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!