![]() This marks my third year as a French teacher using comprehensible input in the same school. My first year, I began not really knowing what to expect (and also not completely sold on teaching with CI), so I set up my shared French classroom haphazardly. My second year, I was a “traveling teacher,” so I shared a space with a junior high science teacher. The teacher I shared with was kind enough to give me some wall space for visuals, but I did not have much space and could not put up all I really wanted. To make matters more difficult, I had the back wall, so often I felt like my kids were at a tennis match trying to negotiate meaning from what I was saying up front to reading visuals in the back of the room. I am happy that this year, they found a spot for French to exist without iguanas and graduated cylinders. I share with another French teacher and a few resource classes in a small, windowless room. But it is OUR space, and I was so excited to set up the room very intentionally this year with a little experience in this whole CI business. Come take a tour of our little home. Our school is a college prep school, so teachers all have pennants of their colleges hanging in the hall to show kids that college is attainable. We are also located more on the elementary school side of our building, so I wanted to be sure that students could identify our class as a French class from the hall, hence the flag. Every day, I greet students at the door in French, so having a few reminders on the door, helps students learn this process. I want the classroom to appear inviting from the hall for those passing by (French teachers are always trying to recruit new students)! Having the Eiffel Tower and my comfy reading nook visible from the hall helps appeal to potential students’ aspirations of visiting France (and hopefully my classroom). This desk is where the upper level French teacher works from as well. French quotes from great French and francophone figures surround the reading nook. I found my book shelf for French readers on craigslist. Authentic reading materials are in the other shelf for upper level students as well. Finally, most kids don’t realize the number of places French is spoken—a map is a must in my classroom as we explore the French speaking world—I found this tapestry map on Amazon for cheap which not only looks nice but should hold up better than paper. The front of the classroom showcases daily objectives, sweet 16 verbs, rejoinders, and question words. I refer to these constantly during storytelling and class in general. I keep my classroom rules short and sweet, and à la Tina Hargaden, I will wander over to these silently when necessary. I think discussing emotions is a great way to build classroom community. Cecile Lainé was my inspiration here. We refer to these a lot not only in stories but in our daily chats as well. By my desk, I keep all of my props for storytelling for easy access. I also use the ivory chairs for my actors in stories and special person interviews—it’s nice to give students a fancier chair when they are brave enough to come up front. I do calendar talk every day in every class. I begin the year leading it, but my students soon take over this responsibility. I created a simple, laminated poster that makes them write the information each time. I thought about pocket charts, but I like the act of writing in French every day. The side wall, aside from the calendar also has a map of France, numbers (which help in calendar talk), and negations and small words which help more advanced students and even beginners in free writes. There is a lot of space for student work as well; I can’t wait to put up their fun creations. The back wall has the alphabet in French and AP theme posters. Materials students don’t need to refer to as often are relegated to the back. Super 7 verbs in present make another appearance back there (they are at the front too) as well as colors, prepositions, animals, body parts, and noun endings. By the door, I keep supply drawers (no excuses, no barriers to learning) where students can help themselves to paper, pens, pencils, and décollage (do now) sheets. Bathroom passes are also here by the door (and of course, hand sanitizer and tissues). Thanks for visiting. This is a work in progress. I would love to try deskless, but with 4 teachers using one space, it is not feasible at this time. Maybe in the future, I will transition to deskless, but I think it is still possible to be a successful CI teacher with desks.
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When I accepted a job teaching middle school and high school kids, I was nervous about pacing (having only taught college at that point); I was nervous about not having the safety net of a textbook at this CI-only school; but mostly, I was nervous about classroom management. The pacing I am still getting the hang of (sometimes, I still find that I need to slow down a little), but mostly I just expect my students to perform to higher level, which most of them do. And, the lack of textbook, while initially scary, has been one of the most freeing parts about the job.
As for classroom management, I am still learning. I remember my own eighth grade class torturing a new teacher to the point he left education after his first year. I was determined not to let that happen to me. In my first year, I was rigid in routines and procedures. I had scoured pinterest in search of the perfect rules that would make my classroom run like clockwork. There were procedures for just about every daily activity in class. As we moved through the year, I learned to lighten up a bit on the rules and procedures and found what worked best for me and my students. (I still use callbacks for quieting the class and getting attention; the kids know my expectations for when they enter the classroom and for all of our different CI activities; and my only rule is RESPECT which covers just about everything). I am not a disciplinarian. I lead my class in a relaxed and even way. Kids know what is expected of them, and for the most part, they behave well. I have found that the most important part of classroom management is developing a safe environment for all of my students. I work hard at getting to know each and every one of the kids in my class. I greet them each day at the door; I ask them how they are doing; I keep up-to-date on their activities and what they love and hate. I also share my life with them--they know what I did last weekend, and they know about my family. I think relationships are the key to classroom management, and CI allows me to learn about my kids while staying on topic (PQA for the win). All of my students know I care about them, and it leads them to do and be better in class. This is not to say that I do not have my challenges. I have students push boundaries. The difficult students are the ones I try to identify from day 1. These are the students I work the hardest at building relationships. I also try to find the reason behind their misbehavior, because usually these kids are not acting up with no reason. This year's class has been one of my most difficult. The first few weeks, I had to set rigid boundaries while learning about my students. It took well into October before I started to feel like I had won over most of the kids in the class. It's still a work in progress, but I do believe that this method of teaching leads to positive relationships with students which in turn leads to more easily managed classes. |
AuthorI am a secondary French teacher committed to Comprehensible Input. ArchivesCategories
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