I recently explored the blog of a french teacher by the name of Ms. Perkins. I was instantly drawn to her blog by her use of videos, pictures, and creatively placed texts. Right away, I felt a sense of enthusiasm and joy that she carries in her work. The organization of her work was appealing and had purpose. The description of her blog basically said that her blog was her french class lessons and her thoughts. She wants people who read her blog to gain an understanding and appreciated for the language through her material.
I began to read into the most recent post she had made which concerned Mr. Bean and a lesson that went along with it. The blog post is titled (translated by me) Mr. Bean's sandwich. There is a short video clip and then a subsequent set of activities. It seems like a rather fun activity that could be given to a french class. She even gives examples of what instructions to give along with each lesson/activity. In addition, she lists what verbs are mentioned, what vocabulary is involved, and a worksheet that could assess understanding. I'm impressed at how much detail went into this post. It is clear that this particular teachers cares a lot about her profession to take the time to craft these well-organized lessons for the world to see and from which to learn. It was an inspirational experience traversing through her blog.
As I continued to scroll through some of the other lessons/ideas she had posted, I began to think of which ones I could want to use for my own classroom. I came across a lesson oriented around animals and the zoo. I really enjoyed learning about animals in all my science classes, but I enjoyed it even more when we got to talk about it in french. Maybe this was because it felt like an extra treat that we weren't supposed to be doing. In any case, I hope that I will be able to generate as much excitement as this teacher seems to create. The reason I chose this blog was not necessarily because it was a french teacher's blog, but because it was titled "No Problems!" (Sans Problemes). Made me think of lion king. And insert DVD.
Mr. Wilson
Howdy hey Mr. Wilson --
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this report with us! I'm a big fan of when bloggers will emphasize not only their cognitive ruminations but the real practices that proceed from them. One of the reasons I decided to become a teacher is this exact reason -- I love "literature", and I love reading it, writing it, and theorizing about it -- but to only _think_ about it for the rest of my life for the benefit of other thinkers didn't seem like a good way to make the world a better place by way of it. Knowledge is useless in a vacuum! I'm glad to hear that Ms. Perkins is making the educational world a better place via the blogosphere -- the more we share, the more we can grow collectively.
Thanks for sharin', sir.
Matt
P.S. Where's this blog at?
http://mmeperkins.typepad.com/
DeleteI did my post on her blog as my edublogger as well. Check her out!
Woo woo! I came to check out your blog because last night we spoke about how we had chosen the same blog. I, too, was drawn to this blog from the second I clicked on it for the same reasons as you - use of visual technology to hook us! Also, I, too, could tell that Ms. Perkins is extremely excited and loves blogging and teaching. This is so refreshing because she has been blogging about her teaching since 2007! She isn't becoming tired or losing her fire. I especially love the feature on the right side where you can search by lesson by topic. Such a great blog.
ReplyDeleteSo this is probably the coolest blog ever! I think it really goes with the idea of reflection and figuring out what works. It also goes along with the idea of teachers being continuous learners and learning from one another. This is a fantastic tool that she is producing for everyone that follows her. Definitely book marked that site.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing blogger this lady is! I can't imagine the time it takes to not only blog about your thoughts and lessons but to upload worksheets and links would take a lot of extra time. I was fascinated by how much we could learn from blogs! Who knew that reading somebodies blog would be a great resource for us as new teachers?! Great post :)
ReplyDeleteIt’s always great to find inspirational writing - I love that feeling when you’re reading something that completely captures something you’re passionate about. Glad you found this blog! Sounds like Ms. Perkins would be a great teacher to collaborate with, and I hope you can find teachers like this in the school you teach at in the future. She embodies what it means to make consistent contributions to the teaching profession by sharing her best practices. I’m realizing more and more how the blogging community is such an effective way to communicate with teachers who want to continue being challenged and get creative with their instructional practices. As you continue this blog, I’m sure you’ll also have some great French lessons to share with the world too!
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