French Teacher at Sir Leckraz Teelock State Secondary School

Summary of official posts & responsobilities held

• Member of the School Newsletter Committee

Responsibilities: Editing, correcting articles submitted by students

• Exam Marker for Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) for O-Level French Paper 1

Responsibilities: Marking of scripts, writing report on students’ performance.

• Review Panel member for Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) for O-Level French Paper 1

Responsibilities: Review and re-correction of scripts, writing report on students’ performance.

• Examiner for Diplôme d'études en Langue Française (DELF) Examinations, an official certification of French language proficiency for non-native speakers of French.

Responsibilities: Conduct examination under the supervision of the chief examiner.

• Exam Marker for Diplôme d'études en Langue Française (DELF) Examinations, an official certification of French language proficiency for non-native speakers of French.

Responsibilities: Marking of scripts, writing report on students’ performance.

• Additional duties performed for administrative convenience as and when required.

Professional credentiald/awards

Year achievement

2016 Created an automated Mark-Listing Programme (in MS Excel) to facilitate educators’ task of recording and analysis of students’ performance (Trained educators at SLT SSS to use same)

2016 Published a video to show the successful usage of Tablet PC for teaching French Language at SLT SSS

2016 Nominated as Microsoft Innovative Expert Educator (MIEE 2016-2017) for using Microsoft Tools in teaching

2017 Created an automated Lesson Planning Template using Microsoft Developer Tool (Trained educators at SLT SSS to use same)

2017 Chair Person member of school to win Grand Prize for Public Service Excellence Award 2016

2017 Nominated as Microsoft Innovative Expert Educator (MIEE 2017 - 2018) for continuous effort to use Microsoft Tools in teaching

2017 Selected to represent Mauritius at the Global Educator Exchange (E2) Programme in Toronto, Canada 

2017 Awarded the title of Microsoft Certified Educator (MCE) through examination given in March 2017, in Toronto, Canada

2017 World First Runner Up for the Educator Challenge at the E2 Global Exchange Programme in Toronto, Canada. Was awarded shield and certificate

2017 – 2018 Nominated as Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow (MIE Fellow) in recognition for the status of ‘hardworking’ MIEE

2017 Nominated as Guest Speaker by Microsoft Education

2018 Active member of school working on 21st Century Education

2018 Earned 113 Badges & 57 Certificates on the Microsoft Educator Community platform upon successful completion of the various courses and quizzes.

2018 The Mauritius National Commission for UNESCO has supported the nomination of my project “Down-to-Earth Use of ICT to increase Access to Quality Education & Lifelong Learning Opportunities” for the 2017 edition of the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khlalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education

2018 Appointed ‘champion’  to facilitate the planning and the setting up of SLT team for the “Coder Dojo” Cracking the code campaign (Phase 1) organized by Accenture. Facilitated the preparation and organization of the two-day workshop at SLT by Accenture in connection with Coding.

English is the official language of the Republic of Mauritius. In schools, both English and French enjoy the same level of importance with respect to the number of hours dedicated to learning them. Nevertheless, English remains the favourite of students vis-à-vis French since they tend to find the latter language less appealing due to its more complicated syntax and grammar. Consequently, learners feel demotivated to attend French courses.  In addition, the continuous fall in the percentage of passes at the School Certificate (O-Level) Examinations for the past five years (for Boys) is an increasing concern for French educators and the authorities. To counter this problem, various new strategies were sought for in view of re-igniting the motivation level of students at Sir Leckraz Teelock State Secondary School situated in the east coast of the island of Mauritius. 
A lesson on Adjectives was conducted in the gamification mode using playing cards (Activity 1) and picture cards (Activity 2). Seated in groups of four (Ace, Jack, Queen & King), a Grade 10 Class of 16 students (age group 14-15 years) were given random choice of playing cards bearing themes connected to adjectives (“adjectifs”, “adjectifs qualificatifs”, “exemples des adjectifs qualificatifs”, “accord des adjectifs qualificatifs”). Each group discussed the theme thoroughly and presented in front of the class. The group which gave the best presentation with regards to precision in their explanations was rewarded with badges. During the second activity, picture cards were distributed to all groups. Students were required to use their imaginative faculty and creativity to look for the different adjectives describing the pictures given to them. In the end they presented their findings to the class on the whiteboard. Negative marking was used for mistakes while bonus marks paid back the best group.
This study revealed that boys being more attracted towards games tend to like the advent of gamification in the language classroom. The level of motivation as well as the extent of engagement was seen to uptick when the lesson was conducted. Besides students were seen to collaborate genuinely with members of their groups and they did their best to communicate effectively with a view to compete with other groups and bag the reward at stake. 

Gauge the level of innovation at the forum to situate the stand of Mauritian educators
Build a strong network of international educators for ongoing discussions about the trade of sharing of best practices
Gather a maximum repertoire of innovative teaching strategies that can easily and readily be adapted to the Mauritian context (to use for cascading back in Mauritius)