Flipgrid in French Class

One thing that I will take with me from emergency distance learning this past spring is Flipgrid. Some students did not feel comfortable speaking French on camera during synchronous learning sessions online. Others did not have access to a computer during lesson times. Flipgrid became a quick and easy way for students to present their work in French and receive feedback from their teacher. 

This September all students who have chosen to return to school in-person have to wear masks in the classroom. They also need to stay in their desks and not move around the class. This can make for muffled communication and difficulty presenting in front of the class.  I will continue to use Flipgrid as a way for students to practise speaking French and to present their work orally this year. Students can have the option to post a recording to Flipgrid or present in front of the class.

 I also used Flipgrid for school community building during the pandemic. I would post a topic on Fridays to discuss student wellness or topics that were important to them. This allows students to interact and express themselves while following physical distancing and not mixing their cohorts at school. What teaching methods or tools did you learn during the pandemic that you are making a part of your teaching practice this year? 

A Back to School Like No Other

While school re-opening plans are being shared and openly debated in the media, teachers are preparing for a return to school in uncharted territory. Some considerations I have been making while planning for back to school include physical distancing, limiting group work, not sharing materials among classes, and planning lessons which will help to close gaps in learning. I am also working on including themes of anti-racism and cultural diversity into my long range plans. 

As a core French teacher I will be travelling from class to class instead of having students rotate through my classroom during rotary. I am going to be using the AIM program to increase student comprehension using gestures because I will be wearing a mask and possibly a face shield during instruction. This will mean teaching raps and games the first few days of school and slowly introducing students to the vocabulary that will be used in a short play. Instead of having the students perform the play in groups they will record their parts using an app like Flipgrid and create a video to tell the story. 

In a school board in Toronto I couldn't believe that part of their school re-opening plan involved cutting out French classes altogether. This was so that class sizes could be smaller because having no French classes would free up more homeroom teachers. The plan was rejected by the government, but it left me thinking that it is important now more than ever to remind students why it is important to learn French (or any other subsequent language). 

One of the lessons I will be teaching the first week back will involve discussing ten good reasons to learn French based on an article from the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. This will help answer that student question of "Why do we have to learn this?" and help to motivate students. Here is a link to this lesson on reasons to learn French. 

This will be a school year like no other, but it is important to embrace the new challenges and turn this into an opportunity to make lessons as engaging and culturally responsive as possible.