'What I got from the virtual conference': Natalie Cox
Natalie Cox
Personal reflections from a Visiting Teacher of Spanish for PLN
The answer: a huge amount! This was my first Primary Languages Network conference and the entire 4 weeks has left me buzzing for September!
An example of one of the live sessions
All the sessions were insightful and useful in many different ways and I feel much better prepared for September as an Associate Teacher.
The Facebook live sessions were incredible with knowledgeable staff able to answer questions either as the presenter or the staff behind the comments during the Q&A
I would like to share my thoughts on each session:
Rainbow Of Love
I feel I have to start with the beautiful "Rainbow Song" for European Day of Languages. I love the way Joanne has included a rainbow as it has become a symbol of the recent situation and it crosses all stages of language learning - even the newest learners to a language can be included via the colours.
For me as a new associate teacher I felt I had only scratched the surface of the VLE so the session run by Catherine 'the VLE guru' was so insightful and showed what a fantastic range of resources PLN have created, the great CPD on offer and how many documents there are to support the MFL coordinator in schools. I literally cannot wait to do some of the topics including going to the seaside, jungle animals, alien families and so much more!
Catherine Simms offering of the VLE
Dr Michael Wardles presentation
To receive knowledge on what OFSTED are looking for from MFL teaching at primary from Michael Wardle was amazing. What is left in the sieve is something that I will certainly be considering moving forward. The session was full of the facts that all primary MFL teachers and coordinators need in order to ensure they are providing the best MFL learning experience for their pupils and are 'OFSTED ready!'
Following this Janet went into even more depth of how Michael's advice can be put into practice. I particularly felt that the in-depth look at cultural capital and what that could look like in a primary MFL classroom was great. All delegates who watched this must be feeling so much more prepared should OFSTED look at MFL in their school.
Robert's session was so inspiring. I finished watching and immediately wanted to try out the ideas he had given me. KS1 teaching is new to me this year so seeing how it can be done well was brilliant. MFL teaching at primary should be primarily about enjoyment and engagement and Robert's session captured this fantastically!
I am a very organised person who loves creating plans and lists so Will's Action Plan session was great as it made me think about where my classes are going and what I need to do to ensure they get there. Showing how the MFL in a school has progressed over time via an action plan is so useful and allows you to see where work still needs to be done to reach the objectives.
The Czech lessons from Sylvia were so much fun. My children and I had fun trying to pronounce the unfamiliar words. I love a language challenge!
Finally Kate's session on Reigniting Language Learning again was full of great ideas to kickstart MFL teaching in September and it has left me excited for MFL teaching and learning in 2020-21!
I am proud to be a part of the PLN team!