Using Vokis

Use Voki's as a different way to do a listening task or just to grab attention at the start of the lesson.

Here's one I made.

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.

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. 

Engagement

One of our CPD focuses this year was "Engagement". This need not involve teachers becoming "Entertainers" or "Magicians" and feeling like they have to put on a  "Variety Show" lesson. Student engagement can be increased through the simplest of ideas. Often, it can be the way in which something is presented to the group.
I like to mix things up every now and then just to keep students on their toes, so-to-speak.
Here are some of my ideas, I must admit they are probably not original but they are popular and have great results in my classroom so please feel free to use them/ adapt them.

1. What's in the bag?
This works better for the younger classes. It basically involves a bag inside which you need to put an object/objects relating to the lesson. Students then have a limited number of guesses to work out what is in the bag and ultimately, how it links to the lesson. I recently did this with year 7, the lesson was pets and I hid a toy rabbit inside the bag.
You can vary the questions from open to closed. For the older students you may wish to only allow questions in the target language.

2. Secret Mission.
Write out the lesson objective or learning outcome on paper or card, using 1 piece per word. Jumble up the words and put them in an envelope. Write "top secret" on the envelope and hide it under a student's chair.

When students arrive, tell them that you need to recruit a "Secret Agent" to help with your mission. Students should check under their seats to see if they are the "Secret Agent". The student with the envelope may recruit 3 sub-agents to help them. They should then open the envelope and re-arrange the words to crack the code and reveal the learning objective/ outcome.

3. Golden Ticket.
For this you'll need a book of raffle tickets (3 for £1 in the pound shop) and some self- made golden tickets.

When I launched this with students, I played a clip of "celebration" by Cool and the Gang as students arrived in my room. This got their attention straight away. I explained that during the lesson I would be rewarding good behaviour and great work with raffle tickets. At the end of the 2 week cycle, I would draw a raffle ticket and the winning student would get a golden ticket.
The ticket can be redeemed for a number of things including, hot drinks, cake, a magazine and the permission to listen to music during 1 lesson.
I found that student engagement increased almost immediately. All year groups are very keen to get their hands on a golden ticket.

4. Graffiti Wall.
For this you'll need active inspire on the interactive board. Insert the wall background. This can be found by clicking view, browser, background, textured.

This is a great way to review key words/ terms or find out how much students already know about a new topic.
I give them a few minutes to think about the words and then I ask them to come up and write their word on the board. Students seem to enjoy choosing different colours and fonts.

Question Time

As part of our Whole School CPD, I have been focusing on "Questioning".
Rather than looking at scaffolding questions and use of Blooms or Solo taxonomy, my focus was more on my questioning patterns.
As Teachers we are constantly reflecting on our practise and striving to make our best better. One thing I am guilty of is choosing the same students to answer questions. We've probably all called on our "reliable" students during observations to answer questions as we know they will and there won't be any awkward silences.
I have tried a variety of methods when it comes to choosing students to answer questions. I have a random name Powerpoint as well as the random function on Class Dojo. These are good for varying the students who are chosen to answer but still do not guarantee that all students are taking part.

I decided to trial a "tick sheet". One student is nominated as the "Question Monitor" and during the lesson they put a tick next to the name of students who answer questions. Half way through the lesson, I check the sheet and I am then able to see which students have not been chosen. This then enables me to focus my questions on those students. 

Alongside this, I have introduced "Catch and throw" questions. I ask a question and a student "catches" it. If they cannot answer then they can "throw" it to another student. They must then "catch" the question back and say whether they agree/disagree and try to answer the question for themselves.

It's early days but so far I have found this to be very effective in my lessons. The students also enjoy the competition element to try and get a tick next to their name.

Interactive starters

I've recently been experimenting with starter activities, especially those that focus on improving listening skills.


Acapela.TV  

This is a great website for creating short cartoon video clips.

First you need to choose a character and then you need to choose the language.

Insert the text and then click play.

Some characters speak quicker than others so you will need to consider that when choosing classes to use it with.

I have used these clips in a variety of ways;

1) Give students a list of words, they tick off what they hear.

2) Multiple choice questions.

3) True/false questions.

4) Listen and summarise in English.

With year 7, we looked at basic introductions. First they listened to the one I had created and answered questions about it and then they got to make their own. We shared them as a class and gave feedback to each other.

Voki

You can spend ages on this website creating animated clips. 

It is perfect for designing unique listening activities. 

Here is an example from a year 8 German lesson on "Town"

Students were asked to listen and note what was in the town.
Less able students were given a tick list.

Minimum preparation Maximum effectiveness

Somedays we just feel as though there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. We may find ourselves, 3 weeks into a term, churning out the same mundane lesson starter. Books on desks, pens out, write down the date, LO etc. Vocabulary testing or finishing off work.

In the past, I have been guilty of slipping into a "lazy routine" and then I wonder why students are switching off in my lessons. This term, I was determined to break that habit and therefore I set myself the task of using a different starter each lesson to help students engage and settle quickly in the lesson. 

To ensure that I didn't increase my planning time any further, I focused on things that needed minimum input but that would (hopefully) result in maximum output.

One of the activities that my students love is Trapdoor. 

It's very easy to adapt. Create a powerpoint with 2-3 sentences on. Every so often, place in a word cloud which contains 3 alternative words. Write down 1 word from each cloud on a piece of paper. Students have to read the text out loud, when they get to a word cloud, they have to guess which word you have chosen. If a student guesses correctly then they continue. If they are incorrect, a different student takes over. They must start from the beginning of the text each time.

Word Scatter is also popular with my students. I choose a mixture of pronouns, verbs, nouns and time phrases. Students have to create as many sentences as they can in 3 minutes.

To differentiate, I display verbs in the infinitive and challenge students to conjugate them or use a different tense.

An alternative is to call out a sentence and students write it down on a wipe board.

Talking Dice are great for encouraging group talk. Students roll a dice 3 times. Each time they make a note of the numbers. On the board, display a grammatical item which links to the dice numbers. Students must use these items in their sentence and they are assessed by their peers.

Two of my most popular items on TES are Give Me a Clue and Sentence Auction. 

For Give Me a Clue, put students into pairs, one sits facing the board, the other faces away. Display pictures on the board which one student must describe to the other. For a challenge, I list "forbidden words" which cannot be said during the description.

Sentence Auctions are simply a mixture of sentences which are either grammatically correct or incorrect. Students work in small groups and are given a starting fund of 20 Euros. They must then bid on the sentences, saying whether or not they think they are grammatically correct or incorrect.

Other ideas include;

Oral dominoes: Each student is given a domino card with target language on one side and English on the other. One student has the starting card which just contains an English phrase. They read out the English and the rest of the class listen to see who has the TL translation. This students then reads out their card. This continues until all students have read out their dominoes. It is great for keeping students focused. My students like to have a "practice run" the second time they like to be timed to see if they can get faster as doing it.

Gimme 5: Students have to say 5 items of vocabulary linked to a certain topic,  5 opinion words, 5 past participles, 5 adjectives etc.

Word Stretcher: Write a word on the board from a recent topic eg croissant/der Kopf/ coche, pupils suggest a sentence containing the word, for which you award a score out of 10 for their impressiveness. Vary generosity of your mark scheme dep on ability of group.

Clear the board:  Write up 20 or so words or phrases randomly all over your board. Split the class into 2 groups. Set the clock. Call out a word/ phrase, pupils compete against each other to say the translation. If they are correct then you rub it out. Penalty of 10 seconds if anyone calls out. They try to beat their own previous class record each time you play.

Pass the bomb: You need a kitchen timer and a small box. Paint the box black and write "attention bomb" on it. Put the timer in the box. When you play, set the timer for between 1-2 mins, put it into the box and ask a question that links to something that you've covered recently. It needs to be something that can have many different answers.Give the bomb to the first pupil, who can pass it on when they've said an answer. Whoever is holding the bomb when it goes off has to do a forfeit, like saying 20-1 backwards in the TL or singing a song.

These are just a few of the things that I use but hopefully they will be of use to you. If you'd like a copy of any of my resources then please let me know @SJBarnes81.

I wish I had a time machine

As a teacher, I wish for lots of things; some things are completely unrealistic such as; shorter working hours and more time for planning. Some things are bit of an "If I'm lucky" wish such as; more money for resources, more curriculum time for German. Of course, it would be fantastic if those wishes came true but if I were only allowed 1 wish I think it would be a wish for a time machine. There are many things that you could do with a time machine, but I have 1 specific idea in mind.

4 years ago, I had a year 8 tutor group. On the whole they were a lovely group with the exception of a few individuals who never really caused too many issues. However, something happened to that group after the Christmas holidays. A small group of boys had suddenly changed from hard-working polite individuals to argumentative, mischievous, trouble-makers who regularly prayed on the vulnerable and identified targets for bullying.

After several phone calls home, I eventually managed to arrange a meeting with the boy's parents. I expressed my concerns only to be faced with a typical parent's response "I think you're exaggerating things, my child could not possibly behave like that" "You just don't understand how friends behave with each other, they're not causing any harm"

My biggest frustration was that one of the boys in the group could not see that his so-called friends were messing up his most important school years. He was a very intelligent and polite young man who, up until this point, had been very popular with both his teachers and peers. He excelled academically and had a bright future ahead of him. 

A few weeks of reports, bullying issues and racking up behaviour points went by and I decide to take a different approach. I spoke to the head of year and decided to split the group up. I informed the boys that 2 of them would be moving to a different tutor group. As you can imagine, they were not happy and a lot of abuse was hurled my way.

I sat down with 2 of the boys and explained that my decision to move them was for their own good. I told them that they'd regret it in 4 years time if they messed up their exams because they'd put their friends first. Of course, the boys disagreed and they continued to get into trouble.

Before the end of the term, they moved into different tutor groups and I noticed that soon after, their friendship groups changed. They started to focus more on rewards and improving their behaviour whilst the rest of the group continued on a decline with one of the boys eventually moving to another school.

Fast forward to 2013, both the boys are sitting in assembly waiting to hear who will be Head Boy in year 11. You can imagine the surprise when it is announced that the student who I was most concerned about in year 8 is now to become Head Boy. I look at him as the announcement is made and he has the biggest smile on his face.

After the assembly, he came over to me and said "Miss, I never thought I would ever be Head Boy. I am so very grateful that you moved me out of the tutor group in year 8 and I am very sorry for the grief I gave you." It was at that moment, that my heart melted.

So why do I wish for a time machine?

As a current year 7 tutor, I am faced with attitude on a daily basis in the form of an eleven year old. He has already decided that secondary school is not for him and that he will be making up his own rules.

With my time machine I would transport him 5 years into the future so that he could meet his year 11 self and realise that all the arguing and aggression is pointless and that one day, he may actually be thankful for his teacher's help.

For now, I'll keep wishing...