Practical Pedagogies Conference, International School of Toulouse (IST), 15-16th October 2015

I am very excited to be joining the 60+ teachers from all subject areas who will be presenting at the Practical Pedagogies conference organised by @russeltarr at The International School of Toulouse next October.

What is the Practical Pedagogies Conference?
-A high-impact training conference for teachers, from NQT to senior teachers, run by and for primary and secondary school teachers ;
-A not-for-profit event hosted at the International School of Toulouse, October ;
-Workshops and networking activities around the theme: "Creativity, Internationalism and Innovation in the classroom" ;
-Two days of inspiring keynotes, 70+ workshops and networking activities delivered by experienced primary and secondary teachers ; 15-16th October 2015-that's just before half term for some of us in the UK.

How much does it cost?€150 : This price includes a delegate pack, lunches and refreshments, and access to all the workshops, keynotes and other events on offer.

How to find out more / register your placeFull details about the conference, including how to register and the full workshop programme, can be found on the Practical Pedagogies Website. Other queries can be sent here.

The Venue
The conference will take place at the International School of Toulouse, a co-educational day school for children aged 3 to 18, situated in the South of France close to Toulouse Blagnac Airport [directions/map].

 

My workshop

Pinterest and Twitter? Motivating tools to develop reading and writing skills in EAL and MFL

Explore the potential of tools such as Pinterest and Twitter to motivate all pupils to develop reading and writing skills in EAL and MFL. Increase your pupils' independence as language learners and understanding of linguistic structures. Support the development of all your pupils' language skills and their linguistic creativity.

Led by Isabelle Jones (@icpjones), languages consultant and Head of Languages in Cheshire, England. 

Other MFL workshops include

 

Collaborative learning strategies for the effective teaching of mixed ability classes in MFL

This workshop will present collaborative learning strategies in MFL which engage whole classes to talk / write simultaneously therefore maximising class time. Delegates will go way with a much deeper understanding of the benefits of collaborative learning and will have a bank of ready-made resources (F/G/Sp) to use immediately on their return to school.

Led by Suzi Bewell (@suzibewell), Course Leader for MFL PGCE University of York

 

Using Quizlet to create interactive resourcesThis workshop is designed to help mainly modern languages teachers who want to teach students easy ways to revise grammar rules, verb conjugation and new vocabulary with Quizlet. This US software allows students to be more independent leaners and give them an opportunity to be more responsible for their own learning.

Led by J. Cavalli, Curriculum Leader for French at IST

 

Using Kahoot! to engage students in knowledge acquisitionKahoot! is a free tool to assess your students' knowledge (from FS2 to Y13 and beyond - you can even use it at home to test friends and family!) in any subjects, on any topics, in a fun, interactive and competitive way. Kahoot! just turns your classroom into a game show (with a very catchy musical theme). In this session, you will get to : play a Kahoot game (to see what it is like) and maybe win a Kahoot! Prize / see examples of what can be assessed through Kahoot! in different subjects in both Primary and Secondary / create your own Kahoot short quiz. Led by A. Braud, Modern Foreign Languages Teacher at IST

 

Using the “Accelerated Integrated Method”  to teach French as a foreign languageOriginally from Canada, this way of teaching has been very successful in various countries, with the help of gestures for each word, the use of the mother tongue is limited to an extreme minimum. The children learn French through stories told in gestures. After the workshop participants should have a good idea about what this didactic approach is, and be able to 'tell in gestures' some of the content of stories. Led by Dico Krommenhoek (@dico_kr), French teacher and teacher educator in Rotterdam

 

Using technology in the Primary Foreign Language classroomWhy and how can we use technology to enhance learning in the primary language classroom? Ideas for teachers and learners, beginners and those with more experience; some online, some apps but mostly free :) Covering 'the four skills' - listening speaking reading and writing as well as phonics and grammar, we'll consider how technology can help with assessment as well as managing transition, and how it can open windows and doors for you and your learners. Led by Lisa Stevens (@lisibo), Primary Languages and International Coordinator, Whitehouse Common Primary and Welford Primary, Birmingham

 

Boosting language acquisition for lower and upper primary through a FUN Reading Program. Developing comprehension and expression for upper primary (intermediate levels) through a Reading Program.

Led by P. Burgaud and J. Allcock, Primary Years Teachers at IST

 

The conference has its own Twitter Practical Pedagogies feed. We will be using the hashtag #pracped15 to allow delegates to share the ideas and resources they are being presented with and discuss the conference outcomes.

 

Would love to see you there!

The Universal Panacea? Trusted to improve

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yinto/3213182939/

If I had the power to change one thing in the world of education in the UK, I would put trust at the centre of everything we do…

It all started about six years ago. I was running a Comenius school project and was invited along with two other colleagues and four students to meet with our partner schools in Finland. We were visited by OFSTED the week before and when asked about differences between educational systems, it was hard not to mention our inspection.

The headteacher enquired: “Do you mean, you still have school inspections?” I nodded. “Isn’t that a little archaic?”. I stopped dead and looked at him. “We don’t have these any more… very old-fashioned…”.  And then, the killer : “Why don’t they just trust you?”. All three of us started laughing nervously… but we could not really provide any immediate answer.

Why indeed? Is it really such an airy-fairy idea that the vast majority of teachers do a good job and want to constantly improve what they are doing? Maybe the vast majority is not enough, I will accept that, but more disturbing was the opinion from some of my colleagues that OFSTED could not be done without. I mean… How do we know we are doing OK? How do we know how good we are?

My response to that is that if we do not know deep down whether we have tried our utmost with a set of students or not, then our ability to reflect professionally is seriously lacking. Accountability is also a double-edged sword. It does safeguard children’s interests but it also dictates rules all have to play by as well as make attractive any loopholes and shortcuts to get to the same end result.

As for the second question, how good we are does not matter as much as how much better we can become. There is something dangerous about wearing an outstanding badge and not trying to change things for the better any more…

Trust does not just happen. It feeds through everything we do. Students should be able to trust us to be professional, prepared and constantly striving to get them to learn in more effective ways. Respect relies on trust, mutual trust, as that goes for students as much as it goes for staff.

Hyper-accountability can cause extreme stress and damage confidence, self-image and performance. The impact is negative all around but trusting is not providing excuses for poor performance. Trust contributes to setting up a context where improvement takes place not because it has to happen but because groups of individuals want it to happen. If improvement does not happen as planned, then the group agrees on further steps to be taken to rectify this rather than drop the whole process as it was unsuccessful and not meaningful.   

Acknowledging  context is not providing excuses, it’s humanising data. We do teach human beings who are probably at their most vulnerable emotionally and nothing saddened me more than the following comment I heard made by a student  “I am not a person, for some people I am just a walking A Grade”. 

Allowing committed teachers to sometimes feel disappointed rather than guilty is essential as guilt is a destructive downward spiral that affects teachers’ health and children’s education. Guilt erodes enthusiasm, energy levels as well as the willingness to take risk and be creative.

We don’t teach numbers, we teach children whose potential to learn can go up and down.

Simple but daring-Trust is the only way to improvement, a policy of openness where trying to paper the cracks is not a way forward.

Many more blog posts on "The Universal Panacea? The number one shift in UK education I wish to see in my lifetime" can be found on http://share.edutronic.net/ 

Enjoy the conversation...