Madame was so Stewpid in class

[luddite lady]

Hi folks! I'm home, but I'm so excited for Spec A and jennym that I didn't think much about my little drama.

Here's a quick update. The grade 8's were just going through the motions today, which is all you can expect at this time of year. (Keep your mind out of the gutter all. These are 13 year old kids were talking about and I'd really like to keep my teaching licence.) We got to the "un message dans une bouteille" line again and...nothing. Just as well, I thought, since I had forgotten to pack my photos this morning. (I had been too busy enlightening samburu on the significance of Victoria Day. You guys are gonna make me late for work one day.) But then a few minutes later the kids were working on a written exercise and Red Head Junior raised her hand. Instead of asking me to clarify a finer grammar point she inquired, "So Madame, ya listen to any good Police songs on the weekend?"
I answered, "You do this work and tomorrow all my deep, dark secrets will be revealed."
She looked a little skeptical but actually started doing the exercise.
Later, I crossed path with the girl in the hall on two occasions. Both times she said, " Bonjour Sting Lover, I mean, Madame." The second time, the school custodian overheard and turned to me and quizically said, "Sting? Yuck!" My exact words from Friday! Now I've got to defend myself in front of him, too. Once a school custodian knows something, the whole school knows it.
So at lunch time, I started writing Les aventures de Madame à Buffalo. It's coming together quite nicely and I'm covering all the grammar and vocabulary that needs to be reviewed before year's end. Stuff the pirate story! If mine doesn't capture my kids' interest in the dying days of school, nothing will.
So, Mr. Copeland, you've got a nation, Copelandia. You've got a flag and that flag has now TWO anthems. You've got a friggin' language and glossary. And very soon you will have a Grade 8 French unit meeting the curriculum expectations of the Ontario Ministry of Education.

[IndyGirl]

[quote="luddite lady"]So at lunch time, I started writing Les aventures de Madame à Buffalo. It's coming together quite nicely and I'm covering all the grammar and vocabulary that needs to be reviewed before year's end. Stuff the pirate story! If mine doesn't capture my kids' interest in the dying days of school, nothing will.
So, Mr. Copeland, you've got a nation, Copelandia. You've got a flag and that flag has now TWO anthems. You've got a friggin' language and glossary. And very soon you will have a Grade 8 French unit meeting the curriculum expectations of the Ontario Ministry of Education.[/quote]

I think your class will really enjoy the story of your Buffalo trip, luddite lady. It puts it on a personal level and you are incorporating your lesson plan. Have fun with it. Let us know what your class says about the story.

[dafttart]

LL, what a BRILLIANT idea. I wish my teachers had been so keen to engage their students! Wish I could be in your French class. Perhaps I would know more than to ask a Frenchman what is in his basket. And not to look dumbfounded when he answered something other than bread and cheese!!!

[policerule]

[quote="dafttart"]LL, what a BRILLIANT idea. I wish my teachers had been so keen to engage their students! Wish I could be in your French class. Perhaps I would know more than to ask a Frenchman what is in his basket. And not to look dumbfounded when he answered something other than bread and cheese!!! [/quote]


ha! all i remember is how to say "what time is it?" would have loved you as my french teacher as well, but i have to say that mine was my favorite of all teachers. we even did stuff after school... she was really cool.

i'm lovin' this little redhead! she's got spunk! can't wait to hear all about it tomorrow, LL...

[nancyrose]

Man, it's like "As the World Turns" around here lately...so many cool little dramas to follow!

I love what you're doing, LL! Turning your story into a curriculum-based French lesson is just brilliant and I'm sure will have your class on the edge of their seats. I hope you'll share it here with us when you're done...I'd love the opportunity to brush up on my French skills!

I think your students will remember you fondly not only for the language skills you gave them, but also for what you are teaching them about living life with passion!

[kimmy]

I know I'm way too early! I'm not even sure you guys are up yet?!


But I wanna hear what happens.... What a fun way to tell the class.... they probably wont even know they're being taught anything!


Kimmy

[DirtyMartini]

[quote="luddite lady"]
So at lunch time, I started writing Les aventures de Madame à Buffalo. It's coming together quite nicely and I'm covering all the grammar and vocabulary that needs to be reviewed before year's end. Stuff the pirate story! If mine doesn't capture my kids' interest in the dying days of school, nothing will.
So, Mr. Copeland, you've got a nation, Copelandia. You've got a flag and that flag has now TWO anthems. You've got a friggin' language and glossary. And very soon you will have a Grade 8 French unit meeting the curriculum expectations of the Ontario Ministry of Education.[/quote]

Haha. Too cool!

[shyvixen]

[quote="luddite lady"]So, Mr. Copeland, you've got a nation, Copelandia. You've got a flag and that flag has now TWO anthems. You've got a friggin' language and glossary. And very soon you will have a Grade 8 French unit meeting the curriculum expectations of the Ontario Ministry of Education.[/quote]

Take that Sting!

I wish you had been my French teacher LL.

[luddite lady]

I still have to read about the wild night in Houston, but I'll update you guys first.
Thanks ladies and gents for your encouragement. I got my grade 8's hook, line and sinker today. MWAHAHA! I think I'll be teaching them stuff right up to their graduation day and they won't even realize it!
Things started out really rough though. They came into class from morning recess and they would not shut up. We had to take up the homework I had assigned before I unleashed my unit on them, but the co-operation level was pretty low. I had to even threaten them with a detention, a situation that occurs very rarely in my class.
But then things improved drastically when I announced that we'd be starting the new unit which I created just for them. I think it made them feel kind of special. I asked in French some preliminary questions about the Police to guage the class's overall knowledge base. As I suspected, aside from the talkative ones on Friday, most kids didn't know much. So, I gave them the basics and showed them a few CD covers. They were very attentive and asked intelligent questions. The ones that were the most engaged were the same ones acting like idiots a few minutes earlier. Class was almost done, so I told them that we'd read the first chapter of the story entitled Le Drapeau vert (The Green Flag) tomorrow. Then I passed around the photo of me holding the flag in Buffalo and said that if the story had a title page this would be the illustration on it. They'd be in deep shit if they had said it aloud, but all their faces were saying WTF. Many tried to ask questions about the picture, but I kept saying, "Demain! Demain!" (Tomorrow) Upon their request, I promised that we'd play some Police music as background while we worked tomorrow.
The flag story is not a simple one to tell, especially with the grammar, vocabulary, time and innocence constraints that I'm under. It will seriously take about three weeks. I've already written Chapter two as a grammar exercise in which the kids have to conjugate all the verbs. Yes, I am evil.
BTW, DM I hope it's okay with you if I use some of the photos from the Flag Gallery to help with comprehension.
Gotta go. My new theme song is EC's "Everyday I Write the Book"

[Spec A!]

Teachers rock. That is so awesome what you have done for your class! I always felt the classes I always did better in had Teachers which I not only thought were cool, but were completely engaging and didn't just teach from a book.

Would you be able to transcribe this into English and post it all for us to read?

[luddite lady]

Spec A, you continue to amaze me! If I were you right now, I'd be so far off the ground that I wouldn't be able to read any other threads, let alone comment on them. You are so sweet. I'll post the story in English eventually if you guys would like. It'll sound pretty funny because it is written in very simple French. It'll be like the flag meets Dora.

[Chatchka]

Vous Rock, LL.

Voulez Vous ROCK avec moi?!

(Sorry, lame, couldn't help myself and my french lessons ended before I became a Police fan, if that doesn't date me too much.)

This is about the coolest teaching experience I can think of. If I'd had you as a French teacher, I'd still be parlezing the vous out of some merde.

[Spec A!]

OMG that would make it that much better!

FLAG, STEWART, POINT! Say it with me! FLAG, STEWART, POINT! FLAG STEWART POINT!

Totally needs to make it's way to STEWART.

[DirtyMartini]

Oh my god, that is too fucking funny.

Llady, you absolutely must share the results.

[luddite lady]

Right now I'm cruising the flag gallery to find a good shot of the back of the flag to help explain how the fans sign it. It's fucking hard to find one without the word FUCK written all fucking over it! Spec A's avi with the flag's cherry popping moment is about all I can find. It's fucking blank!
I guess I'll do some post print up censorship with a marker. DM, is it OK to let a non-mission control sanctioned marker touch a *picture* of the flag? I need to ask since Stewart feels like he's no longer allowed to go near pieces of green construction paper without your permission.