Une classe des amis (Mod 11 )

After taking time to explore the ePals site, I found many ways that I can incorporate ePals into my teaching. ePals helps connect learners from all over the globe through project-based learning. Teachers can search for classrooms in a variety of countries and can also search by language. By adding in the keyword "culture" and searching within France, I was able to locate 527 classrooms who are interested in collaborating online. Starting an online dialogue with native French speakers who are learning English would be a great way to make connections and comparisons about culture.

There are also collaborative National Geographic projects that could be very useful in a second language classroom. Students explore and study other cultures by researching, collaborating, and sharing. "The Way We Are" focuses on culture, geography, and climate. "Holidays and Festivals Around the World" is another great project idea that would help students to share information about their culture and traditions while learning about others. I've posted a photo below of a gâteau des rois, a cake traditionally made to celebrate the Epiphany in France.

One of the main benefits of the site is the large scale of countries that are connected by classrooms. As a French teacher, it is important to make sure I am not always centering my cultural lessons on France. By providing a link to many other Francophone classrooms, ePals makes it easy to expose students to different varieties of Francophone culture. I could use one of the aforementioned projects to allow students to study different Francophone cultures and share their findings with each other.

L'Évolution du Temps (Mod 3)

Check out this cool video

While watching this video, one of the things that really stuck out to me was the number of Google searches this month: 2.7 billion! Google is always my first stop when I have a question and I use it frequently as an easy way to find websites when I do not know the exact address. The video asks where did we go for answers before Google? Although I had access to a computer and the Internet for most of my school career, I do remember being in grade school and using an encyclopedia to find information on various subjects. Do people still buy sets of encyclopedias? I would think not so much.

I like that the video focuses on global connectivity and the importance of evolving with the times. In a foreign language classroom this is especially appropriate as there are so many resources on the web that can be used to help connect a class with authentic culture of the target language. During one of my student teaching placements last year, I was able to do many Internet-based activities in class with the students because we had access to laptops. This completely changed the way I taught certain topics as compared with the way I taught in a school that did not have technology readily available in the classroom. This video has a great message in that we need to focus on how we are preparing our students to learn and be successful in the 21st century.