3 insane decisions that will make my teaching as a member of the aa of French teachers more efficient and personal

This post is all about aa of French teachers

As teachers who belong to the aa of French teachers, we need to reflect on our role in the community and what decisions we take that could make our French classes more dynamic and personal

This post will share a point of view about our place in the process of the transmission of knowledge and the impact it can have in our classes.

After reading this post, you will have a broader idea of what a teacher of the aa of French teachers can be in order to motivate everyone in class with the same interest.

This post is all about aa of French teachers

AA OF FRENCH TEACHERS

If you belong to the french teachers association you certainly read a lot, share a lot of ideas, try to participate for the good success of your students.
Let’s forget a minute that we are employees of the school. Have you ever thought of this crazy statement:

My students are my clients

As teachers, who do we serve? It’s important to ask ourselves a few questions because our mindset will determine our actions. It will therefore determine the impact we have on others, also the efficiency of our communication with others.

Teachers are generous, maybe too generous. I will not talk about the paycheck. My opinion is they deserve better.

When teachers start the year, they check the curriculum, prepare the program, verify the material, connect with the new tools, look for resources for French teachers and check for lesson plans for French teachers online. They go through the schedule, check the school policy, security and else. Covid has brought some new technical challenges and also its advantages.

But basically, the activity of teaching has remained the same. Transmit the knowledge the best we can.

I BELIEVE THAT IN ORDER TO LEARN BETTER, COMFORT AND SELF-CONFIDENCE ARE ESSENTIAL, THAT IS WHY IN ALL MY COURSES I SHOW YOU THESE LETTERS THAT BOTHER YOU FROM BEING THERE WHILE THEY ARE NOT PRONOUNCED. THAT IS ALSO WHY I SIMPLY ASK YOU TO IMITATE ME OVER AND OVER USING A LANGUAGE THAT IS CONTRACTED SO THAT YOU WILL FEEL EMPOWERED WHEN THE TIME COMES FOR YOU TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE FRENCH.

In order for the system to work, each party must find its own benefits.

Like in my business, in order to sell my products or my services, I have to clearly list the benefits and my target audience.

What confuses us is that in school, the audience is not the payer. In a regular business, there’ a deal between two parties, the provider and the client. In school, the taxpayers or the parents pay for the education. The teacher sells its service to an entity that is not the one receiving the instruction. Likewise, the student is not paying but he is at the receiving end.

Are the teachers aware of the transaction going on? Is it of such little interest that we only see that we are providing the service and receiving a salary for that?

The system works

The school has enrolled students. We as teachers are not part of the direct deal between the state and the school or the parent and the school. Now we have students in front of us who were not directly part of the deal that concerns them. But we are still providing value. For that value, the parents or the state pay the school, and the school pays us.

We will not change the system. It works. But if I could imagine that my students are directly involved in the deal, not with the school, but with me, the teacher, will it bring to the surface other possibilities to improve that same system without drastically changing it?

I know, the students provide their attention and they receive good grades. But is it enough? When I was a student in France in 1968, we started to change the grading system. Instead of being graded out of 20, we were receiving Letters A to F. It was to avoid demoralizing the students who had the most difficult time. It didn’t do that much. That is why nowadays we have added A+, A, A-, B+, B, etc. Now, it’s 18 points when before it was 20.

About the students

Who are they?

Is it because of a lack of direct involvement in the deal that the students for the most part don’t like to study? Maybe paying them for their work would motivate them more. But it’s not the point I am getting to. If I consider that every single student in the class pays me direct, or if I can imagine that’s the case, will it change my way of teaching? Will all that energy and my dedication produce a result I could be even more proud of?

Let’s assume I am paid by the number of the students I manage to attract to my class and I consider them my clients, will I let the kid who has the most difficult time deal with it? I would run the risk of ending broke. Certainly, I could not afford it. But I need all my students to be satisfied, every single one of them. They are entitled to get what they paid for, which doesn’t mean the same instruction but the same use of the product or service they received.

Let’s not pretend that the teacher is not interested in the success of all his or her students. But do you see that the pressure to get results would be bigger? I need to focus on that student without reducing my attention to the rest of the class.

How do they learn?

How does my worst student learn? Similarly, how does my best student learn? Can I make them participate in their mutual success? Should my students compete or should they all win as a team? Can I find a way to add more value to what they pay me? How can I help them reach the best goal possible? First, what is the goal? To finish the textbook? To teach them some culture, so that they are aware of what the francophone world represents?

Or, should I focus on speaking? The time is limited, should I share the time and take the risk that I will not finish the official program? How much flexibility am I giving myself?

It’s simple and easy for me to stick to the textbook. But so many teachers organize activities, try through contests or other games to motivate their students. They mostly succeed in doing that. As for the teaching of the language itself, are we totally satisfied?

Do I think that every single student deserves my equal attention? How do I do that?

Of course, I will interact more with the student who can answer my questions. But I like to imagine that the kid that likes to sit in the back or against the radiator, needs success as well because all of them are my bread and butter. If I focus on that child, maybe I will reach the whole class as well. Is the opposite true? I don’t think so. Do I think that directing my attention to the worst talented kid will slow down the progress of the most gifted kid?

If we see teaching as invaluable, then it has to be expensive. In that case, I am allowed to think that not all will be able to afford it. So naturally, whoever is the least talented for the subject I teach, will be left to himself or herself, discarded. I put in balance the talent and the money spent to develop that talent. The state will give scholarships to the most talented kids. Is that fair, really? Or should we rather spend the money to try to find solutions that could benefit all?

The way we respond

In France, when a kid has a tough time in class, we send him or her to trade school. What can sound like a failure, can be reversed once there. As it’s generally a change of school, it works.

But what went wrong in the classic environment? Why do we value academics so much that we teach them in a way that they can’t appeal to all? Is it really the subject or the way we deliver the subject?

Do we teach trades the same way we teach academics? Let’s go back and talk about languages for a minute. At this time I want to remind you of the quote in the TV series ‘the Crown’. Season 3, Episode 6. The Welsh teacher Edward Millward tells this to Prince Charles: “We learn through imitation. Like anything in life, if we pretend to be something long enough, we may just become it.”

There’s room for improvement

We don’t teach trades the way we teach academics and there is no good reason why we don’t do that. There are students and there are apprentices. And there are teachers and there are masters. Just by reflecting on this terminology, we’ll find a good space for improvement. Check my post about Learning French vs Studying French. Yes, we can teach every kid to the advantage of all.

I am proud to be part of the American Association of Teachers of French to promote these ideas.

This session was all about aa of French teachers, for the most efficient teaching experience.

Excerpts from my learn French post:

7 LIFE-CHANGING TIPS TO LEARN FRENCH FAST EVERY STUDENT OF FRENCH SHOULD KNOW

READ THE FULL POST: LEARN FRENCH FAST

Is time important for you?

….If you typed ‘learn French fast, you are probably not a student. Students know that it will request time.

You are caught and you need to learn fast because… Most of the apps you can find on your phone will probably be useless when you land there. They just make you feel good before you take off, and that’s it. Well, if you are leaving in two weeks, it’s a little late, but it’s not without a solution…

What is your goal?

…. The important question to ask yourself is: What am I learning French for? Because most of the known programs will not help you speak and also understand and be understood. Why? Because most of them have not been created by the French. And even If the creators were actually French, they might have been intellectuals whose interest or focus is mainly to write. But you want to speak French.

The French are not the only ones who know the French language but they are the only ones who have been speaking it since birth…

Excerpt from my French conjugation post:

9 INCREDIBLY USEFUL TIPS TO A FRENCH CONJUGATION PRACTICE EVERY FRENCH BEGINNER SHOULD KNOW

READ THE FULL POST: FRENCH CONJUGATION PRACTICE

We chose to be selective

….To master the French conjugation online, I propose that you start with the easy part, but not only the easy part. You want to practice the verbs that are most used. Actually, they are the same in all languages. So which are they?

We are going to repeat them over and over. if you have followed me through these live events, you might remember I mentioned several times the quote in ‘the Crown’ that says: we learn through imitation. Right?

At the condition that what we repeat is not wrong. Repeating a million times something that is wrong will not make it right at the end…

Free Workshop to learn French

First, register for the new free workshop because the pre-registration is also free. I don’t know the date of the next workshop yet but only the people who have pre-registered will be invited. The workshop is free. It’s a half-hour each day ‘live’ with me to learn how to use this great tool. However, pre-qualification is a request. Click HERE.

Second, confirm that you are coming and we can work together on making your French learning easier and more effective.

Posted By: c.aubert2012 · In: Learn French