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Log in to Zoom from your computer and from your phone

Phone allows remote learners to see their classmates

Phone allows teachers to show specific spots in the classroom (portable doc cam)

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When you need my attention, don’t raise your hand, say “Madame”.

I will check on you on a regular basis during class and this is what it will sound like: “Ça va Lillian ?”

Office hours for remote learners.

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Greet the class, then everyone greets remote learners by name:

T: Hello everyone!

Class: Hello Madame.

T: Everyone says hello to Samantha.

Class: Hello Samantha!

Samantha: Hello everyone!

T: Everyone says hello to Jade.

Class: Hello Jade!

Jade: Hi!

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Write a formal email to students:
What went well?
What did not go well?
What can I do to help you more?

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With any routine or ritual, make sure to always ask your remote learners

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9.01.2021: LONG OVERDUE. Updated my "how are you feeling" chart with inclusive language here (French) and here (Spanish).

8.24.2017 EDIT: here is a PowerPoint and here is a Google Slides showing the progression of the "How do you feel" routine for a 7th grade class of 27 French 1 students. Each class is different but I hope this provides an idea for how you can introduce this in your Novice classes.

At my TPRS training last summer, Lynette Saint George always started her lessons by asking students how they felt, she would circulate an iPad with a slide full of faces expressing different emotions. At the time, I thought it was a very neat way of starting class. I have since then discovered it is a wonderful path to language acquisition.

I started the experiment with my very small High School French 1 class. Every day since the beginning of the year, we have been gathering around the smartboard and I have been asking each of them "Comment tu te sens?". At first, students would simply point at the face and word that best represented their feeling. I started with three faces: exhausted, happy, and frustrated (I figured most teenagers experience one or more of these feelings every day of the week). I then started providing Comprehensible Input and options for answers such as "you feel frustrated because there is an exam?" ("there is" is a phrase I teach early on + "exam" is a cognate). Of course, I am the one doing most of the talking but since it is about something they greatly care about, they are engaged.

Slowly, I increased the amount of faces on the slide and taught them a few easy rejoinders so that they could react to how others were feeling: "Poor Kelsey", "Good luck", "That's life", and "Hooray". They also started asking for useful words/phrases, which I happily gave them such as "my _____ hurts".

Our daily "How ARE YOU FEELING?" routine

We are now in the second quarter of their first year in French and my students are saying things like "I feel exhausted because I did not sleep well" or "I feel happy because there is a new One Direction song" or "I feel ecstatic because I have rowing practice". I am now moving on to "talking" about our week-end on Monday (in the past) and on Friday (in the near future), feeling SO thankful for the " Shelter vocabulary, not grammar " TPRS advice! Finally, I have started shifting the responsibility of questioning to the students, we take turn asking the "how do you feel" question and "why"; sometimes students will ask an additional question (like when Erika said she felt happy because she was going to the movies, everyone wanted to know "Avec qui????"). Sometimes, our "How are you feeling" routine takes 5 minutes, sometimes it takes 20 min. I usually just follow the students' lead and energy.

One day, I was in a rush to get to an assessment and skipped "how do you feel?", the students called me on it "are we not doing our therapy circle today?". I thought I was going to cry: they don't see it at language or classwork, they see it as therapy! This reminds me of Stephen Krashen's blog post, "The End of Motivation". Krashen says: "Here is the crucial part: Jack's Mandarin was improving, but he was not aware of it. He was only interested in the stories." I guess I could probably say "My students' French was improving, but they were not aware of it. They were only interested in whom Erika was going to the movies with."

Now, I realize I am lucky to have a class of 7 students. With a much bigger class, the pace is so much slower. I cannot gather my 27 7th graders around the board, nor can I ask each and everyone one of them how they feel every day. By now, all of them can pretty much ask and say how they feel but very few can elaborate beyond "I am happy because it's Friday". And that's totally OK, I just follow their pace and keep providing as much comprehensible input as possible. If anyone is successfully using a personal guiding question such as "How are you feeling?" with a big class and would like to share, I would really love it!

The other day, I wrote on the board some of the answers my students used to respond to "how do you feel?" (in blue at the top).

Below their sentences is the input I provided in this particular session (in blue and black).

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Begin your students' journey towards proficiency with a single question: "How are you feeling?"

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9.01.2021: LONG OVERDUE. Updated my "how are you feeling" chart with inclusive language here (French) and here (Spanish). 8.24.2017 EDIT: here is a PowerPoint and here is a Google Slides showing the progression of the "How do you feel" routine for a 7th grade class of 27 French 1 students.

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Teacher ad class interview your remote learners
(Slide deck available in this post)

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Special Person is a good way to get to know your students. Since it has been extensively described and blogged about (check out this process document and other free stuff by Bryce Hedstrom), I will focus this post on sharing myfavorite resources for the classroom:

Which questions to ask?

Mapping of possible questions based on your students proficiency level

Special Person Interview Posters for Novice learners

Special Person slide deck (for remote or virtual learning) - adapted from Amy Marshall

Do students take notes during the interview?

They don't have to but here is a good low accountability graphic organizer. This can be easily turned into a study guide if you want to formally assess your students, or a souvenir yearbook of our class if you want to give them something special.

What to do after Special Person?

What if I teach virtually or a mix of in person and remote students?

Here is a slideshow you can use with your remote students. Credit to Amy Marshall for providing topic choices to her students.

Happy interview!

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Special Person is a good way to get to know your students. Since it has been extensively described and blogged about (check out this process document and other free stuff by Bryce Hedstrom), I will focus this post on sharing my favorite resources for the classroom: Which questions to ask?

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Students get to choose a special someone, interview them using the Special Person format, and present them to the class

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Google Forms - create and analyze surveys, for free.

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Say good morning and welcome remote learners daily
Asks questions routinely to remote learners to include in activities

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As soon as the students come to the classroom or Zoom, they start chatting with one another in the target language for about five minutes.

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Attend individual meetings with remote learners

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Shares slides with daily questions/beginning activities
Black/dark background shows up better for remote learners
Say hello to online learners

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Use post-notes to remember who is on zoom (Na)
Using a TA or student peer to keep tabs on zoom and serve as a second set of eyes for remote (Nausica)

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Use of Virtual Work Space for All students (everyone)

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Use of Virtual Work Space for All students (everyone)

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Use of Blackboard/OneNote/Google Classroom to help find all information

Use of Zoom whiteboard

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Require participation from everyone

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pair with classmates first and then with the remote-learning students to practice oral

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Make sure everyone online can hear you.

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celebrate birthdays - song, greeting

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Special intentions or something we are grateful for (Sankovich)

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Special intentions or something we are grateful for (Sankovich)

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Who do you want to pray for?
What/Whom are you thankful for?

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-Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday
-Date
-Sport wins and loses
-Time
-Season
-Weather
-How are you feeling?

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CI Liftoff has 10,492 members. A group for the in-depth exploration of building student proficiency in the beautiful languages we teach, through engaging students in the interpretation and expression...

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-Continue to embed personalized information that has been gathered about students

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Virtual Word Walls for Scaffolding purposes (DiBianca)

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Virtual Word Walls for Scaffolding purposes (DiBianca)

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So the student always know where to look for guidance (possibly setup)

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Still practice using rejoinders and call and responses with students

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Flipgrid icebreaker (Licence plates) video and student response -  Zena

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Flipgrid icebreaker (Licence plates) video and student response -  Zena

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Flipgrid - make a video about an article and students comment. Maria

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Suggestion to use Jam Board for students/streamers to weigh in on how they are feeling when they are in class or working on line -

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Each week, students share something that is going on in their lives (Level 3 and up)