I was lucky enough to be invited to talk at this fantastic event and although I greatly enjoyed it, my only regret is that it meant I missed out on some fabulous workshops and seminars run by my fellow speakers!
The conference has already created a lot of online buzz and I have tried to gather all related posts via Diigo here.
I am also particularly delighted that Zena Hilton, the Regional Manager for Links into Languages South East, has uploaded the vast majority of the presentations and handouts directly onto the Links site.
These resources represent months of specific training for Languages Faculties all over the country and it would be madness not to make best use of them…
In addition to the great launch and plenary presentations given by Joe Dale and Rachel Hawkes that have been video recorded and are available from here and here,
Chris Harte’s Language Reboot can also be viewed on here
I attended Jackie Berrie’s Powerpoint Magic for Language Teachers, Helen Myer’s Let technology take the strain, Chris Harte’s Edmodo, Alex Blagona’s wikis and Jo Rhys Jones’ Simple and Effective tips for KS2/KS3 transitions sessions. All the sessions were great in different ways and really got me thinking about the next steps for our Languages Faculty as well as my own professional development. I have also included some of the gems collected during the Show & Tell that took place on the Saturday evening.
Here are some of the things I will be looking at:
• Specific aspects of using Powerpoints in the languages classroom
Use a split screen with different backgrounds to reinforce gender/ number
Create a countdown with numbers on the slide for any activity involving vocabulary recall.
Free Powerpoint timers by Dave Foord are available from http://www.a6training.co.uk/indez.php
Use motion paths to reinforce directions eg à droite- car going to the right
Find the right path to go to somebody’s house-students guess and then see where the person actually goes (prediction game).
Ping pong vocabulary game: template can be found at http://www.slideshare.net/rubiales/ping-pong-vocabulary-game
Use tagxedo to create flags in the shape of countries http://www.tagxedo.com/
Create a role-play scene for student to use-add writing and sound files. Mp3, Wav, Wma, Mid all of these can be inserted into a Powerpoint presentation. Format factory can be used to convert files from mp4 to mp3.
Realplayer can be used to download YouTube videos and change their formats
Hyperlinks can link to existing files as well as external sites
True or false activity hyperlink back to true or false slides.
Drag & drop macros get Powerpoint activities to behave like they would on an Interactive Whiteboard: Re-order letters, Click and drag: dans mon panier, il y a...
Mouse mischief is a free add-in for Powerpoint and it allows multiple users to interact with a Powerpoint in slideshow mode. Details, free software and templates can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/uk/multipoint/mouse-mischief/default.aspx
• Some tools shared during the Show and Tell:
Lingro looks great for extension reading as it makes students more independent. Any word you click on can give you a translation/ definition based on wiktionary. It can also produce simple flascards.
Twister from classtools.net http://classtools.net/twister/
• How Wikis can be used to develop students’ independence and AFL:
They can be designed for each classes to develop community within class, peer assessment.
Good for work monitoring and encourage peer assessment as students look at each other’s pages.
Teachers can monitor the work done eg with 6th formers when extra study time has to be tracked.
This page is the students own space-the teacher check history to see who has done what and wikis can also be password-protected.
If teachers get the students to register, they will be trackable.
It is a good idea to include widgets such as the French newspapers headlines or simple reference widgets.
Wikis can be set up for short term projects e.g. outreach project, trip etc…
To encourage students to look at each other’s work, students can be paired up by the teacher and share a same wiki page.
Students can be asked to comment on each other’s page to support AFL in and out of the classroom.
Homework can be set on the wiki and shared with parents- good for homework monitoring.
Speaking homework can be set with uploaded audacity files as examples.
Content can be tailored quite closely to the audience and differentiated by page.
On Monday 28th February, a Flashmeeting has been set up to talk about all the great things we shared at the conference . It is an opportunity for other people who could not make it to the conference to find out more… so sign up here on the wiki and clic here to join the meeting at 9pm.
I am giving myself the challenge to use at last 3 things I have learnt from the conference before the Easter holiday. Will I succeed? I will be back to tell…
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