Trust me, crafting your French syllabus is one of the most important, yet challenging tasks. What sorts of things should you include in your French syllabus? What matters? What is irrelevant? Today I am sharing must-haves items you will want to include in your French syllabus this school year.
If you’re looking for more Back to School ideas & inspo, I have an entire blog post dedicated to fun French classroom decor ideas. Read this post on activities to do in the first week of school and what to do in the first two weeks of school.
In general, I include MORE information than less in my syllabus. My goal is to be transparent with my students and their families. Therefore, I also include course procedures and routines in my syllabus.
Include the curriculum/standards in your French syllabus
Early in my career, it would never have occurred to me to include the curriculum/standards in my syllabus.
If your standards are too wordy, you may want to rewrite them into simple “I can” statements.
Absence procedures
In my opinion, this is the MOST important thing to include in your French syllabus.
Absences are bound to occur. However, when you are a high school teacher and you teach 100+ students, keeping track of absences can get out of control.
Exactly what do students need to know and do when they are absent?
I include step-by-step instructions and throughout the semester, I often send students back to read their syllabus.
This is the kind of thing you want to be AHEAD of, instead of playing catch up on 🤪.
Academic dishonesty
French teachers, remember when the only thing we had to contend with was online translators? The world of AI has made our lives as teachers more challenging.
In your academic dishonesty section, I encourage you to be very explicit on what academic dishonesty is in your classroom.
Read my blog post on how to combat Google Translate in the classroom for extra tips and strategies here.
Cell phone policy
From day 1 of my teaching career, I have been very transparent and explicit about my cell phone policy.
This is something you should include in your syllabus and then follow up on thoroughly in class.
Daily & weekly routines
In my classroom, I teach with unique daily and weekly classroom routines. This includes Question du jour, Fait francophone de la semaine, Chanson de la semaine, Expressions de la semaine & more!
I include these in my syllabus so students can begin to memorize these routines. That way students know exactly how each class is going to begin.
Read my blog post on French classroom routines by clicking here.
Grab these fully editable French syllabus templates
