I think, when I have a real opportunity to look back and think over this year, I will see some benefits as well as some losses. But it is important to see the silver lining and to keep moving forward, to think of our school's mission and vision statement, to push ourselves to keep exploring, re-imagining.
When we left Uni before Spring break 2020, we did not expect that our entire next academic year would take place online. While it is good that we are able now to try some enrichment activities, and make plans for some small gatherings, it has really changed how we teach, how we interact, how we connect with our students and our colleagues. I can't even begin to imagine what it has felt like for our new subfreshmen, our new transfer students, and our new teachers.
I think, when I have a real opportunity to look back and think over this year, I will see some benefits as well as some losses. But it is important to see the silver lining and to keep moving forward, to think of our school's mission and vision statement, to push ourselves to keep exploring, re-imagining.
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It is so different to be teaching online, to be meeting students through screens and cameras, to not be in the hallways hearing snippets of stories between peers or catching up with colleagues.
But this has propelled us to explore new ways of teaching and learning that we might have put off for longer if the need had not arisen. And by venturing outside our comfort zone, we are also finding that maybe our comfort zone can be widened. And as always, with technology tools and resources, it is not a matter of trying all the new gadgets, but of finding one or two that will meet the need, that will enhance the teaching and the learning. When I have an opportunity to attend webinars and learn from colleagues across the country, I take a step back to consider if their ideas might work with my students, and if I find a real pearl, I run with it. French 3 class just wrapped up a fun project - reviewing last semester's materials and putting that knowledge into childrens' style books, with illustrations, and audio-recordings of their stories. We will be sharing them with a teacher at Stratton who is working with young children in the new dual-language French program there. We hope to also share them with the dual-language program at Yankee Ridge Elementary School in Urbana. And now that the stories are done, we have moved on to the second half of our textbook.
French 4 class has dived into the quarter-long unit on German Occupation and French Resistance during WWII. Some of the information is not new to them, thanks to their history classes or personal interest; some will be. For a few of the students in the class who were on our trip to France last summer, we will be touching on things they might have seen or experienced during our travels. This unit will include excerpts of reading materials, a short period of research with an oral presentation, a few movies to watch, some discussions and written reflections with each movie, and an end-project of two newspapers, each representing one of the sides of the conflict. Each class will be participating in the National French Contest, administered in class over two days in late February. Each class will also participate in an international Poetry competition before April - original pieces, in French, judged by a French committee. Three of our students in the last few years have had their work recognized and awarded, as well as published in the annual anthology! And finally, outside of class, but still exposing our students to French language and culture, we will be welcoming Justine and Hugo for 3 weeks (February 8 to March 3) in our school. They will attend classes with their hosts, with peers; they will come to our French classes every now and then to participate, help, chat. It is a pleasure to come to class each day, to catch a smile, to get a question, to see lightbulbs go off when something goes click finally. 7 days of teaching completed.... As with each year, I take some time to get to know the 3rd year group as they are new to me, and I continue with my 4th year group. Several of the students from these classes travelled with me this summer in June in France and it is nice to see that the exposure to language in a "real context" sank in and has made a difference. We will be figuring out how to make our classroom spaces a little more "french-friendly" as we share space with other teachers who are in those rooms more hours in the day than we are...patience!
What happiness when everything falls into place and students can see possible rewards to be reaped!
Every year, our students can participate in an international poetry competition - we have taken part 2 other times, and just submitted poems this year. The poems have to be original pieces, in French, a maximum of 30 lines long - and I tell them a minimum of 10 lines. The poems are all free-form and follow one of the categories. This year's options were 1) no theme imposed , 2) "living with", 3) childrens' rights, 4) tell me 10 words (and they give you 10 specific words to use in the poem, or 5) esperanto. It was a quick effort but these students amaze me with their ability to create in such a short time, even if poetry is not really their thing. Both classes participated. From those who participated last year, 2 students one prizes and just received their published poems in an anthology sent to them from France! Motivation for this year's students, I think! New year, new efforts
French 4 is moving along well and strong with translations, readings, conversations. Some days they might feel like the challenge is too much, but they will recognize the fruits of their efforts down the road, I hope. And for some of them, this hard work will pay off next June when they are travelling in France for 3 weeks, with one week in a homestay situation! French 3 is also moving along at a good pace - I need to rethink my test writing as their final exam was WAY too long - we needed extra time when we came back in January and that still was not enough time for everyone.....but we had covered so many different topics last fall that I wanted them to see what they had accomplished...I will work harder for the spring final. Our new unit deals with hotel stays and they are in the middle of a fun and creative little project where they draw up their ideal hotel and give it a fun name. Temperatures are changing and so are dynamics.. After almost a whole quarter together, I feel like we are clicking as teams, finally. Even with the current French 4 group that I had last year already, it took a while to warm up again.
French 4 group is moving through Petit Prince fairly steadily. We are now visiting the various planets that were stops along the way to Earth for the Little Prince. We have met the king, the vain man, the drinker and the businessman. We have waxed philosophical about some key sentences in each chapter. French 4 is also diving deeper and deeper into grammatical concepts - this past week or two, we have been focusing on the subjunctive in much more detail than last year. Our heads hurt! French 3 group is now wrapping up the second unit, that focused on chores, lending a helping hand, and like level 4, the subjunctive, but only looking at how to form it, figure out some stems, and learn how to express obligation and wish through the subjunctive. This next week, we will also embark on the start of a writing adventure - each student will have a freelance writing project for the rest of the year, and they will be writing in French, hopefully in a style that appeals to them (poetry, play, novel, to-do lists on down days, short stories, etc). They will also be creating some dialogs individually then pick partners, and they will perform them next week and we will film them! These dialogs will cover the materials from the first two units, as a review and to keep building knowledge. End of quarter 1 is just around the corner - October 13th! Let's keep going strong! Week 4 and the students are still bursting with energy! I guess that is what fall temperatures will do to you....It is preferable to having students falling asleep during class, I have to admit!
French 3 class - we have moved out of review mode and into current lessons for the year, givng the students a chance to describe neighbors, celebrities, talk about their daily routine and daily hygiene. French 4 class - we are still reading Le Petit Prince, progressing surely and steadily. This week, we learned about the rose, the baobabs, and about what matters in life. Next week, we will start exploring the planets he visits on his way to Earth, and learn about the different individuals he meets. We are also diving back into grammar, this week with the infinitive, infinitive past and causative verb Faire.... Fun fun fun... Next week, Tuesday evening (Sept 12), we will have an informational meeting for those who are interesting in travelling to France in June 2018. Please join us, come with questions, reach a decision soon. Week 3 already! Time flies when you keep busy.
I have enjoyed getting to know the French 3 students a little more, and challenging them to think twice about what they are writing or saying. Year three should be a year where there are less careless mistakes.. We have been busy with reviews and getting comfortable again with French after a summer off. Next week, we start with our first Unit for the French 3 book. We have also already read a tale from the Ile Maurice and are working through some creole and french versions of the text, to expand our word connections between languages. We jumped feet first into French 4 materials - this group again will find itself being challenged to think critically, to increase their knowledge of language, to speak more fluently and fluidly. We are reading Saint-Exupery's book Le Petit Prince, and having some light and deep conversations about the content, the symbolism, the literal and figurative meanings of the story. The students have also had some time to be creative in drawings and music (pictures of a sheep and the baobab trees, and writing lyrics to a song titled "Dessine-moi un mouton" after reading and listening to the song with the same title by Mylene Farmer. This is directed specifically to the French 3 class: Students may think they are the ones who are worried going into class, but put yourself in the shoes of the teachers. You only have one name to remember, I have 15 this year, in each class! You have been together in French classes for two years, but you are new to me...
This is directed specifically to the French 4 class: not so worried about getting to know you all over again, but wanting to make sure you get out of four years of French enough baggage so that 10 years down the road, you can come back and say: "I have used my French, I remember more than just Bonjour or Merci!" This is directed to both classes: we have a summer 2018 trip in the planning stages, so start thinking about your options and the opportunities! 3 weeks of travel with one of them in a homestay setting. BON COURAGE ET BONNE RENTRÉE! |
AuthorTeacher of French 3 and French 4 at Uni High Archives
March 2021
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