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