AP World Language & Culture: Pre-AP Summer Practice

Good afternoon!

After a two-month break from blogging, I'm back! It's important to maintain a balance between life and work, so that makes blogging a back burner item on the to-do list at times. While it's important to share what we do with other educators so that we can learn from each other, my learners' needs come before the blog. That said, I did write a post for an educator (@eddiekayshun ) in the UK recently. Here's the link if you'd like to see what I have to say about my duty to teach tolerance and global competency:  Who I Am 

Today, I'll share my latest plan for Pre-AP French Language and Culture summer practice. This can be adapted to any world language classroom, so please feel free to make it your own if it could work for your learners. 

Why summer practice? 

For the most part, my students are not required to complete any graded practice outside of the classroom, but they do have to study for assessments and finish tasks that weren't completed in the allotted class time. Even AP learners do most of the learning during class time, however, they do have more outside practice to do because of the looming exam expectations.  The summer before students take the AP course, I choose to require practice because my learners do not have the option to take a fourth year of French BEFORE the AP course. This summer practice simply adds a little extra time for preparation provided that learners pace themselves over the entire summer, of course. 

A Little History on Summer Practice

Over the past four summers, I have asked learners to read a novel (Oscar et la Dame Rose (1 time) and Le Petit Prince (3 times), take a quick quiz and complete various tasks related to the novel, and complete thirty minutes of practice per week over the course of the summer. Overall, students did two things: 1. Read the English version of the novel and/or didn't finish it; and 2. Completed the weekly practice (30mn) during the week before school resumed, therefore, fudging the time spent. At our school, students are already required to read a book for English class and two books for a summer reading group. I've decided to stop adding books to that list, especially since Novice High/Advanced Low language learners generally need immediate guidance when taking on a novel.

Focus on the Interpretive Texts

While all areas of the AP French exam, including the communicative performance sections, present challenges, the most difficult one for my learners has been the interpretive sections with multiple-choice questions. This year, I decided to focus the summer practice on that task and have done so with a personalized approach. As you'll see on the document, readers are asked to choose articles of interest from various news sources and complete the related task with answers in English. Students must seek the answer to the 5Ws while also considering cultural information. My hope is that it will become more automatic to seek out this type of information by the time we see each other again in August. If you're wondering why they are writing in English, it's because the goal is for students to interpret what they read -- not produce more language and possibly not interpret the material adequately due to the proficiency level or other factors.  

A Little More Practice

Learners are also asked to watch a French film for fun and be ready to discuss it in an informal manner.  The listening component of the exam is challenging, to say the least, so even if students read subtitles via Netflix's streaming movies, they are still listening to native speakers. In fact, students often tell me that they try to compare the subtitles to the spoken French. 

Lastly, I ask students to listen to French music on their phones, but it is an optional task. Fingers crossed that I will hear about some newly discovered, Francophone bands when we meet in the classroom again!

The Resource

EDIT: For some reason, it's not showing up at the link below, so click here to be take directly to the page.
Click here to go to the "My Digital Footprint" page of my professional website. Once there, scroll down to the link to my (rather new) Scribd account and click on it. You'll have access to my downloads there. 

Final Questions for Readers

If you teach, or are preparing to teach, an AP world language course, what type of summer practice do your pre-APs complete? Which task proves to be the most helpful?

Please share your ideas and thoughts in the comments section of this post. Let's help each other improve our craft!

Stop, Collaborate, Create, & Listen! Or How to Bring Creativity to the Classroom With Stop-Motion Animation Videos

Hello!

If you're a nineties music lover, you might have understood the reference to Vanilla Ice's super hit, Ice Ice Baby, in this post's title. I'm not sure why that song came to mind, but it speaks to me as I think about the project my learners completed last week. By the way, if you aren't familiar with this song, you can listen to it here.

The first lines of Vanilla Ice's one-hit wonder remind me of the general routine steps that are taken to begin a new, collaborative task in the classroom. So, here we go:  Students have to stop for a minute and learn more about the task, collaborate with a classmate to design an agreed upon product, create with their chosen tools, and listen to each other and folks outside of their team as they work. (Let's see, how can we add 'Shave cool designs in your eyebrows for the ultimate Vanilla Ice look?'  OK, I think I'm getting carried away. Moving on.)

All of the talk that has been going on about bringing creativity back to schools and fostering a spirit of innovation has been of particular interest to me. This would not be the first time I've asked students to create, for sure, but I'm challenging myself to bring new life to the projects we do and allow for more hands-on creativity while actively using the target language. Therefore, I decided to introduce the stop-motion animation technique and learn alongside my students of the French language and cultures. 

As a world language educator, I must mention the fact that we have a special challenge when trying to engage our students in tasks that students in other content areas are more linguistically prepared to complete.  In fact, one of our most important responsibilities is to facilitate authentic experiences that push our students to higher levels of proficiency while preparing them for the realities of today's world. This is no small task, especially when working with novices who can only communicate at low levels. What does this all mean? World language educators, like me, can make room for creativity in the classroom, but it might just look a little different from what learners are doing in another classroom.

So, here's a breakdown of how this project unfolded in French class last week :

Project duration:
We spent three days on this project. Some students have to finish upon our return from Spring Break due to absent team members.

Reason for this project at this point in the year:
It was the week before spring break. Sophomores were out on college trip for much of the week, and the juniors left for Costa Rica that Friday. I did not want to start a new unit, but wanted to experiment with an opportunity for creative expression while using the target language.Students who were absent are not required to make up this project unless they want to do it.

Project Resources:
The directions were posted on slides and displayed on the SmartBoard. The document was also uploaded to DropBox. The work will be assessed with a modified presentational speaking rubric (original doc came from Toni Theisen and her district colleagues) -- one for novice high and one for intermediate low learners. (See below for the link to the downloadable documents.)

Outcomes:
-This task allowed students with various strengths to develop their team-building skills in small groups.
-Learners thought intentionally about ways to have a global impact through the small organization they envisioned.
-Groups worked together to write the commercial in French. They learned new vocabulary that was particular to their product.
-Along with the language component, students became creators. Although these organizations/commercials were imaginary, this type of task could inspire learners to take more risks and consider not only the needs of the local community, but that of villages in remote areas of the world.
-ALL students actively contributed to the project. In fact, learners in other classes expressed interest in doing a similar project in the near future. Yay!

Reflections:
-This task requires more than three 50-minute days. Students could have used some guided small group pronunciation practice.
-Spend time doing a demo on any new apps and basic stop-motion animation techniques before beginning the creation stage of the project.
-Stress that the background is important, therefore, desktops might not be very appealing.
-Stress that photos need to be taken in the Camera Roll rather than the stop-motion app for best results. (Can move to iMovie and add music, etc that way.)
-Include time for tool (re)exploration, even if students already have experience with the tool. We all (re)learned some iMovie editing tricks that we hadn't really needed or explored before that point.

Looking to the Future:
Since our young learners are not always thinking about what lies ahead, it's a good idea to remind them to think about how projects and other learning experiences in the classroom could add value to their resume. While circulating and helping each group, I explained that they could share this stop-motion design experience with college admissions reps or potential employers. There are always ways to make oneself stand out in a crowd! Of course, this tip to keep track of interesting classroom tasks doesn't have anything to do with their mission to become proficient speakers of French, but it does prepare them for the future. That's part of my job, too.

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Educator Materials for Download:
Click here for access to the directions, rubrics, and sample student products. Stay tuned for more videos later this week.

Further Discussion:
How might you use stop-motion animation in your classroom?
If you're a world language educator, how might you use this technique while making the target language an integral part of the task?

Please share your feedback and ideas in the comments.

Hope you enjoyed this post! At the very least, I hope you were inspired to listen to some nineties fun music. Vanilla Ice will rock the mic like a vandal!

The 7 Key Areas of My Learning & Teaching Philosophy

Recently, it dawned on me that the last time I wrote about my philosophy on learning and teaching, I had not yet stepped foot in an American high school. In fact, my views at that time were shaped by my work as a high school teaching assistant for two years in France, followed by two years as a teaching assistant in grad school, and, then, as an adjunct faculty member for a little over a year at the local university and technical college. Those experiences provided me with new insights, and have definitely impacted my views, but my philosophy has really been shaped by time spent in the high school classroom. 

It would be interesting to read my first statement, and compare it to my current philosophy, so I’m sure I’ll locate it on an old flash drive at some point. In the meantime, here is an updated look at some of my views on this noble profession. How would your list look if someone asked you to share your philosophy?

1. Learning & Teaching

-Model what it is to be a lifelong learner, and share your passions outside of the content area.

-Make both mistakes and recovery an important and vital part of the discussion, and share specific examples of how this process contributes to growth.

-Keep direct instruction to a minimum.

-Make small group instruction the norm.

-Guide students through their learning rather than talk at them.

-Move around the room. Get on the floor with your learners. Be present.

-Engage learners in collaborative tasks that allow them to problem solve and make decisions.

-Make learning authentic.

-Take risks. Then, share successes and failures with everyone.

-Vary the learning experiences.

2. World Language

-Maximize use of class time for practice in the target language.

-Make culture an everyday part of the learning; not a special, separate lesson.

-Provide learners with authentic learning experiences. In the world language classroom, this means using resources that are created by native speakers for native speakers.

-Connect with language learners in target cultures for purposeful learning experiences.

-Lead trips to target language countries from time to time.

3. Assessment

-Develop assessments that require learners to demonstrate deeper understanding and meet the standards.

-Give students the chance to redo both formative and summative tasks, but require extra practice beforehand.

-Evaluate behavior and learning separately.

4. Relationships

-Model the social skills you want to see in your learners. Positive energy and empathy go a long way.

-Remember that we do not always know what our students’ must face after that last bell of the day.

-Communicate your standards, and stick to what you believe, but be human.

-Find a way to get to know each one of your students.

-Write each student a note to tell him/her that you notice his/her strengths.

-Show parents/guardians that you care about the success of their child.

-Involve parents/guardians in the learning, when possible. Send updates, photos, event recaps, and anything else that is happening in the class.

-Attend events that allow you to see/support your students in their element, whether it be basketball games, piano or dance recitals, or chess tournaments.

5. Student Voice

-Empower your learners to use their voice effectively by sharing examples of constructive criticism.

-Conduct surveys (e.g. quick exit slips or formal course evaluations) on a regular basis.

-Reflect on learner feedback.

-Share thoughts and any plans for change as a result of feedback.

-Show learners that you care about their input.

-Allow students to choose what they’re learning and methods to accomplish tasks.

6. Personalization

-Engage learners in decision-making discussions about their learning.

-Invite students to choose their presentation tool as long as they can produce the end results as defined by the task.

-Give learners opportunities to explore/research topics that interest them personally.

-Choose your own professional learning experiences that allow for a personalized experience.

-Become an active learner by attending more than just required professional development sessions at your school and/or district.

7. Technology

-Use technology to enhance learning. Otherwise, tech-related tasks might be identified as busy work and/or learners will not see the immense value in it.

-Make discussions regarding the digital footprint an everyday occurrence – not a separate lesson.

-Show learners how tech can enrich their lives. 

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In the 1:1 iPad Classroom : Using Interactive Whiteboards for Presentations

When a school goes 1:1 with iPads, or any other device, it can feel like it happened overnight even if the reality is quite the opposite. In fact, it can be compared to the experience of a first year teacher who learned all sorts of good techniques for magic in the classroom, but then reality sets in on day two or three. No matter how much time educators are given to research, plan, and explore projects and cool apps, it's never enough. That's good and bad. As education professionals, we are lifelong learners by default so we are thirsty for new challenges (Get on board, if you're cruising. It's never too late to make positive change! Wait, you're reading my post. I'm preaching to the choir...) It doesn't feel cool, though, to put so much time in what we think is great preparation only to find out that our efforts don't always produce the best (or, sometimes, most effective) outcomes. C'est la vie, non?

Here's a prime example. I did tons of research during the summer before the iPads debuted in the classroom, throughout the year, and then again during the summer after that initial year. Guess what. It's been 1.5 years since iPads were distributed to everyone, and it's only been in the past month that I have realized the power of interactive whiteboard applications. This is due, in part, to the fact that it was completely overwhelming to revolutionize the way we utilized our learning space. As it is the case with most examples of change, I found a meaningful purpose for this app in my unique learning environment at the moment that inspiration hit me. Just as new teachers discover ways to effectively use class time as they make their way through the first years in the profession, I have been reliving that feeling, in a sense, as I discover ways to enhance the learning experience without making tablets seem like fluffy, entertainment contraptions. It has been so exciting!

My most recent inspiring moment occurred after a refreshing, mini brain break in December. Imagine that?! I started thinking that it would make sense to ask students to record and submit their presentations electronically from time to time since it takes up so much precious class time for each student to present en direct. As a result, I installed the ShowMe app, made a demo, and, finally, introduced it to my learners a few weeks ago. (I chose it because it's free, which allows me to avoid asking parents to make any more purchases at this point in the year.)

In the future, I will ask students to publish their work (rather than submit it to me directly.) Then, I will ask them to pick several presentations to watch while completing a follow-up task. In the meantime, here are some examples of student use of the interactive whiteboard app:

French - Level Two (Novice)
To begin a unit on travel and exploration, learners were asked to choose a research topic and ascertain interesting facts about Sénégal, a Francophone African nation. They used the app of their choice to first post photos that would illustrate their research. Then, they moved it to the ShowMe app where they recorded their presentations in French. (They could use one note card with a list of key words.)

Sample 1:
http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=VsipbLk  (Keep watching. Her photos appear around 25 seconds in.)
Sample 2:
http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=PTXSO7U  (Lesson learned: Make sure students take a screenshot of the presentation view of their photos.)

French - Level One (Novice)
In the middle of a unit on communities, learners shared their personal thoughts on local seasons/weather and what s/he likes to do. Students used the Popplet app ($4.99) to create a mind map of their ideas and then transferred them to the ShowMe app where they recorded their presentations.

Sample 1:
http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=efcnA4e

Sample 2:
http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=aOpsLsO

How do you (or would you) enhance learning with interactive whiteboard apps? Please share your ideas in the comments below.

On Course Evaluations: High School French

Bonjour! Hello!

Before January ends, I must share more about my year-long focus on student voice in the high school French classroom. If you’d like to read my first entry on this topic, CLICK HERE.  Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal), Principal at New Milford High School in New Jersey, invited me to write my first guest post for his blog in October. Thanks again, Eric!

In my guest post, I shared ways to help adolescent learners understand how empowering it can be to use their voice in the classroom. Last December, one of our Math teachers prepared an editable student evaluation form and emailed it to all faculty in the high school. He instructed us to make it our own and share it with our students during one of the last days of class before midterm exams. A few days later, I sent it out during each class after reminding students of the importance of one’s individual voice.  They have been told time and again that their voice matters and that we learn better if we learn together.  When a student makes a suggestion, I reflect on it for a little while before sharing my thoughts with the entire class, and then I solicit feedback. This part of the process is essential, and I try to prove how serious I am about their thoughts whenever I have an opportunity.

On the evaluation form, students were asked to agree or disagree with a series of statements about the teacher, the course, and themselves as learners.  The good news is that the lowest average score was a 3, or “neutral.”  All of the neutral ratings were related to the teacher’s performance and the course.  For example, I received a “neutral” score for my ability to return work with feedback in a timely manner. I continuously struggle with this for one main reason: most of the work I assess requires somewhat detailed feedback. There is very little, if any, work that requires students to answer in the T/F, multiple-choice, or matching format.

According to the data I gathered, students agreed with most statements overall.  I was most surprised by the following example in which students agreed: “The teacher uses technology effectively to advance my learning.”  In fact, the average score for that one was rather high as compared to others in that range.  My learners tend to resist learning the standards, such as ISTE NET-S, but I march on while continuously explaining why they need to become better prepared to succeed in this increasingly digital world.  At any rate, I am happy to learn that they do actually see value in what we’re doing.  This also tells me that they’re aware of both the benefits of tech when learning a world language and the fact that the tech skills that they acquire are applicable in so many aspects of their lives.

In the final section of the evaluation, students were asked to tell me how I could better help them learn.  Of course, there were a couple students who thought they would learn better if we had parties and ate sandwiches that I prepared just for them. (I’m going to interpret those remarks as a desire to sample more foods from France and Francophone nations, moving forward.) 

Below is a list of learner recommendations upon which I have been reflecting.  If you have ideas, please share them in the comments.  I would love to hear what other educators might do.

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Student Comments:

-She could give more detailed notes... (I need to find out what the student meant…)

-Be available for longer periods after school. Available for retakes before school upon request. (OK, I’m under the impression that this student stopped by on a day when I couldn’t stay after school because I’m typically available for as long as needed. However, I will say that I’m unwilling to change my extra help schedule to accommodate the early riser(s) because I prepare for the day in the morning.  The fact is, I’m available any other time throughout the day (e.g. break, lunch, and after school.)

-Listening [exercices] are sometimes too hard. More practice with listening and reading. (I’m always working to find suitable authentic audio and task ideas, but l am continously working to accommodate this request.)

-Do more speaking and listening [tasks] before tests so that we are better prepared. (I plan to allot more time to video/audio recording opportunities for peer review. Also, I’m now sending audio links to students and allowing them to listen as often as they like when doing formative assessments. )

-Review more. (I’m going to engage each class in discussion on this topic. Not sure what this person meant…)

-Be more clear with deadlines and post all assignments in the same place. (Announcements, upcoming assessments, and other important news is posted on the board and Twitter. I used to do a Google Calendar post on my class website, and may bring that back.  That said, we are having ongoing discussions regarding responsibility and ownership.)

-Work on communication. (I will be asking for clarification/discussion in class, but this comment might be related to the fact that we speak French for 90% + of the class period.)

-SLOW DOWN. Less projects. (I have learned that a task versus a project is not always clear to the learner.  As for slowing down, I will be more cognizant of this request, moving forward.)

-If she could tell us what is important for every quiz and test. Help us pronounce sentences and words every class period so we can speak….fluently. (We do not use a textbook…..but even back in the day when we did, learners struggled with organization of material. While chatting with a student today, I came up with the idea to ask each class to make a separate folder in the GoodNotes app for all verbs they learn. As for pronunciation, I made a Quizlet account last summer, and just need to keep up with it.)

-Slow down, please, when taking notes because I don’t like taking pictures. (Notes are now available in Dropbox. Students must just listen and fill/add notes where needed. Learners who prefer to write their notes on notebook paper may do so, but they have to refer to the notes in DropBox, and continue writing them from there, if they can’t keep up. There is no longer a need for photos.)

-Not so many…required apps that we don’t use very much or at all. (I took inventory. There was one (free) app that we didn’t end up using because the free version only allows users to record one interview. Some apps are used more than others, but the only purchases my students made were for Quick Voice ($2.99) and Popplet ($4.99.)

-…Weebly.com was a terrible website. (Students are still using their Weebly sites, but we will go to the lab and use the desktop PCs anytime they need to add content. Weebly has a lot of glitches on the iPad, and that requires more patience than folks seem to have.)

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My learners used their voices for the purpose of positive change, and I am SO very proud of them for it. I will continue to discuss these evaluations with students in the coming weeks, and look forward to hearing from my PLN as well.

How would you respond to these voices?

ACTFL 2013 : Reflections & Notes

Hello, all!

This year, I had the good fortune of representing the state of South Carolina at the annual conference of the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages in Orlando, Florida. Many thanks go out to the administration at Hammond School where I teach and the South Carolina Foreign Language Teachers' Association (@SCFLTA) for supporting me so that I could bring back what I learned over the course of those three and a half days of learning, sharing, and connecting. Merci mille fois!

Before I share a report on my learning experience, I must share with you how wonderful it was to be there the year that Toni Theisen was president of the association. I might be a little biased since I consider her to be my top teacher mentor, but I think everyone in attendance would agree that she truly modeled what it is to be a great educator and leader.  Not only did she use some of the latest technology in her opening welcome at the general assembly, but she put the focus on the learner in more ways than one.

It was so impressive to see Toni welcome her special guest -- one of her former students who is now a French teacher -- and serve as the moderator, along with her former student, during the panel discussion with current high school students from Florida. We could really see how the 2013 theme, "New Spaces, New Realities: Learning Any Time, Any Place," weaved in to all that Toni did as the lead learner!  Click here to read an article about the impact she has on her local community of learners : French teacher from Loveland to head national education group's convention

 

If you attended ACTFL 2013, I don't need to tell you how fantastic it was to learn from world language educators from around the world (A special shout-out to @JoeDale who came to present from the Isle of Wight!) and to (re)connect with educators in this face-to-face setting. Unfortunately, it just wasn't possible to attend all of the sessions I added to my schedule in the conference app, including some that were led by valued members of my PLN, so I hope other attendees in my network will be sharing resources on Twitter, as well.  

 

Here are some links and my notes from the 3.5 days in Orlando. Hope this information is useful to you! 

 

Assembly of Delegates:

 

Advocacy & Effectiveness

Topics discussed: Common Core, independent learners, can-do statements, IPAs,

World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (5 Cs are still there. )

ACTFL now has some curriculum design, IPA & raising global children books for purchase.

 

State Showcase:

-NC ---> winces.ncdpi.wikispaces.net   There are performance tasks & extended response tasks by standard & proficiency level on the site.

-OH ---> They use LinguaFolio I-Can statements. 

For their student learning objective resources: oflaslo.weebly.com

They have an OFLA Camp & students come & work as counselors. Great advocacy method!

 

-U.S. Global Heat Map: mappingthenation.net - See how globally competent your state is today. Powerful advocacy tool.

-Legislative & Advocacy Showcase:  Languagepolicy.org

-Massachusetts FLA Advocacy Strategies: Create/maintain an advocacy booth at the state language conference. (Good idea!)

 

Sessions:

Clementi and Terrill : designing units

-Don't drill and kill. That's not communicative (or inspiring.)

-Themes and essential questions.

Novice: What is family? Intermediate: What is friendship? Advanced: What is the global importance of relationships?

-Interculturality - Every lesson should be making students think about their relationships and its implications in the world around us.

-Sample standards-based IPA

1)Listen to and follow directions from one place to another. (Interpretive)

2)Read info on a site about Poitiers in order to identify what makes it special. Give reasons for the items on your list. (Interpretive)

3)Watch a vid about Futuroscope in poitiers and list what you can do there. (Interpretive)

4) Now choose three places to visit and give reasons. (Presentational)

5)Choose three things to do and discuss with your classmate. (Interpersonal)

 

Example on culture -- discuss old buildings and fact that they preserve historical places in France.

Be thoughtful and purposeful about all that we want our students to do.

Have students publish their work -- connections and lifelong learning.

 

Common Core:

Balance of Informational & Literary texts

Close reading of increasingly complex texts

Use of evidence-based arguments (Look at an athletes schedule & decide if s/he has a balanced lifestyle.)

Interaction with multiple print, auditory, and visual sources

 

 

Easy to go to the anchor standards to include CC standards

Do not look at grade level standards for this. (Say to admin who wants you to do grade level CC standards--> I didn't know you are planning to start an immersion program in kindergarten. (Still a lag, though, bc they won't have had the 4 yrs of language at home.))

 

 

Reading and writing ccss are ok because they show the overall goals. 

 

 

Hurry slowly! --> performance-based units with blended learning allow us to unpack the tools and give students time to really practice the skills and learn the concepts.

 

Top 10 Language Functions:

Express feelings and emotions

Tell or retell stories

Describe people, places, things

Ask and respond to questions

Express preferences, opinions, hopes and dreams

Maintain a conversation in person or virtually

Summarizing authentic oral text

Interpreting authentic written  text

Presenting info orally

Presenting info in writing

 

Interculturality - Are these 3 areas showing up in class? Add them to the unit plans.

Self (S)

Community (C)

World (W)

 

Interpretive Reading

Diane DeNoon - WL Coordinator, Kansas, dianedenoon.wikispaces.com

 

Text complexity:

Read and reread (close reading)

Select passages that require some cultural background ( for deep understanding)

Multiple sources info

Graphs and charts that ADD content

Process through conversation, not Q&A

Scaffold reading tasks with groups, pairs, individual

Emphasis on reading independently at high levels

 

Keys to Planning for Learning: Linking Curriculum to Performance

Laura Terrill - lauraterrill.wikispaces.com 

Global Themes:

Belonging

Challenges

Creativity

Discovery

Exploring Place & Time

Identity

Well-being

Sample EQ for  Novice High: How do ppl here and in the French-speaking world describe a balanced lifestyle?

To describe proficiency levels of world language students:

Novice = parrot(repeating...)

Intermediate = survivor

Advanced = storyteller

Speaking a language is a skill; it takes time.

Presentation Mode Tasks:

"For publication" - present and publish or share with another French class

"On Demand" - come in and brainstorm and reflect and/ or compare and then submit.

 

 Homework, Grading, & Feedback

Lisa Lilley - lisalilley.wikispaces.com

 

Looping students and parents in to proficiency 

Greg Duncan and Kerrie Neu

kerrieneu.weebly.com <--- resources for helping parents understand proficiency goals.

 

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I attended other powerful sessions on topics like student voice, state showcases, and more, but I mostly tweeted the key takeaways from those with the hashtag #actfl13. I encourage you to go back and read the thread if you haven't already done so.  

Now I shall end this post with a photo of some dear members of my PLN who gathered together on the final evening of the conference. The relationships we form make events like this one so much more special, so here's to all of the wonderful educators who share so much with me!

 

 

 

 

Please feel free to continue the discussion in the comments section of this post. I would love to hear from you! 

 

AP French: Discussing the film, "L'enfant," during the Family & Communities unit

Bonjour!

Students of the French language and cultures need to be exposed to French and Francophone cinema, whether it be via snippets and/or trailers on YouTube or a full-length film.  As all world language educators know, film allows us to take a closer look at the cultures we study. Even the way international films tend to end informs us of our cultural differences. It is so amusing to see students' faces when a French/Francophone film ends abruptly.  What a great way to extend the conversation! Why did it end when it did and could the director have chosen a better moment? What do you think will happen next?

 

To kick off the start of our latest thematic unit, Family & Communities, students watched their first full-length film of the year:  "L'enfant", a Belgian film by directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. The story is centered on the life of a poor, young couple who struggle tremendously in life and with their unplanned baby. There is plenty of drama as they live on government benefits while the young man lives his life of a thief with his middle school-aged partners in crime.

 

Image Credit :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Enfant_(film)

 

For the past three years or so, I have shown this film and have found students to love it every time! As a result, this is a great time to really talk about the issues that surround the theme of family and communities. Please note that the film is rated R, so you will probably want to send out a parental permission form (I did not send one out because there isn't really anything scandalous happening other than some cursing here and there. It should be PG-13, I think.)

 

After the viewing is complete, students prepare an oral presentation of the film. They have two questions that they must answer before choosing their third question. I did not ask them to prepare a visual with still shots from the film, but they did so, and I think I'll require it from now on. (They are so used to having visuals with presentations that it has become second nature. Yay!)

 

 Please visit my website for the student handout:  http://cristyvogel.wikispaces.com/AP+French

 

Got feedback? Please do share! There are many things that you could do with films, so I would love to know what you would do. 

 

Have you shown this film before? If so, how did it go?

What are some other films that you have incorporated into the AP units?

 

Please leave a comment so that we can continue the discussion.

 

Bon dimanche!