August 20, 2017 - Hearts For Teaching Blog

Spanish is Easy!

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: August 20, 2017

I am SO excited to be teaching Level 1 again this year! The classes are mostly 6th graders with a few 7th and 8th graders here and there. Last year I jumped in with this level on November 1st…..almost 14 weeks in….so to be here from Day 1 is fantastic!!

I decided to try to convince them that Spanish was going to be easy….on Day #2.

On Day #1 I had used the phrases:

Hay un problema.

Se llama.

Hay ____ estudiantes en la clase.

So they didn’t have much to start with. Now….let me say up front that I didn’t expect them to acquire anything from this exercise…..I just wanted them to experience success!

Me: Your job is to respond to me when I speak Spanish to you. If you do not understand what I said, please stomp your feet until I hear you and stop to explain so that you understand. (I blab in Spanish until they stop me) Excelente! What English word do you hear in “Excelente”?

Students: Excellent!

Me: Excelente! If you DO understand me, just say Ohhhhhh. Me llamo la Maestra Clarcq (we had done this yesterday.)

Students: Ohhhhh.
Me: Gracias.

I ask a student to set the timer on his phone for 10 minutes.

Me: Clase, (I point to poster hay-there is or there are) un marcador (marker).

Some students stomp. I write “marcador” on the board.

Me” What word do you see/hear in English when I say MARCADOR?

Some students respond; Marker

Me: Clase, Hay un marcador.

Students: Ohhhhh.

Me: El marcador es importante.

(If a class stomped, we stopped, I wrote it and gave the meaning. If not, we went on)

I wrote usa (uses) and dibuja (draws) on the board.

Me: La Maestra usa el marcador. Students: Ohhhh.

Me. La Maestra dibuja con el marcador. (if students stomp I stop and explain)
I drew a “lovely” stick figure of a person on the board.

Me: La Maestra es talentosa. Students stomp. I explain talentosa/talented.

Me: I’m going to ask you a question in Spanish. You can give me your honest opinion. ¿Es la Maestra MUY talentosa (I stretch my hands out wide) or UN POCO talentosa? (I make the “little gesture with my fingers))
I restated the sentence depending on the class answer.

Me: Es obvio. Students stomp. I provide the meaning (It’s obvious.)

Me: Clase, who thinks that they could draw a better person than I did?

Hands of course go up and I pick one student to come up to the board and draw a person. (I quietly asked them to do it fairly quickly)

While the student was drawing…..

Me: Clase, hay )point to poster again) un artists famoso en la clase. Students stomp and I write artist famoso (famous artist) on the board.

Me: Se llama Mercedes (or what the student’s name is!)
Each time I am making sure that students “ooh” or stamp after my statements.

Me: Mercedes usa el marcador. Mercedes dibuja con el marcador. Mercedes dibuja una persona con el marcador. Mercedes es famosa a Eich Middle School. Es famosa en Roseville. Es famosa en California. Clase, Mercedes es MUY (with gesture) famosa.

By this time the artist was finished and we had the artist sign his or her work….to the sound of much applause (Es obvio!)

About this time the timer also went off….if not…it was close and I could simply go back and repeat sentences until it did.

Now………..

I told the students this:

I am going to write down what we just talked about on the board. While I am writing it in Spanish, I want you to share with a partner what it means in English.

(Please forgive any errors because the period was ending quickly!)

Here is a sample!

Then, I read it in Spanish, sentence by sentence, and they said the English. Talk about excitement!!

Many of them took a picture to share at home and several asked me to text it to their parents, which made me smile.

I reminded them that they hadn’t acquired it yet, so they should not be surprised if they don’t remember it all. But…..that Spanish was going to be this easy!!!

I started without asking many questions, or “circling.” That is a skill we work on together and we will start next week. But just for today, I wanted them to know that by

a. listening well

b. responding when they understand

c. showing me when they don’t

that Spanish will be easy!!!!

with love,

Laurie

Day #2: Winning Them Over One By One!

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: August 20, 2017

So, on Day #2 the students walk in and sit down. Four out of six classes totally forgot about the names in the back of the room until the bell rang….and then….someone said, “Oh! Our cards!”. But once everyone remembered, all went well.

Ok….not all.

My first and third period classes looked something like this as they brought up their cards:

Student in the front of the line hands me the card. I smile, and say, brightly, BUENOS DIAS!. The student looks at the floor and trudges back to his or her seat. This repeated itself 31 times!!!!!!!!

Once everyone had gone through the process, I looked at the class and said, “Clase, hay un problema.” And then explained in English that having your heart broken 31 times in a row is no way to start the day.

So…..they all got up again….I greeted them with a smile, a HIGH FIVE and a BUENOS DIAS!. In the first period class, right about the middle of the line, one boy deliberately “missed” the high five. (Ay!) So, when everyone was done I invited him up front. He gladly came (if not I would have gone over to stand next to him.) I explained to the class in Spanish (these are level 2 students) that everyone gave me a high five except for “Alberto.’ Why? Because Alberto and I had a very special handshake that was way more complicated than a high five and he was going to teach it to them right now.

“Albert” whispered to me, “I don’t know what to do.” I whispered back, ‘Just miss my high five and then we’ll do a fist bump.” So “Albert” demonstrated the more complicated and special high five and I asked 3 or 4 other students if they wanted to try it. There was about 25 hands in the air so I let them do it with a neighbor and then we went on. “Albert” got the message, and so did the rest of them.

:o)

with love,

Laurie

Day #1 The Magic Attendance Poster!!

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: August 20, 2017

By the time some of you read this it will be really old news….but here goes!!

Day 1 of Year 35 completed!!!

As you saw by my earlier post….my classroom is bare bones right now.

I have added the following:

1. Posters of the Super Seven in the past/present from Scott Benedict at Teach For June.

2. A calendar with the days of the week, months of the year.

3. Posters with colors.

4. Two Sr. Wooly posters (Billy La Bufanda, Soy Guapo and Puedo Ir al Baño)

5. A world map.

Not much really!!!!

Except for this:

If you look closely, you will see cards behind each card:

It is my magic attendance poster!!!

Confession #1: I am HORRIBLE at taking and reporting attendance.

So, on Thursday, I taught all of the kids to grab their name from the poster in the back of the room as they come in and bring it up to the front and hand it to me. (If their name is NOT there then they bring me a blank card and I know to check the roster for schedule changes etc.)

This way I get to connect with every kid on their way in the room!!! (If their name is NOT there then they bring me a blank card and I know to check the roster for schedule changes etc.)

The first day, I asked students their names. They could a) just show me the card. b) say their name or c. Say Me llama and their name. (Right away I could show them that they will respond in a way that is comfortable for them!) This way I didn’t have to try to figure out the pronunciation of names and I asked if they had a nickname that they preferred. I also asked them if I had spelled it correctly. It was quick, personal, and easy!!

It is very easy to see who is not here because each class roster uses a different color marker. Before I submit attendance, I can see if any names are left on the board in a flash!!

Confession #2: I messed it up 4/6 times on Thursday!! I forgot to hit “Submit”. So THAT was the first Student Job assigned on Friday. Friday I didn’t miss it once!! And….check out the next post for the Day #2 story!!

Other benefits: I now have the cards for each student in my hand. I can use those for “random cold-calling” for games etc. I can have a student put them back (in the back of the pile each period) or do it myself later in the day.

PS You will see numbers on the bottom of the cards. They stand for Spanish 1 or 2, the period of the day, and a count of how many students in the class. Just little helpful things for me.

This was a great way to start things off!

with love,
Laurie