How Mexican Indepedence Day Saved My CI Day

I'm so lucky to teach in the culturally rich city of Chicago. On Mexican Independence Day we have no less than three parades--and cars proudly bearing el tricolor can be seen all over the city. 

But, every year on September 16th, I'm haunted by a secret I've been harboring--one that is a source of real embarrassment.  I'm a Spanish teacher who doesn't observe Mexican Independence in class.  I've struggled with how to stay in the target language and successfully relay the significance of the day, during the first two days of Spanish class for the year.  I know, I know--there are great videos of dancers and charros and El Grito...but it has always fallen into the too hard basket for me. Until now.

On September 15, I decided to confront myself and the roadblocks I felt were holding me back. One of my goals this year is to focus more on CI--especially within the first 15 minutes of class--so I knew whatever I presented needed to fit these requirements.  To start, I suspected that the 4th-6th graders would want to complete their Todo Sobre Mi activity we started with earlier in the week, so I wanted  some kind of reading that would help lay the groundwork for the children as they finished that work.  Here's what I did:

1)I headed over to Teachers Pay Teachers. There are literally 100s of options for simple, well illustrated readers for children about Mexican Independence. I chose one I thought would be best for those levels, had clear language well supported by images,  and made copies. 

2)I found a video of President Peña Nieto reciting El Grito, got the words to it and wrote it on the board.

3) I looked for any words that the children would need help understanding--I focused on héroes.  In order to help them make meaning of the word, I made a list of some "héroes americanos," like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson(planting the idea of independence), Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr, César Chavez, Rosa Parks (giving a range of heroes). I also pulled out a small print I have of Padre Hidalgo and put it next to his name in El Grito.

On the day of class(30 minutes)--here's how it went:

1) Children came in to mariachi music playing, and they found their Todo Sobre Mi work on the tables. I used TL to show that they needed to finish up the work and move on to reading the book on the table.

2) When children finished their work and read the booklets, I started a brief presentation about the day, referring to the calendar, the Mexican flag on the wall and my world map, telling briefly the story--that Mexico was a colony of Spain and fought for independence. I also referred to my calendar card for julio and compared it to the 4th in the USA, doing comprehension checks all along the way. (It was exciting--they were with me!)

3) I told the story of El Grito and acted out being the president...as they would see in the video, (highlighting los héroes, Padre Hidalgo)--they were all in. We practiced El Grito--and each class enthusiastically shouted Viva! after each phrase.

4) Finally we watched President Peña Nieto and the children enthusiastically chimed in. The lesson finished up with a 20 second TV commercial for El Grito Chicago--an annual celebration on Sept. 15 held in Pilsen--highlighting the strong Mexican American presence in our city.

During the lesson I heard lots of "Oh I get it!" Saw many thumbs up with "Entiendo!" It was just the start to the year we needed.

Looking back on it, I thought "Why was that so hard?" "Why didn't I do that before?"  But instead of lingering on those questions, I'm choosing to celebrate growth--it was hard for me and I figured it out.   That's what I want to remember the next time I encounter something that's challenging in my teaching.

¡Qué viva México!

When It's Time To Move On

At the beginning-- shiny and new, full of possibility, I was thrilled. At first, I felt like I had found the one, was on the right path. I was so sure, grounded, in control. But as time wore on, we started arguing.  Where I wanted depth, I only found the superficial. I didn’t believe in explicit, out of context grammar anymore, and where I sought excitement, there was only bland culture and no real life experiences. I got bored. And finally, I faced it. We were over. It was time to break up.

I was on my own again, well, just me and the kids. At first I felt lost, and relied on what I knew from my own childhood, but that wasn’t working either. At last, I sought support. A great  group brought me comfort and guidance--headed up by the likes of Laura Terrill, Donna Clementi, Helena Curtain and the online community for folks like me, #langchat. And then I started just listening to the kids and it made the journey feel alive again.

The fun and excitement are back--no arguing, no regrets. Only growth and forward movement.  For me, and the kids.

Life Outside the Bubble

I believe in language proficiency--real life use of the language.  My professional community believes in language proficiency.

I'm realizing we're still a minority in the WL teaching corps.

This post is a way for me to try to work through the feelings I have about sending my awesome Spanish speakers into traditional grammar-driven high school programs in our city.  I recently administered the STAMP assessment for the first time, to my 8th graders.  It's the best money I've ever spent on my program--the data I'm getting holds a mirror up to my program and is making me look hard at what I do, and celebrate the successes: I have Intermediates and Novice High!  Most of my students are graduating 8th grade on the fence of NH-IL--quite a few falling solidly into Intermediate.  I've been walking on clouds the last few days. So have my students.   The assessment has confirmed our stated goal of NH/IL as the range of proficiency for our graduates.

But, as the students are taking their high school Spanish placement tests, I'm getting a dose of cold water to the face. So are the kids.

Almost all of them are being asked to take written discrete grammar tests--many disappointingly landing into Spanish I.  In trying to advocate for one of my IL/IM students, I sent the STAMP results to the new school, only to get the response that my student "is not proficient in preterite."   My alumni kids who go into such programs always come back wishing they hadn't wasted the year in Spanish I--getting bored and resentful.  The ones who attend more proficiency driven programs thrive--and often enter into Level 2 or 3.

Here's where I feel guilty--I feel like I've failed them and I am pulled to go ahead and do some grammar focused teaching to help them transition into life outside the bubble, where they will likely be in the position to fill in the blank to show what they know about preterite, progressive...you name it. At the same time, I know that what I'm doing in my program is working to develop real language proficiency, and I don't want to give up doing that to satisfy the needs of programs that don't.

It's a lot to consider, and I'm leaning toward just helping the kids bridge the gap, and talking to them explicitly about what they may encounter(will encounter) as they transition to high school: Split the difference and focus on proficiency while sneaking in some help on how to play the school game.  As much as I hate that idea.

This isn't about judging individual teachers for what they do--I've written before about using textbooks-- but there is a huge disconnect between using language for real life and memorizing certain grammar points because the textbook dictates it. In the end, the students are not well served by this gap. 

A much trusted colleague recently suggested that I educate and empower parents to advocate for proficiency based programs at their new high schools.  I'm thinking to use my parent blog to do just that--and that will be time well spent, but I live in a city of 3 million with a huge, slow to change public school system. Our students fan out all over to different schools, of which our little school is not a part.  I know it will be a Quixotic task.

This is the hardest part about having made the switch.  Not the work. Not shifting mindset. Not convincing my school.  It's helping my students with life outside the bubble. It's helping them to feel accomplished about what they can do, even though they will be judged for what they can't as they move out of our school.   I'm not sure there's much I can do to help this year's graduates, but I've got  decisions to make about next year.

Is this a challenge where you teach?  How are you bridging the gap? 

Summer Vacation...What I Should Do Versus What I Want to Do

I'm reflecting on another school year that passed by even more quickly than the previous one. I'm finding myself crawling to the finish line trying to make sense of all the meaningful, challenging work the children did, and thinking about all the ways I want to adjust for next year. Preparing for summer, I'm making lists, just like I do during the year, but you might find this list a little surprising:

What I want to do this summer:

1. Work on refining and writing new units for my Spanish program.
2.  Revise my system for giving feedback.
3. Write a couple of really great IPAs.
4. Attend amazing PD--so many to choose from--which one?!

What I should(and will) do this summer:

1. Read non-school related books(really).
2. Shuffle around and pick at my garden(in pajamas with endless coffee).
3. Have travel adventures with my daughter.
4. Go camping.

I admit it, I am in love with my work--I'm obsessed with it. It's so hard for me to step away for a length of time as it always feels like there's so much to do, so much to learn, so much, so much, so much.   But, no engine can run forever without fuel. We need a break. I need a break.  In introducing so much innovation --by tossing the textbook, writing curriculum, building a proficiency based program, I've teetered on burnout and I need to step back and reconnect with my non-school self.

I am going to focus on the should list(I'm sure my young daughter will appreciate it, too), so I can revisit that Want List feeling refreshed, ready, and focused. For me. And for the children.

Sick Day Dilemma: Tools for Covering Your Absence!

I mentioned recently that we don't have a sub system in place for our elementary and middle school  Spanish classes.  If I know I'm going to be out in advance-sometimes our other, part-time Spanish teacher(remember my super creative colleague?) can cover some of the classes. But generally no teacher=no Spanish class.  I'm hoping to change that for next year, but it means that the sub will likely not speak the TL, nor be a WL teacher. For me to stay at  home means that I have a sick daughter, am in a body cast or on my death bed, so making some creative plans for  5-6 levels of Spanish  that morning are well...not going to happen.  Feeling motivated but overwhelmed with creating standing plans that would continue moving the children forward, and keeping the schedule that I know my colleagues depend on...I reached out to my generous, smart and creative PLN on Twitter(looking at you #langchat and @Earlylang).

Here is a list of their ideas for sub plans for sick days(Note: some of these ideas involve products. I have not received any compensation for mentioning these):

• The SUB TUB. 
• Julie Hoffman at Mundo de Pepita shared this: A Sub Tub!   Julie mentioned that while this was labor intensive to set up, it's well worth having this tool in place, so teachers don't have to plan anything from their sick bed. Rather a sub can grab and go.

•  Play Verba.
• This one requires a little financial investment, but seems well worth it. Verba is a card game, developed by WL teacher Kevin Ballestrini,  that practices high frequency words within sentence context--and has an elementary expansion pack, plus a Youtube video that explains the game in English-to bring your sub up to speed. Information for Verba here.

• Draw a story from text.
• The children draw or create a story board from a text. Or use an activity like the Zombie Sub Activities by Martina Bex(Thanks Bethanie Drew). 

• Do a reading activities using Newslea .
• Newslea is a current events news service for students-starting at grade level 2. I think it is currently only available in English and Spanish.  I will unpack this one further in another post--it's a really rich source. (Thanks Maria Cristina Rodriguez-Villa!)

• Use QR code or links to videos .
• Develop a cache of videos that can be accessed by the students via ipads, computers to work on an interpretive activity. If that technology isn't available, maybe the sub can access it and project it to the group and then students work on a stock interpretive activity--perhaps writing, then talking. 

•  Continue what they're already working on.
• Sometime I overlook this one. Can the students continue working on an activity that you started with them during a previous class?   

• Focus on familiar activities.
• Talia Block said that she relies on the familiar--activities like Buddy Bingo, creating Venn diagrams, and video activities.  Using something the students are familiar with can make set-up and execution easier for the sub and encourages TL use among the students. 

My goal is to set up a Sub Tub that includes lots of these activities(I'll keep you posted on this experiment!).

What do you do when a sub is coming in--especially if they don't speak TL or work in WL? I'll update this list as more ideas come in!

Getting Through The Hard Days

If you read my recent post, So You Use a Textbook...Stop Judging Yourself, you know that I feel strongly that we have to be forgiving of ourselves. We all have rough days in which survival is the goal.   There are those days where there just is not enough coffee, and looking at the day's classes feels insurmountable. In my school, there are no subs for Spanish. So, no teacher =no Spanish class.  On the rough days, I hike up my big girl panties and face the day.

But am I always my best, well-planned, game-face-on self?  NO WAY.

 This time of year, I find myself having more of those days than during the rest of the year, with special events, field trips, you name it interruptions to the schedule.

When I made the switch to teaching for proficiency,  I tossed out my old textbooks and worksheets.(Nuts! I miss them on days like these.) Since I've recently switched over to thematic units, I'm also low on 'stock activities' I can pull from when the going gets tough.  Facing the last couple of months of school, and a bumpy re-entry from spring break,  here are a couple of things I did in class that took little set up or creative energy on my part.(Plus it put more responsibility on the the children!)

5th grade survival class:

• We're talking about biomes and conservation.  I put up cards that were used in previous lessons that list animals in each biome(picture/TL label) and show a picture of the biome, with its name.   The children made bingo cards with the name of a biome or animal in each square.   To play, I described the biomes and animals, and the children had to identify them to mark the bingo card. (If they were more familiar with the biomes, I would have had them say something about the biome or animal when they read off their cards.) Even though I was feeling off, we still maintained 90+% TL and worked some vocabulary in context of descriptions with photos. In the past, I would have simply shown the picture and had children identify the vocabulary word--now they're having to listen and glean meaning from the description.

 

6th grade survival class:

• 6th graders are exploring the essential question "Where does the world live?" Children came in and started class with a silent writing time, describing this photo: 

Afterward, they shared their descriptions with a partner. After reading to a friend, they returned to writing. I asked them to answer the question "Quién vive en esta casa?"(Who lives in this house?). The children then wrote some very funny descriptions of the people who live in this house and what they do.  What I did: posted a photo and asked two questions. What the children did: All the work. Something else I could have done is to have the children write three questions they could ask the people who live in this house.   I have also used, in a similar way,  the photographs from The Material World by Peter Menzel, which provides a rich cultural context.

One change I made this year that facilitates activities like these, is explicitly teaching transaction and transition phrases, like--Please pass me....(pencils, markers), I don't understand, Can you help me?  How do you say...?, Can I go to the bathroom, water fountain...? What do you think? What are we doing? My turn? Your turn?

Now, I notice that during something like bingo card preparation, or making a poster about something, the children speak in the TL and the process of setting up the activities becomes an opportunity for them to interact with each other.
 
Going forward, I'd like to empower the children to take charge of some of these activities, too, especially since they've gotten a sense of working toward proficiency and know it's about TL and communicating in it.  I'd also like to build a cache of meaningful activities so that on rough days, I can grab and go, and feel good about my survival tactics.

Are there days coming up when Banagrams in Spanish are coming out?  Definitely. It's about survival in these last 35 days.(Am I counting?) 

So You Use A Textbook...Stop Judging Yourself

During a recent #langchat that focused on unit development, amid the caffeinated Saturday morning conversation, several teachers hesitantly shared that they use a textbook for their unit ideas, followed by some self-depricating apologies for it.  Colleen Lee-Hayes and I simultaneously tweeted out the same message, "Let it go--let's drop the judgement."

You use a textbook for whatever reason--you're new, your district says you have to,  all your teachers used them, you like it, you teach 100's of students and pee only during your lunchtime of 10 minutes. The list goes on. With on-going conversations about what proficiency is and what's the 'best' way to get there, it can be tough if you're at the beginning of making a shift in your teaching or  are already mid-stream. So. Let it go. Stop judging yourself. You don't need to apologize. We're all learning and growing. Did you see my post on when things go wrong? Seventeen years in, I'm still wrestling with this and continuing to learn.

One of the most freeing things I've heard along my teaching  journey is that you control the textbook--not the other way around. It's a resource. What can we do with it?  Some questions to explore:  Can we take the good cultural stuff at the end of chapter and use it as input and to pique interest at the beginning the unit?  What about writing an essential question and can-dos for the chapter?  How about scanning Pinterest for some rich authentic materials that go along with the chapter theme and support cultural competency and provide needed input? Is it possible to write an IPA or some performance based formative assessments?  Do you have the freedom to re-order or combine some chapters to create a unit?  Do the students have to have the unit's whole vocabulary list or can you get that paired down so they can focus on function? How to flesh out the three modes--are there plenty of opportunities for communicative tasks?

Personally, I am in the process of writing my own units. The amount of time this takes plus teaching sometimes overwhelms me. Using a textbook may be the resource that is allowing you to address other teaching duties (Hello carpool and committees! Recess supervision anyone?).

During the process of writing this,  Colleen Lee-Hayes sent me this post .  Colleen is a #langchat moderator and teacher I respect--her words on judging ourselves are balm for the language teacher's soul.

Teaching for proficiency is a mindset, not a material.  You control the text, not the other way around.  Let's drop the judgement.