Classes that put a smile on your face

My Spanish I kids are amazing this year. They work hard. They ask the best questions that truly show they are thinking. I often hear them practicing Spanish in the halls. The work they do is quality. They are just fun. They are what make my day almost every day.

And then on top of it I got to teach one of my favorite lessons today (conjugating verbs). So that class was just fun today.

I have learned this year that it is so important to sit back and just smile on a regular basis. My first hour class was slowly getting started this morning and one girl says "We should have a half day on Wednesday" (we have Thur and Fri off already this week for teacher convention). And so I just chuckled and said "Why don't we take the whole week off?" It was a very light hearted way to start the day. A way to connect with the kids and start the way in a positive mood. One kid then responded with a smile "We'll go talk to Mr. Principal and tell him it was your idea."

Talkative students

I got a new group of middle school students starting on Wednesday and they just won't stop talking. Things that I have tried so far:
-waiting patiently and not talking over them
-making it clear that I dismiss and not the bell (this allows me to quickly dismiss the students who weren't talking first)
-hold a few after both days
-asked individual students what consequences should follow if they continue to talk (thus they are creating their own consequences - this worked with the few I had trouble with in my last group)
-talked with my mentor (who sees these kids 4 times a day) who says she will bring it up at the student-led conferences they are having tonight and Monday

We will see how things go tomorrow. Several of them are kids who do not have the support at home and calling home would do nothing. So if things aren't better tomorrow, I'm not sure where I will go from here. There are some great kids in there I can tell but I can't see or hear them when the rest of the class is a three ring circus.

A student who was gone

Today a student comes into class who was gone yesterday. He sits down and copies the notes from his table partner (kudos to him for at least starting to figure out what he missed). I ask the class to get out the sheet we worked on yesterday and students write the answers on the board so we can go over them. At some point I realize that this kid had been gone yesterday and has yet to ask for this sheet that we are working on. By now, probably close to 10 minutes has passed in class. I then ask the students to complete the next part individually which we then go over on the board. We spent probably about 25 minutes on this worksheet and this kid never once asked me for the sheet nor did he go back to the basket where I keep extra handouts to get one. He just sat there.

And then later today I was looking at my gradebook. I have 4 students who have never passed ANY of the competency tests this year. That means they have a zero for 20% of their grade right now. These are tests that I let them take as many times as they need to as long as they get the required grade on them. They are essentially free points if you take the time to work with me and get them done. I have NEVER had a student who was trying fail one of these tests!

Many of these kids are the same ones that are all mad at me because they get a zero on them if they don't ever earn that required grade. If I had just taken the score they got on it and entered it in the gradebook, yes their grade would be higher. But they would still be failing because they wouldn't know the material any better and so they would still be getting 30% on the chapter tests (yes, all 4 of the ones who have never passed any competency tests got right around a 30%) on the chapter test. And so those kids would still be failing (along with tons of others who were happy with the first score they got on those competency tests regardless of whether they knew the material)!!!!

Responsibility

One of my biggest struggles is helping students understand their responsibility in learning. Too many of them show up in my class expecting me to just hand them everything on a silver platter and that they won't have to do anything. And then when they do poorly the first person blamed is the teacher.

At some point in the year I like to sit down with my classes and talk about their responsibility as a student and mine as a teacher but it doesn't always help like it really hasn't this year with one of my classes. Even when I'm soliciting the information from students, they still see it as coming from an adult. And of course we all know that adults know nothing, right??!!

I guess I'm just at a loss as to how to approach this problem. I hate to see my students not doing well. But there is only so much I can do if they aren't pulling their weight.

Responsibility for learning

We are working on verbs like gustar right now in my Spanish II class.  This is a tough concept.  We do not have a structure quite like this in English.  So I get that this is tough for my students.

 

However, many of them in one of my classes are not even attempting to grasp this concept.  They do not study at home.  They come to school with the homework incomplete.  They lay with their heads on their desk when we have some in class practice.  They do not come in and ask questions.  They rarely ask questions in class even though they clearly don’t get it.  So I am quizzing them tomorrow and we are moving on.  I can’t do the work for them.  And since I’m clearly not seeing any progress from many of them there is no point continuing down this path.  Those that have been working hard on this are getting it and will do well tomorrow on the quiz.  Unfortunately they will be a minority.

 

This is the same group of kids who still cannot accurately conjugate regular present tense verbs, commonly used irregular ones like ser, nor use subject pronouns correctly.  These are things we spent many weeks on this year already (and that they should have learned last year).  Again, those that have been working all along get these things and are doing well.  Those that won’t try, sit and chat all hour or put their head down are drowning.   

 

But what can I do?  I have given them ample practice.  I am always available before school, during homeroom, during lunch, during several hours during the day, and afterschool almost every day.  I have provided extra resources online.  I spend each class period circulating and answering specific questions and working one on one with those students willing to try and ask for my help.  At some point there is nothing more that I can do.  At some point the students have to take responsibility for what they are learning.

Mastery learning

4 years ago, my cooperating teacher planted a seed in my head about mastery learning. My first three years I experimented a little with it in regard to just a few very important concepts each level. I created competency tests (idea stolen from my CT) on some of the concepts I felt were very critical (present tense verbs, subject pronouns, and preterit verbs) and expected students to show their mastery by achieving a certain score. Students could retake these tests as many times as they needed but had to reach the target score to get any credit for the assessment. So students couldn't be satisfied with a C or a D on those critical concepts like I see way too often.

So this year, in a new school I decided to take the idea beyond just a few competency tests. I have developed a series of competency assessments (including oral assessments) and I have decided to allow students to retake vocabulary quizzes (with a one week deadline). What I have found so far is that students are now taking the time to go back and learn what they missed knowing that they can get credit for it. This should then help them be more successful in the future as they are expected to be able to use the vocabulary.

If you had asked me 4 years ago about whether I would allow retakes, I would have told you "No way!" but I am really seeing some positives come from allowing them.

Dallas School District has just created a new grading policy that requires teachers to allow retakes (I linked the article above). Someone posted it on Livejournal which really sparked this post. I really believe in their reasons behind it but I really don't believe we do any good by forcing when philosophy of grading (or whatever) on a whole district with teachers who have different teaching styles, different beliefs, and different grading systems. Retakes so far is working really well for me and my students but that does not mean it is best for all classrooms and all teachers and students.

Just pour the information in my brain Señora

I got so frustrated with a few of my Spanish II students this morning. I handed back tests and told students to look through them and ask questions. I like being able to go around individually and talk with students who have questions. Two students sat their staring into space not even looking at their tests. Then after about ten minutes there were no longer any questions so I told them we were going to move on and that I was going to be collecting the tests. These two students then got all upset asking me why I wasn't going to go over the whole test as a class. I explained that we had just spent time for them to look through them and ask questions. And I said to them both that they were welcome to come in outside of class and I would go through it with them. Their response was they can't do that. And that they expected me to go over it with the whole class.

When I go over homework, tests, etc. with the whole class a few carefully look through theirs, others half-heartedly correct theirs, and the rest just sit there and stare into space. So those few carefully going through theirs get a lot out of it and the rest really don't get much. If I circulate and answer specific questions, it forces students to look at their mistakes and first try and figure out what went wrong and then second enter in a dialogue with me. So much more learning goes on. Unfortunately though, those that would have just stared off into space while we went over it together still stare off into space and still get nothing out of it.

And then as we were going over some pronunciation exercises and dividing syllables to find stress, they made me question how an English word was spelled (which I was right on when I looked it up later) and some kid says quietly "Go back to English class." It was just an awful class today. I'm not sure where to go with this tomorrow.

Class expectations and rigor

I am really struggling with my Spanish II class. They claim they learned nothing last year and when we are reviewing conjugating verbs they don't even recognize the forms of ser. The pre-test isn't even worth wasting my time to grade because it is that bad. And then on top of it the kids are asking when we are going to have fiestas and that they had a Salina fiesta last year and a this fiesta and a that fiesta. It sounds like all they did was have fiestas.

So, I want to step up the rigor significantly but I also don't want to lose my program. It is a small school and my class sizes are already quite small. So I am really struggling to find a happy medium (enough rigor so that I'm not wasting my time but not too tough on the kids so they lose interest completely). And I understand that it is hardest with the groups of kids who are used to an easy A; once I've been around a while, things will get better.

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.

First day of school rapidly approaching

I've sat through meeting after meeting, met many very kind teachers, decorated and organized my room, planned curriculum and lessons, made seating charts, etc. All that remains is Open House tonight and a few loose ends to tie up. Then the kids come Tuesday.

My first impressions of this school have been nothing but positive. I was a little aprehensive moving from a huge school to one so small in such a small community but so far everyone has been so welcoming and willing to bend over backwards for others. I don't know how many times people have stopped me to check in, see how things were going, see if I had any questions, or make sure somebody had warned me about something coming up.

I do have to admit though that I feel very alone. I am a department of one. But when I get more established in what I am doing and find more connections in the area, it will be better. I've already been to the WAFLT website to preview what kinds of sessions will be at the annual conference. This year more than any I am really looking forward to the chance to connect with others and learn a few new tricks of the trade.

Website

I finally got a good start on my website (which is linked in the title). I am using Google Sites to create and host it and I really like it. It is super user friendly and allows me to do anything I want to with it.

Things are coming along

Now that I am in town I have had a chance to visit school, get more resources and figure out a few things. I feel a lot more comfortable about my Advanced Spanish curriculum and spent some time on my 8th Grade Exploratory curriculum. And today I spent some time putting together my website (which I have linked above). I have my syllabuses put together along with some of my first projects which I have posted there. Hopefully tomorrow, my school can post my website to their webpage.

I only have 7 students at this point in my Advanced Spanish class (and 9-12 in my other classes) and am so excited about how much I can do with my classes. My goal is to assign a short writing assignment and a speaking assessment (using Gcast) weekly to my Advanced Spanish class and giving the students some good feedback so that we can track the improvements. With this few students, I can really tailor the focus for each student.

I also plan to have all of my high school students keep a portfolio of writing assessments and feedback and speaking assessments. With such small classes we can do so much more!

Love and Logic

I finished reading Teaching with Love and Logic today.

One thing that I really took from the last part is the importance of a cool down time and not needing to enforce consequences immediately in all cases. I think back to times when I have been angry and in the heat of the moment. Those are not my best times. I often say things I don't mean and I'm not thinking clearly. If only in those cases I had taken a moment to step back and addressed the problem an hour later or the next day, I would have been able to think through it and come up with a better solution. The same is true for our kids. If it is something that can wait, then it is important to give them their thinking time. The book talks about just making an appointment with the kid at that time.

Love and Logic

I have recently read the first part of Teaching With Love & Logic. What I have read so far has really made me think about the way that I interact with students.

I have always been a "strict" teacher who consistently enforced a clear set of rules. And for the type of students I was mostly working with it usually worked. My previous school had so many good kids. But it was something that did not work all that well with my freshmen last year. They would push the limits and I would put on my strict face and push them back. I really struggled with my freshmen study hall last semester.

With reading this first part there are some things that I really think I need to change for the coming year. I will be at a new school and so I don't know my students yet so I don't know what will work with them but regardless I want to get out of the mentality of being the strict teacher. I want all my classes to have a more positive vibe.

These are the key things from Teaching With Love & Logic that will be in the forefront of my thoughts as I begin the new year.

• Encouraging students to solve their own problems. Instead of just delving out consequences, I want to ask more questions, listen more, and lead students to come up with their own solutions.
• Using empathy. I need to do a better job showing that I care about them, that I feel bad about the consequences that they suffer, and that I am there to support them in making better decisions.
• Have one general all-encompassing principle for the classroom instead a list of specific rules. This will better allow me to address each individual issue that comes up in the best way for the student and the class.
  
• More dialog with my students on a daily basis. The more that I can have 30 second conversations with my students, the better I get to know them and the more they perceive that I care about them. And in looking back at my experiences, I strongly believe it is true that people are more willing to do things for people they know care about them and that they care about.

I won't know how well any of this works in my classrooms until I get a chance to try it out but I really think there are some great ideas in what I have been reading and it is all common sense, things that I was aware of before but never quite put together. As I read more I will post more and once I start experimenting on my classes in the fall, I will also post more.

Welcome

Well, I have just signed up for a blog and would like to use this space to reflect on my classroom. I will be teaching in a very small school this fall and will be the only World Language teacher for the whole district. I will be teaching Spanish to grades 6-12. I am very excited and am looking forward to the challenge of a new school, new classes, new students, and balancing many preps.

I also started this because I just picked up the book Teaching With Love & Logic by Jim Fay and David Funk. I have not been able to put this book down and am looking forward to trying some of the ideas in my classroom this fall.

Well, the summer is flying by. We move to WI (from MN) this weekend and then after we get settled in, it will be time for school to start.