Week One

Week One: September 6th, 2018

As of right now, I am thinking of using my genius hour to teach myself a language. I have always been trying to learn french and never had the time to, so I feel like this might just be the perfect chance for me to! I think to make the most out of it I could also see if I can learn to teach french through creative tech-related methods. 

My genius hour question is Can I learn French (enough to speak or understand it relatively) within these four weeks and learn fun ways to teach it for students?

I’m motivated to learning French because it’s always been a language that I have had an interest in. I have some experience in learning French, but it’s been a long time since I’ve even said “Bonjour!” so this will be an interesting journey. I know in most schools there are now teachers that are designated to teaching French (those who speak it) but there might be a time or place where I, as a teacher, will need to know how to speak French, and why not use this chance to do it!

I’ve always wanted to be the teacher that used interesting approaches in teaching. One thing I have noticed is that when the French teacher walks in, all the students begin to lose their focus and attention. Not all students can maintain their interest, so it’s important to make sure that we as teachers are not just teaching them the language through pencil and paper but with interactive approaches. French is a language that we speak so it’s really helpful when students are practicing the verbal aspects. Not just speak it but interact with it through creative methods and approaches like games, recordings, group activities and more.

A classroom activity I might use to help teach French creatively is Powtoon. I could get students to make their own presentations- they would have a fun time exploring this application.  They could incorporate images and based off their age levels, I would make them complete translations using the voice recorder or then insert the meaning of the words from English to French. In order to accomplish this, I would need to make sure that all students have access to iPads or computers, so they can use this software. When they present these powtoons, they are able to practice and listen to their oral French.