ililc3

Well, it has been a while since the last post... I have to confess, I was starting to wonder if I would carry on. The pressures of school life were weighing heavy on my department, my lessons were plodding along, there was still another week to go till half term... and then along came ililc3. I think the words 'life-changing' might be a bit extreme but 'career-changing' - definitely!!! I felt like Isabelle Jones was talking directly to me with her encouragement to blog without feeling under pressure, so here goes:

I can honestly say that it was the most useful, relevant, inspirational CDP event I have ever attended. On top of that, it was one of the best weekends I have had in a long time, full of professionalism and learning yes, but also full of giggles and hilarity, and not a whiff of clique-yness. I really feel I have made some new friends, and twitter interactions will never be the same again!

My brain is absolutely aching, by the end I was losing the plot somewhat and I think it will take me a while to process all the new information. So I have decided I am going to try to incorporate a few new things a week over the next term. I can't wait till half-term next week, not to collapse in a quivering heap as I had assumed I would be doing, but to switch on the laptop, open up my SoW and lesson plans and ililc-ify them (just in time for my departmental review after h/t...mwahahaha!).

For now, here are some of the things I loved and am going to try straight away:

MoM (Mug of Misery)

Thanks Dom (domsmflpage.blogspot.co.uk) for this great and simple idea.... I love the name as much as anything else! Everyone's name on a lolly stick, pick out at random from your MoM to answer a question. Lolly sticks ordered, can't wait to get started. 

QR codes 

(http://joedale.typepad.com)

I was totally inspired by some of the possibilities here, I particularly liked the turn a piece of text or audio into a quick QR code (although it might take me a while to make sense of my befuddled notes on how to do this... any chance of a video tutorial Joe?!). I find myself writing the same grammar explanations over and over for my AS kids on their essays... how cool to be able to record a quick verbal explanation and then whack a QR code on there? Or to record a personalised vocab list for those who struggle with pronunciation. Croak.it looks fun! I loved audioboo/aurasma too, but I hadn't seen these before and I think I will need a bit of time to suss them out and think about how I can use these, given we have no mobile devices in school and kids not allowed to use their phones. 

Tarsia

Loved this, thanks Claire (http://changing-phase.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/shape-up-with-tarsia.html)! I use domines a lot, but I love the extra thinking that this creates, and the opportunities for easy differentiation. I am designing one for my AS group to use as a starter for learning new vocab...I'm going to simply remove a piece for my stronger ones and ask them what would have been on there... I love the idea of giving them a partially blanked out vocab table to fill in too as they solve the puzzle. Little plastic bags ordered too!

Spot the difference

Another thank-you to Dom, also would be a great starter/plenary idea to get kids talking... Google a relevant spot the difference picture and ask the kids to describe what is different/the same.So quick and easy.

Phonics / slowing down with vocab

Several people mentioned phonics, which I had never really considered much before, but now that my eldest son has started school, I can see vividly how important it is, and how much it would help my learners. I have AS students who were whizzed through GCSE in a year and as a result, have very few independent speaking/writing skills. I feel I am making progress with their writing, but their pronunciation is dreadful. I liked Jo's approach (sorry Jo, I'm not sure if I know who you are on twitter?) - she was talking about primary languages but I think it is relevant all the way up to KS5. We often introduce an item of vocab, do a quick bit of repetition and then move on to the next one, when really it would be better to slow down and exploit each one fully... part of speech, gender, sounds in the word, cultural aspects,association with other words etc. At AS/A level this could still be really useful, you could take it further by looking at roots/word families etc. Am going to start doing this straight away. I also really liked the idea (but I don't know your name, sorry!) from the Show and Tell, which was, instead of correcting a word pronounced wrongly, teach the student another word with the same sound, then go back and ask them to correct themselves. 

Using Duplo for graphs

Thankyou John Connor! After a survey activity, use Duplo bricks to physically build a bar chart to represent the results. Leads to lots more speaking opportunities and great for SEN. (I also loved the green alien!). 

There were lots more things to think about too... Claire's session on maths was very thought provoking, and there were lots more techie tips and websites to explore... my notes are full of 'get this app' and 'check out this site'! After a chance to talk to colleagues in primary, I am more determined than ever to build some links with our feeder primaries, as I think that we could do a lot to support each other and plan for some kind of continuity for our kids, as at the moment we have a big fat nada! But for now I am off to suss out Google Reader to try to keep track of everyone's blogs. 

THANK YOU so much to all those involved in ililc3... I have rarely felt so inspired and in love with my job. Now, do you think I can ask for an iPad for my birthday in a few weeks..........