Purging

I hold onto things for too long.

In my classroom I have folders with copies of activities and worksheets going back to my first year of teaching.  Once in awhile something gets thrown out but usually I either a) am too busy to take the time to throw out unneeded papers or b) I worry that maybe I'll need that worksheet five years down the road (never mind I am no longer teaching the information that way or maybe even at all!  There was the start of a purge when I moved from Maryland, but I ran out of time to pack and things got thrown in boxes to come with me.

Last year I finally started to purge some stuff including class sets of worksheets left by the previous teacher.  It felt like a waste to throw away so many papers but I wasn't using them.  I can always make more copies or with the fact that all my kids have laptops, I can adapt the activity into an electronic format.  I didn't get through a lot but it was a start.

This last week as I have sorted my pile of master copies back into their original folders, I found myself stopping several times to page through a folder and take out what was no longer needed.  Yes, that action slowed down the actual putting away of papers but it is long overdue.  I think I might add a total folder review to my summer goals.

This weekend I have started my overhaul of my "manipulatives" boxes.  These are the cards that we use for walkarounds, stations, card passing activities.  Anything that is not a worksheet, computer activity, easy to leave in a folder.  I used to need a lot of big, long flashcards to review vocabulary but between shifts in my teaching and Quizlet on the SmartBoard, those were something I knew I could toss.  Realizing this and combined with the difficulty in finding the manipulatives I needed some mornings, I have set out to reorganize the boxes.

Step one: the purge of unneeded items and the sort into the four levels.

In process along with my less-than-helpful assistant

Reflections and Resolutions

I've seen several teachers posting about their confessions for the last year or their hopes for the next one, so here is some of my self-reflection.

1. I had the students walk around the room today and respond to some questions about what they liked and did not like this year.  I was disappointed by the number of students who did not like the get-up-walk-and-talk activities.  I really feel that speaking is how most of them will use Spanish outside of the four walls of my classroom so I need to get them using the spoken language.  (I will say there was very little variation in a lot of answers so I think some kids just looked at what the other kids wrote and copied.)  However, they did have some good points.  I don't grade the walkarounds so kids are more likely to a) be off-topic, b) use English, and c) talk to just their friends.
     So while I am not going to stop having them talk, I am going to be more pro-active in the walkarounds.  Some will be graded now, more on just using Spanish than getting all the grammar and pronunciation right.  Others will have me participating as one of them.  I am also going to have more that require students to record data from the conversations.  I am also coming up with a chart idea that will make them be more diverse in their speaking partners.  I am actually sitting down with lesson plans from last year and looking at each walkaround activity and creating a concrete way to make students more accountable to using Spanish.

2. I do not check on-line work as well as I should.  Part of this comes from using multiple online venues (Google Classroom, Quia, Quizlet, Quizziz, Blogger/Weebly blog) and none of the venues connect into our electronic gradebook.  I usually only check the day an assignment is due or maybe once or twice after that.  If a student does work late and doesn't tell me, I don't know to go in and look for the assignment.
     I think I am going to add a spot in my room where students can turn in slips with their name, name of assignment, and date they did it to give me something physical to go and look for the activity.  Plus that makes it easier for the student to let me know the work has been completed.

3. Culture.  Culture.  Culture.  I am lacking in this area.  I actually had a student request more of it, and even had another one after the last bell rang today tell me about a Spanish show he had found on Netflix that he was enjoying.  With the need for more authentic materials in the classroom, culture is a must.
     I am going to be rewriting the Spanish I curriculum this summer, so as part of that I am going to make integrating culture a priority.  I have dabbled in using music before and want to research more of that this summer.

4. Choice.  Students need more of that especially in regards to differentiation.  With their laptops it should be even easier for me to offer a variety of online practice activities.  A greater variety of activities will also help for the kids that get bored after 5-10 minutes of the same activity.  Several students complained about not liking group projects when I picked the members, but I believe it is important to learn how to work in a group with people that aren't your friends (or that may not be pulling their weight since that is a real-life occurrence).  However, I am going to try to have the rubrics for these projects set that the majority of the grade is independent of what the other members have done.

5. Object pronouns continue to be the bane of our existence.  Any advice??

6. Reading needs to become more a part of the Spanish I and II curriculum.  However, I also need to teach Spanish I how to read for understanding.  They don't do well if words aren't in the exact same form in the dictionary as they are in the text.  I hope to also include some specific instruction on questions (what do they mean).

7. I was not good at keeping on students about their notebooks this year, partially because only level one has a physical notebook anymore.  Unfortunately, I think this led to greater disorganization on their part.
    Next year I am going to enforce a binder for Spanish I.  They are going to get a grade for bringing one to class!  Spanish II-IV keep their notes on their laptops.  I am going to require them to have a physical folder or skinny binder everyday as well.  I am also going to have them set up folders within folders in their documents on the computers.
    I think I also will need to rename notes so that they are easier to locate on the laptops when kids are searching for them.  Or at the very least keep a running document myself as a quick reference when they need to find them.

8. More self-reflection by the students.  And then--how to use that information to adjust and improve instruction.  Facing criticism or a less-than-stellar lesson is not easy but if it's not working or leading to language learning, I need to change it.  (However, I need to hold to strong expectations for the students).

9. Through it all, I need to keep pushing myself to use more Spanish.  I am nowhere near 90% in the target language even with my level IV.

Quizlet Live Hints

So for those Quizlet users out there, I'm sure you've noticed the new Live feature.  I like how it gives students another chance to practice vocabulary in a team setting.  I love the idea of collaborating (although I am trying to figure out how to mitigate one kid giving all the answers to everyone--maybe not allowing them to sit where they can all see each other's screens?).  Anyway, a few points I've picked up:

1. Don't change teams after every round.  You lose time for kids to rearrange themselves and (in a classroom that uses laptops rather than cell phones) for those whose computers don't hold much of a charge, you risk one dying and when that happens, the whole team is sunk for the round.

2. Make the winning team sit out the next round.  I had some students getting frustrated over never winning so especially in a small class, this evens out the odds.  The 3-4 kids sitting out can quickly review the vocabulary or next set of vocabulary.

Student Showcase--Spanish II Contribution

Spanish II has a short unit on art.  Yes, I teach them art vocabulary but we also look at four different important Spanish artists.  One of them is Joan Miró whose paintings I adore.  I really wasn't a big fan of modern art until the last few years and I think Miró influenced my changed opinion.  There is something with his shapes and primary colors that I just like.

A Miró I saw in Madrid

As part of our discussion of Miró, the students have to make their own design based on his work.  They had the option of making it in Paint on their Chromebooks or on paper.  For the student showcase, I projected a slideshow of the ones designed in Paint.  The paper ones were put on construction paper backs and then propped up on chairs around my room.  The middle of the room was reserved for visitors to make their own drawings to take home.

 in the slideshow

 two student pieces

the drawing station along with photos I have taken of Miró paintings

I was really proud of this exhibit and going back to February, the lesson itself.  I loved that it allowed students the flexibility to make it personal but still required some creativity (plus the fact that we went cross-curricular with the lesson was just awesome :)   As for the showcase night, I liked having something for the visitors to do rather than just see.  I don't know how many drawings were made but I do know that the principal's daughters enjoyed the coloring break (even if one them drew a rainbow rather than Miró ;)

Student Showcase--Spanish I Contribution

The Friday before the showcase my Spanish I students had an open-note quiz with two options: 1) write sentences that used places and modes of transportation or 2) illustrate a town and label the places and modes of transportation.  Most kids needed to take their work home over the weekend but a few finished in class.

As I looked at the completed projects and thought about my Spanish II Inca project that was to be displayed at the showcase, I found myself leaning towards scrapping the Incas and putting the town drawings up instead.  That's the advantage to being the one writing the program I guess :)  Spanish II was already represented by the Miró drawings (next blog to come) and the Inca drawings just weren't as much fun as these towns.

So on Monday when the kids came in, they were given a few minutes and gluesticks.  The drawings went onto construction paper and then taped up outside my classroom.  Overall they looked pretty good although I think a few kids might work harder on a take home assignment next time; I could see the surprise on their faces when they heard their work was going to be displayed.  I only had them put their Spanish first names visible on the drawings, so there was still anonymity for those who were not as excited about the display.

 one of the walls, we actually curved around on four small walls near my room

a close up of two

Student Showcase 2016

Each year my high school does an expo in the spring to highlight what we have done in our classrooms over the school year.  Not every teacher participates but I think this is a great way for the community to see at least a little bit of what happens in our classrooms.  I had 3 exhibits this year, one from each of the first three levels of Spanish.

Spanish III made piñatas earlier in the year (we had an extra week right before Easter break since there had been so few snow days).  They had to pick something that had been on one of our vocabulary lists.  Animals were pretty popular but the fantasy list also had a few representatives.  Plus, crime sneaked in when the group making a wizard decided to change it to a criminal.

A few years ago when we made piñatas I put up a display at the expo that visitors just looked at the creations.  This year I threw in the "Vote for your Favorite" bucket.  We had 75 votes!  Look at the pictures and keep scrolling for the winner :)

Criminal, Cow, Monster, Bear

Owl, Lion (currently upside down), Devil

And the winner is....

The Owl AKA Señora Alas (Mrs. Wings)

That group got about a 1/3 of the votes.  The next two vote-getters were the lion and the cow.

Do you have a favorite?

Independent Cinco de Mayo

There are a lot of great Cinco de Mayo resources out there but here is a little on-line scavenger hunt I created for my Spanish III kids: https://www.quia.com/sh/192165.html

They already learned the basics of Cinco de Mayo in previous years and this year we had our Cinco de Mayo class the day of prom (they actually left right after my class for the day) so we were not going to get anything in-depth done.

Overall they did well working in pairs but I think this would be a good activity to put on a class website for absent students to do on their own as a review of Cinco de Mayo.  I love that it is in the target language; building a supply of authentic materials has been a slow process for me unfortunately.

I did notice that the one question to get the answer they needed to recognize the passive voice.  I have not really taught this concept to them, partially because they are supposed to avoid using it in English, but now I'm wondering if it something that I should work in to the curriculum (they do learn the present progressive this year plus I am moving a vocab unit to level II, so that opens up some room...)

Settlement on Mars

My Spanish I students picked up another dozen or so vocabulary words for places around town this week.  The list has 24 words on it but some we learned earlier and some like "el hotel" and "el hospital" are cognates.

One activity that I like to do with them on the first day is to tell them that they are arriving on Mars with a box that they can program to then construct 3 buildings complete with whatever goods they offer (the mall is off limits because it is too big to build).  Students have a minute to write down their 3 choices in Spanish--silently!  Then they get paired up and have to pare the combined 6 words down into 3 again.  Sometimes pairs get lucky and 2 or even all 3 of the places match.  Then the pairs get combined into groups of four and they have to get the options back down to 3 again.  After that a spokesperson names the chosen places and I tally them on the board.

I like this activity because it makes the students defend their choices.  However, I want to increase the Spanish being spoken.  Right now I just walk around and keep reminding them to say their places in Spanish.  I think if I add a few phrases such as "Place es importante," I might see them building more.  I know they can't give their defenses in Spanish really but some basic phrases will help them get out of the English mode as much--working on getting closer to that 90% but still a ways off!

6th period's votes