Sunday 13 May 2012

ALL French Online: Share Your Best French Resources, Thursday 3rd May, 8.30-9.30


I was delighted to meet online with Christine O’Leary from Sheffield Hallam University, early French teacher Lucy and Canadian educator Glenn Caker for this second edition of ALL French online, supported by the Association for Language Learning (ALL).
A full replay of the Flashmeeting is available from here .
Christine started by mentioning the site of the FIPF (Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Français) to which ALL members can have access, as well as the Top 50 site, with 50 favourite French songs chosen by students and teachers all around the world. The site also contains links to you tube videos, song sheets and classroom activities and the musique de la semaine site which is great to keep up to date with French music in general. 
Glenn recommended the Australian site Languages online with its templates for games and ready-made activities as well as free software like Photostory3 for Windows that he has used in e-learning sessions with his students.
Lucy mentioned a phonic method called «Facilecture» which associates specific sounds with colours to help learners memorise them and read independently.
«Le manuel phonique», the French version of  «Jolly Phonics» and the «Méthode Borel Maisony» were also mentioned. The «Méthode Borel Maisony» focuses on the association of sounds with specific movements.
I introduced my Youtube French playlist and encouraged all French teachers to set up a YouTube account and follow each other in order to share new video findings. I am isabellejones on YouTube and my French playlist includes a wide range of materials going from silent short clips to authentic videos and documentaries.  
Interactive WhiteBoard Resources were then discussed including smartboard freeware and templates. Glenn briefly shared how he uses Elluminate Live with his students and also mentioned the growing use of «teamboards» in Face-to-Face Language teaching, enabling more than one student to interact with the board.
Christine mentioned how mobile technology could also be used in conjunction with an Interactive WhiteBoard, which reminded me of the polleverywhere app, which enables mobile phones to be used as voting devices.  
I also mentioned my iphone app list for language learning, which can be used to encourage students to carry out a range of independent language learning activities.
VLE were discussed and different uses of VLEs for learning and teaching languages were compared, with the most successful one being when VLEs are at the centre of learning and teaching, enabling teachers and learners to interact and develop genuine learning conversations.
Want to know more and learn more from colleagues? Time to join ALL

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