French Teacher Resource: Introducing a new unit with Google Sites

Remote learning entices the digital spirit, but just how do we modify our current pedagogy to suit this new context without 'reinventing the wheel'?

One of my favourite types of activity is setting up explorative rotating tables. Often to launch a new unit, I will place activities on different tables and students rotate between the activities to explore different elements of the unit. It's always a big hit! However, how can this be adapted to an online context?

Example of how 'explorative table rotations' might be setup

The other night, I decided to whip up a Google Site to begin my Year 12 unit on 'La vie culturelle'. To tantalise their learning, I created four topics which they explored and discussed in small groups. If you are also a fan of group work and topic exploration, then you may be interested in the following resource.  I am not selling this resource as the language is stolen from Wikepedia and other websites! 

Google Sites enables you to build websites quickly and with ease. You can embed YouTube clips, images and easy build in your resources from other Google platforms. It also looks beautiful!

Send me an email if you wish to have a copy to adapt for your own needs.

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!

Flipped French Classroom: Vlog-style and accountability

A few weeks in to term 3, and the Flipped Classroom in Year 9 French is underway. Here are some changes that I have implemented this term:

(1) Vlog-style videos
At the end of last term, I surveyed my students about Flipped classroom outcomes and the videos I was creating. Best not to take anything personally in teaching, as across the board, my students wrote, "Madame, your videos are way too long!"
Alors... I've taken on the constructive criticism and trialled a new style. I've tried to make the videos more professional, and purchased a new microphone for my camera. Take a look at the new vlog-style video below:

Flipped grammar video for homework study on current content

I am sure you would agree that the next step would be to get a better backdrop for the example sections. I have improved in delivering more succinct content and keeping the video short. So far, the students are enjoying this style of content presentation. They are even pronouncing the word 'l'imparfait' beautifully from imitating my voice in the video!

(2) Accountability
The opportunity for student reflection was lacking from my videos last term. To account for this, I am now embedding the video in to a Google Form where students answer questions based on the content in the video:

Flipped Google form for content reflection

An added benefit to the Google Form reflection is that (a) the submission is time stamped allowing me to track when students complete their homework, and (b) I can offer feedback in real-time by reviewing students results and providing comments.

Let me know what you think of this current Flipped pedagogy. Any tips, tricks or ideas, let me know!

Flipped French Classroom: What I have done and what I have learned

Flipping my classroom has been flippin' fantastic.

In today's educational setting of student-centred learning, integrating the flipped learning concept into my classroom has given me such an appreciation of what it means for all of my students to have access to the curriculum.

For those who are unsure of the term, 'flipped learning' or the 'flipped classroom' turns traditional content learning on its head, by getting students to access the content out of the classroom (generally through videos at home) and completing exercises and tasks in the classroom. Ideally, this means that all students can complete their homework by themselves, and can bring in questions to ask the teacher. When the students come to class, they can complete tasks, projects and exercises with the aid of the teacher and their peers.

So, I had a Year 9 French class whom I thought would be the perfect guinea pigs for flipped learning...

Madame, are you Youtube famous? The kids started to cotton on that I have a Youtube channel which I use distribute the videos for homework, and although 'no', I am not Youtube famous, it has been an easy platform to upload my videos and easy access for all students at my school. You can also create playlists for your videos so that students can watch beyond the set video.

I would set the homework to be completed over a one week period. Year 9's, especially at our school, have a ton of commitments! I asked them to watch the grammar video and take detailed notes in the course of a week. It is never my intention to 'dumb down' the work, but to ensure that they are coached on how to prioritise and schedule their work to be done. I have had some great conversations with my Year 9's on using their calendars and organising their schedules to get their work done.

At the start of each week for 1 period, my students would come in to the classroom and sit at a levelled table:

Classroom instructions for flipped learning

Madame, how did I go? Can you work this out with me? Questions and on task conversations were flying around the classroom. Students had their devices open and were completing levelled activities using editable Google Slides. Once an activity was complete, they submitted their work and moved up to the next level. Their enthusiasm was inspiring!

This enthusiasm continued over the course of the term. Yes - some students came into class not having watched the video. They watched the video in class. Yes - some students were tired and confused on the content. They asked other students for help or asked questions in class. Yes - some students were so advanced that I had to form creative tasks for them prior to class or on the fly. Awesome.
The one common thread was that ALL students could access and interact with the content at their own level.

So what have I learned from this initial flipped learning experience?
1) That students do want more guidance. This term, I will still use the flipped learning for grammar with my Year 9's, however I am going to trial embedding the video in to a Google Form and writing some reflection questions for the students to answer. I will then also know who has completed the homework and when.

2) I asked my students to complete a survey, and be brutally honest... there was a unanimous vote that my videos were WAY too long! It is good to understand what kind of media students are familiar with in this day and age. Vlogging, memes, vines... these are all new methods of communication. A 15-20 minute lecture just doesn't cut it anymore. My plan is to make 5 minute videos with more oral content over the holidays, and we'll see how that goes!

3) Flipped learning has awarded me more time to focus on the communicative classroom. By getting the passive content off the board, I can spend more time in class using French by talking and interacting with my students. I plan to spend at least one period a week solely on communicative tasks with my Year 9's. I mean, we learn a language to hopefully be able to speak it one day, yeah?

4) It has opened great conversations with my colleagues from different departments. So many teachers have come up to me and told me great ways of how they might do something similar for science, maths... It is stimulating for us teachers to try new methods, too.

Are you implementing flipped learning or have thought about doing it? Please comment below and let me know your thoughts/methods!

NB: I always forget to take photos of my classroom's in session. I will endeavour to do this in term 3!