Blog 2

I am currently working with Rithika, a longtime friend of mine and fellow French scholar. I have known her to be very hardworking, and over the first few days of our project, I have discovered she is very good at working with younger students and collaborating in our preparation of activities for each class. Our mentor, Fredrik Nyborg, is a very intelligent and busy individual. He has to juggle a lot of different tasks as a substitute teacher both in and outside the classroom. He also has to remember a little over 50 names and has to make time to ensure that each student is understanding language concepts to the best of their ability. I have met a lot of the other current teachers in every department, but I have mostly been in communication with Rithika and M Nyborg during the school day. Our project works in conjunction with the Hawken Middle School. The Lyndhurst institution attempts to solidify fundamental skills in the developmental stage of adolescence throughout its curriculum. Upon arrival at our first French classes in the Middle School, we discovered that the French language curriculum can be very "cut and dry" and does not cater to alternative types of learners, especially in the younger classes. This might be too early to say for sure, but I feel as if we have affected the younger classes by diversifying learning activities and livening up their classroom. For example, we planned a French scavenger hunt for French 6. They were super excited and enjoyed the warm weather while building their vocabulary. I'm looking forward to class on Thursday, in which Rithika and I have the opportunity to lead the French 6 class and French 8 Advanced on our own. 

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