Réseaux

Globalization has its inconveniences, like receiving texts in the middle of the night from your business partners in China, or facing uncertainty and competition in an ever-changing world. 

But let's talk about its advantages. Thirty years ago, a school like ours would have been very isolated. French-American schools already existed, but communication within this embryo of the network was very slow. Technology, with its array of mobile devices connected to the internet has opened up extraordinary possibilities to educators. In the first issue of 1, 2, 3 Soleil of this school year, we present some of the wonders accomplished with new tools, and also the facility we now have to exchange ideas and share projects with other schools. Réseaux, the French word for network, is a key advantage of our program. We are not an isolated school offering a bilingual program, but a school connected to a vibrant network of open-minded educators sharing the same values and dedication to a mission. A new culture is gaining ground, and the projects shared within AEFE*, MLF* and CAIS* schools are promoting a spirit of creativity, innovation, collaboration, and permanent exchanges, made possible in today's connected world.

I hope you will observe these changes in the information we are bringing to you about our school and its projects this year.

Christian Jarlov,

Head of School

Réseaux

La mondialisation a ses inconvénients, comme être réveillé au milieu de la nuit par les textos de votre partenaire  en Chine, ou le spectre des incertitudes ou de la compétition dans un monde en perpétuel changement.

Mais parlons plutôt de ses avantages. Il y a trente ans, une école comme la nôtre aurait été bien isolée. Les écoles franco-américaines existaient bien, mais la communication au sein de cet embryon de réseau était plutôt lente. La technologie, avec son offre de supports mobiles reliés à internet a ouvert d'extraordinaires possibilités aux éducateurs. Le premier numéro de l'année d' 1,2, 3 Soleil présente quelques exemples des miracles accomplis avec ces nouveaux outils, ainsi que la facilité avec laquelle nous échangeons des idées et des projets avec les autres écoles. Notre réseau est un avantage majeur pour notre programme. Nous ne sommes pas une école isolée proposant un programme bilingue, mais une école connectée à un réseau très actif d'éducateurs ouverts d'esprit qui partagent les mêmes valeurs et la même mission. Une nouvelle culture gagne du terrain et les projets partagés au sein des établissements de l'AEFE, la MLF ou CAIS encouragent la créativité, l'innovation et la collaboration dans des échanges permanents rendus possible par ses réseaux qui nous relient au reste du monde.

J'espère que vous sentirez ces changements en lisant ces informations sur l'école et ses projets.

Christian Jarlov,

Chef d'établissement

*AEFE= Agence pour l'Enseignement du Français à l'Etranger

*MLF = Mission Laïque Française

*CAIS = California Association of Independent Schools

Revolution or Evolution in the World of Education?

By Christian Jarlov, Head of School 

Revolution can be scary. Consider what the French did in 1789: they chopped off heads, burned castles, dumped traditions and created a new laical God. After ten years of revolution, they returned to stability. Kings came back for a short while and then an Emperor! That's the problem with revolution, in a way; it etymologically revolves and comes back to the starting point!

 

For the past 30 years, schools have been going through small-scale revolutions, and teachers have sometimes been the French revolutionaries, giving away old methods, burning old concepts, introducing new methods and revolutionary gadgets in their classrooms. Similar to the upheaval of 1789, some of the changes have been really scary, and therefore we have experienced mixed reactions among teachers and parents, as old habits can be so hard to abandon.

 

 Read the full story 

 

My Big Campus in Middle School

By Pierre Chauvet, Middle School Teacher

San Diego French-American School is affiliated with Mission Laïque, which is an association for French schools from around the world. Our teachers are participating in a workshop organized by Mission Laïque in order to enrich their teaching skills, teaching methods and also to update their good practices.

The first one was on Monday, October 29^th, when Philippe Roi, a pedagogic adviser, came to our school and worked with "Cycle 2" teachers (1^st and 2^nd grade).

The main topic of this workshop focused on the use of oral language with students in order to improve their writing skills. A student who has some challenges with writing a text may be more comfortable expressing himself orally about what he sees, or what he thinks, using a specific vocabulary (tool words) before he writes. The first step in this process will help the student organize his thoughts and achieve better writing by being more confident.

For the second year, our students engaged in this project, coordinated by Sylvie Jarlov and the Groupe Humanitaire, and loved it!

Free Rice is an online Internet game that donates 10 grains of rice to the World Food Program (WFP) for every correct answer.

WFP, the United Nations frontline organization fighting hunger, distributes the rice to the hungry. WFP uses the donations from the site to purchase rice locally, feed people in need and stimulate local economies.

"How can a teacher possibly reach every child in such a diverse classroom environment?"

This is a question most often asked of the teachers and administration at San Diego French-American School because of our unique, multicultural student body.  Having such a mélange of individual backgrounds, the students of our school bring many different traits and experiences to the classroom.  As dedicated teachers, we make it a priority to ensure that the curriculum reaches each individual child. This is accomplished through differentiated instruction.

This is the "Parents' Corner." You can submit a question or a comment to: echo@sdfrenchschool.org

The question of the month is: 

Who is Picbille?

NEW THIS YEAR:

Catalog of SDFAS projects or events of 

the year.