22/06/2014

Apps for the classroom

I've been experimenting with apps in order to try and use mobiles in a positive way. We all know that most students have mobiles which they mainly use for snapchat and Instagram. If they're bringing them into school then why not try and incorporate them into your lesson in an engaging way.
Of course there are students who don't have mobiles but I've not yet met a class where there wasn't enough mobiles for one between two.


Edmodo

also available online at www.edmodo.com

Edmodo is a place to connect with your students and even set up links outside the classroom.
It's great for the flipped classroom as students can view material before the lesson and even be set tasks to complete.
I also use it to allow students to review lesson material and for absent students to catch up.
There is a function to set up polls and quizzes which my students enjoy.
All material is secure as you need to create the group and then give the access code to your students . The code has a limited validity and may need to be reset for any students who are late joining the group. 

There is also a great network of teachers on Edmodo who share resources and advice with each other. You need to request access to the groups by selecting a group and then choosing "join". 


Kahoot

On the PC/Interactive board, Teachers need to go to create.kahoot.it and create an account. You can then either choose a pre-made game or create your own.


When you are ready, select play. A random pin will be generated for your students.



Students need to either download the kahoot app or open their web browsers on their mobiles or tablets and type in kahoot.it

They will then be asked to enter the pin which is shown on the teacher's screen. 
They will need to enter a username so you can keep track of who is winning.

Students will be shown the questions on the interactive board and they need to answer by using their kahoot keypad on their phones or tablets. 

After each question has been answered, the results are shown on the board, followed by the leader board so that students can track their progress.


Tellagami

This is great for creating short animated video clips. I play them to students and ask them to come up with responses.
I've also used them as a listening exercise with students noting down key words or phrases.
You can also get students to make their own videos. Perfect for building up confidence before speaking exams.



Memrise.
Also available on the web;  www.memrise.com
Students need to create an account and then select a language course. They are shown a word or phrase as well as a picture. The picture links to the word/phrase and should help students to remember the vocabulary. Students are able to choose from a variety of pictures or even add their own.
For every word/phrase they guess correctly, they earn points. Their score is shown on a leaderboard. Students can follow each others' progress.

20/06/2014

Useful websites for the MFL classroom.



I am constantly looking for new websites to keep my students enthused and engaged in their learning.
Here are some of my most used sites.


www.memrise.com
Brilliant for helping vocabulary to stick. Students are shown the word/phrase in the target language as well as a picture which links to the word/phrase. Students can choose from a selection of photographs or add their own. The pictures act as a memory aid to help the students to remember the words/phrases. Students build up points for every question they get right. Their points then build up and are shown on the leaderboard. 
Students can also follow each other's progress and compete on the leaderboard for extra motivation.
Each student needs to create an account and then select the language they are learning. It's also available as an app.


www.memorizenow.com 

This website is great for helping students to learn their controlled assessments. They need to type in their text and then click memorize. Words will be omitted and they have to try and remember what is missing. There is also a flashcard function which checks they understand each word.

In addition to this, there is the function to only show the first letter of each word, therefore challenging students to remember exactly what they wrote.




My students absolutely love www.lerndeutsch.org.uk  There is a wide range of topics for both KS3 and GCSE German and a great selection of games including "penalty shoot out" and "Fling the teacher". Also on the site, are links to Polish and Spanish resources.


www.quizlet.com  is another great website for vocabulary learning. You can create your own games as well as using pre-made ones.  There is the option to use flashcards, scatter match-up or spell out the word. It's also available as an app.

As well as having a languages site www.bbc.co.uk/languages  which itself is brilliant, the BBC also offer short video clips which are perfect for the classroom as well as for homework. There are clips in a variety of subjects across primary and secondary levels. 


Each clip has a list of keywords which you can link to your lesson as well as the duration of the clip. To get the most out of the clips, I give students a list of words to listen out for and as a challenge, a list of questions to answer.