The End Is Near

Whether I like it or not, the end of the school year is on its way. In our district, we have a little over five weeks left, and with testing days, that doesn't leave very much time for curriculum. As a result, I am already thinking about what to do the last few weeks of school as a review and I have decided today that I am going to do one of the scariest things of my career thus far...I am going to put the review in the hands of my students. If there is one thing I have learned in my last 8 years of teaching, it is that the majority of MY LEARNING has happened as a result of teaching. I have a lot of leaders in my classes, and I want to give them an opportunity to make the material of my class meaningful to themselves and their peers.

The only plan I have is to split the class into groups of three and to give each group a chapter and half a class period to review with their peers. The delivery is up to them. The following will be their prompt.

With a group of no more than 3 people prepare a presentation about your assigned chapter. Your presentation must include the following:

- A thorough explanation of the content of your chapter

- At least 20 examples of the grammar concepts

- A follow up activity that incorporates the grammar and vocabulary

Some ideas/things to consider depending on your chapter:

Write a short story	Conduct an interview with… about….	Write some journal entries	Create flowcharts	Find and explain patterns in…
Create some “wanted”  posters	Create a Powerpoint or Prezi	Create a video	Create a webpage	Design a game
Dramatize your presentation	Create a dance or sequence of movements to explain…	Create a scavenger hunt	Design a relay race	Write or sing a song/rap
Write a rhyming poem	Design a commercial/brochure/ad campaign	Facilitate a round table discussion	Plan a debate	Create another unique scene or experience for our class of your choosing

I do not know what the end products will look like, but, I plan to provide students with ample time to plan and myself ample opportunities to monitor progress. I'll be back with an update! Thanks!

Negative and Affirmative Tú Commands

For the last week, my students and I have been working on Mandatos. Last year, they learned affirmative commands, and these are now being scaffolded into negatives. Overall, this seems to be a topic they latch onto. Afterall, as teenagers these are phrases they are fairly used to hearing.

On Thursday, I approached the concept in terms of a recipe. I actually brought in avocados, tomatoes, salt, cilantro, and jalapeños. I set them on a table at the back of the room next to a knife, cutting board and a bowl and I asked my students to write about what I could do with those things. As I had suspected, they all decided to write about guacamole and how one would go about making it.

Standing behind the table I called on students individually to give me a step and I performed them in front of the class one by one. By having them write it out first, all kids were put in the mindset of what we working on and it gave them a frame of reference. By asking them one at a time to tell me what to do, they had to listen to their peers and  often modify their steps to what was happening in the room. As you can imagine, food is riveting for teenagers, it wasn´t hard to keep their attention as we went through the process. When we had a completed bowl (which was done the food network way--with hidden pre-cut veggies thrown together at the very end) I was able to ask the kids about things I shouldn´t have done while they all ate our concoction. They then had to write out a final copy of the recipe on a recipe card that they could take home.

On Monday, I plan to review commands again. This time, I intend to use this picture that was shared on Edmodo.

My plan is to give a copy of this photo to each of my students and have them write their name under the feet of the character. Once they have completed that, I will recollect them and randomly pass them out to their peers. Once everyone has one I will be asking each student to choose a side and write ONE affirmative command on the sheet in front of them. When it is completed, I will have them pass it to the person next to them and then they will write one NEGATIVE command in a bubble of their choice. We will continue to pass the sheets around the room until all bubbles are filled.

Note: I intend to make sure all students are APPROPRIATE in their responses and also to encourage them to write a different phrase each time they are given the opportunity. In the end, I think this will have the personal feel that many of them enjoy about Spanish class.

Never have I ever and the Present Perfect

Every year during this time of year, I can't help but take the walk down memory lane and think of high school and my basketball days. I certainly wasn't a great basketball player (not even a good one), but I do have some really good memories of those seasons and my teammates.

As a result, a few weeks ago, I was riding the School bus with the ACADEMIC team I coach and I remembered how we would play "Never have I ever" on the long bus rides home. Being the nerdy lady I am, I started to think about it in terms of grammar and realized that as serendipitous as it was, I would be teaching the present perfect to my Spanish 2 class later that week. 

As someone that is always looking to try something new, I taught my Spanish 2 students how to form the present perfect and then told them about this memory. Learning that this is a game that is rarely played nowadays, I typed up the following blurb and explained it to the kids.

"Never Have I Ever is a game that both allows you get to know each other better and to use what you already know about others to your advantage.  Everyone in your group will take turns saying something they have never done.  Each player starts with ten fingers showing.  Each time someone says something that you HAVE done, you drop a finger. The goal is to be the last player with fingers remaining."

With the game explained, I had the kids put together a list of five things they have never done. As predicted, many of them were very strategic in writing things they were certain friends of theirs have done so that they would need to put fingers down. I then split the class in half and in a round robin fashion had each student say something they have never done. I only allotted 15 minutes, and allowed the people with the most fingers left to claim themselves as the winner, but you could play even longer if you had the time.


In the end, it resulted in a high interest activity that required little to no planning and promoted listening and speaking skills. WIN!

Desk Posters

Let me start by saying that this is an idea I found on Pinterest. It is a modified work, not an original, but I wanted to share it out because my students love it and it has made a difference in the level of engagement.

Like many of you, my classroom is small. I have little wall space, and posters take up a lot of real estate. This idea, therefore, caught my eye when I saw it. It is a thin banner of commonly used phrases that I have attached at the top of my student's desks. The first time I put them on, I photocopied them on bright orange paper and taped them to the desks. As you can imagine, they lasted about three weeks before they came flying off. In a second attempt, I bought one of those scotch laminators and started to laminate them.

Desk Posters

What I mostly love about these, is that it is a quick go to sheet when the kids are caught off guard. No longer do they have to pull out a vocabulary sheet from a folder or look at the back of the book. Furthermore, they have been on the desks long enough that most of them don't even look at them anymore. The phrases slowly (without much work) have become part of their everyday vocabulary and students have the confidence to use them.

***BRAG POST***

I'm going to start by saying that a lot of this particular post is going to sound like a big, old pat on the back for me, but, I can assure you that it is much more than that and does indeed serve a purpose.

At our school, we invite the entire freshmen class and their parents to come in the last night of Summer vacation to meet and greet the teachers. A few years ago, on this night, I had a young man come in with his grandmother and I asked him his name. He told me and it was followed up with this conversation:

Me: Well, student, it is very nice to meet you! Are you excited for your freshmen year!!?!?
Him: No, school is stupid.
Me: Awww...Come on! School is great! It is my favorite place in the whole world! At the very least, I can promise you a great year in Spanish!
Him: No you can't.
Me: Sure, I can. Spanish is the best! You will be speaking it before you know it!
Him: I ain't going to learn no F*^%ing Spanish. I'm telling you it is stupid.

Ill be honest in saying that I was at a loss for words. I even went as far as calling the school counselor on the way home from school crying about how awful this experience would be. The next day, I tried to smooth things over. I went out of my way to make him feel welcome. And, again, my positive attitude and offer to help was denied.

Day after day, week after week I chipped away at this situation. And, he didn't make it easy on me. He stopped bringing paper to class and never had a pen. So, every day I would walk over to his desk and hand him a new sheet of paper and a new writing utensil. I kept his textbook under my desk to give back to him each day, and I would make sure he was as involved as every other student. Some days he would push me in terms of his behavior and out in the hallway we would talk about how I refused to give up on him. That I saw a kid with a bright future ahead of him and that I would do EVERYTHING in my power to make it harder for him to fail than to succeed.

We really came head to head when it became time for him to do his family tree project. At this point, he was adamant about failing the class. I knew I had to do something creative, and, so I offered him an opportunity to do a family tree of my Foreign Exchange Student's family (see my post on inviting FE Students to be TAs) . This particular student was from Colombia, and what took place during these two weeks was quite magical...

These boys bonded, to an extent that all the sudden Spanish wasn't something my amigo was so obstinate about any more. Little by little he would raise his hand in class and he would ALWAYS allow my TA to be his speaking partner. I saw,after months and months of trying, that wall come down.

The following year, he took my Spanish 2 class. Still a little on the rocky side, but, our good days outweighed the bad. I made sure to send as many positive emails home as possible and made sure HE knew that I cared not only about his performance in my class but ALL classes and that I wasn't going to go away. In fact, as a way to prove that to him, I extended him an invitation to pay forward the gift that was given to him by our dear Colombian. The opportunity to TA--and he took it!

Now this young man hangs out with me every day, tutoring, inspiring kids and teaching ALONGSIDE me. He tells my kids that "Spanish is cool as long as you stay positive" and that "You can try to give up, but, Miss Rad and I will be right there to pick you back up" . When I have a sub, he teaches. And, most of the time the kids in my class ask HIM to help them instead of me--and, every time it happens, my heart grows three sizes larger.

So far, this is has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. Never before did I think I could care THIS much. And, truth be told, this guy isn't rare. We all have kids like this and you never know how your class and attitude will affect a student and his/her life. If there is one thing I have learned, it is that every student deserves to be known and valued and that a little bit of adult attention, a kind heart and a helping hand can go a long way.

Making Freshmen Year Count

In addition to a Spanish teacher, I am part of a group of teachers at my school that runs a freshmen intervention program that is VERY near and dear to my heart. Though curriculum and lessons are passions of mine, I would be amiss if I didn't take the time to write about this huge part of my life as well...

As we work hard in education to keep students on track for four year graduation, it is important to understand that 9^th grade may be the last year that we have to intervene. Studies show that students are three to five times more likely to fail freshman year than any other grade and the impact of that on their future success is staggering. In order to keep Freshmen on track there are a few things that all districts can be doing to make sure all students succeed.

#1 Pull together a group of positive teachers that are resilient, innovative and flexible in attitude, schedule and expectations.

Empower this group of individuals to work together by giving them common plan time during the day so that they can collaborate and problem-solve. Encourage this group to get together at least weekly to review the Freshmen D/F list to identify any areas that may need improvement. Note that it is especially important to get a group together that is made up of different disciplines to get a well-rounded view of student performance. You will find that some students may do better in elective courses than core classes or vocational vs. academic.  Furthermore, having a guidance counselor and a Special education teacher on the team, makes for a great support system.

#2 Identify students that may need extra support or have circumstances that interfere with academic success before they even enter your building.

Ask your 8^th grade teachers to pull together a list of students that were at risk of not graduating to the 9th grade. Using that list, provide time for your team of 9^th grade teachers to meet with your 8th grade team so they can hear descriptions of each student on the list in terms of organization, homework completion, absenteeism, study skills, home life, etc..

If you have the resources, take it one step further by creating an early warning system to identify at risk students. At OHS we have compiled attendance rates, GPA, extracurricular involvement, office discipline referrals, number of Fs in 7th and 8th grade, MAPs scores, AIMs scores, and course assessment data.  Together with teacher anecdotes, this information paints a fairly accurate picture of student performance and need so that you are ready with support before they even start freshmen year.

 #3 Provide Teacher mentors for the 15% of students that were at risk of not graduating to 9^th grade

Ask Freshman team teachers to volunteer to mentor 2-3 students and meet with them weekly on an individual basis to discuss grades, teach organizational skills, offer homework help and serve as a strong role model. At OHS we call this program “Hawks Take Flight” and it links each HTF student with an adult in the building that they can count on to look over him/her. In addition to having a teacher mentor, students are invited to attend an after school homework café every Thursday with all of the HTF teachers and they are enrolled in a Study Skills course for the year that is facilitated by one of our Mentors. The vision and goal of HTF is to ensure all HTF students remain on track for on time graduation. It is a time commitment, but is well worth the success we have seen over the years.

#4 Set goals with mentees as well as take the time to recognize effort and successes

Ask your Mentors to do a weekly check-in of mentees in terms of attendance, planner usage, organizational skills, homework completion, assessment success, goal attainment and extra tutoring. Consider giving students a ticket for each area that is met to be placed in a jar for a weekly prize drawing. This type of system is effective for a few reasons. First of all, this is a group of students that rarely gets recognized for their academics. By acknowledging their successes, they feel as though their efforts are appreciated, and they are intrinsically motivated to work harder. Also, the ticket system takes the emphasis off of what isn’t done and makes mentor/mentee check-ins more positive, though they sometimes involve some tough conversations.

Essentially, this type program is relationship based. We’ve found that by the end of freshmen year, students have the confidence and mindset that they need to be successful.

#5 Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Make sure to keep two way communication open between parents, counselors, teachers, administrators and students at all times. Students are most successful when all parties are aware of what is going on with their education. Parent phone calls are a lot more meaningful when a teacher/administrator can not only describe what is happening in one class but in several. Furthermore, encourage your team to make positive calls home. A student is likely to continue to exhibit positive behaviors if you’ve taken the time to recognize his/her efforts, and, it sends parents the message that you truly care as you have taken the time to get to know and value their child.

Overall, there is no doubt that these five simple steps take time, but, the investment will be well worth student success and hopefully will translate to higher graduation rates in the future.

Making Language Learning Meaningful

As I spent the last hour outside shoveling, I couldn't help but reflect on the idea of making language learning meaningful. Again, we live in a small town and there really is no immediate opportunity or NEED for students to learn a foreign language, but, there are a few resources out there like the Mexican restaurant. And, there is one out there that you may not have thought of...

I don't know about your schools, but, mine has at least three or four foreign exchange students a year. My school counselor knows that these students are my prized commodities! As soon as one registers for school, I want to meet him/her and I offer support, a friendly smile AND either Spanish classes (if it is a student from a non-Spanish speaking country) OR English language support in EXCHANGE for Teaching Assistant help.

Here are a few of the benefits for my students:

• It gives them another on-site expert--Not only do they have me as a resource for help with the language, but they have someone else they can ask questions to.
• It brings another perspective in the classroom in terms of culture. Who needs a textbook when you have someone that LIVES that culture day in and day out IN your room!!?!
• It allows my students to hear a different accent other than mine.
• It gives the kids someone THEIR age to speak Spanish to
• It opens their eyes to the world around them. They get an opportunity to meet someone very much like them, that appreciates language learning and has made it an integral part of his/her life

Here are a few of the benefits for the foreign exchange student:

• It gives him/her an opportunity to be an expert in a class and increases confidence 
• It allows him/her to look at his/her own culture from a different perspective
• It gives him/her the opportunity to teach his/her peers further strengthening his/her own knowledge of both Spanish AND English
• It helps him/her make some new friends that he/she may not have met before
• It gives him/her extra English vocabulary practice throughout the period.
• They can get extra support from me on their assignments from other classes.

Again, I don't only take foreign exchange students from Spanish-speaking countries. I encourage students from other countries to TAKE my class, as well.

A few of the benefits for him/her:

• It gives him/her the opportunity to learn Spanish---WOOT!
• It gives him/her the opportunity to start on the same even ground as the rest of his/her English speaking peers 
• It gives him/her the opportunity to get in some extra English vocabulary/grammar practice
• It provides a truly warm atmosphere for conversation and socialization
• It allows him/her the opportunity to look at his/her own culture from a different perspective

Over the years, I have had Teaching Assistants from Mexico, Colombia and Spain. (I even went to visit my Españoles last year!)  I have also had students from Sweden, Denmark, Korea, Germany, Slovakia and Finland. I would be amiss if I didn´t point out that I have learned a lot from them too. But, alas, we learn from all of our students, don´t we!?

Experimenting with Google Voice

Every year I have my students create a family tree as a project along with detailed descriptions of at least 5 of their family members. Over the years I have seen big posters, family trees in the shape of trees, posters with REAL branches and leaves on them, Prezis, PowerPoints, videos and the occasional one on lined notebook paper with stick figures.

That being said, MOST of these guys are REALLY REALLY excited about their product and they want to show it off. So, in the past, I have asked them to present their trees to the class. The problem with this, however, is that with a class of 23-28 kids these days become VERY boring and often take up more than one class period. 

This year, I am going to try something a little different. I have told my students that each one of them will be presenting their tree THREE times. The first two times will be practice runs with a friend who will peer assess with a rubric encouraging growth. The third time will be a more serious run with an assigned partner who will be taking notes.

The notes will then be used for a subsequent assignment in which students will describe their PEER'S family to ME via google voice.

They will need to:

• ·         Greet me
• ·         Introduce him/herself by saying his/her name and how old he/she is
• ·         Tell me who his/her partner (pareja) is
• ·         Describe the family of his/her peer along with at least TWO family members
• ·         Say good-bye

     Ultimately, this will ensure that each student has MULTIPLE opportunities to practice vocabulary and speak, as well as ensure that they will have a captive audience that is listening intently to the details of the speech.

    Furthermore, because I will have the written descriptions in my possession from the turned in tree, I will be able to check for accuracy on the voicemails if something seems amiss and I will have recordings that I can play back to students when they are wondering about mistakes.

    In the end, it will be a hefty couple days of grading, but, with the rubrics I have created, should be manageable! 

A Pirate's Life for Me

Weeks later and Teach Like a Pirate is still inspiring me to keep my lessons different and exciting.

On Monday, I set the copy machine to print and left to get a coffee while it slowly spit out sheet after sheet. When I returned, I found a sticky note like this stuck to the machine.

It not only caused a full blown belly laugh that caused me to temporarily be short of breath, but, it made me really excited to get over to room 106 to see what was going on. Truth be told, Room 106 is not only the hostage site of my copies, but home to one of the most amazing, dedicated, hard-working individuals I know. No joke, this guy is the type of educator administrators dream of. Above all else, the success of his students are of the utmost importance and because of that, I look up to him and am constantly inspired to do my best.

When I got to his room, with dulce de leche filled chocolate owls in hand, he returned my stack of papers. Though we had a good laugh, I sat there staring at those sheets thinking how the end result was kind of "blah". I mean, yes, I had great intentions. I spent at least 30 minutes coming up with guided notes about possessive adjectives that had examples that applied to my students. But, a presentation about possessive adjectives hardly sounded like something a fourteen year old would be riveted by--and, then it hit me. 

The following day, I walked into my classroom with a different plan. I started my class period by telling the story of my copy thief (which prompted the comment ¨Sweet! We don´t have to do it!¨) 

I followed the story up with a bellringer, vocabulary flashcards and a vocab puzzle. As the kids were working on the puzzle, however, I walked around the room and started taking things from their desks and putting them in a backpack that I keep in my classroom. I took textbooks, water bottles, IPods, cell phones, pencil bags, pencils (right out of the hands of kids that were using them) and really just quietly made a little scene. Some of them didn't even notice, others were appalled and to those that asked me what I was doing, I would respond by saying "¡Trabaja!¨.

When they finished the activity I loudly pulled a desk to the front of the room and plopped my backpack on top. I said ¨Amigos, Tengo que confesar¨ ¨Soy una ladrona¨ ¨I then pulled out a textbook and said ¨Este libro NO es MI libro....¨  A few snickers resulted. I started asking kids ¨¿Es tu libro?¨ When we finally figured out who it belonged to, I could say ¨No es MI libro es SU libro¨

Same with the water bottles...I took two in each class so I was able to say ¨Son SUS botellas¨ and then when they were paired next to mine, ¨Nuestras botellas¨ and so forth. They all sat there staring in bewilderment over how many things I took, wondering if something of theirs was in my bag. Without the use of a worksheet, I could get the kids in my room to start working on possessives. Not only did I ¨steal¨ their possessions, but, I stole their attention as well. In the end, that´s what we all should be striving to do, hooking our students and luring them in to be passionate about their learning.

Using Movie Clips to Help Narrate the Past

Since my last posting, my students and I have been working diligently on the past and I am super pleased to say that for the first time in my seven years of teaching it they are HAVING FUN with it as opposed to being afraid. I am attributing it to the fact that my approach has been far more differentiated than it has been in previous years and we have examined it in a variety of different aspects.

Of all of the activities that we have done, the one thing that is really working and keeping kids engaged is examining the past through the use of movie clips.

Animated short films or cortometrajes are great for this. Oktapodi, Lifted, La Luna, Presto and One Man Band are among some of my favorites and can all be found on YouTube.

Call me nerdy, but after teaching narration of the past for the last seven years, all I see is preterite vs. imperfect when watching a film like that. As I explain to my kids, it pairs quite well. When narrating a scene in the past, all of the background stuff that is going on that you generally glance over in a movie is the imperfect. It sets the scene, it makes things interesting, and without it it is hard to fall in love with the characters, and to get emotionally invested. The best animated short films pay really close attention to that and then jam in as much preterite into a short amount of time as possible to keep things interesting. From my perspective, the preterite is all of those things that avert attention from that pretty background and those cute little characters. 

Take the movie Up for example, when Mr. Frederickson´s house is flying over the city, you see a big, beautiful house floating through clouds, hanging from balloons of every color over the rooftops of skyscrapers and so forth when all of the sudden you hear the crack of thunder. No longer are you processing that scene-- it becomes secondary. All of your attention is focused on the action. (the preterite)

This particular unit we have vocabulary related to family gatherings. I really wanted my students to be able to synthesize both their new vocabulary with their new grammar, so I chose to show the following clip of the ¨Top Five Disney Weddings¨

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0ykxKbNTgo

In English, we narrated #5 and discussed which conjugation we would use and why.  As a class we narrated #4 in Spanish together and then they were given the choice to narrate #1, #2, or #3 on their own.

As a challenge, I told them not to share with their peers which clip they were narrating. If they narrated it well, we should have been able to figure it out based on their description.

A few tootsie rolls up for grabs, and all of the sudden this writing was fun.It gave them the motivation they needed to make sure that their writing and description was thorough as opposed to thrown together and vague.

I'm excited to see the progression the rest of this year, and I hope that they continue to embrace it with a growth mindset.

Dos Verdades y Una Mentira

After going over the present subjunctive and doubt the other day, I spent some time trying to come up with an idea for the Present Perfect of the Subjunctive that would get them talking!

I think I am going to try dos verdades y una mentira. This is a tight knit group of kids that have grown up together, so I can see them getting excited about sharing little details of their lives to see who can spot the false one.

Just in case those are a breeze, I am also going to have them each write dos verdades y una mentira about a well-known person of their choice. I will be modeling mine with Shakira (a very intelligent Latina, I must add).

http://www.ecumple.com/post/datos-curiosos-de-shakira-cumpleanos

1. Shakira ha estudiado 6 idiomas.

2. Shakira ha recibido su propia estrella en el paseo de fama.

3. Shakira ha visitado muchos lugares en el mundo, incluyendo Rockford, IL.

My plan is to put my desks in two lines facing each other. I will give them two minutes with each peer to spot ¨el intruso¨ and will follow up with a bell ring to move them on to the next set. While they are having conversations, I also want them to record the responses of their peers. When it is over, as an exit slip, I would like them to report to me how successful they were in stumping each other.

i.e. Solamente cuatro personas creen que yo he visitado a españa. Manuel no cree que yo haya comido insectos.

Present, Preterite and Imperfect! Oh, my!

It is getting to that time of year when it becomes time to mix the Preterite with the Imperfect... DUN, DUN, DUN! In the past, I laid it all out there for them in one big grammar lesson. What I found, is that it was way too overwhelming all at once. So, this year, we will try baby steps...


Thus far, my students have seen the regular -ar, -er and -ir endings of the preterite. In fact, thanks to this catchy tune, this was a breeze to teach and remember.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95heLa1taQA  (On YouTube, search Tik Tok Preterite)

We have also gone over the conjugations of Hacer, Querer, Venir, Poner, Poder, Estar, Tener, Decir, Ir and Ser. These are what I call the ¨Poema¨ Verbs and we have practiced them by reciting:

Hice, Quise, Vine, YO

Puse, Pude, Estuve YO

Tuve, Dije, Fui, Fui Yo

(They especially love to exaggerate the FUI FUI part)

Now that we are back from winter break, I am slowly starting to integrate the Imperfect. I started by showing students a PowerPoint about what I was like as a little girl. With gems like this photo (where I strangely resemble someone moderately famous), it certainly was high interest...

Throughout the PowerPoint I made sure to make statements such as ¨De niña, yo viajaba a Wisconsin con mis abuelos cada verano. Nosotros paseábamos en bote y íbamos de pesca todos los dias.¨ I would then break out and pick individuals in the room to ask questions to. ¨ Anna, de niña, ¿viajabas con tu familia?¨ ¨Will, de niño, ¿ibas de pesca?¨ and so forth. 

I found that through modeling and the use of the images, the kids were able to answer questions throughout the activity. When it was over, I asked them if they noticed anything different about the verbs. They noted the endings and when asked why, it didn´t take much time for them to realize that these were repeated actions and descriptions in the past. Two weeks later and we are mixing the preterite and the imperfect a little more day by day. The posts to follow will likely be more of this adventure down the yellow brick road to el pasado.

And the Bar is Raised

After the Scavenger hunt, the Hawks want more! More, they say! My newest class topic is the Subjunctive and Doubt. In the past, I taught this by talking about Aliens, Yeti, and Zombies. I mentioned it to the group a few days ago and they seemed underwhelmed. When you get that kind of reaction, you just know that it isn't going to work. In an effort to set us all up for success I spent some time brainstorming scenarios that would require kids to question their beliefs. I came up with two (fairly simple) ideas, both allowing kids to try to "stump" each other. (Providing an element of competition)

Activity # 1) I asked my Hawks  to go around and take two "fotos de algo misterioso" for discussion that they needed to email to me. They were also given directions to keep them a secret from each other. Some examples:

We spent the class period reviewing the subjunctive and its conjugations by playing battleship and taking notes. All the while, they kept asking when we would get to "las fotos". Finally, I put the fotos up one at a time and had them write down what they thought the photo was, quietly. I then had them work with a partner to compare answers.  

After giving them some time, I would call one pair at a time and ask ¨Qué es esto?¨ about one of the photos. When they provided me with a response, I called on another pair to ask ¨Creen que es ______?¨ If they believed it--indicative. If they didn´t---subjunctive. Simple, and basic but NOW we have a foundation to scaffold on AND I have kids hooked on the subjunctive.

Activity #2) Sticking with the intrigue of mystery, I gave each of my Hawks a brown paper bag and asked them to fill it with something from home and staple it shut (again, a secret). I numbered the bags and passed them around the room while having the kids answer questions about the items (that they could only feel) inside.

Examples:

¿Crees que es algo fácil de identificar?

¿Crees que uno puede comerlo?

¿Crees que uno lo necesita para vivir feliz?

¿Crees que se usa para algo importante?

¿Crees que tu familia tiene algo similar en casa?

Overall, two high interest activities. Now what to do with the rest of WEIRDO?

QR Code Scavenger Hunt

The treasure? An enthusiastic group of Baby Hawks wondering when we are going to try again.


As an avid watcher of the Amazing Race, I have been wanting to do something like this for a long time. The idea, however, seemed too "big" for my classes. After reading "Teach Like a Pirate" this weekend, I felt inspired to try a couple of things that I have thought might be too "big" or "creative" for me. As Burgess states, NO ONE is born "creative". Creativity takes hard work and reflective thinking: two of my favorite things.

The Process:

 1: I split my class into four teams with four different routes throughout our school.

 2: I picked 7 locations in our school that students could find. (la biblioteca, el gimnasio, la cafeteria, la sala de banda, la oficina, el laboratorio de computadoras and la clase de Rad)

 3: Using their vocabulary words I wrote out little tasks for them to perform at each location. I.e. "Saca una foto de algo misterioso" o "Saquen una foto de Uds. haciendo ejercicio"

 4: I got online and searched for a QR Code Generator. A quick Google search and I came across this one. http://www.qrstuff.com/.  I opted to use "Plain text" as my data type and for each location I typed in my task and their NEXT location. For example, at the library, it would say "Saquen una foto de algo misterioso. Luego, vayan a la oficina."

 5: The night before the activity, I asked the class to split into groups and to have one person in each group download a QR Code reader.

 6: At the beginning of the class period I gave each group a QR code like the one above that said "Saquen un "Selfie" de tu grupo y luego vayan a..." Once they scanned it in, they were off!!!!

***TIP*** Print the QR Codes in four different colors (one for each group). Because the routes are different you don't want them scanning the wrong one and ending up going in circles

NOW, I know some of you are thinking..."Is that it?" The answer is no. There was MUCH more.

When the kids got back to the classroom they had to narrate their route to the class showing them their photos and sharing their "battle" stories. They were told to give their reactions and to use transitions. This is a group that doesn't really like to present. TODAY, they were excited and told me that they would be willing to present again if there was another one. That is of course, if I think "bigger" next time. Ha! So much for it being "too much".

Teaching Like a Pirate...AAARRRGGGHH

I'm going to start this post by saying that if you haven't picked up "Teach Like a Pirate" yet, you need to check it out. It is a quick read and as someone who is constantly looking for ways to improve my practice, this book really has me fired up!


Reflection # 1: Perspective, Perspective, Perspective

Right off the bat, Burgess points out that inevitably, you aren't going to be passionate about EVERYTHING in your class but you are ALWAYS passionate about something.

I'll be honest, I don't really get excited about demonstrative adjectives, direct object pronouns, sports, indefinite and definite articles and the uses of por BUT I sure as heck get excited about spending time with my Baby Hawks, making a difference and making my class one that kids want to be in. Furthermore, I think that all students start to associate certain passions with each teacher. My students would peg me as someone that LOVES school, Baby Hawks, Spanish, owls, chocolate, Grammar, squirrels, coffee,  and traveling (among other things).

My best lessons are those that bring those passions to the forefront. I'll take my most recent out of the box presentation, for example. I titled it "Direct Object Pronouns...and Squirrels". In the past, teaching direct object pronouns was a disaster for me. Not because my students couldn't figure it out, but, because as I taught it I could see on every one of their faces that the lesson was a complete and total grind for them. They were soaking in the material out of loyalty to me, not because they were truly engaged or extremely jazzed about learning grammar for grammar's sake. Those lessons are as soul sucking for me as it is for them. As teachers, we want all kids to look forward to coming to class everyday. With each year, I hope to have fewer and fewer of the "Daily grind" days as I add more pizzazz to my arsenal of lessons.

In any case, last chapter, I was faced with the DOP section of my curriculum. I sat at my computer for hours determined to improve this mind-numbing lesson of mine, thinking about my Baby Hawks. My sweet baby hawks, and how they would be so "squirrely" if I didn't get this just right and then it dawned on me! Squirrels! I affectionately call my students "ardillitas" on a daily basis when I see them get all bright eyed and bushy tailed about something and they love to "push back" and deny this similarity.

I quickly googled "squirrels" and one search led to another as I hit the google images jackpot of squirrels doing everyday things. I copy and pasted as many of these photos as I could find into a Powerpoint and  starting captioning them all in different tenses while using student names.

                                                                   "Will lava la ropa".

As I went through the Powerpoint, we discussed the ridiculous photos. The kids were quickly eager to expand on these scenarios and descriptions. Without them even knowing it, I was able to smoothly get them to start understanding the use of DOPs and to start trying them out in their own sentences.  By personalizing this lesson, incorporating a little bit of creativity and allowing them to learn through experience I effectively engaged all of the students in my room. And, guess what? DOP instruction became a rewarding experience for me too....I can't wait to try it out again next year!

In summary, Burgess is spot on. "By changing focus and activating the creative genius that resides inside each of us, there are incredible ideas all around for the taking". All it takes is a little change in perspective.

PLCs: as Important as ABCs

I have been teaching for seven years now. The first two years of my career, my Professional Learning Community consisted of two important people. My cooperating teacher/mentor/dept. head/Spanish teaching colleague and the math teacher that I carpooled to work with. Don't get me wrong, these women are two of the best teachers on the planet. They both have a wealth of knowledge and skills that they are willing to share and they offered some of the best advice I have ever been given.

My third year of teaching, however, I became part of a Freshmen Team at my school given that I taught four sections of Spanish I every year. Talking about insight! Being part of this team gave me the opportunity to look at student data with people that shared the same students!! Together we have a more well-rounded view of student performance and are able to come up with more comprehensive intervention plans. The success we have seen in the last five years is quite incredible and deserves a post all of its own.

My newest PLC is one that took a little convincing to join. Don't get me wrong, I like the internet. But, for a while, I wasn't sure that Facebook, Twitter, Edmodo and Pinterest were really for me. It took a required course in Technology and Education to get me signed up. A few weeks later, I was hooked. As someone that LOVES school, these sites get me really fired up! Facebook and Pinterest are my two favorites. I love Facebook because of its "Spanish Teachers in the US" group full of Spanish Teachers from all over the US gracious enough to share their craft with others. It truly warms my heart to see teachers asking and RECEIVING support from total strangers. I consistently find myself inspired by the other teachers on this site and strongly encourage other teachers to join. While you are at it, check out Pinterest! It takes a little while to get used to, but, after a while, you get a little rush out of the hunt for true Pinterest treasures! I assure you, it is full of them! If you are ever in the need to spice up a lesson, these are the places to check out!