Knowledge booklets, escape rooms and past papers all make it into this week's #MFLTop10 for teachers!

Quick update: The top 10 used to be determined by the number of likes (and then by the number of shares). However, to ensure the best content makes it into the top 10, posts are now ranked by one combined score of likes and shares!

Photo credit: Sharon McCutcheon

10. Heidi Trude (@htrude07)

Points: 79

Kicking us off at number 10 (with some hard news, so to speak!) is Heidi Trude from the US. She's celebrating a significant win: a bill has been overturned in Virginia, US, which proposed the study of computer languages as an alternative to foreign languages. Thankfully, therefore, the decline in the status of language teaching has been halted (at least for now). A number of advocacy groups fought this, so massive congratulations to all involved. (PS. There's a lot of research on the benefits of language learning from the American Centre on the Teaching of Foreign Languages here.)

9. Swavesey MFL (@mfl_swavesey)

Points: 89

In at number 9 this week, with 89 points, is the MFL department from Swavesey Village College! The department recently presented a TiLT (Technology in Language Teaching) webinar, and received a great deal of praise from the community online. Following this, they have shared two GCSE lessons on charities and sports, incorporating TeachVid and Flippity activities. Feel free to download your own copies of the lessons above!

8. MrBCurrier (@MrBCurrier)

Points: 95

In at number 8 this week - with 95 points - is Mr B Currier! Originally available only for the Edexcel, his wonderful knowledge booklets have now been adapted for AQA! The adaptations are now available in Spanish, French and German. Enjoy!

7. Bruno Gomes (@teacherworklife)

Points: 96

In at number 7 this week - with 96 points - is Bruno Gomes! He's been using Google Forms to make shareable, interactive versions of past AQA exam papers. These are excellent on so many levels. He's made online versions of AQA French and Spanish papers, at Higher and Foundation, for Reading and Listening, from back in 2012 and 2013. When you share them with your group, you can see everyone's responses in one place and then use this to inform areas to focus on revision-wise. He's sharing a new one each week, so give him a follow!

6. Caroline Heaney (@carolinelheaney)

Points: 106

In at number 6 with 106 points this week is Caroline Heaney, with an absolutely fantastic escape room activity. It's linked to the GCSE French topic "Là où j'habite" (Home, Town and Region) and will keep even your strongest students occupied for a good amount of time. It's really great fun, even for teachers..!

5. Miss Garcia (@missgarciamfl1)

Points: 110

In at number 5 this week is Miss Garcia! She's uploaded 12 whole lessons on the topic of school. She's planned them with year 8 Spanish groups in mind, but they can be adapted as needed. They all follow Gianfranco Conti’s and Dylan Viñales’ research-based ideas and activities. All the lessons focus on a particular sentence builder and include vocab-flooding, skills, grammar and production, and lastly feedback, retrieval and expansion.

4. Miss Mullen MFL (@MflMullen)

Points: 123

In at number 4 this week - with 123 points - is Miss Mullen! She's made a series of fake text conversations for MFL reading practice. She comments that her students love the insights into their teachers' lives (however fabricated!) and humbly credits @MissTayMFL for this idea. She says in the comments that you just have to search for "fake text generator" online.

3. MrBCurrier (@MrBCurrier)

Points: 145

In at number 3 is MrBCurrier again! Originally, his series of excellent knowledge booklets were all developed for Spanish (Edexcel). Now - thanks to some fantastic volunteers from the MFL community online - all five have been adapted for French (Edexcel)! A massive thank you to everyone involved for these fantastic resources.

2. Miss West (@misswestmfl)

Points: 194

In at number 2 this week, with 194 points, is Dorset-based Miss West! She's started to teach using PowerPoint presentations that have one slide for every pupil in the class. This way, she can now see everyone typing live - and all at the same time - from one screen.

1. MrBCurrier (@MrBCurrier)

Points: 317

And in at number 1 - with a massive 317 points (and completing a well-deserved hat-trick within a single week) - is MrBCurrier. To say that these resources are comprehensive would be a criminal understatement. As mentioned, Currier originally created his knowledge booklets for GCSE Edexcel Spanish but, in order to ensure that nobody be left out, he then helped coordinate French, Spanish, German AND Italian versions of them all - for both Edexcel and AQA (and with more languages on the way, I believe). These are some of the most comprehensive, curriculum-focused and beautifully designed resources I've ever seen. All MFL teachers and students should have a copy of these, regardless of exam board. This is a truly incredible community effort, so a major thank you to everyone involved. If you haven't done so already, do take five minutes off and save these to share with your students, PGCE trainees, NQTs, departments, trusts and learning areas.

So there we have it. Out of a record 1,337 MFL tweets this week, these are the top 10!

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Thank you for reading this week's MFLTop10, and see you again next week!

Blaine

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