Thursday 30 September 2010

PLAYING HOST TO THE 8th MFL FLASHMEETING

Monday past saw the 8th MFL flashmeeting. These flashmeetings are a form of online conference where a group of like-minded MFL teachers from the UK and beyond gather together virtually to discuss the latest in teaching and learning within the field of Modern Languages. Many of us 'know' each other through Twitter, and it is a pleasure for the MFL Twitterati to join togther regularlyand with enthusiasm to talk through issues and ideas, as well as to share best practice. This time, it was my dubious honour to chair the meeting, and it was with an unfamiliar nervousness that I signed in, yet once proceedings were up and running, I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. Catch the FM here:
http://flashmeeting.e2bn.net/fm/fmm.php?pwd=ad0103-10733

Saturday 25 September 2010

You and Yours

For those who missed it, here is the You and Yours programme on learning languages
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00thxg0/You_and_Yours_31_08_2010/

Sunday 12 September 2010

It's been too long! Still, a new term and a look anew at stuff going on in the classroom is always worth a post..
This year, our results across the department were pleasing at the top end, but as usual, it is the pupils who failed to make the grade who stick with you on Results Day. Why, as teachers, do we take the blame, if only partially, when we don't then take the credit for the top grades too? Some pupils failed because they didn't work hard enough, but others worked hard, and still didn't pull it off. Time for some new strategies..
And this tied in nicely with two things. Firstly, our trip to Barcelona and Salou with 39 12-15 year olds in June, where the pupils had a ball but many showed a lack of confidence in speaking in Spanish (or Castilian, should I say) And secondly, a lively thread on the yahoo group forum for MFL Resources http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mflresources/ about the concept of Group Talk, with Greg Horton. People have really seized on Greg's strategies for motivating pupils to talk in the foreign language. There is a video on Teacher Tube at http://www.teachers.tv/videos/mfl-implementing-the-group-talk-initiative-and-other-strategies
I have been chatting on the forum as well as with the MFL Twitterati and have decided to give this a go. An intiative that encourages pupils to talk fluently and with confidence in the target language is something that we all surely aspire to; I will keep you posted...