BWLP #AuthRes

Reflections of Student Understanding Travel journals are student-created "textbooks." Normal Park calls them travel journals because they chart the journey of students' learning. They are a great way for students to take ownership of their learning. Every student creates one, and every travel journal is unique to the student. Travel journals are a collection of the work students do for their science or social studies module. Teachers use travel journals on a daily basis; students create work and then add it to their journal throughout the quarter. Journals include writing and reflection pieces, graphic organizers, timelines, charts, drawings, diagrams, vocabulary, maps, pictures, and anything else that reflects students' learning and understanding of the module topic. Teachers also photocopy relevant articles and have students place those in their journals. During the course of one year, a student will create four journals for four different modules. Students take the journals home at the end of each quarter. Students love to show them off to their parents and keep them as a record of what they learned.

Souhaitez-vous des affiches pour décorer votre classe et les utiliser comme documents pédagogiques à exploiter avec vos élèves afin de donner une image contemporaine, dynamique et diversifiée de la langue et de la culture françaises ?

La Fondation GoodPlanet a pour objectifs de mettre l'écologie au cœur des consciences et de promouvoir le vivre ensemble. Elle souhaite susciter l'envie d'agir concrètement en ce sens.

des ressources sur le Québec, sa culture, géographie, etc.

le site officiel de l'Institut de France

Good reflection by Andrew Miller

LEARNING GUIDE TO: A DRY WHITE SEASON SUBJECTS - World/South Africa;  SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING - Courage; Justice; Human Rights;         Grieving; Father/Son; Marriage; Families in Crisis;  MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS - Trustworthiness; Responsibility; Citizenship.  Age: 14+ Rated R for scenes of graphic violence; Drama; 1989; 107 minutes; Color; Available from Amazon.com.  Description:     The setting is South Africa during the Soweto uprisings of 1976. A white school teacher (Ben du Toit) investigates the death of his black gardener, a man he had known for 15 years. The gardener (Gordon Ngubene) had been searching for answers about his son's death while in police custody. This had brought Ngubene to the attention of the "Special Branch" of the South African Police. He suffered the same fate as his son: death during interrogation. Du Toit comes to realize not only the injustices of the apartheid legal system and the repressive policies that supported it, but the necessity of action as opposed to words or resignation to the inevitable. Backed by an African cabbie, a liberal lawyer and a persistent reporter, he is opposed by his family (except for his young son), his school and his community. The film is based on the novel by the acclaimed Afrikaaner writer, André Brink. The novel was banned by the apartheid government of South Africa. 

A Dry White Season shows that sometimes, no matter what the cost and no matter how futile it may seem one must take action to oppose injustice. The film explores the personal cost of resisting social injustice that is accepted by one's community and maintained by a brutal dictatorship. The movie is well served as an introduction to the now abandoned apartheid system of South Africa, the Special Branch (secret police), economic and political oppression of the townships (Bantu System), and the arguments used to justify apartheid.

Ten Burning Questions Language teaching is as much an art as it is a science. Effective educators excel at the art of language teaching, and we at CASLS understand the science behind second language acquisition research. With help from practicing teachers, we have identified the top ten burning questions of those who matter the most: language teachers themselves. CASLS is leading a team of researchers to investigate these questions and then publish the results in a variety of formats.

Jean Paulhan, membre de l'Académie française, critique, essayiste, orientaliste, ami de Jean Guéhenno, qui a gardé un journal intime de l'occupation nazie de Paris.

At any given moment, the disciplines represent the most well-honed efforts of human beings to approach questions and concerns of importance in a systematic and reliable way. (Howard Gardner, The Disciplined Mind, p. 144)

What they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four and three, and two, and one. (Sandra Cisneros, "Eleven," from The House on Mango Street)

You are about to discover some amazing ways you can amplify your PBL experience in the 1 to 1 classroom. This workshop has been designed to meet the needs across the multiple device classrooms that are found all across the educational setting. For this reason there will be a lot of emphasis on pedagogy and integration of the tools in PBL. Because of the wide range of devices there will not be an emphasis on any one device. Please enjoy our journey into creating that One to One classroom that allows technology to transparently bring together the student centered learning, editing engagement, and authentic learning that Project Based Learning makes possible. Remember that there is so much wisdom in the crowd and this workshop has been designed for all of us to learn from each other. Please enjoy the journey!

As most of you know, the uber gods of PBL are BIE. I was first introduced to the BIE PBL 'model' from mate Dean Groom who handed me over what I still refer to as my 'PBL Bible' - a ring-binder full of the BIE Freebies that help teachers plan effective projects and keep students on track as they move through the different phases of each project. The cool thing is that you can use as much or as little as you want … PBL is a very personal process that (like all good teaching) should be tailored to the expertise and needs of the teacher and students. However, there are 8 Elements of Project Based Learning that can be called the 'essential elements' of PBL … keeping an eye on these and 'testing' your project design based on them can help you determine if what you're creating isn't just a 'project'. I really like this statement from BIE contrasting PBL and traditional 'projects':

A typical unit with a "project" add-on begins by presenting students with knowledge and concepts and then, once gained, giving students the opportunity to apply them. Project Based Learning begins with the vision of an end product or presentation. This creates a context and reason to learn and understand the information and concepts.

Learning new languages is a natural instinct for children, and yet it becomes more difficult as we age. We might be at a disadvantage as adults, but with a few learning methods, you can still give yourself the best chance for learning a new language.

complete movie in French

Super funny video about the diversity of English!

What do you think of when you think of your Target Language country/countries? While you may have spent some time there - and traveled to various spots - your students may have not. As a Japanese teacher it seems that Tokyo is the number 1 'want to go to' place for my students. However, as I spent my first 2 years in Japan in smaller more out of the way places, I want my students to learn that there's more to Japan than the big urban areas. And so the Year4 travel fair - a summative activity at the end of a 2-week unit - was born. It allows students to utilize key words they will need if/when they visit Japan - and also allows them to research and introduce key areas to their classmates during an interactive oral. For me the fair takes a week - with time spent planning/preparing for the 'fair', running the fair and then using the information for a written 'summative' evaluation. (My handout - for my Yr4 Japanese class including is here) The premise: Design an optional tour for a visitor to Japan - one that is outside major urban areas (I list the 'no go' places). This can be a 2 or 3 day tour.

Emotion researcher Richard Davidson says that cognition and emotion work together in a seamless, integrated way to help us persevere in a task. Thus, to teach grit effectively, educators need to help students cultivate both cognitive and emotional skills. Here are some research-based ideas for doing both.