This text is part of the Teachers’ Week special booklet
Historical walks, dinner talks, podcasts… Two teachers from the François-Bourrin private secondary school in Beauport are stepping up initiatives to motivate their students. Projects that could be adapted to continue even at the height of the pandemic, when classes moved online.
Catherine Sergerie and Ann Martin have developed several interdisciplinary activities that have kept students interested in their studies. The first teaches French, media and ethics, while the second teaches history. “Like the two, we teach in IVand high school, we often work together. There are many things that come together in French and in history, ”summarizes Mme Sergerie, who has worked at the establishment for four years.
The projects started before the health crisis. In particular, the students were able to take part in the reconstitution of a trial, with a lawyer who came to play the role of judge. A way for students to learn the notions of argumentation, taught in French, while reviewing a judicial decision seen in history. “It cements their understanding. It will also motivate them, given that we work in projects. It puts them into action more than a lecture,” observes Ms.me Sergerie.
The students also participated in other bidisciplinary activities, such as a walk in Quebec. They were thus able to learn concretely certain historical notions while drawing inspiration from elements they had seen to write a literary short story. For meme Martin, this is a way to lighten the work that students have to hand in. “In fourth secondary, they are bombarded by the evaluations of the ministry. The level of complexity is much greater. I tell them that they are going to do a single project in French and in history, ”explains the one who has been teaching at the François-Bourrin school since 2010.
Adapt to better motivate
The pandemic shifted classes to virtual for a while, then alternately, with one day out of two at school and the other online. Teachers therefore had to review the way they worked, in order to find ways to keep students motivated.
“I trashed everything I did and built my own digital material,” recalls Mme Martin. Since her lecture notes already contained a lot of hyperlinks and video clips, her class made an easier transition online.
“Students who don’t participate a lot in class don’t tend to do so online,” she observes. In order to motivate even the most discreet students, the teacher asks them to hand in a piece of work or a project at the end of each lesson. According to her, thanking her students at each handover is “essential”. “I made it my duty to give them feedback quickly so they knew I was validating their work,” she says.
In order to fight against isolation, the two women have created lunchtime talks. The students came to discuss their passions or present their pets. “Adolescents are often alone at home. It felt good to be able to chat with someone, ”explains M.me Martin.
For his colleague, the health crisis has made it possible to rethink certain projects in order to transpose them online. Thus, the students of Mme Sergerie have notably done theatre, created a podcast and short films. She was also inspired by personalities loved by adolescents, by inviting youtuber Victoria Charlton to a virtual conference, whose content focuses on criminal and strange stories that have occurred in Quebec. “It connects the students to something concrete. Generally, they get involved much more in a project than in a course, which is more theoretical, especially online,” she notes.
Teachers help each other
The two women do not hesitate to publish their successes on social networks, where they exchange tips with other colleagues from all over Quebec. “There are a lot of teachers who share their content for mutual help. We have all experienced the pandemic, difficult situations where we had to turn around quickly, ”explains Mme Sergerie.
For his part, M.me Martin plans to create his projects in a hybrid way even after the health crisis. “I always have in mind that it must be possible to switch online,” she says.
Initiatives that she will continue to share with the community of teachers on the Internet. “It will make learning easier for the students. That they are anywhere, it is made to help them. »