jen has a question for us. We owe her, for her awesome jGR, so answer her well:
So today, out of the blue, the new French teacher (who has in level 3 the group that I had doing CI for 1.5 out of their first two years) came to ask for some advice. I am just getting over a nasty virus so I’m a bit foggy. I feel like 2 months ago I could have answered on the spot but now, not so much.
I guess they have been doing “lots of verb work, because the kids requested it.” She reported to me that a couple of the students are really struggling with this, failing and getting like 75% on these tests. “We’ve gone over these verbs again and again. I know some kids just can’t memorize and I hate having to grade them.” In my head I was screaming “Just don’t give them freaking verb memorization tests…HELLLOOOO!” It is not as if she is a traditional teacher. From what I can tell she is “eclectic,” you know, lots ofd games and activites and I suspect “speaks a lot of French” in class but probably not comprehensible. She just got hired in September to teach the upper levels. I don’t know much about her but I met with her early in the year and I really like her. But she doesn’t get CI at all. I can tell this because she says things like “such and such game gets them speaking.” So I know she doesn’t really get the whole “don’t force the output” thing. She feels badly that the kids are struggling. She really loves this group. She has told me repeatedly how thrilled she is to work with them and how impressed she is with how much they can communicate in French (“well, spelling is an issue,” she says). She says things like “I hate having to grade them.” But then she seems to also want to “set them up for the real world” in terms of getting used to a college class??? I have no idea.
On the bright side, she did tell me that the kids requested to do “stories like they did last year.” She didn’t know the process so I guess the kids taught her. I don’t know if they had a script or whatever, or how many structures they used, but she said “it was really fun and it got them talking.” I cringed at the talking part, but smiled when I learned they wanted to do stories!
It breaks my heart to think of the kids crying and thinking they suck at French because they can’t succeed on the damn verb tests. I don’t really know what to say to her in a sound byte. If we had time to discuss the matter in depth, I guess I could be more useful, but then again I would be talking from the bias of “what I would do with that particular group if I still had them.” I fear that their affective filter has kicked in fully and the way they see themselves as learners of French has been damaged. It really makes me sad to think that these bright energetic and lively girls who loved French for 2 years now probably hate it. Who knows maybe they hate me too for not getting them ready for this? But I refuse to go there.
I am also feeling unqualified to advise her because I don’t have any experience transitioning a group into the upper levels…but then again I know this group because I taught them for 2 years. I know I would not have shifted abruptly from stories and PQA and novels straight into verb charts, but that’s just me. I can’t tell her how to run her class. What should I do? I kind of feel like I’d be able to answer more effectively if I could see the class in progress.
At the same time, especially since I have been sick, I feel like I don’t have a lot of extra energy right now. I need to focus on getting my own groups back on track. Should I just offer to have her sit in on my classes? In the past I have offered her (and my dept. head, I will add) any type of coaching or demo at any time. Neither has expressed interest. I am not taking it personally. If they don’t want to learn about this, there is nothing I can do about it.
I told her I would think about it over the weekend. If anyone has advice on how to respond, I would appreciate it deeply.