Modeling enthusiasm and encouraging a passion for learning are two vital roles of the teacher in the classroom. I think it is important to first guide students with enthusiasm and then learning will become much easier for them later on. When it comes to learning a foreign language, students can be very timid and self-conscious and I would like to help students break out of their shells. I want to create an environment where students understand that perfection is not our goal, but rather continued progression. As long as they are moving forward and are excited to learn, that is all that matters to me.
As an undergraduate student, I studied Classics and like to try to draw from my knowledge of these languages and histories and incorporate them into the class. Having this experience of studying these other languages has helped form how I look at French and how I present it. These classes also used a lot of games to help learn the material, and I like to incorporate these games in my French classrooms. One game I use to review vocabulary is called “pop-up.” The students are divided into two teams and each team has the same set of words. When I say the word in English, the student must stand up if they have the word before the person on the other team with the same word stands up. It is competitive in a way that gets students excited, but there is not a lot of pressure.
When introducing vocabulary, I keep a list of all the words students ask me for in class and this is part of their vocabulary lists they must learn. I try to keep the language I am testing them on closely aligned with the language they want to be using. I also try to keep activities we do in class relevant to what they would actually need to be using if they traveled to France or anywhere in the francophone world. One activity is to have students practice buying a train ticket. To help my students prepare for this, I first have them learn how to tell time. I show some images of clocks and ask them what time it is, and then show them some actual train or plane tickets and ask them about the departure and arrival times. Once the students have mastered how to tell time, I teach them how to use the near future to explain what they are going to do in their destination. Simultaneously, we talk about different regions in France and countries in the francophone world in class. I then have them brainstorm in pairs about what they could do in these different places. After they have done this, I have them create a skit with a partner where they have to purchase a ticket. They practice saying what time they want to leave and arrive and want they are going to do once they arrive.
I want to create an environment where all of my students feel comfortable speaking and where they are all happy to be in class. I myself am a very timid speaker in class as a student, and I try to be very sensitive to all the different types of students in my classes. In a foreign language class it is very important that students are comfortable speaking, and to help facilitate this I try to incorporate different types of conversation. I’ll frequently have students talk with the people around them before they then have to speak in front of everyone. This helps them feel comfortable because they know their classmates and feel that they have their support, which makes them more certain about what they are saying. I believe in forming strong personal relationships with my students and trying to get to know them very well.
A foreign language classroom should be a place where students can come and learn more about themselves through examining other cultures, and feel comfortable doing this. I want to share my excitement for French language and culture with my students, and help them to find aspects that they are passionate about. My goal is to inspire students to want to travel and learn more about the world around them, by being able to communicate with people in their native tongue.
As an undergraduate student, I studied Classics and like to try to draw from my knowledge of these languages and histories and incorporate them into the class. Having this experience of studying these other languages has helped form how I look at French and how I present it. These classes also used a lot of games to help learn the material, and I like to incorporate these games in my French classrooms. One game I use to review vocabulary is called “pop-up.” The students are divided into two teams and each team has the same set of words. When I say the word in English, the student must stand up if they have the word before the person on the other team with the same word stands up. It is competitive in a way that gets students excited, but there is not a lot of pressure.
When introducing vocabulary, I keep a list of all the words students ask me for in class and this is part of their vocabulary lists they must learn. I try to keep the language I am testing them on closely aligned with the language they want to be using. I also try to keep activities we do in class relevant to what they would actually need to be using if they traveled to France or anywhere in the francophone world. One activity is to have students practice buying a train ticket. To help my students prepare for this, I first have them learn how to tell time. I show some images of clocks and ask them what time it is, and then show them some actual train or plane tickets and ask them about the departure and arrival times. Once the students have mastered how to tell time, I teach them how to use the near future to explain what they are going to do in their destination. Simultaneously, we talk about different regions in France and countries in the francophone world in class. I then have them brainstorm in pairs about what they could do in these different places. After they have done this, I have them create a skit with a partner where they have to purchase a ticket. They practice saying what time they want to leave and arrive and want they are going to do once they arrive.
I want to create an environment where all of my students feel comfortable speaking and where they are all happy to be in class. I myself am a very timid speaker in class as a student, and I try to be very sensitive to all the different types of students in my classes. In a foreign language class it is very important that students are comfortable speaking, and to help facilitate this I try to incorporate different types of conversation. I’ll frequently have students talk with the people around them before they then have to speak in front of everyone. This helps them feel comfortable because they know their classmates and feel that they have their support, which makes them more certain about what they are saying. I believe in forming strong personal relationships with my students and trying to get to know them very well.
A foreign language classroom should be a place where students can come and learn more about themselves through examining other cultures, and feel comfortable doing this. I want to share my excitement for French language and culture with my students, and help them to find aspects that they are passionate about. My goal is to inspire students to want to travel and learn more about the world around them, by being able to communicate with people in their native tongue.