Powerful Professional Learning

One of the goals I set out for myself this year was to be more purposeful in my blogging.  I don't think I have been too successful!  It always seems that this is the last thing on my overflowing plate.  But, I am going to try!  Really try to be more diligent in my attempts to reflect on my teaching craft.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been engaged in an on-line course through the International Baccalaureate Organization about Inquriy.  None of the topics are new to me, but I am investigating them from a new perspective.  This has been a really good exercice.  I have been able to make connections to the work I am currently doing with the literature and research that is either new to me or I've read before.  I am really enjoying reading the work of Kathy Short from the University of Arizona.  I have finally been able to make sense of some parts of our Primary Years Planner (PYP) that have been causing me consternation.  It's refreshing!

This past weekend, I attended the Association Canadienne des Professeurs d'Immersion (ACPI) conference in Calgary.  It was a great conference!  The theme was RESEARCH and its impact on FI.  One of the most interestning and provocative topics was the use of first languages (L1) in the learning of a second language in an immersive setting.  The one common thread of all the research presented is it is extremely important that the language model in the classroom use the target language AT ALL TIMES! The use of the L1should be purposeful and moving the understanding of concepts forward.  It should also be negociated with students so they know when it is appropriate to use their first language in class.  Lots of food for thought!

I left the conference with my head spinning with new ideas of how I could make the work better for students, both in my classroom and in our school.  Now, I just need to find the time to create and impliment these new ideas!

Inquiring into phonics and grammar

Spelling is always a challenge in a French Immersion classroom.  It is very important to take the time to do some direct teaching of spelling patterns and phonetic combinations in both languages.  BUT, how might we incorporate inquiry into spelling and phonics?

Well, this past week my student did just that.  It might not be the most impressive inquiry, but hopefully they will have gained some ownership of the concept of spelling patterns for 2 very complex sounds in French [é] and [è].   Here's what we did:

1. I loaded 2 videos from www.imagier.net on our 5 au quotidien page.  These videos simply list words that contain different sounds.  The words appear and are pronounced by a native speaker.  Simple!  
2. My students watched the videos several times. Many of them repeated the words as they listened.  This was somewhat surreal, as it created a sort of bizzar choral piece.  Imagine several children, all wearing headsets,  saying different words containing the same sounds.  
3. After they had listened to the words, we generated a list of different words they had heard and remembered. 
4. We then read each word to determine if it contained [é] or [è].  Here we added a kinesthetic element.  Every time we heard [é] in a word, we used our left arms to make the accent aïgu.  We used our right arms to create the accent grave for words containing [è].  This was very popular and we repeated it several times with words from around the classroom and others that popped into our heads.
5. Once we had determined which words contained which sounds, the students examined the words to see if they could determine the letters that made up each sound.  
6. We created an anchor chart for both sounds. 

We'll see how this goes!  Hopefully it will be helpful for most!