My Teaching Experience from Student to Professional with Lesson Plans

I remember reading last Summer about ideas of activities to do for the first day of classes. It seems both so long ago, and also not that alien. Here I am only about a week out from the 1st day again. I think I might have moved a little too slowly during the 1st week of school last year, using a ton of activities introducing the language and culture, and not getting into the book too much.

I say that because, looking back, especially for some of the younger students, they started misbehaving, and it might have given them the impression that it was going to be an easy or ‘blow-off’ class. I can see some teacher’s argument for not getting into the book on the 1st day, but I think I will this year (maybe have an exploring activity to help them get to know the book), and I’ll intersperse fun supplemental activities with book ones.

Luckily it’s a new book this year, and the book is great. The Discovering French series has a whole introductory section with reasons to speak French, an introduction to French geography and facts, other French-speaking countries, and a list of names (including some of North African or African origin).

I did an activity where I had a worksheet with different areas such as dining, movies, art, danse, etc., and students had to come up with French words they already knew. It worked pretty well, but some students were writing a ton of words down (like transportation, situation, which, yes, are from the French, but not exactly what I was looking for).

Here are my tips:

1) Parlez en francais. Teacher needs to model speaking in French, and get students speaking. In French 1, it can be as simple as greetings and name (Bonjour, je m’appelle, comment t’appelles-tu?). In upper levels, it can be 1 activity you like to do and 1 you do not (or food, or whatever).

2) Break the ice. Do some icebreakers, getting to know you, have students choose French names, whatever it takes to lessen anxiety and promote a friendly, interactive classroom. Just be careful to mix in enough educational, structured learning, with the fun stuff.

3) Establish rules. This is something I did, but not with enough of a system. I’m still trying to figure that out (I guess discipline is something that comes easier with every year of teaching?), but I know I will have a more clearly laid out set of rules and the consequences that go with misbehavior- as well as rewards for good behavior.

4) Find a good pace for each class. Some classes may not be interested in icebreakers at first. So if you try them and don’t have good results, get right into the book and assignments. Incorporating some fun things into the 1st week is nice so they aren’t overwhelmed. I think I’ll probably go over my syllabus on the 1st day. Actually I think I handed it out last year at the end of the 1st day for them to read as homework.

5) Take care of business items. Do hand out a syllabus at some point in the beginning. Create a seating chart (I think it’s always good to start with one, to get to know names, and to have order right from the start). There is other information you need to find out, and rules, and books and things. See how much you can do in a fun manner, or in the form of an activity (like having a worksheet to get-to-know the textbook).

I think it’s most important to do some activities to help students feel comfortable, and to get to know one another, before jumping into heavy grammar. There are lots of good vocabulary and other little language things to do before starting the book (classroom commands, numbers).

Here is a great link I found for tips:

About.com 1st day teaching french new and returning French students - it has great ideas for a level 1 classroom, and for upper level French students

1st days of school activities - this site has some great ideas. I really like the policy and rule question and answer match because it’s interactive, goes over the rules, and gives you an idea of which students might be more shy.

There are a lot of great ideas out there. I remember finding some very helpful ideas, and I hope my thoughts help teachers new and old alike. Nothing too fancy here, but it’s definitely important to think about the 1st day of school. It’s an important day- think first impressions.

What type of tone do you want to set for the year?

May has come and (almost) gone away!

And tomorrow, Saturday, I’m going to the graduation ceremony.

All that’s left is grading, and I got a good head-start on motivating myself to do it, because I had to turn in Senior grades early.

I can’t believe it’s the end of the year (I know- it’s not over ’til it’s over) but it’s here. I’m done teaching my first year of 4 different French classes (French 1, 2 French 2’s, and a French 3) and boy was it a year!

Of course I wish I had blogged more at the time, but I have plenty I’m really itching to talk about and the best part:

I’ll have the Summer to blog!

I know that’s not completely true, I’m sure I’ll be doing schoolwork (prepping with a new book!), and I’m going to have some side jobs, but I am so excited. I’m already really excited, and I know I won’t even realize it until a few days from now most likely.

Well, I better go tie up some loose ends, and/or do some grading, OH BOY!

This is what a cousin of mine in his second year of teaching told me. At first I didn’t believe him, especially since my school has a really early Spring Break (beginning of March), but now that my long Easter weekend is here, I see what he was saying.

As the year turns into countable days left (the kids have a very accurate count of exactly how many days, and how many more school days there are remaining in this first year of my teaching), I realize that I am now looking at working backwards from the end of the year, to try and figure out what’s most important and what overall goals I’d like to see achieved by the end of the year.

And it’s crazy to think how few weeks are really left, and how I have an upcoming project, some important concepts for all levels, a few neglected activities, and then BOOM- it’ll be exams before I know it. I guess my pacing this year is really a practice test for next year, when I hope to have a much more solid hold on my plans. I anticipate some good outlining of possible time lines for each level, both because we’re getting a new book, and because I know a lot more about what to expect.

So I guess there is some logic to that reasoning after all. It’s going to fly, and then I’ll be writing backdated posts all Summer to make it feel like a worthwhile site to have

I know, I know, there would be problems at any school. But there is something going on at this school that I did not agree to when I signed my contract, and though they’re trying to act like we can make it into something mutually beneficial, I am dubious. I’ve already fretted and freaked out enough that it’s not worth it on my part. Basically I took over the job of the French teacher who they had signed on to teach a couple of the French classes (I had said no to “half-time” because -duh- that would not make any sense- teaching is a way-more-than-full-time job). And now she is still on the faculty part-time, yes, she is doing other things, but one of the jobs they are paying her for is to be my mentor.

But as far as that goes, the definition, the logical working out of the situation, and the awkwardness to me…I can’t even speak English it makes me want to quit so bad. I guess a big problem is that I am non-confrontational and I should have stood up more and said “No. I do not want her in my classroom yet (or ever).” Sure it could be beneficial, but not in the way it’s starting out to look like.

I bided my time, and it’s up, and she said “The F.L. department head wants me in the classroom.” And I’m a procrastinator, and don’t have a rote, repetitive schedule I follow every day. It’s going to be awkward, and I’m nervous about how the kids will feel about it. I didn’t even get a chance to tell them yet!

And it’s awkward because some faculty members are sort of upset that I go to take all of the French, and they are older than me and have worked in the school for years, if not decades.

I am sure that there would be other problems at any other school, but this situation is more than just unfair. It is almost offensive. It looks like the informal nature of the way things are run at this school is going to be working against me more than for me for a bit.

That said, I will try to remain optimistic, see how it goes (maybe she could end up helping me out and reducing my prep load?), and I will do my best to voice my concern and make suggestions for improvement.

That said, insert inappropriate swear word to express/relieve frustration here.

I did my student teaching, I don’t need a full-time observer, and our methods differ. A lot. Who knows. It just sucks and I do not approve. (I won’t quit, but I will do my best to be positive, and proactive).

Without being too obvious, I want to touch on some thoughts I have. My boyfriend (whom I seldom see these days) told me I was doing way too much planning for what I’m getting paid. I am doing too much planning, and not enough creatively using the resources they have. They are not paying me to overcompensate for the terrible book series I’m working with. It’s not my fault that the levels are so screwed up because of troubles last year. And they haven’t yet given me a smartboard when I just might be one of the educational tech-savviest teachers they’ve got? I’m not trying to be conceited, but a few stressors in my life have made me realize I will never last at this rate. Not even through the year.

So I will adjust. Overall, I really don’t think teachers are paid enough. That said, teacher pay rates vary soo greatly. There are posh public schools in surrounding areas that I interviewed at or tried to apply to, and they pay very well, but have all of that standardized testing and tons of required paperwork or this-and-that.

Sure, public schools can pay nicely, but getting worked up about the behavior problems at a small religious school cannot even compare to the behavior issues in an inner-city public school. That would be crazy. But some teachers can thrive in it.

And then we have pay scales. First-year teachers? Bottom rate pay. If you have been teaching for years, and eventually get tenured- oh boy! Now that’s worth it! And- you already have your rhythm down and you can just tweak it and adjust to the technology and times. Ahhhh….looking forward…..awwww….

Then there are credentials- do you have a Bachelors? In what? A Masters? A doctorate? A Masters plus 560 credits?! That can really change things. For me, the Masters didn’t do too much, but it’s working alright (and will continue to pay for itself).

Public, private schools, and location. Not to mention region of the country! Boy do some states pay their teachers nothing! For me, I would be doing the same amount of planning and be getting paid only like 70% of what I’m getting now in some states. Or how about if I tried to teach in California? The pay is not that much higher, but the cost of living is WAY higher. And I’ve got bills and loans that do not change in amount much.

I do need to organize, more efficiently plan, and perhaps work something out with the teacher that’s supposed to be helping me. It’s tough cookies. Teeth-breaking cookies. Finally….

If you didn’t care about the kids or how things went, you could do minimal work and get through a year of teaching, but a) the pay is not all that much, and b) someone would probably notice and ask you to up the ante.

Then we have the old-timers who are getting paid quite a bit and do the same old thing every year, lecturing and turning-their-students-off-to-school-to-no-end.

Just some tired thoughts I’m having as I enjoyed the first night since I started teaching where I’m not frantically working for hours and not getting to bed early enough!

Thus far I’ve gotten a lot of good wisdom and insight into how to handle kids, classes, planning, and grading. Unfortunately the situation with the variance in French levels was caused by the former French teacher with whom I am in a sticky situation (more on that later). So I am still planning a ton- I decided I am going to use more of the book and series’ material, even though I don’t like it. I can supplement it some days more than others, and cut out parts that are irrelevant. That would help make a little bit less work for me.

I was searching on the internet and stumbled across some specific advice a seasoned French teacher was giving a new one. It’s on teachers.net, a great site I’ve come across before while searching for education questions. The question is here First-Year Teacher- Help! and a teacher gives some really good tips in her response. Here are some I particularly liked:

Trying TPR which is new to this 1st year teacher- She said don’t trouble yourself with new methodologies you are not familiar with. Bookmark areas where you could use it and look it over to use next year.

What to focus on planning before school starts- Really, I did not plan well enough before school started, but I have my excuses (accepting the job offer kind of late, thinking I would be able to get better materials, and more) but I could have planned more units to use. The veteran teacher suggests doing the work to plan out preliminary units so you know where you’re heading. It would help me personally to have better resources (ie from after the year 1998)

What kind of homework for French 1- I like what she says about trying to not give busywork, instead to help reinforce what was gone over in class. I also think it’s good to have exercises that check student’s ability to understand and use the material- not just to repeat and repeat and memorize. My supervisor during student teaching reminded me to keep the purpose in mind with homework “Why? What will the gain out of it? Is it collected and how is it graded? How can they learn from it?”

She also talks about using effective bell ringers and calling out a “pack leader” who might be spurring misbehavior. I have heard a million times to start out harsh and “don’t crack a smile until January” so I’ve done my best to be both firm and fair. Overall the thread was a nice read.

I definitely think more appropriate mentoring would be nice in my situation, and for many new teachers. There is a lot of little side work that I didn’t know I’d have to do, and that’s fine, but some of it isn’t explained to me and I have to go about finding who to ask in the first place.

I’m pretty sure I’m not getting paid enough :)  But I guess if I stick with it it’ll get easier, and then if I stick with it for a few years it will really pay off. I can always hope!

Every day this week I felt like I said “If I can just make it through classes today, this afternoon I’ll do lots of work and make the classes more organized with smooth transitions”. Every afternoon, I am tired, have lots of little busy work or meetings or whatnot, and next thing I know, if I eat dinner, or do anything to relax for a minute- it’s suddenly 8 or 9 pm. They day flies, and though I’m done teaching by 2pm, I never leave my office before 4 or 5 really. And I feel like I’m already slipping into chronic sleep deprivation!

I really need to just start using more of the resources that come with the book, even though I don’t like the book that much- isn’t that awful? It’s because the book is so old (over 10 years). It also has vocabulary that is too specific at times (like “a reclined seat”) which it took me a second to recognize. I will need to look into getting another method next year if I keep teaching here.

Allez, Viens was a good series they used where I student taught. It definitely had some imperfections, but it had a lot of good cultural information and excellent teacher’s guides and notes. Maybe I can get different book people to come present their series like someone did when I was student teaching. It was fun. Who knows if the school has that kind of money (or rather, if they’re willing to spend it on that). But it is very important to like the series.

That’s something I didn’t really think about- if you are interviewing and you know about book series- either ask what they use, or ask to see what the books they use are like.

So I’m off-topic, and that’s why I feel like I was falling behind this week. I worked a lot, but I also checked my email and read on the internet and maybe got coffee with a friend or two. I procrastinated. You can not be a procrastinator and be an organized teacher. It’s just too much work. I do like the freedom I have, but I wish it was a little more structured.

I am soooo tired still. More sleep would definitely help me think more clearly, be less tired so I could plan better in the afternoons, and I would probably even run class better and get more done.

Did I already share the quote I made up? “More than just a full-time job, teaching is a whole-time job!”

I will be writing posts about the beginning of school probably just around when school is over in June seriously, though, it has been a ton of work. I’ve made it through 4 days of teaching.

I was thinking back to student teaching and reflecting on having students make verb books. I did it for extra credit in my French 2 class and am going to require it in most, if not all, of my classes this year.

Student teaching taught me that while freedom in sentence-making is good sometimes, most of the time kids have a hard time coming up with whole sentences on their own. And sometimes, you get a gem like this, and just like my coop and I said “I’ll teach as long as they make me laugh more than they make me cry”:

For those of you “non-French-speakers” the first sentence means:

“Are you losing weight this weekend?”

I had them come up with their own sentences for several required verbs, and this was one of the gemmiest of the gems.

And now I’m off to lesson plan until eternity.

First week of teaching. Oh boy. So tired I can barely see. I think it’s not just because it’s my first year as a teacher, I think it’s also my specific school and class schedule. I have 4 periods that are 55 minutes each. I teach a French 1, two French 2’s, and a French 3 class. The French 1 has less than 20 students, but the room is small and was way too hot all week. The French 2’s are unfortunately unevenly split (one is very small) and I can already see it’s going to be hard running them at the same pace.

I have a lot of students with “I.E.P.s”- some of them are pretty serious, some of them are more abstract, some of them I don’t know how to deal with but I am trying to pay attention to how the students are performing.

The French 2 was a large class last year and they did not get through a lot of material. So I have to set about figuring out where they are at, and also take into consideration that some will still be far behind others. I have to find the general medium and forge forward.

I already moved the seating around, and then moved it again, and it’s hard to decide how I want it. I put them in rows against either wall so there is a strip in the middle I can move down. That seems to work well. I have assigned seating for the French 1 because it is a bigger class, and the kids are still quite immature (several boys were talking right starting from day one).

I did quite a bit of culture and used French in all the levels (mostly French in French 3 but not as much as I should have). The cultural activities went pretty well. I need to organize my thoughts and goals more.

Other than that, I am glad to have made it through my first week of teaching (though it was not a complete week). I was so busy I barely saw my colleagues. I fear that I will sleep all weekend and won’t do as much planning as I’d like.

I also REALLY need to start going to bed earlier. I am still going to bed around 12am or 1am and even up until 2am. Oh boy oh boy.

Day by day!