Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Etre et Avoir

After watching "Etre et Avoir" please write comments for this entry that talk about the things I mentioned in my earlier email.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

The film "To Be and To Have" showed a very well managed class in a French school, and it gave me some ideas about teaching in India. One main thing that I noticed was the way the teacher, Mr. Lopez, spoke with the children. He always physically got down on their level, spoke in a soft and pleasant voice, and calmly asked them questions. The way in which he hardly ever commanded the children to do things but instead asked them questions to get them to come to the conclusion that they should do something was remarkable. Though there will be a bit of language barrier in India, it is important to remember that these children are intelligent, no matter what their age, so we shouldn't talk down to them or command them to do things. No one responds well to treatment like that, but it is sometimes easy to resort that behavior when a person is stressed in a teaching situation. Giving the children options also seemed to work well for Mr. Lopez's class, and so that is important to remember as well. One aspect that I personally need to work on that Mr. Lopez did very well was that when talking to the children, he would allow for ample times of silence after asking a question. Some people take longer that I do to formulate a response or to feel comfortable speaking, so I need to be patient and let the children speak to me when they are ready. Overall, the film was helpful to show how to create a calming atmosphere (a lot of it coming from the teacher's tone, lack of stressed out behavior, etc.) and to remind us that spending one-on-one time with the kids is really what works best!

Liza Hester said...

The way that Mr. Lopez interacted with his students and conducted his elementary school classroom is a model that other teachers should emulate. As a first-time teacher at the Gandhi Ashram, I hope to utilize lessons, methodologies, and activities that I learned from “Etre et Avoir” in order to be a more effective English instructor.

There were two specific exemplars that I took away from the film that will be useful while teaching in India. First, after conducting a writing activity, Mr. Lopez had one student show their work to the group and then had the rest of the students tell him whether it was good or not and why. This peer revision was successful in having the students engage in conversation and also to articulate why something was not correct. I think that I could apply this strategy to my work in the English Department when teaching students sentence structure. For example, each student will create their own sentence using a vocabulary word or element of grammar that we have studied. Then, each student will read their sentence aloud, and the rest of the class will tell me whether this sentence is correct and be challenged to back up their argument.

Second, because of the different levels in his classroom, Mr. Lopez was constantly juggling different groups of students. It is possible that our classes at the Gandhi Ashram will be composed of students of different English abilities and needs, so it is important to understand how to balance these groups of students. Mr. Lopez was successful in this balancing act; while working with a set of students, he tracked the progress of other students working independently and made sure that they stayed on task. For example, he questioned Jojo, “What have you finished?” He would give Jojo goals and incentives in order to urge him to stay focused on his task and to work with diligence. To make sure that everyone is completing their work in my classroom in the Gandhi Ashram, I will use these prodding questions and strategies to encourage the students concentrate and to accomplish classroom goals.

Not only has this movie provided me with some strategies and activities that I can use in my teaching plans at the Gandhi Ashram, but also with a caveat: there needs to be an element of fun and relaxation in the classroom. A balance between work and fun will lead to a successful, enriching classroom experience for both students and teachers.

Emily Parker said...

Throughout Être et Avoir, I was in awe of the generally calm group dynamic and atmosphere Mr. Lopez maintained in his classroom. His students were respectful listeners and diligent workers. The most valuable strategy I noticed in his teaching was his successful balance between professionalism as a teacher and role model with his equally important goal of being their friend and confidant. He was very aware of his student’s lives outside the classroom (their family lives, support, and personal problems), which enhanced his understanding as a teacher. His active role in both their academic and personal lives was admirable and effective for the growth of both the students and teacher. Another effective strategy I noticed in the film was the constant movement within the classroom; Lopez changes the settings, subjects, activities and group dynamics to keep his students interested and active learners (i.e., the students moved from art classes, to math, to outdoor recess, to peer revision [as Liza mentioned], to field trips, etc.). This approach is especially important to keep in mind with diverse age groups and intellectual capabilities together in one classroom. Mr. Lopez’s extraordinary dedication proved rewarding over the course of his last year at this small French school – this drew my attention to the sometimes very slow progress of teaching and the utmost importance of patience. In many of Lopez’s interactions with the students, a little went a long way; for instance, he works individually with the more reserved, bashful students to boost their confidence, and likewise, he carefully encourages the distractible troublemaker Jojo to push him to reach his goals. Mr. Lopez’s dedication to detail combined with his devoted commitment to his students and learning can act as a source of motivation and reality to bear in mind as we head to the Ghandi Ashram and take on the daunting and unfamiliar task of teaching.

Megan said...
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Megan said...
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Megan said...

Watching “Etre et Avoir” reinforced the importance of good teaching and learning. Having grown up with great teachers and having my mom be an elementary school teacher, I have always appreciated the work that is involved in teaching well and the impact that a good teacher can have on a student. Mr. Lopez was clearly a special teacher who knew how to get children to learn and understand and had a serious investment in the lives of his students. One aspect that I appreciated was his ability to run a classroom with such a wide age range of students. This is a challenge I believe we may face at the Gandhi Ashram. He was able to get each group of students working and have them help each other as he walked around between groups reaching out to students in need. His use of peer critique, as in the scene where others evaluated handwriting, will be useful at the Gandhi Ashram. In the English and Theater department it will be crucial to use peer evaluation for writings and practice performances.
I admired Mr. Lopez’s strategy of asking questions once the students had learned something so as to ensure that they understood. This was demonstrated when he was teaching the difference between “ami” and amie.” This is a useful tool to make sure that our teaching is effective. It is important to ask questions as you go and make sure that students are all on the same page and actually learning what you are teaching. Mr. Lopez treated his students with respect and in turn was respected by them. This seemed to result from an investment in each student, as in the scene where he talks to Nathalie about moving on and invites her back every Saturday, and a careful balance of work and fun. I especially appreciated the scene where he made crepes with the students, and it was also great to see them all go sledding. At Gandhi Ashram, although we obviously have a time constraint since we will be there for only two and a half weeks, it will be important to factor in some truly fun activities that can bring together the class and strengthen teacher student relationships. As Mr. Lopez did in the movie, I know that each of us will not only be able to impact these students in our teaching but we will also learn from them. I am anxiously awaiting our opportunity to teach, learn, and build up relationships with the kids at the Gandhi Ashram.

Caroline said...

I appreciated "Etre et Avoir" as both a current student and as a future teacher. Lopez ran a flawless classroom - clean and orderly with a quite and safe atmosphere. I admired the attention that Lopez gave his students - their mental and physical well-being was his first priority. He was sure to diversify their activities (from sledding to coloring to reading quietly) daily. Though the students had a daily routine, it was spiked with fun and educational outdoor activity that gave them a chance to widen their educational scope while giving them breaks to play together and have time alone.
In our teaching group we have been discussing how to integrate all of the subjects into one – make teaching and learning as “real life” for our students as possible. Allowing older students to play a role in teaching and leadership is a fantastic way to exercise unity and leadership. Since he was the only teacher, Lopez had many responsibilities on his shoulders at once. So will we. He was able to integrate subjects while giving the older students leadership roles with the younger ones which gave the older students incentives to behave appropriately. He used his resources – the older kids – to everybody’s advantage. Shouldn’t we learn from Lopez and strive to do the same?
I really admired how well Lopez could balance all of his tasks. He played every role in the school – nurse, counselor, administrator, and teacher. We too, will also be faced with all of these tasks while teaching in India. Lopez flows though these positions seamlessly. He did not treat one role more importantly than the other, and I really admired that in him. Without the bulk of the administrators and teachers at the school we will need to play disciplinary roles while also acting as figures from which the students will learn, look up to, and trust.

Nikolai said...

Mr. Lopez in Etre et Avoir might be closest I can get to what I want to be in India. He's calm, cool, a friend, a teacher, many more roles and he seems to be great at all of them. I have been teaching in a few different contexts, working with people of various age groups and I understand that there are subtly difficulties to teaching. Things and details one doesn't immediately think of when thinking of teaching. And I think the movie did an excellent job in pointing out what those subtleties can be and how they can be tackled with mastery.
For one there is the question of truly connecting with the students. One can have a brilliant plan and it may all seem great on the paper, but for a number of more or less predictable reasons everything might fall flat once in the class room. Mr. Lopez connects with the students by using three tools skillfully: patience, respect, and diversity. He shows a level of patience that surpasses just waiting for the students to talk. He encourages them over and over again to do things in their tempo. He ask them questions and makes sure that everything that is going on is going on at a level where the students feel constantly challenged, yet never hasted nor stressed. That, to me, was a lesson in what true patience can be that I hope not only to bring to India, but also to incorporate in my own little philosophies of life.
By being a friend and a teacher at the same time, Mr. Lopez managed to earn the students respect at, what seemed to be, a profound level. He managed to get the students to attentively listen to him when he spoke. Not only because he was the teacher, but he showed the students mutual respect and true interest in their lives, which made the students listen to them cause they'd developed an interest in their teacher that strechted beyond the profession. This is a thing, I feel, that requieres great talent and I'm not sure exactly how to train for such a skill - it seems, to me with Lopez, to be more an innate touch than a trained routine.
Lastly, Mr. Lopez manages to keep the students interested in the class room and each other by stressing diversity over and over again. He changes the school days and activities to keep the minds of the students fresh with images and experiences to interpret and work with. He also, by bringing up students work in class for evaluation, gets the students to focus on each other instead of just individual paths. By doing this he makes the students think about their identity in relation to their class mates and creates a sense of community that is interesting to the students, exactly because he continuesly puts them in different context.

Chris Van Alstyne said...

Watching Mr. Lopez teach was like watching a master at work. At all times, he had full control over the many interplaying factors that compose the classroom environment, all accomplished without ever having to raise his voice. He had a clear vision of how the class should operate and accomplished his goals through calm, deliberate actions. It was remarkable to see the relationship that exists between himself as a teacher and the children he taught; while the children often were impatient and sometimes rowdy, they all respected him and clearly wanted to do whatever they could to please him. Likewise, Mr. Lopez treated the students with a level of respect you would expect to see between the closest of friends. His calm, nurturing approach to teaching certainly provided for an exemplary classroom environment. Through Mr. Lopez’s approach, it’s clear that teaching is not about imposing one’s ideas and concepts on students and certainly not of domination. Rather, a good teacher should treat students with the same respect that the teacher in turn expects from students. To be a great teacher like Mr. Lopez, patience is a necessity, as is a sense of humor. One should be aware of inner potential and capabilities of students, guiding them to a point in which they can succeed themselves. The devotion Mr. Lopez has for his students is a model for all teachers.

Ricardus said...

The film offered invaluable lessons that every student should utilize during our time in India. These lessons apply not only to our time in the classroom, but also to our interactions with other residents of Kalimpong and Delhi. Mr. Lopez’ most appealing strategy was his use of questions to tease out the answer from his students. When confronted with unknowns Mr. Lopez showed his students the path to the answer rather than handing it directly to them. This strategy coincides directly with the overarching goal I would like to achieve by teaching the students the scientific method. The ability to confront an unknown through a systematic process is an essential lesson, and one that when broadly applied can satisfy inquiries in any discipline. The benefits of this technique are seen during the attempts of one student to do math problems at home. While the student is struggling his family members begin to hand him the answers. This ends in an excellent image in the kitchen where the entire family is sitting around the child’s homework handing him multiple answers, all of which the student himself seems to doubt. By addressing unknowns through questions the students will learn how to think, and how to answer their own questions, which is the most valuable skill we could pass on.
I was also intrigued by Mr. Lopez’ ability to handle a class filled with students of multiple ages. A very regimented style was used to keep the students under control. Students weren’t allowed to sit before being told, activities were not started until instructed, and incentives such as recess were granted or repealed. As a student I despised systems like this, but their effectiveness is undeniable. These methods are most effective in controlling students when attention is being given to another group of children. Projects were assigned, and expectations set while a lesson was going on in another location. By being strict, and keeping students busy, rather than unengaged and intellectually stagnant Mr. Lopez was able to split his efforts and teach what was essentially two classes simultaneously. In Kalimpong this would be very useful for my lessons because there are varying degrees of details that I expect different ages to grapple with. The activities are applicable to all groups, and by gathering a larger sample of data another lesson of sample size, statistics, and lab practices can be taught. Although he was strict Mr. Lopez never allowed his students to be bored, and by combining the regimented system of the classroom with a constant flow of activity more was accomplished by every student.
Finally I would like to bring the lessons of the film to our entire experience in India. Lessons for addressing the “contact zone” are prevalent throughout the film as well. Since we are students entering into an unknown situation we must embrace Mr. Lopez’ strategy of learning gradually by directly addressing our questions to ourselves, and people we meet. Being timid and turning inward will result in the same situation seen in the kitchen in France. We must push ourselves to ask these questions, because they go easily unanswered. There are a lot of us headed over to an unknown place, we will be living with each other and it will be easy for us to turn insular after a long day of teaching. Our entire time there is a learning experience, it’s our responsibility to talk to each other about every teaching experience, and push ourselves to get to know other people we meet in Kalimpong. The lessons we gathered from Mr. Lopez must be applied to ourselves and to our fellow students.

Pamela Colon said...

Mr. Lopez's teaching methods were definitely admirable to say the least. I agree with the rest of the students who have posted thus far and really think that his patience and communication skills are incredible. He never once raised his voice or seemed anxious/angry/inpatient, which is really difficult to do in certain situations. He also treated the students like adults and peers on some level, as he expected them to uphold certain attitudes and behaviors, and I think this is the reason why the students respected him so much. I think they respected him as a person and friend, not just as an authority figure, which creates a different dynamic in the classroom. As a teacher, I wonder what things I could do in order to create and maintain that balance of respect with my students. I also liked how Mr. Lopez utilized all of the age groups and allowed them to work together and rely on each other. It must have been difficult to have such a difference in the age groups and learning levels, but he managed to work with this and tailor things to their needs. I also liked the small working groups that he had set up in the classroom. THis may be something that we should do while in school.

Nick said...

More than anything else, this film made me want to be a kid again, maybe 5, maybe 6, or 7 years old, any age where the wonder of a world unfolding all around you is always present. This is an age where the discoveries you make will shape the way you interpret the rest of your life, both consciously and subconsciously. Of course, this ability persists throughout your life, but I feel it is strongest during these youthful years, when you have gained the ability to interpret information but as yet still lack the ability to judge its value, credibility, and purpose. That is why a "guiding" presence is so crucial to a child, and why those providing the guidance must be observant and diligent regarding their duty. M. Lopez of "Etre et Avoir" epitomized the characteristics that a person should have around and with children - namely, 1. he was a presence, a leader of the classroom community, and yet did not elevate himself above the community's problems and needs, 2. he provided a "rock," a figure whom the children could depend on, be comfortable with, trust, and gain support from, 3. he provided the push, the momentum (educationally, emotionally, morally) that kept the daily and day-to-day processes moving fluidly, and with a much comfort and as little stress as possible, both for him and his pupils. A teacher who puts forth an effort like this can achieve the respect of their students, and provide the students with a platform of confidence by which they can pursue new conquests of knowledge.
Obviously, to be in this position is to have an incredible amount of responsibility. That is what I think I can take from this film and bring with me to India - in or out of the classroom, my fellow teachers and I are responsible for influencing the minds of many people, and we should think, teach, and enjoy our time with them accordingly.

Aqsa Mahmood said...

The movie “To Be and To Have” depicted what a typical elementary level classroom should be like. There were not students running around, the classroom was well managed. There were many things Mr. Lopez did that I found should be copied and implemented at the Gandhi Ashram School. Mr. Lopez allowed the students to have an opinion on their own work and on others. For example, when everyone was writing the word mom he asked others if they liked the way the student wrote. Having given the students an opportunity to speak what they think helps them with their self-esteem. Mr. Lopez as well had the students answer their own question, instead of just telling them his answer he worked through the question so that the student approached a solution. I believe that instead of me dictating I want to have the students at the Gandhi Ashram School all work together in answer a specific question. One student could tackle the beginning of the solution and the rest could build on from then.

Economics can be a boring subject to some so having breaks and making the subject interactive between all the students will cause the subject to be more interesting. I liked the way Mr. Lopez had one classroom outdoors, I feel like changes in the classroom atmosphere can help get students focused and relaxed.

At the Gandhi Ashram School, I feel as if it would be easier to have some time available where I could go around to each student see how he/she is doing as if Mr. Lopez did so I can see if the students understand the material well or not. If a student is having trouble I would assist them but also have, other students help that student as well. I also like the set up Mr. Lopez had in his classroom where students were grouped into tables of five or six. I feel like a classroom where students are able to assist one another makes the classroom environment a lot more manageable and less boring because students are busy helping others and testing how well they know the material.