a new year, a new level of slowing down

I think I am finally learning how to go slowly. Or maybe, I already knew how to go slowly, and I’m finding a new level of understanding in it. Part of it is probably that I feel more comfortable with myself as a teacher and with being the odd man out in the department. But, part of it is students who are willing to be honest with me. I’m starting the second week of school now, which means I am going on lesson three (block schedule), and every day I find myself slowing down again and again. I have been using TPR with my level Is (TPR and circling with balls with level II), and one of my classes has been very slugglish in response. I was just chugging away and suddenly I heard Susie, or Ben, or some wise sage whispering in my ear that boredom means they don’t understand. I stopped then and there and asked for a show of fingers – not for how much they understood, but to see if I was going slowly enough. Man, I was getting one’s and two’s all over the place. I slowed down, got through half of what I thought I would, but at the end, there were mostly four’s and five’s (I do a count of five fingers, not ten, so this was good.)


In another class I heard somebody grumbling. It sounded like a complaint about having to do the actions all class period. So, again, I stopped. I asked the class if they felt like they were learning and if I should continue working like this, or if they would prefer a more traditional approach. A resounding reply to keep going. So, I slowed down again. I’m checking for comprehension two or three times a class period. I’m not quite in the range I am aiming for yet, and it really does feel painfully slow. I keep reminding them that I’m the only one in the room who speaks Spanish, but I keep forgetting that. I use a word ten times and I think they have it. I think I can speed up. They don’t and I can’t. A student hesitantly volunteered today, and somebody chuckled and said that I should give her “hard ones.” I stopped. I put on my concerned teacher face, and a Time Out signal to speak in English. I told them that I would never try to trick them. That I am not trying to see how much they have forgotten, or how much they didn’t learn. I told them that my job is to make learning so easy that they don’t even realize they are doing it. I don’t think I was imagining the look of relief on people’s faces, or the more relaxed atmosphere in the class. I am shocked by how little people were understanding me, even when I thought I was going slowly, and I thought I was recycling my words enough. Back to the drawing board for me!

my native speaker

I spoke with my student, her mother, and my administration. We are all set to begin a self-study course for native speakers next week with the beginning of trimester 2. Woohoo!

My goals are:
Reading Comprehension - she will need to be reading grade level novels.

Writing - I want her to summarize what she reads in simplified Spanish so that a. I can verify her reading comprehension, b. we can work on her accuracy in spelling and grammar, c. we can work on circumlocution skills, and d. these texts can become more accessible to my other students

Grammar - She has a Spanish for Native Speakers workbook that she will continue to work out of.

I have a few concerns though:

Accountability - How will I ensure that she is making productive use of her time and progressing through the material? I'm thinking I can make a log of activities to be done and have her mark how she used her time each hour.

Engagement - All the work I have at this point is rather dry. I would like to find something interactive that she can do regularly. This is a very social girl and I am isolating her physically and emotionally here.

Native Speaker solutions

This year I have one native speaker in my class. She is, as far as I can tell, on grade level in Spanish. I have tried several different strategies to get her involved in class and most importantly to not waste her time in my room. But it is a waste of her time. I cannot effectively differentiate for one student out of 118 to that degree. She needs high level grammar, detailed spelling, and reading comprehension - all skills that take a lot of time which is the one thing I don't have.

She has a Spanish for Native Speakers workbook that her mother has requested she work from, but she would rather play games with her classmates and act in the stories than fill in the blanks with verb forms. I don't blame her. But she is becoming a bit of a behavior problem, not that it's hard to understand as she sits in my room an hour each day learning nothing at all.

I have been brainstorming what I can do to make this a productive use of her time. Here are some of my ideas:

• Purchase software which she can use to self-study another language. This would not be ideal, of course, but it would have to be better than sitting in my room doing nothing.
• Have her self-study Spanish in the library. She can read novels and rewrite them/summarize them in basic Spanish to show me comprehension, and to work on her circumlocution, spelling, grammar and writing skills. The added benefit to this is it would make some of my higher level books more accessible to my other students.
• I also thought of the idea of having her work with some of the other native speakers at my school who are in other grade levels.

student responsibility for missing work

This year I told the students that if they are absent they will need to write an essay in Spanish for each day's work they missed. Their essays will need to incorporate the vocabulary they missed why they were out. Because of that I have given them extra days over the stated policy (1 day + number of days absent = due date) in order to learn the new words.

Well, I received an email arguing that I am punishing a student because this student has an illness which requires day-time doctor's appointments and involves time spent out of school. The parents are asking if I am perhaps breaking the student's 504 by requiring "extra work" for absences.

The school nurse defended my position and told the parents that I am in compliance with the 504. I also responded to the parents by explaining that the essay is really the same as doing the problems she misses in math class or the work for lit, etc. Writing an essay is the closest that I can approximate making up all the work we do in class. For the most part we are talking for an hour, which perhaps does not seem as intensive as other classes, but it's also much more difficult to make up. The students cannot possibly recreate the environment of hearing and speaking Spanish for an hour.

Really, I am just flabbergasted by the whole thing. I cannot fathom that asking a student to make up work from an absence can be conceived of as punishing the student for being sick. Is there any such thing as personal accountability anymore?

more circling

We were doing the circling with balls activity in class today. I decided to take the students outside because it was such a nice day out. The activity quickly evolved. We had three balls flying around in a large circle. We began with saying "me gusta/no me gusta ______" (I like/don't like____" with the sport that belonged to the ball. After ten minutes students had that down pretty well and were getting bored, so we changed. Before throwing/kicking/passing their ball they had to say "A _____ (student's name) le gusta _______" saying that (student) likes ____, using what we have learned about that student in class. So student x was throwing a basketball and saying that student y liked to ski. We did that with three balls simultaneously for about ten minutes as well. After that we changed to stating what students did *not* like to do.

It was great. The kids had fun. They liked the extra challenge of remembering the sport they had, what their classmates liked and what they did not like. And I think I actually saw them believing for two minutes that I care about them as individuals!

circling as practice

This summer I have been using my children as guinea pigs. Not really, but I have put some of the new skills I picked up during the workshop into practice at home.

First, my younger son has had an aversion to talking. My theory is that he has not had a need to talk because his older brother will supply everything he needs speech-wise. So, I have started a game, where I ask him to show me something (body part, color, etc.) and then I ask his older brother to show me something similar in Spanish. So, I will ask the younger one to show me his eyes, and then I will ask the older one to show me his nariz (nose). That way they are both being asked to participate on their own level and big brother isn't tempted to answer for younger brother. :)

Yesterday, after I realized how much Spanish my older one understands I decided to try circling with him. I was reading a book about colors to him, and just started translating it aloud. I would say "Benjamin's hat is green." "Is Benjamin's hat green?" "Yes, his hat is green. Is Peter's hat green?" "No, Peter's hat is not green, Benjamin's hat is green!" and we went on and on. He really did grasp what was going on and gave correct answers most of the time! But, I also realized how much I need to slow down.

He had trouble when I started adding the clothing to the circled questions. I would ask, "Is Benjamin's hat green?" And he would answer, "No, he's brown!" So then I would go back and remind him in English that sombrero means hat, and we would go on. I would ask, "Is Benjamin green? No Benjamin isn't green, his hat is green!"

I think if I could be consistent in this that he would actually be able to converse in Spanish relatively quickly! And even if that isn't true, I can use the practice with this painful skill. (I think we all hate going slowly and repetitively!)

teaching songs

I made it back from vacation, and have opened up my book TPRS In a Year. First off, what a difference a conference makes in my outlook! I remember feeling frustrated with the whole concept of circling and PQA before, but after attending the workshop last month everything makes so much more sense!

But, the point I wanted to write about was the concept of teaching songs via circling. What a cool concept. I've always struggled with teaching songs because I feel like they are so gimmicky, and kids hate reading the lyrics, they just want to listen to the song! (and understand it)

So, by treating a song like a story, and circling all the major structures prior to turning the stereo on or even telling them its a song, then by the time I do turn the music on, everything is familiar enough.

I loved Ben's idea of teaching the song between Marius and Cosette, I just wish I taught French! LOL I guess I have to start listening to more Spanish music again.

verb tenses

I really liked the way verb tenses were handled in the workshop over the last two days. When we asked a story, it was in the past tense. Today, when we read the stories, they were in the present tense. But, Von Ray, who was teaching, very adeptly circled the two verb tenses in the parallel stories we created. Who is her boyfriend? Who was her boyfriend? Is he her boyfriend now? No... he was her boyfriend, etc. It was perfectly coherent, comprehensible, and everything was still in context. We didn't have to learn any complex rules, and we didn't have to struggle through which was which.

repetitive repetitions

I'm always concerned about my fast processing students and how bored they will feel through endless circling of structures they already understand. And now I have sat through two demonstrations in the last two days, one was in Bulgarian and the other was in German. I discovered that I am a relatively fast processor of languages. I was sitting in a seminar room surrounded by other language teachers, and yet I was consistently answering ahead of most of my peers. At the end of the activities, when asked to rate on a 10 finger scale how comfortable we had been, I had a 10 each and every time. And yet, the repetitions helped immensely.

I need repetitions in fact. Without the repetitions I was searching the board and my page for the English definitions of the questions and the answers. With each question that was asked I was able to glance quickly at the sheet for confirmation of my suspicions, and then later to bypass that step altogether and call out the answers. The more we repeated the structures and the vocabulary, the easier it was for me to leave the crutch of translation behind.

And contrary to my worries, I didn't get bored once I understood the words. I was excited to know the answer, and was anxiously waiting for the opportunity to try it again, to see what was coming. I was also able to actively participate in giving suggestions, because I understood the questions.

This experiment also showed me how much more I need to point the words out to help those slower processors. I think my speed of delivery is fine. I've never had a complaint about it even when I taught kindergarten, and I generally feel for the class to see how fast I can go. But I do not pause and point enough.

Another thing I truly appreciated as the student was the opportunity to practice the structures in various contexts. It wasn't just the hotel that was big, it was the sandwich and the cow too. It wasn't just the girl who had a name, her sister did, the students in the class did, the hotel did...

So, I was worried that circling was too repetitious and would turn students off. What I found was that I can keep interest high by letting those faster processors give answers, and by practicing the structures in various contexts. I also found that even though I am a fast processor, the repetitions were extremely helpful.

leveled classes

I am toying with the idea of levelling my classes next year - not by how many years a student has been in my class, not by how much Spanish they have learned, and not even by their learning style. I am thinking of offering two specialized classes, one for fast-processors and one for slow-processors. The other students can fill out either class and then make up the rest of the three classes I have.

I'm thinking that this might allow me to differentiate just a little bit more for those students that need it the most. Some of my students process information so quickly that they really only need one or two repetitions to really grasp a concept. Other students on the other hand, need that twentieth repetition before it even sounds familiar. It is very frustrating for both groups to be in a class with the other. The fast processors are bored by the twentieth repetition (actually well before that) while those slower processors end up feeling stupid and out of touch when the class moves on before they get something. Those students who are not at either extreme can handle going a little quicker, but they also won't be hurt by slowing down and hearing the grammar in new contexts either.

The problem is, I have until tomorrow to make up my mind as that is when we are making our schedules for next year. I think it's a go, if it doesn't mess with the other teachers in the jr. high too much. With only 125 students, any rearranging of students is felt by everybody. We do it all the time for math, and oh it can be painful while geometry is being taught, because the rest of us have really large classes of students who are not the most motivated or fastest processing... :)

I wonder how often students have been divided in this way? And by fast processing I don't mean high achieving A students. In fact, many of the fastest processing kids are very low scoring kids because they are often so bored with school and all the drudgery. Likewise I don't mean the "stupid" kids by slow processing. One of the students I am considering for that group has a 160 IQ. I am hoping that this sort of grouping will allow the students to be themselves a little more, and allow me to honor them a little more.

Native Speakers

I'm brainstorming about native speakers in my classes here and would be happy for some input from anybody who has any experience or anything wise to say :))

I teach at a small, public charter school. Part of our charter states that every child will study a foreign language. I am the foreign language department. And while I have studied other languages, Spanish is the language I am fluent enough to be able to converse or teach in. So that's that.

Every year I get between one and three native speakers who must take my class, because it is required. Every year one of those students has been taught by his/her parents at home and is nearly on grade level in Spanish. Typically this student travels to his/her home country once or twice a year, reads often, and speaks to most of his/her extended family solely in Spanish. This student has little I can teach other than correct usage of accent marks or perhaps spelling. The other one or two students are usually what would be labelled as heritage speakers. They may or may not be conversationally fluent and are usually functionally literate, although their vocabulary is limited to high-frequency words. One student, for instance, had never heard the word pulgar - thumb, prior to my class. These students really need help with spelling and grammar, but again, they are fairly fluent. Their difficulties are not what the other 120 students of mine are having.

So... I am trying to think of what I can do better next year. I am wondering if I ought to urge the school to purchase foreign language software and let them self-study a different foreign language -perhaps French? (It's also offered at all our local high schools as opposed to any other language.) I have sampled Rosetta Stone and liked the feel of it.

In the past I have tried:
* to give them the same work as other students, with different grading expectations
* put all native speakers in one class and lecture them as a study group while other students were working on projects
* read only advanced through superior level books during FVR etc., etc., etc.
* be judges or helpers during games and activities

In the end, my class is always a waste of time for them. They learn little, they participate little and as much as I try, I just cannot seem to differentiate all levels - from complete novice to native speaker within one or two years of being on grade level.

The thing is, I really think it is important for these students to know their own language and culture. In my ideal world, I would have them in their own class really reading, writing and talking. We would work on critical thinking skills as well as higher-order reading comprehension.

I am thinking also about the possibility of getting a volunteer into my room to work one-on-one with these students once in a while...

reading and visualizing

One more thing from the article I read yesterday is that the authors mentioned how the students felt successful when they were able to read and see the pictures in their heads. This is exactly what Jeffrey Freed was writing about, and has been mentioned on the moreTPRS listserv as well.

There was an entire conversation on the listserv about how one of the problems poor readers may have is that they are not forming the pictures in their heads, how they may not even know that is what good readers do. And so, as teachers, part of our job is to model that skill.

I think that making comic strips, six-panel stories, or acting all help with this process. The students are then asked to take what is written and translate it into something visual, either pictures or actions which the rest of the class can then see.

Circling

Circling is a technique where the teacher asks a series of questions about the same structure. For instance if the sentence we are looking at is Sally danced in the park, circling questions could be focusing on danced. I could ask, Who danced? Where did Sally dance? What did Sally do? Did Sally or Martha dance? etc. It's great. It gets lots of comprehensible input in, but it is really boring. My students, abhor anything that resembles boring, so although I keep trying to circle, and I think I understand the concept, it flops each and every time.

Free writing

I taught most of this year using TPR only in my class. Since early spring I have been trying to add elements of storytelling and other strategies I have picked up from some TPRS teachers. One of the strategies I have added is two days of free reading. I have built up my classroom library with some left over classroom budget and from my own pocket. (Gotta love ebay!)

The students select any book they wish to read from the library, and they read for 7 minutes. We started at 5 and are working our way up. After they finish reading, I ask them to fill out a brief reading log, mostly so that I can have some documentation that this thing actually works.


Another strategy I have just started adding is a free write. Students have 10 minutes to write as much as they can in the target language on a topic of their choosing. I was just sitting here reading some of their papers, and I noticed that some of the students were using the preterit! (And they were using it correctly!)


I am assuming that this is coming from the free reading they do twice a week because I have not taught the past tense at all this year, and it has not spontaneously shown up in any student work (aside from my two native speakers) until now.


I am impressed.