Through this project, I wanted to explore how to make my assignments (homework and in the classroom) even more interactive and centered around listening comprehension and speaking in the target language in order to engage the students, reduce their anxiety (since it will not require a final product) and actually incorporate some mindfulness exercises. I planned for most reflections and discussions to take place in French. I was also interested in learning about how schools in France are incorporating this kind of work into their schools, with the hope of connecting with a teacher and a class somewhere.

The main goal in this approach was to have the students actively participate in comprehension and vocabulary acquisition while lowering their anxiety around homework assignments. During this process, I have been exploring various ways to keep the assignments both relevant to what is being studied, as well as steering away from a lot of written work. The tendency of the students to get stressed about a final written product often leads to an inappropriate use of Google Translate, which is counter-productive. In addition, it can be time-consuming and may seem like busy work to the more advanced learner.

I realized that by posting assignments that asked students to listen to and interact with the target language, I could keep them accountable in a few ways. I have been asking them to respond to short answer questions, complete surveys with multiple choice options, bullet points or a list, and to come to class prepared to do group work or present what they learned while doing the assignment. There are a number of ways in which I have also been incorporating more interactive assignments that focus on listening comprehension and discussion.

Incorporating La Pleine Conscience (Mindfulness) videos and listening activities both in class and for homework assignments has been a positive addition to my curriculum. The students were asked to familiarize themselves with new vocabulary in a Quizlet set that I created that included the main words and expressions used in the meditations as well as watch/listen to French students in interviews and during conversations about the topic of Mindfulness.

Here are some examples of the assignments:

Assignment #1:

1. Look at the new Quizlet set (link is here) and familiarize yourself with the vocabulary. Listening comprehension and meaning are your focus.
2. Go to the link for La Pleine Conscience Méditation. Listen for a TOTAL of 4 times between today and Friday. Just listen and relax the first time and listen to the words. See if you can follow the prompts and do what is being presented to you.
3. During the next time that you listen, see what specific words you understand as you listen. There are imperative directions (telling you what to do: imagine, regarde, écoute, allonge-toi, etc.) familiar vocabulary (names of fruits, animals, cognates), descriptions with adjectives, expressions.
4. Find out what “je te souhaite” means and listen for the third time on a different day.
5. Listen one more time and just relax and see how you feel when you do this meditation and follow the language. We will discuss it on Friday.

• This was both successful and challenging at first. We had discussions during the class in the target language and the students also responded to a survey with short answers and adjectives that they were asked to circle that reflected how they were feeling.
• Some students were not comfortable with the relaxation aspect at first. They felt that they were “wasting time” instead of trying to get work done.
• An additional challenge was not having a way to gage how many times they actually interacted with the material, since there was not a specific assignment that needed to be turned in the next day.
• As they got more acclimated to this type of work, and became familiar with the in-class expectations, their at-home participation seemed to improve.

Assignment #2:

1. You will see students as well as teachers talking in this video. Listen all the way through once. What did you understand from the video discussions? Did you understand the main ideas?
2. Are there specific words that jumped out at you that we have been studying?
3. Listen again (it can be on a different day) and write down words related to la pleine conscience that are familiar: stressé, for example.
4. We will discuss similarities with your life at school and theirs. How are these similarities related to stress and anxiety and how can a mindful practice help? Listen carefully to the questions and answers that are presented in the conversations between the teachers and the students.

https://etreprof.fr/ressources/2782/comment-installer-la-pleine-conscience-au-college

• This was successful in that the students were interested in hearing what other kids their age are doing and how it is helping.
• The language is a bit fast for my students and some of them wanted to slow it down using technology. We talked about why that is not an ideal approach.
• I will try to see how I can break these videos down into smaller chunks.
• Discussion in class went well for the most part. Differences in ability came through very clearly, so I need to figure out how to group the students so they can talk productively together without being intimidated/feeling shy about pronunciation ( I have a student who feels embarrassed about her advanced skills.)

Assignment #3:

1. Listen to the new meditation once. Just relax and listen the first time.
2. Then listen again and write down all the words that you recognize and understand.
3. Organize the words by Body Parts/Adjectives/Verbs/ Nouns specific to La Pleine Conscience (ex: la respiration)

• This went very well. I spent a lot of time looking for a meditation that would include accessible vocabulary.
• I will continue to look and may need to purchase some programs.
• I can also record myself making some for my students.

I attended a conference during the first week in March:

NYSAIS Brain Conference, 2020

I really enjoyed being a “learner” during the three days of the conference. Although I was familiar with a lot of the material, the details delved deeper in some areas, and I was aware also of my strengths and challenges as a learn. Following oral directions was not as easy as seeing written prompts, and I used my group members to clarify for me at times. I loved the group activities as well as taking notes! This reminded me of the importance of sharing class information in different ways when teaching my students. Participating in mindfulness activities that were led by other teachers was also very interesting and taught me more about the practice.

Here is my current response to the essential questions that I posed:

What aspect of this endeavor is most successful at incorporating authentic learning and stress reduction while delving deeper in the connection with native French speakers? How can I connect with a French school in order to deepen and continue this work?

This is how these questions relate to the work that I completed through the second trimester in my 8th grade French classes:

My observation so far is that the usage of activities that include native French speakers within the age range of my class has been very engaging for my students. The topic that we focused on in the videos that I shared with them primarily was “La Pleine Conscience” in French middle schools, which supported my goal of incorporating stress-reduction techniques into the homework process. Listening activities and discussion prompts were the main expectation along with vocabulary acquisition supported by Quizlet sets that I created, as opposed to long writing assignments and rote activities.

Hearing how others are experiencing this process and how it is being shared in other schools in France was interesting to my students, which resulted in their more focused attention and a desire to really understand what the kids were saying in the target language. There are so many other details that can be looked at in future viewings of these types of videos: the diversity of the students, how they are dressed, what their main concerns are and how do they compare to ours, what subtleties can be heard in their pronunciation

Connecting to an actual French school that teaches mindfulness is a goal that I have been working on. Creating relationships with students in another country that my students can interact with online in various ways will serve to deepen this process and make it more meaningful. Communication in breakout rooms on Zoom, for example, would allow the students to practice listening comprehension and speaking, as well as to share insights about mindfulness; activities would be shared and lessons in mindfulness that encourage group interactions would invigorate this practice for all of the students.

I have reached out through colleagues and friends, and I have also been searching through professional groups. So far there have not been any connections established, but I am still working on that aspect of this endeavor.