Classroom Observation #3 at Ecole Secondaire Notre Dame High School

           I had the privilege of spending my Friday afternoon last week at Ecole Secondaire Notre Dame High School. While at the high school Merel and I were placed into two different classrooms. The first classroom that we were in was a French Immersion Social 20-1 class.

 It was interesting to be put into a French class and observe the ways of the teacher in a different language. Miss Marie-Lynne Vienneau was our designated teacher.

The class that we were observing was writing a quiz, so there was not many teaching skills to be observed. However Miss Vienneau told us that her plan before a quiz is to get the students to make their own plan on the same sheet of paper that they will be writing on, of how they plan to conquer the quiz. She said that this may give them the extra confidence in themselves that they need in order to pass the quiz. French quizzes have a lot of matching of words to definitions, Miss Vinneau said because it is hard to understand when you are learning a second language, so she often tests their comprehension on these words.

During the quiz, Miss Vinneau was very helpful in providing Merel and I with almost everything to know about teaching in the future. It was neat to listen in on a French Immersion class and useful to learn new information about teaching from Miss Vinneau. 

           For the last class of the day, Merel and I were put in an English 10-1 class. This class was located in a portal. The teacher informed us that this class was full of many different learning styles, ranging from that of grade nine to grade eleven learning skills. This posed as a challenge for her. The class was just finishing up reading Act One of Romeo and Juliet. We finished reading it together and watched up to Act One of the newest movie of Romeo and Juliet. 

          A difficult area that we will have to deal with as teachers in the future, is the loss of a student's parent. Merel and I watched the class for a short while, while Mrs. Herron went to look for a student who had recently lost her father. It was a normal thing for the student to disappear from the class for a short period of time due to the grieving and as a teachers we will have to learn how to deal with this. It was a good life lesson. 

          Mrs. Herron was able to give us a short tour of her area of the school. Within their school, they also hold a sensory room, much similar to that of Barrie Wilson. It is nice to see sensory rooms being integrated into more schools.