The Language Show 2006

 

Taking part in The Language Show again this year was great fun. The free sessions were well attended and the range of stands offering a whole range of language-related products was impressive. I had the opportunity to catch up with many colleagues and old acquaintances as well as put a few faces to names of MFL teachers I had only been able to previously correspond with virtually via language fora. There was a real buzzing enthusiasm around the place which was fantastic to see.

I was delighted around 200 people came to my session Death by PowerPoint? Keep your finger on the trigger this year compared to the 150 or so I had last year when I spoke about free utilities, resources and games.  It was lovely too to have a chat with some of you at the end and offer advice when necessary.

As the presentation was a carbon copy of the session The wonderful thing about triggers is triggers are wonderful things!, I did last month at The SSAT Conference in Liverpool, the show notes are identical. I suggest you download the PowerPoint presentation and audio recording from yesterday, then watch and listen back to them at the same time. The video tutorials on making triggers, drag and drop objects and simple cartoons using the Duplicate Slide feature are designed to explain the more technical bits of the presentation step by step. I hope you find them useful. Tell me how you get on.

Good luck and see you next year!

Comments

[MrF]

Many thanks again Joe. It's always great to have that sense of something new to explore, both in and out of lessons, and also to see that at times things go wrong for all of us, no matter how good at technology we are. Thank you for battling on with a smile and giving us a great session!

[Helen]

What a lovely montage Joe! Thanks for this, and we look forward to your session for London's ALL branch on Sat Jan 27th. Link is here:
http://www.all-london.org.uk/jan_07_programme.htm

Thanks again for all you do to inspire and inform us!
Helen

[Joe Dale]

Hi Chris,

Thanks to the wonders of sound editing software, I was able to remove the long pause in the audio recording when my laptop decided to go into hibernation in mid session.

Fortunately, the technician and I soon worked out the undeniable truth that in order for a mains power supply to be enabled, a plug is required to be fully engaged with its socket!

I thought as a mere two hundred people witnessed this unplanned interlude, I may have escaped undue embarrassment. However, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank you Chris for informing those not able to attend in person of the hilarious nature of this comic episode in my so far unblemished presenting career and hold it up as conclusive proof nay timely reminder of the need for trainers like myself to remain 'plugged in' at all times, particularly during a session in which one is espousing the benefits of using ICT in the languages classroom!

Thanks for your comment and remember keep your finger on the trigger!

Joe

:):):):):)

[Joe Dale]

Hi Helen,

I'm glad you enjoyed the montage. I'm looking forward to the ALL London event as well as representing ALL at BETT 2007 with the session 'ICT … so what? - Using technology to enhance learning outcomes across all four language skills'

http://www.bettshow.com/bett/show_tz.asp?seminarid=Reg101

Best wishes

Joe

[Isabelle]

Hi Joe!
Thanks for a great inspiring session on Saturday! I am sharing my new knowledge with my team tomorrow and I am going to use your presentation and your tutorials! I hope they get inspired too :-D

Too much to explore in your blog ;-) but eventually I'll get round to it, I'm sure!