Yesterday was Mardi Gras, or in English "Fat Tuesday." I was able to witness students enjoying themselves in class, while the teacher connected modern festivities to the material they were learning for class. We had many, many king cakes, threw moon pies, and listened to Cajun-French music. The kids had a great time, and seemed to really enjoy the class. If a professor takes the time to plan out fun activites and takes advantage of holidays, and technology the classroom will be an awesome place to be. The teacher found many videos online to share with the kids, they also watched a short tv show that was like "Friends" except it was geared towards high school students and of course it was in French. A little cool thing I learned is that Bon Temps means "good times." I'm a big True Blood fan, and think it's cute that the name of the town is "good times." Another connection to the modern world for me!!
I'm really excited about teaching my class at the end of this month. I'm going to lecture about how Latin became French. I'm currently working on finding interesting material to show the class, as well as lots of information to put on a hand-out. Spring break is going to be my time to get together my material and create my lesson plan. I might even post the video of my lesson on here!
My overall lesson this week is that incorporating modern festivities and ongoings in your material is really important for keeping your students connected by letting them know what they're learning IS relevant. Also, the way to students' hearts is through their stomachs!
