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.
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!
