Happy New (School) Year! ¡Feliz año nuevo!

¡Feliz año nuevo! Happy New Year!

¡Feliz año nuevo! Happy New Year! In the world of education, the New Year starts in September, not January. With the upcoming "New Year", I would like to reflect on what worked well last year and what improvements that I would like to make for the upcoming year! 

What worked last year:

*Teaching the rules, again and again and again...

Last summer I read a lot about Whole Brain Teaching. One of the important things I learned was that the classroom rules should be taught, and then practiced and reviewed often. I directly taught our four simple classroom rules in Spanish with an accompanying action. I found students learned the rules quickly and would even help me reinforce them in Spanish! I will definitely do this again this year. Hopefully, many students will remember them from last year. Our rules:

1. Follow directions quickly (¡Instrucciones rápidamente!- hands brush each other)
2. Pay attention (¡Presta atención!- point to eyes)
3. Raise your hand before you speak or leave your seat (¡Levanta la mano!-raise hand)
4. Follow all school rules (Escuela/Respeta- use hands to make a house signal).

*Using Tarjetas: Cards

This is a manageable version of "popsicle sticks" when you teach almost the entire school! I gave each student in grades 3 through 5 a blank index card on the first day of Spanish. I had them decorate them with their names and things they like (also a way to review "Me gusta"). I kept them in the front of the classroom and used them to select students for games or to answer questions, and to create partners/groups. Also, I used the cards as a way to show students where to sit when we changed desks.  Students would easily find their cards and it saved me time from having to call over each student!

*Student-centered learning: 

This was a big change and it really affected my overall approach to teaching. I incorporated more projects tailored to students' interests and questions. I also gave students many opportunities to explore real items and let them draw their own conclusions, instead of telling students what I wanted them to learn.  I gave students many opportunities to teach and help one another: Here are some example of student-centered learning:

*La palabra mágica (The Magic Word):

During each class I would come up with a magic word that students had to wait for in order to begin following a direction. I found students paid better attention to directions, as they had to wait for the word before even moving a muscle. The word also would usually reinforce our objective for the day (For example: "la bandera" when we learned about the Puerto Rican flag or "Roberto Clemente" when we learned about sports). Sometimes I had students come up with the word, which often became food items, especially when it was close to lunch time!  

Improvements for 2015-2016:

*More immersion! 90%+ of class in the target language

Over the summer I have become intrigued by Señor Howard's blog about using total immersion in the language class. I do believe students learn the most when they are exposed to the language as much as possible, especially in the short amount of time that I see them!  

I try to incorporate a lot of Spanish while giving directions, explaining content, and for general classroom routines, but would like to use even less English (which I do, on occasion). I would also like to figure out a way to incorporate more inquiry-based learning while staying in Spanish! 

*Connecting with others (around the globe, in the school community and professionally). 

*With students:
My ultimate goal is for students to speak Spanish, not only in the classroom, but with others who speak the language around the globe. I attended a powerful workshop last spring by Silvia Tolisano (check out her blog here) and during the workshop we spoke to others in Argentina, Brasil and Canada, using FaceTime and Skype. It was amazing connecting to others so far away in a common language, and would love for my students to have this global experience.

*In the School Community and Professionally: 
My goal is not only for my students to connect to others, but it is my goal to connect to others as well. I want to involve the school community as much as possible in the program, as I feel it is crucial for any language program's success. I also look to connect to other teachers and to dialogue about teaching language to children. I enjoy discussing language acquisition and children and welcome any comments! 

What changes are you hoping to make during this upcoming school year?