In my opinion, the short answer is no. My reason why is this –we have to find ways to connect and build a great rapport with our students. If French is not their first language… it is not going to happen or will be very hard to achieve.
For teaching to be successful, students need to feel safe and comfortable. They need to know that you care and are there for them. I think building relationships first is key and then the learning will fall into place.
I think a lot of us become so focused on the learning and what students need to know for their classwork, homework, assessments, or to move onto the next level, etc., we forget that the most important thing is our relationship with our students.
Let me be very clear here when it comes to relationships with your students : I DO NOT mean that you should become their friend, (remember you are their teacher, not their friend) but you need to become someone that they can trust and feel comfortable with coming to class each day. I used to tell my students all the time that I am there for them if they ever need anything, but I am not their friend, I am their teacher. (Remember as a teacher, if a student ever tells you something that must be reported, even if they tell you this in confidence, you must report it as a mandated reporter. I remind them of this as well.)
I have come to find that even the lowest level of learners who feel comfortable, safe and they know that you care will work their hardest. That is all that I ask of my students. If your best is a C in my class, then that is fine; but you will work and do your best for that C!
It is amazing to see how students will work and study for certain classes depending on their relationship with the teacher. It goes to show that even our hormonal teenagers still want to be cared for and liked, even if they don’t act like it!
One of the best tools I have used in my classroom to get to know my students is the Billet de Sortir. This is an assignment that I created to have them do everyday at the end of class to either recap the day’s lesson, what we did yesterday, or key elements of the language that they always need to know and seem to forget… (avoir and être, ring a bell 😉).
But sometimes I use it to get to know them and ask them personal questions. For example, what they like to do in their free time, information about their family, or anything they want me to know about them and so on.
Depending on the level of the course, this can be done in English or French, or give them the choice so that they can express themselves. In lower levels, I always would give them the choice and it was nice to see how many students tried to use their French. I feel as foreign language teachers we really get to know our students on a more personal level than most teachers, due to the content that we teach. Which I think is pretty neat and is something we can use to create and shape the lessons that we teach.
So, I guess what I am trying to get at here is that sometimes it’s okay to not use French the whole time, it is okay to not get all the way through a lesson plan, or finish your lunch, or being able to go and make your copies…if that is a time that you are able to connect with your students.
Giving some students that time of day will make a world of difference in their lives.
You never know what kind of impact you may have on their lives and you may just save them or give them the push of hope that they need to become who they were meant to be.
“We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.”
~Stephen King
As always, I hope that you have found this information useful and helpful to you!
Merci,
Amanda