My Teaching Experience from Student to Professional with Lesson Plans

Sometimes life really is about how you approach it. I also believe in the philosophy of The Secret- the more energy you put into thinking about something (negatively or positively), the more will come out of it (negatively or positively, depending on what your stance is). The old “what you resist, persists”. I was starting to get in a bad mood about this year, before it began, based on some of the troubles of last year. And part of it has to do with personal matters which have caused me to lack enthusiasm for the upcoming year.

However, I know that, once it starts, I will remember the charm of those wacky high school students and their voyage into learning a wonderful foreign language. (I will also be reminded of why I hated them at times too).

Anyway, because of my lack of interest in thinking about school this Summer (natural for most teachers, isn’t it?!), I wasn’t on top of my setting-things-up game. I was preparing, but not attentively. Planning, but not adequately. I was scared because there weren’t even chairs in my classroom and it was mid-August!!!

And then I got chairs. And though I didn’t have bookshelves (moved into a new classroom), I’m going to get them tomorrow. And because I got up the guts to ask around, I will get a Smartboard for the beginning of school while I wait for one to be mounted and installed in my room.

Some teachers who stumble across this blog might be flabbergasted that I was upset about not having a Smartboard for a few weeks when they don’t even have enough chairs or books for their students. And I do sympathize with the upset feelings that can come with education, schools, funding and all of that unfairness. I am teaching in a private school (same school as last year), and every school has its ups and downs.

So I’m happy. I kicked this good thinking, good feeling stint off by marching over to the office where you get your keys (the guy was on vacation), and I got keys. I thought since he was out of the office I wouldn’t get any, but I wanted to see if his assistant knew if or when I could get them. And lo and behold, he was actually there! And I got keys that day!

I wonder how many teachers out there feel like nothing ever goes right for them, and how much that expectation sets them up for the same scenario to be recreated? Just like having low expectations (or even worse, biased expectations) can predict learning outcomes?

I know I may be getting a little too far into the mind-body-spirit side of things, but I’m just trying to remind other fellow teachers that you never know what might happen this year!

Today was a huge shift of attitude about this year, and it all started with moving a filing cabinet, sending an email or two, and a spark of belief somewhere in me that knows that it will most likely be an easier year than last year in many ways.

(Yes, I do still need to do some last minute cramming planning and classroom prep, but I know it’ll all pull itself together enough at least to get through the first few days until I can get a small break around Labor Day!)

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?

It is amazing to have a Summer, but you really do have to work during it if you want to have a good year the following year. I have not done this, and furthermore, I have to do some curriculum mapping, which is not going that well. I think it’s difficult to know how to pace if you’ve only taught for a year, and there is a new book this year. It’s going to end up being more of a guesswork guideline that will be changed with years of teaching.

I can’t believe how fast the Summer went. I had some very difficult times, including the sad news that my father has stage 4 cancer. I’m concerned about it affecting my ability to be present and balanced in the classroom. It all depends on how things go with him, as I guess it would whether I was a teacher or something else.

So here I am, cramming in planning and preparation at the end of the Summer. Do other teachers find the Summer flying way too fast?!