Refelections
October 19th, 2006 by chuffinpuffin · No Comments · General Post
Time is now about right for me to take some time to reflect on how my teaching has been affected by my current projects.
If the truth be known then I haven’t spent as much time as i shouls prepping day to day lessons. However in some cases I feel that some of my students have benefitted from a less structured approach. particularly in my S2 classes who recently created short radio shows in French and German. Why do I feel this is so?
- chatty classes were still chatty but working on the project.
- previously reticent pupils seemed to come out of their shell and produce something
- more able students were challenged to take charge of their show by becoming a producer
- other students volunteered to take on extra tasks such as typing up scripts
- students produced something concrete which they can show off to anyone via the web
Although this has worked well I don’t want to get stuck in a rut of doing a similar thing all the time so the challenge is on to think up something else for another class.
One of my main projects for this year revolves around citizenship in the MFL classroom and setting up a partnership with a school in francophone Africa. As language teachers we are in an excellent position to deliver citizenship style content through our lessons. One of our main goals should be to enable students to communicate creatively in the target language. Sometimes I feel though that many of our resources don’t necessarily enable our students do this. How many times do we hear them saying the ticket clerk at the railway station in Cologne didn’t reply as they were supposed to do.
What i want to know is are there any resources out there which can deliver some MFL content whilst approaching it from a citizenship content. Ideally it would be great to be able to liaise with say the Modern Studies department when they are looking at Rights of the Child
and examine a topic dealing with similar themes at the same time.
Want want, want. Such a demanding person.
Radio Ga Ga
October 11th, 2006 by chuffinpuffin · No Comments · General Post
I love a successful day.
The first TGSi radio show was finally posted (see link in sidebar), and I managed to carry out some almost professional sounding interviews at the S3 Industry Awareness.
I also took delivery of a new toy. A new camcorder for the film club.
I had a strange request come through the other day from a guy in town who is helping to organise some of the Hallowe’en events here in Huntly. He needed a film of a deserted croft to be used as a back drop to a dance choreographed by some of the school’s champion highland dancers. So there i found myself in the middle of a field at sunset, kids in tow, filming a deserted croft. In felt a bit daft but we got the job done and apparently it looks fine.
2 days to hols.
All together now…Primal Scream anybody?
October 10th, 2006 by chuffinpuffin · No Comments · educational technology, General Post
Finally.
Loose ends are finally starting to tie up.
Finished recording my S2 French radio shows and I have to say I have been very impressed with them. Is this an example of Extreme Learning or just project work? Whatever it is the students seem to have got a kick out of it and produced something worthwhile at the end of their current topic. Check them out on either of these blogs, whose links can be found in the sidebar.
The Gordon Schools Homework Blog
Rate My Mates
Still on the podcast theme the school radio will soon publish its first programme via its own blog. It has been quite a hassle getting the stuff all together. Deadlines not being met etc. I am trying to make it as much a student production as possible and we only do it in lunchtimes. We are nearly there though. Check out the blog TGSi whosew link is also in the sidebar.
I also need to start out on my other sideline as a filmmaker. This we will do during the holidays when Huntly has its annual hallowe’en festival.
Must say though, am looking forwrd to the holidays.
Result!!!!!!
October 5th, 2006 by chuffinpuffin · 2 Comments · CPD, General Post
Great result today. Got notice of funding for radio project.
I have been rather impressed with my S2′s this week. They are preparing a radio show in French or German about what they get up to in their freetime. Up until now they have been working really well in their groups. Just wait and see what happens next week when we come to record and broadcast.
I also need to add to my list of ongoing stuff an assessment of some teaching materials relating to teaching of MFL with a global citizenship context. There isn’t much out there and we really need to include it in our curriculum.
More and more things on the go!!!
September 29th, 2006 by chuffinpuffin · No Comments · CPD, General Post
This has been one hectic week. I think it is now time to for me put down in list form all the stuff I’m trying to do as well as teaching, just so thst I can remember it all:
- EIS Rep
- Global Schools Partnership
- Immersion Trip to China
- School radio
- film club
- keeping up with the Jones’s in the blogoshere
- Languages Work!
- keeping own blogs up to date (how do you bloggists out there do it)
I think I used up my supposed 35 hours CPD in the first week back at school. Thank the lord the hols are looming.
All this and keeping my kids occupied. It’s great fun though.
- oh and I’m forgetting about keeping up the triathlon training.
Friday Feeling
September 15th, 2006 by chuffinpuffin · 1 Comment · General Post
Friday finally. It seems to have been quite a long week. Last Fri I was asked to bid for more funds for the school’s internet radio, so every free moment seems to have been spent researching the equipment needed. Its quite astounding how much info you can find out whizzing around the web. I must have changed my equipment specs everyday. I finally decided on the following:
Marantz PDM 660 Portable digital recorder
Griffin iMic
Griffin garageband mic cables
Sennheiser HD 465 Headphones
Behringer C1 Condenser
I will be using a Powerbook G4 to record the podasts.
i am rather looking forward to getting my hands on the gear to fiddle on it. I am even more looking forward to seeing what the students come up with. As usual at the prep meetings they seem less than interested but if things go as normal they will pull something out of the bag.
Once it is up and going I’ll post a link to the blog so you can listen and pass comment.
First post…first post
September 14th, 2006 by chuffinpuffin · 1 Comment · General Post
After reading a myriad of blogs regarding new technologies practice in MFL teaching and other areas I though it was time I start to put down my thoughts, opinions and questions.
I’ve been teaching for some 10 years but have only recently began to embrace ICT in my classroom and although quite up to date I am finding that it takes so much time to find out about and research new and interesting stuff. I am beginning to grasp blogs and podcasts, but it has taken some time. But I feel I am getting there now.
I would like to post thanks to Ewan Macintosh and Joe Dale (fellow MFL practioners) who first piqued my interest and are furthering it through their own blogs and comments.
I have recently set up 2 blogs at school, one looking at the activities of our MFL dept, the other containing podcasts of the vocab guides weuse to support our students learning. Once I get the hang of this blogger I’ll post detail of all the above.
