S3 🇪🇸 have been working brilliantly this week. Today we started with some revision of -AR verbs (including watching a short clip of Tenerife's carnival celebrations to set the scene for a reading task) and then worked on -ER and -IR verbs. So impressed by their hard work!

1TB 🇫🇷 enjoyed a competitive game of 'vocab grab' earlier this week. I don't do it often, as there's more prep involved than highlighter splat, but it's always a winner. Even the most reluctant pupils can't help but be drawn in!

Today S3 🇪🇸 worked collaboratively on this revision activity. They had 12 minutes to annotate their copy of the text in as much detail as possible. For each question their team answered, we drew a playing card to see how many points they would win.

Something that’s working well at the moment: using pupils’ experiences and aspirations to shape our knowledge organisers. Today, S3 🇪🇸 told me which jobs interest them so that we can weave these into our employability topic.

A surprise hit with N5 🇪🇸 Each number revealed a word/short phrase. All they had to do was come up with a sentence that included the given word/short phrase. Lots of creative ideas, and a good way to build their confidence ahead of our Talking Assessments next week 👏

S3 🇪🇸 have just started their 'World of Work' topic, so for #WorldBookDay they did a scavenger hunt for book-related jobs, read a biography of Gabriel García Márquez, and then worked in pairs on a text about Cien años de soledad (Qs adapted from N5 2023). They were superstars 🌟

We've just come to the end of our 'Food and Drink' topic, so for #WorldBookDay 1TB 🇫🇷 created their own versions of La chenille qui fait des trous 🍎🍊🍉 They chose how to present their stories, and I was super impressed by the work they produced!

They're a labour of love, but I wouldn't be without my knowledge organisers (and nor would my S1-S3s!). They make me think about what pupils really *need* to know, and the pictures and colour-coding are proving especially helpful for less-confident learners.

2FA 🇫🇷 have been expressing opinions of different activities you can do in Edinburgh. I'm trying to build their awareness of grammar, and this task made them think more carefully about which type of word could go in the gap (and set them up nicely for a related writing task).

There’s a lot of enthusiasm for our whole-school sunflower competition in 1TB. They’ve named ours Tay and Bae (for the T and B in 1TB) 🌻

A contender for the task that has been most motivating for S3 🇪🇸 in our employability topic: read the texts, identify at least two qualities for each person, and then use the physical description to work out which pupil in the class it is.

Created a new revision resource to help N5 🇪🇸 reach the top marks in their writing exam: all the unpredictable bullet points from 2024 in one handout, with some useful words/phrases that they could include in their responses. Hoping it will be a useful stepping stone for them.

For their last lesson before the Easter break, S3 🇪🇸 researched jobs with languages and reflected on the skills people gain through learning a language. (Despite initial requests to watch Coco, they quickly got stuck in and produced some excellent work!)

1TB’s Bae spent the Easter holidays with M and has doubled in height 🌻 Maybe, just maybe, our House Class’ sunflower will be in contention for some house points when they are all measured in June…

While I was in France over the holidays, I took photos of all sorts of signs and posters. Here's the result (inspired by similar resources shared 𝗢𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗠𝗙𝗟 and @MrFrancisMFL). If it would be useful to you, I'm happy to share it 🙂

If the Scottish weather was like this more often, it wouldn’t take much to persuade me to swap my 15 minute commute by car for the 45 minute walk I enjoyed today 🌳 ☀️

Thank you Balfour Beatty for the tour of the new Liberton High School this afternoon. Having watched the build progress over the last eighteen months, it was great to get a real sense of what our new space will be like.

Highlight of today: 1TB's enthusiasm for 'Tête, épaules, genoux, pieds'. It was honestly the loveliest thing to see them all singing along (and some doing all the moves as well!). Bien joué 🌟

Happy half-term! To celebrate the release of the 2nd edition, I'm giving away 10 copies of the Spanish Grammar Workbook. 50+ new pages, redesigned throughout, entirely new sections. Like & retweet to be in with a chance, winners announced 02/06. 🇪🇸 amzn.eu/d/0r5mkG9

Looking for planner recommendations 📒 I'd like the dates pre-filled (as undated planners drive me bananas) and have heard good things about Positive Teacher Co.. We have a 7-period day, though as things stand I don't have any "full" teaching days on my timetable for next year.