RASCALS 2024: All Fun and Games!

On June 3 and 4, 2024, Cégep de Lévis hosted the annual RASCALS (Regroupement au service des cégeps pour l’anglais langue seconde) colloquium at the picturesque Auberge Lac-à-l’Eau-Claire in Saint-Alexis-des-Monts. Each year, this conference brings together English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers to share their innovative ideas and best practices within the Quebec college network.

As an attendee of the 2024 edition, I had the pleasure of participating in several insightful workshops and engaging with passionate teachers. This year’s theme, “Fun & Games,” offered teachers the opportunity to present some of the dynamic and game-based activities they use in their classrooms. From gamification to board games, the event was a resounding success, with everyone definitely having a lot of fun!

June 3 – Discussions and plenary speaker

After a hearty breakfast at the Auberge du Lac-à-l’Eau-Claire, attendees headed to the main conference room. This year’s hot topic was the revision of the ministerial devis for ESL, which marked the 1^st day of the colloquium with presentations and discussion around it.

Provincial coordination meeting

We started the day with the annual Provincial Coordination Meeting, which brought together the coordinators and representatives from all the institutions teaching ESL in the province. Rachel Tunnicliffe, the official delegate on the Comité-conseil de la formation générale, provided updates to everyone on various issues. A special guest, Jean-Pascal Baillie from the Ministère de l’enseignement supérieur (MES), attended the meeting to explain the process involved in the revision of the devis and to answer questions from the community.

Plenary speaker: “Getting Dramatic”

Dr. Trevor Gulliver, a professor in the School of Education at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, was this year’s keynote speaker. His plenary presentation, “Getting Dramatic,” discussed various playful ways to implement drama in the classroom. Dr. Gulliver explored the role of drama and play in language teaching and how they can be used to adopt a grammar-based approach to teaching as an alternative to more traditional approaches.

Devis roundtable discussion

In the afternoon, Andy Van Drom, Sara Langevin, and Brett Fischer, the 3 members of the ministerial devis revision committee, facilitated a presentation on the scope of the revision process and the exit profile. They invited everyone to complete a survey to better understand the needs of the ESL community. Then, the roundtable discussions allowed the participants to share their insights on a number of devis-related topics.

Workshop: The Art of Lead-Ins

The 1^st session I chose to attend, among several available workshops, was presented by Johanna Cardinal, teacher at Cégep de Valleyfield. She shared several student-tested lead-ins that she uses to get students’ attention when transitioning from one task to another.

Johanna presented interactive and collaborative activities such as:

• Photo Unscramble
• Mystery Name
• Research Blitz
• Etc.

These activities were designed to activate students’ prior knowledge and pique their interest.

Cocktail hour and banquet

At the end of the day, a cocktail was generously offered at the Auberge bar and lounge, complemented by a pub trivia quiz organized by the hosting committee. Following the cocktail hour, attendees were treated to a banquet with live music, where everyone had a great time and enjoyed a delicious meal. To close the s’mores by the bonfire were offered, along with music, fun and dancing to end the evening on a high note.

June 4 –Workshops

Workshop: Games in the ESL Classroom

On the 2^nd day, I decided to attend a presentation by Dr. Trevor Gulliver, professor at Bishop’s University. He showcased various games he has been using for years as part of his language teaching practice. Participants had the chance to try some of these language-learning activities, discuss which games are relevant to the language classroom, and explore how to adapt activities to add a playful element to them.

Workshop: Designing an Educational Escape Room with ChatGPT

I then had the opportunity to present a workshop on how I use escape rooms in my classroom. I discussed my design process, using ChatGPT as an assistant, and highlighted the key elements and benefits of game-based activities. The participants could learn how to design an effective and engaging escape room according to their learning objectives. You can find more information in the real-life story I wrote: Designing an Educational Escape Room on Research Skills.

Workshop: Games Session

The hosting committee from the Cégep the Lévis offered attendees a games session showcasing the games they regularly use in their classrooms to make their lessons more dynamic and get their students talking. From in-house games to commercial board games, participants could test out some of them and find inspiration for their own teaching practice.

A big thank you to the RASCALS 2024 steering committee, Daniel Boulerice and Maria Corsetto, as well as the Cégep de Lévis hosting committee, Derek White, Jason Brunwald, Jérôme Loisel, and Meredith Lees, for making this year’s edition an amazing and memorable event. Their efforts brought the entire Quebec ESL community together in a peaceful and quiet venue to share inspiring practices. Participants left with plenty of new ideas for activities in their classrooms and definitely had a lot of fun!