So Much to Learn...So Little Time

The Glass is Overflowing

Thank you Mr Griffiths.

I am so chuffed, the man in the big office said yes and I will be attending the ECML conference in June. But before that there is the small matter of

a weekend in Addis Abeba as it is correctly spelled.

I'm too tired tonight. More later when I've calmed down.

 

One thing leads to another

Me...to represent the UK...surely a joke.

Thanks to Ewan, who apparently suggested my name to CILT, I've been invited to take part in a workshop run by ECML (European Centre for Modern languages) about blogging, in Graz, as the UK representative. In a glass half empty kind of way I'm assuming I'm not the first to be asked. Are you booked on that day, Ewan? In a glass half full way I'm really quite chuffed to be asked.


What a week. Ethiopia (I'm definitely going by the way), Austria, where next.

I need to ask the boss first though.

TeacherTube

YouTube for teachers...sound horrific doesn't it.

Once again teachers take the fun out of something.

thanks to John@Sandaig Primary I have discovered TeacherTube. Which appears to have safe videos for teachers about teaching and stuff. Not really looked at it yet (do you ever really get the time to look at these things?) but I did find out what American school administrators like to get up to. Interesting to see how fixated they are about the posting of learning objectives in the classroom.

A dream

Ethiopia for the weekend.

Looks like I may just be spending a weekend in Addis Ababa with the assistance of the British Council...more to follow.

Communicate.07

A fine day of learning.

I really rather enjoyed my first experience of giving a presentation to colleagues from other schools from all over Scotland. For some reason I wasn't anywhere near as nervous as I thought I was going to be. Maybe that there were only 12 delegates in my session helped...you don't know what you missed! Unfortunately due to my over exuberance to get started I forgot to press record on the marantz and so didn't record the session as intended.

I picked up quite a lot of information during the course of my presentation. Namely that the willingness of teachers to get to grips with this sort of stuff knows no bounds but unfortunately their enthusiasm is quite often bridled by others who may have control over the IT situation either in school or within the authority. There are some quite worrying stories such IT people who when asked about uploading videos from You Tube said "What's that?" There seems to be a desire on the part of authorities to  block some/all of web 2.0 technology rather than allow it to be used in schools to help educate students on its safe usage. (I know Ewan's being going on about this for ages now.) Youngsters are going to use it at home so why ban it in school? As a profession we need to be aware of all these applications and how to use them.

During the morning I attended the plenary session with Stuart Hay et al from the Anderson High in Lerwick. (Their story of travel adversity brought back fond memories of my time in Shetland.) I came away brimming with thoughts about how we can use/adapt similar ideas if our application to the british Council is accepted. mainly ideas on how to share what we can do with African partners:
    •    film science experiments
    •    film/record debates in mod studs
    •    use different age/stage groups in MFL (ie older native speakers challenge younger TL speakers)
    •    see/hear ourselves as others see/hear us
    •    presenting our locality to others
    •    student research - students have been asked to assess effectiveness of school
    •    shared images course - open to all ages/stages - enables youngsters to have access to higher MFL learners/NS

    •    I am looking forward to investigating their website.

    •    Although school is doing heaps one thing stuart said struck home:     YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN INVENTOR

To close the plenary Robert McKinstry identified some interesting quotes by Stuart:
    •    "Almost every department has a virtual and an active timetable"
    •    "Bringing the world to the classroom"

Surely if we can get a project like this off the ground we will improve
unquestionalbly the level of interdepartmental communication within school.

Later that morning I attended a seminar on the use of mobiles in the classroom.
It was interesting in that i think I now know how to go about blogging via my phone
and I also got some great ideas about how to put them to good use in class for
things like directions around school.

So overall I found it very interesting. I have also come back with a vague idea about producing more "commercially" viable podcasts. Not in the profit making sense but can I set up a programme in school where kids produce podcasts in whatever subjects as ordered by departments. Eg if history want a resource on Civil Rights can we produce one for them???
I think I would like to speak to Mark Pentleton about this one.

But as my blog title says..."So much to learm...so little time"

PS I also learned that it's Communicate DOT 07 and not Communicate 07.

You can download my presentation here if you want. (It's a big file so be patient)

Download communicate.07 - Try It and You Will Learn.mov

Another First

My first presentation to peers.

This weekend sees me giving my first presentation to  my teaching colleagues nationwide. During the seminar I asked the delegates to script, produce and post a podcast. Here are the results.
Hopefully you will leave me a comment or two on how I did on the day.

Download coomunicate_07.m4a

ninemillion for the UN

Microsoft is giving money away all this month.
Sorry folks, but not to you.

If you use the special click4thecause search engine until 31 March, microsoft have promised to donate money the the UN's ninemillion.org programme. The money donated will help the UNHCR  provide education and sports programmes for the nine million youth refugees worldwide. 
Now multinationals are not my favourite cup of tea and where they give they are probably profiting somewhere. However Microsoft and Bill Gates are not quite the same as the evil oil barons and this venture should be supported.
I'm going to suggest at school that Friday (also red nose day) all searches should be carried out via click4thecause.

Signposts or weathercocks?

Are teachers signposts or weathercocks?

I heard an interesting interview with Tony Benn and the weekend (on the Worriker show on 5 Live.) He basically said there were 2 types of politician; those who show the way (signposts) and those who follow which ever way the wind of poularity is blowing (weather cocks). Interestingly he associated himself with Thatcher on this one by saying that she at least kept true to her guiding principles, unlike other more recent Prime Ministers one could mention...

This got me thinking about my profession. Ideally teachers should be able to be signposts. We should have the time and resources necessary to direct our students in the direction which is most suitable for their education. We do after all spend quite some time with them and get to know them. However how often do we feel we are forced to turn off a sure path (in our own professional opinion) to follow the fickle winds of political popularity. Take today's announcements of language learning in primary schools in England (of course we already have it here in  Scotland). Sounds great, it is great, but have they consulted those who will have to deliver it. Where are the languages teachers to deliver it. Successive governments have consistently reduced the importance and relevancy to pupils of MFL and as a consequence there is no way on this earth that the required number of QUALIFIED teachers will be found to pull this off. OR, as seems to be a worrying trend in my homeland, will teaching assisstants be "trained" to deliver language lessons. It is at this point that I thank my lucky stars that I camr to work in Scotland. For all the problems that exist in our education system here at least we are trying to iron them out in a concrete and consultative manner (ACfE). I really feel for my friends and colleagues working down south who have to put up with constant interference and messing around  clueless politicos.

Two Events

What a week, but it was worth it.

Well last week was one of my more busy ones. My S3's took part in the Institut Francais' Rencontres Theatrales on Wednesday. Of course I was worried about how they would perform, but once again they were awesome. It was quite a shared learning experience because I'm not exactly a drama teacher but I had ideas about what I wanted to see on stage. Some of my actors however perform regularly and were able to contribute some excellent ideas about how to stage our little masterpiece, so I am really quite pleased to say I learned a lot from them as well.
If you just happen to be curious about their play ("La jeune fille, le chef et la grenouille: une Cendrillon africaine") you can see it on the departmental blog, along with a slideshow of some pictures I took of the whole event. At a later date I will be posting podcasts of the other acts as well.

Next on Thursday I took part in Joe Dale's Flashmeeting. It was an hour of sharing practice and just decent conversation between hardworking teachers. Check out Joe's post rather than me going on about it...no pint in reinventing the wheel.
It was great to see and here from folk whose names I have come across on the web and it was even better to find out more about their work.

Now I've only got to worry about Communicate 07.

My Eclipse photo

Don't give up the day job.

Here's my rather rubbish attempt to capture the majesty of last nights lunar eclipse.