Chez Renée

Yesterday was the last day of class for the seniors at my high school.  That meant I had to say goodbye to students that I've taught every day for the past 3 or 4 years.   I've developed a few ideas for how to do this in a meaningful way and have found that they work well.  I've become convinced that starting well and ending well are crucial for success in the classroom.  And ending well helps you to leave a legacy that your students will remember.  Here's what has worked for me: Communicate your love.  This is the time to speak from the heart.  If you've built a good rapport with your students, they will listen.  You've earned the right to speak truth and love into their lives, so don't miss the opportunity to do so.  I tell my students how much they've meant to me and how much I love them and what my wishes are for their futures.  I remind them of how much they matter.  This is diff...

High school students love to write messages and graffiti wherever and whenever they can.  I decided to use this to my advantage by creating a message board for my students to write messages and graffiti in French!  I purchased a white board and some colorful markers for this purpose.  Students are allowed to write on the board in the few minutes before class begins, or at the end of class if we finish our lesson a few minutes early.  The rules are:  1. Write in French only,  2.  Don't erase anything that anyone else has written, 3.  Be nice.  Here's a photo of the message board. My students fill this board  in a week.  If you look closely, you can see that I taught them some texting phrases that week (Je t'm), so they tried it out on the board.  One year a student asked a date to Homecoming in French on the message board.  And often, students stop in after school to see ...

A few years ago I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Hal Urban  speak at a workshop.  A veteran teacher, Hal taught for more than 30 years in public schools in California and says he loved every minute of it.  Hal proposes that we can teach our students about the value of having good character and using good manners no matter what subject we teach or what sort of school we teach in.  He says that everyone, no matter what their background, can agree on the following:  1) The Golden Rule (treat others the way you'd like to be treated), 2) Societies (and therefore classrooms) function better when everyone uses good manners.  Hal convinced me that it's OK to take a few minutes of instructional time to set the tone for my classroom and to help teach students something even more important than French!  I followed his advice by talking to students about good manners and the power of words at the beginning of the year...