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...
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.
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.
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.
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 ...
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 ...
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.
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