Week 6 (4/10-4/14) Trying Something New

Even though we had Iowa assessments all week resulting in 30 to 35 minute classes, this week has been packed with a lot. First off I tried something different with my 6^th period class which always has trouble staying on task. They are constantly talking, blurting out answers and asking questions that are off topic. It is a constant redirecting of questions and effort to bring them back on task. They are a great class, great kids, but are super super chatty!! Typically I would constantly stop and redirect them to what we were doing, but Tuesday I decided I had enough and needed to do something about it (especially it being my official first week of teaching).  I decided to bring in classroom management strategies that I used at the middle school (they were behaving like younger children). I started off Wednesday addressing the issue and explaining to them that we were going to try something different, and silly. I told them my expectations, when I say this you say that and that’s your cue that it is time to be quiet and put full attention to me. They immediately asked if they were the only class with whom I was doing this with because they were a “bad class” I told them, yes they were the only class with whom I was doing this with, but I made it clear that it was not because they were a bad class they are just the liveliest of my classes.  I didn’t want them to feel like they were bad kids, because they aren’t so I made sure I made that very clear. Things worked out well for the rest of the day. The next day, they didn’t like the attention getter, they said it made them feel like little kids. I acknowledged their feelings I asked them what it was that we could do as a class to stay on task. After a short discussion we agreed that I would work on my authoritive voice and they would work on staying on task. The rest of the week went by well, there are time where they become chatty but it has not become excessive like before.

The other thing that happened this week was an activity called Spelldown which my student absolutely loved! Standing in front of the classroom and observing my students interact with each other and be fully engrossed in the activity was an amazing feeling. I could tell by the atmosphere in the classroom and the eagerness in the students that each one of them was engaged. I had the opportunity to do this activity with my level 3 and level 2 Spanish classes and both levels enjoyed it. The activity served as a review for their vocabulary spelling test.

Next week will be filled with more engaging activities as my CT and I experiment without QR activity that will require or students venturing the hallways (more to come on this activity on my next blog!!)

Link to Spelldown lesson

https://1drv.ms/w/s!AqLF30a58fJHlXDn2zHfRIBaymai

Week 5 (4/3-4/7) Loteria!!

La Loteria 

        This week I used a traditional Mexican game called La Loteria. La Loteria is similar to bingo; everyone has a playing card and there is a deck of calling cards and they use beans as tokens to mark down what has been called. You yell LOTERIA! When you win.  

One of the playing cards for Spanish 3

I adapted this game to my Spanish 2 and Spanish 3 level classes. I created playing cards and calling cards using their vocabulary words. I even brought in the beans!! I first shared with them what the traditional game was all about, and some of the traditions that go with it.  I explained the rules and we were set to go.  For the first round we started playing as a whole class and I was the caller.  We played a couple rounds and I allowed some students to be the ones to call the cards. I also gave students options. For example, they decided what kind of game they wanted to play (fill the card, four corners, diagonal, any four in a row etc.) I also gave them the option to continue playing as a whole class or break up into two smaller groups. Some of my classes decided to continue playing as a whole and two decided to play in two smaller groups

One of the playing cards for Spanish 2

 Overall, the activity went really well. My students were engaged and excited, some more than other but overall students seemed to be enjoying it. During my 5^th period class the students thanked me for doing this activity with them. One of them said “thank you for coming into our lives, we usually just have to memorize things. This was really fun and I actually feel like I remember the vocab better”. It was super sweet and it reminded me that all the time and effort I put in adapting and creating this activity for them was worth it!

Week Four (3/27-3/31) Grammar, Grammar, Grammar!

Last week and this week we have been working on introducing some new grammar concepts as well as reiterating concepts we covered last chapter.  When it comes to speaking, listening, and culture aspects of the Spanish language I am 100% confident/comfortable teaching it and explaining it. It’s when we get to the grammar aspect of language that my confidence drops. Growing up as a native Spanish speaker explaining grammar was not given much emphasis. I know how to conjugate for different tenses, I know what the structure of a sentence should look and sound like and so forth. So I should have nothing to worry about. However, because I don’t feel 100% when explaining grammar it takes an impact on how I deliver that information.  Some say that, in acquiring a new language, knowing that buscó (looked for) encontró (found) are in the preterit are not important. They say that it is more important to know the concept that when speaking of events that happened yesterday, a year ago or in childhood require these conjugations.  I personally think that both can be used in the classroom. For some students it might be helpful to know what the name of the concept is, and for others it might be easier to think of it as situations in which you use those tenses.

            Going into this week I will have more opportunities to practice instruction of grammar. I am preparing myself to explain concepts in more than one way to make sure that I know it from memory. I have also talked with my CT about tips and tricks that I can use during grammar lessons. In addition, I will explain the concepts to my CT before I do it with the students to get some practice and feedback. I will also try to be more confident with presenting grammar points. Confidence is a huge part!

For Spanish 2 we are starting with the concept of direct object pronouns, but before we get there we are scaffolding by first labeling the parts of a sentence and what they do.  

Week 3 3/20-3/24: Starting off on the right foot!

Last week was filled with a lot. I started of the week Monday by taking my content area praxis test, glad to have gotten that out of the way! Tuesday was my first day back and it went well. Over break I created a playlist (with help from Faby) from which I chose a song for each day I will be in the classroom. The song plays before each class starts during passing period. As students walk in they are able to look to the board and follow along with the lyrics or just listen to it. Songs typically run from 3 to 5 minutes, and they know that once the song ends it is time to start class.

In choosing the songs I decided to carefully select a large array of artists from the many Spanish speaking countries. I printed a copy of the list of songs and posted it to the door so students are able to look ahead to see what songs will be playing for the week. Along with the date, name of song and artist I included a little blurb that tells the students where the artist is from. This is a good way to bring authentic material (culture) into the classroom and set classroom procedures.

So far it has been engaging and sets the mood for the day. It is great to see students come into class saying “I know this song!” and the couple brave ones that sing along! I already have a song request for April’s playlist and have had a student try to convince us to have the music play during the first five minutes of class. His argument revolved around the idea that listening to the songs at the beginning of class would help him learn new vocab and to retain past vocab. Although compelling, both my CT and I agreed that would not be likely to happen!

Week 3/6-3/10 Songs, Excitement, and More!

I have three sections of Spanish II and three sections of Spanish III. For most of last week and the beginning of this week I had been primarily working with my Spanish II classes. I had not addressed the whole class (Spanish III class) since the first couple of days of my placement. I had been greeting them as they came in at the beginning of class and saying goodbye, so on Tuesday when I began class and helped correct homework they were super excited! This level of excitement was not something that I was expecting from my high school students, it was great! My CT told me later in the day that there had been a couple Spanish III students that had asked “When is Srta. Angulo talking to us again?” Since Tuesday, I have been involved more and more with both classes and have lead for the majority of class time.  

For the most part they seem to be excited to hear someone else speak Spanish. My CT has mentioned that the only Spanish they hear is from the audio activities and herself. Having me in the classroom has exposed them to another Spanish voice. This is significant to me because part of my philosophy of foreign language is that students should be exposed to as much auditory input as possible. Therefore, I try to use the least amount of English as possible.

One of the activity that I created included listening to a Spanish Pop song. They were to listen to the song and fill in the blanks in the lyrics. As soon as the song started they all looked startled, and in disbelief that they would be able to catch all the words. I assured them that it was fine, and that I knew they could do it! As the song went on I was able see the students tapping their feet or bobbing their heads to the beat of the music—they were enjoying it J After listening to the song twice we went over the lyrics to make sure they had them down correctly. I then used the lyrics as an opportunity to include grammar (I had them conjugate verbs that were are working on). This was really fun for me, and the students really enjoyed it.  Also, my CT really liked it and I shared it with another Spanish teacher in the building who said she liked it and might use it in her classroom!

Week One (2/27-3/3) Hola!

First week of our second placement is almost over and it has definitely been an interesting transition for me. For starters, I have transitioned from seventh grade social studies to high school Spanish.  Class goes at a much different pace. It goes faster when it comes to directions, and we are always changing from one activity to the next. It is not unusual if we do four or more activities in on class period. I am also getting used to the size of the school—just in the Spanish department there are eight Spanish teachers! Another difference from 7^th grade to high school has been the level of energy. In 7^th grade I was constantly trying to meet their energy, in high school energy gets focused on getting them to be energetic and not just sit there.  

I’ve started taking attendance (hopefully this helps me learn ALL the names) and I am also getting the “power school 101 crash course”. Entering grades and figuring out all the tricks has been very useful, but I have seen how time consuming it is—definitely not one of the fun things to do in teaching. I been able to get involved here and there with some vocab practice and today with introducing a new grammar concept. I am looking forward to next week when I start doing a bit more in the class.

Week 2/20-2/24: Observations!

This week I had the opportunity to observe other teachers in the building. I visited the 7^th grade science teacher, 6^th and 8^th grade social studies teacher, 7^th and 8^th grade language art teacher and the 6^th-8^th Spanish teacher. Not only was it a great experience for me to see other teaching styles, but I was also able to see my students in different classroom situations. I noticed that some students that are typically quiet in my class were more talkative in science and vice versa. This got me to think about how teachers influence a classroom as well as how the different mix of student (social aspect) influences how a student act/performs in class.

As soon as I walked into 7^th grade science I was bombarded with questions, “ Ms. Angulo are you teaching us Science today—are you our teacher today?” “Ms. Angulo this isn’t social studies!” “Ms. Angulo what are you doing here?” I explained to them that I was just going to sit in and observe.  I was surrounded by them! An unexpected thing that occurred was having some students come to me with questions—“Ms. Angulo is it okay if we look this up?” or “Ms. Angulo, can you help us with this?”  This showed me that they had become comfortable enough to ask me questions (even if they were not social studies questions). It also made me feel like they actually regarded me as one of their teachers—which felt very nice!  

I received a variety of ideas from observing the different teachers form varying subjects in middle school. I wrote down some strategies/activities that I think could work great in social studies. Furthermore, having the opportunity to visit these classes showed me the importance of teacher collaboration and professionalism. It has been an amazing 7 weeks here. I am most definitely going to miss the students, teachers, and staff! They all made me feel welcomed and part of the school community.