EduBlog Language Learning Experiences with technology

During 2013/14 academic year I have been supporting students with their Spanish GCSE, A-Levels and IB ab initio exams. In addition, I am now accredited as an examiner for DELE levels B1/B2 by Instituto Cervantes to prepare and assess students for their DELE exams. There are so many differences on the way these exams are set and assessed and the resources available for tutors for preparing that it is imperative for all teachers to get know in great detail what is at stake. DELE It seems clear that DELE exams are the hardest for a tutor to help preparing mainly because there are no past papers available. This material is being destroyed after every entry.  Also, time restrictions, for the speaking test the students have only a few minutes before the exam to prepare the answers for the questions. No material is allowed in the room and students have no access to the questions until the exam starts. IB ab initio This is very similar to DELE on terms of mate...

Last week I was asked what logistical questions students taking tests for Spanish always ask? These are my answers for the faq asked by students taking Higher tier papers. 1. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA. Understand assessment criteria for reaching best results. For instance, the information a student generates must be relevant to the topic or task they are performing in Spanish. Students tend to provide information that is not relevant. The reason for this is that students feel they need to keep talking/writing: more words more marks. The criteria for assessment makes it clear: more irrelevant information lower marks. 2. TIME RESTRICTIONS: Understanding that you do have time to perform the task. Because students feel under pressure there is no detailed planning when writing a piece of work. Therefore, the language usually is very poor in the first paragraphs. This doesnt give a good impression to the examiner. I encourage to use mind maps to explore accurate vocabulary before approach...

My next post is about my experience on using the website courseSites for teacher training. This website is user friendly and free. Here is a tutorial . It works very well with adult learners and for language upskill courses. Here is a screenshot of one of the tasks posted at this free website. The task involved texting with a mobile phone. This task created enough content to build a unit of work. It was very motivating. My aim was to find a task that would provide authentic learning This is the story  the student and I created. Each colour refers to a single message.

Love wordle

Welcome to the digital age!   Nurseries in the Uk spend thousands of pounds in computers and other electronic devises, such as iPads/touch-screens.  But Is there clear evidence that computers make a difference to educational achievement in Early Years?  Is really life about computers? Is a desktop computer suitable for a toddler? These devises where originally designed for adults in the work place, not ergonomically suitable, usually inhibiting  language communication (because of lack of eye contact and too much stimulation - repetitive music).  A good quality resource for the under 5s should allow children to work collaboratively and enable the natural propensity of a toddler towards physically based activity. Why are nurseries presenting screens to young children? Perhaps because this is a good advert for prospective parents and a good resource to keep them still and quiet at times, ie settling-in. After reading some forums ...

A few weeks ago I started drawing everything I could imagine with the help of my daughter's hands and a book. I don't remember well the name of the book but it was something like this: Learning to draw with hands The result was so beautiful that I started taking the sticks to school and use them in my MFL teaching in primary schools. Year 3 kids loved learning their phonics in Spanish with these attractive sticks. The sounds children produced were so authentic that I still believe it was something to do with the quality of the resource: Made by a child. And I have just created a game: Palitos de pre-lectura . As the game's learning objective is listening and reading, there is no repetitive music. If you have tried creating games please leave a comment. If you enjoy playing games with your VLY leave a comment too. I would love to hear from you!