In search of enlightenment ...

Rosetta2032 Reflections

2011-12-03T19:05:00.001-08:00

"this is getting fun…I keep checking the Edmodo and Docs in my spare time…" (teacher)

"I loved the way that the Rosetta mystery challenged my thinking and my creativity" (student)

Rosetta2032 - a project for languages with Year 7 is now over. Some members of the Resistance were able to locate all the hidden coins, placed in various locations around the school by the mysterious BenK. These students followed the clues left in various places - in online tasks, on websites and in the online profiles of the two main 'characters' - Glen Agua and BenK.

I had planned on writing some more updates as Rosetta2032 unfolded but it wasn't long before all my channels of communication were being monitored. For some reason students thought that I may have been behind the whole 'Glen Agua' scenario (at least I knew someone was reading my blog).

So how did it work?
There were 6 Phases in this journey towards saving the world and it all began with a worksheet...

A worksheet that revealed a website (edmodo) and a code, this was the code which gave you access to your language group. Once in edmodo, there were instructions left on the 'wall' and tasksheets left in the library (on edmodo). This worked well but would have worked really well if I had used it a little more effectively - I found it harder than expected to stay ahead of some of the students. As a result, some students found it a little difficult to locate resources whilst other students did some of the tasks out of the intended order. Furthermore, with time being taken up staying ahead of students, I also neglected the staff a little :(

In the end there were far more positives to come out of it than negatives and there have been lots of lessons for next time, which is the result we were hoping for.

rosetta2032 has begun...

2011-10-10T03:05:00.001-07:00

Fake accounts have been created, fake websites are up and running and the Phase 1 task sheet has been sent. The Bunker (edmodo) is also ready.

Students have just been sent the following:

My name is Glen, aka rosetta2032. My apologies for previous emails that may have confused you but a certain level of secrecy is needed. I have successfully navigated the portal and am contacting you from the Year 2032. The future for you is bleak. It's not a happy place here because there is one amongst you who will one day go on to wreak havoc in the world.

It all changed for the worse in 2018, but sometime in 2011 the man known as BenK hid 5 coins and a code. These were later used somehow to gain the power he now has. We need you to find where he hid them and pass that information on to me.

Your first step will be to find your way to our Bunker; this is a place we can work together. Please join the resistance with me. The attached document will guide you on your way. I will be working with your language teachers - they too have been contacted.

Be vigilant and be aware.

@rosetta2032

Tomorrow our year 7 students will be searching for the future ruler of our world, reading through clues in the target languages of French, German and Japanese. They will need to complete profiles and find clues left along the way (working together) - mind you 'the way' is far from complete. Phase 1 and 2 are ready and Phase 3 will be something along the lines of a Google earth tour. From there they will need to navigate some cuiltural etiquette to find clues and at some stage there are plans for a trek into minecraft for a treasure hunt activity.

At the moment I am not sure how successful this will all be but perfect or not, we expect to learn a lot from it - hopefully the students will learn some language and collaborative skills on the way too. It has been a learning experience trying to create it and I have discovered some cool sites and tools on the way. iSpeech for text-to-speech (in English and other languages) and Wix for creating simple but cool flash sites are my favourites so far.

And so I am off to help The Resistance...

A Journey into ARG

2011-09-28T17:04:00.001-07:00

We are organising our Yr7 programme for languages a little differently this year and this has resulted in a Term 4 where students have already chosen their language for Yr8. Their choices are French, German or Japanese and the most likely scenario for Term 4 has always been that they will work on that language in a class where not everyone is learning the same language, or where the teacher who is in the room is not skilled in that language.

Essentially, we had to come up with a Term 4 'project' that students could work on independently but also be able to receive feedback. When we, as a department, were first discussing the possibility of this new structure for Yr7, I thought it would be a great opportunity to try something new. Now, I'm just hoping it will all work.

Inspired by a conversation with Jess McCulloch earlier in the year and more recently by her fantastic Blackline Mystery, I have been slowly trying to piece together a unit of work for the 3 languages that students will be able to work on semi-independently for about 5-6 weeks. My initial plans were to simply use edmodo: students could then join, complete tasks and use the discussion threads to ask questions. But, the more I read and explored and saw what Jess was doing, the more I realised the potential to go out on a limb and try something completely new. It may not work but hopefully we'll learn from the experience. The challenges were to make it work across all 3 languages and ensure that language learning was actually occuring.

The more I have learnt about and explored the worlds of "Alternate Reality Games", "Interactive Fiction", "Minecraft" and "Transmedia", the more I see the potential that this has, and that this would be an awesome way to learn. I am by no means an expert on the pedagogy of all of this but when I start to worry about those things, I am reminded of a tweet from Steve Collis: "so many sins are compensated for by the level of engagement". For me, engagement is critical. Engagement is the first step in finding a passion for something.

So, as for Term 4, we have: characters, a storyline, a headquarters (The Bunker, more commonly known as Edmodo) which contains our 'Database' (library of links and resources) and accounts across several websites. I will try to blog more of the journey but, for the moment, this is where our Term 4 jorney begins for the students...

Next, they will receive an email.

Corridor Display + QR Codes

2011-07-24T14:43:00.001-07:00

QR Codes are something I've had a bit of a play with but have not quite worked out how I would use them in the classroom. Mind you this post from Joe Dale has some great ideas. I have, however, used them as part of the corridor display outside the classroom. The aim is to change the theme of the display a couple of times a term but...

Last term's theme was 'Sakura' (cherry blossoms in Japan). I generally have a flickr image collage and some simple signs or words in Japanese but this time I included some QR codes that directed students to websites or videos that explained more about the images or the Japanese words. One code led to a popular Japanese song with 'sakura' in the title and another led to an explanation of 'sakura zensen', which can somewhat loosley be translated as the 'cherry blossom front'. The results are below, though apologies for the quality of the mages. If you're looking for a site to create the QR codes, I used Kaywa which enables you to link to a URL or shows text.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Champions of quizlet

2011-06-07T22:16:00.001-07:00

Quizlet is a great tool for revising vocabulary in a language or for learning definitions in any subject. It allows you to set up class groups and when students are logged in and completing the tests or games their scores are recorded. So, for part of our 8 French lesson today we logged in to quizlet and the whole class jumped on to the recently created set to practice conjugating the verb 'aller' (to go).

Students were given 10 minutes, which was counting down on the board thanks to the Countdown Timer over at classtools.net. At the end of 10 minutes jelly snakes were handed out to those on top of the leader boards for each "Set Champion" - the 'Scatter Champion', 'Space Race Champion' and the champion of the 'Most Right Answers' category. All in all, it was a great way to round off the lesson and all were on task.

Study these flash cards

From the Classroom - Student Posters

2011-05-23T03:48:00.001-07:00

Student created posters promoting Japan and some reasons for learning Japanese:

See the full gallery on Posterous

Calling the roll + Target Language

2011-03-05T16:44:00.001-08:00

I don't always call the roll at the start of the lesson for some of my classes, as by mid-way through the lesson I usually know who is there and who isn't. We complete our rolls electronically and so when there's an opportunity during a lesson, I complete it then - either on the school laptop or on my iPod Touch as I wander around. However, I do call out the roll for my new Year 7 classes at the start of the lesson as I don't yet know them so well.

Over the past couple of weeks we have been learning numbers and so rather than have the students call out 'Hai Sensei' (as in "Yes Teacher"), I had them call out their favourite number in Japanese. This has worked really well and so from next week I plan to do this for Year 8, who have been learning the subjects in French. They will be asked to call out their favourite subject in French.

So next time you are calling the roll in your language class, pick a topic for the week and have them call out a word from their vocab list in the 'Target Language'. You could do it sequentially for something like numbers or you could place limits on the number of times a particular word is called out. Please share your ideas in the comments.

Posterous + iPod apps

2010-10-31T04:38:00.001-07:00

Recently I've been playing around with apps on my new iPod Touch, enjoying the camera, video and audio recording functions that my previous Gen1 iPod Touch were lacking.

Over the past year or so I have been using Posterous to post reading exercises and student work for an increasing number of classes. It is simple to use and the fact that you can email posts straight to the web makes it great for creating things on the iPod before emailing it up to the class site. The amazing array of apps available for the iPod meaning you can add bells and whistles to your reading passage.

The following are some of the apps I have so far found useful. I use the free version of most of them though they do have paid versions with extra features that I may soon upgrade to.

I have more and more students appearing in class with iPod touches or iPhones and am trying to show them how they can use these devices for 'good' in my class. Some of the weaker students have used these devices to create simple comics or images with speech bubbles and although it doesn't sound like much, it is so much more than they have done before.

Comic Touch Lite (free)

Add speech bubbles (and a couple of effects) to your photos.
In class: students can take photos of themselves before adding captions to the photos in the target language (Japanese). We did this during the 'Daily Routine'. You could also have students search for images of people, take a screenshot (by holding down the 'home' and 'on/off' button on the ipod) and add captions introducing themseleves in the target language.

SodaSnap (free)

Turn photos into postcards with the image on one side and your written note on the other. Great for writing in the target language and then emailing to your class blog.
In class: great for writing virtual postcards on where they have been, what they did, etc. The amount of text is limited but is useful for Junior classes. Connect with other classes using it and have students write comments on each others posts.

PhotoCard Lite (free)

Another app where you can create postcards, this one uses Bill Atkinson nature photos. The images are great and although they may not suit what you are writing about, you can write more than will fit into the SodaSnap postcard.
This one allows you to send it to yourself via email and also has a 'print-and-mail' service if you want a 'real postcard' to arrive in someone's mail.

Strip Design ($3.99)

Use your photos to create comic strips with a variety of templates, speech bubbles and other effects.
It's useful to remember that you can use it with any image on your device. Take a screen shot, use an image that you have enhanced via another app or use a map (with directions in the target language). With a little imagination the possibilities are huge.

SonicPics Lite (free)

This is something akin to a "Photo Story" type application. You can record audio over images and create a slideshow.
In class: you could use it for listening and speaking exercises, describing images (people or places) or giving directions on a map. Describe daily routine, a holiday, your family and so on.

StoryKit (free)

Create little electronic storybooks with pictures. This app is quite simple but an effective tool for writing in any language. Although it does not allow you to email the finished product, it does give you a web link to your product. Great for digital storytelling.
This is my little experiment with Mr Happy and the camera on the iPod Touch.

There are a lot of apps out there and because many are designed for having a little bit of fun in English, it makes them extremely useful for helping to engage the students and, in the process, for creating a variety of texts using the target language. Then, once you post them on the class blog / site, they are there for reading practice and for all to admire. Check out how I've done it here.

So, download some free apps that you think might be useful, play around with them and, if necessary, get the paid for version before showing the students how they can be used to help them engage with the target language and improve their ability to use it.

What has learning a language given you?

2010-09-29T22:36:00.001-07:00

The central image in this poster is a screenshot of the wallwisher linked here, which asked the questions: "What has learning a language given you? What do you love about language?"

If you love languages please add to the wall by simply clicking in an empty space on it and expressing what languages have given you. You can even link to video, images or audio in your comment.

The text below the image seemed a good idea at the time but basically arose from the presumption that so many people still make (I still hear it at parent teacher interviews); that is, we don't need to learn another language as everyone else speaks English. I am fairly sure that I am not alone in my opinion that this belief is not quite on the mark, kind of like the views of those who dismissed Galileo's views back in the 17th Century.

Home Made Mitarashi Dango: おいしい！

2010-06-12T00:57:00.001-07:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Js Nihongo

Hiragana Play Dough

2010-05-11T04:47:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to buy some play dough for quite a while now, the kind we used to use in kindergarten - or more recently if you have children of your own. Play dough for creating whatever you imagine or, in our case, for helping to remember the Japanese hiragana script.

The class loved it, though its not an activity you would try too often. It was noisy but the students were thinking about the shape of each character and its associated sound. The results, thanks to the departments flip video camera, are below.

Language Learning: tips & tricks

2010-04-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

Teaching our students how to learn is of course as important, if not more important, than what they learn. Learning a language is a new experience for many of our Year 7 students, and for those who have not learnt a language before, they may never have been shown how to do it.

Next time you set "learn the ... vocab on p... of the text" as part of your students' homework, give them a few tips on how they can do that, assuming you haven't already. Let them know that we all learn in different ways and the way one student learns their vocab will not necessarily be the way that everyone else does. We need to help each student find the most effective way for them to learn. At school I learnt my vocabulary by writing it down again and again (and again), now I learn through flashcards and by trying to use the vocabulary as often as possible. Both methods work in their own way but I now prefer flashcards and flash games.

Here's my attempt at putting some tips for language learning into one place. If you have any tips for me to improve the presentation, please let me know via a comment.

Music and Japanese Lyrics

2010-04-01T20:41:00.001-07:00

A while back I wrote here about using music to inspire your Japanese language learning. In class this week my students pointed me towards 'jpopasia', a place to watch music videos and communicate with like minded fans of Japanese and Korean Pop music. The added benefit of this site, from my angle, is that many of the videos have the lyrics (including kanji lyrics) alongside them. This means we can listen to as well as read the Japanese. As mentioned in the post linked above, I learnt a lot of kanji and vocabulary from too much karaoke and now I see many of my students doing the same; as well as learning Japanese through manga and anime. The difference now is accessibility - Japan and Japanese music is so much closer. As the site's authors put it:

All we want is to promote Japanese music outside Japan. It's really hard to find and discover new Japanese music because of the language barrier and availability. We think we can fill this missing link in providing romaji titles and promotional videos.

So, find a song your students like, look at the grammar and kanji in the lyrics and use these to help reinforce the structures and script being learnt in class. In class yesterday, Angela Aki's song Tegami and lyrics helped us to revise a whole heap of kanji and to look at the grammar structures 〜ないで、〜そう（な）and 〜（え）ば. I even learnt a couple of new kanji myself.

Posted via web from Js Nihongo

Blogs for learning about all things Japanese

2010-03-28T01:27:00.001-07:00

Part of my presentation to Japanese teachers this week was aimed at providing teachers with some authentic, real-time Japanese resources - for the language and the culture. For me, these are the blogs and sites that I turn to when looking for images or short, reflective pieces on Japanese festivals, food, music, language and so on. These are my favourite J-Bloggers. People who live in Japan or have lived in Japan and blog about Japan and their experiences there.

The best thing about these posts is not only the quality of the images but also the real-time nature of the blog posts. Posts and images on Children’s Day or Hinamatsuri can be found around those days.

Previously, I have posted on finding images for teaching culture. This new list contains some of those same sites and some added extras that I have found since. It also contains some sites that focus a little more on the language, as well as the culture.

If these don’t satisfy, the best thing to do is to look at the “Blogroll” (usually found in the side pane of the blog) on these blogs.

Muza-chan's Gate to Japan - Great images and explanations of what's happening in Japan

Kimonobox - From Hinamatsuri to decorations to quirky Japanese products (and great images)

Shibuya246 - Awesome images and easy to read explanations

Japan: Life and Religion - Reflections on Japanese life, culture and Buddhism

A Rinkya Blog - A place to find Japanese gadgets and quirky collectibles.

Caught Red-handed - A variety of articles on Japan and the language that contains the occasional gem

Rainbowhill Language Lab - Language and culture, including lots of tips for learning Japanese

Tofugu - Lots of tips and resources for learning Japanese

Hungry for Words: Mostly Japanese - Reflections on the Japanese language and customs

...and keep an eye out for the Japan Blog Matsuri. The recent matsuri on Famous Japanese People was pretty useful.

What are your favourites? Please add any I've missed in the comments section.

Posted via web from Js Nihongo

Japanese Adjectives - The Movie

2010-03-18T18:22:00.001-07:00

Something designed to help think about the difference between i-adjectives and na-adjectives. Designed for my Year 9 class.

Posted via email from Js Nihongo

Yr8 Profiles and MapSkip

2010-03-02T00:47:00.000-08:00

A while ago now I wrote about the potential that MapSkip seemed to have as a place for students to create profiles with images and sound. Well, finally we have tried it out in the classroom and were really happy with how the students were engaged in the activity and working together, reading other student's profiles and commenting on them.

This activity came after a couple of weeks of lessons that taught students how to indicate name, age, place they live, nationality and phone number. The idea was for the students to use this knowledge to create a character in the target language (Japanese), create an image for their avatar and then upload these to a map that was accessible by all. Students could then read each others character profiles and hopefully learn from each other. There was also the option for students to record themselves reading the profile and then uploading that to the map. It took about 3 lessons and went something like this...

Students created their character, giving information about name, age ,where in Japan they live and their nationality. All of this was fictional and the language was checked before moving to the next step.
Students created an avatar using one of the sites in this post from Danny Nicholson. We are a 1:1 laptop school so students saved the image to their computer, either using the Print Screen function or the Windows+S buttons (which saves a clipping straight into OneNote). They then edited in Paint.
Students were given a password and username to login to MapSkip; the site allows teachers to easily create and monitor student accounts.
Once in MapSkip, students located the town their character came from in Japan and added a marker to the map. The then added their "story" and avatar image to the map.
Students recorded themselves reading the profile and then uploaded that to their MapSkip "story". Note: You will need to save your recording as an mp3 file before you can upload. Not all students reached this stage.
Students were set homework to read other students' profiles and make a comment. Some wrote comments in Japanese, some in English. I gave feedback via the comment option.

All in all the lessons went really well and the level of student engagement was fantastic. The only problem we did encounter was that some students had trouble adding a marker to the map. It either didn't allow it or it placed the marker a long way from its intended spot. One student's character now resides in the Pacific Ocean several hundred kilometres to the east of Japan.

MapSkip, despite the minor setbacks mentioned above, was simple to use for the students and the ability to create and monitor student accounts is really useful. It also allows you to filter out all stories on the map so that only your students' stories are visible.

Technology in Modern Foreign Languages – A practitioner’s perspective

2010-02-22T22:24:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for some tips on how technology can be integrated into the Foreign Languages classroom, you need to read the collection of articles embedded below.

Written by classroom teachers for classroom teachers and edited by José Picardo, it covers a whole array of ways that have worked in the language classroom to integrate ICT into all the skill areas. Highly recommended professional reading; and, if you want to go further, create a twitter account and follow those who have contributed to the document. They are all inspirational.

Technology in Modern Foreign Languages - A Practitioner's Perspective

The Basics of learning a language

2010-01-21T20:23:00.000-08:00

I have been working on the presentation embedded below for quite a while now and had in fact forgotten about it for a while. I began working on it as a means to try and help make our Year 7 language students more aware of how best to learn a language. For many students it is their first experience in learning a language and once the year starts it is pretty full on; they learn French for the entire Year as well as a Semester each of German and Japanese. Personally, I would like them to complete an Introductory Unit on 'Learning Languages', that shows them the importance of language learning itself and introduces tips and techniques on how best to do it. But ... time is an issue; those assessments are always getting in our way. So, rather than an entire Unit, I began working on this short presentation to use as a quick introduction. I am not convinced that it is complete, so if you have any tips of your own that would be suitable for younger language learners, please add them in the comments section.

Launch your own SlideRocket presentation!

How about some music to inspire your Japanese learning

2010-01-20T01:36:00.001-08:00

I learnt a lot of Japanese, in particular kanji and an ability to read the scripts more fluently, as a result of spending too much time singing karaoke. My excuse, if you'll allow me to go off on a small tangent, was the fact that my host father in Japan owned a Sake shop and we spent many evenings delivering goods to local "Snack bars" (a very mini version of the local pub). My host family lived in what was then the urban fringe and there were very few 'foreigners' around, so during the course of these deliveries I was of great interest to the locals and often called upon to sing; consequently I have no desire to sing "My Way" or "Yesterday" ever again. However, I do quite enjoy a bit of a sing and I began to look for and sing Japanese songs that appealed to me. This was great for my vocabulary and kanji. I would then rent CDs from the rental CD shop (at the time I was amazed that you could actually rent CDs) and study the lyrics. I still do this in a manner of sorts, only now I head to the internet rather than the shop.

So I guess the point I am trying to make is that if you like music, then it is a fabulous means to further engage and connect with a language. As a result, I occasionally throw songs out to my students, with the lyrics, hoping that some of them will like what they hear and explore the language further through song. Although all students will not relate to this I do know that many have and have also gone on to look for more. On top of that, many of them know more of the latest in J-Pop through their interest in Anime, Japanese TV dramas and video games. All in all, listening to music in any language that you are learning is going to help with motivation as well as vocabulary and even grammar. The best videos to find on You Tube are those that have the lyrics as subtitles, something that happens a bit on TV in Japan.

The following are either songs that I have shown to the class and used to help teach a certain phrase or topic or songs that I have recently discovered and plan to somehow weave into a Japanese lesson somewhere down the line...

For time:

For weather and seasons:

Just found this one; will perhaps use it to look at the Japanese syllabry:

And for a little bit of "family" topic related fun, you can't go past this one:

Do you use music when learning Japanese?

What Japanese songs do you know that could help with vocabulary, grammar or kanji?

Please add any in the comments below.

Posted via web from Js Nihongo

What Matters Now

2009-12-15T15:16:00.001-08:00

Perfect reading for this time of year, Seth Godin has collated the ideas of seventy big thinkers into an ebook that should help us reflect on this year and look forward to next year. He writes:

Now, more than ever, we need to shake things up. Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and the energy to turn the game around.

Available as a free download, it is certainly something to keep you thinking over the holidays.

What Matters Now

Posted via web from I.C.Teaching

Online dictionaries for Japanese

2009-11-01T02:47:00.003-08:00

A tweet from @2nihon the other day alerted me to tangorin, another online Japanese dictionary that I was not aware of. There are quite a few online dictionaries out here, for a variety of languages. Some of them are not so good but there are some excellent dictionaries for Japanese that not only provide meanings, but also example sentences, kanji and kanji stroke order.

If you're looking for good Japanese online dictionaries, these ones work for me...

Denshi Jisho - Good simple to use dictionary. Will accept words in roomaji or kana script. Usually provides useful example sentences to help get the meaning you are looking for. Whatsmore, it automatically optimizes for the iPhone or iPod touch, making it easy to use on these devices.

Tangorin - Although I haven't used this one much as yet, it seems quite comprehensive and simple to use. It allows you to search for words, kanji, examples and even names or classical Japanese. It also gives you the option to sign up, create a profile and build vocabulary lists. One of the best things I have found for this site is the ability to search for different verb forms. If you enter a verb form it will put it into example sentences for you, thereby allowing you to better understand the structure and how it is used.

Jim Breen's WWWJDIC - A fairly comprehensive dictionary that provides meanings, examples and even links to google, google image or wikipedia results for the Japanese word. It is not really visually appealing in its layout but can provide some very useful information on words or phrases.

I haven't used EnglishJapaneseOnlineDictionary for a while but did use it with classes a while back. It could be better than it was before.

For something different, try one of these:

Although it is a little hard to navigate around, Wapedia has a variety of lists. Lists of abbreviated words like ファミコン (famikon), English words of Japanese origin and gairaigo or words that have originated in languages other than Japanese, like Dutch and Portugese. For example, did you know the Japanese word for 'swing' (ブランコ) comes from the Portugese word? Or, the word ランドセル (randoseru), meaning backpack / knapsack, comes from the Dutch word.

Another interesting site is Rikai. It has a cool little tool that allows you to hover over a kanji or word in the page, revealing the reading and meaning for the kanji or word. If you type the address of a Japanese site into the 'box' on the front page it will redirect you to that site and again allows you to place the cursor over a word to reaveal its meaning. Although not 100% effective, it is pretty good.

If your still thinking about Japanese Dictionaries in general, you really should read @rainbohill's post on eduFire, How to Choose the Best Japanese Dictionary.

Posted via web from Js Nihongo

Online dictionaries for Japanese

2009-11-01T02:47:00.001-08:00

If you're looking for good Japanese online dictionaries, these ones work for me...

I haven't used EnglishJapaneseOnlineDictionary for a while but did use it with classes a while back. It could be better than it was before.

For something different, try one of these:

If your still thinking about Japanese Dictionaries in general, you really should read @rainbohill's post on eduFire, How to Choose the Best Japanese Dictionary.

Posted via web from Js Nihongo

Culture with Cooliris

2009-10-26T22:08:00.001-07:00

Inspired by the Cogdogblog to use cooliris as a presentation tool and by Muza-chan to explain the story of 'Manekineko", I searched Flickr for "Maneki neko" and created the wall below, with help from Cooliris for developers (not that I've ever imagined myself as a developer).

"Maneki neko" are often seen as you enter shops, businesses or even homes. The Japanese verb 'maneku' (招く・まねく) means to invite and that is what the cat is doing; inviting good luck or customers into the business or home. If the right paw is raised, the cat is inviting in luck, if the left paw is raised, then the cat is trying to draw money (customers) into the business. Each of the two types of cat has a different kanji character on its chest. One is the character for luck and the other for money. Have a look at the photos in the cooliris wall below and look for the difference (click on a picture and then the icon at the bottom of the wall, in the middle, to start the slideshow).

For the story behind the "maneki neko", read Old Japanese Stories - the real Maneki Neko.

Posted via web from Js Nihongo

Revising with Web2.0

2009-10-18T03:34:00.000-07:00

Whilst trying to work out a way to embed some listening and speaking practice (Japanese) into our Yr9 class wiki, as their Yearly Examinations are fast approaching, I came across a link to Yodio in my delicious bookmarks. I had toyed with the idea of trying to add audio to google maps (I still have no idea if you can do it or not) and also creating another video like this one (with Windows movie maker) for listening comprehension but Yodio seemed to be what I was looking for.

Yodio is very simple to use. Once you've registered, it allows you to:

Upload images
Upload audio either from your computer or directly from your phone (to a US number, so best to only do this if you live in the US).
Combine the images and audio into "Yodios". Each yodio can contain several images with a separate recording on each.
Share your yodio via email, the website or embed them into your own website

Being able to add audio to images is a powerful tool for language learning. Not only can it be used to create simple listening revision tasks for students, as I have, but students could create all sorts of digital stories around particular themes. Voicethread is also a wonderful tool for this and has the added bonus of allowing for collaboration. I have not yet investigated the terms of use for yodio or fully examined implications for student use; however, a quick look at some of the yodios in the Education (Language courses) category, shows that there are students and educators out there using it.

Some ideas for using it:

Describe your daily routine
Take people on an audio tour of you school, house or neighbourhood
Describe people / family members (physical description / what they are wearing)
Describe what you did on your holiday
Describe the weather
.........

Here's one I prepared earlier...

Student task: "Strange animal"

2009-10-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

I love it when students take an idea (or piece of work) and run with it.
On the class wiki page the "Task" came under the banner "Time to CREATE!!!", and they did. The task was given during a unit of work on descriptions and body parts and is as follows:

Scenario: You are a Japanese newsreader presenting the evening news. The item you are reading is in relation to a new species of animal that has been recently discovered in the mountainous forests of central Japan.
Task
Part A: Write the description of your ‘new species’ for the news report, before getting it checked by the teacher.
Part B: Practice reading the report before either (i) recording yourself saying it OR (ii) make a video of the news report.

Students were given the option to work in 2s or 3s. Below is one finished product. Admittedly, the students who created the embedded video chose to bypass the "before getting it checked by your teacher" instruction, but they were immediately forgiven. The video is in Japanese.

Creating profiles, name cards and more

2009-09-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

This week was a week for exploring effective ways to use the simple introductions we have been doing in our Year 7 Japanese lessons (Year 7 only have 1 lesson per week of Japanese so we don't get through a lot of content). The ability to indicate your name, age, phone number and where you live is useful but there's not a lot you can do with it (I thought). In the first class of the week I went back to the trusted "business card" creation exercise on the laptop. In other words, use Microsoft publisher to create a business card that displays information about yourself in the target language. However, not satisfied that this was the best way to engage the students in an activity designed to create something with the target language, I had a look around...

For reasons since forgotten I came up with Yu-Gi-Oh (a Japanese manga that has spawned, amongst other things, a trading card game) and stumbled across what I was looking for: Yugioh Card Maker. This site allows you to very easily create your own Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards. The 'description' box was used by the students to indicate the name, age, phone number (even monsters have a phone number these days) and city in which the character lived - all in Japanese (roomaji).

In order to 'save' creations to the Yugioh card maker site you do need to register; however, we simply used the "PRTSC" (print screen) button on the laptops, pasted the image into paint and then trimmed the edges to what we wanted. My own 'masterpiece' is above. The act of creating the cards only took about 5 minutes as we had previously revised, and written down, how to indicate all the things they were required to include.

I knew this activity was going to work the moment I asked the students to explain to me what Yu-Gi-Oh was. Several were obviously right into it and ready to share what they knew. This proved infectious as before long some students had created 2 or 3 cards. My next task is to work out the easiest way to display the cards on the class wiki site.

The next step is to create dialogues and, having just discovered another comic creation website (Bitstrips), I have a couple of ideas...

Post ELH post

2009-08-19T16:04:00.001-07:00

If there comes a day when we are able to plug a USB into our brains and download all that we have encountered over a period of time (a bit like Dumbledore’s pensieve) the experiences, conversations and ideas from the past couple of days at ELH would certainly be pushing any download limits.

For me personally, the conference was not only about gaining new ideas and seeing how other teachers are experiencing ICT in schools but also about strengthening the online connections that I have made in recent times. Meeting people face to face that I have ‘tweeted’ with on twitter and strengthening that connection through conversations has been invaluable and has again inspired me to pick up the pace and to try and inspire other staff members within my department and beyond it.

A tweet from Jenny Luca this morning has further inspired me to try and encourage more people within our school to see beyond our school and the potential for extending learning that connecting and collaborating (beyond the school walls) will bring. Not only student learning but also, and perhaps more importantly, professional learning. Professional learning that can be done in classrooms, in the staffroom or at home. You don’t need to travel far or be taken off class to do it.

I attended a variety of sessions at ELH and was aware of many of the tools that presenters were discussing but it is always important to see how others are using those tools (like prezi) and being inspired to use them in different ways. However, I was not only interested in the content of the sessions but also in the way the presenters were presenting (i.e. teaching) the information. I felt I could learn a lot from my teaching peers by simply watching them and seeing how they presented the information, the tools they used to do that and the manner in which they did it. And, I did – I learnt a heaps. I was also inspired by their passion, their knowledge and the tools that they used to get their message across. I learnt a lot through the presenters’ use of ICT and am sure that my students can benefit from ICT if used for the right reasons and in the right situations. ‘Tech for techs sake’ will not add value to the classroom and…

The question now is how do we spread ‘the message’? How do we get teachers using technology effectively? We perhaps need to try to get more teachers into each others classrooms as part of their professional development. Team teaching, mentoring and sharing in the classroom. There is no simple solution but this surely is part of the process. The next image needs to be read from the bottom tweet up.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from KGS-ELH09

WhyCT?

2009-08-19T04:51:00.001-07:00

Why use and teach how to use Information & Communications Technology in our classrooms? After all ...

I've been teaching for years without the need for it
All the students need to do is pass the exam and get into the right University course
They need to write exam papers not type them
Social media is "social", it's not educational
.....

Yeah but ... hang on ... What if we don't integrate technology into our subject area? Are we not doing our students a disservice?

Will our students be engaged in the classroom (they are certainly engaged outside of it)?
They may pass the exam but will they survive University?
They may pass the exam but can they think critically?
Don't we learn through engaging in conversations (face to face or otherwise)?

Social media is everywhere. For me, it has opened up my world on an educational level and made me think critically and analytically far more than any professional development day could ever hope to have achieved - BT (before technology). Now, the professional development day (with social media included) is a winning formula. It enhances PD by allowing us to learn, connect, interact and engage in thought provoking conversations.

If our classroom is the student's "professional development day", why not include those ICTs that enhance the thinking, sharing and collaborative process that will help our students to think critically and analytically. Students use social media already, but we need to show them how to use it to help them learn and grow. There are many applications, sites and tools that can be seamlessly woven into lessons to enhance learning, not simply to satisfy ICT outcomes. Our plan is to show you as many of these as we can and hopefully also the results of these.

But first...

Consider this ...

Posted via web from I.C.Teaching

Untitled

2009-08-16T01:39:00.001-07:00

Posted via web from JClass2012

The story of Hachiko / ハチ公

2009-08-12T05:20:00.001-07:00

Rummaging through the internet in an attempt to find the latest on pets in Japan, I was reminded of the story of Hachiko. This is the true story of a loyal dog that, for years after its owner had died, continued to turn up at the same time each day to Shibuya station in Tokyo where Hachiko had regularly met the owner on his return from work. The story of this faithful dog (Akita breed) spread and eventually became a well known story that came to symbolise loyalty and faithfulness.

A reminder of this story continues to wait patiently outside Shibuya station, in the form of Hachiko's bronze statue, and is a popular meeting point. Further testiment to the importance of this story to the Japanese is that the stuffed remains of Hachiko are preserved in the National Science museum of Japan (Ueno in Tokyo). Every year on April 8th a rememberance ceremony is held at Shibuya station in honour of Hachiko and "man's best friend".

In 1987 Hachiko's story was told in the successful Japanese movie "Hachiko Monogatari".

とうとう(meaning finally - with some negative connotation) the American version of the film was released in Japan on August 8th - the Japanese number 8 is pronouced 'hachi'. Here is the Japanese trailer for that movie, starring Richard Gere as Hachiko's owner.

Posted via web from Js Nihongo

Wikis, Student Work & Diigo

2009-08-10T04:59:00.000-07:00

I am a fan of the wiki and use Wikispaces with a variety of classes and in a variety of ways. Basically I began using it as a site where students can access the information they need on a particular topic. A place to put summaries and tasks they needed to complete. Now I am in the process of trying to take it to the next level and harness more of the wiki's potential by creating a place where students can work together to create the information that they need as well as present their own creations and digital portfolios. Somewhere to share, to pool knowledge and to discuss issues.

Currently I use wikis in different ways for different year groups.

For Year 7 it is more like an online supplement to the textbook. One day I aim to make it the textbook. This wiki is visible to anyone but can only be edited by members.

For Yr8 it is as above but in more detail and also a place to share some student work, uploaded by the teacher. As for Year 7, this wiki is visible to anyone but can only be edited by members of the wiki.

For Yr9 I am trying to turn it into a reference text as well as a place for students to work together on projects, upload their own creations and learn from each other; bringing all the work we do into one central location. At the moment this wiki is a private wiki; it can only be seen or edited by members of the wiki.

The Year 9 'experiment' began with their ICT assessment task - to create their own wiki page on the class wiki and describe their likes, dislikes and abilities in Japanese. The ICT component of the task was simply aimed at enabling them to learn how to navigate around the wiki, edit pages and become familiar with the different features of the wiki.

The results were quite impressive. Some students created simple but effective pages using the target language, others were able to create visually impressive pages that both used the target language and embedded a variety of media to enhance it.

The next step was to provide feedback on the students' pages. This is when our Diigo class group became the tool of choice. With a Diigo Educator account, I have been able to create a class group for my Year 9 class. The class group is closed but we share bookmarks and there is a Group Forum to discuss sites and Japan related topics. This private Diigo Group could be the key to effective feedback for learning as it allows me to highlight text and add comments on web pages (including the students' wiki pages). These comments are only visible to those in the class group. Students can see the comments on their own page and on those of others in the class. They have simple but effective feedback and (if they wish) can see if others in the class are making similar mistakes.

My apologies for the quality of the screenshot here but hopefully you get the idea. I have posted a sticky note on the students work, providing them with a little feedback. The sticky note becomes visible when you are logged in to Diigo and place your cursor over the highlighted text. Students can then add to a comment to my sticky note if they need to ask a question or seek clarification. Too easy!

So, for all the teachers out there - get yourself a Diigo Educator Account.

If you're still not convinced that wikis can work for you, watch the clip below and simply substitute the word 'boogie' for 'wiki'. Enjoy!

It needs to be acknowledged that I was able to work on this unit of work and others for our language department thanks to funding provided by the Australian Government through the Languages Program.

Need stories or images to help teach Japanese language & culture?

2009-07-11T20:44:00.001-07:00

When I first began learning a language, teachers rarely used "realia" to liven up the classroom or make the learning more relevant. I will forgive this as back then it was not that easy to get your hands on up to the date items that enhanced the teaching of language and culture. However, the days of faded newspapers is long gone. The internet has provided an avenue for classroom teachers to access real life and up to the minute articles, images, videos and more that can help bring the target language and culture into our students' lives. But, if you're after images of the 'Tanabata festival' in Japan or of a particular Japanese food, you can get so much more if you know where to look...

Searching on Flickr will reap rewards, especially if you search particular groups (related to the target language). Try these ones for Japanese:

To further enhance viewing these images (or any images / video), use Cooliris

Beyond Flickr: Over the past few months I have discovered bloggers and photographers in Japan who can bring Japan to you via their images and stories. Most can also be found on flickr, but you should really check out their sites...

Further to this, yesterday (July 11 2009) two photographers set out to capture 100 smiles in a day, somewhere in Tokyo. A great concept. Have a look at A Hundred Smiles.

Posted via web from Js Nihongo

Language Poster Mosaic

2009-06-10T00:03:00.001-07:00

Language Mosaic
Originally uploaded by acjeppo

Ok... been playing with Big Huge Labs again.

I wanted to create a poster for the hallway to replace the mangy old map we had hanging up (I'm still keen on putting another map up), so I went back to the trusty mosaic creator. Using images found through Creative commons search, as well as the newly created Flickr group - Images to teach Language (thanks to Alice Ayel), the mosaic creator was kind enough to produce the image seen in this post. But that's not all...

I then went to Block Posters. This is a site which will enlarge your image; the poster we created ended up 2ft by 2ft but it could have been larger. The quality of the original images will determine how clear it turns out and the end product can be downloaded as a pdf file. Ours turned up as 12 A4 sheets (this can also be adjusted). We then printed each page in colour, trimmed the edges and laminated each page before putting them up on the wall as a large collage. Even though it does not appear as one large image (more like a jigsaw puzzle), it is still quite effective. So, if you're looking for decorative ideas for your classroom or departmental area I recommend Block Posters to create eye-catching posters.

Promoting Languages

2009-05-25T00:57:00.000-07:00

Further to the previous post, it's probably about time I embedded the following SlideRocket presentation into my own blog. Thank you to Isabelle Jones for already having done so on her site.

Journey to Japan

2009-05-22T22:36:00.001-07:00

Journey to Japan
Originally uploaded by acjeppo

It's that time of the year again when we are trying to attract students to study languages as an elective. So, having already created some motivational posters (see here), it was time to head back to BigHugeLabs to try their "Movie Poster" creator. Attached is one of the movies I have now starred in. Now let's see how it does at the box office...

Winter's coming...

2009-05-16T04:37:00.001-07:00

It's getting colder here in Sydney which means our 'kotatsu' has even more of a Japanese feel about it. A 'kotatsu' is a Japanese heated table, usually placed near the TV - or at least in the living room. It is kind of like a square coffee table but one that you sit at on the floor. Underneath it are heat globes to keep your legs nice and toasty. The blanket is draped over the kotatsu, beneath the table top. And... just like in Japan, we have our little bowl of 'mikan' (mandarines) perched on top.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Js Nihongo

Using wikis in the Language Classroom

2009-04-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Not long after I presented to Japanese teachers in Sydney on Saturday and briefly mentioned wikis, Alex Blagona gave a presentation to Language World 2009 (UK) on using wikis in the MFL (LOTE for those here in Australia) classroom. The presentation was apparently inspiring and very practical. The slideshare presentation below is well worth a look if you are using wikis or considering using them in your language classroom.

Using Wikis in MFL - Language World 2009

View more presentations from Alex Blagona.

Japanese Teacher's Conference

2009-04-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to volunteer as a presenter at the annual Japanese Teacher’s Conference in Sydney. I was at the stage where I felt I had the confidence to get up and share my Web2.0 journey with my Japanese teaching peers, so I took the plunge and yesterday I presented to my peers for the first time. I loved the experience and felt like I’ve grown a little bit more as a result. After the conference and the presentations I saw, I am more convinced that "Teachers teaching teachers" is definitely the way to go.

Whilst preparing for the presentation I was determined to remain aware of what I had learnt from seeing other presenters in the past few years - and not repeat the mistakes that I had perceived in them. For me, proof that reflection is an important part of what we do. See this post here for clarification on that point. Also, as there are so many fantastic resources out here, I decided it may not be the best strategy to bombard people with information, though it’s very easy to do that without knowing it. So, I decided to try to take people with me on the journey that brought me to a place where I was talking to my peers about how to use technology with language students.

I began by explaining RSS (for visual learners) and readers like Google Reader and Bloglines, before moving on to the power of a PLN and where to go to start building your Personal Learning Network. I suggested that delicious and diigo (diigo groups in particular) were great places to start to do this, also briefly explaining about twitter. Some Web2.0 tools we can use in the classroom with language students was the next stopover and so, at that point in the presentation, I switched over from my version of death by powerpoint to the presentation wiki. I had also intended to show a couple of my class wiki as an example of how I use them but ran out of time; so for those who were at the presentation yesterday (and anyone else out there) check out Year 7 Japanese here.

Of the sites shown in the presentation, Voki seemed to be the biggest hit, and so it should be. It is a great site to get students to practice their speaking skills in a language and gain confidence in using the target language. For other sites I found useful last year, check out this post.

Thanks to all those who attended the presentation and for the positive comments. All feedback is appreciated so please let me know if you have any suggestions on how I could improve for next time.

Animoto

2009-03-31T02:31:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit busy the past week or so as on top of the usual end of term assessment writing, marking and reports, I have been preparing for my first PD presentation. As part of the preparation for that presentation I have begun to use Animoto more in class and have prepared a short video to highlight what it is. Animoto is great for putting short videos together and even better if you grab an educator account as it allows you and your students to make longer videos with images, text and audio. Simple to use but effective. Students can include the target language in written or spoken form in their movies. Here's the one I prepared earlier ...

Motivational posters - Learn a Language

2009-03-04T02:26:00.000-08:00

Over at Big Huge Labs (Flickr toys) they have some great tools to help spice up your photos; turn them into posters, calendars, even jigsaws. Anyway, I've been playing around with the 'Motivator' to help spice up the classroom and corridors around the language classrooms. The ulterior motive is of course to spark the student's interest in learning a language and help students to see its relevance.

It should be noted that I was able to produce these materials with funds provided by the Australian Government through the Languages Program.

So far it has worked pretty well and there's been a positive response from the students, especially to the tongue twisters we have put up. The picture here is one sample of what you can do. There are a couple more on my flickr page. Feel free to use them and create some more ...

Time Flying by ...

2009-03-02T20:03:00.001-08:00

Breakfast conversation yesterday taught me something new. Commenting on the fact that the year seemed to be flying by and it was already March, I was informed of the following Japanese expression:

一月はいく、二月はにげる、三月はさる　(ichigatsu wa iku, nigatsu wa nigeru, sangatsu wa saru)

Literally this means: January goes, February flees & March departs (leaves). In Japanese the first sounds in each of the pairs of words (January / go, February / flee, March / depart) are the same, making it an easy expression to remember.

As a means to tracking each day and trying to get something out of them, I have been part of the Twitter365 group. A photo a day – most days, hence the picture for this post is February’s montage. Another great way of trying to make the most of your day is, for those with an iPod Touch or iPhone, download the app – Gratitude. Then, once a day, type in what you are grateful for. Helps keep things in perspective.

Posted via email from jpopsnihongo's posterous

MapSkip

2009-02-16T02:15:00.000-08:00

Searching through my bookmarks for a site to help me with some inspirational lessons for Year 8 Japanese, I came across MapSkip. Although I had no recollection of actually bookmarking it, it seemed to be kind of what I was looking for.

What I was looking for was a site with maps that you could add placemarks and write content into the marker. Like google maps but more... On examination I found several reasons to like MapSkip:

It's relatively easy to create student accounts - just remember to tick the box indicating you are a teacher when you sign up. Student accounts are created through your account and their email is not needed. Sounds good so far. It does look like creating the accounts may take a little time though.
You can allow or block 'outsiders' from commenting on your student's stories. You can also filter the maps on the site so that you only see stories created by the teacher and students.
Not only can you add pictures but also audio and video content.

So, it allows you to add placemarks to a map and write stories at that spot which can include audio, video and pictures. What's more (for me) is that it will accept the Japanese script.

The story I want my students to tell is of their assigned character. Perhaps get them to used their favourite stuffed toy as Langwitches has done with Jose the Travel Bear. Take pictures in various locations and then write the story in the target language, add narration in the target language or even video. Of course, this would be really good if you were going on an overseas trip. Take photos of the toy in famous spots (see above picture from our 2007 Japan trip), add video or even interview the locals in their language. Lots of possibilities but I think I'll try local first.

There seems to be a lot of potential here ... but I'll need to use the site a little more first.

Any ther ideas?

Valentine's Day - Japan style

2009-02-14T20:38:00.001-08:00

Honmei-choko, giri-choko & eko-choko.Chocolate, chocolate everywhere...

The Japanese have always been pretty good at adapting ideas from other countries to use in their own land, or re-package and even re-sell. In fact, as part of the modernisation process of the country people were sent all over the world to look at school systems, political systems, etc - but we'll leave that for another time. Valentine's Day seems to have appeared in Japan in the mid 20th Century and since then has been turned into a marketer's dream. How's it work ...

February 14th is Valentine's Day. This is the day that girls / women give chocolates to boys / men. "Honmei-choko" refers to chocolates given to boyfiends. On top of that there is also "giri-choko". The word "giri" in Japanese implies an obligation of some sort. Therefore, "giri-choko" are given to the boss or males who you wish to show "gratitude" to. This could well include people (ie a section head or boss) that you really do not like. An ideal quite typical of relationships between people in Japan. "Eko-choko" is new to me, but apparently an attempt to make the wrapping of Valentine gifts more ecologically friendly. The Japanese are renowned for using copious amounts of paper to wrap presents.

But wait there's more... March 14th is when commercialism is taken over the top. That's the day, known as "white day", when males return the favour and buy confectionery (originally marshmellows, hence the name "white day") for the females who they received chocolates from. I assume that this can get complicated.

Posted via email from jpopsnihongo's posterous

7 Things ...

2009-01-27T00:13:00.000-08:00

It seems I was naive in thinking that I would squeeze out at least a couple of blog posts during the holidays. Term 1 is off & running ... But before we get too far into it, and having been tagged a while back by Jess McCulloch, I thought I could at least get one simple post in to start off the year. After all, it wasn't that long ago that I only associated the word 'tag' with schoolyard games (more specifically, being hit hard by a tennis ball).

Anyway, this first post is all about 'me'. 7 things you may not know about me & weren't really worried about in the first place. Mind you, I have enjoyed reading other blogs in this meme. As you build your Personal Learning Network (PLN) and discover the value of it, this kind of meme adds a little bit more to the connections being made. So, here goes ...

Despite being born in Wimbledon (England) I am far from a competent tennis player. In fact, the last time I attempted the game resulted in a prolonged back injury.
As a child, I lived for 6 years in Athens. An awesome place to live and go to Primary school. Although I don't remember the bits and pieces of Greek that I knew at the time, I think that it was here that I picked up my interest in languages. Many friends were from bilingual families and speaking more than one language was the norm.
Ever done something really silly ...??? Once, whilst at St Catherine's, as a result of being most concerned about receiving my dues from the tooth fairy, and after examining various 'safes' for it - I distinctly remember trying out every possible spot in my school desk ( one of the old sloping wooden desks complete with ink holder & groove for pencils) - I decided the best spot was in my ear. Sounds silly now but I thought it was the perfect plan. End result - surgery to remove it. Not sure if the tooth fairy came for that one or not.
2nd year of University was not the best for me in terms of passing courses (more for not being there than anything else) but that was the year that I first went to Japan, on a Homestay program, and everything fell into place from there. Despite getting off at the wrong station and then having to wait several hours before eventually finding my Homestay family, I was fascinated by Japan from the very first moment - and still am.
In an attempt to save money and go back to Japan, I once worked at the airport in catering. This basically involved cleaning the scraps off the in-flight meal trays and putting them through the wash. During busy times things banked up a bit and some trays contained several science experiments worth of growth on the left-over food scraps. It's always good to gain a new perspective on things.
My wife claims that one of her first thoughts on seeing me was that she would "never marry that guy". It was at work (an English conversation school in Osaka, Japan) and allegedly my shirt was half hanging out at the time.
Down time for me is running, preferably along the bush tracks not far from our door, and cycling. This year I aim to ride to work more, to do my little bit for the environment - and because it's quite a nice ride.

So there you go ...

Time to tag a couple of others for this meme ...

Isabelle Jones

Lisa Stevens

Joe Dale

José Picardo

Web 2.0 Tools that worked in 08

2008-12-11T15:08:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been trying to reflect a little on the year that has just passed (school has now finished for the year for me) and was thinking about what worked and what didn't. So, keeping in line with the internet's fascination with lists, I thought I'd put together my list of web2.0 tools that have given me the most success in the language classroom this year.

1. Quizlet was without doubt the most successful. Boys were motivated to use it, create new lists and outdo each other in the vocab games. Students were even using it in other subjects to help learn definitions, etc. I suggested that they share this fact with their teachers.
2. Voki - again, this motivated students to create and use the language we had learnt. This also proved successful in getting others in the department inspired to use ICT in their language classroom. The languages department went a little "Voki mad" in the last weeks of school - kids loved it.
3. Wikispaces - This has been great for Year 7 & 8 students. One central place they can go to for vocab, grammar review, activities, links and a place to view each other's creations. Simple to use & can be private as well as ad free for educators.
4. My StuDIYo - Students can create their own quizzes, which can then be embedded in other pages (ie. wikispace). Good for mixing culture and language. Worked well with engaging some of the more reluctant students; in mixing culture and language they were able to make questions that matched up with their interests. I learnt a lot about French Rugby Union through this exercise.
5. Making comic strips with the students at Make Belief Comix. There are many sites to do this sort of activity and some that I aim to try out in the holidays but this one did the job well this year.

These are my top 5. Below are some sites I aim to check out during the holidays ...

What worked for you? Any other suggestions???

PS: A note on Ask500 (thanks to Lucy Barrow for the tip)

As I was going over programmes for next year & considering the "old ways" and possible "new ways" of doing things, it occurred to me that we often use little surveys in the language class. "What's your favourite food?", etc. So, as an experiment, I went to the survey site Ask500 to type in my question.

Firstly, very happy that it accepted the Japanese script!

Secondly, even happier when I went back a few hours later to see that I had about 35 responses to my "好きなかもくはなんですか" (What's your favoutite subject?) question.

Even had a comment!

Now, if I was impressed by the world's response to my little question, I guess the students would also be happy. They could then report back to the class in the target language, summarising the responses received. "The favourite subject for .. people was ..." OR "...% like history"

The ability to comment on questions is both a positive and a potential negative. Some of the discussions in the comment are interesting and could be well worth discussing in some classrooms. Unhelpful or inappropriate comments can be "downvoted", meaning that (if enough people subtract points from the comment) the comment will disappear from the default view. Here's mine here ...

Screencasting & language learning

2008-11-04T01:44:00.000-08:00

I've been checking out Capture Fox - a Firefox add-on that I originally came across thanks to the the Ed Tech Crew Podcast. Capture Fox allows you to very easily make a screencast in Mozilla (though only in Windows XP & Vista). Once installed, you're only a couple of clicks away from recording (with voice if you choose) what you are doing in the firefox screen or in the whole window - at this stage you can't reduce the size of the area. The only problem I've found so far is the size of the screencast files, though you can choose to lower the quality and reduce the size.

Anyway, today's brainwave centred around using the add-on to help engage my students in a bit of language learning through some "Virtual ordering at a restaurant". The plan at this stage goes a little like this ...

After installing the add-on in firefox and learning how to use it we will:

Go to the McDonalds website in Japan to have a look at the menu - practising some katakana script while we are there.

On second thoughts, I will use 3 or 4 different restaurant / food outlet sites rather than all using the same site. My personal favourite Mister Donuts will no doubt make it onto the list.

Students will write down what they'd like to order, again ensuring they use the correct script. They will need to order more than 1 of each item to practice using the correct counter (our latest grammar point).
Finally students will use capture fox to create a screencast of themselves ordering their chosen food and drink (in Japanese of course). We will then share our creations.

I may need to refine the plan a little but it's a start. Could screencasts like this one day constitute a speaking assessment, or am I taking things too far with that idea? Short of skyping a restaurant in Japan (hmmm... maybe one day), this seems to be the next best thing. On face value it seems like a reasonable attempt to make Japanese more relevant to the students by showing them how they can use their knowledge to order food from a real menu, but we shall see...

Check out my attempt at the task below:

Opening doors through language learning

2008-11-02T22:48:00.000-08:00

Languages open the door is a new website (funded by the Australian Government) which aims to:

"highlight the intercultural, intellectual and vocational benefits of learning languages to a range of key stakeholders;

reinforce existing positive attitudes to languages education and assist in culture change in schools and school communities where there are negative attitudes; and

provide education authorities, schools and teachers with effective promotion and communication materials and products which can be used for a variety of purposes."

This is a positive step in the promotion of language learning in Australia. Too many students, and indeed parents, see languages as irrelevant and as somehow getting in the way of learning our own native language. Nothing could be further from the truth and hopefully this website can not only provide language teachers with some extra resources but also help young people see the value that languages add to their lives.

There are some useful parts of the website in terms of promotional materials. In particular, the Languages Champions section of the website has some bios of Australians who have been able to open up their career paths through being able to communicate in other languages.

Check it out and remember - Languages Matter!

Gathering thoughts on writing a language programme in the 21st Century

2008-10-27T02:44:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working / thinking as I blog here - it seems to be the only way a blog post gets written (most are still in the draft folder).

Anyway, I'm trying to come up with a new and hopefully more effective approach to teaching the languages that I teach. There's a lot floating around in my head that I'm trying to gather together and create a relevant 21st Century Programme with. I am fascinated by and love the work of Andrew Churches at his Educational Origami wiki and am looking forward to a time when I can delve further into the wealth of information and ideas there. On the front page of the wiki it is written quite clearly - "Welcome to the 21st Century". Happy to be here!

But what is that for a language teacher? How can we use the Web2.0 tools available to enhance our student's experience of language learning and indeed get them speaking, reading and writing the language - being able to communicate in the language. Well firstly it brings an overseas country (where they speak the language) into the classroom. But how do I put all these tools and ideas into a programme that would be accepted? Also, my programmes at the moment are based around a textbook; do we need textbooks anymore? Do parents really need (at a school with a laptop programme) to fork out more money for textbooks when all that is in them can be found for free using the laptop? Now that's a programme I want to create and I suspect that Blooms Digital Taxonomy can help us here.

There are some great tools to aid in the lower order thinking skills (when applied to languages) - remembering & understanding. I love the simplicity and fun of Quizlet and, it seems, the students find this a very useful tool; not only do they ask to use it but I happily discovered that the Quizlet bug spread to other students in the year group who are using it in a variety of subjects (unfortunately their teachers are not yet aware of quizlet or that their students find it an effective tool for 'remembering' and thus for revision). Voki is another simple and effective tool to engage language learners.

I know I'm rambling but bear with me - I am trying to gather my thoughts and the endpoint is an effective programme for teaching language in this new era of change. For the moment, let's take it back to the beginning. To be able to communicate in a language you need to remember the vocab and understand the grammar. We'll start with the vocab. Textbooks are full of lists of vocab, usually topic based. I like topic based approaches but sometimes the vocab selected in a list is a little odd (my favourite in the text I use at the moment is 'haunted house'). So, for the next unit with my Year 9s I think I'll take a different approach; trying to make it more relevant using Web2.0 tools. The first stage will go something like this ...

The students will need to learn the skills necessary to use a bilingual dictionary - both print and online. I will create a lesson to show them how to best use each of these types of dictionary and ensure that they are choosing the correct word in its right context. They also need to be sure the online dictionary is an accurate and reliable source.
They will then decide on the words in their vocab list and work together to build a suitable list of vocab on that topic (using Google docs). My theory is that they will choose words that are relevant to them, they they would want to use. If they thought 'haunted house' was relevant and useful, then it will go into the list.
As they have created the list for themselves, it should be easier to remember, but quizlet can always help.

Teaching grammar is always a little trickier but I suspect an interactive whiteboard would serve as a useful tool. Hmmm... we now have one in the library. Need to install the software on the laptop and check it out.

Will have to leave this next stage for the moment ...

Flickr photo: Scattered Thoughts, Like Scattered Leaves:-)
Flickr user: mysza831

Make a comic strip with bubblr

2008-10-16T03:50:00.000-07:00

I have just discovered bubblr (see above) which comes to us from the people who brought us bookr They have a number of flickr toys that enable you to create with flickr photos. For those who can't read Japanese (or see it as it's way too small), the dog is simply saying - "I want my dinner. What are you looking at. Hurry up!"

It is a very easy way to create simple comic strips - using flickr images. Simply type a flickr user name or tag in the search box and it will provide a series of images for you to choose from. The trick to this is finding images that actually relate to each other. I did find a whole heap of images of one particular dog, which I could have used to create an interesting comic strip - but my students are far more creative than me and so I shall see what they can do in the not too distant future. The comic strips or single images will of course be in Japanese or French (depending on the class) and I think a prize will be on offer for the most creative and most popular (they'll vote on this ... hmmm, could use some sort of online poll for this ...). Anyway, ideas are developing in my head and so will put together a plan and see how it goes ...

Exploring Japanese with google maps

2008-10-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

I am actually typing this as I experiment with google maps.

The subject is Japanese, the topic is "travelling in Japan" & the idea is to create a map in google maps with placemarks that describe various tourist locations in a city (in this case Kyoto). I have created my first placemark at Kinkakuji (The temple of the Golden Pavilion). The description is in Japanese, using vocabulary and kanji characters from the unit.

So, now I've had the idea (since my description says I took a photo there) of adding a photo to google maps. After a bit of searching and confusion (much confusion), I discovered via a google video on youtube that it's really quite simple to add a photo. In your map, click on a placemark...

1. After clicking on the placemark to edit it - choose "Rich text"
2. Click on the image icon and, in the pop-out, insert the URL link to a photo (I linked to one of my flickr photos)

So I now have a google map that describes 3 tourist locations, with explanations in Japanese, and a photo attached.

Why have I done this? What use could it have? Why didn't I simply create a reading comprehension & stick some pictures in?

Well ...

The students all visited the locations in Kyoto on a school trip last December so they are relevant to them
I will create comprehension questions for the students to answer - a simple activity (but important in gauging their understanding of the unit vocab and kanji)
I will embed or link to the map in our class ning so that the students can access the map from anywhere at anytime and comment on the whole process. Easy access.
I will invite the class as collaborators (allowing them to edit the map) and have them add to the map. Each student will be given 2 locations that they have visited and will be required to write a written piece in each placemark describing the location and what you can do there.
Students will then (via the ning forum) comment on each others creations and suggest grammar and vocabulary that they could have used

All in all, the aim is to engage the students with "real" Japanese. Have them create written pieces that are useful, relevant & easily expanded upon later on if they choose - as further revision, extension work or simply to use the language somewhere that it can be seen and recognized; not simply written in an exercise or workbook, marked and forgotten.

The google video that put it all succinctly for me is below:

Been thinking about ... Flickr

2008-10-03T20:28:00.001-07:00

One holiday job I created for myself was to organise my digital photos a little more effectively - beyond uploading them to my computer, and a few of those onto Flickr. I have made progress but this all got me to thinking a little about the possibilities of using flickr more effectively in the classroom.

I have found flickr and applications like FlickrStorm & the Creative commons search really useful in finding images for the various slideshows and videos I have created for use in the classroom. A couple of flickr users in particular stood out for me in providing relevant and insightful images of Japan. jpellgen has literally hundreds of photos of Japan and for many of them he has used the ability to add descriptions / captions to your photos to include informative descriptions of the places he has captured. Descriptions could include important historical or cultural information or an explanation of signs in the target language. This and the ability to add notes to photos is surely something that we could utilise more in the classroom. Anyone can add a 'note' to a photo; to add meaning to the photo, explain something or translate something in the target language. But wait, there's more ... Adding comments to images could also help engage students in meaningful discussion of photos and their cultural or historical significance.

This could all be done in the confines of your own private group or it could be done in the public domain. I have already started to add some English descriptions to my photos and aim to write some in Japanese (for higher level students) and maybe even some in both languages.

So, in summary:

Use captions to provide background information on the image and its location

Use notes to explain details

Use comments to create discussion and engage

For language teachers, this could be all done in English (to emphasis culture) or in the target language. For teachers of History, Geography, English, ... the possibilities perhaps go further.

Have I missed anything? Is anyone out there already using flickr successfullly? I would love to hear of any ventures into using flickr in the classroom.

Some thoughts on professional development

2008-09-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

I am liveblogging and so .....

It's the last day of term and professional development day for staff. I had been looking forward to learning some new things which I could mull over in the holidays and put to good use. - today is ICT centred PD. The session I'm in at the moment is giving me something to mull over but not what I had planned.

The session is on IWBs. We now have one in our library and I thought, having seen and heard all the inspirational people out there talk about smart boards and how they can be used in the classroom, that I should work out how we can use it. The session got me thinking not so much about interactive whiteboards but more about how we present these sorts of tools to teachers. The session has been showing us more about the basics of using a whiteboard and what it is, rather than showing us all the amazing things that can be done with the IWB. If I had not know anything about IWBs I would have learnt only that it is a glorified whiteboard / laptop screen / overhead projector; not what you can actually do with it - engage the students, have them involved in their own learning. Most teachers in the session are as switched off as the students often are - or completely off task (writing blog posts).

To attract teachers into using these tools, shouldn't we be showing the amazing things others have done - and that have worked. Shouldn't we be showing how they can engage the student, inspire the student, not simple update the chalk and talk to a "magic pen" and talk, talk, talk ...?

So what will I take away from my pd session on IWBs ?

The IWB has a "magic pen".
It is not necessarily the technology itself that is turning teachers away (or not pulling them in) but the way it is presented to teachers.
I can learn so much more from an online PLN and from social networking / bookmarking sites / microblogging sites than any PD session; and this is ongoing - everyday, anywhere PD.
I'm ready for a holiday - to catch up with some blogging and some professional development from the comfort of my own home.

Hopefully the after lunch sessions will be better.

Slideshare: World's best presentations

2008-09-11T22:47:00.000-07:00

The winners of Slideshare's "World's Best Presentation" competition have been announced and some of them are truly amazing, not to mention thought provoking. The overall winning entry is called THIRST (it is also the Education category winner) and highlights the water crisis on our planet. There are winners in a variety of categories and also honourable mentions. Here's one of my favourites, as well as the winning entry:

Life in Commonalities

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: photographs life)

THIRST

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: crisis design)

Check out the results page here.

Trailwalker - a journey

2008-09-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

Looking up at the wall next to the computer desk here is a little note with my goals for the year on it. They include things like using wikis more in the classroom to running sub 90 minutes for a half-marathon. The other main ‘sporting’ goal is to run a marathon. I probably won’t achieve that this year as I expanded on it, readjusting it a little. This happened early in April when I agreed to join a team for Sydney’s Oxfam Trailwalker.

So, last Friday 500 teams of 4, including ours, set out from Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury river in Sydney and made their way to Mosman (on beautiful Sydney Harbour) along 100km of bush track, fire trail and a bit of bitumen. The idea is to raise funds for the work that Oxfam does in 26 countries around the world; and, it’s always good to readjust your goals to challenge yourself further.

Here are my reflections on the 20 hours and 19 minutes it took our team to complete the 100km…

Looking back on things, it is mental strength (some may call it obstinacy) which will get you through. Those who can control their own mind and harness all that lies within will always get further. I knew that before, but in terms of personal experience, I know have proof. Breaking down your goals into manageable bite size pieces is paramount. Looking at all that you want to achieve can sometimes be daunting, but breaking it down into smaller pieces will enable you to get there in the end; one step at a time.

We began at 7am under a cloudless sky – the forecast was for possible coastal showers so the fantastic weather we had on the day was a relief. The first kilometer or so of the course was on the road and we spent this running at a fairly decent pace; the plan being to stay up near the front until we got to the spot where the course winds up a narrow staircase and onto the fire trail. The plan worked and we had room to move all the way to the first checkpoint at the 14km mark. We spent 3 minutes at this checkpoint, during which I ate a banana and one of the best peanut butter sandwiches I have ever eaten. It seems that some foods taste a whole lot better during an endurance event. The cup-a-soup I had later that evening was also beautiful, yet when I tried one a few days previously I had trouble finishing it; until I needed it, it was truly horrible!

Between Checkpoint 1 (C1) and 2 (C2) lay another 14km and some of the most beautiful bushland and views around. The ridges and valleys between Cowan and Berowra are great for bushwalking! It’s also our backyard. The team are all from Berowra and we knew the terrain well but the terrain didn’t know that, or care. By the time we got to Berowra (C2) my right knee was starting to cause some discomfort. Berowra was the first checkpoint where support crews were allowed access and so we were able to access our personal supplies and restock on powerade, gels and whatever else we had set aside. Being from Berowra also meant that we had quite a few supporters around; including my wife, our daughter and a teammate’s children. This lifted spirits and helped us on our way to Apple Tree Bay, 13.5km away. It was this section that was to be the most physically punishing on at least half the team. Soreness in my right knee was exacerbated by the downhill sections, despite my attempts to skip down some sections of the trail to avoid bending my knee. Changing my “running” style resulted in lower leg pain later in the race. Meanwhile, toenails were coming off the toes of others in the team. We didn’t see too many other teams on our way to C3, eventually arriving there at about 2pm. More rice triangles (おにぎり), peanuts, a muesli bar and 12 minutes later we were on our way to C4, 8km further on.

The trail to C4 was fiddly with lots of tree roots to avoid tripping over. Mind you a couple of the large sandstone rocks across and beside the trail provided the perfect place to lie down to try and manipulate the nerve in my leg from the spot where it was pinching and providing flashes of pain down the side of the knee. There were other interesting things along the Gibberagong track. A massive goanna was spotted as we ran past one point and at another point my mind was distacted from the pain by a couple of big and quite beautiful Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. These birds make an amazing sound, quite surreal in that situation. The weirdest thing was passing a young guy in T-shirt, jeans and a pair of thongs – and of course earphones in his ears. I can remember wondering where he was going and from where he had come. Still, these are the things that help keep you occupied as you travel 100km.

After a relatively quiet couple of sections, the trail from C4 to C5 (9km) was one of the busiest. At one point there were 4 or 5 teams weaving along after each other; one of which provided their own karaoke playlist – Their “Grease” medley was my favourite! Walking with other teams not only provided some entertainment value but talking with others and getting their perspective on things (their goals and so on) was refreshing. St.Ives Showground was the next checkpoint and 58.5km into the course. It was here we got changed into our nighttime gear – already it was getting quite cold and darkness was on its way. The feeling of putting on a clean shirt, socks and long skins was something I’ll always remember. A bit weird having memories about putting on clean clothes, but this sort of event will do that to you. A new perspective on things is often needed in life. The picture on the front of the trailwalker map book shows a young girl carrying 2 large buckets full of water through a field – that is the reality for many people around the world. Compared to most, we have it so easy here in Oz. There were several points along the rest of the trail when I wanted to complain about the pain in my legs and used this image to help me through.

We left C5 with headtorches and warm clothing ready to take on the last 41.5km. Our support crew was doing a fantastic job in keeping us well fed and positive. We eventually crossed the line as a team of 4 but in reality there were 6 people in the team and without the extra 2, we could not have got as far. On top of that, the support of the volunteers cheering us into each checkpoint and on nearby corners was also enormous and massively appreciated. Thank you all organisers and volunteers! Loved those peanut butter sandwiches!

Just outside of C5 another member of the Berowra Bush Runners club, which we were representing, joined us on the trail for a while, again providing us with a welcome distraction and some updates on things in the real world. By the time David left us to make his way back home it was well and truly dark. Our night training run a couple of weeks prior to the event had been done with a full moon. This time there was virtually no moon and once we descended beneath suburbia, even though it wasn’t far away, it was very dark. Walking at night is a weird thing. There are times when time moves really quickly but then later it seems to stop. You are never really sure where you are or what is around you. I have been along that section of trail 3 times now, yet have no idea of the surrounding scenery. I know the sounds and smells of that area but do not know what it looks like. I like that how it is.

C6 was 70.5km into the course and knowing there were only 2 checkpoints after this one was a positive. We were starting to need positives and a call to our support crew prior to arriving at the checkpoint provided further incentive to reach C6. They had cheese and bacon rolls! You can only eat so much rice in one day. Fatty bread sounded pretty good to me. Coming out of C6 there were a lot of downhill sections, mainly on roads and paved fire trails. It was here I took the Trailwalker experience to a new level. The pain in my shins was quite severe and at its worst going downhill; so why not go uphill whilst going downhill? Walking backwards helped quite a bit and despite concern that I might fall over (fair enough – darkness, fatigue, etc), I persisted with this normally bizarre habit for most of the remaining road downhill sections of the course.

The 10km from C6 to C7 was mainly flat, but tricky – rocky overhangs, creek crossings (at least the tide had gone out when we passed) and fallen trees provided a bit of an obstacle course. This section also seemed, at least to me, the longest section of the course. As I wrote above, at times when walking in the dark the passage of time simply stagnates, and here beside the inner reaches of Middle Harbour, time (in my world) seemed to almost stop (yet I still moved through it). This section went on and on and on … But, we did make it to Davidson Park and the cup-a-soup did taste really good and at that point I knew we were going to make it across the line as a team and achieve our goal. I left this checkpoint really positive and it seemed we were all a little more positive and determined to finish any way we could. The conversation picked up a little and silly jokes made it back onto the agenda. I had also found a new friend called ‘neurofen’. I’m one of those people who only takes medicine when really necessary and had been saving my use of the anti-inflammatory pain killers for C7. My logic being that we were then about 4 hours from the finish line. The plan worked.

From C7 to C8 was the shortest section of trail at 7.5km and was much better than anticipated. On the 2 occasions I had done this section previously I had face planted and rolled my ankles; I did not have good memories of this section. Maybe that, and the fact I was taking more care than usual, helped. C8 was the last checkpoint and a huge landmark for us all. We spent more time there than we anticipated but at that stage it didn’t really matter. Barring major injury, we were going to make it and that’s all that mattered; besides the heaters in the tent’s checkpoint were really nice!

From now our goal was close and we were buoyed by the fact that there was only really 3.5km of bush trail left, though pretty rugged trail. We were pretty much ‘over’ (sick of) bush trail by then. After that it was mostly roads and pathways. So along these roads we walked; one step at a time, until the final cruel obstacle greeted us a kilometer from the end. After 99km someone had decided to build a staircase (it had probably been there for a while), a seemingly endless staircase. On either side of the staircase was a fence and there were signs telling you that shooting on or over this land is an offense under the crimes act. Reading that was a weird experience. Further on a sign read “500m to the finish”; I began to count my steps, 1,2,3,4,5… I’m not quite sure how far I got but it was at some point that I realized I had moved ahead of the rest of the team and so slowed down to re-group. Several minutes later we crossed the finish line and the feeling of elation, mixed with fatigue, pain and all the rest, was simply amazing. Euphoria indeed!

So, as I sit here in PJs that I have been in for a day and a half, looking down at feet that do not look like mine, but which can move a little more normally than this morning, what have I learnt from all of this? Do I want to do it again?

Challenge yourself beyond what you think you are actually capable.
Aim high but when it becomes overwhelming, break it down Checkpoint to Checkpoint, step by step, one little thing at a time.
Enjoy it while it’s there. Enjoy your challenge – take in some of the scenery on the way. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Remember, a good (or not so good) rendition of the Grease soundtrack can do wonders to lift your spirits - Thanks go to The Bustin’ Strutters team for that reminder.
Every now and then, put things back into perspective. You may be doing it tough but someone is always doing it tougher.
Plan! The old adage it true – "Failing to plan is planning to fail”.

If you’ve made it this far into this post, I hope you enjoyed my ramblings. We are still raising funds for Oxfam and if you are now inspired to sponsor us (despite us having already finished), please do so at the following link: Berowra Bush Runners Too. Well done team!!

Google Custom Search

2008-08-17T03:26:00.000-07:00

There is more to Google than I know what to do with but one way to help refine your student's searches when they are given an assignment is to create your own mini search engine with Google Custom Search. This allows you to select the sites that you want students (or anyone else that looks at it) to use when looking for information on a particular topic. You can set up the search engine so that it only uses the sites you choose, or gives preference to those sites.

By clicking the "more" link on the Google homepage (or your iGoogle page) and then clicking "even more" you will find yourself with quite a spread of Google products and innovations. It is here that you will find the Custom Search option under the banner of "Explore and innovate". Setting up your own search engine is then quite simple. Fill in the name, description and keywords for your search engine and then select the sites you want that engine to search. The Standard edition also has the option to not show ads on the results pages if you are a non-profit agency, University or government agency. My first offering is here or use the search box below:

Remembering Hiroshima & Nagasaki

2008-08-02T23:03:00.001-07:00

For those of you who have visited Hiroshima or Nagasaki and have looked through either of the museums in those cities, you would most likely have been affected by what you saw. Some believe the bombings were necessary, some believe that they could have been avoided. I believe that this debate is no longer necessary. There is no doubt that the bombings of Hiroshima on August 6th 1945 and Nagasaki on 9th August 1945 caused unbelievable suffering and devastation. What we must do now is not debate whether what happened was right or wrong; we must simple never forget what happened and learn from those events.

Each year in August I try to educate my students as to what happened in those cities and to encourage them to never forget the power of the nuclear weapons that still cast a shadow on our world. This year I have used searchme to try to bring together various websites that can help do that.

Searchme

Maximize stack view

Searching for surveys - network to the rescue

2008-07-31T03:44:00.000-07:00

For a while now I have used the first Japanese lesson yr7 have with me to gauge their impressions of Japan and try to find out exactly what they think of when they think “Japan”. Until last week I have done this via the whiteboard and class discussions – first asking them what words they come up with and then discussing stereotypes. This week I thought that I’d try to combine this with the ICT available, feeling that this would allow me to get through things quicker and represent things visually to the students through word clouds, so that our discussions would be more meaningful. So I though I’d search for some sort of online survey.

Enter my slowly but surely expanding personal learning network (PLN). Within a few minutes of posting a question on Diigo, asking if anyone had used surveys effectively, Jess McCulloch came through on Skype and the ensuing discussion led me to a variety of sites that could create surveys (Thanks Jess!). However, the forms function in Google spreadsheets seemed the simplest way – and worked a treat! I was able to email the students the question and they could simply click on the link in the email and type their response. The responses are automatically updated in the spreadsheet – magic! You are also able to add a variety of gadgets to the spreadsheet – I added a word cloud as this is exactly what I was looking for in the first place. A visual representation of the student’s impressions (stereotypes) of Japan. The result is below.

So, when I got to class, some boys had already responded and some results were in the spreadsheet already. If this had not been the first class with the students I could have got them to answer before class, for homework. This would cut out the initial time spent responding.

All in all I was pretty pleased with the way it went; simple but effective - and all I did was use the Google Docs Help centre. The word cloud was good but when you put it into wordle it looks so much better ...

Thanks network!

Windows Movie Maker

2008-07-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

It's holidays here in NSW and holidays means a little extra time to investigate things further. So, inspired by Dianne Krausse's clip Que savez-vous, and compelled by the fact that I needed to come up with some trivia questions and challenges for our Year 7 Languages Day, I sat down to create some simple photo story / movies using Windows Movie Maker. Now, for the seasoned campaigners out there, some of the following may be old news or no news, but lets hope there is some good news in here. Regardless, having found the time to play around in movie maker, I discovered a couple of useful things to share:

Video Effects - In the Edit Movie menu of movie maker is the "View video effects" button. Clicking this provides you with the opportunity to change your photo or video clip in different ways - subtle and not so subtle. If you are using a clip that is not of the best quality, use the "Film age, Old" effect; I found that as it is designed to make it look older, it covers up the fact that the clip is old or pixelated - not perfect, but it helped.

Splitting Clips - The ability to split clips into two or more parts and to take snap shots of movie frames enables you to have some fun with your video clips and edit them. Change the order of events in a clip, place photos or text in between parts of a video clip or simply edit out certain parts of the clip. My first ever attempt at a screencast is at the link here to help you with this - I did try to embed it, but it was huuuge (took over the whole blog). I used jing to create the screencast.

And here is the resultant movie. The finished product:

Now where was I ... Bookr looks good

2008-06-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, haven't been here for a while! I have been thinking about it a lot but never quite got here.

Anyway, the reason I am here is that I have just had a very quick foray into Bookr , a site which allows you to make very short and simple story books - using Flickr photos. Very simple to use and I probably haven't yet explored it enough but ... In an attempt to make 'daily routine' as a topic in Japanese a little more interesting (we are now learning to tell the time and I was looking for the next step) I went back to some very old bookmarks and this is where I ended up:

Simple, but when trying to inspire the students a little more than usual, it may work .... I'll let you know what happens.

Flickr photo by: svenwerk

"Language teachers of the world!"

2008-04-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Inspired by several things & (more specifically) people - including the work being done by Jess McCulloch, Don Osborn and the International Year of Languages itself - I have decided it is time for me to try to contribute to the theme that "Languages matter!".

This all began with the creation of an ICT assignment for Year 9 Japanese. In trying to come up with something original and something related to UNESCO's Year of Languages, I decided to give them a scenario:

Japanese has become an endangered language. The number of people speaking it in the world has rapidly declined and it is in danger of becoming an extinct language (like many of our own country's Aboriginal languages). Your task is to help save the language.

In order to complete the above students were given various tasks, including making a movie or slide show depicting Japanese language and culture and what it means to them. However, it is the last part of their project(slightly adapted) which I would now like to assign to language teachers and any other bilinguals out there. The idea is to share our experiences with students to encourage them to persevere with their language learning.

As part of your task to promote the learning of language, you are to use voicethread to give your opinion on how learning language is important to you. Why should we study language? How can language learning help us to grow personally and where has learning a language taken us?

This is an invitation for all language teachers around the world to reflect and share with the students of the world why we continued with learning languages and what we have discovered on our language learning journey. I have created a wikispace entitled "Our Language Journey" and a voicethread for us to do this. It will take me a day or so to add my journey but I invite anyone interested in language - and encouraging our students to learn languages - to participate.

ありがとう、merci, danke ...

Meme: Passion Quilt

2008-04-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been tagged by Isabelle Jones to carry on the Passion Quilt, started by Miguel Guhlin. The task is to find an image that captures what we are passionate about in our field of education; what do we want our students to learn at school?

Let's call the photo above - "Now & Then"

I took the photo above at Kiyomizu temple (Kyoto, Japan) whilst there in December last year with a school group. So, for me, it is not only the picture but also the circumstances of why I was there that contributes to the "passionate" theme. It was tiring work travelling around Japan with the school group, but well worth it. Seeing them respond to the places and the culture they were engaged with was, in their words, pretty cool. Watching them using the Japanese language to do this was even better. Seeing them passionate about Japan was very satisfying.

Now to the picture itself. My main teaching area is Japanese and this photograph encapsulates what drew me into Japan and subsequently the teaching of Japanese; that Japan is a modern nation but at the same time is so ancient / traditional. This is the original reason for choosing this photo. However, the photo represents more than simply Japan & Japanese. It represents my passion for teaching the students not only about language and culture but also about broadening their thinking, expanding their horizons. Despite the world having shrunk, there are still many students who do not see outside of their area, let alone their region or their country. Furthermore, expanding on this from my subject area (& thinking about some of what I've read over the past couple of months), this photo also represents the need to embrace the new directions and opportunities in ICT, whilst remembering that there are pieces of 'the old' culture that we still must learn from and use. My passion in this area continues to develop and grow - thanks to those in my expanding networks out here ...

So, now it is my turn to tag for the extension of the Passion Quilt ...

3 simple rules of the Passion Quilt meme are as follows:

Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about and give your picture a short title.

Title your blog post "Meme: Passion Quilt" and link back to Miguel Guhlin's original post.

Include links to 5 people in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

This has been a most useful exercise!

Clipmarks - bringing things together

2008-04-07T04:22:00.001-07:00

I am in the process of experimenting a little with Clipmarks which allows you to take pieces of text and images from different sites and put them together into a 'clipcast', like the one I have pieced together below. Without much thought, I collected the excerpts from 2 different sites about the Japanese animated movie Spirited Away and placed them into a clipcast. If you haven't seen Spirited Away - I recommend it!

Although clipmarks does have a character limit of 1000, it doesn't seem to limit the images you put in. Once saved, you can email it, embed it or post it straight to a blog - which is what I am doing right now. It not only allows you to put it on your site but also onto facebook , myspace, iGoogle & more. You can also add comments to other people's clipcasts & favourite them. Try the explanation on YouTube.

clipped from www.onlineghibli.com

Synopsis
10-year old Chihiro becomes trapped in a forbidden world of gods and magic when her parents take her to investigate the other side of the tunnel. In order to survive, Chihiro must work and make herself useful, and find within her the courage and resolve she needs to save her parents and escape from a world where humans are dispised.

clipped from www.sparknotes.com

Names are equally important in the characters’ quest for
freedom. After Yubaba steals part of Chihiro’s name, Haku warns
Sen not to forget her former name or she will be trapped in the
spirit world forever. Sen must remember the qualities that make
her who she is and remain true to them

Only those characters with the inner strength
to hold onto their names and identities can free themselves

Words play a role in both Chihiro’s initial enslavement
at the bathhouse and her eventual escape from her contract.

clipped from www.onlineghibli.com

Just YouTube it

2008-03-23T18:16:00.000-07:00

It seems the amount of truly useful and inspiring videos on YouTube has no end ... This morning I came across Joe Dale's post on an animated version of the Bayeux Tapestry - an almost surreal experience for me, not having seen the tapestry for a very long time (it sped me way back to a Primary history class). Well worth a look.

Meanwhile, I came across my contribution below whilst searching for illustrations of movies about Japan and how people relate to Japan and the Japanese language - part of a Year 9 ICT assignment. It's not only a fantastic concept - illustrating a trip to Japan in 2400 photos, 4 minutes and 43 seconds - but also extremely well thought out and well put together. Enjoy!

Using placespotting for languages

2008-03-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I came across placespotting amongst someone's links on del.icio.us - my apologies, but searching through my google reader I couldn't track down exactly who I should be thanking for the link.

Placespotting allows you to create riddles with google maps. By dragging and zooming the map (within the placespotting site) you can select any place in the world for people to find. You then create up to 4 clues to help people find the answer to your riddle. What's in it for language teachers is that you can write your clues in a variety of languages. I have recently being doing comparisons with my Year 11 Japanese class and so in order to reinforce this, I created a couple of riddles using "bigger than..." and "closer to... than..." type clues using the target language. It could also work well for directions and descriptions of places, to name just a couple of other topic areas.

It is also possible to search for riddles created in various languages. By clicking on the 'search' tab and selecting the language of the hints, you can find riddles that others have created in the language you are teaching or the language you are learning. Once you have created your riddle it also enables you to share it via email, put a link into a page or embed it. You can also add random riddles to your iGoogle homepage or your webpage.

Below I have embedded an example in Japanese and also the random riddle embed. The site can also be quite addictive so be careful!

Some things I've seen on the way

2008-03-02T01:19:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me the other day that the start of the school year is a bit like starting a triathlon. The swim leg in the triathlons (short ones) that I have been in are generally a triangular swim - out to a buoy across to another buoy and then back to shore. Once you start, you know where you are headed and frantically try to get there whilst avoiding being kicked or punched (accidentally of course) by everyone else trying to do the same thing (see picture). A couple of minutes into it the field spreads out and you then try to find your own space and a bit of rhythm. The fact that you are swimming in open water, without the benefit of the black line at the bottom of the pool to help you go straight ahead, means that after a while you become a little unsure and have to look up to make sure you're going the right way. I've done that a few times this term. After a bit of a look, without breaking your rhythm too much, you put your head back in the water and keep on going.

I have now reached the first buoy! I have swum around it and looked up to judge my course to the next buoy. It's assessment writing time between here and that buoy. Then it's back towards the shoreline - mind you I'm not quite sure where the end of term and holidays fits into this analogy. Perhaps the holidays is the transition area - where you lose the wetsuit and jump onto the bike. ??? Plenty to do before then.

Anyway, I have seen a few interesting things on my way towards buoy #1. For example, check out Quizlet. It calls itself a tool for learning vocabulary and that it is; but it is more than just flashcards. Once you have registered you can create word lists (it also works for Japanese script - so I assume other East Asian scripts as well) and it will then generate various activities and tests to help you remember them. Again, I have not delved too deeply into it but it looks very good and well worth it. The ability to share and access others lists is also there. There is one activity called 'scatter' that you can actually embed - see below. I've already added this one to my Year 11 ning page.

Give it a go!

What worked - Week 4

2008-02-25T20:56:00.000-08:00

It’s been a hectic few weeks but it often seems that at times the simplest things are the most effective. This is the story of a Year 7 French class – we were learning the numbers from 1-20.

Lucky enough to have a projector in the classroom I have been able to use projected images as part of the fly swatter game, used occasionally by language teachers. The fly swatter game is something similar to the card game snap. In pairs students are required to snap up the relevant card (usually a vocab item) before the other person. Sudden inspiration (the kind that finds me whilst running around the neighbourhood) had me using pictures of various national football (soccer) teams, the kind where they’re all lined up and smiling before the game. Football players conveniently have their numbers on the front of their shirts as well as the back, so we projected these images on the screen, called out a number in the target language (French in this case) and it was on… The winner in each case was able to stay up at the board to face their new challenger and, after it was all over, confectionery was passed on to those who had been able to stay up at the board the longest. To keep them on their toes the picture was changed to a different team, just as they got used to it.

Projecting the image onto the board minimised any damage that could have happened to the flashcards – as a result of over-enthusiastic language students (all boys). It enabled those not involved and not so confident to take it all in before they had a go and at the end of it all, some who knew very few of the numbers were able to identify them. Reasonably happy with this one.

Image by robert_a_dickinson

Using Sketchcast to teach scripts

2008-02-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

Sketchcast is a great little tool for drawing pictures; also with the ability to add sound or narration. There is a simple registration process to join up and once you have done this and created your artwork, the sketch is loaded onto the website - it doesn't seem to have the ability to keep your creations private. It is also helpful if you have a tablet laptop as it is a little hard drawing with the mouse.

As soon as I discovered sketchcast I saw it as a way to capture some of the things I have been drawing on the board for years. When teaching the Japanese scripts (and this also applies to Chinese characters or any language with its own alphabet / script) I have always tried to get the students to make connections with the sound, to enable them to remember how each character is pronounced. Most Japanese teachers here in NSW will be familiar with the "Hiragana in 48 minutes" (Hiroko Quackenbush et al) flashcards, which create pictures out of the hiragana to facilitate memory and learning. Sketchcast enables us and, more importantly the students, to do this in our own special way!

Here's my attempt. My Year 8s have been given the challenge to improve on my creations. That shouldn't be too hard.

Where exactly am I ...

2008-02-04T02:06:00.000-08:00

This world out here is truly amazing. Talk about flat!

Driving home this afternoon through the Sydney downpour - the one that seems intent on sticking around for the rest of this week - I was half listening to an interview with UB40 on the afternoon drive show. Mid-way through this interview the announcer began talking to a caller who, and you'll have to forgive the lack of detail, was talking about a YouTube video he had posted that was suddenly getting a lot of hits and was now up to 10,000 or so. Having only started to listen in half-way and more intent on seeing my way through the rain, I pieced together that he had put up a song about his teenage son. A mental note was made to try and find it later. Not much later and the mental note had washed away with the rain.
Until ...

Just been reading Cool Cat Teacher's proclamation that Monday should be "Funday Monday" on your blog, and there it was! Writing from the other side of the world she had inadvertently pointed me exactly where, earlier in the day, my curiosity had wanted to take me. So here it is again - Sort Of Dunno Nothin'

And to add to the funday feel, here's my contribution. This one came out of a search inspired by the fact that it is UNESCO's International Year of Language. I had been looking for some things to help along the discussion of why we learn language. Here's one reason ...

Comiqs for story telling

2008-02-03T02:12:00.000-08:00

Having read about comiqs on the Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom blog, I decide to check it out; comparing it in my mind to other comic generators like stick generator & ToonDoo. I spent 20 minutes registering and creating a very simple little cartoon using pictures uploaded from my desktop. There is also the option to get photos from the web but I'm yet to check that part out.

For the moment, it seems to be an easy and convenient way to create comics. The ability to upload and use your own photos appealed to me, especially as our recent school trip to Japan harvested many relevant photos for the Japanese classroom. Perhaps we can create a comic story similar to the one by Argoed High School about their trip to Paris. If I can produce the one below in 20 minutes (if that), imagine what our creative students could come up with using the target language and a pile of photos we took in Japan!

Still thinking about ning

2008-01-26T01:40:00.001-08:00

It's time to just sit down and write.
I've been thinking about ning and how I can use it in the classroom; it seems that many are doing this and finding it useful. For those of you who don't know, a ning is basically a social network that you have control over. You make it, you manage it. Anyway, as seen in a previous post, I used one on our trip to Japan - and it worked really well for that. Now, to use it in the classroom (as a language teacher) ...

Within the ning we can use its various tools. Time to think aloud ...

Blog - students can blog in the target language. Perhaps students are assigned days on which they must post a blog in the target language. We can then connect with other classrooms - domestically or overseas (Japan for me).

Podcasts - the ning allows us to upload music. Create podcasts and place them on the site. Podcasts of grammar explanations, speaking questions, listening comprehensions. Of course the students too can put up their speaking answers and so on.

Member profiles: students can write their profiles in the target language, adding to it as they increase their grammar and vocabulary base.

Embedding objects: videos, sketchcasts, brainstorming activities using Bubbl.us can be used in all sorts of ways. I have already found self-introductions in Japanese (from You tube) that are appropriate and can be used as listening resources or stimulus for the students own speaking or writing tasks; however, finding these does take time. Sketchcast is something I'm keen to use as it could be used in Asian languages to help explain their scripts. Students should also create their own explanations - moving, purpose built flashcards. All these can be embedded into the ning.

Forum: Questions in the target language could be placed on the forum and discussed. Homework could be to answer these things.

There is probably a lot more to it than this but it's a start.

Travelling with ning

2008-01-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

Must post a blog entry, must post a blog entry ...

After a whirlwind trip to Japan with 17 of our school's finest and then the Christmas / New Year period, I've finally managed to get back to what I started out here.

Prior to leaving for Japan, I set up a ning network for parents and the school to use to track us on our adventures. All seemed to find this useful; though in hindsight, I needed to explain how to access it a little more effectively. I set it up as a private network - by invitation - and some parents were confused by the invitation in their email inbox. Anyway, it was a simple way to post pictures, videos and blog entries on what we had done and where we had been. Really simple. We did not have a laptop with us but the hotels we were staying in all had computers, albeit a little slow, we could use. Feedback on the ning has all been positive and if you are going on a similar expedition, I would recommend setting up your own little network. Ning's can be set up as a private or a public network. The best one to check out is Classroom 2.0. If you're a teacher, I highly recommend it as a place to network and learn. Professional development at its best.

There are, of course, many other features we could have used but didn't, for no particular reason. Next time, I would set it up a little earlier and use the forum to answer questions (that came via email or phone). I'm sure there are plenty of other things that can be done. The next plan is to set up a ning for the language classroom ...

A week in the bush

2007-11-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

A week on Year 8 camp with no sign of a laptop and not even mobile phone coverage was refreshing for a while but it made me realise how much I had been using the computer recently.

Still, being out in the bush for a few days allowed the teachers and instructors to get to know the students a little better in a different environment - and vice versa. We were all able to view each other from a different perspective and appreciate qualities that were previously unknown. Learning from and about each other and each other's abilities. We worked collaboratively out there as well; helping each other set up camp, cook, bushwalk & cope with sleeping amongst ants & a variety of other bugs. Some were used to it (not me), some had to get used to it pretty quickly. Professional development in yet another form.

Out here, it's the same. I am learning from teachers, students, administrators and all sorts of people. Maybe one day people will also learn from me - that's part of the plan anyway. It is no longer top-down PD / learning but we are able to easily deal with, teach and learn from all 'levels' and so far I am finding this far more effective.

Outed as a "lurker"

2007-11-14T01:01:00.000-08:00

In my reading over the past few hours I have come across the term "lurking" a couple of times. It seems that for the past few weeks, that is exactly what I have been doing - lurking in the background, reading blogs, setting up feeds and joining Classroom 2.0 (without actually contributing much yet). Despite the creepiness of the term, this lurking has been very educational and is working out to be a great exercise in professional development.

I have just been looking at Kim Cofino's 21st Century Educator wikispace (where I came across the term lurking for the second time within an hour or so - it was then I felt like I was being watched). Anyway, the slide presentation seemed to be the exact path that I am finding myself on. Sampling (I now have way too many feeds in google reader), making connections, joining groups and even contributing - though I'm still working on this one. The collaboration that goes on out here is fantastic and more valuable than most, if not all, the conventional type of professional development that I have done in recent years. I would recommend "learning by lurking" to anyone else out there. Find blogs and wikis to read and learn from and you will gradually work out what it is all about. Eventually you will be ready to move even further along that path into the Web2.0 world.

raison d’être

2007-11-09T15:08:00.001-08:00

Last night as I trawled through the ever increasing feeds in my google reader I came across Ewan McIntosh's comments on "The Illiterates of the 21st Century" and realised that this is what I'm trying to avoid in setting up a blog. I see much potential in using the computer and Web 2.0 in the language classroom and am hoping that I can use this to help my teaching and my learning. It's an attempt to get some professional development in my own time and to avoid the possibility that I am in some ways illiterate - at least out here.

For me the journey and the inspiration for all this came out of attending the Navcon 2K7 ICT conference held in October. It was there that the door to Web 2.0 opened up wide - a little too wide at first, as my head is still spinning. Which leads me back to why I'm here. My theory is that if I take it one step at a time (or one application at a time), the spinning will slow down to a slow whirl - am I hoping for too much? In doing so I seek to help those who are new to all this (including myself) and seek help from anyone who is willing and able.

Here we go ...

Step 1

2007-11-05T02:14:00.000-08:00

There seems to be many reasons to write a blog; to reflect, think out loud, even ask for help. For me, Web 2.0 is the inspiration for all this blog stuff. Many years ago as a prac teacher doing a Diploma of Education, we had to write a journal to reflect, etc on our days at school. And, it worked, it helped. So, many years later, in an attempt to find new direction and passion, why not start a similar activity – albeit an updated version. We' see what happens next ...