Et la culture alors on en fait quoi?? Des confettis??!!!!
I am a teacher of French and (unfortunately for my accent when I speak English!!) I am French. I live in an English native speaker country (New zealand) and I have to answer all the time why should we learn another language. ( this need another post)
In NZ, the languages which are taught are generally French, Japanese, Spanish, German and Te Reo (Maori).
First I hate when I tell people that I am a teacher of French they answer straight back that the students are “SO lucky to have me as a teacher”. To that I ask “Why?” ( is it because I am extremely pretty? Or because I have a high sense of fashion? Or is it because I work like a slave for peanuts, literally ??) people answer it is because I am a TRUE French and when I speak French I obviously don’t have a kiwi accent.
To that I want to answer bull**** but I am too polite. Yes I am French but it does mean that I am a good teacher, I could be very crap while a kiwi could be a fantastic and motivating teacher.
So this is my first “coup de gueule” !!!
Then next one. Languages here are not compulsory at school. I hate when people tell me that they would like their kids to choose French as an option so they can go to France on holiday. Do you only pick a language so you can spend 2 weeks in your life ordering a Coca Cola or a meal at a restaurant? I think this is wasting a lot of your energy.
I have learned English at school for the pleasure, I never wanted to actually go on holiday in England or in NZ. But not only English. I learned science and maths until last year at school and I never use science in my job. However, I am extremely happy to be able to place the liver and to roughly understand the theory of relativity (I think I do anyway!). I love learning just for the pleasure, and why can we not teach at school just for the pleasure, just for cultural purposes and nothing, not for your 2 week holiday in Brazil??
When I learn something, I feel so happy and proud of myself in the evening when I go to bed. I go to bed a bit less dumb than in the morning when I got up, and it feels so good. Learning a language is the same, your learn it for pleasing you, not for your exam, not for a job.
Voila!! I feel relieved that I got that out of my chest :-)
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
twitter again to the rescue
Yes another one!!!!
Bon alors ok you have heard it from so many sources that you know it by heart now. But because I am so egocentric I am going to tell you about my experience.
A few months ago, @tonitones introduced me to twitter and what a bless. Since then my life has changed, well maybe not that much but it sounds so dramatic and powerful when one writes it down. So I have been twittering heaps since then ( and not only about me drinking a cup of tea as my lovely husband thinks I do). One day ( can’t remember when exactly as time is so relative!!) I wrote on twitter that I was studying Le Petit Prince with my year 13 French. At that point @tonitheisen answered and told me that she was studying it as well with her class in Loveland-Colorado. Long story short, @tonitheisen decided we should create a common wiki. In a week-end she created it and sent me the address on the Monday.
Then the fun started… @tonitheisen put some resources and I did the same ( I have to admit that she put much more than I did). Later my class had the fantastic surprise to find on the wiki some videos of their american friends introducing themselves and their school. So of course we had to do the same. From then started a ping pong game with videos until the summer holidays started in the US.
Well this would have never happened without twitter. Really what is my chance to meet someone from a country on the other side of the world who teaches the same book as the same time.
Merci monsieur twitter
Bon alors ok you have heard it from so many sources that you know it by heart now. But because I am so egocentric I am going to tell you about my experience.
A few months ago, @tonitones introduced me to twitter and what a bless. Since then my life has changed, well maybe not that much but it sounds so dramatic and powerful when one writes it down. So I have been twittering heaps since then ( and not only about me drinking a cup of tea as my lovely husband thinks I do). One day ( can’t remember when exactly as time is so relative!!) I wrote on twitter that I was studying Le Petit Prince with my year 13 French. At that point @tonitheisen answered and told me that she was studying it as well with her class in Loveland-Colorado. Long story short, @tonitheisen decided we should create a common wiki. In a week-end she created it and sent me the address on the Monday.
Then the fun started… @tonitheisen put some resources and I did the same ( I have to admit that she put much more than I did). Later my class had the fantastic surprise to find on the wiki some videos of their american friends introducing themselves and their school. So of course we had to do the same. From then started a ping pong game with videos until the summer holidays started in the US.
Well this would have never happened without twitter. Really what is my chance to meet someone from a country on the other side of the world who teaches the same book as the same time.
Merci monsieur twitter
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
online collaboration
Comme le monde est petit
I am really happy to be 32 in 2009 ( did I say 32? I meant 21 of course!!) for one reason : the Internet (with a capital letter to show how much respect I have for it). You are going to ask me why I like the Internet so much. I will answer to you in only a few words (you see I am not so boring after all!), it is because it makes the world very small.
Although I live in New Zealand in the middle of nowhere ( my neighbors are cows, literally speaking) I feel in the center of the world, thanks to the Internet.
I would say a month ago (maybe 2) I met @msfrenchteach on Twitter. An one day I asked who wanted to work on an online work using etherpad. @msfrenchteach answered quickly and after calculating the difference between our times ( oooops I have forgotten to say that @msfrenchteach is in the US) we made an online appointment.
I picked my year 12 French (their 4th year of French) and told them roughly what we will be doing (couldn’t tell much because I wasn’t sure of what will be happening). So here they are at school at 8 am (we start usually at 8.30) ready to work. Skype and etherpad are on. So after a few minutes giggling (teenagers the same everywhere!!) they were ready to work hard. We spent one hour online asking each other questions. I was just here to help them in case of emergency, like a dictionary. I have to admit I was so proud of them. I was looking at them working with pleasure, they were so excited to speak with other people so far away. And I know they were not lying because at the end they asked me when we will do that again.
When I said to people about this experience they all asked why I didn’t do that with a French school. Easy to answer. When you are 15 or 16 you don’t feel very confident and you know that your level of French is not very high. Why would I have put them in front of kids who speak fluently French. Realistically we all know how boring it is to speak with people who just start to learn a language, it requires a lot of patience that you don’t have when you are 16. But I do believe that you feel ok when you speak with people who have the same level of language as you ( hope that what I write makes sense!!, bloody French can’t even write English properly ☺ )
This experience was wonderful for me and the students and we can not wait that @msfrenchteach has finished her summer holiday (we are so selfish) to have another online collaboration
I am really happy to be 32 in 2009 ( did I say 32? I meant 21 of course!!) for one reason : the Internet (with a capital letter to show how much respect I have for it). You are going to ask me why I like the Internet so much. I will answer to you in only a few words (you see I am not so boring after all!), it is because it makes the world very small.
Although I live in New Zealand in the middle of nowhere ( my neighbors are cows, literally speaking) I feel in the center of the world, thanks to the Internet.
I would say a month ago (maybe 2) I met @msfrenchteach on Twitter. An one day I asked who wanted to work on an online work using etherpad. @msfrenchteach answered quickly and after calculating the difference between our times ( oooops I have forgotten to say that @msfrenchteach is in the US) we made an online appointment.
I picked my year 12 French (their 4th year of French) and told them roughly what we will be doing (couldn’t tell much because I wasn’t sure of what will be happening). So here they are at school at 8 am (we start usually at 8.30) ready to work. Skype and etherpad are on. So after a few minutes giggling (teenagers the same everywhere!!) they were ready to work hard. We spent one hour online asking each other questions. I was just here to help them in case of emergency, like a dictionary. I have to admit I was so proud of them. I was looking at them working with pleasure, they were so excited to speak with other people so far away. And I know they were not lying because at the end they asked me when we will do that again.
When I said to people about this experience they all asked why I didn’t do that with a French school. Easy to answer. When you are 15 or 16 you don’t feel very confident and you know that your level of French is not very high. Why would I have put them in front of kids who speak fluently French. Realistically we all know how boring it is to speak with people who just start to learn a language, it requires a lot of patience that you don’t have when you are 16. But I do believe that you feel ok when you speak with people who have the same level of language as you ( hope that what I write makes sense!!, bloody French can’t even write English properly ☺ )
This experience was wonderful for me and the students and we can not wait that @msfrenchteach has finished her summer holiday (we are so selfish) to have another online collaboration
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
My new MAC
long life learner
For years now I had Pc and only PC. Of course I had seen Mac, or should I say I have seen people using MAc in front of me, but I have never really had the occasion using a MAC myself....but a computer is still a computer isn’t it? And because I have been using PCs for so many years I thought “ Well don’t need to be a genius to know how to use one of these beautiful white MACs!!!”
Yeah right!!!
Because I have been moaning for so long at school about not having a MAC, “ I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC,!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the Deputy Principal must have had enough of hearing me and to make me shut my big French mouth, she gave me one.
So, with my new MAC, I came home and started to play...it looks so cool. But after the week-end, when I had to actually teach, I realized that although MAC is quite easy to use, I couldn’t teach! I asked the kids to be patient and told them that it would take me a little while before I can be as confident with a MAC between my hands as I was with a PC. Funny enough, the students who usually sigh if things don’t move as fast as they want were really nice, patient and so understanding!!! I was honest with them and I think they were patient because they saw me as a learner for once and not as a teacher.
Actually, this is a lie because as being French leaving in an English speaking country, I am always a long life learner. I don’t have an Uni degree in English (I have learnt English on building sites), the kids know that and I always make clear that although my English is not perfect (far from it ) I am not ashamed to speak and I am definitely not ashamed if the students want to correct my English. Aren’t we role models? Of course we are!!! So it is really good for our students to see us as long life learners.
So last week when I had for the first time in my hands my beautiful white computer and I looked like a retard in front of my classes, I felt at ease because I proud to be a long life learner.
For years now I had Pc and only PC. Of course I had seen Mac, or should I say I have seen people using MAc in front of me, but I have never really had the occasion using a MAC myself....but a computer is still a computer isn’t it? And because I have been using PCs for so many years I thought “ Well don’t need to be a genius to know how to use one of these beautiful white MACs!!!”
Yeah right!!!
Because I have been moaning for so long at school about not having a MAC, “ I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC, I want a MAC,!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the Deputy Principal must have had enough of hearing me and to make me shut my big French mouth, she gave me one.
So, with my new MAC, I came home and started to play...it looks so cool. But after the week-end, when I had to actually teach, I realized that although MAC is quite easy to use, I couldn’t teach! I asked the kids to be patient and told them that it would take me a little while before I can be as confident with a MAC between my hands as I was with a PC. Funny enough, the students who usually sigh if things don’t move as fast as they want were really nice, patient and so understanding!!! I was honest with them and I think they were patient because they saw me as a learner for once and not as a teacher.
Actually, this is a lie because as being French leaving in an English speaking country, I am always a long life learner. I don’t have an Uni degree in English (I have learnt English on building sites), the kids know that and I always make clear that although my English is not perfect (far from it ) I am not ashamed to speak and I am definitely not ashamed if the students want to correct my English. Aren’t we role models? Of course we are!!! So it is really good for our students to see us as long life learners.
So last week when I had for the first time in my hands my beautiful white computer and I looked like a retard in front of my classes, I felt at ease because I proud to be a long life learner.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
another powerpoint
I love Powerpoint and I think it is a fantastic tool to engage students and to make lessons interactive
Monday, May 4, 2009
Oh mon Dieu!!!!
Alors I know that Richard Vandijk has already spoken about it in his blog, but I feel I have to write something about it as well as a French teacher. Richard spoke to me about Stu’s Jeopardy on Twitter. I thought it was really strange because he knows I already have some Jeopardy games, I use Powerpoint for that. But well, Richard is really clever ( he is Dutch) and if he recommended me a site I should have a look . Well, merci mon Dieu I did!!!! This version of Jeopardy has been made for me ( and for you as well it is why I have the urge of speaking about it!!!). it is free (Yes!! free, gratuit, gratos, donné, offert..), I love that word!!!, the only condition is that you have to send the creator a quiz that you created. Speaking about creation, it is so easy it is incredible!!! Usually when I use the Powerpoint template it takes a million years to create a game ( I grow a beard every time!!!) but with this one it is fast, easy, clear (don’t need to have a PHd to understand how it works or being a geek who has not seen day’s light in a decade) and if you make a mistake ( it never happens to me!!!) dead easy to fix it.
So I jump onto the programme and created a game for that afternoon for my year 13. I thought why not making a whole Jeopardy on conjugation revision?? So I did exactly that. A few minutes later my afternoon lesson was ready. The students came in and I told them what will happen during the lesson. They were not that excited as we play heaps of games and they already Jeopardy as I said earlier. We played. They used their brains. And at the end they asked if I created the game myself ( I wish I was smart enough!!!) and begged me ( yes I used Begged!!!) to create more quizzes. 16/17 year old teenagers thought the game was really good and when I asked them if I was doing more quizzes would they want to play they said “of course, it is cool!!!
Voilà!! I just wanted to share my excitement about this game because it is a really good game.
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