This Thursday, March 12, 2020, Stéphane Gambey is like his 866,500 teacher colleagues from National Education: mouth open. Emmanuel Macron just announced the closure of 50,130 schools, 7,230 middle schools and 4,150 lycées in France as of Monday, March 16. A first. Even during World War II, schools remained open. On March 8, the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, still indicated that he was not no question, even in case of passage to stage 3, to follow the Italian example and to close all schools
.
The phase of astonishment passed, Stéphane Gambey gets organized very quickly. Professor of physics and chemistry at the Félix-Tisserand college in Nuits-Saint-Georges (Côte-d’Or), he feels loose
by the ministry.
No attendance at the college does not mean absence of lessons for the 320 pupils from sixth to third for which he is responsible. Luckily, he is very comfortable with digital tools. For five to six years, my students have used a site that I created where I post lessons, exercises, videos. It was very easy for them to use it at home.
“All the students did not have a computer”
Finally, so to speak! Because in this rural area, the Internet connection is not always perfect. Besides, not all of the students had computers. Many only had their cell phone on which all the apps I use didn’t necessarily work …
Very quickly, Stéphane Gambey relied on two tools: Genially and Kahoot. The first allowed him to create a virtual classroom. “There was my avatar, desks, shelves. Students had to click on objects to find numbers. The combination allowed them to open a safe with rewards inside, like bonus points ”. Kahoot allowed him to set up quizzes, lasting five to ten minutes, at the start of class to revise concepts, or at the end of the session to review them.
Tools that Stéphane Gambey still uses today. This is the positive side of the first confinement. I believe that we have made a leap forward in the use of digital tools. Before, for example, very few students looked at timetables online. Now everyone uses it, including asking me questions.
Not too intrusive? No, except when parents call me to challenge this or that note …
– .
