Parlez vu francais?

In order to achieve a full teaching load I have taken on teaching French to grade 6 and 7 students. Truth be told I have been dreading it. The thought of having to stand up in front of tweens late on a Friday afternoon makes me feel a little sick. Grade threes are easy to manage but the 6/ 7's are a whole different story. Most of them are way bigger than me.

Last Friday was my first day in the classroom. I decided to break the ice with some baguette and butter. The entire night before I spent proofing yeast, kneading and baking two beautiful baguettes for the class. Unfortunately they came out of the oven looking like two shriveled white bricks. They didn't even turn brown! It was not a highlight in my baking career. I decided not to take a picture. It was just too horrific.


After an early morning trip to the grocery store, I arrived at school to get ready for the day. I had a great introduction lesson planned. I had a funny video and some activities planned plus the food. It felt like a winner. At lunch I checked in with Doug S. He told me the kids were pretty rambunctious so we decided to do a walk to the local grocery store instead.

Change of plans? No problem, I'm flexible....until

When I arrived for my french period I was surprised to learn that we were going to be going to the basement where we would be playing a flight simulator game.....SO not the grocery store:(

As a person who relishes predictability, I was STRESSED!

Before I go on I should clarify that this is not typical afternoon activities in this class but a special treat earned and set up by the students themselves.Doug S. is working on positive consequences for behavior. Rewarding instead of penalizing.  Also I could not in a million years have connected  three projectors to one computer and turned a wall and a couple of paper covered bulletin boards into a surround flight simulator. I also would have thrown up just sitting in the chair inside of it. So kudos to them.

 During a break in the action, we called the kids in and had them pair-share their favorite foods. Bonus marks if they could think of the name in French.

Finally, teaching the beautiful language was happening. The kids talked and shared. It was a small moment but just enough to get a connection with the class.

After crashing into the ground multiple times and shooting down enemy planes, it was back to the class for some baguette. I was a great day to make connections with the kids and I didn't have to teach a single word, except for baguette...

This was the clip I was going to play for my french class introduction. I thought it was a perfect demonstration of how difficult it can be to learn a new language. I love Steve Martin. I think I'll start next class with it.

A bientot