Featured Website: frenchappsforkids.blogspot.com

Once in a while I am going to profile people that are doing great things with iPads in education. A few months ago, I let you know of the great iPad article curation website/Scoop.it page iPads in Education by John Evans.

Sylvia Duckworth is a friend, colleague and French teacher from Ontario who teaches the exact same curriculum as yours truly: The AIM (Accelerative Integrated Method) for French. She is a very large influence on both new and seasoned AIM teachers all around the globe. Her powerpoints and YouTube videos have greatly aided my French classes. She joined Twitter in early 2011 and almost instantly gained hundreds of followers (She now has over 2500!). Her YouTube upload views have hit over 2 million. She recently won the 2012 Prix H.H. Stern Award from the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers for her “initiative to create opportunities for authentic language use through the use of technology”.

Sylvia is always willing to share resources that she has created. What I also appreciate about her is that she is also willing to learn as well. She recently (finally!) purchased an iPad mini for herself and has become super interested in using it in her classes. Upon purchasing the iPad mini, she quickly started a blog entitled: frenchappsforkids.blogspot.com. In that blog, she reviews paid iPad apps for both French learners and teachers. In less than a month, she has already reviewed over twenty-five apps! There are in-depth videos of the apps in action, made using her iPad, Mac, and the Reflector app. Please take a few minutes to check out this site, especially if you are a French teacher. Using this site, parents and teachers alike will be able to know which paid apps will be worth purchasing, and which apps are disappointing and to be avoided.

If you teach French but are not an iPad teacher, her other language site also contains lots of activities and links for both educators and students. I would suggest linking that site to any blogs that your students read. There are TONS of resources, including SMART board activities, technology links, student project ideas and others.

Sylvia is a great French teacher who takes pride in teaching the French language, and continually wants to share what she learns as well. I am looking forward to collaborating with her in creating/developing great language apps in the near future.

Do you know anyone that could be profiled on teachingwithipad.org? Is there someone that you know that deserves to be recognized worldwide? Please submit a biography, along with their website. It could even be you yourself! I will gladly read all submissions. While I can’t promise to profile everyone, I do promise to share the best!