The French Program faculty embraces the International School of Denver's commitment to growth mindset through professional development.

Teaching French Grammar in Elementary with the AEFE

The AEFE (Agency for French Education Abroad) is a part of the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France that assures the quality of schools teaching the French national curriculum outside France. One of their Pedagogical Counselors,  Gwennaël Petillat, visited ISDenver February 29-March 1, 2024 on a mission specifically related to French Grammar in our Primary School.

During his two-day visit, he toured the campus, conducted classroom observations, and reflected with teachers, met with the academic and administrative team, and presented pedagogical training sessions.

The instruction of French grammar concepts explicitly using best pedagogical practices is of utmost importance to our faculty. Having an expert from the French Ministry of Education is essential to validate our approaches to teaching and learning at ISDenver. Teachers left the training empowered with new and approachable tools to use to immediately put into practice with their students.

MLF America training creates collaboration and consistency to benefit student growth

ISDenver became a member of the Mission Laïque Française in 2020. MLF is a progressive and forward-thinking organization and works closely with the French Ministry of Education. This organization supports ISDenver with cutting-edge professional development for all faculty in the French program.

Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, French-program faculty took part in two MLF professional development training in teaching French in a multilingual environment. Catherine Caillet, a MLF America Pedagogical Counselor, led the sessions.

French faculty attended the first of a two-part training with the MLF in October 2023 at the French School of San Diego.

The major themes of the training included:

• Multilingual dimension and awareness of linguistic diversity
• Welcoming allophone children and a focus on translanguaging practices
• Language and Speech 
• Choice of practical workshops: learning oral communication through, Games, Gestural language, SACLO (Situation d'Apprentissage et de Communication en Langue d'Origine), "Me-myself" or Echo albums, Story box, Multilingual projects

This past March, all participating teachers from MLF America schools participated in a remote online training. This equipped faculty with a forum to share their experience using the best practices and tools they had learned.

Also in March, English Teachers received training in Multilingualism and Translanguaging, led by Ellen Burdge. English teachers from around the MLF America network gathered in an online forum to:

• Learn from one another in the community, and to 
• Gain a deeper understanding of the topics as well as with practical strategies to use in their multilingual, shared classroom contexts

Teaching Assistants approached the topic of how  "To be an assistant in a multilingual context" with Catherine Caillet. This opportunity both:

• Acknowledged the vital role TAs play in the growth of their students 
• instructed on the same topics from the Homeroom lead courses to promote consistency and collaboration in the classroom

The International School of Denver opened as a French-language school in 1977, making it the oldest international school in the Rocky Mountain region. Steeped with deep roots, the French program is committed to evolving with best teaching practices.