AEFE Network
EB proudly holds accreditation from the AEFE (Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger / Agency for French Education Abroad), which is supervised by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. This organization oversees 522 schools in 139 countries, serving 370,000 students. It promotes French language, culture, and values to students of all nationalities. If you want to know more about the AEFE, read here.

Each year, our network organizes several projects, themes, and events among French American schools in North America. These events span various disciplines such as science, art, math, sports, languages, and more! EB regularly participates in these projects, such as 1, 2, 3, Run!, Ambassadeurs en Herbe, and Prix Albertine Jeunesse (read more here). Students find special excitement and belonging when they connect to other bilingual schools like ours around the world.

Défi Maths / Math Challenge
As a school, we can use these themed projects and events, such as Défi Maths, to reinforce ties between grade levels. At the middle school, our fifth graders joined the sixth graders to also compete in the Défi Maths. This mixing of grade levels, especially across campuses, helps foster a stronger student community.

The third and fourth graders were mixed up and divided into teams, complete with their own chosen team names. This challenge was important academically, as they needed to use their math skills, but it also was a time to improve their communication and collaboration abilities. Working together allows students to gain confidence and supports their sense of belonging. As a bonus, this challenge boosted their French language skills and vocabulary. Most students encountered new vocabulary specific to sports, history, and competitions. Students will continue to work on this topic throughout the year, which will broaden their understanding and French language repertoire.

The set of ten problems was all based on the Olympics theme but varied in difficulty. Some were story problems with multiple steps, whereas others were framed more like logic puzzles. All teams were encouraged to draw and make visuals to help formulate their equations. 

During the hour-long challenge, students were given time to read the problems aloud with their group, ensuring that they understood the meaning of the situation and new vocabulary. Then, students worked on the problem alone, brainstorming potential strategies, drawing important visuals, and building equations. They even wrote down questions about the problem.

Finally, the teams returned to share their thinking, drawings, and results. Teammates compared ideas and solutions, working through which mathematical concepts were going on in the problem. Some students were still in the process of finding the solution, so it was helpful to hear strategies and explanations from their teammates. Through this collaboration, they eventually all agreed on the final answer, and it was time to add it to their poster. Each team created posters to show their work, including the final answer written as a complete sentence, important visuals, and equations. Pictures of each poster are submitted to the AEFE as evidence that our students competed in this year’s Défi Maths.

As a closing activity, teachers asked their students to reflect on the activity. “What was difficult about working as a team? What did you enjoy?” Some students shared that they liked having help from their teammates and better understood the problem the way their team explained it. Another student admitted it was simple to find the solution but more challenging to show their thinking. With their teammates' drawings, they were able to create a complete answer.

If you are interested in also going for the gold, try your hand at the problems from the Défi Maths here.