My last day at Nodehill was a warm and memorable experience. Staff and children wished me all the best in my new role as CILT Language Teaching Advisor and freelance consultant and Mr Morris said some very kind words in the last assembly of the year.

Download Mr_Dale_leaves_Nodehill

I also received some lovely cards including one from a parent of a Yr5 pupil which read:

I wanted to write and thank you for your lovely words in Charlie's report. Every week Charlie has come out of school after his French lesson full of enthusiasm and praise for you. You have given him a great start which we hope he will build on in the future. Truly inspirational!

The staff dressed up in outlandish clothes for charity for the day which is why I'm sporting the colourful tie-dye top in the picture above. My two colleagues Richard and Stuart are cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats in August and I'm sure the money we raised will help get them on the way.

The chocolates and pocket guide to Twitter were also much appreciated as were the HMV and Pizza Express vouchers :)

Leaving Nodehill after 10 years was a tough decision, but it's more Au revoir than Adieu as I will still be doing the odd bit of supply at the school and of course keeping in contact with former colleagues. I guess I'll also have to change the personalised message on my Skype account which for the last year and a half or so has read Looking for my next move. Maybe I should change it to Looking ahead to new challenges. We'll see.

So if you would like me to run some training in your school from September 2009 onwards, feel free to get in touch and I'll see what I can do.

For the second year in a row, this blog has been nominated in the Lexiophile list for the top 100 language blogs in 2009 under the category language technology. If you'd like to offer your support, by clicking on the 'Vote for this blog button' on the right hand side before 28th July, that would be lovely. Thanks

Well done to everyone else who was also included this year. You know who you are!

Sharon Housley from FeedForAll has put together a list of top tips for preparing and conducting audio interviews which are designed to help podcasters improve the quality and listenability of their recordings.

These include:

1. Prepare questions in advance

2. Research Interview subject

3. Confirm pronunciation of the interviewee's name

4. Explain the scope of the interview before you start

5. Explain what hardware and software you will be using to conduct and record the interview

6. Make a test recording before you start to check recording levels and quality!

7. Relax your guest by chatting for a minute or so before you start the interview proper

8. Ask questions that don't require yes/no answers and encourage your interviewee to elaborate on their responses by giving examples

9. Prior to the interview, give your interviewee some tips on techniques such as not to speak too quickly, try and keep the microphone a consistent distance from their mouth and repeat something they've said if they've made a mistake as this can be edited out in the mix

10. Remember that you are the interviewer and that you need to lead the conversation and know when to change topic or interrupt your interviewee

11. Give a cue so that your interviewee knows when the conversation is coming to a close

12. Thank the interviewee when you've finished and provide a link to where listeners can find out more

Here are some more tips from Eddie Matthews from Expert Village on interviewing and connecting with your audience.

Have a look at 20 ideas for a great podcast and Tips for a successful school podcast for some more sound advice too.

Last week, Catherine Moore from Sheffield South City Learning Centre gave a talk about promoting creativity in Primary Spanish using ICT at the Forward with Languages MFL conference in Sheffield. Her presentation co-authored by Paula Lewis from Meadowhead School and Primary link teacher highlights a number of useful tools for language learning, namely:

• Picnik
• Flickr
• Bubbl.us
• Glogster
• Comic Life
• Movie Maker
• Wikispaces

Have a look too at the slidecasts Lisa Stevens recently created for her CILT course Next steps in using ICT in the primary languages classroom on effective use of ICT for whole class teaching, collaborative learning using ICT, digital voice recording and assessment.

If you are looking for a quick and clear description of some of Skype's main features, I suggest you spend 2 minutes and 17 seconds watching this excellent clip from Say it Visually.

Thanks to Free Technology for Teachers for the heads up. Nice job guys!