lundi 19 janvier 2015

From the Easel of a French teacher


MY EUREKHA MOMENT 2014-15!



http://willkempartschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/finishing-touches.jpg


Teaching French has been a passion for me over 2 decades. Infecting others especially students with love for learning the language- an obsession. This meant a lot of conscious and frequent quest for interesting methodologies, resources and unlimited creativity. The search was certainly on for ways to break the monotony of teaching the same topics year after year...

In my strife to balance teaching  High school students with those of Middle School this year which is a first time for me, I went about planning my lessons and units as per routine i.e sequentially and in an isolated manner. Then came my A-Ha moment! While teaching my High school students one day, the big picture loomed larger than life before my eyes enticing me. I responded as I took  creative, confident, courageous and thoughtful steps towards weaving a credible story by binding the units together with the common thread of relevance and necessity. I was no longer just an artist presenting the finished portrait to my audience. Nearly every stroke of my brush on the Easel of teaching and learning was now being made in consultation with the connected clients in a way that was palatable to them. Only later did it occur to me that I was entwining the 4 C’s of our school Mission.

To lead you to the heart of my story, let me cite an example. While teaching the unit “ LES VACANCES :  AU PASSE ET AU FUTUR , LOGEMENT ET DESTINATIONS TOURISTIQUES "(Vacations : Past and Future,  places of stay and touristic destinations ), I was inspired to bring in a story effect to the entire unit by incorporating relevant topics like means of transport, weather and seasons, directions, food and clothes which would otherwise have been individual disconnected units. 

The outline of the sketches on canvas is now ready. My students will soon add the finishing touches to a beautiful masterpiece by contributing through a project. I just can’t wait to exhibit it!


Miriam Chakko








2 commentaires:

  1. Miriam, I can completely connect with your A-Ha moment. When you realize that to design great curriculum you need to empathize with your students, it makes the way so clear. Every lesson is a design challenge and your students have incredibly valuable input and feedback. It bears noting that this blog is a great medium for getting that feedback from your students. I am glad to see this has led to some connections with our school mission as well. Congratulations!

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    1. Thanks Kevin. In fact I have just shared the link with my students for their inputs.

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