What a busy day! Between mechanical problems with the van resulting in a breakdown on the expressway, a tow truck ride to safety and hitching a ride to where I was supposed to make a presentation to FSL teachers at York University’s Glendon College campus, I’d say it was a very eventful day.
Luckily, amidst all of the craziness, I somehow made it to the presentation on time!
Thanks to instructor, Claudine Cautillo for inviting me to speak to her class and to participant Elinor Bartle for a lift back to my mechanic’s garage afterwards.
The students, all French teachers (enrolled in additional qualifications courses) did an exceptional job of using our music tracks to create brand new lyrics which they performed for each other.
Click to enlarge photos
Me, giving a presentation [left] and teachers participating in the workshop [right].
Over the years, I’ve amassed some pretty interesting resources which I recommended during my workshop. You can take a look at some of them here: http://www.sara-jordan.com/FrenchPage.shtml
I have always felt passionately about second language acquisition. I feel that it is a student’s “right” to become bilingual.
Immersion classes can often become classes for the elite. When my own two children were growing up, if a kid caused the slightest bit of disruption or disturbance, it was often recommended by the school that the child return to the English program and forget about becoming bilingual. To make the point, I recounted a very personal story involving my daughter.
My daughter was a vivacious little kid who daydreamed constantly and looked out the window. When she was finishing grade one, her school’s principal refused “promote” her unless I withdrew her from the French Immersion program. I was told that her report card would not say “promoted” but merely “transferred” unless I agreed to have her removed from the immersion program. I replied that this was not an option in our family. Fourteen years later, I am proud to say that the vivacious little kid is now a young woman. She still daydreams. She is a talented artist. She is also perfectly bilingual. It is important to remember that the ideal student is not the “pencil pushing” child. If a student is inattentive in French class, or in Spanish class, there is a good chance that they may be inattentive in any class. One way to hold the attention of children, is to make the classes more lively and interesting.