The Power of Diversity

Addressing diversity is a fundamental aspect of creating an inclusive classroom community.
As an educator, your perspective on diversity plays a significant role in how you interact with your students, and foster a positive learning environment for everyone.

Here is an infographic that a fellow teacher candidate and I created after a rich discussion on diversity in the classroom:
This infographic was created with Piktochart; a fabulous tool to create infographics, posters and presentations.

Using Games in The French Classroom!

Teaching and learning french can be a rewarding and pleasant experience. However, when designing a french program, it is crucial to consider what will motivate the students to learn, and what will keep them engaged. When learning a new language, a key component of the program will be educational games. Fun and learning can go hand in hand!  This being said, here are a few games that can be incorporated into a core french or french immersion program. They will surely motivate your students, make them laugh, and help them learn french. 

Online Games
Kahoot Quizzes:  
If you haven't heard of Kahoot, then you're in luck! Kahoot is a web based application that allows teachers to create multiple choice type quizzes. However, it gets much better. For each question, you can input four answers (Ex: "J'aime entendre de la musique" veut dire a) j'aime danser b) j'aime écouter des chansons  c) j'aime jouer au soccer d) j'aime dormir). You create a quiz online, and a "game pin" is given to you. When you are ready to run the quiz, students can access the quiz on their own devices using the game pin! Students can input a "nickname" to play. Points are given based on the speed of responses. Students love this aspect of the game. At the end of the game, you can download a copy of all of your students' results for each question, as a form of formative or summative assessment. Fun for everyone!


Interactive Games 
Taboo:
Like the traditional game of Taboo, students are given a pile of cards with key vocabulary or concepts on them. On each card, there is also a word or multiple words that cannot be said! This game requires students to use french vocabulary to explain a specific word or concept. Here is an example of Taboo cards. 

Aimes-tu ton voisin:
This game is a great way to practice vocabulary for a specific unit, or practice sentence structures. Students sit in a chair and form a circle. Then, one student will stand in the center of the circle and ask another "Lola, aimes-tu ton voisin?" then Lola would reply "Non, je n'aime pas mon voisin, mais j'aime ceux qui aimes les pommes!" (assuming the theme is food). At this point, all students who also like apples will stand up and try to swap seats with another student who also likes apples. The student standing in the centre of the class will also try to grab a seat. The last student standing becomes the new questioner. "Marcus, aimes-tu ton voisin". And so on... Its a fun way to get kids moving, while practicing vocabulary, questioning and sentence structures. 

Headbanz:
A classic questioning game! Students are given tags (or stickers) with the name of a specific character, person, or thing to place on their backs. The objectif of the game is to ask other people questions in order to discover which character you are. This game is applicable for a variety of subjects and themes. For example, students could be various historical figures, musicians, foods or animals. The possibilities are endless. 

Qui-suis-je?:  
This game is almost a reverse Headbanz. Instead of guessing which character you are, you must give your classmates clues to try to identify which character you are. For example, if the theme is animals, and you are a polar bear, you could say: "J'aime le froid" or "Je suis une espèce en voie de disparition".  This game is good for practicing both speaking, listening, and also engages critical thinking. 

Bell Game:  
A fun way to review content, and create a bit of friendly competition. In this game, all you will need is two little bells (can be purchased at Dollarama). Its crazy what two little bells can do for motivation! The class is divided into teams (2 or 4 teams will do). Then, two members will come sit at a table with the bells. The teacher asks a question (ex: "Quand est ton anniversaire?"). If the students know the answer, they hit the bell, and try answering the question. This game is a good way to give everyone the chance to contribute to the team. 

This is just a few examples of the many possible ways to incorporate games into the french classroom. I will create another post with more ideas in the near future.

Have fun!
Miss Vessio 

P.S: Please feel free to leave a comment with other games that you have used, or think would be helpful in the classroom!

Special thanks to my J/I French Instructor Ginette for inspiring me to discover these games, and to my fellow J/I French candidates for bringing these games to life.  

A 21st Century Classroom?

The current year is 2015. This means that we are are only five short years away from 2020. CISCO predicts that by 2020, a $1,000 computer will have the processing power of the human brain1. Whether this claim seems feasible or not, it does not change the fact that technology holds tremendous influence in our everyday lives. As 21st teachers, we must prepare our students to be ready to work with the ever-changing face of technology, and to develop the skills to make it possible. The ultimate goal of the 21st century classroom is to prepare today's youth to deal with the complexities of the real world and the 21st century workplace.

The 21st century classroom is complex, and requires many elements to work successfully. The 21st century classroom is unique because the teacher is no longer seen as all-knowing, but rather as a mentor or guide that facilitates student learning, and encourages student centered learning and communication. In the 21st century classroom, students collaborate with one another, and share ideas in a way that they are always striving to think creatively, and gain knowledge.  Critical thinking, and problem-solving skills are required because of the inquiry based approach to learning. This type of open atmosphere is possible because of the mutual respect between the teacher and the students. With clear guidelines and expectations in place, the students are always aware of what is expected of them, and are driven to succeed. 

Other than the teacher and student dynamics, there are also more concrete aspects of the 21st classroom that are required to make it successful. This includes the interconnectedness of all subject matter. Any curriculum strand should not be taught in isolation, but rather within a framework that is both authentic, and involves the use of media and technology skills. By engaging students in meaningful learning experiences, they have more opportunities to make use of higher thinking skills, and think critically about the information presented to them. Rather than simply memorizing and regurgitating the information, they are thinking of ways that it can be useful within other contexts. 

We must think forward, and create an environment that will help students develop the knowledge and skills necessary for them to be successful in the 21st century workplace. If we succeed, they too will be able to thrive, and have success in 21st century environments. 

1 Source: Hans Moravec, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 1998; Cisco IBSG, 2006-2009