Summer Reflection

Last week I attended a day-long workshop focused on teaching 90% in the target language, Spanish for me.  This is an area of weakness for me as I have always felt less confident in my speaking skills, partially from my natural strength in learning grammar rules, partially from never spending a semester abroad (longest time in a Spanish-speaking country are two separate two-week trips, one to Costa Rica to study and one to Spain to hike the end of the Camino de Santiago).

I went into the workshop looking for little tricks and techniques that I could integrate into my classroom without needing to change a lot if I'm being honest.

I walked away with an affirmation of a thought that had been waving hello from the side of my brain for a few weeks now: it's time to do a major overhaul of how you're teaching.

It's a scary idea to change what for a decade has worked--because my students have been learn.  I blogged about this a little before.  I have spent the last week avoiding any major work although I have continued perusing the Internet for ideas.

It's also exciting to face new possibilities for student growth in achieving communication.  I know that to expect the planning and units to not be overwhelming at times is unrealistic, but I am determined to keep focused on the long-term goals.

To help keep that focus, here is one specific step I will take in the next few days to achieve my goals: get my school computer to talk to the printer so I can print off the many useful resources on the ODE website related to World Languages.  I love all that digital offers but when doing major planning, I still prefer actual paper and pencil to organize my thoughts.  Plus, there are examples of IPA's and thematic units that I can use as springboards for what will work in my classroom.

and a photo of a happy cultural moment to keep me positive as I move forward in this challenge!

Summer Reading

When I was in high school, we had a required book to read over the summer prior to our senior year and our Physics course.  That teacher continues that tradition and allows students to use that reading assignment as bonus on a test during the year.

My first teaching job was in a district in Maryland where students were required to read two books over the summer and then those books would be discussed in their English classes over the first grading period (I think I'm remembering that right...).

I have been toying with the idea of integrating a summer reading assignment into my class.  I came across a list of over 40 novels that are written by or deal with Hispanics/Latinos.  Many of the books I have not yet read so my summer reading list just got a lot longer!  The books are predominantly in English but I think the cultural perspective would be worth the trade-off.

I do not know what type of a project I would ask of the students but I do know that it would not need to be completed until halfway to two-thirds of the way through the first grading period.  I would want to do this in my level III and IV classes and limit the number of students per book.  I would need to gather a list of which books are available in local libraries as well as if any can be purchased at a cheap cost.

Other teachers, have you done a summer reading assignment?  What were some difficulties you encountered?  What positive feedback did you receive?

Require Less, Expose More

Some thoughts from my week without students this summer (it's nice to have time to reflect)

Developing fluency in a second language in students who have very little knowledge beyond their first tongue of English prior to their freshmen year is difficult.  I don't want to overwhelm them with too many words and yet at the same time I need to build a vocabulary base with them so they can actually talk and communicate.  How can you express yourself if you don't know the words?

National and state standards have shifted since I was a student to focus on communication more than pretty grammar and long vocabulary lists.  I am finding myself less interested in the long lists of vocabulary that I memorized and then wrote out on weekly quizzes.  Still though I need them to learn the foreign words so what do I do?

A few years ago, I started supplementing the required vocabulary lists with optional words, words that I would not test but that students could use in classroom activities.  I like this idea and want to continue with it especially since all of my students (all four levels) now have laptops.  When we are working on new units, I can send them to the Internet to look at related vocabulary (possibly even in authentic context!!) and chose words to increase their own understanding.

This year I was blessed with a very talented Spanish I class.  I remember being amazed at how some of the students would hear me use a word--not officially teach it, just use it--and then integrate that word a day or later themselves, not always with perfect grammar but still comprehensible!  I pushed them a little bit more than I have in that level before.  Not a lot but a bit more Spanish spoken by both myself and them, a little bit higher level with some activities.  Looking back on that class now in addition to some of the research I've been doing to prepare for a major curriculum shift, I've made an important decision for myself, one that is reflected in the heading of this entry.

This next year I am going to focus on more fully immersing my students in the language and culture and not be afraid of them not getting every single word.

I am still going to be requiring them to learn vocabulary and grammar--of course!  However, I am not going to hold back from using Spanish just because I am worried they won't understand me.  I will expose them to more words with appropriate scaffolds (visuals and body languge, here we go!).  I will surround them with more of the language in context and with cultural connections.  I will work towards student choice with vocabulary while developing a common base so we can still communicate with each other :)

It's not that we've been a textbook and worksheet driven classroom (far from it really when you consider I didn't even pass out textbooks this year).  I'm just ready for a change that will push my students even farther along the communication continuum and I'm excited to work towards the goal :)