First Day of School

I just typed a whole long post and it disappeared when I hit Publish. This is so frustrating. So anyway, to summarize what I wrote.

My advanced Spanish kids seem very motivated and all of them mentioned wanting to work on their speaking ability. They also mentioned that they are weakest in writing. So I think my goals for the class are right in line with what they are thinking. Once the year gets rolling I plan to assign a monologue Gcast (www.gcast.com) assignment weekly as well as a writing assignment weekly. This will allow me to give them feedback on a regular basis. With only 7 kids in the class, I can realistically be getting good feedback to them that often. Isn't that amazing?? We also need to read some literature this year and will do quite a few projects related to that.

My Spanish II kids were quite confused when I said "Bienvenido" to each of them as they entered the room. They have either all forgotten everything they learned last year or didn't learn much. We spent just a little time reviewing present tense verbs and they couldn't conjugate regular verbs even as a whole class. We have a lot of work to do.

My Spanish I kids did not hesitate to express their opinions about how since we live in America everyone should learn English. It will be a challenge to change that very Anglocentric mentality into a more global perspective.

The staff here has been so very welcoming and helpful. It almost feels like one big family. We all had lunch together in the FACS room. But despite all that I still feel quite alone. I miss the camaradrie of being part of a department, sharing ideas, and just knowing that someone else in the school knows exactly what you are dealing with. I'm sure it will get easier as I get to know more people and as I make more connections outside of school but right now it is kind of hard. I have been connecting with people online through livejournal communities and through www.teachers.net which really helps. And I was so excited this morning to see the WAFLT conference brochure waiting for me in my mailbox and the previous Spanish teacher did put in the budget for the conference. I have always looked forward to that conference but this year of all years I'm looking forward to it even more.

Anyway, I hope all of you had great first days and that we all have a great year to come.