Week Four

Week Four

It’s the end. It came much, much sooner than I expected. I’m not fluent in French or anything but I’m still proud with how much I managed to learn, recap and practice since Week 1. It’s just proven to me that when a person is interested in something, they truly do manage to remain interested and find different opportunities to keep learning about that interest. It’s better than being assigned something that you are required to learn and having to follow that task. Focusing is much easier when you have freedom- something to take home. I want to be able to allow my students to have that freedom as well (while achieving curriculum requirements of course), so that they have interest in what they are doing instead of just producing work and meeting expectations.  

Of course, I didn’t become fluent in French like I wanted to, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a benefit to trying out something that I am interested in. Another thing I’d like to point out is that I realized the benefit of monitoring and posting daily journals. Keeping track of one’s own progress is more helpful than being told how you are doing. Why? Because when you look at your own progress, you can self-reprehend and make sure that you have some (even if it’s very little) improvement on your work.

Although it wasn’t possible for me to fully become fluent in French, I’ve definitely improved in the language. I think that’s one of the most important aspects I’ve learned about genius hour. You don’t necessarily have to meet your goal (especially if it’s something like learning a language in ten days) but being able to achieve something and improving is what is important. The trying and effort are what counts.

Progress Report: I’ve managed to have conversations with French immersion students now and can translate a couple sentences here or there to my husband. I can start making translations in my head and derive the main meanings and ideas from stories and signs. My accent is getting better! I also learned a lot more than just French through this process. I learned that as long as you try, it is possible to do whatever you put your mind to. I also learned that it’s not the amount you learn, but just to be able to see that you can do anything and there is just so much to learn out there was something eye-opening for me! I really enjoyed this genius hour task and hope to continue it slowly as I go forward. 

Here's the TedTalk for my Genius Hour!