Having been inspired by sessions at SETT 2006, Pam McDowall, Principal teacher of Inchinnan Primary School decided to set up a blogging project with local teacher Susan Ronnie at Kirklandneuk Primary School in Renfrewshire with the aim of enhancing their pupils' language learning experiences. Judging by the overwhelming positive comments so far many of which are written in French, it would seem the plan is certainly working.
The blogs look colourful with Bubbleshare slideshows and the posts tell us what the pupils are learning in their Primary French lessons. The collaborative nature of the project means that both schools have created an immediate audience for themselves and by doing so have raised motivation across the board.
On her own blog My Stuff, Pam reports that:
"The standard of their written French after only 7 weeks is just staggering! They insisted that I showed them how to add the accents because “it wasn’t right to miss them out, French people wouldn’t!” and they posted really full comments. What a motivator!"
This is heartwarming stuff indeed. Admittedly, these blogs have only just started. Nonetheless, they have both proven already that blogging at this age is a great way to celebrate learning and engage pupils. I look forward to seeing how the project develops in the future.
Great stuff Inchinnan and Kirklandneuk! Bonne chance pour l'avenir.
Thanks for the encouragement Joe :-). It will be up to us to keep the motivation going but as the kids are currently so keen, I'm sure this will be an easy task.
Posted by: Pam McDowall | 17/10/2006 at 13:11