Tuesday 27 October 2009

Fun & Games in MFL

Check out my SlideShare Presentation of my talk to the PGCE students:

GUEST LECTURER

I was invited to speak to the MFL PGCE students at Queen's yesterday on the topic of games in MFL. In a department genuinely addicted to playing games to enhance motivation and improve learning, this was a fairly easy and straightforward task for me. As I started the talk, I thought back to sitting in those same seats, and how much I have learnt and progressed since then.
The list of games we play at Grosvenor is long and varied, and I intend to upload the powerpoint to share with others, but once again, this was an enjoyable experience in my teaching career, as well as a useful self-assessment exercise.

Thursday 1 October 2009

FLASHMEETING #3 AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

Well, we had our third MFL flashmeeting last Monday and whilst I participated less, with a blinder of a headache, it was still a stimulating and enjoyable experience, as well as being extremely benficial for my teaching.

Flashmeetings serve to remind me how much I have come to rely on the support of my online friends whom I have met through Twitter primarily, as well as at Joe Dale's IOW conference. They are a constant source of support and inspiration, and this flashmeeting was no exception.

The two areas I have decided to focus on, arising out of the meeting, are Spanish phonics and Edmodo. I still have a lot of work to do in terms of phonics and pronunciation, but José Picardo has inspired me to set up an account on Edmodo (www.edmodo.com) I have created course areas for each of my classes and have already posted some polls in Spanish and set some assignments.

When I was showing the setup page to the pupils, many commented on its similarity to Facebook, and the trendy look of the site. Several have already posted comments and queries on their course area.

I look forward to using Edmodo and will post soon on the progress we are making.