My teaching files

Change of URL
As of 8 Nov 2010 the old link will not work.

https://public.me.com/kmcmeekin

if asked for a password, it is valley

Link

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my teaching files

image chef

Make a greeting like this on http://www.imagechef.com/ic/word_mosaic/

European Day of Languages Ideas

If you are thinking of some ideas to celebrate EDL (26 September) here are some I have come across.

Use Wallwisher to creat a message board like this one
http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/EurDayLangs

And here is a list from teachers
http://edl2009ideas.wikispaces.com/

learn French, Italian Spanish on Twitter

Starting today a daily twitter lesson with link to minipodcast for pronunciation.

Follow @learnfrench @learnitalian @learnspanish from your twitter account, twitter.com

Minipodcast here for French, Italian, Spanish

Just in time for the holidays - maybe too late for the Mexican honeymoon tho'!

Bonnes vacances!

papers

I have just posted the uncollected papers and certificates to your schools first class. Look out for them!

Bonnes vacances!

Graduation photo

I've just been in France for a week so didn't get a chance to post this sooner. I'll get the papers and marks to those who couldn't attend next week.

Thanks to South Ayrshire QIO Lynn Crossan for attending and presenting the certificates.

There seems to be a possibility of South Ayrshire continuing with Module 2 next year. Watch this space!

Wednesday

I have booked the Treehouse in the Sandgate for Wednesday at 5.30. I have counted Scott and Gill in along with quite a few from Module 2. I have to confirm numbers that afternoon. Please remind me on Wednesday to do that!

Wed 10th June

Quite a few of you have emailed to say you can't post comments. Can't find a reason for this. Anyway it looks like we will move on from the prizegiving to the Treehouse along with some of the Module 2 teachers. Expect we will be there by about 5.30. It would be good to know approximate numbers. Email me if you can't get comments to work!
Looking forward to seeing you again!

Results

I am pleased to tell you that you have all passed! Marks range from B2 - A
Very well done!

I am planning to return your work on Wednesday 10th June at 4 pm on campus and move on to somewhere for a bar meal - suggestions in comments please!

Paris widget

Public holiday Monday

For those of you still to hand in assignments please note that the campus will be closed on Monday. I will be in on Tuesday afternoon.

Microteaching

We had a lovely range of topics and activities. Rosslyn can be seen playing Kim's game with velcroed classroom objects. She also had pencil cases and contents for each group member. Jennifer found Mr Potato Head colouring in for listen and do body parts. Scott had a red bag of animals for talking practice. Lots of great ideas! Well done!

Micro Teaching success criteria

I think I gave you this already but here's a reminder anyway!

Task: teach a few words/phrases, give lots of practise, decode words cards, pupils use new language in an activity. 

Success criteria:
use a good amount of French in interactions
confident use of French, good pronunciation, accurate grammar
task explained in simple terms accompanied by gestures and demonstration,
good interaction with class
words spelt correctly on word cards / worksheet
attractive resources, colourful, big enough to be seen, unambiguous

Checklist:
o learning intentions
o explain the task in simple terms
o with gestures and demonstration
o check comprehension
o gender help
o use praise
o give feedback, correct poor pronunciation
o brisk pace, variation
o “realistic” context
o not too much repetition rather use guessing games
o attractive flashcards or other props
o worksheets, if any, attractively word processed and accurate
o when showing word cards, be sure to discuss pronunciation, make connections to words they know with similar spelling and links to English, (this done in English)
o skills: how will we remember what this means (this done in English)
o interaction with class – use of mini whiteboards or other props, cue cards,
o pupils engaged perhaps in paired speaking or acting as teacher
o at end some AiFL feedback

Paper by Dan Tierney

This paper Where are we going with primay foreign languages, from 2005 by Dan Tierney and Lore Gallastegi of Strathclyde is good for essay!

Curriculum for Excellence news

Newly published today: Principles and Practice and updated Experiences and Outcomes for Modern LanguagesClick here

Useful for the assignment!

poisson d'avril

Poisson d'Avril

View more presentations from Alice Ayel.

Twitter as a tool for teachers

Networking tool twitter is great for teachers!

9 reasons to use twitter in education from Laura Walker, a languages teacher.

Find teachers with your interests here twitter4teachers

Follow me at twitter.com/kaymcmeekin! Keep in touch!

Audio files

I have started to upload old audio files to Podomatic. So far I've done the French sound system that I have mentioned before from my French Early Years Course, 2002. Listen here There is a six second pause before I get going!

lundi 23 mars

We started with chain questions and had a look at an American video on gender and articles. It is a bit weird but think it is a good explanation. 

It mentions some clues to gender eg 

Nouns that end in  -ette -ée -tion -ie ière -ance -ence -ure are feminine.

Nouns that end in -eau and most consonants are usually masculine.

This is far from foolproof! Best just to learn the article with the noun.

We had fun with food rhymes and made up a little ditty in French in groups. I didn't note down what you had written. Post your song in comments!

Additional food vocab: miam miam = yum yum and berk or beurk = yuck

We did some more work on nasal vowels. 

For the last half hour we discussed the use of blogs. Notes for this on mlpscpd.blogspot.com