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!
That's awesome that you speak primarily Spanish! At first, I was nervous to speak it most of the time. However, I don't know if you notice it in your classroom but, it really does keep the students engaged! Seems like your students are anxious to teach and I can't wait until you do so! The students are lucky to have you. Good luck and have a good spring break!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun activity! I bet the students really enjoyed that. I should try to incorporate music in my language arts lessons as well. It is a fun way to work on grammar or figurative language. I wish we were in the same building! Maybe some afternoon we can meet and explore the school together:) I hope you made it home safely. Enjoy your spring break!
ReplyDeleteI love that you used music to engage your students. That shows that you are seeking to find opportunities that will both engage your students and expand their learning. What an awesome experience and so cool that a fellow colleague may use your lesson!
ReplyDeleteThats great that the students have now been exposed to someone speaking Spanish consistently in the classroom. The Spanish Pop Song activity sounds like a great activity! Glad to hear it is going well!
ReplyDelete