This text is part of the special section Private schools
They took the plunge and dared to teach differently. Three Quebec schools have implemented innovative pedagogies to allow their students to approach their school learning differently. The results sometimes exceeded their expectations.
At the Vision St-Augustin trilingual school in the Quebec city area, the stress level has gone down. Each week, students, from kindergarten to grade six, practice one hour of mindfulness, according to an approach adapted to the needs of each class. Yoga, relaxation, visualization, guided breathing or massage workshops are now part of the schedule.
“We have noticed a real improvement in the concentration, calm and level of anxiety of the students”, observes Caroline Boudreault, teacher in kindergarten 4 years and in 1D and in 2e year, who set up the first sessions in her class with a colleague a few years ago. Since then, teachers have been trained to extend this practice to all school groups.
“It makes me happy to be calm, and when I come home at night, I’m glad I practiced mindfulness, because when I don’t, I get too excited,” says Victoria, a student at third year. His comrade Guillaume is happy to be able to slow down his thoughts. For meme Boudreault, these breaks are the best way to “snack the brain.”
Model like a pro
Develop spatial sense outside of the usual exercises that are sometimes repetitive and unmotivating; this is what Keven Poulin, a mathematics teacher at Collège Sainte-Anne, in Lachine, wanted to put in place two years ago in secondary three. “With my colleague Annie Lévesque (who now works at Collège Boisbriand), we looked for a method that was more like what is done in industry,” he recalls.
They find the right formula with the free 3D modeling software BlocksCAD, which allows them to create and manipulate 3D virtual objects like real-life monuments, by working on decomposable solids, the Pythagorean theorem and proportionality. “A team of students chose to model Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney World Park. We had selected it in our list of monuments, but I dared not believe that they would succeed in such an impressive way! says the professor. A virtual exhibit allowed students to showcase their work, which included the Parliament of Canada and Saint Joseph’s Oratory. “With programming, we also touch more general skills, such as perseverance and a certain resistance to frustration,” underlines Mr. Poulin.
Forget the notes
At Mont Notre-Dame College in Sherbrooke, students only receive numerical marks twice a year, on their report cards, a reduction that began four years ago. “We wanted to assess less but better, and we chose to go back to basics,” says Cinthya Gauthier, director of educational services at the school. With the onset of the pandemic, the impossibility of conducting formal assessments allowed teachers to “take a giant step” by using the training they had received in the previous months to make their professional judgment without numerical grading, according to Mme Gautier.
For the past year, the new assessment practice has applied to all middle school students in all subjects. “We give them time and the right to make mistakes. They are less stressed and pay more attention to teachers’ comments, which allows them to better understand how they can improve,” observes Christine Cantin, a fourth-grade science teacher. The school took care of its communication by regularly informing parents during the year (ratings, feedback, etc.), which allowed it to collect very positive feedback. “At the start, we were swimming a little in the void, but we had to get started, encourages Mme Canteen. And when our students are doing well, we also become better teachers! »