Introduction/Home page

 Digital learning portfolio 

My name is Christian Nelson. I am a French teacher candidate with experience teaching and tutoring English and French. For one year, I taught French at a Waldorf school for grades 1-3 and have since continued my journey as an educator. 

In this blog, I have included articles that concern my journey as an educator, my teaching philosophy and artifacts I have found and created along the journey. 

My Journey

https://nneverblogg.blogspot.com/2024/12/my-journey.html

My Philosophy/Key Goal 

https://nneverblogg.blogspot.com/2024/12/my-philosophykey-goal.html

Learner-Centered Practices 

https://nneverblogg.blogspot.com/2024/12/student-writing-sample.html

Knowledge-Centered Practices 

https://nneverblogg.blogspot.com/2024/12/knowledge-centered-practices.html

Community-Centered Practices 

https://nneverblogg.blogspot.com/2024/12/community-centered-practices.html

Pedagogy-Centered Practices 

https://nneverblogg.blogspot.com/2024/12/pedagogy-centered-practices.html

Professional-Centered Practices

https://nneverblogg.blogspot.com/2024/12/professional-centered-practices.html

Professional centered practices

 Artifact 1 Continued Learning through Language Blog.

I have engaged in professional centered practices by demonstrating a continued desire to learn through a development of learning resources and continuous self learning regarding languages and French as demonstrated in the production of the following resources from a previous blog. I hope to continue in learning and producing texts that concern language learning. 

https://christiannelsonblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Francais

https://christiannelsonblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/on-morphemes-and-phonemes.html

Artifact 2 FSL Mentor Activity Coordinator picture 

During my spare time, I am a member of a team of French Teacher candidates who coordinate activities within the BEd program. The program is a mentor program in which BEd students mentor potential french students from the undergraduate program. The BEd students themselves also get to meet and learn from current French teachers. This activity demonstrates my continuation of professional-centered learning and continued involvement in French education.

Pedagogy Centered Practices

 Artifact 1: A Grade 7 French lesson that I performed later in the year is another one of my knowledge centered artifacts. This was my favorite lesson taught and I found it to be very effective. 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mU1HpEwCq76qVgb5yOG8NoMaRlQDL29uc7wjTb_yKdk/edit?usp=drive_link

Artifact 2: Lesson 

The following is a 30 minute lesson that was done for Grade 7 French immersion that concerned the following strands in the French Immersion curriculum.

A1. Listening to Understand: determine meaning in a variety of oral French texts, using appropriate listening strategies;

A2. Listening to Interact: interpret messages accurately while interacting in French for a variety of purposes and with diverse audiences;

B1. Speaking to Communicate: communicate information and ideas orally in French, using a variety of speaking strategies and age- and grade-appropriate language suited to the purpose and audience;

B2. Speaking to Interact: participate in spoken interactions in French for a variety of purposes with diverse audiences;

Students will be played the following radio emission from Radio Canada and will have to answer the following questions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgOh6PlVoRw

 Sur La Lune

1)       Complétez la phrase
« C'est un petit pas pour l'homme. Mais un ____________________________ »

2)       Qui était le premier humain sur la Lune ?______________________________

3)       L’ordinateur de bord était « aussi gros que _______________________________ »

4)       Comment s’appelait la mission qui a placé le premier homme sur la Lune

4)

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5)       Combien d’humains ont marché sur la Lune ? _______________________________________________

6)       C’était quand la dernière fois qu’un humain a marché sur la Lune ?

____________________________________________________________

7)       Pourquoi est-ce que les humains ne sont pas allés sur la Lune récemment ?

___________________________________________________________________

8)       C’est quoi la date la plus proche à laquelle les humains retourneront sur la Lune?

______________________________________________________________________

9)       En concernant Mars, la Lune va servir comme quoi ?

 

Voyage dans l’espace

1.       Quand est-ce que les jeunes d’aujourd’hui pourraient aller sur Mars, selon le texte ?

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2.       Qui sont les deux astronautes canadiens mentionnés dans le texte ?

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3.       Qu’est-ce que l’exposition « Voyage dans l’espace » permet aux visiteurs de faire ?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

4.       Comment les visiteurs se sentent-ils lorsqu’ils entrent dans le laboratoire Destiny ? Pourquoi ?

__________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

5.       Quels défis les humains doivent-ils surmonter dans l’espace ? Nommez-en au moins deux.

___________________________________________________________________________

Finally students engaged in an open debate concerning the following question 

Devrait-on passer plus de temps et d'argent à explorer l'espace ou se concentrer d'abord sur la résolution des problèmes sur Terre?

Should we spend more time and money exploring space or focus first on solving problems on Earth?

This allowed for students to develop their critical thinking skills and was a great hit! I came to see debates as an excelent tool to be used in the intermediate grades. Furthemore it also meet curriculum expectations for French Immersion in

A1. Listening to Understand: determine meaning in a variety of oral French texts, using appropriate listening strategies;

A2. Listening to Interact: interpret messages accurately while interacting in French for a variety of purposes and with diverse audiences;

B1. Speaking to Communicate: communicate information and ideas orally in French, using a variety of speaking strategies and age- and grade-appropriate language suited to the purpose and audience;

B2. Speaking to Interact: participate in spoken interactions in French for a variety of purposes with diverse audiences;

Community Centered Practices

Community Centered Artifact #1 Feedback for cultural project 

During my time at Laurel Wood I made my culminating project in grade 7/8 French class a cultural presentation in which students had to detail their roots as well as a cultural tradition that came from these roots. This helped in fostering a classroom that celebrates diversity. The following is an example of 4 different feedbacks that I gave in the original (French and Translated below)

Student 1

J’aime bien que tu as inclus des divers plats russes comme ta tradition comme la oliyve et le borscht. C’était bien personnelle ! Pour la prochaine fois tu peux essayer de parler un peu plus lent et avec une voix plus forte.

Student 2

Ta fête d’une danse d’Halloween était personnelle et intéressant. Tu as détaillé l’histoire de cette tradition bien. J’ai trouvé que c’était intéressant qu’il n’y ait pas des bonbons dans cette fête ! Pour la prochaine fois fait attention aux fautes d’orthographe sur ta diapo.

Student 3

Tu as raconté tes racines françaises bien ! Et tu as relie tes racines bien à ta tradition de la veille de Noël. Tu as aussi inclus beaucoup d’information sur ta diapo. Pour la prochaine fois essaye d’avoir un peu moins de texte sur la diapo et sors tes mains de tes poches.

Student 4

Tu as bien expliqué l’histoire de ton festival (bateaux-dragons) et c’était vraiment intéressant (le poète qui s’est noyé et les zongzi qui sont lancés pour lui commémorer). Pour la prochaine fois, essaye de parler un peu moins vite pour que les gens puissent comprendre toutes les informations et histoires intéressantes que tu racontes.

Translation 

Student 1

I like that you included various Russian dishes as your tradition like oliyve and borscht. It was very personal! For next time you can try to speak a little slower and with a louder voice.

Student 2

Your Halloween dance party was personal and interesting. You detailed the history of this tradition well. I thought it was interesting that there were no candies in this party! For next time watch out for the spelling mistakes on your slide.

Student 3

You told your French roots well! And you connected your roots well to your Christmas Eve tradition. You also included a lot of information on your slide. For next time try to have a little less text on the slide and take your hands out of your pockets.

Student 4

You explained the story of your festival (dragon boats) well and it was really interesting (the poet who drowned and the zongzi that are thrown to commemorate him). For next time, try to speak a little slower so that people can understand all the interesting information and stories you tell.

Community Centered Artifact #2 School Community Project

After my practicums at Saint Theresa of Avila I completed a project that detailed the school community found in the following link

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10UMld4eKIJ6OYXFGU4CoGpTmEaqfWUbxKjyqy9_c9pc/edit?usp=sharing

Knowledge centered practices

Knowledge centered practices artifact: A lesson plan templete and a reflection from 2023-2024. This lesson plan demonstrates ministry understanding of Grade 7 French expectations, and was one of the first of many French Lessons that I taught at Saint Theresa of Avila. 

Name:Christian Nelson	Grade(s):7	Time needed: 40 minutes
Curriculum Area(s):French	Date: Decemeber 14
Lesson Topic: Learning Emotions	Prior Learning: Students are expected have a familiarization with basic emotions in French.

 

Overall Expectation(s)   C1. Reading Comprehension: determine meaning in a variety of French texts, using a range of reading comprehension strategies;

Learning Goal Students are able to identify and learn new emotions.

Related Specific Expectation(s) C1.2 Reading for Meaning: demonstrate an understanding of a variety of French texts  containing visuals and familiar names, words, and expressions, with teacher modelling and guidance as appropriate (e.g., read and respond to suggestions in a pen pal’s letter; identify key  information in a reservation confirmation; read and report on or dramatize the rules of a favourite sport; read and comment on a classmate’s journal entry about a weekend outing; using a graphic  organizer, identify and record the main idea and supporting details from a text and share their  answers in a small-group discussion; respond to the information in an environmental brochure by brainstorming ways to implement environmentally responsible projects in the school)

Success Criteria   I can comprehend a story and identify the emotions in the story.

Revised July 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigenization   This lesson reflects a diverse global world as land rights issues are relevent golablly. During this lesson the teacher is invited to share any connects they have to their own lives as well as invite students to identify any connections. Students of all backgrounds are invited to share.
Safety       No protocools of safety are needed for this activity.		Sources	Considerations for Differentiation and Modifications
	Lesson Outline		Assessment	Materials
Est. time	Minds on: Getting Started   Class begins with a prayer and the teacher asks students how they are feeling		The engagement of students based on answers
Est. Time	Action: Working On It   Read through the story on the powerpoint with the students. Have students volunteer to read a line each. Stop and identify the emotions. Ask students what they believe is happening in the story.		Participation and engagement in the activity.
Est. Time	Consolidation: Reflecting & Connecting Students are then asked if they can recall feeling similar emotions to the character in the story. They must explain in French.		Was the student engaged and able to participate?

 

  

Reflection.

 

This lesson went very well. I think students enjoyed it because they did not experience a lesson like this. I felt as though the usage of technology through using a powerpoint to demonstrate a story was effective. Many students were very engaged, and asked if we were going to do this activity again. Many students were eager to participate. I felt as though students identified well with the story. Furthermore, I also though that all the students could relate to the emotions (being nervous, excited, elated) expressed in the story. There were times when I wished that a wider variety of students participated, but that is rarely an improvement that is absent for most teachers. 

Knowledge-centered artifact #2

An example of a listening activity done in French class concerning the Champs-Elysees. Students had to fill in the blanks (the bolded words were taken out). The song of Joe Dassin was played https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDWeLlvYyYU&pp=ygUOY2hhbXBzIGVseXNlZXM%3D.This was the first time I engaged with a listening activity that concerned music and it was a great success. 

Je m'baladais sur l'avenue
Le cœur ____ouvert_______ à l'inconnu
J'avais envie de dire ______bonjour_____à n'importe qui
N'importe qui, ce fut toi
Je t'ai dit ___n’importe________ quoi
Il suffisait de te _______parler____
Pour t'apprivoiser

Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées
Au soleil, sous la _____pluie________
À midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout c'que vous _______voulez______
Aux Champs-Élysées

Tu m'as dit, "j'ai ______rendez-vous_______"
"Dans un____sous-sol_________, avec des fous"
"Qui vivent ___la guitare_________ à la main du soir au __matin___________"
Alors, je t'ai accompagnée
On a ____chanté_____, on a _______dansé______
Et l'on n'a même pas pensé à s'embrasser

Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées
Au soleil, sous la ____pluie______
À midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout c'que vous ____voulez_____
Aux Champs-Élysées

Hier soir, deux _______inconnus_____
Et ce matin, sur _____l’ avenue______
Deux amoureux tout étourdis par la longue __nuit________
Et de l'Étoile à la Concorde
Un orchestre à mille cordes
Tous les ______oiseaux_______ du point du jour chantent _________l’amour_____

Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées
Au soleil, sous la ______pluie____
À midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout c'que vous ___voulez_______
Aux Champs-Élysées

Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées
Au soleil, sous la ___pluie______
À midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout c'que vous ____voulez______
Aux Champs-Élysées

Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées

 

Alors tout le monde connaît l’avenue des champs-Elysées mais connaissez-vous d’où il tire son nom ? Bien connue pour sa splendeur et son importance historique, l’avenue des Champs-Elysées a une origine étonnante, profondément ancrée dans la mythologie grecque.

Pour la petite histoire, ils furent créés en 1674 par le talentueux André Le Nôtre, avec l'ambition de prolonger le Jardin des Tuileries. L'avenue n'a officiellement reçu son appellation qu'en 1698.

Les Champs-Élysées tiraient leur nom du royaume des morts dans la mythologie grecque, plus précisément des jardins paradisiaques réservés aux héros et aux âmes vertueuses. Ce choix de nom n'était pas anodin, il symbolisait le privilège pour les promeneurs de pouvoir se reposer dans les jardins du roi, allusion au repos éternel des héros dans la mythologie grecque.

En se promenant sur cette avenue mythique, on se retrouve à parcourir un site historique dont l'emplacement initial était une zone marécageuse en dehors des limites de Paris. C'est là que passait le Grand Égout, un ruisseau qui recueillait et déversait dans la Seine les eaux usées de la capitale. Les Parisiens, avec leur sens de l'humour, ont baptisé ce lieu "Champs-Élysées", le paradis éternel, une moquerie sur l'emplacement de cette voie royale dans une zone peu recommandable.

• Professional centered practic

Learner Centered Practices

Artifact (Learner-centered practices)

The following is a student writing sample from one of the grade 8 student's French Journals. Every Monday students are asked to recount what they did during the weekend. This allows for not only the students to develop their French written competencies and expression but also allows for teachers to better understand the individual students. Students are given autonomy and can develop their own written styles.

The following is a math exercise as done by a grade 8 student during a math assignment. 

For the first few attempts it took her a while to get used to producing the 2d shapes, however I felt as though she really got the hang of it during the last round. She seemed to begin to enjoy the exercise a bit and found it a bit too easy by the end. I guess it just goes to show that children can learn quiet fast. I asked her if she had done something similar to this before and she said yes, in 7^th grade and even before. I think she just needed a little refresher on the terminology and needed to orient herself. 

It seemed as though coloring in these squares would allow her to ground the shape better and improve her conceptualization. I later asked her if she felt coloring the shapes helped her and she gave a nod and said “ya”. Having this addition demonstrated a learning-centered approach.

Homework example #1

 2. Changez les verbes qui sont conjugués au présent au passé composé

Dans le village calme et mystérieux de Sleepy Hollow, près de la rivière Hudson à New York, les habitants discutent souvent des histoires étranges, mais aucune n’est aussi célèbre que celle du Cavalier sans tête. Ce fantôme est un ancien soldat qui perdre sa tête à cause d’un boulet de canon pendant la Guerre d’indépendance. Chaque nuit, il lève et galope à travers le village, cherchant sa tête perdue.

Un jour, Ichabod Crane, un maître d’école maigre et bizarre, arrive à Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod est intelligent et rêve de devenir riche. Il enseigne aux enfants le jour et impressionne les habitants le soir avec sa belle voix et ses histoires de magie.

Ichabod adore écouter des récits de fantômes et aux légendes locales, surtout celle du Cavalier sans tête. Mais il a aussi une autre raison de rester à Sleepy Hollow : Katrina Van Tassel, la jolie fille d’un riche fermier. Ichabod rêve de l’épouser pour obtenir la fortune de sa famille. Mais il a un rival puissant : Brom Bones, un homme fort et farceur, connait pour être le comique du village.

Brom voit Ichabod comme un rival et décide de lui jouer des tours pour lui faire peur. Il raconte des histoires de fantômes à Ichabod pour exploiter sa peur des esprits.

Un soir d’automne, Ichabod est invité à une fête chez les Van Tassel, où il espère enfin impressionner Katrina. Après une soirée de danse, de rires et d’histoires effrayantes, il avoue ses sentiments à Katrina, mais elle le rejette. Le cœur brisé, il repart chez lui à cheval, à travers la forêt sombre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

En traversant la forêt, Ichabod pense aux histoires de fantômes. Soudain, il voit une silhouette terrifiante sur un cheval – le Cavalier sans tête, qui tient une citrouille comme tête. Terrifié, Ichabod pousse son cheval à toute vitesse, mais le fantôme le poursuit. Ichabod arrive près d’un pont, là où, selon la légende, le Cavalier ne peut pas aller. Mais au moment où il atteint le pont, le Cavalier jette sa citrouille enflammée qui touche Ichabod et le fait tomber de son cheval.

Le lendemain matin, Ichabod disparait. On ne retrouve que son chapeau et une citrouille brisée près du pont. Les villageois imaginent différentes histoires : certains disent qu’Ichabod est emporté par le Cavalier sans tête, d’autres pensent que Brom Bones fait peur à Ichabod pour qu’il quitte le village. Brom épouse rapidement Katrina, et il sourit souvent quand on parle d’Ichabod Crane.

Le sort d’Ichabod reste un mystère. Certains croient qu’il a fui le village, effrayé, tandis que d’autres disent qu’il est capturé par le Cavalier sans tête. La légende de Sleepy Hollow continue d’être racontée, une histoire de jalousie, de peur et du terrifiant Cavalier qui hante toujours la forêt de Sleepy Hollow.

My Philosophy, Articulation of Growth and Key Goal

Philosophy 

I see education as a symbiotic relationship in which the educator and the learner are both responsible for continuous learning. The educators and the learners themselves are continuously learning different perspectives. 

Articulation of Growth 

Throughout my experiences at Saint Theresa of Avila, Laurelwood, Laurier and from my own personal life I believe that I have grown significantly in all 5 areas of development. Begining with learner-focused practices, becoming exposed to various different learning styles through my students allowed me to become more open to engaging with more varied styles of teaching. I felt as if I was learning as much as my students. 

As it relates to knowledge-centered practices, I feel as though I have continuously honed, improved and broadened my teaching material, which is typically in French. From using resources from Radio Canada to creating my own resources in the form of tests and exercises I feel as though I have grown in this domain. 

Concerning community-centered practices, I continuously demonstrated a sense of interest regarding the school events that were taking place in my practicum schools. I found that better understanding the school and region demographic was often very effective in relating with the individual students. Speaking to individual students and checking in with them was effective in developing rapport. 

Pedagogy-centered practices were developed in throughout my period at Laurier and my Practicum schools as I grew a more refined understanding of the practicum requirements for the grades that I was teaching. I discussed these benchmarks with my Associate teachers often and learned a lot about the specific expectations each class had. 

My professional-centered practices were developed as I continued to learn and develop into the professional that I want to be in the future. An emphasis on continuous learning and engagement with French language resources was something that I developed throughout the year. 

1) A key goal is that I hope maintain this symbiotic relationship within my practice and by myself. I hope to engage in continuous learning throughout my career, learning from others and myself.

2) Another goal that I hope to achieve is to improve my organizational and planning skills. In using OneNote and digital organizers I am slowly developing this goal and skill.

3) A third goal that I have is to become more involved in my school community, through activities and events. I hope to really work on this goal during my 4th practicum. 

My Journey

3 years ago, upon reflecting on my life experiences, I decided to pursue teaching. As a child I grew up in very multicultural and diverse environments, having lived in different countries in Africa, Europe, and North America. These experiences forced me to learn from various cultures and gave me a wider worldview, which I hope to translate as inclusive, creative, and knowledgeable teaching. Furthermore, these experiences spurred my enjoyment of learning languages, allowing me to learn French, German and some Dutch.  

My affinity for languages manifested itself in tutoring French in high school. This experience was not only rewarding to me as it further improved my own French comprehension, but it was also rewarding to me when students began to comprehend concepts and improve their French. This made me feel valued as an educator and further motivated me to provide the best experience for the students that I tutored. Moreover, during two of my summers, while I was at university, I worked as a language counselor for a company called Nacel in France. This job was my first significant teaching experience requiring me to teach English to a class of French teenagers as well as facilitate summer camp events with my other counselors. Through this job, I developed fun and creative language-learning activities and methods that I ended up using in the future.

My teaching trajectory continued, upon graduating from university I worked part-time for a year as a French teacher for Grades 1-3 at Trillium Waldorf, a private K-8 school in Guelph. Through this experience, I learned important elements for teaching in the younger years such as instilling firm boundaries and rules, developing a class routine, and learning when to loosen up and be silly with the children. I occasionally substituted classes for other grades during my time at the school and was involved in faculty meetings and get-togethers. This allowed me to gain a wider-ranging understanding of what it means to work in a school. During my time teaching, I tried my best to develop a diversity in teaching methods, through the usage of stories, songs, poems, skits, drawings, games and for the older years writing and reading activities. I hope to be able to share this passion for learning and creativity with students who are often so keen and interested in the world. During my time at Trillium Waldorf I accrued 650 hours of teaching experience. It was during this experience at Trillium Waldorf that I evaluated my life and realized that teaching was the profession I was most drawn to. 

After enrolling in Laurier's BEd program I spent my first two practicum placements at Saint-Theresa of Avila, a Catholic school in Elmira. The experience allowed me to teach Core French to grades 4 to 8. The experience allowed me to tailer different styles to different grades, and broadened my exposure to different grades. 

The following is an example of a grade 7 lesson that I planned and taught during the time.

A Grade 7 French lesson

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mU1HpEwCq76qVgb5yOG8NoMaRlQDL29uc7wjTb_yKdk/edit?usp=drive_link

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The following school year I was placed in a school in Waterloo called Laurelwood. There I taught 2 classes, a grade 7 class and a grade 7/8 split. The classes were French immersion and I taught French and History to both grades, two subjects I thoroughly enjoyed. Eventually, I taught 100% of my associate teacher's class time. This allowed me to develop a strong rapport with the students as well as incorporate long-range plans, one of which was a cultural roots project, in which students had to explain a family tradition and its cultural roots.

Homework assignment

https://nneverblogg.blogspot.com/2024/12/homework-example-1.html