French Teacher Resource: Try Flipping your French classroom

Since beginning my adventure in Flipped Classroom tools this year, I have had many teachers reach out and engage in great discussions or ask questions. You don't have to be a 'tech whizz' to enjoy Flipped Learning, you just have to be someone who is interested in creating engaging and practical resources to suit 21st century pedagogy. Just using one method, such as Flipped Learning, is never the answer to increased student motivation or the ticket to language fluency, but it is one 'super' method in the teacher toolbox.

Flip your dial, too!

Not sure what a Flipped Classroom is? First read my blog on the 'Flipped French Classroom'.

As myself and my students have thoroughly enjoyed using Flipped Learning this year, I thought I would share with you some basic resources that you can adapt and apply to your classroom. There are many ways to 'flip a classroom', but I will share with you here a simple way to 'flip' grammar teaching to get you started:

Step 1. I DO.

You never start telling a story from the middle, you first need to 'set the scene'. The same works for a Flipped Classroom. You first use some classroom time to brainstorm, interview, survey or chat with your students about the content you will be giving them as a Flipped task.

Just like a good story, the opening scene also creates the intrigue for a Flipped task. For example, the following resources are on conjugating for the imperfect tense in French. In class, we first brainstormed the differences between English past tenses and we played a game where they had to guess the correct imperfect conjugation with its subject pronoun - they can easily work it out based on prior knowledge of tenses!

Step 2. YOU DO.

The students are then required to watch a grammar content video for homework. There are a few things I've learned since starting. (A) students need to feel accountable for their work, which is why I have embedded the homework in to a Google Form. This way, their homework is time stamped. Also, (b) I am able to collect ongoing data on student content comprehension. You would think that questions directly relating to a video would be super simple for students, however, this is not always the case. Sometimes I get data that shows 100% student comprehension of the video content. Other times, I have a low to high distribution. I can then use this data to set out my classroom for scaffolded activities.

Take a look at this Google Form on the imperfect tense in French - conjugation, for student homework (make a copy to edit).

Step 3. WE DO.

Homework done? It's now time to set up some scaffolded activities based on the content from the homework. A simple way is to create 2-4 levels that students can work through - a visible progression pathway. I will usually determine the amount of levels based on how students have demonstrated understanding on the videos.

Here are a few situations you may run in to:

1. All students have achieved 80%+ content comprehension
When this occurs, this is a good opportunity for student reflection. Ask students to level themselves by asking different reflective questions. For example, start at level 1 if you feel you have grasped the basic concepts, but start at level 2 if you want to dive in to a challenge!

2. You have a broad range of student content comprehension
When students walk in to the classroom, the data distribution allows me to seat them at different levels. That get used to it really quickly, and realise that they don't have to be at the same level every week. It really depends on the week and how much effort they have put in at home.

3. Some students haven't completed the homework
Ne vous inquiétez pas! There is always going to be a time when a student hasn't completed homework - with or without a Flipped homework task. The great thing about a Flipped Classroom, is you can ask that student to first watch the video and take notes prior to starting the Flipped classroom exercises. If it occurs on a regular, ongoing basis... well, there is something else going on. It's not your teaching.

Setting up the classroom:

I love group tables for a Flipped Classroom, as there is no longer need for a front board. Sometimes I create levelled group tables. Sometimes I mix up the student cohort. But, in the end, it benefits the students if your planning is regular and consistent. What I love watching now is my students engage in peer tutoring, without me even asking. If they know that someone is a few levels above them, they will start to ask those students for help.

I have also started placing mini whiteboard and whiteboard markers on the tables. This enables me to have localised discussions with students and provide examples. Students can also use them with each other. I don't do this for my younger students, I carry around my own mini whiteboard (merci!).

Here are 3 scaffolded tasks to get you started, in response to the homework on the imperfect tense. I generally use the Bloom's Taxonomy to help design my scaffolded activities, as it helps to define the task with a verb:

Level 1 - L'imparfait (La forme)
Level 2 - L'imparfait (La forme)
Level 3 - L'imparfait (La forme)

• Provide a high ceiling for the final level by adding links to websites.
• It's important to ensure that the content is the same across the scaffolded levels. The levels are to enable differentiation based on ability so that all students can access the curriculum.

Extra step. Summative assessment.

At the end of the week, you may wish to create a summative assessment to gage how your students are performing.

I sometimes create 'old school' paper vocabulary quizzes or grammar quizzes. I also use Google Form quizzes, however, as you can provide automatic inbuilt feedback for students. You can also change the parameters to enable students to complete the quiz until they reach 100%.

Here is a Google Form summative assessment quiz for the imperfect tense.

A few extras notes.

1. Absences - A Flipped Classroom has worked so well in my classes as students are often absent. Family holidays, sports, excursions... the list goes on. This way, I can ensure that all students have access to the content in their own time. They now understand that the Flipped homework is a minimum requirement and benefits their learning.

2. Revision - it is nearly exam time! Many of my students go back and watch the videos to revise. As they've completed the video as homework, they know where the access the videos.

3. Teacher motivation - you need to encourage 'buy-in' from your students. They won't be motivated to try a Flipped Classroom unless the motivation starts with you!

Can't open the links above? Send an email to ilovefrenchaustralia@gmail.com and I will email you a copy, or simply request access from the link.

Also, post your comments and questions below!