MFL Show & Tell: Favourite Tools For CPD In The Languages Faculty

This is the presentation I shared for the MFL Show & Tell in Coventry on Saturday 14th November. A slidecast is on its way when I get the chance to put it together...

Favourite Tools For Cpd In The Languages Faculty Nov09

View more presentations from Isabelle Jones.

Online videos in the Classroom: Bringing Languages to Life

The use of authentic online videos inside as well as outside the languages classroom can be very motivating for students. It brings languages to life and can also motivate through the originality and variety of the contents available.

There are many reasons why online videos should be considered as a powerful pedagogical tool.
First, these videos are readily available online and will cost schools nothing to be integrated in lessons. A majority of the videos will come from the Target Language countries and will provide appropriate exposure to the language as it is spoken by native speakers. An added benefit will be that the videos will give direct access to languages as they are spoken in different countries and will help students to listen for different accents and intonations, which represents listening skills of the highest order.

Second, the wide range of videos available means that it is easier to find materials that will appeal to all students. The videos are also constantly updated, following every trends in the popular culture of the Target Language countries. This constant updating of resources can also be done painlessly by opening an account to video-sharing sites like youtube and subscribing to different channels.

Amongst other resources songs, cartoons, adverts, film trailers, news item, language lessons and mini-documentaries are probably the most useful for language classes.
Many sites offer useful resources for the languages classroom but the vast majority of the videos can be found on large video-sharing siteslike YouTube or Daily Motion. It is also worth using video search engines that cover a range of video-sharing sites like http://www.blinkx.com/ or http://fr.fooooo.com/ .

How can online videos be prepared for classroom use?

There are a number of issues to bear in mind while preparing the materials.
Video-sharing sites such as YouTube are blocked in many schools. When they are not blocked, the school network sometimes limits the viewing performance by slowing down to unacceptable levels. Another issue can be the quality of the picture and/ or sound as it can deteriorate sharply while being projected. A large number of videos are also regularly taken off the site for a variety of reasons. If the resource has been downloaded, it will remain available for classroom use regardless. Last but not least, some teachers feel nervous about going live on sites like YouTube and showing unsuitable videos/ sites being advertised.

There are now many sites enabling online videos to be downloaded and although this can be time-consuming, it is an effective way to avoid all these issues. It is worth noting that downloaders will not always work with every online video from every site, which is another reason to check larger sites like YouTube and Daily Motion first to maximize the chances of downloading success.

http://www.zamzar.com/
http://keepvid.com/
http://kickyoutube.com/
http://vixy.net/
http://dlthis.com/

Videos can be prepared for classroom use as follows:

With the sound off, or using videos with very little dialogue-like some cartoons, for instance. Using a converter like Zamzar, the video can be saved as a .wav sound file and be first presented as a sound file or be shown as a video first, to let students use para-linguistic clues to concentrate afterwards on the audio without the distraction of the pictures. As another possibility, when the video makes use of captions in the target language, memorization techniques can be developed with the support of both the video and audio file.

Follow-up activities usually include spot the cognate, fill in the gap exercises, answering open-ended questions, multiple choice quizzes, finding the meaning of specific key words

Viewing for pleasure. It is a good idea to include viewing for pleasure slots in lessons, possibly at the end in order to maintain the image of languages as a subject that is alive and constantly evolving.

Cultural briefing. There are a number of videos that will help introducing the culture of a specific French-speaking country. Those videos can be more about the history, geography or touristic landmarks of the country. Although they will be more accessible in English than in the Target-Language, they may link to other activities in the lesson that will revisit in French what was presented in the video in English.

Focus on pronunciation and independence. A number of videos can be posted to a blog, wiki or VLE to encourage students’ independent language practice. A Youtube channel like Imagier (for French) http://www.imagiers.net/tele/ is ideal for this as it concentrates on the pronunciation and grammar practice of specific items of vocabulary and structures.

Hook into a topic. Some videos can be used as an interesting way into a topic, they should feature unexpected pictures/ information to make student think of the link between the video and the likely content of the lesson. They also encourage students to make the link between different curriculum areas therefore consolidating learning and transfer of knowledge and skills.

What next?
More and more online tools are being developed to enable the transcription and translation of online videos in a foreign language. This process is still not as straight-forward as it could be but the multiplication of available tools will no doubt ease the process in the future.

The transcription of videos designed for native speakers is a great way to adapt challenging materials and make them more easily accessible for non-natives. Translation can also help making otherwise very linguistically challenging materials accessible to beginners and immersing them in the country’s culture.

The other area for development is to make full use of the video-sharing sites social networking tools to find out about more videos from a wide range of Target-Language countries as sites like YouTube are now truly global.
http://dotsub.com/view/e6562923-a6eb-4c6b-a6c7-ffed4a2848a5
http://dotsub.com/view/30764f64-ffd1-4867-9151-3568179037e7
http://thenextweb.com/2008/11/02/youtube-breaches-language-barriers-by-offering-auto-translation-of-subtitles/

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/81571077@N00/488412425

MFL Flashmeeting4, Monday 2 November 8.30-10.30pm GMT

The MFL Flashmeeting is back, with lots to discuss-The London Language Show is finishing today- and lots to look forwards to-The Coventry MFL Show & Tell in 2 weeks’ time.


To join, please click here and add your name to the wiki. To add your name to the wiki, click the EDIT link and then the Text Editor button. Copy and paste one of the entries. Change the wording as necessary and add your Twitter username if you like. Press Save. Please note that there is a limit of 25 in the meeting.


Already on the list are:

1. Joe Dale, CILT language teaching adviser Integrating ICT into the MFL Classroom
2. Dominic McGladdery ,Teacher of MFL and blogger.
3. Suzi Bewell SSAT lead practitioner languages,
http://www.allsaintslanguagesblog.typepad.co.uk/
4. Helena Butterfield , MFL teacher The Langwitch Chronicles
5. Clare Seccombe PMFL support teacher and MFL Sunderland webmistress.
6. Lynne Horn, Language teacher, Tobermory High (Scotland)
7. Catriona Oates Scottish CILT
8. Isabelle Jones, Head of Languages, The Radclyffe School, Oldham, My Languages
9. Mary Cooch, Our Lady's High School Preston
10. Esther Hardman, MFL teacher, Curriculum Development Co-ordinator for MFL (ICT), http://www.crackthecode-eh.blogspot.com/, http://www.wok20mfl.blogspot.com/
11. Alice Ayel, Thuringia International School, Germany, http://aliceayel.posterous.com/
12. Amanda Salt Head of Spanish, Grosvenor Grammar School, Belfast Languages and Learning
13. Marie-France Perkins Head of Modern Languages, Oldfield School, Bath.
http://mmeperkins.typepad.com/
14. mailto:kgoodwin@harrowbeijing.cn Kim Goodwin MFL teacher/Head of Learning support, Harrow Beijing
15. Helen Myers, The Ashcombe School Dorking
16. Drew McAllister , Tech Integration Specialist, Parkway School District, St. Louis, Missouri
17. Samantha Lunn. Head of MFL, Arnold School, Blackpool.
http://www.languagesresources.co.uk/


On the Agenda…
1. How do you use your VLE and what sort of resources do you have on it?
2. How are you implemeting the new KS3 curriculum and what effect is it having on engagement and KS4 uptake?
3. Do you have a local SLN and how has it helped with the introduction of the New Framework?
4. What were your impressions of The Language Show and or The London Show and Tell event?
5. What practical advice would you give to a languages teacher needing to record their GCSE speaking tests for the first time as mp3 files not on cassette?
6. What do YOU want to get out of the MFL Show and Tell 09 in Coventry in 2 weeks time?
7. What's all this I hear about Storybird?


To join the meeting…
Click on the Flashmeeting link

http://flashmeeting.e2bn.net/fm/eb8137-7333

and Go to the meeting . You will then be asked to give permission for your microphone or webcam to be used. Click Allow and then select Sign in as Guest. Click Enter.


See you there!

Wish I Was There: The London Language Show

The London Language Show attracts many language professionals including teachers as well as language students. It is free and it is held at Kensington Olympia 2. It started today, Friday 30th October, and will finish on Sunday 1st November 2009.

This Year, Helen Myers and Joe Dale have arranged a Show & Tell that will take place tomorrow, Saturday 31st October from 6pm, with a Flashmeeting starting at 7.30 pm (GMT).
The Face-to-Face Show & Tell will be held at The Albion's function room, 121 Hammersmith Road, London, W14 0QL, 020 7603 2826 (nice reviews here!)

Definite attendees include Joe Dale , Amanda Salt, Helen Myers, Alex Blagona and Lisa Stevens with Lynne Horn, Samantha Lunn, Helena Butterfield, Simon Howells and myself amongst the virtual attendees.

The Show & Tell presenters will include:

Suzi Bewell [Twitter for homework and / or French phonics, using skype to webconference with partner schools abroad see http://www.allsaintslanguagesblog.typepad.co.uk/

and http://www.doonceandshare.wikispaces.com/
Luis Truchero - eTwinning experience
Joe Dale - Moblogging a foreign language trip
Alex Blagona - Personalised Learning with wikis
Helen and Peta - Learning Languages in Second Life
Lisa Stevens - Tweeting with primary pupils and or animating
Liz Hitchcock: School and area linking in Europe (eTwinning), Latin America or Hispanic USA; French Caribbean, Francophone Africa, Japan, China, Middle East

- see http://www.globalgateway.org/languages for background

To join us virtually, click on the Flashmeeting link

****http://flashmeeting.e2bn.net/fm/23ddd5-7617**** and Go to the meeting . You will then be asked to give permission for your microphone or webcam to be used. Click Allow and then select Sign in as Guest. Click Enter.

See you there!

FLIP Approach for Languages at Cramlington Learning Village: Rationale and Practicalities

(Independent Study Learning Grid, University of Warwick-layout for more independent learning?)

When I found out about Cramlington’s FLIP approach for languages, I got quite excited as I had been thinking for a while of different ways to incorporate the many strands developed recently through a whole host of National initiatives. Developing students’ independent learning skills is a challenging Faculty target as we are not talking just about changing working practices but also part of the learning ethos that permeates a school…

As a number of teachers from the UK and beyond contacted me to find out more, I asked Chris Harte, Head of Languages at Cramlington Learning Village, what made FLIP different from other approaches.

“The new languages curriculum at Cramlington Learning Village is perhaps easiest to understand if we try and visualise it as a series of transparencies being overlaid in order to give the big picture.

1.The CASKE curriculum-This is the foundation for the schemes of learning and in itself is quite a complex picture incorporating the RSA Opening Minds Competencies for the 21st century, Attributes-the 5Rs: Responsibility, Reasoning, Reflection, Resilience and Resourceful +Respectful-added by the school, Skills-PLTS (Personal Learning Thinking Skills), Knowledge-subject-specific knowledge, E-Experiences-the different experiences we want our children to have in the classroom.

2. The new National Curriculum for languages at KS3. The positive aspect of this is the emphasis on creativity, however, the use of the NC levels is a very two-dimensional view of what we are trying to achieve and a very clumsy measuring stick, but unfortunately we are currently bound to them.

3.The Framework for Modern languages at KS3, which we use to monitor linguistic progression. This is a more subtle measure of progression.

4.Compelling contexts-We have really tried to move away from traditional topics and looked at creativity through wider contexts which have an element of emotional as well as intellectual challenge.

5.Dependency-We start off with a higher degree of teacher dependency and build towards independent learning by explicitly teaching language learning skills rather than just language.

6.“Assessment is for learning” is also a key layer that we are working hard to develop. This incorporates assessment of learning, assessment for learning and assessment as learning. This will be achieved through “dipstick” testing, self and peer assessment through RealSmart
Rafl - real asessment for learning portfolios and learning conversations during the FLIP periods (Flexible, learner-led, “in-time”, personalised).

7.The use of ICT- permeates not only what the teachers are doing, but more importantly, what the learners are doing. ICT skills will be explicitly developed and students will have the opportunity to enhance their language learning skills through the appropriate use of technology.

8. The final layer, and perhaps the most important, is the promotion of a love of languages through enjoyment, challenge and support and an emphasis on the real life nature of speaking another language, cultural celebration and the responsibilities of a global citizen.”

FLIP periods
“On average, one lesson per cycle will be a FLIP period. This stands for Flexible, Learner-Led, In-time Intervention, Personalised. We are giving this model the specific remit of building time within the curriculum to react to learners’ needs at the point of need; whether this be consolidation, stretching, exploring or indeed catching up.

In a normal flip period, we can expect to see the following scene:

The class enters the learning space chanting their numbers, alphabet and high frequency vocabulary. The teacher greets each individual in the target language and the class settles down to their FLIP bellwork - this is almost invariably a planning activity; looking back at last lesson’s review, setting targets and priorities for the next hour and choosing a focus to work on. James decides that he is still unsure on how the perfect tense works and decides he needs to do some consolidation work on it. In his plan, he writes down that he wants to talk to the teacher about it and then do some simple exercises on the computer to see if he can get it right!

The teacher is circulating looking at each student’s plan and notices that there are a number of people who are still hazy on the perfect tense. The teacher decides to run a workshop for those who are really struggling and writes up on the board “perfect tense workshop – 9:20 – 9:40am – sign up here”. Students who want to sign up, do so on the board. About 10 students want the workshop which takes place in one corner of the room, sat on the floor using mini-whiteboards to practise. Meanwhile, Jasmine has decided that she just wants to do some private reading, so she takes one of the books from the shelf and settles herself on a comfy chair. She reads the book, only looking up words when she really needs them, and records these words in her book to learn later.

Matthew and Samantha were absent last lesson so they take this opportunity to look back at the lesson plan to see what they have missed. They complete the online tasks and get themselves back on track. Some of the group decide they want to flex their vocabulary learning muscles and log on to the vocabulary building sites to play tetris, match flash cards and work on pronunciation. Others decide to play some of the card and board games, constantly building up their vocabulary through play. Others are updating evidence on their Rafls [ real asessment for learning portfolios-our online portfolios from RealSmart] whilst others are re-recording presentations to improve the intonation and pronunciation.

Thomas works with Emily as her mentor, working through his own understanding of the perfect tense in order to support Emily. After the workshop, the teacher circulates the room, ensuring that everyone is working at an appropriate level and, when necessary, encouraging some students to move on to different tasks and guiding some students to more appropriate tasks. At 10am, the class is called together to review their lesson in their learning log. Here they record what they have done, what they got out of it, any skills they developed and any key language they think may be of use in the future.

Of course, the powerful characteristic of the FLIP time is that it can be anything that we need it to be – it could be used as rehearsal time for a presentation, a whole class input by the teacher or a.n.other (including students) on the sound-spelling link, a whole class reading time, a relaxed movie slot in the foreign language or anything else we deem appropriate. It can be as structured or fluid as we need it to be.

It is in the FLIP time that we can truly personalise the experience for each student through learning conversations and “in-time” support. There are, of course, issues of management of time, resources and classroom climate, and the responsibility for this needs to be divided equally between the teacher and the students with the emphasis on developing independent learners.

Future developments for the FLIP time may be the use of Foreign Language Assistants and virtual tutors to support language learning as well as videoconferencing sessions with partner schools abroad and developing additional resources in the TV and sound recording studios.

Assessment and progression

Assessment of learning will be the snapshot approach to monitoring progression. At the end of each module, there is a product which will cover either/both speaking (AT2) and writing (AT4). A summative level will be given to each of these products and will be centrally held to allow monitoring across the cohort. There will be two listening (AT1) and reading (AT3) online assessments which learners can take at a time appropriate to them (they are pencilled in for January and June although this is flexible). By doing this, we will be assuring a minimum progression of two levels across the key stage – November Y7 being the baseline data and Spring Y9 being the NC level reporting period.

Assessment for language learning is to be seen as explicit but not bolt-on. That is to say that we have a varied repertoire of techniques which help learners to see where they are now, where they want to be and how to get there. These include; agreed success criteria in all lessons and productive tasks, modelling successful outcomes, working through process together, generic tools such as UN AVOCAT, www (what went well) and ebi (even better if), feed forward comment marking, learning conversations in FLIP time, effective questioning teacher->learner, learner->teacher and learner->learner.

Assessment for learning skills is central to getting learners to be reflective in their own practice, that is to make explicit the learning skills required to be an effective learner and set own targets for improvement. The reviewing of learning and reflection on skills will underpin everyday practice but will be made quantifiable in each student’s learning log which will be completed at the end of each lesson and particularly referred to at the start of each FLIP period. This will be the most effective way to monitor learner progression and there is an expectation that although it is a personal log, the teacher and indeed peers may want to read and comment upon it on a regular basis.

Are the lessons planned collaboratively across the Faculty? How do you differentiate?
Yes - we plan together but each teacher has to personalise to the learners in front of them. I say personalise instead of differentiate because we try to differentiate to "ability" but also to learning style and feedback from learners. Differentiation is made possible by the time we have freed up.

What sort of activities are specific to these lessons?
The only thing that is specific, I suppose, is getting learners to set their own objectives for the lessons - otherwise we are doing effective pedagogical activities - card games, reading booklets , consolidation and creation with ICT.

Are the lesson "calendared" for each group?
No, the teacher decides when they are in the cycle (3 lessons a fortnight, one of which is flip). and more importantly the purpose of the lesson - consolidation, rehearsal, independent learning or a mix of all of these.

Do all your classrooms have the round tables and groups of tables rather than rows? How do teachers organise FLIP lessons when they do not have a main classroom/ share one or several classrooms?
In y7 & 8 we have round tables and in the rest of the school, we group desks together - no rows except for testing or independent writing. We have boxes to carry around resources to different classrooms but the layout is universal. We also keep our resources on our VLE so they are accessible anywhere.

What would you say is the biggest difference between having specific FLIP lessons and trying to incorporate skills development in traditional language lessons?
TIME - we have created time in the curriculum to allow us to do this effectively rather than trying to crow bar them into content-driven lessons.

What sort of resources do you use in FLIP and in the other lessons? Same sort of resources -cards, reading booklets, mini whiteboards, computers...

Are some FLIP lessons delivered in ICT rooms? What sort of activities are delivered?
All rooms have ICT access - 1 computer per pair - either desktops in each y7&y8 classroom and laptops in the upper school. We do receptive, consolidation type activities (vocabulary games etc) but more for creative activities - goanimate, audacity, photostory etc.

How do FLIP lessons progress throughout KS3?
They progress with the rest of the scheme of learning - they are not separate to the rest of the lessons, they are part of a bigger cycle of effective learning.

Do you use FLIP lessons at all at KS4?
We use the model, but it is not organised - more on a reactive basis rather than proactive.

What do you think has been the biggest impact of this approach? (How long have you been using it? Have students shared their views about it?)
Learner independence and ownership - we have been using it for over a year now and our learner voice groups have talked about being more motivated and learning at their pace.”

I would like to thank Chris again for answering my questions in such a thorough manner. I do feel that although the FLIP model may not transfer directly to all schools, it should certainly give many Languages Departments food for thoughts and ideas to maximize opportunities to develop languages students’ independence and learning skills.

Image Chef: Automatic Calligrammes

Image Chef is a wordle-like application that also has a "Visual Poetry" section with pre-defined shapes for arranging the words. A Calligramme is a poem arranged in the shape of a picture related to the poem. Just looking at Image chef, here are some of the possibilities...
Cat: personal and physical description, personality.

Image chef has the extra potential to offer the ability to draw your own symbols as well as choose from a variety of ready-made symbols like hearts, stars, smiley faces, luck, cross, sun...

The whole calligramme can also be edited, embedded and/or downloaded.

Just have a go and tell me what you think...

FLIP - The Cramlington Model For Developing Independent Language Learners

FLIP stands for Flexible Learner-led Intervention Personalised. It is a daring approach that consisted in getting rid 1/3 of the content taught in MFL to concentrate on developing independent learning skills in languages. It was started last year by Chris Harte at Cramlington Learning Village in Northumberland.
The video says it all... (truly inspirational!)

FLIP Languages Model from charte on Vimeo.