Drama and theatre

Just when I thought there was no more to be said about drama and language learning!! As I went through this module, I was reminded of a time I taught a grade 8 class, comprised mostly of boys, pre-AIM days. I was using the program the Board has purchased for us and assumed we would used effectively. It was a very difficult grammar/theme based program that the students were no where near ready to understand and tackle. 

This then led itself to all kinds of behavioral manifestations, classroom management challenges and one very stressed out teacher. The regular classroom teacher suggested that I do some drama with the students and I almost fainted and said, "You have got to be kidding! With this group?" 

Needless to say, she had an insight that I didn't have and I wished at that time that I had AIM knowledge and training because I may have had a much better year with this group of students. I believe now that the use of drama would have significantly improved the overall learning and teaching experience in the classroom. Thanks again for a wonderful module!

Use of Drama to teach and learn L2

Just finished the module on Drama and really enjoyed the panel discussions. When I taught Core French, I always found it challenging to teach the older students. The programs we had were too difficult so there was rarely a feeling of success for teacher or student. As I listen to the panel discussion regarding intermediate students, I see just how perfectly suited AIM is for the older students. Teachers I have worked with have though the content to be immature for the older students but this is as far from the truth as one could get. The important thing is to empower the student, regardless of age, with the ability to communicate orally and then they will have the confidence to take risks that are necessary to develop other literacy skills in reading and writing. Thanks for the wonderful input via the panel discussions.

My views on gestures.

Using gestures is an extremely effective way to teach and learn a target language because it requires one to see, feel, hear and BE the language. It reaches each student regardless of his or her learning style. If the student is a visual learner, gestures will appeal to that student because gesturing is very visual. If the student is a kinaesthetic learner, like many of our male students, the gestures will appeal to that student because of the great amounts of movement involved. The gestures require a student to be fully involved in the learning process. One is more likely to remember essential vocabulary when it is being experienced with multiple senses simultaneously as opposed to simply reading and trying to memorize the vocabulary. Like Shannon said in her video, "I don't know what I would do without gestures." I feel exactly the same way!

Gestures!

Wendy's background information on gestures

It was so interesting to watch the background information to the module on gestures and TLSE. I find it fascinating how the brain works, so Wendy's research with regards to right and left hemispheres function, memory and retention of learned language over time, and other information contained in this video is truly informative. I also enjoyed her explanation about arbitrary sounds vs. concrete gesture. A great video!

Why AIM Certification PD is relevant to me!

A First Lesson with AIM-Module completed

Yeah! I just finished this module yesterday and I am happy with my journey. I really liked this module especially for the content and the video. I am loving that I can see pertinent video of the ideas, principles, practices, techniques and strategies that Wendy explains in her initial 20 minute teaching video. I also like the added challenge of applying the ideas in context and being asked to reflect on it. 

As teachers, we often get bombarded with ideas and resources but with little training on how to best incorporate it into our daily practice. What a wonderful idea this is to offer online learning like this for those of us who really want to polish up on our AIM. I want pertinent, practical learning opportunities, ones in which I can take the information presented and go right into my class the next day and use it without any headaches. This second module and undoubtedly all the others as well, will provide just that. WOW-fantastique!!!

Reflecting on watching video by Wendy in Certification modules.

What makes AIM accelerated.
Content:

I just watched Wendy's video to go with this module and I am amazed at how well she explains underlying theory and research to support this methodology. I have been using AIM for 7 years and it is so interesting to listen to her explain and to connect with everything she is explaining because I have been experiencing it for so long. It is very enlightening to say, "I know exactly what she is talking about. I see that in my class and in my students. " Everything she explains, about gestures and pared-down language, drama and movement, inductive grammar, non-verbal communication, ten minute blocks of time, French only rule, focus on verbs, word association, scaffolding, sandwiching and active learning is so true. 

The entire time I was listening to the video, I was reflecting on how real and true it all is. I am so glad to be taking this online AIM Professional development because when we get busy, it is easy to forget about certain things and the professional development in this online teacher training keeps ideas fresh in your mind. For example, last week I did word association with my grade 1 Immersion students, just like how Richard does it in the video clip, with the word "faire" and I was amazed at just how much they knew! And they were upset when I said that this activity was done and we had to move on. They kept saying, "Mme! J'ai une autre phrase...J'ai une autre mot!" 

Also, I love the way that Wendy explained everything associated with the module, and then there were video clips of examples to support what she is talking about. I am a very visual person. It is one thing to read about something or have someone to explain it to you, and it is an entirely different experience to see it in action. I love the way these modules are set up. I am excited to do all the modules!

Name:Pauline Galea

Early Reflections during my Certification

Testing the waters!

Very cool and interesting professional development opportunity here. Just did the first test and failed miserably. Wow and I thought I knew lots about the AIM program. Guess I need to go back to school!

Pared Down Language Module

I spent some time last night looking at the first module (Pared down language) and watched the video with Wendy. It was so informative and I was very impressed with the thoroughness of the information provided. I want to go back and take some notes, so I'll be doing that before I move on. She provided a lot of information that I found very interesting and that was not fully detailed in the teacher's manuals, so it was very useful. 

What makes AIM accelerated.
Content:

The goal of a Core Program is to teach the basics of the language. Each year the learning is a continuation of what was learned the previous year. Students will have a basic knowledge of the language but not necessarily a functional knowledge. They may be able to recognize and understand basic vocabulary and small written texts at a given time but for many the retention of knowledge is lacking, and for many good reasons.

Core french programs over the past 30 years have focused on grammar as the learning goal and teaching language using grammar as the basis is useless. I like to use a holistic approach to teaching and learning French. It is like driving a car. I know how to drive a car but I do not necessarily know what makes it work. So I learn how to do it and then I start to learn what makes it work. I believe that learning a language is no different. I like to go from the whole to the parts and not the other way around. Students need to learn how to use the language before they learn how to put it together grammatically. I teach grade 1 immersion now and the entire focus of the first term was oral language. Second term we focused on reading and now we are focusing on writing skills. Students cannot read and write it if it does not sound right or resonate correctly in the ears. For core or immersion, students need to learn how to speak before they learn anything else. The development of receptive and expressive language orally is much more important at first than reading and writing. Also, if you can provided activities and strategies that help your students remember, such as using songs and plays, then the students will learn more rapidly and retention will be better than with pencil and paper activities. What is the definition of proficiency? i know that after 100 hours of instruction, my students can understand everything I say in French in the classroom, they can ask me simple functional questions and they can answer my questions correctly. They can read specific texts and they can write by copying. They can write independently after significant modelling and practice. Is this proficient? It is good and amazing to see and the students know so much but is it proficient? Depends on the definition. Many of my core students were as fluent as my grade 1 students after a few years of instruction. This would not have been possible without AIM. To facilitate fluency, the students have to be talking all the time. they have to produce the sounds and make the words and practice that over and over until it becomes second nature. They have to use functional language, everyday language and not selected word lists. They have to use high frequency words found in oral language and then high frequency words found in written language, because they are different. We do not speak the way we read and write. The language is different.