepad), Cooking on gas (other fuels are available) grew.

Ready to start?

On the day, armed with new shoes and an assortment of cupcakes, I shared my thoughts about language teaching and learning with the remnant that had managed to survive to the (not so bitter) end. And it was recorded! (I’d forgotten about that part until I was standing there.) You can watch it here.
As my presentation was in Keynote and delivered from my own MBP, the slides don’t show up in the recording but are all synced and appear alongside (thank you to the lovely Matt for doing that!) I’ve added the videos that you can’t see but can hear at the bottom of this post; I know that the Intermarché one about Les fruits et légumes moches has already proved helpful to more than one person!
I summarised some of the main messages right at the end (go to 45 minutes) if you don’t have time for the whole thing, and I’ve also added a Storify of the tweeting that was going on during the presentation; I certainly found it interesting to see what people had taken from my words and thoughts. And I was gobsmacked by the sketch notes too. Thank you Clare, Simone, Jane, Rachel and Catrin, and Alex, Jonathan and Ceri who had a cupcake in their ILILC5 summary sketch notes too. (If I’ve missed any, apologies and please tell me; I’ve been in a bit of stupor all week!)
It’s very different when you’re sharing your personal thoughts, reflections and passions; it made me feel very vulnerable so I’m really glad that people picked up on and identified with the key messages I wanted to share.

Start at 1.10 until 1.30 for the key bit:

PS At 23 minutes, I start talking about my language hero, and whilst I think I communicated that she was special, I didn’t share all that I might have done as time was pressing and I was getting choked up. So in my next post, I’ll tell you all about Luz Sánchez-Richardson, my language hero!

My idea to share at the Show and Tell was based on a post I wrote in August –

El que busca encuentra

The picture I shared is on that post (in two parts) and below I’ve uploaded it as one image. I’ve also shared another couple that don’t have questions.

el que busca

Mujeres célebres

Grandes científicas

Grandes científicas

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Grandes genios de la informática (arriba)

Grandes personajes de terror (abajo) – perhaps for next Halloween?

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Apart from the ideas in the previous blogpost, I was going to suggest that any Where’s Wally?/Où est Charlie?/Wo ist Walter?/¿Dónde está Wally? could be used in a similar way:

1. explain where Wally is using prepositions/positional language.

2. provide descriptions of other characters to be found: could be done as a reading or a listening activity .

3. learners could do the above with a partner, or in small groups

4. learners imagine the life of one of the characters and provide a biography, or put themselves into their shoes and introduce themselves (a little like Janet Lloyd’s ‘In the picture’ activity)

and so on!

(Apologies for taking so long to upload – I’ve suffered severe post -#ililc5 exhaustion this week!)

Come to #ILILC5!

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ililc speaker badgeIt’s now February so it’s time for the next instalment of the ICT Links into Languages Conference commonly known at #ILILC. Inexplicably pronounced like a symptom of chicken pox, it is the place to be for language teachers.

With two days of seminars and workshops plus a Saturday evening Show and Tell, there’s plenty for everyone irrespective of  language or phase taught, experience or confidence. Joe Dale will open this year  ‘Capturing the zeitgeist’ with what’s new in the world of technology in MFL and someone called Lisa Stevens is closing the conference ‘Cooking on gas’ (other fuels are available).

I am always very excited to attend ILILC as it’s the only conference I  managed still to attend when I was in Switzerland, I have been to every single one (I think there should be some kind of commemorative badge for us?) and I can literally say ‘been there, got the Tshirt!’ I wonder what colour it will be this year… (orders to @elvisrunner asap!)

If you haven’t already booked, do have a look at the Links into languages SouthEast site to find out more. Too many I’d like to attend, including one whilst I’m presenting (about Twitter) which always happens! You can see the programme and abstracts by scrolling to the bottom of the page (the programme is at the bottom of this post too) and also links to posts from previous years!

I’d especially encourage you to attend if you aren’t going to Language World in Newcastle in March as it is too far away. Several of the sessions will be repeated there so you can get a preview 😉

See you there – for inspiration, discussion, running and cupcakes!

Saturday programme

Sunday programme

ICT Conference 2015 Draft programme with session descriptions

 

2014 #ililc4

Reflections on #ILILC4  – post event summary!

A beginner’s guide to iPads in the primary language classroom – my presentation, as it says!

Something old, something new – my take on the new KS2 Programmes of Study

2013 #ililc3

I want to break free – my presentation on breaking free from chalk and talk using technology

Let out for good behaviour – my presentation on virtually and actually going outside  the classroom walls

Tools for educators  and El polite pio – Show and Tell

2012 #ililc2

Barça, Barça, Barça! – my presentation about the Comenius Regio project between Birmingham and Barcelona, and the impact on my school

‘Appy learners – my presentation on iPad apps for the language classroom

Das Fliegerlied and The shoe’s on the other foot – Show and Tell

2011 #ililc

Reflections on ILILC 

Tell me a story – my presentation on storytelling including sites

What can eTwinning do for you? – my presentation on international links

Peux-tu marcher comme un canard? – the song/website I shared at the Show and Tell

I’m exhausted but I’m buzzing and can’t snooze until I’ve got some things off my chest!

#ILILC was brilliant. People who actually teach (predominantly) sharing what they do in their classrooms – not airy fairy ideas from a golden age but what actually goes on in classrooms up and down the country. And what should go on in more schools. Ideas that have been tried and tested on all kinds of pupils- the motivated, the bored, the disaffected, the enthusiastic and the ‘why should I?’ of all ages. And I’m not talking just about the ‘presenters’ – the tips, ideas and insights being shared over coffee (and stronger beverages) were just as interesting and important as the sessions attended. The problem was finding enough time to share it all. Thank the little blue bird for Twitter! And blogs. And audio recording. And the willingness of MFLers to share whenever,wherever.

Common themes?
The power of community – the ‘MFL Twitterati’ was much in evidence and more were added to the number.
The strength of support offered to others shown over and over – story swapping, idea sharing, shoulder lending, email exchanging, Savlon providing (thanks mutton chops!)
The conviction of many that the national plans for language learning are not going as they should for the good of learners – but rather than just moaning, offering ideas and solutions of alternative, better approaches. And those ideas can’t be way out or wacky as they seem to be fairly consistent – independent, creative, questioning, challenged, skilful learners; knowledge is important but the ability to select the relevant knowledge and apply it is far more valuable.
Noise. I know I contributed plenty of it – ‘down an octave Stevens’ was a constant instruction from Chris Fuller – but language teachers are a noisy bunch. I guess our trade is communicating so I shouldn’t be surprised. The addition of a number of parrots, toucan and hens (???) made it even louder! Especially once Monty Python’s dead parrot sketch was invoked.
Laughter. I have not laughed that much in a long time. Whether tickled by a mistweet (IanBootle was added to our number last night and @blaggers may well be confused man today!), laughing at exploding Red Bull cans and accident prone delegates or guffawing at a shared joke, the sound of laughter has refreshed me – and I suspect many others who are in need of some camaraderie and light relief from the job of doing our best for our learners.

As Chris Harte so eloquently put it this morning, Language teaching is not broken, it just has some out of date files, needs defragging and rebooting. This weekend I’ve met and spoken to, and heard from many people who I think have a really good idea about what our new upgraded device should be able to do.

Just hope that those deciding what type of device we get will delete the correct files, add the right programs and gives language learning the operating system that it needs and deserves.

Let’s hope they read and hear the voices that I’ve heard this weekend. we’re shouting as loud as we can!

MFL Zoobursts

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Today I’m presenting a session at ICT Links into Languages Conference in Southampton entitled Tell me a story. As part of the session, i’ll be showing delegates how to use Zooburst and have therefore been having a look at some of the books already on the site.
Here are a few examples of how it’s been used in MFL.

A story in French about the consequences of kicking your ball through someone else’s window!

An Italian Zooburst – a recipe!

Another French one here – where are Dracula’s teeth?

A Spanish story about a Prince.

And here’s a variation on the Prince story.

A brilliant Zooburst here packed with information about El reciclaje

And finally, a German ‘story’ of someone’s sporting activities for the week.

After a tweet from @NeilAdam this morning inviting me to view a clip suggesting that cupcakes are the meaning of life, I discovered Fuzzwich.

Fuzzwich is an online tool for making short animations using backgrounds and characters supplied, plus speech bubbles.  The length of the animation seems to be limited to about 20 seconds and I have to admit to not having discovered all the features yet, but here’s my first attempt. (If it won’t work below, here’s the direct link!)

It’s rather fun!

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