fluent.in.teaching

Meet Marie Soleil – the travelling class pet gecko. As a French mentor this year, I don’t have a classroom of my own but still wanted to bring the joy of a class pet to students. Some teachers kindly volunteered to host her for about a month at a time. She is now in her sixth classroom and will visit one more before the school year finishes. I always joke that she is like Taylor Swift doing her Eras Tour – and her fans certainly love her.

I assume most of the responsibilities of her care and take her home with me on weekends and breaks for feedings. Some teachers have enjoyed taking her out so the students can have a close up; other teachers see her more as a moving decoration and wait until I come to supervise the students visiting her.

I am the only French Mentor in my RCE (Regional Center for Education) here in Sydney, Nova Scotia (Canada) and I cover grades 4-12 and all French as second language programs. As she has travelled through the classes, Marie Soleil helped me develop a rapport with teachers and students. Who can resist that smiling face?

When Marie Soleil arrives, I begin with an introductory lesson and some fun facts. (Did you know she can lick her eyeball? Did you know she regularly sheds all her skin….and eats it?). Then I go over my expectations for how the students will act around her and while holding her. I give all interested students the chance to hold her. Some just want to touch her or observe her up close. During my next visit, I arrive with a class set of books called “Notre Lézard” (Our lizard). I teach a reading lesson about her that ends in a movement game. For my next visits, we have a conversation to practice their French structures that is a good practice for their OPIs (Oral Proficiency Interviews) while students hold her. She is like a self-regulation fidget toy and reduces some anxiety about making mistakes while speaking French.

This little class pet brings so much engagement and enthusiasm for learning French.

Interested in getting a class pet? I received her through a grant by Pets in the Classroom.