D.O.D.I. PROJECT 15 - IMPRESSIONS BRITANNIQUES

D.O.D.I. PROJECT 15 -

IMPRESSIONS ...

After analyzing the answers, here are the British impressions after this fifteenth educational adventure.

The different day's activities are classified from 1 to 6. (1 being the preferred activity).

1/ Visiting the chateau in La Cressonnière

2/ The school fete

3/ Having lunch with French seniors and students

4/ Answering the questionnaire about the book “La Vendée Pour Les Nuls”

5/ Visiting the lime kilns

6/ Fishing

COMMENTS ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES:

I found the work on ‘La Vendée Pour Les Nuls’ very interesting, so much, that I have ordered the book from Amazon! However, it was the adults, both French and British, who did all the work.

The visit to the château could have been more interesting if there had been information on the historical background of the château and its various owners, rather like the visit to the château in Loge Fougereuse last year.

Also, I wonder what was the object of the exercise where the British were asked to translate into French the words given by the students. Was it a test ?!?

During the fishing activity, why, I wonder, was it us who had to write out the questions and answers on the students’ answer sheets?

In all, the day was very enjoyable.

I enjoyed the activities & clearly a lot of thought had been put into them. However, I would suggest that perhaps they should be timed better.

For example, my group (9) had fishing as the second activity in the morning. We finished this soon after 11a.m. and had nearly an hour of doing nothing whilst we waited for ‘La Vendée’. There were other moments during the day whilst we were waiting around for something to happen.

All the activities were well thought out and active which was reflected in the students' participation. It was good to see both the British and French helpers getting stuck in and enjoying themselves.

I always find it difficult scoring the activities because I really enjoy them all and would like to give them all a 1. It was yet another great day aand I woulm like to pass on my thanks to the students and the seniors of Cezais who worked so hard to make the day a success.

Thank you Vincent for all your hard work and enterprise for organising all these events which give us the opportunity to help the students with their English and learn so much about the area. Mostly positive.

Seniors enhance the experience. All the activities were fun and very well organised, I think the school fete was enjoyed the most by me and my boys because it was fun and you interacted with them on a different level.

I think the lime kiln tour could have had a bit more history to how they worked and sold their supplies, it was very quick and not quite enough to fill the time slot. What a lovely village!

All the activities this year were really good and it was difficult to say which we enjoyed doing the most, but I think it would have to be the visit to the Chateau.

It was a shame that we had run out of time and not able to complete the last activity, which was the ‘School Fete’.

Visiting the Kiln was interesting, but it was a really quick activity. Looking at local products, honey for example was also interesting. We enjoyed them all.

The school fete is a good way to build up team spirit and get to know everyone.The food was very good.

COMMENTS ABOUT THE STUDENTS:

The two girls were very friendly and extremely polite. We did have to give them a lot of encouragement to venture into English. They needed a lot of support which we were more than happy to give. At lunch, they were more inclined to chat to their classmates, but willing to speak English with us when we asked them to.

As this was only my second D.O.D.I. adventure, I am unsure as to the aims it has with regards to the students. What were the linguistic objectives?

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with the French ‘senior’. We exchanged a lot of information about our lives and our separate countries and traditions and about the places where we were brought up. Having said that, the students did speak more to the French adult than they did to us.

Whereas having a French adult was very beneficial to me, I cannot say the same for the advancement of the English language for the students!

I enjoyed the activities and clearly a lot of thought had been put into them.

However, I would suggest that perhaps they should be timed better.

For example, my group (9) had fishing as the second activity in the morning. We finished this soon after 11 a.m. and had nearly an hour of doing nothing whilst we waited for ‘La Vendée’. There were other moments during the day whilst we were waiting around for something to happen.

Our two students were delghtful, hard working and wquick to become involved. Their spoken Englsih improved during the day as they grew more confident. They quickly realised that the way to answer the questions in sentences was to use the text from the question.

All the students were well behaved, polite and a credit to you and the school. Welll done!

The two girls were very lovely girls very polite and well mannered, a credit to the school and their parents. One of them tried very hard with her English and was very enthusiastic about all the activities throughout the day. The other one, who joined us at lunch time as she had an exam in the morning, was quiet and although she participated well in the activities of the afternoon was not as enthusiastic as her classmate

She was much more reluctant to talk and so it was difficult to assess her level of English.

Well behaved and polite. My 2 boys were very well behaved, " true gentlemen", fun to be with but very respectful too.

The whole class in general seemed to be a very pleasant group and were a pleasure to spend the day with.

Again we had two wonderful students. They were really enthusiastic and worked well all day. They made notes and listened to all the information at each of the visits, a credit to the school! They were very polite and seemed to enjoy the event – especially as it is close to their Brevet examinations.There was an element of competition which is good. Both of us thought that the students were a credit to the school, their parents and teachers.

FOR NEXT YEAR ….

I would like to change the content of the February meeting. To be more precise, I don't intend to show you pictures of the visited commune. You know what I call the memory game! What is more, I think some primary pupils will join us for this meeting. What do you suggest?

All students enjoy and benefit from active learning experiences. “Unless students are challenged, they will never reach their full potential!”

Younger children may need more support: help with their writing or give them words to underline/cross out or pictures to select from. And I really enjoy the memory game !! It would be good if the younger children could join us, but it has been lovely to have the help from the adults from the commune.

If primary students are going to be involved, the English adults will need to come down to their level a bit more as in past years it's been a bit difficult for them to get involved. How about splitting the morning into a part with the questions from the students to the adults, name, age etc....

As normal, with the primary students learning questions for them to ask too, ( the easier ones) so that the college students don't take over. The second part could be traditional English party games, games always help everyone to interact, games which can be played by the adults and the college/ primary students. The tray memory game, pin the tail on the donkey, bingo, pass the parcel (each layer could have an instruction in English to do), musical chairs, etc......

There are loads!! If you are not sure what the game is have a look on the Internet. Groups could be made bigger for this part as you need a few for musical chairs!! We could always introduce jelly and ice Cream!!!

We will give this some thought. Primary pupils also enhance the experience. I must admit that I do like the memory game as I love seeing the old photographs of the commune as, for me, it is interesting to see the type of industry and events that went on in the past.

Perhaps you could do a then and now thing with a spot the difference so that the younger children would be able to participate fully. Well that’s all I can think of at the moment hope it helps.

Just to remember that the students seem to be more involved when doing an activity rather than just listening. It was great to see the report on the TV. This will have to be an activity which will engage the interest of the younger pupils.

Maybe people from the commune coming in to talk about what they do & if possible giving a demonstration.

Thank you very much for all you did this last year. It gave me great pleasure to help the students with their English. Have an enjoyable summer break.

I agree that the addition of primary school pupils is a good idea. I cannot think of any activities to suggest at the moment (a bit difficult when the location is a state secret!). However, I am very much looking forward to participating.