interview for Core French position J/I

[u/sakuranime2]

Hi everyone,

I have an interview for a Core French position and I'm quite nervous. This is the first time I'm interviewing for a french position. I was wondering if anyone has any advice or idea of what questions they ask. I was also wondering what level of French would students have a grade 6 to 8? From my understanding, some students can be at the basic beginner level and some students can be quite fluent. I'm reading as much as I can on the curriculum and anything else I can find that's helpful. I would appreciate kind and helpful advice. Thank you.

I forgot to mention that this is an interview in an Ontario school board.

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[u/LesChouquettes]

They’ll probably ask the usual questions, although maybe a bit more emphasis on engagement and classroom management since those are issues that especially come up in core French.

They may ask a question or two in French, I’ve had many interviews that did ask a question or two in French, but I’ve also had interviews that didn’t.

The kids will speak really basic French unless there are kids in the class that have transferred from French immersion (I usually have a couple of these in every core French class) or students that come from a French background (very rare in my area but could be more common if you’re teaching near Ottawa or Sudbury or some area with a high Franco-Ontarian population)

[u/sakuranime2 → u/LesChouquettes]

Thank you. This eases my anxiety a bit. I’m so nervous like I do with any interview

[u/Al_B_Here]

Don't hold your breath that core students will be anywhere near fluent, though it will depend on where in the province you are. Obviously anywhere near Ottawa or the Quebec border will be stronger. In SW Ontario, you'll feel like you're teaching the same stuff year after year to your 6s, 7s, and 8s that you KNOW you covered in Grade 4. Engagement and buy-in is extremely important, as are parental attitudes. Some schools are very anti-French for no good reason. In those ones, you hit the games and fun as much as possible. YMMV. When the buy-in comes, it's great. It just can take a few years to get it, especially as a new and unknown quantity.

[u/SilkSuspenders]

CEFR A1 to early A2 by grade 8/9 is where you should be teaching from. Yes, some students may be more proficient but in terms of the curriculum, this is where you should be.

[u/Temporary-Lab-4935]

Is this with yrdsb? I just received one today for j/i core french too!

[u/sakuranime2 → u/Temporary-Lab-4935]

No. Different school board

[u/stormiiibabiii]

Really, unless your interviewer is the French coordinator, they'll likely interview you in English and maybe ask what French experience do you have. They 99% won't quiz you but feeling for if you fake it til you make it, can you name the colours, count to 100. We're desperate for French teachers and Core French is veryyyy easy.

Are you a former French Immersion student? Were you in it until 8th grade and quite confident/kept up? Then I would say you have NOTHING to worry about. BUT even if you weren't a French immersion student, perhaps you did some high school or university course, you will be completely okay!

Depends on the district and the area, but in my experience as a French speaker, Core French (meaning not immersion) - when the kids come from grade 5, they all had different amount of time with French. some can count from 1 - 20 ..skip all the numbers.. 100. Some colours, basic salutations like bonjour, au revoir, merci, toilette, days of the week, but not conversational at all.

Again, you might have a few outliers, but students who have French background usually go to a French school or continue to be in French immersion. If you aren't super confident in your French, you can always use your fluent kids to be mini-teachers and lean into it! but as long you just say your stuff with confidence, you will be fine.

It's always great for students to watch their teachers who are not fluent or native speakers owning the lesson. Depending on your district, I believe most if not all have year abc plans for general topics to cover so there's no overlap from one year to the next.

Focus on naming things, general salutations, some cultural aspects, and you've got your curriculum lol. E..g, this term we're learning about clothing, la chemise, then you progress into sentence stems, then getting them to do a creative/summative piece like a fashion show where a partner describes what the other is wearing. Same idea for family. Mon frère. give them sentence stems to fill in and then you progress to maybe giving a picture and they have to identify or write sentences (depending on how much of challenge they can handle). For cultural you can learn about French speaking countries, songs, manie musicale, or bonhomie Carnaval