I've spent some time over the weekend doing something that I find rather uncomfortable - listening to my own voice! Whilst it is much better than watching myself on video, I find myself cringeing at the sound of my accent and speech habits. In my head I don't sound like that - my 'self-image voice' speaks much more 'properly' and sounds less Brummie!
So why do it? Well, I was catching up with editing the audio from my presentations at two recent conferences - in Hull and in Basingstoke, Hampshire - before adding it to my podcast. I kept reminding myself that I wouldn't have to listen again once I'd finished, and then remembered that I'd have to listen one more time to synch the audio to my Slideshares to make Slidecasts.
A quick update on the presentations from the Primary Language Show in Liverpool. Last week I published my presentations Join El Carnaval de los Animales and You and Youtube via Slideshare, and embedded them on my blog with other resources from the talks.
I recorded the sessions on my trusty 'Toblerone' aka my iRiver, and, as I was off work with a sick son this Thursday, I had time to edit the audio using Audacity and the Levelator. I then linked the audio to my Slideshare, synched it to the presentation and published it on Slideshare as a Slidecast. So if you now go to the blogposts, or to my Slideshare page, you will get the audio too! Magic!
Well, it's December 1st and as much as I've tried to be strong, Christmas has finally got me! School is full of Christmas plans for plays, parent partnership days, activities, assemblies and the like, and home is likewise in Christmas mode as littl'un plays the lead in the Infants' play tomorrow as The Little Angel - if his temperature doesn't get any higher :os
And, obviously, plans for classroom activities are turning Christmas-ward too!
So, I've been through my files and found some Powerpoints that might help you - and me! to get our classes in the Christmas spirit as well as ticking a few Intercultural Understanding boxes! I am not claiming responsibility for all of these as lots have been kindly shared by people on Yahoo! MFL resources group, or the Consejería.
So - to start you off, why not try learning how to say Merry Christmas in 10 languages other than English? Perhaps you could take one each morning for the next two weeks?
Here's a Disney video from Youtube if you want more languages - and it's even got the pronunciation for you!
Then perhaps have a look at some Christmas vocabulary in Spanish? If your room is decorated for Christmas, why not label the decorations - or use them for a game of 'Búscame...' ?
Christmas in Spain is very particular and the Ministerio de Educación y Cienciain conjunction with the Consejería de Educación en el Reino Unido e Irlanda have produced a great powerpoint presentation choc-a-block with authentic pictures of the events in December and January - not all of which are religious.
They have also produced a presentation about El Belén - the traditional Nativity scene that decorate Spanish homes at this time of year. I usually use my ELC nativity scene to retell the story of Christmas from the Biblical perspective completely in Spanish. Kids understand because it is a story with which they are familiar and also because I'm very dramatic in my retelling - the Head of the Catholic Prep, School where I used to work was rather taken aback by my reenactment of Mary being told by an angel that she was pregnant with Jesus ;o)
I also uncovered this very comprehensive presentation about Spain at Christmas complete with more photos and information in bite size chunks. It includes details of El Gordo, el Caganer (in ploite language!) and el Roscón de Reyes.
I've also found a presentation I did a few years ago at Birmingham Council House (I think it was!) about ideas for Christmas in the MFL classroom. It includes ideas for French, Spanish and German, and the ideas are suitable for right across the age range. I posted it last year too but in case you didn't catch it....hopefully something for everyone! (hope the links still work!)
I've been posting powerpoints to Slideshare for a while, first pointed in that direction by Chris Fuller (I think) in the days when he was just a name to me, not the fun person I now know! I knew that it was possible to make a Slidecast, combining audio and presentation but hadn't made one .... until yesterday!
I recorded the London ALL Show and Tell at Language World on my iRiver - and so did Joe Dale. I just fancied hearing what other people said - as well as checking out how I sound recorded (very odd is the answer, and not at all as I hear myself!) After the event, Joe mentioned in a Skype chat that he had edited his version of the audio and thought that I should make a Slidecast of it with the presentation I had prepared. As I had lost the lead for my iRiver, I said I'd do it when I found the offending item. (Still haven't found it but the lead from our camcorder works - in case anyone else has the same problem)
This week, I received a message from Joe saying that he'd send me the audio so I could do my Slidecast. As it's necessary to have the audio file saved online somewhere, and Blogger doesn't have that facility, Joe kindly hosted it on his blog and I set about my challenge!
Basically, you upload your presentation to Slideshare - already done! You click on 'make Slidecast' and enter the URL of the audio. The audio track then appears under the Slideshow and you can decide how you want to synch the slides with the audio - equally spaced or, as in my case, to coincide with when I turned the page to the next slide. Then you save it and there you have it - a Slidecast.
I found out that I had stretched my 7 minutes to over 10, ( sorry Nick!) that I spent a long time on the first few slides and not very long at all on the later ones as I ran out of time, that i talk very fast, and that my ears don't hear what everyone else hears.
I also discovered that making a Slidecast is easy peasy lemon squeezy - and I'll be doing it again in the near future.
Here it is - it features the lovely aforementioned Mr Fuller singing!!
PS just noticed that it's already been viewed 51 times - that's pretty impressive. Let's hope all those who watched it have gained something and will put even one of the ideas into practice.
Educator and consultant, passionate about creative teaching and learning using technology.
Director Lisibo Ltd.
Apple Distinguished Educator and Apple Education Mentor.
eTwinning Ambassador.
recent conferences - in Hull and in Basingstoke, Hampshire - before adding it to my podcast. I kept reminding myself that I wouldn't have to listen again once I'd finished, and then remembered that I'd have to listen one more time to synch the audio to my Slideshares to make Slidecasts.
