Thank You Class of 1999
I just wanted to share a wonderful experience with you all. In 1999 I was just beginning to use TPRS in the classroom, and was working with a group of seniors who were very supportive when I used them as guinea pigs for lessons that I wanted to use with my freshmen.
It may sound strange that I used my seniors, whose Spanish was three years ahead of the language I was teaching the freshmen, as my first audience. It was a lucky shot on my part. I would use 5 minutes of class time to try stories out on the seniors before I tried them on the freshmen. They were very comfortable giving me feedback and creative ideas to use in stories. They would stop me right away if I went off course or went too fast. The seniors loved being able to give ME feedback. Then again, I had known and taught many of them for four years and we had developed a strong rapport. I realized that if I could develop a strong positive relationship with my freshmen, the better our stories would be. I began to look for more ways to get to know my students. That, in itself, was instrumental in changing me as a teacher.
The seniors also felt very successful listening to these "freshmen" stories. At that time, I didn't expect students to understand everything, in fact, I would embed the information they could recognize in vocabulary and structures that I knew they didn't recognize on purpose. I thought I was helping them to be better listeners. Wrong. They were so used to only understanding one third of what they read and heard, that totally comprehensible input was a huge rush for them!!! I loved to see them really enjoying the language for the very first time!!! It didn't take me long to realize that these stories were also helping them to really "see" Spanish as a language that people used...not just something to take tests on. Although I was just delving into storytelling, and my skills were at a basic beginner level, I could see their skills improving just as mine did.
On a whim, I had this group write a letter to themselves ten years in the future as part of their final exam. It seemed like a great way to get them to use a variety of tenses. I asked them to write about what they did and what they were like in high school, what they wanted to remember, to describe the best day of their senior year, to ask their future selves questions, to predict where they would be and what they would be doing.
Flash forward ten years...yep 2009. Thanks to the internet, I have remained in touch with several of those students. Thanks to Facebook, I was able to learn about the time and location of their 10 year reunion....and delivered their letters from their 18 year-old selves. How fun it was to talk with them about their lives and to watch them still be able to read most of what they had written. How amazing it was to hear the stories of their lives. You changed my life.
with love,
Profe aka Laurie
I will always feel a special connection to this group for what allowed me to do as a teacher: to grow as a professional and as an individual. They allowed me to change instruction for hundreds of students since then. What a gift...Thank you Class of 1999.
It may sound strange that I used my seniors, whose Spanish was three years ahead of the language I was teaching the freshmen, as my first audience. It was a lucky shot on my part. I would use 5 minutes of class time to try stories out on the seniors before I tried them on the freshmen. They were very comfortable giving me feedback and creative ideas to use in stories. They would stop me right away if I went off course or went too fast. The seniors loved being able to give ME feedback. Then again, I had known and taught many of them for four years and we had developed a strong rapport. I realized that if I could develop a strong positive relationship with my freshmen, the better our stories would be. I began to look for more ways to get to know my students. That, in itself, was instrumental in changing me as a teacher.
The seniors also felt very successful listening to these "freshmen" stories. At that time, I didn't expect students to understand everything, in fact, I would embed the information they could recognize in vocabulary and structures that I knew they didn't recognize on purpose. I thought I was helping them to be better listeners. Wrong. They were so used to only understanding one third of what they read and heard, that totally comprehensible input was a huge rush for them!!! I loved to see them really enjoying the language for the very first time!!! It didn't take me long to realize that these stories were also helping them to really "see" Spanish as a language that people used...not just something to take tests on. Although I was just delving into storytelling, and my skills were at a basic beginner level, I could see their skills improving just as mine did.
On a whim, I had this group write a letter to themselves ten years in the future as part of their final exam. It seemed like a great way to get them to use a variety of tenses. I asked them to write about what they did and what they were like in high school, what they wanted to remember, to describe the best day of their senior year, to ask their future selves questions, to predict where they would be and what they would be doing.
Flash forward ten years...yep 2009. Thanks to the internet, I have remained in touch with several of those students. Thanks to Facebook, I was able to learn about the time and location of their 10 year reunion....and delivered their letters from their 18 year-old selves. How fun it was to talk with them about their lives and to watch them still be able to read most of what they had written. How amazing it was to hear the stories of their lives. You changed my life.
with love,
Profe aka Laurie
I will always feel a special connection to this group for what allowed me to do as a teacher: to grow as a professional and as an individual. They allowed me to change instruction for hundreds of students since then. What a gift...Thank you Class of 1999.
As one of the students from 'Class of '99,' I have to thank Laurie for everything she taught us. As a senior at the time, I had already fulfilled my Spanish requirement, but I loved Laurie as a teacher in previous years and wanted to continue adding to my Spanish vocabulary. My hope was that it would provide me with enough of a foundation that I'd always be able to use Spanish when I needed it, and that I'd be able to build on it in the future.
Sure enough, years later I found myself on a 2 week vacation in Peru. It had been a few years since my last class with Laurie, and I was intimidated to be completely immersed in a Spanish environment again. However, after only a few days, it was all coming back to me. By the end of the trip, I was able to communicate and get around on my own with little trouble. Once the trip was over, I knew that if I had lived in a Spanish-speaking country for an extended period of time, I would be fluent before long.
As I sat on the plane flying home, I was truly excited to realize that that my world was broadened because of the Spanish I had learned.
Since Laurie put us in an environment that was all-Spanish-all-the-time, it really forced us to learn how to use Spanish, and as she said, "not just know what's necessary for a test." She really gave us a lot of confidence. I appreciated it at the time, I appreciated it on my trip to Spanish speaking countries (I've been to Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico since), and I appreciate it today!
Muchas gracias Laurie!! Recordaré siempre sus clases!
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An thoughtful post, many, many thanks for sharing it on the web.
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