ORIGINAL POST Mme Naditz's French Class Blog So far, so good It's been an exciting start to the school year. So far, the changes I have implemented (such as weekly homework packets) are having a positive effect in class. I am more aware of which students are struggling to keep up with the pace of the work and I already have far more information about my students' achievement in French than I had at this time last year. In addition, it has been a thrill to see my French 3s and 4s again. The improvement they have made since I met them for the first time last year is incredible. All of them can write coherently (if simply) in French now. When French 3 wrote an introductory paragraph for me this year, I was able to understand all of them, even with errors. Last year, I asked all of them to write me a paragraph introducing themselves and many of the paragraphs were incomprehensible. I congratulated the French 3 class on their success with the paragraphs because I want them to know that even if they feel like they struggled in French 2 last year, they actually have made gains and those gains are apparent in their writing. French 1 has proven the most interesting. I am ashamed to admit that I still don't know all of their names, but I am getting there. What I found interesting is that my use of French in class has definitely been appropriate because some students--including some with no French experience in their background--have already started automatically responding to me in French anytime I talk to them (when they have the words to do so). This is a sign that they are already mentally switching to the French they do know when they are with me and definitely indicates that they are excellent candidates to become fluent speakers of French down the line. Bonne continuation! « back | comment »