Catherine+Halliday

= **My Profile: Je m'appelle Catherine. My name is Catherine Halliday. I teach French at** **Waverley Christian College. In 2011 French was introduced at WCC at Years 3-7. In 2012 I teach Year 3 - 8 students French.** It is fun and challenging to set up a new language in a school in Primary and Secondary sections! = = = = **Action Research Project Planner:** =


 * = ** Stage 1 ANALYSE ** – =

How do I design a good quality French program using 21st century technology? What will be your focus for this project in 2011? || Timeline for 2011 Budget for Resource Grant During the year I visited my mentor Ramona and observed some of her French classes at Keysborough Primary School. We discussed some IWB resources and computer programs. She was inspirational and had lots of energy. One great strategy which really worked was using sign language and dance to teach French to all Primary levels. This is called the AIM method. We discussed the possibility of my trialling this at WCC and decided that for my situation of short lessons and travelling from classroom to classroom that it would not be viable at this stage. There were three main focuses in technology that I have considered iPads in LOTE LOTE Film making and use of flip camera in the French program. 2SimpleFrench Timeline for 2012 In 2012 we are planning to discuss different ways of use of a range of ICT resources. We are planning to meet again at the MLTAV conference on Friday 11th May 2012.
 * = ** Stage 2 - PLAN ** =
 * = ** Stage 2 - PLAN ** =

This year (2012) with the balance of my budget I plan to purchase an iPad. Although there is not quite enough money I am hoping to spend some of my school LOTE budget to cover the costs :) ||
 * == ** Stage 3 – ACT ** ==
 * == ** Stage 3 – ACT ** ==

As Ramona successfully used 2Simple French a lot in class I felt it would be a good purchase with my grant. I spent $695 of the $1000 budget on 2SimpleFrench CD rom and had it installed in both Primary classrooms and Year 7 rooms. In 2012, when I started using the Secondary LOTE room, 2Simple French was installed onto the computer in the LOTE room and onto class sets of lap tops.

I attended the MLTAV conference in May (Friday 11th). I gained a lot from this jam-packed day and came away with many valuable ideas. Ramona attended Professional Formation organised by the Alliance Francaise, DEECD and French Embassy. We met on Friday 29 June to share our ideas and resources from our PD days.

There are some hiccups at the moment within my school regarding my purchasing an iPad for French, and when they are ironed out, I expect to use that as a resource in my classroom. We have 11 iPad Ones available to borrow from the library, so one group of students can use these while other students use lap tops, or do a completely different activity. || As all WCC French students are beginners, 2SimpleFrench is ideal for them. The Primary students were engaged in the Quiz race activity where four students race against each other to tap the item they hear eg un stylo. 2SimpleFrench can be used at any time in the lesson and is a fantastic tool. In the Primary classrooms we are limited to the one classroom computer so only a small number of students can use it at once. This is what the students know and are used to and it works OK. It would be an improvement if all students could participate at once. The good news is that in the Secondary school we can hire class sets of lap tops and 2Simple French is now installed on them, so my Year 7 and 8 students (if I book the lap tops) use 2SimpleFrench in my classes. It is great for learning vocabulary and then also revising it, so it has been highly successful. Currently I am reluctant to use the library iPads as I have to ask the IT department to install apps that I would consider using. I have borrowed one library iPad over the weekend and trialled a couple of apps but really need a good block of time and freedom to download apps to explore the possibilities the iPad offers. Clearly it would be beneficial to get myself an iPad for teacher use. || Being involved in the MLTAV Mentoring project has been really worthwhile. Ramona has been a fantastic support in helping me develop French teaching resources within my school, particularly for my situation where I am developing the whole curriculum for Primary and Secondary. Our meeting on Friday 29th June was really valuable. As well as sharing technology resources we also discussed incursions, crepe companies that visit schools and budgets. It has been wonderful to work with Ramona and I hope we can keep in touch and share resources and experiences in the future. 2SimpleFrench was an excellent choice of CDRom for French teaching, particularly at beginner level in Primary and Secondary. I hope that I will update my wiki page before September with the news that I have purchased an iPad with the balance of my Mentoring Grant. ||
 * == ** Stage 4 - OBSERVE ** ==
 * == ** Stage 4 - OBSERVE ** ==
 * == ** Stage 5 - REFLECT ** ==
 * == ** Stage 5 - REFLECT ** ==