Blog 1: Pre-Project

I am a passionate French student who wishes to foster an inviting and engaging learning environment; one that reflects the experience me and my peers had in middle school. I hope that my project will affect the French language curriculum for years to come even though our previous middle school teacher left many years ago. My essential question is: How do we learn best in our developing years and how can we foster a positive learning environment when it relates to language education? Me and my friend, Rithika, will be at the middle school working alongside the substitute French teacher to create a curriculum that is both fun but also meaningful. I was inspired to create this project after reflecting on my fond experience of middle school French at the Lower Campus. That three-year experience truly instilled a love of the French language and culture that I still recall after recently completing the AP level. I want to create a similar experience for current and future language students that allows young students to comprehend grammatical and conceptual material while still maintaining a level of engagement and fun within the middle school curriculum. Overall, I'm very excited to see what I am able to accomplish these next few weeks. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog 4

Image
During the very first week of our project, classes were canceled and the middle school and 5th grade had Field Day. So, Rithika and I stepped into another shadowing role and assisted with Field Day. We oversaw the 5th grade and escorted them to each activity. We also cheered them on and helped if they received any injuries or had disputes with each other, which definitely occurred from time to time over the lengthy itinerary. It was a very unexpected experience as I did not anticipate participating in Field Day preparations when configuring this project, but it was very entertaining and provided me with more insight into the responsibilities of a middle school teacher. One experience that helped me learn more about myself was when M Nyborg was out for a day coaching tennis at the district tournament. Rithika and I were left with a 6th-grade class of 16 and an 8th-grade Advanced class of 9. We did have a substitute teacher who had to technically supervise, but he wanted to let us take r...
Read more

Blog 7

Image
The organization that I worked with was Hawken School itself, but both the middle school and the lower school could benefit from teacher's assistants in the future. Throughout my time at the middle school, I conversed with a lot of different teachers, both recently hired and those with long tenure. Almost all of these teachers mentioned something about how they would love teacher's assistants like us to help them, especially during significant grading periods. I got to help M Nyborg with his final grades and feedback by writing the course summary and entering all of the feedback into Hawknet as if I was an actual teacher, which was interesting to experience. I had always wondered how it was done. Honestly, I think the Upper School and Lower School do not have many connections, but after working with the younger students for a few weeks, I would encourage more students who are interested in education or working with kids to pursue their projects at the Lyndhurst campus. In terms...
Read more

Blog 3

Image
  On the first day of the project, I was really nervous about if the students were going to be apprehensive about seniors sitting in on their classes and planning some of their classes. The students were very welcoming and seemed excited to meet us. I was also worried about whether M Nyborg would be communicating with us in French or in English, and if I would have to be prepared to effectively speak in French with a native speaker. However, upon arrival, the three of us worked out a plan to always communicate in a balanced mix of French and English, which allows Rithika and I to practice our comprehension and speaking skills while still allowing either of us to elaborate on something in English if we need to. I initially expected to be sitting in the back of the classroom and letting M Nyborg teach the class while we observe, however he places us near the front of the room to fully immerse ourselves in his classes. Our seating arrangement allows for Rithika and me to achieve a who...
Read more