As French teachers, we know that learning a new language out loud can feel intimidating, especially for our Core French or French Immersion students. A strong foundation for French class is essential if we want our students to feel safe, supportive, and willing to take risks to speak French. One simple, but powerful routine you can introduce is community circles in French class. Circles are a great way to building a classroom community where every student has a voice.

What are Community Circles?

Circles are a structured routine where students and staff sit together in a circle and share and listen. This practice originates in Indigenous communities in North America where circles have long been used for relationship-building, decision-making, and healing. They are a practice now widely used in restorative practices and restorative justice in schools as an alternative to traditional, punitive discipline.

Circles for Restorative Practices

Circles can have many different purposes. For example, administrators and teachers can use circles to resolve conflicts.

It’s important to note here that facilitating circles for restorative justice requires training to avoid unintentionally causing harm. Another key point is that participation in this type of circle must always be consensual due to the sensitive nature.

Circles to Support Teaching & Learning

Beyond conflict resolution, French and French Immersion teachers can also use circles to support instruction. For example, circles can be really informative in Social Studies and History classes to reinforce critical thinking, perspective-taking, or even analyzing cause and consequence in relationship to a specific historical event.

In French class, a circle routine can help reinforce vocabulary and provide opportunities for oral communication in a safe and low-pressure way.

Circles to Build Classroom Community

Lastly, circles are a powerful way to build community in the classroom. They create space for students to share their thoughts, connect with one another, and develop trust. For French teachers, this is especially valuable as students are more likely to speak French and take risks when they feel a sense of belonging.

If you are familiar with my work, you will know that I am super passionate about routines in the French classroom. One of my favourite routines is Question du Jour. I think that Question du Jour and circles would work really well together since both routines give students the opportunity to share their voice, practice speaking French in a low-stakes way, and strengthen classroom community.

What grade levels are community circles ideal for?

Community circles can be used across grade levels, from elementary to high school Core French or French Immersion classes. Since I teach high school, this blog post will focus on how circles can support students from Grades 8-12. However, the routine can be easily adapted for younger students as well.

Watch the brief & informative chat with my amazing colleague Maryline to see how she implements community circles in her French Immersion classroom!

Maryline is a superstar! We have been neighbours for the last eight years. For several years now, I have noticed Maryline and her class doing circles at the back of her classroom. It has always intrigued me.

Today I am bringing in Maryline to tell you all about circles in her French Immersion classroom.

Helpful tools

If you’re looking for more support and guidance before you facilitate your first circle, here are some helpful tools.

• This is a phenomenal tool from CASEL that explains what circles are, their purpose, and even helps you plan your first one.
• This is a really helpful video on the origins of circles and how not to culturally appropriate unintentionally.

The post How to Use Community Circles in French Class to Build Community appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

The most inspiring virtual conference for French teachers and World Language teachers is back! If you are a French teacher looking for free French professional development opportunities, Practical & Comprehensible is for you!

Who is this free virtual conference intended for?

This free virtual conference is intended for World Languages teachers all over the world. Whether you teach French Immersion or Core French, there will be inspiring and practical tips, tricks and ideas for your French classroom.

Most of the presenters are in fact American, but there are some Canadian presenters as well!

When does Practical & Comprehensible occur?

Practical & Comprehensible takes place July 29-31, 2024

Where does it take place?

This free VIRTUAL conference for French teachers takes place online! You can watch all sessions from the comfort of your home, back garden or coffee shop!

Get your ticket to this awesome conference!

Here are some of the presentors and what they will be presenting :

• Languages as Lenses: Designing Thematic Units for Cultural Insights and Social Justice
• Sorry (not sorry), But Your Students WILL Keep Asking to Do These Activities
• Starting Strong: Embracing an Asset-Based Approach from Day One
• Lessen Your Planning: Getting the Most out of the Comprehensible Novel

** please note that this link is an affiliate link. If you choose to register for this conference and upgrade to a paid ticket, I would make a small commission from the purchase, at no extra cost to you.

The post Practical & Comprehensible 2024 – a free virtual conference for French Teachers appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Whether you are a brand new French teacher or a seasoned one, classroom management can be really challenging regardless of the number of years you have under your belt. Join my teacher bestie Sheena and me in a conversation about classroom management tips for French teachers. Please note that these classroom management tips are for middle and high school French teachers.

I hope you enjoyed our chat about classroom management tips for French teachers! Interested in connecting with Sheena? Connect with her via her Instagram account or check out her TPT.

STOP! and download these FREE French classroom management tools

French classroom management tip #1 : Send your syllabus home at the start of the school year along with your classroom and school expectations

This is an obvious one, but I have my students take home the class syllabus at the start of the semester. This semester is very explicit on classroom routines and expectations.

My school does not have the parents sign the syllabus, but I actually edit mine and DO have the families of my students sign them.

Click here for fun French syllabus templates.

French classroom management tip #2: Send a welcome email to families at the start of the school year or semester

One thing I LOVE to do is send a welcome email to the families of my students at the start of my school year.

Why is a welcome email important?

At my school we don’t have a “meet the teacher night” anymore sadly. I actually LOVED these! It is so important that families hear from you in a neutral manner first, before you reach out and discuss students and their progress.

What do I include in my welcome email?

• Introduction – I briefly introduce myself, share some very basic information (years of teaching, how many languages I speak) and that I care very much about my students, their well-being, and their progress
• Reminder – I remind parents to read and sign the syllabus that went home that day. I also remind them where to check grades and what to do when students are absent.
• Encourage – I encourage them to reach out whenever they have questions
• Sign-off – I sign off by saying that I look forward to working with them to support their child in their academic journey

Parents are so receptive to this email. I often have dozens of replies thanking me for the introduction and the reminders. This way when I do eventually reach out to communicate about incidents in the classroom, parents have heard from me previously.

French classroom management tip #3 : Prioritize relationship building

Whether it is la rentrée scolaire or mid-year, prioritize relationship building.

Remember that students are also very nervous and anxious during this first week back. What can you do to break the ice, get to know your students, but also encourage them to get to know one another?

Now full disclosure, I HATE first-week games or icebreakers where individual students have to speak in front of the whole class. As I said above, you have not yet established a safe classroom environment and students are likely not ready to speak in front of the class if they are super introverted.

Instead, I like to break the ice by playing French Back to School icebreakers like Levez-vous si… and Four Corners.

I also have my students respond to surveys where they tell me about their personalities and what they need in order to be successful.

The truth is that if you have solid relationships with your teenage students, they are more likely to make good choices because they respect you!

French classroom management tip #4 : What does your seating arrangement look like?

Like Sheena and I discussed briefly in the video, seating arrangements are a really important tool as part of your classroom management strategy as a French teacher.

I have a very detailed blog post on classroom desk arrangements that you should read. For each desk arrangement, I speak at length about pros and cons.

Now in terms of seating plan, I do prefer to have set seating plans for Grades 8-10. Now, before I create my seating plan, I do ask my students about who they’d like to sit with. I do accommodate their wishes if I think they’ve made good choices.

French classroom management tip #5 : Be explicit about expectations and reteach them when necessary

Like I mentioned in the video, be very explicit about your expectations.

Some teachers like to co-create norms with their students.

I am a Punjabi, 5″1, a woman, and “young-appearing”. I have to be very explicit about my expectations because I do not look scary. I have seen my students behave VERY different with male teachers who are white and 6 feet tall.

If you are a new teacher, do not assume that teenagers “know” things. If you want them to stack chairs a certain way, show them how to do it.

In September, every time you feel like you need to stop and reteach expectations, please take the time to do that. It will make the rest of your year so much more smooth.

Finally, how you set your expectations will depend on your specific situation (# of classes, age, maturity, etc).

French classroom management tip #6 : Try behaviour reflection sheets

When students make poor choices and transgress classroom expectations, I use that as a learning opportunity.

When I think about how I am going to address these choices, the most important goal is to have students take ownership of their choices and be intentional about making better choices in the future.

What questions are on my behaviour reflection sheet? You can download a copy of my behaviour reflection sheet here ABOVE

Scroll up to download these!

French classroom management tip #7 : Give your vocal chords a rest & use a charm

In the first few years of my career, oh boy did I overuse my vocal chords.

Now I use this charm to get my students’ attention and it is so much more effective than yelling over them!

French classroom management tip #8 : Involve administration, counselors, and parents when necessary

This last one is the most important one.

Whenever my colleagues tell me about incidents that occurred in their classroom, I ask them if they’ve already communicated with the family. The answer is often negative.

I do not have children, but I know that if I was a parent and my child was making those choices, I would want to be informed!

When communicating with families, it is important to keep things FACTUAL. Leave all of your emotions and feelings out in the hallway. State facts. Be transparent and professional.

Remember, if you’re too upset to write the email – draft it and come back to it tomorrow.

Lastly, feel free to ask admin or TRUSTED colleagues to read over your draft before you send it out.

You’ve got this!

The post Classroom management tips for French teachers appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Why does French unit planning feel like the most difficult task? Sitting down and planning units is one of the most basic parts of our jobs as teachers. However, it often feels like an impossible task. Over the years, I think that I finally figured out how to do this in a way that works best for me. If you are a Core French teacher, I hope you will find the strategies in this blog post to be super helpful.

But first – a bit about my teaching context.

I teach high school Core French in British Columbia. My periods are generally 75 minutes long. I teach students for a full semester of the school year and then they move on to summer and/or a new semester.

In British Columbia, we have shifted to standards-based assessment. Here is a link to the curriculum if you’re interested in reading what our standards are. Our French standards do not prescribe the teaching of specific grammar structures in each course. We teach our students to communicate and culture and communication are intricately tied.

Now that we’ve figured that out, let’s go ahead and plan our French unit.

STOP! DOWNLOAD THIS FREEBIE BEFORE YOU SCROLL

A quick disclaimer

This is what has worked for me so far. However, my pedagogy is always evolving.

Please also note that I also teach with structured daily and weekly routines. Therefore, my units are not the only exposure to reading, writing, listening, and speaking my students experience.

French Unit Planning #1 : What are your goals as a French teacher?

There are so many different pedagogies when it comes to teaching French. Here are my three personal pedagogical priorities :

• facilitate proficiency in the French language
• teach about Francophone and non-Francophone cultures
• foster intercultural awareness

French Unit Planning #2 : Select your standards

Start at the end, what do you want your students to be able to do and to understand by the end of the unit?

For the purposes of this blog post, I am planning for a French 11 course. Here are my selected standards (from the BC Curriculum) :

Big ideas :

• Listening and viewing with intent supports our acquisition of French
• Language and culture are interconnected and shape our perspective, identity, and voice

Curricular competencies (I can statements) :

• I can engage in meaningful conversations on a variety of topics of interest
• I can express myself with increasing fluency, both orally and in writing

Content :

• I can communicate in past, present, and future time frames
• I can make predictions
• I can speak about my own personal interests
• I can express my own opinions

French Unit Planning #3 : Next, what is your theme? What grammatical and vocabulary topics will your students need to know and practice by the end of the unit? Level of language?

Now that we’ve selected our standards, it’s time to figure out the following :

• your students’ level of language (novice, intermediate, advanced or somewhere in between these levels)
• your chosen theme for the unit
• what vocabulary will you incorporate into the unit?
• what grammatical structures do you want your students to become proficient in communicating?

French Unit Planning #4 : What will the final summative assessment look like?

When you’re planning your French unit, you want your final summative assessment to reflect the learning from the unit. Here are some examples?

• French music unit? Your final assessment could be a music video project, a presentation discussing a song, etc.
• French food unit? Your final assessment could be a recipe project where students film themselves making a recipe

On the very first day I introduce the unit to my students, I begin with unit objectives. Here are the unit objectives I’ve pulled from my French music unit :

I then break down these unit objectives into questions I want my students to be able to respond to orally and in writing by the end of the unit.

Please note that I do not introduce these to my students all at once. I introduce these to my students a few at time.

Every reading, writing, listening, and speaking activity I plan in the unit comes back to these questions.

Finally, these are the questions that I want my students to answer in their final summative assessment.

Here are the questions :

French Unit Planning #5 : Start with input (listening and reading)

During the first 60-70% of the unit, I am providing rich input opportunities. This means that I am planning rich, meaningful, and engaging French listening and French reading opportunities for each class.

Ideas for listening input :

• YOU!

I know! You probably weren’t expecting this one. For novice and intermediate levels, it can be really tough to find rich French listening activities. If the resource is too difficult, your students will actually get nothing out of it.

Therefore, you can be the listening opportunity. You can do map talks, picture talks, and movie talks that are connected to your chosen theme, standards, and topics.

Special tip *** I often find French videos that are text-only on YouTube. I turn these videos into interactive lessons where I pause and talk over the video and ask students questions about the text they are reading. The whole lesson is in French!

In terms of rich French reading comprehension tasks, I have written my own because I could never find what I needed on the Internet.

In this part of the unit, the goal is to expose your students to as much listening and reading as possible.

French Unit Planning #6 : now build in the output

Now it’s time to build in the output.

What speaking and writing opportunities do you want to create? Remember to link them to your question goals + unit objectives.

Formative and summative assessment

The summative assessment is already planned. What formative assessment opportunities will you create?

Final project time

When it comes to working on the final project, I break it down into many chunks. At the end of each class, one task is due.

My rule of thumb is I do not assign projects that I do not want to mark. I assign a mix of group, partner, and individual projects.

I hope this blog post was helpful to you!

How do you plan your units?

The post French unit planning 101 – a step-by-step guide appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

I can hardly believe that I am entering my seventh year of teaching French. In honour of those very challenging six years, I am sharing with you all of the mistakes I made and lessons I learned in my first five years of teaching French. If you are a new French teacher, hopefully, there are some nuggets of information you can learn from this blog post. If you are a seasoned French teacher and you can relate to some of these lessons, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

I actually wrote two very similar post on 10 Mistakes I made in my first year of teaching Core French and How to teach French to beginners. I shared a lot of content that I won’t be repeating in this post, so do read those as well if you are curious!

A little about me and my context

I am a high school French teacher in British Columbia, Canada at the secondary level. Unfortunately, I was in my third year of teaching when the pandemic began.

My fourth and fifth years of teaching were my most challenging years of teaching due to the pandemic and its aftermath.

These were the years I cried at my desk after almost every single staff meeting.

Teaching French doesn’t just mean teaching grammar & vocabulary

In my first couple of years of teaching French, I simply taught French how I had been taught. It was a lot of grammar lessons and vocabulary memorization.

It didn’t work. I felt like I was teaching French grammar classes, instead of French language classes.

So I worked really hard to change things up. Firstly, I made a teacher Instagram account which simply revolutionized the way I was teaching. The interactions I’ve had with French teachers all over the world have been the best professional development in my career!

Then, I discovered the world of Comprehensible Input.

I would not say that all of my activities and lessons align with Comprehensible Input. I would say that I have borrowed bits and pieces from a variety of French pedagogies and teaching practices.

Now I teach very hands-on, creative, and engaging units that center Francophone and non-Francophone cultures. The goal is to expose my students to as much French listening and reading in the early years. Secondly, I try to create safe and structured French speaking activities. We learn about all sorts of topics in French and we do projects that combine creative and critical thinking skills.

I think for so many teachers it can be a very scary place to step away from the world of French textbooks and grammar. However, I cannot explain in words how rewarding it truly is once you hit that sweet spot.

French teaching tip : establish very strong French class routines

I remember my first two years of teaching French so very clearly. Truly, I really wanted to establish strong classroom routines. I just didn’t know what those routines could be. The Internet wasn’t super helpful at that time either.

During the 2020-2021 school year, I implemented weekly and daily routines for the first time. Now, I have a very lengthy blog post where I dive into all of the daily and weekly routines I’ve established in my high school Core French classes.

Please do read my blog post on French classroom routines if you’d like more information on what kinds of routines and how to establish them.

Here is a quick example of daily routines in my classroom :

• Daily slides
• Question du jour

Weekly routines :

• Chanson de la semaine
• Expression idiomatique de la semaine
• JEU-di
• Expression argotique de la semaine
• Lecture silencieuse ou lecture en partenaire

Strong French routines are a massive pro for a new French teacher as they cut down on planning. They are also really effective for targeting speaking, reading, writing, and listening. Targeting all four strands in the first few years of teaching French can be really tricky.

Change it up if you don’t like it

In my first year as a classroom teacher, my work mom told me “teach whatever brings you joy and don’t teach anything that doesn’t bring you joy”.

If you are not happy with the outcome of a unit, lesson, activity, worksheet, strategy, routine, seating plan….ANYTHING — do NOT be afraid to change it up.

I promise you will be a better French teacher because you reflected on why it didn’t go well and what to do to improve it for the future. Immediately after trying something that didn’t go as planned, reflect on the following :

• what did I think was going to happen and what actually happened?
• what 3 changes (small, medium, large) can I implement for the future that would help this activity/lesson/unit run more smoothly?

Speak in the target language, but also don’t be afraid to connect with students in English

A lot of new and seasoned French teachers really struggle with finding a balance. For me, it’s quite simple now.

• speak in the target language for all major aspects of routines and lessons. Ensure that you are using language that is repetitive and comprehensible.
• Explain assessment requirements in English. They need to understand fully what they are doing, especially as it involves their grades. It is not fair to students to not understand what they are supposed to accomplish for assessment. This is the single most thing my students complain about in their other courses.
• Rubrics should also be in English – you are not evaluating their ability to understand rubrics.
• Have difficult/needed conversations with students in English
• Don’t be afraid to speak in English to connect with them, especially at the beginner and intermediate levels. I will do whatever I need to do to continue to build a community in my classroom

The post Lessons I Learned in My First Five Years of Teaching French appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Today we are talking all about how to create a thriving French program in your department. Now, as French teachers we recognize that there can be so many elements entirely outside of the control of teachers. Most of the time, we cannot change those circumstances. Today in this video, we are talking about circumstances we French teachers DO have control over and therefore can change.

Sheena is my fellow work bestie. I am so, so lucky to have Sheena by my side. Over the years we have increased retention in all of our courses. We’ve now hired another part-time teacher. This is something we are very proud about. However, this was not accident. We were very intentional about the student experience in our department.

Sheena and I moved to our current school at the same time. Hear all about our story in the video below!

P.S. students at our school do not HAVE to take French class. They do need a language 11 to go to University in British Columbia. However, they can also do this online if they find the class to be painful (as is the case with any subject matter). However, we are capped at 30 students for most of our classes and there often long wait lists to get into a class in September!

Our students WANT to be in our classes.

Your French classes are boring ):

I know. This one is a very tough pill to swallow.

If you are struggling with retention in your classes, it may be that the student experience is lacking.

Just look at your students expressions while you’re teaching. What do you see? Have you asked your students if they like French class? If yes or no, why or why not?

If your French classes are boring, the only way to remedy this is to step out of your comfort zone. Try new units, methods of teaching, games, practices, etc.

How can you bring the French and Francophone experiences into your own classroom?

Your students think French is pointless

French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with over 300 million speakers across the globe. It is also a working language of many international organizations, including the United Nations, the European Union, and the International Olympic Committee.

French isn’t just a language spoken in France. It is spoken in over 30 countries over the world.

It’s so important to share these nuggets of information with our students so they can see that French is relevant.

Tip for creating a thriving French program : collaborate with colleagues

If you are a department of one, reach out to colleagues within your board and collaborate with them. With the Internet, you can also easily collaborate with teachers all over the world.

If you teach in a department with more than one member, it is so important to build a culture of collaboration. The students will benefit significantly from this harmony.

There are so many other topics, suggestions, and ideas we discuss in the video! Please do watch the full video if you’re interested in hearing how Sheena and I fostered a thriving French program at our school.

The post Here is why your school’s French program is failing appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Let’s talk about a hot topic plaguing so many French teachers in my DMs and emails — what to do when French students hate learning French. Honestly, this request had me shook. How can students hate learning French??? My teenage Core French students LOVE French class. It is the highlight of their year sometimes (I’m not flexing). So the question is – how do we begin cultivating a love for learning French?

In this post, we are going to talk about changes French teachers can make in order to increase student engagement in French classes and foster passion for learning French. However, as a high school French teacher, I admit that there are definitely students who will never love learning French. That is OKAY. In this video and blog post, we are talking about actual changes French teachers can undertake to continue inspiring French language learners.

Also, please note that I am not talking about behavioural challenges that make teaching and learning French very challenging. To reiterate, we are talking about circumstances we actually have control over.

Let’s begin with a self-reflection – why do your students hate learning French?

As mentioned in the video above, a lot of my Grade 8 students come to me from elementary school and they are not shy about sharing that they HATE learning French. As a matter of fact, they’d rather be anywhere else than in French class!

Most say that French was extremely boring in elementary school. Some say that they had Francophone teachers who only spoke French and they had no idea what they were saying the entire time. Others say that they were forced to speak when they just weren’t comfortable.

All of these experiences are so valid. French teachers need to recognize and understand that students’ comfort and safety levels and confidence are intricately connected.

So, when your young Core French students express that they hate French class, ask them why!

Don’t assume that you know why.

Tip : ask them via an anonymous survey if you don’t feel comfortable having an open discussion. I personally do both so I can hear from all of my students.

Start with open lines of communication

When students express to me that they hate French class, I tell them that I am so sorry to hear that. I thank them for feeling comfortable and safe sharing that information with me. Then, I tell them that I am going to do my best to change their opinion.

Then I ask them the following questions :

• what makes you feel unsafe in a French language class? What do you need to feel safe taking risks?
• what kinds of activities do you like to do? What do you not like to do?

I share my findings with them and then I work hard to adjust my lessons and activities to incorporate their feedback.

These are the surveys I use at the start of the semester in all of my classes. I have been doing student surveys since practicum. The information students share in these is always so valuable.

If you don’t already have student surveys, go check these out.

Ultimately, students feel valued and heard when you ask what they need. In order to cultivate a love of learning French, communicating and incorporating student feedback is critical.

Is it a safe learning environment for ALL students?

Establishing a safe learning environment for ALL of your students needs to be the very first task.

French is a class that requires significant risk-taking. If students feel unsafe (e.g. they are mocked for their accents or made to speak when they don’t feel ready), then of course they are going to dislike the course.

Again, poll your students and ask them what they need to feel safe and comfortable in French class.

Is your passion for teaching French evident? How do you expect your students to love learning French if your love of teaching French is absent?

Listen, this isn’t math or socials. In a class like French class, your passion and energy need to be contagious.

For example, I am obsessed with French music. From the moment I met my current Grade 11s when they were in Grade 8, I shared my passion with them through all sorts of activities and projects. From the very beginning, they too have LOVED French music to the point where they told me they’d go to Gim’s concert with me.

If my passion and enthusiasm weren’t contagious, do you think they would have been as excited about French music?

The answer is no.

If you are not having fun teaching French, they aren’t having fun learning it. That’s not to say that every day has to be fun. My teens and I have boring “work” days too. However, the overall energy of the course does need to be exciting and infectious. The French teacher’s overall energy is critical in cultivating a love for learning French.

If you’re interested in learning about the following sub-topics connected to this blog post, do go ahead and watch the video.

• being flexible
• stepping away from grammar
• putting students before the course requirements
• mixing things up
• ensuring your assessment is fair, equitable, and ethical

Cultivating a love for learning French by mixing it up and trying new activities

From my personal experience, all kinds of subject teachers can get stuck in doing the same things year-after-year. Whether it’s using the same textbook published in 1991 or photocopying that one worksheet from 12 years ago – there is very little change.

Listen – the world has changed so much since the publication of textbooks in the 1990s. Also, there are so many new pedagogies like Comprehensible Input. Technology has changed so much in the last 10 years.

We need to continue to strive to be better French teachers by changing things up.

Start small – follow teachers on Instagram that inspire you. Join a Facebook group. Try out one new activity. Ask your students what they thought of it.

I have a blog post I wrote on 10 Mistakes I made as a first-year Core French teacher. In the post, I share my reflections on practices I’ve dropped since that first year. I also have a blog post on how NOT to teach French to beginner students.

These are all of the activities, tasks, projects we do in my French classes that foster passion for French and motivate my French language learners :

• doing wild projects like music videos and vlogs
• going on a field trip to a local Francophone community
• making crêpes in class
• learning about the social, political, and historical origins of the Francophone world
• incorporating French music into all sorts of activities and lessons
• doing fun daily and weekly routines that prioritize building students’ confidence in French
• learning French slang every week
• starting each class with question du jour
• going on walks when we need a break
• playing fun games
• changing up the lesson based on the needs I am observing and what my students are communicating to me
• ensuring that lessons are different and we’re not doing the same type of tasks every day
• learning in French and not learning French
• laughing and joking with my students

Consequently – it’s all about community, safety, communication, passion, AND FUN

The post Cultivating a love for learning French in French class appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Are you a BC high school Core French teacher? BC high school Core French teachers — we have one of the coolest jobs!

However, it can be challenging (if not impossible) to find resources and collaborate with teachers outside of BC. Our teaching context in British Columbia is just so unique.

We do not have grades or percentages for K-9 (we use a proficiency scale). We are also standards-based. Many “standard practices” in education are not allowed in BC (participation marks, 0s for work not handed in, etc). If you are not from BC, please understand that our discussions and resources will be unique due to our context.

And then we get on the Internet and we try to learn from and collaborate with our Canadian or International colleagues. However, there are so many differences in teaching practices that we quickly learn that collaboration is difficult.

Well I’ve got the solution for you – fellow BC high school Core French teacher!

Anyways – I ended up creating a Facebook group where BC teachers can collaborate more closely with one another.

You should join this Facebook if you :

• are a BC high school Core French teacher
• are interested in collaborating with BC teachers
• want to learn how other BC high school Core French teachers create and plan assessment for the proficiency scale and standards-based assessment

Are you a high school Core French teacher in BC? If you are – come join our Facebook group!

The post BC High School Core French Teachers appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

When thinking of French class, the first images that may come to mind are those of an Eiffel Tower, cheese, poutine, and cute classroom decor. The very last thing that may come to mind is the harm that you are perpetuating with your teaching practices. Even so, you may not be considering how your content and French curriculum uphold colonial hierarchies, thus perpetuating violence against racial & religious minorities.

The time to disrupt these harmful practices is today. I hope that you take the content in this blog post as an opportunity for reflection and action. Just reading and listening is not enough. We must commit ourselves to meaningful action immediately.

Please note that this blog post is the result of my own experiences as a Core French student, French undergrad student, a full-time French teacher in BC, and a participant in French teacher social media.

Simply adding diverse resources to our Core French or French Immersion curriculum isn’t enough

Ever since the murder of George Floyd, I have seen so many French teachers commit to diversifying their French curriculum.

However, simply adding diverse resources to your existing units is not enough. This is especially the case if your teaching practices, on the whole continue, to reinforce colonial hierarchies.

It’s like putting a bandaid on a broken leg.

We must examine why some of our teaching practices are problematic and how they continue to uphold colonial hierarchies.

Your content and resources are still eurocentric

Eurocentric French curriculum and content are deeply problematic as they play a major role in perpetuating racism and white supremacy. Continuing to teach French using eurocentric resources legitimizes the history and heritage of your white students, whilst rendering invisible the existence of your BIPOC students.

To put it simply, eurocentric resources reinforce racial, ethnic and religious stratification in society.

Many French teachers still rely heavily on the use of outdated textbooks. These textbooks teach the French language from a white, French perspective. Most of the content revolves around Paris, France, “French culture” (stereotypes) and the lives of white Parisians.

Additionally, these textbooks often entirely neglect the lives, cultures, and experiences of racial and religious minorities living in France. Given the policies of universalism and colorblindness in France, this history of marginalization and oppression is not at all surprising.

French-speaking African countries, the French Antilles and French Overseas Territories are entirely neglected in FRIMM and Core French curriculum.

Remember that French textbooks aren’t the only resource that can be eurocentric. Your choice of literature, picture books, music, and content must be thoroughly analyzed.

Marginalized voices continue to be left out of the conversation

Think of the classics taught by French language arts teachers in high schools. Or the French novels studied by elementary and middle school French immersion classes. How many of those French classics are written by francophones from diverse racial and religious backgrounds?

Did francophones from diverse racial and religious backgrounds just not exist during this period? Or was it that they didn’t experience success due to their race and religion?

I understand that white FLA teachers may feel that these French classics are a part of their heritage or the “French Patrimoine”. However, this French Patrimoine neglects the very people the French Empire colonized and subjugated for centuries. Why are their works not considered to be worth reading and studying in the French classrooms?

There is also the fact that French classics, filled with white characters, do not represent all our diverse students. How can book after book about medieval white characters be relevant to the lives of our BIPOC students?

The French literature chosen in FLA classes must be reflective of the students in that classroom. In fact, French literature must :

• inform white students about the lives and experiences of BIPOC
• empower BIPOC students

Questions to consider when selecting French literature for the classroom :

• What problems do your racialized students encounter in life?
• How does your reading list ensure that your students are heard and seen, and that their peers learn about their lives?
• What trials and tribulations have the families of your students endured? Also, what stories need to be shared in the classroom?
• How does your reading list contribute to a society that is more empathetic, informed, critical and trauma-informed?

Therefore, the answer is pretty simple. French Language Arts teachers must diversify their reading list.

You are promoting colonial hierarchies in your French curriculum

Here are some examples of colonial hierarchies you may be upholding as part of your French Immersion or Core French curriculum :

• linguistic superiority – promoting French, or even standard French, as a superior language
• avoiding teaching about racism, genocide, police brutality, colonialism because your students ‘don’t have the language to do it in French’
• only teaching about standard, hexagonal French
• centering Christianity

Do you leave space in your French curriculum to teach about Creole, Michif, Chiac or Verlan?

Also, do you teach about how the Arabic spoken in Algeria and Tunisia differs from the Arabic spoken on the Arabian Peninsula? Do you listen to stories and read articles about how empowering these languages and dialects are to the minorities who speak them?

Or do you only teach the standard, Hexagonal French?

Do you center Christianity in your pedagogy? I know you may say that Christianity is a part of the French patrimoine. However, Francophones and francophiles can also be Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist. Are they not part of French patrimoine? And if they aren’t, why not?

Remember that Christianity was a violent means through which racialized people were conquered. Christianity meant rape, genocide, murder in the colonies. By continuing to only promote Christianity, and to avoid all talk of other religions, you are partaking in this violent colonial legacy.

And if you are reading this and you are Christian, I want you to ask yourself what biases and colonial hierarchies you are bringing into your classroom. Are these biases and colonial hierarchies preventing you from celebrating and teaching about your students’ religions? About the religions of people who live in the same society as you?

Remember that every opportunity you take to inform your students about diverse religions may mean that an innocent family is spared from violence.

Your content and resources do not address colonialism and the violence that preceded “la francophonie”.

When looking to bring culture into the classroom, many French teachers immediately think to do a single “francophonie unit”. This single unit cannot begin to cover the complex history of the French Empire.

Before we even begin to teach about all of the countries and places that speak French, we must address why they speak French. We must create a space where our students can listen to the stories of those who were subjugated for centuries.

While it may seem as though colonization occurred long ago, remember that people and countries all around the world continue to deal with the legacies of colonialism. These legacies are political, social, economic, and environmental.

Human rights violations and justice in French curriculum

There must be space within Core French & French immersion curriculum and content to address human rights violations and the search for justice.

To only present francophone people and places in a positive light is to teach your students 50% of the topic. To understand la francophonie, our French as a second language students must also learn about the adversity, resilience and the ongoing fights for justice occurring in many francophone communities.

The post How your French curriculum reinforces & upholds colonial hierarchies appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Picture this, you are a first-year Core French teacher. You finally have your own French classroom and you are beyond thrilled to be teaching French! I remember that first year so clearly. I kept asking myself “how am I supposed to teach French?”. I struggled with just about all aspects of teaching Core French and I so wish that I had access to a community of Core French teachers whom I could learn from.

Today, I will share with you 10 of the biggest mistakes I made as a first-year Core French teacher. If you are a new FSL teacher, I hope that my mistakes and lessons serve as a reflection opportunity for your own teaching pedagogy.

Mistake #1 : The French grammar obsession

This one isn’t all that shocking in 2021. Teaching Core French with a heavy grammar focus was something I had to FORCE myself to break away from.

My entire career as a French learner was heavily grammar-based. I felt that students needed French grammar to understand the language and therefore to become proficient.

This, unfortunately, had the opposite effect due to the following reasons :

• students were learning concepts briefly, memorizing them to regurgitate them on a quiz or project. Shortly afterwards, students would forget the concept.
• no, students were NOT more proficient thanks to my awesome grammar lessons. On the contrary, their learning was heavily dependent on me explicitly teaching them.
• students could only reproduce grammar concepts in the exact contexts in which it was taught to them

What I do now :

After my first year, I had to remind myself that babies learn language by speaking, listening and imitating. Not by learning grammar lessons! Now, I teach minimal grammar such as the Super 7 verbs. I also teach a lot of grammar via reading comprehension and listening comprehension.

Basically, I speak a lot of French and we read tons of picture books, French reading comprehension articles and authentic texts!

Mistake #2 : Repeating the exact same teaching practices I had observed as a Core French student

In my first year as a Core French teacher, I taught French exactly how it had been taught to me.

We did dictées, grammar lessons, fill in the lyrics music activities and we used the same textbooks I used in high school. I taught this way because it was the only way I knew how to teach.

I was SO BORED. There was no creativity, no spices and it was all so uninspiring. Now as a fifth-year FSL teacher, I employ very few of these practices that I had observed as a student.

What I do now :

I am definitely not saying that your lesson plans have to be super intricate and complex. As a matter of fact, my most successful lessons have been simple ones that put fun, culture and communication at the heart & centre. No frills, no lace – just all of us learning together!

The best thing I did for my career was joining the Teacher Instagram world and I am a MUCH better FSL teacher now. It isn’t all that surprising that learning from your fellow French teacher friends makes you a much better teacher and I get it now!

Below are two of my favourite Core French teacher IG accounts that you should for sure follow! The third is my own account!

Mistake #3 : Using outdated French textbooks

In my first year, I was pretty much forced to use textbooks. As a result, I used the same textbooks and workbooks from when I was in high school.

They were so old I had to hunt down cassette players to do listening comprehension activities!

These textbooks were mind-numbingly boring and unoriginal. I thought that as a student and my students also did not enjoy them! Breaking away from French textbooks was the BEST decision I have made as an FSL teacher.

What I do now :

I do NOT use textbooks anymore and I do not miss them. I use tons of authentic resources and also resources created by fellow teachers.

These resources put culture and proficiency at the front and center. These French resources are created intentionally and are updated year after year, as opposed to French textbooks.

Mistake #4 : Too many French worksheets

Okay, there is actually NOTHING wrong with a worksheet. Worksheets are not all made equally. For example, worksheets with higher-level thinking questions, critical or creative thinking tasks are incredible opportunities for learning French.

But that isn’t the type of worksheet I was using in my first year of teaching French. Nope! Instead, all of my worksheets were either :

• conjugation practice
• French grammar practice
• vocabulary lists

These types of worksheets did NOT stimulate creative and critical thinking skills in my students’ nor were they valuable OR effective learning opportunities.

What I do now :

Now I do French projects that prioritize francophone cultures, student voice and choice, and language proficiency.

If you are going to use worksheets (I still use them), carefully select the topics, goals and learning strategies. Here are some examples of these types of worksheets :

Not your average French worksheet

Instead of doing “review units” or review worksheets at the start of a school year, skip straight to a “worksheet” like this where students have to recall important concepts they learned the previous year.

We don’t do boring reading comprehension

Let’s take a quick second and appreciate how much more engaging this worksheet looks in comparison to your typical boring French reading comprehension activities.

Photos are essential in helping spark your Core French students’ imagination.

What you don’t see pictured here is the pre-reading and post-reading activities that are equally as creative and engaging.

Culture, culture, culture

Reading is such an important part of second language acquisition. Reading about francophone cultures makes for such an engaging activity!

In this photo, you see the reading comprehension component of this activity. The other half of this resource requires students to show their understanding of what they read.

See, worksheets do not have to be boring!

Mistake #5 : Focusing more on writing than reading and speaking French

In my first year of teaching Core French, I was hyper-focused on writing activities. I barely spoke any French, did no reading comprehension and did very little listening comprehension. All of our lessons, activities and assessment were writing-based.

What I do now :

As a fifth-year French teacher, my goal is to speak French for at least 90% of the period. I also try to ensure that there is a mix of reading, writing, listening, and reading activities. Sometimes it is hard to squeeze all four in a single period, so I make sure I start with reading the next class if I couldn’t get to it that day.

Mistake #6 : Not prioritizing having fun in French class

Okay, this one is HUGE. If your students suffer in French class and look and sound tortured, we have a problem. Seriously, French teachers are so lucky!

We get to teach about a wide variety of topics and themes and use AMAZING authentic resources. There are so many different ways we can incorporate fun in French class :

• games
• cultural lessons and activities
• French music
• cooking activities
• interactive and hands-on activities
• French films
• fun, entertaining projects

My students most memorable classes :

• field trips to watch a circus performance in French
• French tossing games
• Making crêpes
• Music video projects
• Making ratatouille in class
• Fashion show projects

What I do now :

Mix it up! If your students don’t look like they’re having fun, it’s because they’re probably not. Again, this is the best way to ensure that students continue to sign up for French class!

Mistake #7 : My expectations were higher than my students’ abilities

This one was probably my biggest mistake.

Although I was a former Core French student myself, I expected that my students would pick up the language really quickly. I’m not even sure where this idea came from.

I genuinely expected that my students could write and express themselves at a FAR higher level than what they could actually do! Then, I would sit down to mark their projects and I would that they either A) used Google Translate or B) their writing made no sense and was incomprehensible.

I did very little to practice writing on the topic repetitively. The worst part was that I then corrected EVERY mistake on their assessment because I thought that that was how they’d learn!!

What I do now :

1. Repetition is key – whatever goal is (e.g. describe a francophone author) – give your students TONS of opportunities to read descriptions and write descriptions. You should ideally structure as many reading, writing, speaking and listening activities on the concept BEFORE you assign a project
2. Don’t mark everything – pick 1 or 2 concepts that where heavily practiced prior to the project. Be okay with imperfection!

Mistake #8 : Francophone cultures were the side dish instead of the main meal

Ever since I was a student teacher, I had always known that I wanted to emphasize francophone cultures and diversity in my French classes. However, the problem was that I just didn’t know how to do that in my first year.

Given my mental roadblock, I ended up not really talking about culture at all.

Nowadays, I make it a point to bring culture into my classroom every single class. Whether it is through music, the lessons we do, the choice of reading comprehension articles, the fun experiential lessons, or the field trips – culture IS the main meal. We learn everything THROUGH culture!

I can truly say that my French classes are so much more enjoyable for my students and myself to teach.

What I do now :

Make it a point to bring culture into your class every single lesson, if you can. French music is the easiest, most convenient and enjoyable way to do this if you need somewhere to begin!

Mistake #9 : Rushing from assessment to assessment

The first three years of my French teacher career were heavy points-based. I felt like I needed to do a certain number of assessments so that my students had a “fair grade” before the end of the term (we had 3 terms in a year). Our grading system was NOT cumulative and was instead on an average system.

It was so exhausting – I was doing assessments for the sake of collecting marks.

We switched to a Standards-Based system recently and a cumulative system. As a result, I realized how ineffective my assessment practices were given that I was focusing on quantity, and not quality.

What I do now :

Focus on quality, instead of quantity. If you feel as though you are constantly spinning in the assessment wheel, it may be time to reflect on your assessment practices and make some changes.

Mistake #10 : I wasn’t loving what I was teaching and how I was teaching French

After my first year, I moved to a school where I was so lucky to join a collaborative department of the most supportive colleagues. I will never forget what my work mom at my new school said to me on my first day, “Pav, whatever you teach – make sure you teach from the heart. Teach what you’re passionate about”.

This stumped me.

I realized that I hated most of what I had taught the previous year. I asked myself what I was passionate about. What could I bring to the table that is unique to me?

The answer was social justice. This was my passion and so I decided to teach French through the lens of human rights.

I have found so much success in this. My students have thoroughly enjoyed the units, lessons and resources. More than anything, they have found my classes to be engaging, meaningful, and relevant to the world they live in. What more could I possibly want as a Core French teacher?

Pictured below is my unit on racism in France.

The post 10 Mistakes I made as a First-Year Core French Teacher appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.