Succès!

Bon! On a tous fini nos contes digitales, et ils sont merveilleux! Les élèves ont tellement aimé ce projet, qu'ils m'ont remercié pour leur avoir donner la chance de le faire. Leurs comparaisons et évaluations personnelles étaient bien écrites et profondes. Ils ont fait de très bonnes analyses. Presque tout le monde pensait que trouver des photos a été la partie la plus difficile, et plusieurs ont mentionné qu'ils prendraient leurs propres photos la prochaine fois, pour avoir de la continuité dans leurs contes. Ils ont tous aussi mentionné qu'ils avaient besoin plus de temps pour terminer les éditions finales, et qu'ils auraient pu additionner d'autres effets pour le rendre meilleur. Les problèmes techniques étaient frustrants, mais avoir accès aux petits ordi portables étaient bons.

WE have finished our digital stories, and they are marvelous. The students enjoyed doing this activity so much that they thanked me for the opportunity. Their comparisons and personal evaluations were well written and thoughtful. They did some excellent analyses. Almost all of the students thought that finding pictures or images was the hardest part, and that next time they would take their own pictures to ensure continuity in their stories. They also mentioned that they could have used more time to do more final editing, and they could have added special effects to enhance their stories. Technical problems were frustrating , but having access to the netbooks was very good.

Next days

It is testament to the independance of the students that I can lump together the next several days in one entry.

The students are at various stages and progressing on their own at their own pace. They all know what has to be done and how to do it. If they have questions, their first line of attack is asking a peer! Great stuff! Kirk was there on Day 3 and there were a few technology glitches, but they got worked out. He showed two students who were ready to advance to the next phase, how to put their sound tracks into Moviemaker. Those students are now putting in images to enhance their stories. I was present for Day 4 and could answer some technology questions and problem solve for one student. Day 5, neither of us was present in the flesh, although we had a normal Breeze session where I could monitor their work.

Next week, one of us will be there every few days to make sure that they are able to move ahead.

We have to give up the laptops for three days for another request, but that shouldn't hinder our progress-we will just have to extend our deadline.

It is going very well, I think!

Day 2

Much better day! In our post-class reflection yesterday, there are some things I realized I hadn't done and wanted to start the day today with that. Kirk also had some technology things he wanted to clear up. The day started with everybody logging in (not all at the same time because only a couple can do it at once without overloading the pipe)-no glitches there. Then I went through the 'Analyses finales' that I should have done yesterday. First, the SVAF sheet (know-savoir, want to know-veux savoir, learned - appris, can do-faire). They can only complete the first two columns, and the rest will be a work in progress. Then the daily journal. I had them journal about what they learned/did yesterday, and at the end of this class they will journal again. Next was the Peer editing, Step by step checklist, Rubric, Personal Evaluation, and Comparison. They noticed that they couldn't write on these pages from Moodle, so rather than have them copy and paste into Word and then do it, I created a link to the original Word page and they could just go ahead. Then we noticed that we had nowhere to save these, so we created another subfolder with 'Analyses' as a title. Kirk showed them how to log in to their personal workstations in case they get out of range and the computer goes to sleep mode. Once we were done that, they went to record. Kirk set up a second mobile wireless upstairs so they could find some quiet places up there and still have internet. Three student finished recording and are ready to start editing. Three students have not started yet. All of the others are in various stages of recording.

I am wondering if two weeks will be long enough.

And away we go!

Ready, set, go! or not quite that confident.... But we did go, and even though the first day was chaotic, in a controlled busy let's get at it kind of way, we accomplished what we set out to do.

The students already knew what I wanted them to do, so some were very eager to get started. Some were only excited about the netbooks. Some were hesitant, clearly thinking-what is she up to now and how much work is this going to be for me?? And of course, regardless of how many warnings they were given about being ready with their completed, corrected story, 3 were not ready at all.

After I did my introductory spiel, about comparing a 'regular' story to a 'digital' story, what was the same and what might be different, Kirk and Robert had a spiel of their own about usage of the computers. Since this is an experiment of sorts, there were/are kinks to get worked out, such as what happens when we leave the proximity of the mobile wireless? what if I spend lots of time recording, and my computer goes to sleep? where do I save my stuff? how do I find my stuff after I saved it?

The kids who had their stories ready to go were anxious to start recording. They didn't really want to hear all the little hints and suggestions being made to them, however necessary they were. It took a good half hour before they could get started. We quickly learned that more than one person recording in a room is not possible. And since this is a small school, there aren't very many places that are quiet and secluded in the middle of the school day. Hallways, entries, empty book rooms, even bathrooms became recording studios. Whatever works!!

Even though I didn't feel satisfied with the first day's accomplishments, Kirk and Rob both assured me that it was fine: we introduced the project, explained what the final product would/could be after having gone through the processes, showed them where to find it on Moodle, created folders and subfolders, entertained several possibilities of presentation, and got many kinks worked out of the system. So, I guess for a first day, although it didn't go 'linear' as I would prefer it, it was still a good blast-off.

Date is set

The mobile lab is ready to go. We have set a date for May 19th as the beginning of our adventure. I have the unit planned from beginning to end, with step by step worksheets and instructions all posted on Moodle. The rubric for evaluation needs a few tweaks, but it is essentially ready. Kirk and a technician will be going out to ZP on Monday with the laptops to make sure they are networked or imaged or whatever. I will be going out to ZP for both Wednesday and Thursday to get a solid start with the kids, then Kirk will be there to support them on the other days. The students were well warned that they must have their story corrected and ready to go before Wednesday. Some of them still have grammatical errors and are in their 3rd or 4th correction. They won't get their hands on any computers until I give the ok. They all seem very excited with the project, or at least, with the ability to work with their own laptop for two weeks.

Questions:

• will they be able to finish in 2 weeks?
• did I make it too restricted?
• will they be able to be creative and spread their wings?
• Are my expectations too high?
• What unforeseen glitches will potentially stop the process?
• Is the anticipation going to be the best thing about this whole thing?
• what if it doesn't turn out the way I envision it?
• what if they kids don't learn what I want them to?

As with anything new and 'out of the box', I just have to forge ahead and hope that I will land on my feet. I think this will work, therefore I will make it work! the power of positive thinking!

Almost ready to start

I am almost ready to start with the Digital storytelling. I have spent a fair bit of time transforming the ideas into a concrete set of activities that the students will be able to follow and that will result in the desired final product. Kirk has spent time looking over what I have done, and giving me crash courses on how to design a program. We have completed the introductory section, where the students find out what they are to do, how to set up their folders to easily access and identify their work, and how to start recording their stories. We hashed out separating their stories into parts, recording them and then doing the audio editing of each part. Next comes the part where they transfer their story into Moviemaker, and make it a good sound recording of their voice, complete with emphasis, pauses, pronunciation and natural flow. Once the sound is good, enhancement of the story with pictures and images is the next step. I haven't found out how to properly cite these images yet-that's tomorrow's lesson. After all of the recording, editing, revision, adding of pics is done, the story should be a complete whole, ready to be submitted.

Because I am doing this with my senior students, I not only want them to complete a digital storytelling experience, but I also want them to do some final analyses. Throughout the experience, they will be keeping a daily journal. In this journal, there will be a record of what they did each day, what they changed or kept of their original story, and how they feel about all of that. This journal will be an excellent reference tool for them once they do the comparison part. The comparison part will be around 2 pages long, wherein they will compare their original written version to the final digital version. It will also include their growth process, from knowing nothing about digital storytelling, to being experts. Final analyses will also include peer editing, personal reflection of each of the steps, an explanation of their successes and prides, as well as their challenges and obstacles. There will be checklists, KWL sheet, entrance and/or exit cards, and a personal assessment.

I think I am ready to go!!

Use your ressources

Rule#1: use your ressources. There is no point in re-inventing the wheel, or a project. I contacted the other two teachers in this division who already did this type of project. I visited their blogs to read about their growing pains. I contacted the Curriculum Coordinator for the division, since one of the blogs had a comment from her about the Curriculum Corner on our website. I couldn't find the templates and rubrics she indicated might be useful. I followed the links on Kirk's website about this topic.

While I am gathering all of this information to hopefully be able to use and adapt to my students and my project, in the back of my mind is the language. Even the greatest rubrics and templates have to be translated for me to use. However, even though it is done from scratch, the ideas are there and it can be a simple exercise in translation. Also, the other two projects were done at gr 5 and gr 8 levels. I wanted my senior students to do much more, so I have to devise a higher-level thinking exercise for them.

And still...turn all of this into a working activity.

Digital adventure

I have heard some very interesting stories about Digital Storytelling, from Kirk, Andrea and Susan. I have decided to embark on this adventure with my senior Français class!

Two units this year were 'Le schéma narratif' and 'La nouvelle littéraire'. With the gr 11-12's, we read and analysed short stories, picked them apart into their components, and their final task was to write an original story. It is now this final story that will be the starting point for the Digital Storytelling: the end is also the beginning!

Usually, I do a lot of thinking and pondering before I embark on something out of the ordinary. In our never-ending quest to 'entertain' our students and keep them motivated and interested, it is an all-encompassing endeavour at the best of times. Not to mention meeting learning outcomes and objectives. So, after having thought about it, I asked Kirk if I could have access to a mobile lab. My initial thought was that if the students could each have a computer at their disposal for a 2-3 week period of time, they could not only do their best work, but we would not disturb the students receiving a course in the senior lab in ZP. This has been an ongoing frustrating challenge-trying to use technology when it is not available without interfering in another teacher's lessons.

Kirk's first response was 'what do you need'? HUH?? That easy? I mistakenly thought that he needed me to convince him that a mobile lab would be used to the utmost in that block of time, so I created projects for all of the classes I teach. Overkill! No, no. What he needed to know was the details of ONE project, not 3. We made a plan to meet later in the week, as I was willing to do this project, but not too sure what it really entailed. I knew it involved storytelling on the computer, but what else?

When we met, he lead me through an overview of what Digital Storytelling involved. There is an audio part, a visual part, editing, revising, citing, reflection, -the list could go on to the proverbial sky's limit. The students would have basic components that they would have to have, then they would have free rein to be as creative (or not) as they chose. We did a lot of brainstorming and the basic premise is : tell a story in a new way, digitally. Since my students had already created a story, I decided to not have them start over and write another one just to go through the writing process. These are senior students, and although we can all improve our writing, I wanted to go further with the technology aspect.

When I gave the students a headsup, they all seemed excited about several things: having their own computer to work on, in class, on their own project; being able to tell their own story with their own creativity; having these stories on the website/blog for others to be able to see and hear, not only their classmates but also the elementary; and the possibility of using video cameras and still photography as well as surfing the internet for images to enhance their stories. A couple students asked if they could take their own pictures with them as actors. We did another unit this year on a combination of graphic-novel/comic strip, so asking to use these skills in another project was great! Talk about transferring!

So now, to make all of this into a concrete activity....

Tweeks

This week, I learned a few new tweeks.

When I was correcting some submitted assignments, I found dates printed in some sections. When I checked, I realized that I had not checked off the 'due dates' section of the assignments. Easily fixed.

I was out in ZP and had a good discussion with my proctor. She finds it frustrating that there are so many papers to hand out, and often the students say they didn't get it, or they lost it, or they weren't here that day, or I didn't send it to the copier soon enough for her to pick up at the beginnng of the day. We came up with a couple solutions.

She will create an assignment hand-in book where the students will sign when they hand in an assignment. That way, they can't say 'I handed it in and you lost it'.

Another solution was to make file folder holders, one for each class, in which she will put all extra papers or handouts. If a student was absent, she will put the name on the paper and put it in the file folder. The folders are pinned to the bulletin board. The students now become responsible for checking the file folders upon their return, rather than the proctor making sure she gives them what they missed.

We decided that I should send out the next day's plan the day before. I always (or almost!) sent her an email in the morning telling her what we would do that day. I wasn't explicit enough, however, about which books might be needed or which handouts were necessary. By sending it out the day before, it not only makes me get more organized, but it also allows her to be more prepared for each class. We found that the minute there is a slowdown in the flow of the class, the students have an immediate tendancy to start talking and misbehaving. This way, she knows which papers need to go out, when, and the flow of the class isn't interrupted.

She requested that a seating plan be made and adhered to. We did that as well. It will work until we forget to check it....

Second semester, 2010

With the beginning of the new semester, even though all of my ZP classes carried on from the first semester, we were well set for some good education.

Well. The computers needed to be re-imaged. All of the settings etc on this computer system were either lost or changed.

On Monday morning after the winter break, I could only open one session at a time. Either they could see me or I could see them. We had good audio, which saved us. After I put in a call to many technicians, they arrived 'en masse' to correct the problems. It had something to do with tabs. They were also able to give me back my French keyboard, re-install the printers and get everything back to its familiar way. Change is good...but sometimes it causes a panic reaction!!

Individual work

We had a student with some processing learning disabilities. He could not easily go from looking up at the screen where I was projected, and then down to his book or papers. As a result, he was becoming more and more frustrated, and as always happens, more and more of a distraction. I had the idea of putting him on his own computer with headset and microphone, so he could concentrate right in front of him and not be disturbed by the peripheral distractions or be a distraction himself. He was very excited to try this out, and it works very well. He is more productive, he listens better and does better work. A success story!

One of the other requests I made at the beginning of the school year was to be able to work one-on-one with students and their work. If French, we do a lot of grammar and editing in the writing process. The technicians have set up an individual camera, headset, webcam and document camera both here in my office and in the ZP classroom. With this, I can ask a student to show me his/her work with the document camera, and we can work together to improve their written production. I have the ability to 'write' on their work with the editing capabilities of the document camera, so they can see my underlining or red marks or checkmarks. It is a very good tool.

I can also use this individual computer for individual oral work. Often, I request that the students read to me, have discussions with me, present their work to me, all on the individual camera. I can then respond to them individually without disturbing the rest of the class.

Bonus: this also works when I have to have a little chat with someone who is in need of personal guidance....

Video challenges

The second major challenge was with video. I thought it was imperative that I be able to see the students. It was not imperative, though, that they see themselves! A webcam was mounted on the top of the chalkboard, or on a chair, or on the table, and recently taped to a tripod. It provided me with the ability to see all of the students withing its range. I could then ask specific students to answer, ensure that all students were on task, keep an eye on the groupwork and the students at the computers. We found out that having the camera higher up was better, since the front kids hid the back kids.

The camera wasn't able to cover the entire classroom, however. And of course, the students who didn't wish to be 'seen' sat on the outside of the camera's range. We discovered that there was a setting on Connect where we could go 'landscape' instead of 'portrait', just like a Word document. that now enabled me to see almost everyone, with some adjustments.

The proctor also sometimes moves the camera to focus on particular groups who need a closer observation. This also works well when I want to work with a small group alone.

Audio Challenges/Défis audio

Les plus grands défis auxquels nous avons fait face dans cette nouvelle aventure étaient avec l'audio et le vidéo. Les autres défis sont sortis de ceux-ci. Pour l'audio, on commencé avec des écouteurs pour moi, et un haut-parleur à ZP. Nous avons tous trouvé cette méthode frustrante quand il y avait une pause de plusieurs secondes avant que je puisse entendre les élèves, ou qu'ils puissent m'entendre. Et avec le haut parleur mis près de la porte, d'où venait le son, ceux qui étaient assis au devant de la classe ne m'entendaient pas. Et comme dans plusieurs classes normales, n'est-ce pas toujours les 'bons' élèves qui se mettent au devant de la classe, et les 'mauvais' qui se mettent vers l'arrière? Cette pratique me posait plusieurs problèmes puisque j'entendais seulement le crissement de papiers, la fermeture des cartables, et les chuchotements des élèves.

Un jour, les écouteurs et les hauts-parleurs ne fonctionnaient pas, alors Lise s'est servi du 'speakerphone' sur le téléphone. Et miracle! Il n'y avait plus de pauses, et les élèves m'entendaient 'real time' et moi aussi. On a mentionné ça aux techniciens, et on a décidé de se servir du téléphone et non les hauts-parleurs. Ce n'était pas encore idéal, mais c'était mieux. Les techniciens voulaient essayer un 'Aux Box', une sorte d'amplificateur de son. Il ne marchait pas toujours , et on avait toujours des échos. Très frustrant. Plus de recherche, et ils ont trouvé un système qui était utilisé dans des conférences téléphoniques. C'était beaucoup mieux! On pouvait le mettre où on voulait - en avant de la classe, à côté d'un groupe particulier--et ma voix semblait venir de la mème place où était mon image. Le seul petit problème c'était que ce téléphone se servait de la même ligne de téléphone que le télécopieur. Quand quelqu'un envoyait une télécopie, ou l'école en recevait une, ça faisait du bruit comme un clique dans la salle de classe. Solution? Ils ont mis une nouvelle ligne téléphonique seulement pour nous. C'est à date la meilleure façon qu'on puisse trouver pour le son. Ce n'est pas idéal ni parfait, mais c'est beaucoup mieux.

The major challenges we faced in starting this new method of delivery were with audio and video. Other challenges occurred as offshoots of these. For audio, we started off using a headset and speaker in ZP. The students and I found it frustrating when there was a delay of several seconds before I could hear them, or they could hear me. And with the phone on the wall by the door, anyone sitting in the front half of the class was hard to hear. Coincidentally, isn't it always the 'good' kids who sit up close and the 'noisy' ones who sit at the back? That posed problems since I could only hear the paper rustling or the whispering or the chair scraping from the back, and the front students could not be heard or hear me.

One day, the speakers/headset wasn't working. We tried using the phone on 'speaker' and it was like night and day. There was almost immediate response time between us. They could see me speaking and hear me AT THE SAME TIME!! And vice versa. When that new enlightenment was mentioned to the elearning consultants, they decided to try using the phone line for audio. It was a great improvement. Slight technical difficulty: we were using the fax line for ZP for the phone line, so whenever a fax was sent or came in, it cut into our line. That didn't work so well, since sometimes the fax machine HAD to be used during my class time. Solution: bring in another line.

Although the phone line was a great improvement, it still wasn't ideal. The technicians wanted to try a device called an Aux Box to see if that worked. It didn't. There was always feedback and trouble getting it working. So they looked around and found a space-age looking phone device that we are currently using. It works much better than either of the two previous methods. It is placed in the front of the classroom so now my voice is not disembodied from my image. The students and the proctor like it much better. The only down side, for me, is that it still picks up the sounds nearest to it, and that if the students are busy working and making some noise (productive, of course!) I can't be heard above them.

Now what?

Pendant les vacances d'été 2009, il me fallait faire beacoup de réflexions-qu'est-ce que je voulais faire avec ce nouvel emploi, et comment allais-je m'y prendre? C'était complètement nouveau non seulement pour moi, mais pour cette division et pour la province-que je sache. Alors, je devais le faire un projet super-excellent! Il y aurait beaucoup d'yeux qui m'observeraient et feraient des décisions selon mon succès. Je devais créer un environnement où les élèves auraient un exellent apprentissage et que les objectifs et résultats d'apprentissages seraient achevés. Et, en plus de tout ça, ils devaient améliorer leur français-notre but principal. J'avais reçu les cours d'éCOLE, mais qu'est-ce que je pourrais faire avec tout ça? Comment est-ce que je pourrais achever les besoins de mes élèves à ZP et ceux des autres élèves partout dans la province? C'était un grand dilemme.

À la fin de juin, j'ai consulté avec le technicien de technologie. Il m'a dit qu'ils étaient m'installer dans une petite salle à LP MIller, avec un ordinateur, deux écrans, une caméra web et un système de son pour que les étudiants puissent me voir et m'entendre. Deux écrans? qu'est-ce que j'étais supposé faire avec 2 écrans?? Drôlement, ces jours-ci, j'aimerais en avoir un troisième!

Avant que l'école commence, on s'est rencontré à l'école pour m'installer. C'était comme Noël pour les techniciens-ouvrir toutes les boites avec les nouveaux ordis et les accessoires, Je ne savais pas ce que je ferais avec la plupart de ces choses étranges! Pendant l'après-midi, Thad m'a montré ( ou essayé de me montrer...) comment me servir de tout cet équipement. Il m'a aussi donner une leçon sur Moodle, la façon que les élèves allaient m'entendre et me voir. Et de plus, mes autres élèves provinciaux avaient besoin d'accéder mes cours dans Moodle. J'ai très vite découvert que j'avais oublié presque tout qu'il m'avait montré le printemps passé. Qu'est-ce que j'avais promis de faire???

Over the summer of 2009, I had to sift through so many things in relation to what I wanted to do in these new jobs, and how I wanted to do it. This wasn't done anywhere else, certainly not in this division and probably not anywhere else in the province, I thought, so I have to make it super-successful. I had to create a classroom environment where the students would be learning content and meeting curriculum objectives, AND, first and foremost, improving their French. I had the courses from eCOLE, but what did I do with them? How did I make them so that other students in the province could meet their needs through these courses? That was a big question. The biggest question, however, was how was I going to teach to the students in ZP and achieve the vision I had set out for myself and them?

At the end of June, I spoke with the Techonlogy Consultant. He said they were going to set me up in a room at LP Miller with a computer, 2 monitors, webcam and headset system so that the students in ZP could see and hear me. 2 monitors??? what did I do with 2 monitors??? (funny-some days now, I wish I had three on the go...)

Before school started, I met with the technicians at LP, and they got me set up. It was like Christmas for them-opening up new computer boxes and accessories and USB driven stuff...I didn't have a clue about most of it. Boys and their toys! Thad also spent the rest of the afternoon showing (or trying to show...) me how to use it. He got me going again on Moodle -which was the way the students both in ZP and in the other schools in the province- were going to access me.
I had forgotten most of the quick half-hour session he had given me the spring before.

Le commencement-deuxième strophe/The beginning-second verse

There still remained, for me, the question of what I would do in Nipawin for the rest of the fulltime contract time. I had accepted a transfer back to Nipawin back in January, but as to what that job would look like, we had no idea. The only available post at the time was at Wagner School, a gr 4-6 elementary school, where there was one confirmed retirement. That was the only way I could be offered a transfer. So, like so many risks I had taken in the past few years, I chose to accept the offer and hope that an opening would pop up in the high school, LP Miller. As the months of spring wore on, that hope became dimmer and dimmer. To tell the truth, I was not looking forward to teaching in elementary-that was out of my comfort zone. But to come back to the town where my kids were, I had taken the risk and it was about to be written in stone. In fact, it was-I had to sign to accept a position at Wagner.

When the opportunity came to provide the half-time FI teaching from Nipawin back to ZP, I thought-whew, that reduces the elementary load by half. I would still be teaching at Wagner in the afternoons, and Core French of course-who wouldn't assign me to teach French? The original thought was that I would teach from Wagner, so as to be able to provide supervision at noons and recesses and pull my weight as a teacher there and avoid travel times from the high school back to the elementary. I had 4 kids in high school, and one in Wagner, so I preferred to be at the high school. However, that made logistical sense.

It is now early June. I received an email from the DEF=Direction de l'éducation française, the French Education Branch of the Ministry of Learning in Saskatchewan. The email was notification of the courses available through Distance Education. It specified that there were only two teachers/divisions able to offer FI courses in the following school year: Regina Public would offer French classes synchronously and Saskatoon Cyber School would offer History and Christian Ethics classes asynchronously. I emailed them back, saying I would be interested in teaching for/with them. I had received the developed courses from eCOLE, the French virtual school, a few years back when it closed and I felt I could help. Within minutes, the Director of FI Distance Ed phoned me and asked what could I do and who did she contact to sign me up?? They were offering $20000 per course for the first year, $10000 per course for each of the next two years, to the school division to release me from classroom duties part-time to teach 2 PAA courses each semester for the next three years. She said 'you're making me cry--why didn't I know you could do this before yesterday when we signed with the other divisions???'

So, after lengthy discussion as to how and when and what, the deal was made with the DEF and the NESD that I would be offering asynch PAA courses, Tourisme 10/20 and Alimentation 10/20 for the next three years. And there went the rest of the Wagner job, much to my satisfaction. Not only was I continuing in French Immersion, which is where I have found my real talent and desire is, I could be stationed in the high school and be closer to my kids. The younger child was moving up to LP next year anyway, so they would all be not only in the same town as me, but in the same school. Life was looking great!

***

Il restait toujours, pour moi, la question de ce que je ferais à Nipawin pour le restant du temps de contrat à plein temps. J'avais accepté un transfert à Nipawin au mois de janvier, mais quant à ce que ce travail serait, je n'avais aucune idée. Le seul poste disponible était à l'Ecole Wagner, une école élémentaire de la quatrième à la sixième année, où il y avait une retraite confirmée. Cela était le seul moyen que je puisse revenir à Nipawin. Alors, comme tant de risques que j'avais pris dans les dernières années, j'ai choisi d'accepter l'offre en espérant qu'un poste ouvrirait dans l'école secondaire, LP Miller. Comme les mois de printemps ont avancé, et aucun poste devenait disponible, je me portais avec impatience à l'enseignement élémentaire -ce qui était loin de ma zone de confort. Mais pour revenir à la ville où mes enfants étaient, j'avais pris le risque et il était sur le point d'être écrit en finalité. En fait, j'ai dû signer pour accepter une position à Wagner.

Quand l'occasion est venue de faire l'enseignement de FI à mi-temps de Nipawin à ZP, j'ai pensé-whew, parce que ç'a réduirait le chargement élémentaire par la moitié. J'enseignerais toujours à Wagner l'après-midi, et en français de base bien sûr-qui ne me donnerait pas la tâche d'enseigner le français de base ? La pensée originale était que j'enseignerais de Wagner, donc je pourrais assister à la surveillance de midi et leur aider comme professeur et éviter le voyage de l'école secondaire à l'élémentaire et la perte conséquente du temps. J'avais quatre enfants à l'école secondaire, et seulement un à Wagner, donc je préférais être à l'école secondaire. Cependant, cela faisait du sens.

C'est maintenant tôt dans le mois de juin. J'ai reçu un courriel du DEF = la Direction de l'éducation française, une branche du Ministère d'apprentissage dans la Saskatchewan. Le courriel était la notification des cours disponibles par Education de Distance. Il a spécifié qu'il y avait seulement deux professeurs/divisions capables d'offrir les cours à FI dans l'année scolaire suivante : Regina Public offrirait des classes françaises synchro et Ecole Cyber de Saskatoon offrirait Histoire et les classes d'Éducation chrétienne asynchro. Je leur ai envoyé par courriel, que je serais intéressée dans l'enseignement français avec eux. J'avais reçu les cours développés d'eCOLE, l'école véritable française, quelques ans passées quand éCOLE avait fermé et je sentais que je pourrais aider. Dans quelques minutes, le Directeur d'Education Distance de FI m'a téléphoné et a demandé ce que pouvais faire et qui devait-elle contacter pour m'engager ? Ils offraient $20000 par cours pour la première année, $10000 par cours pour chacune des prochaines deux années, à la division d'école pour me relâcher des devoirs de salle de classe à temps partiel pour enseigner 2 cours de PAA chaque semestre pour les prochaines trois années. Elle a dit ‹ vous me faites pleurer -- pourquoi n'ai-je pas su que vous pourriez faire ceci avant hier quand nous avons signé avec les autres divisions ? ??’

Alors, après une discussion interminable quant à comment et quand et ce que je pouvais faire, l'affaire a été faite avec le DEF et le NESD que j'offrirais asynch PAA les cours Tourisme 10/20 et Alimentation 10/20 pour les prochaines trois années. Et voilà! le reste du travail de Wagner est rejeté, à ma satisfaction. Et non seulement je continuais dans Immersion française, ce qui est où j'ai trouvé mon vrai talent et le vrai désir, je pourrais être stationné dans l'école secondaire et plus près à mes enfants. Le plus jeune enfant montait à LP l'année prochaine de toute façon, donc ils seraient tous non seulement dans la même ville que moi, mais dans la même école. La vie paraissait belle!

The beginning/ Le commencement de cette aventure en ligne

Je ne suis pas certaine si je me souviens de tout ce qui s'est passé de cette montagne que je suis montée puisque j'ai entrepris ce voyage. Je réfléchis... Il y était une fois une directrice qui, même si elle quittait l'école d'immersion, était très commise à l'éducation française de ses étudiants pour qu'ils puissent obtenir leurs diplômes bilingues... Quand il n'y avait pas de candidat pour une position à demi temps -en effet, ce n'est pas étonnnant puisque les professeurs de FI sont en tellement haute demande-nous avons fait face à un dilemme énorme. Pendant la séance dans mon bureau avec le Surintendant d'écoles et le Directeur de ressources humaines, j'ai eu une idée-EZPS était déjà dans le réseau d'éducation à distance de la Division d'école du nord-est, pourquoi ne pas ajouter une classe de plus? ? J'ai offert d'être le professeur pour cette classe, de Nipawin. Mais ma vision n'était pas d'être gelée sur l'ordinateur avec une conversation de voix désincarné aux étudiants à ZP pendant qu'ils soient assis là et (on espérerait) absorbent mes mots de sagesse. Non, j'ai envisagé une classe extrêmement interactive, où les étudiants pratiqueraient leur langue -le résultat principal pour une classe de langue de n'importe quel type- avec moi comme leur guide et professeur. Heureusement, le Directeur était aussi chargé du réseau d'éducation à distance, donc après quelques discussions de ce que j'aurais besoin (un ordinateur, une caméra web, une chaîne haute fidélité, un projecteur et un écran, et un surveillant), les Directeurs ont dit qu'ils le discuteraient. Ce n'était pas long -- je dirais même des heures -- avant qu'ils aient approuvé et la vision pouvait commencer à se solidifier.

I'm not sure I remember everything about this mountain I have climbed since embarking on this journey. Let me see...
Once upon a time, there was an outgoing principal in a very small French Immersion school who was very committed to the students getting the best French education they could...
When there were no candidates for a half time teaching position -indeed, not surprising since FI teachers are in such high demand that agreeing to come to ZP is not a prime decision, we faced a huge dilemma. Sitting in my office with the Superintendent of Schools and the Superintendent of Human Resources, I had a passing thought-EZPS is already in the elearning network of the North East School Division, why not add one more elearning class? I offered to be the teacher for that class, from Nipawin. But my vision was not to be frozen on the computer with a disembodied voice talking to the students while they sit there and (hopefully) absorb my words of wisdom. No, I envisioned having highly interactive class, where the students would practice their language -the absolute bottom line for a language class of any kind- with me as their guide and teacher. Luckily, the Superintendent was also in charge of the e-learning network, so after some discussion of what would I need ( a computer, a webcam, a sound system, a projector and screen, and a proctor), the Superintendents said they would discuss it. It wasn't long--I would even say hours-- before it was approved and the vision could start to solidify.

Beginning of second semester/Le début du deuxième semestre

Le nouveau défi de cette semaine était le matériel . Comment fournir efficacement l'accès aux étudiants au matériel de lecture exigé dans Histoire 10, 20 et Français 10? Le technicien informatique à l'école a suggéré que nous scrutons chaque page, l'enregistrer et créer alors un lien directement dans Moodle. Le technicien d'instruction connecté avec moi a suggéré que nous scrutons chaque document, et alors le télécharger à l'ordinateur et fournir l'accès comme ça. La première façon était bien, sauf que j'ai dû créer un lien pour chaque page séparément. Comme étudiant, je n'aurais pas aimé devoir retourner à la page d'activité pour trouver une nouvelle lecture. Alors, plutôt, j'ai scruté les pages sur la photocopieuse, les ai envoyées à mon courriel, ai téléchargé alors le document entier. Je pourrais faire alors juste un lien aux lectures dans l'activité. Et tout va bien!

The new challenge this week was figuring out how to efficiently provide access for my students to the reading material required in Histoire 10, 20 and Français 10. The computer technician at the school suggested we scan each page, save it and then create a link directly in Moodle. The instructional designer connected with me suggested we scan each document, and then upload it to the computer and provide access that way. The first way was ok, except that I had to create a link for each separate page, and as a student, I wouldn't have liked having to go back to the activity page to get to a new reading. So, instead, I scanned the pages on the photocopier, sent them to my email, then uploaded the whole document, in sections. I could then make just one link to the readings in the activity. And it worked!

Who am I? Qui suis-je?

Bonjour! I am a French Immersion teacher, teaching online distance education to students in other schools in this school division, as well as to students elsewhere throughout Saskatchewan. I teach synchronously and asynchronously, a variety of subjects from Tourisme and Alimentation to Français and Histoire. This has been my first experience teaching online and it has been a tremendous learning experience. I look forward to being able to do more and improve this technology method of delivery!

Je suis un professeur en Français d'Immersion, enseignant l'éducation à distance, en ligne, aux étudiants dans les autres écoles dans cette division scolaire, de même qu'aux étudiants ailleurs à travers la Saskatchewan. J'enseigne, synchro et asynchro, une variété de sujets de Tourisme et Alimentation à Français et Histoire. Ceci a été ma première expérience en ligne et ç'a été une expérience éducative fantastique. J'attends avec impatience d'être capable de faire plus et d'améliorer cette méthode technologique de livraison !