Skyping with the Flipgrid team and a school in Budapest during Skypeathon

I have recently started my planning for the 24-hour Skypeathon that we will conduct in March at our school. Microsoft's and Skype's own Skypeathon took place on November 13-14 and we decided to join by taking part in two sessions only, due to our own version coming up in a few months.

The first session was on November 14 with the Flipgrid Team in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Great session with four employees at Flipgrid that were curious about our country and students, while my students had prepared a few questions to ask the staff, regarding their company, city and country. Need I say that Donald Trump also came into the discussion?

The Flipgrid crew in Minneapolis:

Tweet from Jim Leslie from the Flipgrid team

The next session was with a class in Budapest, Hungary. Their teacher's name was Gabriella and she guided her students through the session with a great deal of professionalism. The focal point of the session were the differences between our schools and countries.

Gabriella's students in Budapest:

End of year reflections 2018

It is that time of year again......the students have left the building.....

I have finished cleaning my desk and I have 60 minutes to kill before I go to my colleagues for lunch. 60 minutes in which to summarize this school year. An impossible task of course, but what are some of the things that I take with me from this year? 

The answer to the question is "many things for sure". Let's start with all of the reading that the students have done. 

In year 1 (English 5) we read A Monster Calls as part of the Global Read Aloud (GRA) project during October-November 2017. The process during reading was rewarding in the sense that the students were very active during the discussions and we used Flipgrid to connect with other readers at our school and in parts of the USA and Canada. At the end of the reading we came to a close with watching the film version of the book, starring Liam Neeson as the monster. Thumb's up for the project that always succeeds - Global Read Aloud for the win! 

In year 2 (English 6) my students read Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Rifka Brunt,  Never Let Me Go by Nobel laureate Ishiguro, Flowers for Algernon by Keynes and The Island of Dr Moreau by Wells. Even though all of the books were appreciated by the students it was a definite landslide win for Tell the Wolves. Most students were immensely engaged in the lives of the characters and we had a great deal of fruitful discussions in the classroom. Some even said that "I will carry this book with me for quite some time" and "I loved it!". Never Let Me Go was still a good choice for discussion, however some expressed that "I can't really connect with the characters or feel for them" while some were captivated by the love story between Ruth and Tommy. With this one too, we finished the project by watching the film version with Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. 

The latter books were studied and discussed as part of a joint project with Biology called "Medical Ethics". Among other things, the students argued in a formal essay how the rules of medical ethics were broken or violated with regard to the books. In the end-of-year evaluation a majority of the students thought that the Medical Ethics project was among the best of the year. 

Finally, many short stories have been devoured during the English courses as well, the best ones being "The Moment Before the Gun Went Off" by Gordimer, "Chinasa" by Ngozi Adichie, "Indian Camp" by Hemingway and "The Hour" by Chopin this year.

When it comes to writing the ultimate challenge has been to try to get a few of the students to grasp the basics of writing, such as using capitalization and full stop at the end of sentences (I kid you not!). On the other hand, a few others have penned exquisite writings embellished with the utmost care, consideration and creativity. The first project in August-September for year 2 (English 6) was called "No Limits" and there was a choice between writing drabbles or stream of consciousness narratives, somehow connected to the street art festival "No Limit" in Borås, where we live. Many chose drabbles, which are concentrated forms of prose using exactly 100 words. The results were exceptional. The project was among the favorite top ones when all 90 students evaluated. 

In November we had a look at cover letters and more formal writing. Argumentative essays were dealt with during the fall as well as towards spring, as a preparation for the national tests. The writing task at the national tests in May gave an indication as to what the focal points for next year need to be. As I concluded, students find it bothersome to comprehend the principles of agreement of concord, to keep the formal writing strictly formal, spelling and there is a rather substantial lack of synonyms...

Padena speaks to two students in the Basque country in Spain

Generally speaking, students are good at speaking! At least that is what they think most of the time... What I have gathered though, is that a majority are good at speaking BUT they are also fooled by their own impressions of what and how they sound like. They mistake good fluency and pronunciation for good proficiency. And there is a definite difference between the two! A good fluency and pronunciation do not necessarily mean that you have an extensive vocabulary or that you form sentences in more complex manners. Oftentimes the opposite is true. Fluent speakers tend to be quite informal and sometimes very challenged when it comes to more formal circumstances where a wider scope of complexity and depth is needed. Next school year I need to implement a stronger emphasis on distinguishing between formal and informal spoken English in the classroom. 

I still use Skype in the classroom on occasions and in November we had a Skypeathon again, this time for 12 hours. In December and January we had a collaboration with a teacher and school in the Basque country where the students skyped individually/two and two for about 30 minutes. For practicing informal and colloquial exchanges, as well as useful phrases, Skype is fantastic. Additionally, Flipgrid has been essential too, as a tool used in various projects throughout the year. Some students, however, started to grow tired of the tool at the end of the year.  

Listening is an ability that is always practiced during lessons,  but usually more in an informal way than anything else, and next year an additional focus on listening strategies will be on my agenda. 

To make a long story short...this is what  I will do MORE of and LESS of next school year, based on my own and the students' evaluations:

MORE

* Read (and only interesting, challenging titles)

* Work on expanding vocabularies more continually

* Work on distinguishing more between formal and informal registers, in speech and writing

* Practicing spelling more continually

* Homework (= actually giving them homework once in a while - I am not a steadfast believer in that it actually improves results, but the students want them!! - yes it is true! )

* Evaluation and exit tickets - the feedback is imminent and should guide me further

LESS

* Read uninteresting short stories 

Now, I am going to dive into my book - The Underground Railroad - and not even think about school until August again. Have a lovely summer ! :) 

Pride - watching a movie and discussing the content

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_(2014_film)

This week we started a 2,5 week project called "Pride," and the movie Pride is indeed the main focal point of the project.

This is the initial information that the students received:

In this project you will watch the film “Pride” and then discuss the content of the movie in smaller groups. The focus is on oral interaction and discussion of important themes from the film.

Plan:

We will watch the film during two lessons, and you will take notes while watching. Discussions will be in smaller groups during two lessons.

Remember to be able to talk about:

• Setting = where the film takes place; where are we?
• Plot = the general actions and happenings of the film; what happens?
• Mood = Are there different kinds of moods in the film? Do they change?
• Theme = what is the primary theme of the film? E.g. “loss of innocence”, “Man vs. Nature”, “death as part of life” etc..
• Characters = focus on the main characters and describe their personalities (interior/exterior)

After watching the movie the students were divided into smaller groups (of five-six), and, with the help of a few questions and the elements above, there was intense interaction as the movie was discussed.

Examples of questions:

Fight for solidarity and tolerance

Mark Ashton says at the beginning of the film: "An exposed group should show solidarity with other vulnerable groups. It's illogical to say I'm gay and intend to defend our group, but I do not care about anyone else. "
1. Discuss Mark's statement. What makes him, despite resistance, continue his fight for the miners? How does he succeed in persuading the others? Can Mark's thoughts teach us something about how today's cooperation could look between different vulnerable groups in society?

Dai Sullivan is the mining worker who first contact LGSM. Unlike many of the others he is tolerant and grateful for their help. "When you fight an enemy that is so much bigger and stronger than you and you find a friend that you did not know existed, it is the most beautiful feeling in the world.”
2. Which reception does the group get when Dai first introduces them to the other miners? How important is Dai’s role for the relations between the gay activists and the little village?

3. Describe Hefina. What is she like? Why do you think she takes such a solid stand for the gay community?

4. Who else takes a stand for them and is grateful for their help?

The women in the village are generally more open to gay activists than men.

5. What do you think about this? What has the strike meant for the women’s situation in the village?

6. How can one notice that both curiosity and the prejudices that are facing the gay activists also lead to new contacts and friendship?

A woman in the village is sitting together with her sons and want to stop "the perverted intruders" despite the fact that they have collected thousands of pounds that they gave to the village.
7. What is the reason for her negativity? What does she refer to when she tries to stop them? How do the others in the village react to her actions?

Even though the tolerance against gay activists is increasing not everything goes well. When Mark faces the miners and gives a speech to better the relationship, he fails completely.
8. What is wrong with his speech? What does he presume that makes many upset?

When the gossip magazine The Sun is mocking LGSM's activities and collection under the heading "Pits and Perverts" they decide to turn it around by using it to their own advantage.
9. In what way do they succeed? What's the concert?

10. How are the reactions from the villagers in front of the other visitors to the concert? What experiences and discoveries do they have and make during the London visit?

(questions taken and translated from http://www.filminstitutet.se/contentassets/a3eeb380284743f19330572604d42712/pride.pdf )



Additionally, each student was also given the chance to record 1-2 Flipgrid videos:

The Global Read Aloud - A Monster Calls

Last week we kicked off this year's GRA (Global Read Aloud) with the title "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness. This year we collaborate with Canada and the USA through the use of Flipgrid topics and it's such a hit! My students have recorded presentations and predictions and are now moving on towards analyzing the relationship between Lily and the main character Conor.

So far, we've seen videos from students in Washington state, Iowa, New York state, Texas, Florida, Ohio, California, Ontario and Manitoba, Canada.

Here are some examples of Flipgrid videos:

No Limits - a theme project in EN 6

In English 6 we started the year with the theme project "No Limits," with the idea of connecting the theme to the street art festival No Limit that will take place in Borås in a week. Ten street artists will arrive here and paint murals/make installations that will enhance the cultural impact of the city. I saw this as a good way of incorporating the real world with the local community into a project that would focus on limits or the lack thereof. So far, my students have prepared smaller presentations about the artists which they will present to the rest of the class during next lesson. After that we will turn the attention to limited writing (drabbles) and limitless writing (stream of consciousness). The artworks found around the city will be the inspiration for the writing tasks. Finally, putting an end to the project, the students will get to individually record their thoughts about a "world without limitations - pros and cons" using Flipgrid.

Getting started with Flipgrid

Getting Started with Flipgrid from Flipgrid on Vimeo.

Flipgrid presentation

Have not used FlipGrid yet? Well, try now! Here is a presentation in case you are not still familiar with the awesome video response platform.

 

End of year reflections

The school year has come to an end and I am off on my summer break tomorrow. Looking back on the year I have a few comments to make.

For me, this school year has been fantastic in many ways. First of all, I got the chance to start at Bäckängsgymnasiet, the biggest high school in town with around 520 students, in August as of last year. I have taught five courses in English and gotten to know many wonderful students and teachers along the way. The year has given me possibilities of working with new and old digital tools and to emphasize the importance of evaluating sources even more than before. My love for English has grown deeper and the zest for evolving as a teacher is as big as it will probably ever get!

The biggest event of the year was the Skypeathon that took place in March. It was an enormous task of organizing the close to 35 calls with regards to classes, groups, staff, time differences, continents and so on, but we managed and it was a huge success! In November we will give it another shot, this time however looking at around 12 hours and not 24. More about this in the fall.

When it comes to digital tools used during the year, I often return to my favorites Canva, ThingLink, Kahoot, Socrative, Google Forms and Presentations, Sway and Flipgrid. Right now I am a Flipgrid ambassador and I am trying to spread the word about the great tool as much as my energy levels right now allow me. If you want to try Flipgrid you can enter the code PERNILLA to get a FREE upgrade to Fligrid Classroom. The promotion is valid to September 30.

My objectives for the next school year is to work even more with digital tools and I am also looking forward to going back to teaching History again! Another thing on my list is to take a university course about ICT and languages. The Global Read Aloud awaits in October (reading "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness and then in November the Skypeathon, to name but a few things....

But now, I am closing down the laptop for the summer and I will be back in early August again...

With that said, I wish you...

ever! :) /Pernilla

I'm a Flipgrid ambassador!

I'm honored to have been chosen as one of the Summer 2017 Class of Flipgrid ambassadors. I really like Flipgrid and it will be something that I will use quite frequently to be able to give all my students a voice. In class today I was having my students record their answers and reflections to a short story they had read. Before that I used it to document my students reflections on gun control in the USA or as a follow-up to a news article about Botox. It can be used for so many things and I will return to how I have used it in more detail as time allows. #flipgridfever  https://info.flipgrid.com/

Shakespearean insults - my addition

We have been working with Shakespeare for a couple of lessons now and today it was time to record ourselves throwing insults around, as a way of playing around with some of Shakespeare's special words. Here is my version of an insult, recorded using the phenomenal digital recording tool FlipGrid.