Password!

Do you remember the old TV game show Password?  Celebrities would help their partners guess a Password by supplying them with one-word clues until they could guess the secret.  It was great, if you're into game shows.  Which I am. 

I first heard of using Passwords in the world language classroom at a conference several years ago.  I would happily cite my source if I could remember where I heard it from.  The idea was to set a vocab word as a password on one day, and then on the next they would have to repeat the word to get into the room.  I tried it a few times but I admit I didn't love the concept.  I would be too busy with the last class to greet the next one at the door to get the password, or I would just plum forget to do it all together.  I wasn't making it work and I wasn't sure why.  So it was easier to just not worry about it.

But I was lucky enough to see Bryce Hedstrom at a Comprehensible Input conference in Iowa in June of 2019.  And he gave a session on how to make Password work...how to make it effective and how to get as much bang for your buck out of the game.

I tried it at the beginning of the year and I am in love with the idea!  Here's how I use it in class.  All credit to Bryce. 

Every class (French 1 through 4) has a different password every week.  On Friday, I give them the Password (it's on the Power Point slide I use to project the plan for the day), and it stays up all week.  I try really hard to remember to Tweet the password out on Thursdays but that doesn't always happen.  I also make sure to use the password in class as much as I can.  Then on Friday, instead of the usual greetings, kids have to use the password to enter the class. 

How is this different from what I was trying the first time?  Well I am picking better passwords.  Rather than a random word of focus, I started picking phrases that were, you know....actually helpful.  I kinda can't believe I didn't figure that one out sooner, but live and learn.  Also I am using them in class.  I model them.  And I expect the kids to use them.  Once a phrase has been a password I try to make sure they use it.  And I am not above bribery...if they use it in context and without prompting in class, they get extra credit. 

Choosing a Password

Anything can be a password, but it should be something that you can get some miles out of.  I think a random vocab word is kind of "meh".  Like, ok...you can say "dog".  So?

French 1 passwords have been things they need to know, but I don't explictly instruct.  Their first password is "Je ne comprends pas".  Clearly that's a great phrase for a complete beginner to know.  Then they get "Comment dit-on...en français".  How great is it that kids can pose their questions in French?  I of course told them these expressions time after time (after time after time....) in class before this year.  But it didn't click for them because I used it without focus.  Telling is not the same as modeling.  Now I have kids who are making sure to use it each and every time.  Other phrases will be things like "à bientôt" and "puis-je aller aux toilettes". 

French 2 gets slightly more interesting things.  I think this week it was "Oh la vache! (darn it!)".  Next week is "Ça suffit" because clearly they don't understand me when I use it to politely ask them to shut the heck up.  ;-)  I am still in the process of building up my lists but go-to phrases like "I am joking" and "Nobody's perfect" are definitely on there.

French 3 and 4 get the idioms.  And they have been useful so far.  I am trying to help them learn more colloquial phrases to replace the mundane and novice-y phrases they continue to use.  I plan on also bringing in some good synonyms because I am SO OVER the word "très".   And French 4 loves that they have earned the right to know more....colorful expressions.  ;-)

Where to find them

I am using a lot of rejoinders in my lower level classes.  Those are fairly easy to find.  You can buy my rejoinder posters here, and there are great sources from Google and lots of other language teachers. 

Pinterest is great too.  I don't have a lot of background in casual French (read - slang).  I know a few things but nothing all that interesting.  Search idioms and jokes in your language and you will find some great expressions. 

Organization and Extra Credit

I have to organize.  In terms of school work, I can't stand clutter.  I have to know where all my digital things are and I have a probably over-complicated system to organize it all.

I use a simple Google Sheets (Excel if you are not using Google tools).   I have 1 Sheet with 4 separate pages (that sounds confusing...1 document on which you have have multiple tabs).  I have one page/tab for each class, and then the number of the weeks down the left.  Once I choose a password I enter it in.  If it's new to me I put the English for my own reference.  Then as the kids use words and expressions (in context) in class, I open the Sheet to the right page/tab, and type the kid's name after the right phrase. 

Give it a try!

So it's really nothing like the game in which Betty White makes Steve from New Jersey guess the word 'pitchfork'.  And sadly there is no prize money.  But the kids are learning and using authentic French in class with ZERO extra time being spent.  That's better than winning a few thousand dollars.

Kinda.