alice’s posterous

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mafalda.ppt (927 KB)

"Learning a foreign language is much more than learning a number of sentences, a certain amount of
vocabulary or a number of grammatical rules. It means being able to interact in a new cultural context
that will enable us to function in a society different from our original one." from the Spanish ab initio Syllabus (IBO)

This is why it is very important for my students to learn about Spanish and Latin American culture. Because they are learning how to describe people and about likes and dislikes, discovering the world of Mafalda, a comic strip written and drawn by the Argentine cartoonist Joaquín Salvador Lavado (pen name Quino) perfectly fitted into the unit.

At my new school, technology is very scarce: there are no interactive whiteboards and only a few video projectors are available from the library. Then, because we don't have our own classrooms (German custom: students stay in a classroom, teachers move from class to class), this means we have to carry a laptop and a video projector from class to class. So, I have become a bit lazy and decided to do without technology most of the time!

For the Mafalda's lesson, the easiest would have been to show my students a PowerPoint presentation about Mafalda and the main characters in the comics. Because of the technical issues I have mentioned above, I decided to print out each PowerPoint slide and to laminate them. When I started the lesson, I stuck each laminated slide on the wall in different parts of the classroom. I asked my students to go around the class and read each card, a bit like you would in a museum I guess :) As they were going around, I asked them to stop anytime they crossed another students and to explain to each other what they had read on the card. Because they are Spanish beginners, they could explain in English but most of my students tried in Spanish which was great. I then asked them to go back to their seats and we went through true and false statements about the cards. Students really enjoyed standing up and discovering each character at their own pace. I actually think this lesson was far more exciting than if I had gone through a boring PowerPoint and it was more focused on differentiation as each student could read at their own pace.

In a way, not having technology makes you think about more engaging and differentiated options! And by coincidence, I just happened to be reading Isabelle Jones' really interesting  post about Naked Teaching and reflecting on the use of technology in the classroom.

What about you? do you have any great ideas to teach without technology in the classroom?

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I teach Spanish and French in an IB (International Baccaulaureate) school. This is the first time in my teaching career that I experience the IB programme. Previous to that, I was teaching the British curriculum.

So, what is the IB? According to the IB website:
The International Baccalaureate chooses to define "international education" according to the following criteria.

• Developing citizens of the world in relation to culture, language and learning to live together
• Building and reinforcing students’ sense of identity and cultural awareness
• Fostering students’ recognition and development of universal human values
• Stimulating curiosity and inquiry in order to foster a spirit of discovery and enjoyment of learning
• Equipping students with the skills to learn and acquire knowledge, individually or collaboratively, and to apply these skills and knowledge accordingly across a broad range of areas
• Providing international content while responding to local requirements and interests
• Encouraging diversity and flexibility in teaching methods
• Providing appropriate forms of assessment and international benchmarking.

• ask challenging questions
• learn how to learn
• develop a strong sense of their own identity and culture
• develop the ability to communicate with and understand people from other countries and cultures.

This is illustrated by a hexagon with the three parts of the core at its centre.

Students study six subjects selected from the subject groups. Normally three subjects are studied at higher level (courses representing 240 teaching hours), and the remaining three subjects are studied at standard level (courses representing 150 teaching hours).

All three parts of the core—extended essay, theory of knowledge and creativity, action, service—are compulsory and are central to the philosophy of the Diploma Programme.

The three core requirements are:

1. Extended essay: The extended essay has a prescribed limit of 4,000 words. It offers the opportunity to investigate a topic of individual interest, and acquaints students with the independent research and writing skills expected at university.
2. Theory of knowledge (TOK): The interdisciplinary TOK course is designed to provide coherence by exploring the nature of knowledge across disciplines, encouraging an appreciation of other cultural perspectives.
3. Creativity, action, service (CAS): Participation in the school’s CAS programme encourages students to be involved in artistic pursuits, sports and community service work, thus fostering students’ awareness and appreciation of life outside the academic arena.

What about you? Have you experienced the IB programme?

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Amelie_Poulain.doc (3299 KB)

This is a fantastic workbook about the French film Le fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain. I found it on the TES website and it was created by aliciagomez.

I used this workbook with my year 10 class (15 years old) during the last week of school year. The first part of the workbook is to be completed before watching the film. They are facts about the film and the actors. The second part is to be completed after watching the film or when watching and you can pause for each section to be filled.

The film is set in the heart of Paris in Montmartre and is a romantic comedy depicted parisian life. During the film, we can see Amélie in famous parts of Paris: Notre Dame Cathedral, St. Martin's Canal, Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, La Gare du Nord.  The film also contains lots of references to French culture and way of life. For example, Amélie meets her cloistered neighbour, Raymond Dufayel, a painter who continually repaints Luncheon of the Boating Party (Le Déjeuner des canotiers) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. In the workbook students have to research this painting.

The flat where Amélie lives is typical of a parisian flat with the concierge, Madeleine Wallace who lives of the ground floor in her "lodge". The neighbourhood greengrocer where Mr Collignon and Lucien work is also very French!

My students enjoyed watching the film because each character has its own personality and is quite eccentric. They also discovered Paris and Parisians which they enjoyed. Personally this is one of my favourite film because I am a Parisian and Montmartre is the place where my cousins used to live, so I can relate to the scenes very well!

What about you? Do you use films to teach your students the culture of a language/country?

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Yesterday, I was telling you about Flickr groups.
After writing the post, I decided to create a group called Images to teach languages where you can share or use photos or videos to teach either a word, a conversation or a grammar point.

From my own experience, looking for the right picture to teach a word or a phrase is very time consuming so I thought it would be nice to have all the pictures in one place tagged by topic, i.e. animals, places in town, shops... (thanks for this tip @icpjones!). This way, it is much easier and faster when you need THE picture!
You can then copy and paste the pictures to your slideshow, or download them or print them and use them as flashcards (that might be expensive on cartridges though!)

Today, there are already 24 members (mostly from my twitter network) who have shared their own pictures (thank you :)). There are shops from Germany, France, Spain...And even pictures from as far away as Japan (thanks to @ajep). Now, this what web 2.0 is all about: collaborative work set in less than 2 days! I just find this very exciting :)

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