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.