Dom's MFL Page

Sunday, 31 January 2016

Holocaust rememberance resources

Last week was Holocaust Memorial Day.
I wanted to put together a list of resources in French (because I mainly teach French this year) which could be used in the classroom with students.
However, I was incredibly busy and never got around to it.
I decided I'd write the post anyway and keep the links for next year but it turns out I could use them before then because Yom HaShoah 2016 (Holocaust Rememberance Day) is commemorated this year from the evening of the 4th to the evening of the 5th of May.

Remember, if you don't teach it, they will never know..

So here's my list:

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has resources in different languages.

United Nations ressources pédagogiques

Links and resources from Projet Aladin

Shoah.de has resources and links in German

Canadian Government's holocaust resources page

Videos of interviews with survivors and witnesses in French

Enseigner l'histoire de la Shoah has a lot of information and resources for teachers

Mémoire d'Auschwitz resources, links and students work from rhone.fr

Lilly Osbert-Levy's L'évacuation d'Auschwitz

Resources from 1jour1actu here, on one Holocaust denial here, a video about Hitler and one about the Second World War

Resources and links from Café Pédagogique

dw.de's Der Holocaust im Unterricht

Sunday, 10 January 2016

Staying positive.

Happy New Year!

Cast your mind back 12 months.

Do you remember your new year's resolution?

Did you keep it?

My resolution for 2015 was not to work at weekends.

You can read my post about it here.

It wasn't 100% successful. I worked 4 weekends last year.

It was a little harder than I imagined, mainly because, since September, on Fridays I teach 3 classes which I also teach on Mondays.

I got around it by marking before I went home but this was not always possible.

For 2016 my resolution is similar but also includes a promise to myself to be as positive as possible.

This has meant leaving all MFL Facebook groups I'd signed up to.

Until recently I've been an avid reader of, and contributor to, these groups but things have changed.

Over the past few months these groups have changed from very supportive and collaborative fora to a place where many group members have just used them to complain, troll and breach copyright by sharing resources illegally.

My decision to leave them all was not taken lightly but rather than getting annoyed by the trolling and scrounging I just clicked "leave group".

It was easy.

So what else have I been doing?

Well, my time management is getting better all the time.

I don't leave school until the next day's work is prepared.

I mark books after every lesson. (You'd be amazed how quickly you can do this and it helps with planning!)

I'm happier and I like my job.

(I still regularly consider leaving teaching but I think everyone does that!)

So, my advice to everyone for 2016 is be positive.

Nobody likes moaner!

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

200000 visits

Yesterday my blog had its 200000th hit.

When I started writing it in 2009 I didn't think anyone would be interested in anything I had to say.

In fact some of my early posts have only had a handful of hits.

One of them, about the Tools for Educators site, has had only 17 hits and is a really good resource.

Thanks to everyone who reads this rubbish.

I owe you all a pint!

image from openclipart.org

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

German A level links and resources

I'm teaching AS German again this term and decided to share my favourite links and resources with you.

In no particular order they are:

Fun With Languages - a great site for games and interactive activities. (Yes, even at A level)

A- Level German @ Tile Hill Wood School - lots of links to various articles, videos, etc.

Goethe Institut - their official AS and A2 links page. Lots of articles, tips, videos, teaching materials.

dw.de - official German broadcaster's learn German site. lots of resources, news, links to video, audio files

Lightbulb Languages - German A level reources

Newsmap - News articles in German on topics such as: international, business, tech, sport, entertainment, health, etc

News 4 kids - News items, articles and games all in simple German, aimed at young Germans

Die Welt - German national newspaper

Online Newspapers - links to German language newspapers from all over the world

BBC links to online German TV channels

University of Surrey A level German site with exercises based on AS topics

Hertfordshire Grid for Learning links and materials

Lerndeutsch - good resources here, especially for the film topic

Jacqueline Rudenko's KS5 German pinterest page

If you know of any others, please let me know.

Wednesday, 30 September 2015

ALLNE Languages Teachmeet #1

Exciting news for North East MFL-ers!

The ALLNE is hosting its first Teachmeet.

It takes place on 20th October 2015 at Newcastle University's King George VIth Building in room 1.36.

The Teachmeet runs from 4:30-6:30pm with the idea that attendees will have the opportunity to network and chat afterwards and perhaps wander into Newcastle for food and drinks.

This is a Teachmeet with a difference as it is specifically aimed at trainee teachers and NQTs.

Why?

It came about after a conversation Steven Fawkes and I had at Suzi Bewell's MFL PGCE Show and Tell at York University this summer.

Steven thought that it would be a great idea to put on similar events in the North East. There are lots of really great Teachmeets around the region, but none specifically for MFL trainees and NQTs.

So after a few emails and tweets between us, the amazing organisational skills of Newcastle Uni PGCE tutor, Cheryl Mackay, Eleanor Gordon for creating the link and Rene for letting us have the venue, everything seems to be ready.

Any teachers or educationalists can sign up to attend but presenters must be either trainees or recently qualified teachers.

How do you sign up?

You can find out more and sign up to the event here.

If you wish to present for either 2 or 5 minutes or have any questions, you can contact Steven or even Me and we'll be glad to help.

Also if you're reading this and know someone who might like to come, please tell them.
See you there!

If you can't make it Newcastle, don't worry, we intend to host others in and around the North East during this academic year.

Sunday, 27 September 2015

More authentic links for A2 French

Here it is, following on from this post I wrote a few years ago, a brand new list of links to authentic texts for A2 French.

Don't forget that I made a page of links to the un jour une actu videos, too.

There's also the fun with languages site (from Sutton Academy) which has a lot of A level French online games.

Wealth and poverty

En Chine, on moticve les écoliers avec des visites de maisons de luxe

Quatre graphiques pour mieux comprendre la pauvreté en France

Le nombre de pauvre baisse, leur niveau de vie aussi

Les dix chiffres noirs de la pauvreté en France

Les SDF ne meurent pas seulement en hiver

Le chomage progresse dans régions...

Law and order

L'euthanasie aux Pays-Bas

Exécution prévue en Arabie Saoudite

Impact of scientific and technological progress

Un français de 6 ans, premier français à recevoir une prothèse de main imprimée en 3D

L'Europe autorise les OGM de Monsanto

Doit-on ressusciter les espèces disparues ?

Immmigration

Les villes avec le plus d'immigrés en France

Il faut beaucoup de courage pour quitter son pays...

Qui sont les migrants ?

Paris accueille ses premiers migrants

D'où viennent (vraiment) les immigrés entrant en France ?

Integration
C'est quoi, le droit d'asile ?

Non, des refugiés n'ont pas refusé de la nourriture halal ?

Racism

La SNCF condamnée pour discrimination

Equality

Les femmes s'affichent dans la rue

Cartoon: les droits des femmes

Ces célébrités ont été victimes de violences conjugales

My blogpost about SOS femmes a site dedicated to women's issues

Fin de la < Page 3 > du Sun

Préjugés et Stéréotypes

Pollution

Linfen, la ville la plus polluée du monde

La France dévoile sa stratégie bas carbone

Energy

C'est quoi, une énergie durable ?

Les trois plus grands mensonges sur la planète

En France, 100% d'électricité renouvelable n'est pas plus couteux que le nucléaire

Toutes les énergies renouvelables

Protecting the planet

Thalassa, la mer pour sauver la terre

Comment les éruptions volcaniques influencent le climat

Pourquoi avons-nous besoin des abilles ?

C'est quoi la couche d'ozone ?