What Will They Remember?

I am still focusing on my "students are the center of all we do" issue (which I strongly believe is not the truth).  Recently I have heard from students who have graduated.  Each one of them has talked about something "authentic" we did and how they still remember what they learned from it.  Some of them mentioned singing.  Some of them mentioned trying totopos and tamales.  Others mentioned authentic communicative activities such as the day they all had to come to the park I set up in class and purchase aguas frescas (which I had prepared) and they all had the opportunity to experience an "agua fresca."  How powerful and obviously memorable these activities were.   Most of these activities are no longer permitted.  How sad!  But wait!  Students are permitted to read articles and do worksheets focusing on these topics.  Perhaps ten years from now one of my students or, better yet, several of my students will contact me to let me know that they really loved that worksheet on aguas frescas or that worksheet on tamales and how well they remember the fun they had completing that worksheet.  This has me wondering!  Why hasn't one of those former students mentioned those great worksheets?

La Vieja

La escritura

April 3rd, 2015

Today, we had an extended SAP day, and each SAP had to make a Peace Pole on which we were required to paint "may peace prevail on Earth" in any language. It actually came out great! I am proud of my group. 

With my classes--which were so short--the students and I corrected their homework on gustar and then they took a quiz on the new vocab. I have them the rubric and asked them to make connections between their sentence. I am trying to get them to use the language for a purpose rather than just state words they know--"I ski in the park." It may be grammatically correct, but does it make sense?

What are WE REALLY about?

Today was not a happy day.  In fact, I would state that it was one of the worst days of my 43 year career.  As I reflect upon the entire teaching profession, I have so many questions.  We always say that students and what is best for them is at the heart of everything we do and should drive all decisions.  Schools always state that students are the center of everything.  We need to always support them and do what is best.  Unfortunately I am learning (and it is smacking me very hard in the heart) that these are only words . . . empty platitudes.  We say them but we do not act on them.  We make decisions that are not in the best interest of learning and students..  We worry about rules and compliance.  Those two terms seem to be what really drives us.  We need to follow those rules and to be sure we are compliant - to heck with those kids.  I wish we would stop lying.  It hurts!!

La Vieja

Dímelo tú

April 2nd, 2015

Today the opening activity was a review of Bomba y Plena! The students remembered more than I thought they would. La vieja and I were talking about learning the dance so that we may teach it better. 

Then, I played an activity where the students had to say if they liked something/doing something, and we, as a group, either moved to "sí" or "no." Then, the person revealed if he/she was telling the truth. The students loved it!

Then, they played a game in their groups where they got a subject and a picture; they had to form a sentence. The winning group got group points at the end of the class. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Still Buried in Papers, Essays and Speaking Assessments!

I cannot believe how many assessments I still have to grade.  It seems that each year there are more and more.  I wonder if that is because I am learning how important it is to assess frequently to check where my students are and to learn what I and they need to do next to move forward. in proficiency. I am truly convinced that numerous formative checks, probes or assessments are essential.  I used to think that I had a good handle on where my students were after a class period.  But now, as I reflect back, I can see that I was a bit naive with that belief.  I had an idea of what I had taught but I only had a general read out on what my students could actually do.  I would often make assumptions based on what I saw them doing during the class or what the stronger students were doing.  When I was basing my assessment on what they were doing during class, I think I was only seeing what they were doing with a lot of support!    When I was basing my assessment of their skills on what I perceived they could do, I actually was seeing only some of the students.  I do not believe I had a true grip on all of them.  Was I seeing the struggling student who was under the radar most of the time?  Was I seeing the middle student who had some of the skills but not all?  Probably not.  I most likely was seeing what the vocal majority could do and naively planning next steps on that.  Now that I understand the difference between a language performance and proficiency, I really can see why I need those frequent formative assessments.  I also am pleased that my students are getting better at using formative assessments to improve their proficiencies!
WHOO!  I am tired just thinking about all that heavy stuff I just wrote.

Catch you mañana.
La Vieja

La Bomba y la Plena

April 1st, 2015

Today, I taught the students about la Bomba y la Plena. We watched the dances and talked about the differences/similarities. Then, they had to pick out the principal instruments in each. The students did really well with this. 

Then, we reviewed their previous knowledge of the verb "gustar," and then I added some more difficult concepts, but the students picked up on it quickly. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven 

Reading

March 31st, 2015

Today, we worked on a few more instruments. We started with the instruments that they already know, and then I added the four instruments of the taínos--relating to our unit on Puerto Rico. We also listened to a traditional song of the taínos, and it included three out of the four instruments. 

Then, I gave the students an introductory reading on Bomba y Plena. I was shocked at how many of the students said they never did reading in Spanish I, and some students really struggled. This tells me that I need to do more interpretive tasks and utilize more authentic texts in class. 

I had a few extra minutes with each class, so we listened to the song "Piragua," (snow cones in Puerto Rico), and I had the students identify the instruments that they heard in the song. We then discussed the two principal instruments. These students are really lacking a music program. 

La vieja has been seriously cracking me up lately. She is totally loca, but so supportive and challenging. What a team!

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Gone TOO Long!

Sorry everyone.  I have been neglecting this.  The past few weeks have been very hectic with the March Madness and other workshops.  I was probably the only one who attended 7 of them,  Yes I went to one of them twice.  I felt I needed to support the other professionals in our PLN.  I learned something at each one of them and feel much more excited about my Evaluation Portfolio.  I definitely have a different perspective on it.  I am going to approach it as the story of my year from the viewpoint of my Professional Goal and my Student  Learning goal.

I have really enjoyed working these past few weeks with el joven. He is very creative and supports me a great deal (don't let that go to your head joven).  One of the highlights of the past week was our #MHSslashesstereotypes activity which we did in SAP on Friday.  The students really enjoyed it and the tweets that they wrote were ideal.  I love doing these activities with el joven.  His involvement has made SAP (with seniors)  really enjoyable.  Looking forward to developing even more great SAP activities as we move forward.

Another great thing that is coming from our department is our discussion of assessments.  It is really amazing that we are coming to consensus - working individually  - on the rating of presentational speaking assessments.  This is very important because I strongly believe that we have to have inter-rater reliability.  Looking forward to the development of even stronger assessments.

Perhaps the best part of today was the island discussion.  It will be one of those memorable moments of our first semester of Spanish!

La Vieja - going to visit her little island!

Las presentaciones

March 30th, 2015

Today, the students presented their dialogues, and it was one of the most amazing days I have had as a teacher. The students went above and beyond to create costumes, and the dialogues were phenomenal. 

I also had to improvise an end to the class, so the students and I formed a circle, and each person had to introduce him/herself, state the instrument that he/she plays (even if they don't), include an action to go along with the instrument, and ask the person to his/her right to play with him/her. 

After school, I attended the scheduling committee meeting. It seems like we will someday get rid of the block scheduling. Woohoo!

Cambio y corto,

El joven 

Energy

March 23rd, 2015

Today, I was so exhausted because of a lack of sleep, so I took a 5-hour energy drink before school. I was so hyped and nuts. Definitely never doing that again!!

MCAS is a bit--and by that, I mean extremely--irritating. I cannot do any teaching this week because of testing. I think I will just have my students create dialogues with partners to practice old verbs, interrogatives and invitations. 

Today, I had students write a letter inviting their best friend to a location of their choosing. Then, I had the students interview each other and invite wax other places. They had the choice of responding affirmatively or negatively. Then, we got together and shared. 

I am exhausted. Time for some serious sleep. 

Zzzzzz

el joven

Las invitaciones ugh

Today, la viejita saved the day. She let me use a few of her activities on invitations because I had ideas that were all over the place as to what to review today. 

The first activity I did was a round robin as an opening activity. Then, I took the students into the hall and we formed two circles: one inside the other. One student had to make an invitation based on the picture, and the next student had to either accept or deny it based on the picture. The students rotated clockwise so they had a new partner for each square. They did a really great job, and there was very little side talk. 

Then, I took them into the lab and they worked with partners forming invitations based on pictures from past vocabulary lessons, accept or deny them, and state what day and time. Gracias, vieja, Por las activdades. 

-el joven

Las invitaciones

March 19th, 2015

Today, the students had their speaking exam on Puerto Rico! They seemed to have done an awesome job, and I can tell that they worked hard. I am proud of them. 

After the quiz, I taught the students invitations, affirmative responses and negative responses. The students had me dying from laughter today! They began to make their own sentences and making them into MUCH stronger sentences than the ones I was asking for. Instead of simply saying, "thank you, but j can't," many of them were adding reasons! It was great. I had them do a round robin with them, and tomorrow I think I will do two circles to keep them all engaged. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Puerto Rico

March 18th, 2015

Today, the students and I began the day with a writing about Puerto Rico. They were given pictures and had to explain, name and describe the pictures while making connections between them. They really seemed to do well from what I saw. 

Then, we created group points which I will use as an incentive for positive behaviors and good work. We also added some materials to their portfolios. 

After, we went into the lab to practice for the quiz tomorrow. They are really going above and beyond. I'm so happy!

Cambio y corto,

El joven

March 17th, 2015

Today, I had the students do their first writing assignment.  I had originally though about doing it as a homework assignment through Google Docs, but then la vieja brought up the fact that, if they do it in class, then I can see exactly what they know--not what their notebooks or the Internet say.  I haven't read them yet, but as I was walking around the room, I was seeing some great stuff!

Then, we did a Round Robin with the vocabulary from Puerto Rico that will be on their speaking.  It put a smile on my face to watch them help each other and correct each other. My students are great.  Following the Round Robin, I took the students into the lab to practice for their oral exam on Thursday.  These students are developing some great ideas and are adding material that I never even talked about in class. It's awesome to see them make connections.

I also learned a valuable lesson today. I am going through some stuff in my personal life, and I was worried that it might show in the classroom. However, the minute those students showed up in my classroom, it was time to work.  I need to do justice to those students, and they helped me to keep a smile on my face and get work done. I really love the way teaching makes me feel at the end of the day.

Cambio y corto,

El joven

El escaleto

March 16th, 2015

Today, I used a skeleton that I got from the Professional Development day on Friday. I had the students pretend that they were tourists and they had to write a quote comment, a thought or idea, a weakness, an itinerary (timeline) for the trip. The results were beyond what I could have every expected. I was so amazingly proud of my students. 

I also gave the students two flags--Puerto Rico and the U.S., and they had to compare and contrast them. This was easy for them, which is good because that means the description of the flag has become more natural. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven

March 13th, 2015

Today, we did a lot. La vieja let me use her Quia account to get a read on how well my students would do with a quiz on ser versus estar. It was pretty good and I was able to recognize patterns of error and share the data with the students. 

We also practiced more with the vocabulary for Puerto Rico through BINGO. One students actually said, "this is actually helping a lot." That was cool to hear and it was great to see how much quicker they were in the end. 

I gave the students an illustrated dictionary for homework, and the results were off the hook! I loved them! I was a happy camper today. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Stations

March 10th, 2015

Today, the students and I really worked in depth with Puerto Rico. They had an opening activity that was both concrete answers and opinion answers about the history of the island. 

Then, I prepared 5 scenarios for the students, and they had to travel from station to station and answer each question. Then, I asked the groups to present one (they did not know which one). Every student was required to share something, and every class hit nearly all the points I had hoped. 

After the stations activity, the students and I played bingo--the cards were generated by la vieja. They are really smart students. They picked up on the definitions very very quickly. 

Tonight's homework is an illustrated dictionary. I gave them important vocabulary for the lesson, and they have to draw/paste pictures as definitions. I got this idea from la vieja, and I really cannot wait to see how it goes!

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Puerto Rico

March 9th, 2015

Today, the students and I took a lot of notes on Puerto Rico and looked at a lot of pictures. The students were so good, and when we sang the song about El coquí, every student participated. One student even offered to lead the group in the song a cappella! I loved it so much, and I was so proud of their ability to guess the meaning of unknown words. 

After school, I attended a PD meeting at which we discussed goal setting. I really liked the first part of the meeting during which we discussed goals throughout the year (in my case, the semester), and explicated that which was difficult and that which went smoothly. It was really nice to reflect. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven

The quiz

March 6th, 2015 

Today, the students had their quiz on the emotions and reasons for the emotions. As I have graded a few of the exams, it is obvious that a decent amount of students did not study. I had been beating myself up about it, but I told myself that I spent more time than I should have on these, and I LITERALLY gave them the quiz (I only changed the subjects the day of the quiz). So, I can't beat myself up too much, but I also need to recognize that I could have done a bit more for them as well. 

We also practiced pronunciation today because their pronunciation has been horrible. They did GREAT with this. We made up words, and I gave them words they didn't know for them to pronounce and they really impressed me. 

 

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Puerto Rico

March 5th, 2015

Today, we FINALLY got to start our unit on Puerto Rico! Woohoo! It was nice to get to teach something new. We also reviewed the emotions for their quiz tomorrow. 

We talked about the flag and the map of Puerto Rico. I activated prior knowledge by giving them a warm-up just asking for three facts they already knew. Most people only knew that the capital was San Juan and that it is a territory of the U.S.  Not bad. 

I am happy happy happy with my students. Mr. Riordan came and observed me today, too, and his review made me feel much more confident in my teaching. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven 

I Am BACK!

This has been a very busy week.  Tuesday I attended my first PD on the Evaluator Standards.  Mrs. Beaudry and Mrs. Bidus did a great job and the participants in my group really had some great conversation about Standard 1.  It is very surprising how much you can see in a Standard when you really focus word for word on the descriptors in the rubric and when you start to look at evidence to show proficiency/mastery of that standard.  The discussion was so rich.  I love working with these two colleagues on the PLN and I love my MHS colleagues also.

Wednesday was also hectic with students in and out of class for presentations during College and Career Awareness Week and field trips.  I had very few students in my Spanish V class but we did move along.  El joven had to use my room on Wednesday because his room was used for one of the presentations.  I think they decided that he could be uprooted because after all he is el joven!  HA HA!  There would have been more resistance with la vieja.  We also have been trying to get the paths in the language lab fixed now that our dead computer drive is once again working.  We tried to download the Teamviewer application which CTS was going to use to remote in, but GUESS WHAT?  It is blocked at MHS.   The story of my life.  Everything seems to be blocked here.  I love iBOSS!  NOT!  So that task was abandoned.

 Today I went with our PLN to Franklin for our Teacher Evaluation PLN Mid Term Meeting  with DESE.  I was so proud of our team.  We really have accomplished a lot.  We got to re-connect with our friends at Hopkins Academy in Hadley and the other schools who were awarded these grants. The work that all of the schools have done was shared by each team and it was so interesting all of the various tasks undertaken.    Great job to all the  PLNs.  I always have so much fun with my Monson PLN.    They are so energizing.   I got back to the school just around 2:00 and was eager to check in with el joven who was being observed today by his supervisor at Worcester State.  I got there just in time and el joven was just going over the observation with his supervisor.  It appears that el joven can consistently receive KUDOS for his lessons.  I am so glad that he has started to put the lesson goals/targeted learning goals on his board and starting to revisit them with his students.  Best Practices . . .joven!   Best Practices.

La Vieja

Las emociones

The students have a quiz on Friday on the emotions, so I utilized some resources that la vieja gave me to review the emotions--with my own changes. 

I took the input that I have the students and used that to create an activity for the students to practice emotions and reasons behind emotions. We were supposed to go into the lab today, but it was being updated so we had to improvise. 

Then a did another game with the emotions where they had two columns and two dice. The numbers they rolled corresponded to the sentence they had to make. I think this was very useful for the students. 

Then, we did an activity where the students would hear sentences from me with the verbs ser and estar and they would have to identify if it was an origin, a description, a condition, or a location. The students did well with this, and it was wonderful to see them explaining concepts to each other. 

Can't wait to start the unit on Puerto Rico tomorrow!

Cambio y corto,

El joven 

El día de frustración

March 3rd, 2015

I am so frustrated today.  I was unaware--perhaps I am culpable for this--that the freshmen would be missing half of my first class today, so the lessons I had planned were not going to work, which is sad because we were supposed to start our new unit today.  Then, I thought it would work out perfectly because I wouldn't have the sophomores tomorrow, but the freshmen did not miss the whole class period, so that did not work.

As a result, today became a day of improvisation.  I reviewed the interrogatives with my students--which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because they were still confused about them.  I started to realize that I went too in depth on the interrogatives, which I did not need to do because it confused them.  This caused for a discussion with la vieja.  She and I talked boat making the goals--no more than 2--and placing them alongside the class schedule for the day.  That way the students know what is expected of them.  I also have to reference these goals each day throughout the lesson. Not bad!

So, today we reviewed with traditional note taking and an activity where the students had a question and the answer to a question on a sheet of paper.  They had to answer a question posed by another student and then read the question that they had to pose.  I was so proud! They did much better.

We also had staff meeting today at which two visitors from DCAS came to talk about anonymous class observations to develop better teaching strategies.  An example could be student engagement; 3-4 teachers would enter the room and observe ONLY for student engagement.  The name of the teacher whom they observed would never be revealed and the data from all teachers in the school would be revealed. I think this could be really great! Hopefully this can be executed at MHS.

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Otro Retraso

March 2nd, 2015

Today, I decided to see how the students would do with frequency adjectives.  Since we had a two hour delay today, I created an activity with frequency verbs all around the room.  I then created scenarios--I am tired, I am hungry, I am nervous, etc.--and asked the students to go to the frequency adjective that they felt best described the truth of the statement for them.

Then, I asked the students to form a sentence based on where they went: "Yo rara vez estoy nervioso." I am rarely nervous. This was review, so most students remembered the meaning; it was simply a matter of the placement of the adjective, and each student picked up on it quickly. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Needed un Brequecito!

Well I am back after a few days of ignoring this blog.

Thursday was a pretty good day with Spanish 5 finishing up our Intro to Latinoamérica, Spanish III testing on los edificios y la ciudad and Spanish 2 finally getting through all of those idiomatics that should have been mastered in Spanish I.  Again those long periods of time between Spanish I and Spanish 2 really impact advancement on the proficiency continuum.  In talking with my viejo today, he mentioned that there never should be more than 1 semester between level 1 and level 2 of the language and if there is then the students should have to take some type of refresher. Great idea - but how can we possibly implement this?  

My Spanish 3 students are doing some authentic reading and are having difficulties.  They complain that they do not understand.  I have the interpretive tasks and improvement in these tasks as part of my goal but I think we need to look at these from level 1 on and see how we can strengthen listening and reading tasks.  I already have some interesting data from the first semester in terms of my goal and hope to improve on what I did during the first semester as we move forward.  

Thursday evening we had a parents meeting for the 8th grade  students coming up to the high school from the middle school next year.  It was exciting to see so many parents and interested students in our program.

Once again they are predicting cold and snow during the upcoming week.  I cannot wait to see spring!

La vieja

El examen oral

February 27th, 2015

Today, I gave my students their first speaking exam.  They were so nervous, and I felt so bad for them, but I knew that they were prepared.  Following the exam, since we had shortened classes today, the students and I worked more with the interrogatives and played a few rounds of BINGO to help them remember them.

I worked with my Senior SAP today to decorate the door to my room and relate it to a college.  We chose Worcester State--naturally--and I am SOOOO proud of how the door came out and the team work that I saw from mostly all of the students.

After returning home, I just finished correcting my first class's oral exams, and I am very pleased. They did very well, and it helped me recognize patterns of error; I need to review pronunciation and the verb "comprender" because nearly everyone thought that it ended in "ar." This sure isn't easy.

Cambio y corto,

El joven

La preparación

February 26th, 2015

Today, we went into the lab and I gave the students a practice quiz for their oral exam. We had a few technical difficulties, but we eventually figured it out. 

La vieja also taught me how to transfer rubric points and convert it to a percentage and then to my point system. It was great, and I valued it so much. How lucky am I? I just kind of feel that Worcester State failed me a little bit to that regard. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven. 

Repaso

February 25th, 2015

Today, I did a review of all the irregular verbs with my students because they have their first speaking exam on Friday. Hopefully that goes well!

At the seminar course, we had a wonderful, captivating guest speaker who discussed promoting equity. It was astounding to me how some of my peers felt about this--some responses were phenomenal, others unrealistic, and others were just scary. The guest speaker raised a good question: "we're you brought in to teach accountability, or were you brought in to teach English/math/etc.?" 

Cambio y corto,

El joven 

Defeated!

Defeated is all I can say today!

La vieja

Joven - Te extrañé hoy! Joven - I missed you today!

I was not in school today as I was involved in a cross site visit to Hopkins Academy in Hadley as part of the PLN for Teacher Evaluation.  We had a great visit and learned a great deal from our friends in Hadley.  As we were talking about colleagues observing each other and helping each other to grow professionally and as we were talking about colleagues working together to create DDMs, discussing common terms and developing a common language about student work and the assessment of it, and analyzing data and refining our practice, I couldn't help but think of how lucky I was to have el joven as my new colleague.  He is very observant, objective and comes with a great background.  It never ceases to amaze me at how professional he already is.  I am looking forward to moving ahead with all of our school and district initiatives.  La vieja is a very lucky old lady!

La Vieja

Las llamadas

February 24th, 2015

Last night, I gave the students a speaking assignment for homework.  The students had to call my Google+ Voice phone number and state three emotions they felt and why.  Today, I listened to them, and they were absolutely adorable. My mamá came home to me smiling because I was so happy.

In class today, we continued reviewing interrogatives. I am so proud of all of my students because we have been able to get very advanced: "with whom are you in love?" "To whom to they write the letters?" "At what time is the exam?" etc.

We finished a game where the students were given a statement and had to develop the question.  This game took much longer than I anticipated, but that is okay because they were learning and improving with each example. Too bad La vieja was not in school today to join in my excitement!

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Frío . . .Frío

Well here we are back at school.  It seemed like that vacation was nothing but snow and cold.  It actually is nice to be back as the day went by much faster.

All of the students were right back on task and focused.  Spanish V continues to really wow me with their discussion in the target language.  Keep up that great work!  Spanish III retained the new vocabulary words and we were just beginning to talk about bochos and peseros when the bell rang.  It will have to wait until Wednesday now because I will not be in class tomorrow.  Spanish II continued its work with querer and many of the students commented that they had the song Yo te quiero on their iPods or on Pandora.  Cool.  We also worked on the new vocabulary.

After school we had the DTLC meeting and it was extremely windy and cold when we got out at 5:00.  Tomorrow I will be with my PLN visiting another school in the area.  I love working with this group.  They inspire me.

La Vieja

Back in the Swing of Things

February 23rd, 2015

Today was the first day back after vacation, and I am so tired! Some great things happened today, though.  I got a Google Voice number, so I was able to add an assignment to my homework.  The students got a number to call--which goes to my email--and they can leave me a voicemail.  I told the students to state three emotions and why they felt that way.  This is cool because it's a way of getting the students to use the language outside of the classroom, rather than a written assignment for homework all the time.

I also reviewed interrogatives, and I REALLY wish that the students had a better understanding of the English language because that would really help them here.  Most students do not know that they cannot end a sentence--or, in this case, a question--with a preposition, so they want to ask things like, "Who do you live with," instead of "with whom do you live?" On the bright side, Spanish will now be helping them with their native language!

We played a game today that went over really well.  I have the students a statement (ex. I dance with my sister), and they had to come up with a question that could go along with that statement (ex. With whom do you dance?; or "what do you do with your sister?").  We will finish this game tomorrow.

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Slacker

La Vieja is definitely a slacker.  Here I am posting on Monday, my thoughts about Friday.  Oh well,  life goes on.  Friday was a great day.  Perhaps it was because it was the day before vacation.  My Spanish 5 class is really getting into some deep discussions and learning about Latinoamérica.  I hope we can continue at this pace. Spanish III has also quickly mastered a great deal of new vocabulary.  I hope we can review "Making Invitations," "Accepting and Denying Invitations" which are all review when we get back.  Spanish 2 had a quiz and it looks like we may finally be up to par with common Spanish I irregular verbs.  This class had a great time doing some cultural activities.  We listened to Yo Te Quiero and learned the refrain.  We also put some gestures to the refrain - which according to research helps individuals remember.  We had a few minutes left at the end of the class so we learned "Tin Marin."  The students knew the entire rhyme by the time we finished.  Hopefully they will be able to produce it when we return.  It is unfortunate that they didn't do this in Spanish I, since it helps so much with basic sounds.

I am really enjoying vacation but not this snow and cold.  Right now I am working on a workshop I might present during our next professional development day.  I feel I have so much to offer but where is the time (except for vacations) to put these workshops together.  Off to plan.

La Vieja (también conocida como La Floja)

Vacation is here!

February 13th, 2015

Boy did I learn today that students all learn differently.  Every lesson that I gave today was different because the students really did not all respond the way I expected. With my first class, I felt that I forced them into output before they were ready, so I changed up my lesson for the next two classes. However, as I looked at the faces if my students in my last block with my last activity, I realized that they really were not enjoying it. As a result, I completely had to improvise. I decided to make the game into a competition. Phew.

It is incredible how differently the students react to things.  I am still feeling bad for my first block class, though.  They really are my guinea pigs, but they are great students.  Having full attention of 24 students is pretty great.  Mr. Metzger--the principal--also told me today that many of the parents complimented me after the Open House.  That was awesome news!

I am so happy that vacation has arrived!

Time to sleep for a week,

El joven

La velada de vuelta al colegio

February 12th, 2015

Today I started new material: emotions! I am really happy with how the students did. They really are beginning to make me laugh a lot. It's so refreshing. 

Their opening activity was a review of ser and estar and we quickly moved on to emotions. I gave them flash cards with pictures and then did an activity where I asked students how they were and they had to base it on the emotion they saw on the board. I asked "how is he?" "How are you?" etcetera. Some students went above and beyond and even gave me reasons why they felt that way. One of my favorites: "estoy enfermo porque no tomo mi leche" "I am sick because I don't drink my milk." 

Then, we moved on to Bingo. This was so much fun. The students who won get marked in my gradebook, and--once they win 5 times--they will get a homework pass. 

I, do, however, wish I waited to start the new material until after break. Lesson learned!

Back to school night was tonight, and I am truly proud of myself. I felt very prepared and the parents seemed engaged and seemed to agree with my techniques. One parent told me that she couldn't believe how organized and detailed I was. That was a great feeling. I also got to get into specifics with some parents about their students. I definitely need to reach out to the parents of students who are doing amazingly and let their parents know. I shouldn't only reach out to parents when there is a problem/worry. 

All in all: great day! 

Zzzzzzzzz,

El joven

Padres . . . y Frío

Well tonight was Open House at MHS.  Unfortunately, because the weather has not been that great and  driving conditions are still not very safe with narrow streets, we didn't have that large of a turn out.  It was great to see the parents and guardians who did attend and share our foreign language program objectives and expectations with them.

I am looking forward to tomorrow when we can begin our vacation but it does seem like we were just on vacation for the end of year holidays.  I hope we can get back into a normal swing of things after this winter break.  Do you think this will be the last of the snow?  Let's hope.

La Vieja

La visita

Today was super hectic. I am really disappointed that I have to leave my last block students a half hour early on Wednesdays for this seminar course. It really should be later. The students are not getting input from me that my other classes are getting. It's really too bad. 

Today, Mr. Riordan from WSU came and observed my class. I, honestly, was not very nervous. I felt prepared, and my students were very well behaved (as always). I'm spoiled with such great students. 

Today we worked on "ser" vs. "estar" but I was only activating prior knowledge. I had the students move Shakira and Prince Royce from one country on the map to another and say where the person was from and where he/she was located. Mr. Riordan suggested having the students move the pieces, which worked much better and was much more engaging. 

Following that activity, we did a round robin with the two verbs. Every student was engaged, and I was very pleased. Then, Mrs. Barnes--that's how I know her, but I believe the students told me that her name is Mrs. Watts (sp)-- stopped by my classroom and impressed me with some very unexpected skills in the spanish language. She is now head of the curriculum for Monson Public Schools. 

All in all, today was a great, but exhausting day. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven 

Cansadísima . . . Super Tired

I feel totally exhausted.  I don't know if it is because of the cold, if it is because of the shoveling I have done this week or if it is because I feel like I cannot get going with much momentun in my teaching.  I cannot wait for warmer days and more sunshine.  I guess I really need the vacation.  Hey vieja . . . you really should clean this house.  Just finding things takes a long time because everything seems to be disorganized.

Today el joven had his first observation.  Mr. Riordan, his Worcester State supervisor, arrived at Monson High around 8:45 and we had a nice talk about what my obligations are as a supervisor and what el joven's obligations are.  I cannot believe that el joven will be a certified Spanish teacher when he finishes this practicum (and the state finally gets him his paperwork - that official license).  Seems like just yesterday el joven was a student in my class and soaring with his work.  I could not have asked for a better student teacher.  He is so innovative and conscientious.  I cannot imagine how frustrated I would be if I had someone who was not conscientious and well-prepared.
Mr. Riordan observed el joven's B Block class and before he left he stopped by my room to tell me that he felt that el joven was a true gem (like I didn't already know that).  He was greatly impressed with his observation of el joven's class and stated that el joven will be a great asset to the profession.  Mr. Riordan also commented that he feels that I have had an influence on el joven's professionalism and preparation.  That was nice to hear but I am not quite convinced of it.

A few other things we accomplished today were (1) we got the attendance warning letters and loss of credit letters sent to el joven  and (2) we checked in with the nurse to see what el joven's obligations are regarding Epi Pens.  Mrs. Goodrich was very helpful with the warning and loss of credit letters and Mrs. Ramsland got right to our questions and called me to discuss how she will follow up to clarify procedures.  We are so lucky to have wonderful colleagues who take action immediately!

Later we had another visitor.  Kate Watts stopped by my room and also by el joven's room to do a quick walk through.  It is always nice to see administrators checking out what we are doing.  It is nice to be acknowledged and to get validation for your practice and your department.

Well la vieja definitely needs to get some sleep, especially since tomorrow evening will be Monson High School's Open House.  I hope we see a good turn out of parents.  Do you think el joven will be a bit nervous?  Probably not!!

Buenas Noches!
La Vieja

Otro día más sin verde!

Yes, another day without green and without full classes.  I used that title because it dates back to a student trip to Mexico. We spent the week with the same bus driver who repeatedly played the Jon Secada song - Otro día más sin verte.  Poor Larry thought it was the Desert Vacation Song because he always heard Otro día más sin verde . . . Another Day without Green. This comment certainly made me realize what a language learner might be hearing when they are not advanced in the language.
Well we had shortened classes again.  It is really hard to get into the swing of things with all of these "snow days." My Spanish 5 class surprised me with the start of their project - illustrating Latinoamérica by Calle 13.  I cannot wait to see the finished version.  Spanish III is moving along and finally into some new materials.  Spanish II should be getting into new materials tomorrow . . . I hope.
El joven and I are getting really excited about our SAP activities.  I suggested to him that we develop something about stereotypes and, as usual, he already had some activities that he has used.  We brainstormed more and hope that we can have two SAP sessions to carry these out.
We had a department meeting after school and talked about the 21st century learner.  It is sad to see that we have so little technology and we have so many resources blocked here at MHS.  The video we watched talked about "how to engage" the students of today.  We cannot even approach this. We can only hope to engage the students of the 80s at best.  We also discussed performance vs. proficiency.  A performance is based on instruction and familiar content.  Proficiency is what language learners can do when they are using language unrehearsed, in less predictable situations, outside the classroom, with people who do not know what topics the learner is currently studying.
Well off to bed!

La Vieja (who needs her sleep)

Otro día de retraso

February 10th, 2015

Today, we, yet again, had another delay after not having school yesterday.  I find this to now be super frustrating because it completely ruins lesson plans.  I plan for 84-minute classes, so only having an hour is quite frustrating.

I found myself smiling today as I realized that the students have really gotten a hang of my expectations.  They came into class, picked up their warm-up activity, put in any late work in the trays without pointing it out to me, and took their homework as they left class.  I was so proud.

My first class kind of angered me today, to be frank.  There was a lot of chit chat and disrespect, so I found my face getting red and my expressions getting serious.  I think I need to be a bit stricter with this class because it is my largest class.  I also have to worry about copying with this class, which is something for which I have zero tolerance.

I also found that I really want to change my routine a little.  I have been going over homework and the warm-up at the beginning of class, but that leaves little to no time for actual classroom learning.  From now on, I plan on having them complete the warm-up, do the lesson, and then--if there is time--go over the homework and warm-up.  If I do not get to it, I will simply have the students leave those assignments in the tray for me to take home.

I played a game with my students today that was very effective.  All the students were engaged and supported each other! I loved it! With my last class, I moved seats to better facilitate learning--which then allowed for 4 groups of 4, too--and I was very pleased with the result!

La vieja and I talked a lot about literature today; I really need to start reading more! I need to read Fuentes, El beso de la mujer araña, El coronel no tiene quien le escriba, and much more! La vieja also talked to be about performance versus something else (she is going to kill me for not remembering the word), but these are different forms of assessment.  I do not want students to constantly be memorizing, rehearsing and producing simply what the practiced.  Otherwise, they will soon forget.  I want to make sure that students can produce the language naturally and spontaneously.  Food for thought. Hoping for a full day tomorrow!

Cambio y corto,

El joven

El Carnaval del invierno

February 6th, 2015

Today, the students had their Winter Carnaval, so we only had 30-minute classes. This gave me very little time for anything. 

I handed back the quizzes, and I was so happy with the amount of 100s that the students got! I noticed a pattern of error with IR verbs, so we spent some time going over that. 

After that, the students and I went over a long homework assignment that we didn't get to finish going over and it gave me some time to go over forming questions, which seemed to have been foreign for the students. 

The winter carnival games drove me crazy in the sense that the students were all telling each other they suck and chanting that the other teams suck. On the other hand, there were some incredible moments where the students supported each other and rooted loudly for students on their team. 

La vieja and I also combined SAPs again today and did this great activity about where students are, were, and hope to be. It's hard to explain in writing, but every student participated, and it was great!

I also got my first parent email today. The email was very respectful, and I am happy that this parent reached out to me. We will see how that goes. 

El joven 

El primer examencito

February 5th, 2015

Today, I gave my students their first quiz on AR, ER, and IR verbs. The students seemed very prepared, and it took a lot less time than I anticipated. 

I did decide to move on, so we went over sequencing today. Primero, Entonces, Después, Luego, Por fin. Most of the students seemed to already know this, so we did two paragraphs on the board as a group, and then I gave them an activity with pictures to use. 

My students really made me laugh today, and I am looking forward to moving on to new material. 

El joven

Pruebas (First Assessments of the Semester) and Carnaval

Hey joven!!  Where have you been?  So today was a day of first assessments for Spanish II and Spanish III.  I haven't corrected them yet but I am hoping for excellent results.  I hope I am not disappointed.  Well today was Winter Carnival Day.  We had very short classes in the morning followed by a long SAP period.  El joven planned another great SAP activity.  It was  Put Yourself Where.  He designated a place in the room (center) where Monson was.  He told the students where north, south, east and west were. He then proceeded to ask various questions such as Where were you when you met your best friend?  Where were you when you made your biggest mistakes?  Where do you see yourself next year?  Where do you see yourself in 10 years.  This activity - like the one he planned for last week - was excellent.  PST - I did help out a bit with both of them - mostly encouragement The students really became involved in it and shared personal reflections and comments. Nice work, joven!  After a quick lunch, we spent the afternoon in the gym watching the Interclass Competition.  It was good to see some class and school spirit.  I particularly liked the volleyball game . .. not because I was interested in it but because I liked the music.  We really need to get something new into this Winter Carnival. With all of the snow, this year would have been a perfect year to have (bring back) the snow sculptures!  Maybe that will happen when I retire and el joven takes over the world!
La Vieja

Nada que Decir (Nothing to Say)

How do you fight lack of initiative?  How do you overcome apathy?  How do you motivate?  Yes, today is a day of frustración.  Oh, joven, it is not with all of my classes.  Basically I am focusing on one particular class and of course that is all I can think about . . . the one that is not going well, that doesn't seem to be advancing.  Why can't I celebrate the great work that is happening in Spanish 5 Honors and their enthusiasm and willingness to put together a project I have only dreamed of completing.  Why can't I be proud of the improvements that I have seen in Spanish 3 students.  The only thing I can think about is those students who are so very far behind in Spanish 2.  I want them to be successful but I feel that they are not all that interested in being successful.  I want them to understand that it is hard to accomplish tough tasks but I appreciate hard work and usually hard work and focus bring about success!  How can I instill this in my students so we can really begin to learn Spanish 2?  Yes, joven, even after 42 years there are days you feel like you are Sisyphus!  Today was one of them!

La Vieja

La frustración

February 4th, 2015

Today was the first day for which I had to plan a lesson so that I could leave halfway through my last block class to attend my seminar course at Worcester State.  Honestly, this is stressing me out.  I feel bad for my last block students who are not getting the input that they need from me--input that my other two classes are, indeed, getting.

I will never, ever understand why this seminar class is at 2:30.  Any student traveling from any kind of distance cannot make it without leaving early. WHY would they want us to do that? I really do not understand it.  I, honestly, was worried about killing myself because of the velocity at which I have to travel to try to make it there for 2:30.

Today, I moved on with my classes. We started by going over the opening activity, which was a test for them to see how much they knew.  I asked them to list the days of the week, the days of the weekend, the months, the seasons, 8 Spanish-speaking countries, etc.  I was impressed that each class was able to produce what I wanted with very few errors.  My students are definitely struggling with accent marks. Ay. So much to review.  I did find, however, that the students did not know the seasons, which was good information for me.

After this review, we started an activity on possessive adjectives--my, your, his, her, our, etc. I color coded the examples--at first, I used the same two examples for each. Then, I showed a powerpoint and asked the students to fill in the blank.  After that, I gave them conjugation cards that I got from la vieja because I am quizzing them on regular verbs tomorrow.  Let's hope it goes well!

Cambio y corto,

el joven

What Were They Thinking?

Well today was the first Wednesday where I had el joven's students in my class because he had to go to a class at Worcester State University which started at 2:00PM.  By the way, this class was for students who are in the midst of their teaching practicum.   DUH . . . What were these people thinking?  Why would you want a student teacher who should spend as much time as possible in the classroom and in the school leaving early every Wednesday to go to a class?  A student teacher should be there working with his/her classes.  I strongly feel that it is not appropriate for Worcester State to pull these students out of their classrooms.  These students have become the de facto teachers of those classes and should be there directing and instructing those students.  I also feel strongly that student teachers should become a part of the entire school culture. They should become involved in after school activities to learn about that aspect of school life.  They should attend faculty meetings which are held after school so that they know what is coming up and they can hear valuable messages that are often related at teacher meetings.  They also should be there for students after school for extra help and support.  That is all part of what they should be learning at their schools during their practicum.  Wednesday is the extra help day for our foreign language department.  I guess someone else will have to work with those students who can only stay on Wednesday.  It seems that if a class is needed, it should meet at a later time - perhaps 4:00PM - so that those students in their practicum can get the entire experience of teaching.  It is not just what happens in the classroom.  I am so thankful that during my practicum my classes were at 4:00PM and they were once a month!!  It allowed me to become involved with the student clubs.  I actually worked with my supervising teacher and helped plan a French club trip to Quebec and I later chaperoned that trip along with her What a valuable learning experience that was!  Having later meetings also allowed me to help students and to attend faculty meetings.  Thanks Westfield State for your sane program!!  I know that if I had had to leave my classroom  in the midst of teaching a class it would have stressed me out a great deal.  It definitely would have impacted the continuity of my lessons and my formation as a teacher.

La Vieja (who seems very crabby tonight)

Another Delay

February 3rd, 2015

Today we had another delay. It is so frustrating because my plans are for 84-minute class periods, so cutting that in half is just not easy. 

Upon starting the day, la vieja showed me a dice activity where students would role two dice to practice conjugating the verbs based on the subject in one column and the direct object in the second column. Immediately, I wanted to do this with my classes, so she so graciously shared!

I caught up with my first-block class with conjugating irregular verbs. I had felt bad because my lesson with them wasn't as great, so I made sure to make up for that today. I am still worried about them, though. 

With my last block, I did something a bit different because they were advanced with irregular verbs: a speed-dating activity. The students asked each other questions and responded using irregular verbs. They did amazingly! With some guidance, they completed the activity exactly as I had hoped. 

After school, I went to my first faculty meeting. We discussed think time--essentially, giving the students some time to process questions. I want to implement this in my classroom by giving students more time to ponder. A student was answering a question today and started to realize he/she had made a mistake. He/she paused and other students immediately raised their hands. I want to try to limit moments likethat because students get discouraged and give up. 

I am stressed and concerned with how far behind we are with all these snow days. I am trying desperately to not rip out my hair. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Abrimos con un retraso de dos horas!

Well today we finally got back to school.  We did have a 2-hour delay which again goofed up classes but at least we got something accomplished.  It is difficult getting momentum when every other day there seems to be something that interferes with classes.  Now on Friday we will have shortened classes for Winter Carnival.  UGH.
Spanish V honors has been going well.  Today we read more tweets (tuits) from Latin America and the students discussed them.  They are getting used to discussions in Spanish.  Most of them had a long break since Spanish IV so they felt rusty.  I think they are starting to get back in the swing. They also had to write tuits and they had some excellent ones.

#Latinoamérica es una mezcla de paises mal entendido(s)
Yo creo que el fin del embargo inútil porque las personas no pueden viajar a Cuba y Cuba no tiene los productos más básicos #Yonoentiendo,

Spanish 3 is making progress.  They seemed much better with common level 1 and 2 verbs.  Hopefull we can start new material tomorrow.
Spanish 2 is still stumping me.  They are really far behind and struggle with simple Spanish 1 verbs.  The odd thing that most of them are doing is putting stress on the last syllable of all verbs.  ODD!!
We had a meeting after school and we did a survey about our schedule. We also completed an activity with wait/think time.  I like the idea of calling it think time.  There was a lot to think about and I plan to become a bit more aware of this in my classes.
El joven used my two column/dice activity and he says it went well.  I hope to get to it tomorrow.

I am finding it difficult planning for that Spanish 2 class.  I am definitely struggling.  I do not want to lose them.

La Vieja

Nice to Get Back To Business

Wow, finally a normal day - no weather delays, no weather cancellations and no bombas as el joven would say.  It was back to business and a full day of teaching.  As el joven and I debrief at the end of the day, we both felt that progress had been made.  My Spanish V students had a great discussion about Latinoamérica (although they are a bit quiet) and my Spanish III students seemed to be more comfortable with the common verbs of Spanish I and II.  My Spanish II students were also on task and showed more skills with their review materials.  I hope I can move on to new materials on Monday.  El joven also commented that he felt like he was "in the groove" today by the end of the day.  These days off and delays etc., really impact the flow of learning.

I think the highlight of our day was our SAP (Student Advisory Program) activity.  When el joven and I review the ethics activity which we were schedule to do with our groups, we both felt a bit uncomfortable with the scenarios.  We decided to combine the two SAP groups (his and mine - which is actually one homeroom) and do a values activity.  Since el joven is a R.A. (not sure what that stands for but I know it is a big wig in the housing at his university), he has had quite a bit of training in these types of activities.  Together we came up with some statements and the students had to stand where they felt regarding those statements.   Were they comfortable, neutral or uncomfortable.  The activity went very well and the students were very engaged.  They shared their ideas and explained why they took a certain stand.  Hey joven . . . we need to share this with the S.A.P committee!

Another exciting discussion we had today dealt with working to bring back some of the activities we used to have during foreign language week.  We have brainstormed some ideas but will need to discuss the logistics of this with Principal Metzger.  I hope el joven gets some good rest this weekend as we may actually have a full week next week.  El joven may have to take some siestas during lunch - because I don't know if he can keep up with la vieja!

Los verbos irregulares

January 30th, 2015

Today was just absolutely crazy.  My lessons were planned (because they were supposed to be done yesterday!), but it did not, by any means, go as I planned.  I was baffled that my first-block students had never seen any of the irregular verbs--which were supposed to be a review.  As a result, I had to adjust my lessons to make sure they understood.

Unfortunately, I felt bad after my first block. By the time I did this lesson with my second and last class of the day, it was so much better because I was prepared for them to not know the verbs.  My first block is kind of like my guinea pigs--which is normal, but I HAVE to make up for it today.  My first block needs a better, color-coded lesson like I gave my other two classes.

My last block, to my surprise, already knew most of the verbs! It's amazing to see the discrepancies. I started this thing where I have the students close their eyes and I ask them questions about comfortability, or even about grammar.  This way, the students are honest if they don't know something.

I am starting to really connect with my students.  Today, a lot of them made me laugh or smile, and it is so incredibly rewarding when they reiterate something I taught them. I am in love with teaching.

La vieja and I had a lot of wonderful conversations today.  She showed me how to write personal notes on the gradebook to help me keep track of concerns, and we combined our SAP classes today! She and I created this activity about ethics where we had students move to one side of the room if they were perfectly fine with the scenario given; walk to another part of the room if they were neutral; and walk to the opposite side of the room if they were completely uncomfortable with the scenario.  This caused for AMAZING conversation, and I was so proud of the students for speaking their minds, being willing to change opinions, and for being truthful. I am so lucky.

Cambio y corto,

El joven

La Bomba

January 29th, 2015

Today was a very interesting day. I, honestly, do not even know where to begin! I was extra prepared for my lessons today and actually finished prepping a half hour early. What?! Is that even real?! Although this job will never be easy, it is getting easier!

I was starting to worry about my assignments and getting off track, so I brought them to la vieja to see what she thought. I really liked the opening activity that I created, but I still have concerns about my homework assessment. I decided to add pictures to it, but I still don't feel that I have enough. I want the assignment to give students room to play with the language and also have some structure. I do not think my classes will get to the assignment, so, hopefully, I will have the weekend to ponder it. 

After our lovely discussion, of course, the alarm goes off and we have to evacuate the building. It turns out there was a bomb threat. I never thought I would hate a day off from school, but I was so prepared! Ugh! 

Throughout the process, I noticed a lot of professionalism and even some unprofessionalism, unfortunately. But how does one really prepare for something like this? I think we were all thrown out of wack, but I know how I want to respond. As teachers, we have to be helpful and not complaining in front of the students. We need to remain calm--even if we aren't--for their sakes. 

The cafeteria food was...not food. I do not miss it. At all. And I had to pay $3.50! Remember when lunch was 50 cents?! My poor PB&J in my room was sad and alone. 

At the end of the day, we returned to the high school and La vieja showed me how to use snip it. She totally thinks she's cool for knowing it, but she's giving herself too much credit. Maybe someday I'll show her how to do it on a Mac--even though they are "way overpriced" as she puts it. Haha just kidding. She deserved a point as she stated. She also helped me learn how to see all my student IEPs on the gradebook. What a day!

Cambio y corto,

El joven

Assessment, Bomb Threat, and Snipping!

What an incredibly eventful day el joven and I had today.  We began with a great conversation about assessment and what is acceptable evidence of student accomplishment of goals.  El joven had developed an open ended assignment in which students were asked to sequence events using Primero, Entonces, Después, Luego y Por Fin.  I loved the idea and the overall concept of the assignment, but I felt I needed to ask el joven if he thought this was sufficient evidence of student mastery of the goal  - the students will be able to narrate activities/events using sequencing words.  When I asked the question, I could immediately see el joven deeply reflecting on this query.  He felt that it provided some evidence, but also thought about how students might simply use Google Translate or ask a more advanced student to complete the task. He then determined that this would be a great formative assessment to provide him with some information, but a similar task would need to be incorporated into a more formal/summative assessment task later.  I have determined that el joven is a very honest and reflective practitioner and I appreciate that he is willing to throw questions back at me to challenge some of my beliefs and practices.
Well, shortly after our "deep" convesation, we heard the evacuate the building alarm.  We quickly exited to the school parking lot to learn that we had a bomb threat and were to be transported by our school buses to the middle school.  This was great news as it was rather cold outside.  El joven and I were on prep so we had no classes to oversee, so we immediately were put work by Principal Metzger to assist with various tasks.  This could not have played out any better as el joven got to see what the procedures are in these cases and he had the opportunity to observe what the veteran teachers were doing.  I volunteered for bathroom duty and had a great time with Mr. Sitnik organizing student use of the lavatories.  It was not a bad job until one girl exited the girls room and mentioned that one of the toilets was about to overflow!  YUK.   I am not good in emergencies but Mr. Sitnik who is familiar with that school because he taught there immediately took charge and found a custodian to remedy the problem. Thank goodness for my pal Mr. Sitnik!   I am sure el joven has a good idea of what to do in case of another incident like this, as he had this entire incident to observe.  Who knows, joven, the next time you might be teaching a class!  I hope you will be ready to spring into action!

The day ended with students being dismissed and a faculty bus trip up to the high school to debrief and plan next steps.  As we were sitting around after the debriefing session, el joven stated that he needed a picture but couldn't get just that portion of a chart to print.  I said to him  "Just pull it up on your screen and get the snipping tool to get the image."   Well what do you know?  La vieja knew what the snipping tool was and el joven didn't!  I think la vieja should get a point for that!  What do you think?

Things You No Longer Worry About After 42 Years!

Today el joven was trying to figure out how to enter grades for homework, what weight they should be, and how often to enter them in our online grading program.  To me it just seemed so natural and so much a part of what I do everyday.  To el joven it was new and confusing.  This made me think about those first few years of teaching and how I spent a lot of time considering the role of homework, how much of an impact it should have on a grade, what I should expect from the students, and even what my policies were in regard to missing homework.  He also seemed to be stumbling with grades for participation.  I think as teachers we can sometimes over think stuff and I could see that this was what he was doing.  Don't worry, joven, as the days pass you will get a better feel and sense of how you view homework and what role it will play!
La Vieja

El segundo día

January 28th, 2014

Today was my second day teaching the three Spanish II classes at MHS, and I definitely was a lot less stressed today.  Although there were some issues with printing and connecting to the internet, it all got figured out in the end.

Due to the fact that we had a half day, I was not able to get through all of my lesson today (which I expected but hoped would not happen).  With the help of La vieja, I decided to review conjugations of regular verbs today.  We learned the verbs in multiple forms: flash cards, PowerPoint, and Bingo.  The first class was the only one that got to Bingo, but it was cut short. I am still struggling with prize ideas, so if you have any, shoot them my way!

My second and third class did not get to Bingo, but we spent more time reviewing the verbs in depth. It's amazing to see how much easier the third class is compared to the first one.  I learned easier ways of collecting to make better use of time with the last two classes, and also had students come up and collect papers for their groups to avoid that awkward time of handing out papers.

I had students in each class close their eyes at the beginning and at the end of class.  I asked them, raise your hand if you feel like you are solid with conjugations, if you are in the middle, and then if you are struggling.  By the end of the class period, no students were in the struggling section, and very few said they were in the middle. I really like that formative assessment because the students will be honest if they do not feel embarrassed admitting they are lost in front of their friends.

I am really starting to love it at MHS (even though the slow computers drive me nuts bonkers), and I anticipate my love for my students to continue to grow.

Cambio y corto,

EL joven

El Joven Survives Día UNO!January 26, 2015

Well, today was el joven's first day with his own classes - 3 of them.  I was truly impressed.  He was ready with engaging lessons and immediately welcomed the students to his classes.  I admit that I have been inundating el joven with reading and ideas.  Sometimes I have to hold myself back as I realize that my 42 years in the classroom can truly overwhelm someone who is just starting out. El joven did admit to me today that he had no idea what I was talking about when I was discussing these first lessons with him.  Once I showed him what I was doing, he got it - but I guess just describing it was confusing.  Oh, and I want you know that I don't expect this to be a one way street with me providing all the ideas.  I also expect to get some great new ideas and activities from el joven.  So beware, joven, the pressure is on.  I have no doubt that he will make some great contributions to my repertoire.   In fact, our conversations have already made me think of new twists to some of my favorites.
I am very lucky that el joven is very highly motivated.  I have already made him read The Keys to the Classroom by Paula Patrick (an ACTFL publication) and I have made him plan a lesson using the ACTFL lesson planning app.  Next up I think he needs to read The Keys to Planning for Learning:  Effective Curriculum Unit and Lesson Design by Donna Clementi and Laura Terrill (another ACTFL publication).  I hope el joven can get by on minimal sleep.  This is going to be a great adventure. 
La Vieja

First Day

January 26th, 2015

Today was my first day with my own classes, and boy am I tired.  After standing all day, my knees are screaming, "what did you get yourself into?!" However, the experience was a positive one.  Many of the teachers in the teachers' lounge asked me, "are you nervous?" Of course, I was, but not nearly as nervous as I had expected.  I felt prepared, and that was mostly all that I needed.

However, I did run into a few obstacles.  My biggest complaint was that I did not have enough copies for my last block class, and that interfered with my teaching a little bit.  Also, if that is my biggest concern from the day, I suppose that I am in pretty good shape.  La vieja came and checked on me with each class, which was a very nice comfort.

I had all three of my Spanish II classes, and it was astounding to see the difference in performance levels.  The first class was incredibly prepared and is ready to move on.  The second class--to be honest--is not ready for Spanish II, so we need to review.  The last class of the day was moderate in skill level, but I struggled a little bit with classroom management.  The students were pretty chatty, but they calmed down when I asked.  I hate being the "strict" teacher, but I know that being strict is vital to my success as a teacher--especially for the first few weeks.

The students loved the activity that called for them to interview each other and share, so I plan to prepare more lessons like that.  I was impressed that I did not hear any side conversations during this activity; everyone was engaged, which makes me smile just writing that. I took their interviews home just to see how they were because only a few students were asked to share, and I was very impressed that some students used advanced grammatical techniques, or fixed mistakes throughout the lesson. I have recognized some patterns of error, which gives me a better idea of how to proceed.

Cambio y corto,

Timothy Chávez

Diigo

January 23rd, 2015

Today, the Spanish IV students took their final exam, so I got some time to prepare for the beginning of my teaching on Monday.  La vieja brought in another book for me to read--dedicated solely to the first few weeks of school.  The book--from what I've read up to this point--talked a lot about a teacher's stance and clothing.  It's truly sad to think how much we, as humans, judge others based on their clothing.  The book truly put that into perspective, comparing a teacher's dress to that of a customer in a store.

La vieja also showed me this great site called "Diigo," which she uses to share powerful teaching resources with colleagues.  She was nice enough to share her resources (and those of her friends) with me, which will be very valuable as I continue with my teaching career.

Since it was a half day, I was also able to take advantage of the fact that I had extra time to clean up/set up my classroom.  That was such an amazing feeling, but I am not going to lie: I am certainly scared for Monday! Nothing can ever truly prepare me for the first day of classes--I simply need to have the experience. I will just keep reminding myself to have confidence in my abilities. 

Cambio y corto,

El joven