I've never been one for making many New Year's Resolutions as I've found a tendency to attempt to accomplish things that are not actually that realistic - sometimes lofty goals with no supports in place are not the best recipe for success, shockingly! Likewise, as I move into the latter part of my twenties, I'd like to think of these less as one-year goals and more as steps toward becoming a more mature, responsible, and productive adult.
In addition to setting personal goals for my own health and wellness (eat more mindfully, be more active, spend more time reading), I have also created a few professional "resolutions" that I hope to work on this year as well.
Resolution #1: 90% Language, 100% Comprehensible.
I know this. You know this. The students need me to remain in the Target Language 90% of the time. I am inconsistent with this - there are some days when I hit that target full force with 90% or more, and some days where it's all I can do to just stay standing until the end of the hour, let alone speaking French. I need to be more diligent about reminding myself (and having students remind me!) that since it's French class, that's the language I need to be speaking.
Resolution #2: #authres is where it's at.
I need way more authentic resources. I need to let the students discover the culture, rather than sit and listen while I tell them about the culture. I think learning stations are absolutely golden when it comes to this - they force me to take a back seat, and force the students to do the work and discovery. Additionally, students WANT to spend more time exploring the culture - if not a daily focus, this needs to be a more consistent, weekly focus. Pinterest, here I come!
Resolution #3: Less is more.
Though my do-it-all grammar obsession has waned considerably since I first started to wade into the ocean of technique that is TCI/TPRS (I'm still hanging out in the shallow end, relatively speaking), I still am trying to do too much. My expectations, per proficiency level, are still too high. I am letting the pressure of my non-TCI department get to me, to "get through the textbook" and to "cover" material. I also do not trust myself; I do not trust that they will learn sentence structure if I throw out verb charts! I do not trust that they will acquire vocabulary without a reference list. I need to trust. I need to slow down. I need to remember what the goal really is - and it's not to get through eleventy-bajillion verb tenses and 500 vocab words.
Resolution #4: My work day ends at 4:00 PM.
This is one I'm stealing from the ladies at Creative Language Class, because it's genius and it never even occurred to me. Seriously? It never occurred to me to put a limit on my work day. This is insanity, because I could (and have!) work all day and all night. It's easy to go home and keep that stack of grading handy as I watch TV, or surf for resources, so on and so forth - but I've got to knock it off. I need limits, a work-life balance, and better time management skills. I also want to put that time into pursuing new hobbies (and maybe walking my dog a little more...sorry Lu!).
Bonne année, toutes et tous! What are your resolutions??
Showing posts with label tips and tricks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips and tricks. Show all posts
Monday, January 5, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Quoi de neuf?
Each day, in every single one of my classes (even French 1!) I start with the same question: Quoi de neuf? ("What's new?"). It's a simple, but extremely effective way, to get students speaking in the TL in a no-pressure situation. I let them speak about whatever they want, for however long they want, and anyone who wants to talk gets a chance to have the floor - so long as it's in French. I used to do this mostly on Fridays or Mondays, to discuss weekend plans and goings-on, but it has since expanded into everyday use.
I used to - well, who am I kidding, really, I still do - feel the pressure of having to "get to work" and maximize our scant 55 minutes to dig into our current unit topics and spending this kind of time to just talk to one another about whatever was on our minds felt like an enormous waste. But then I thought about it - doesn't language exist for this reason? To have conversations? What use is it to rush into vocabulary and grammar and reading/writing/listening, however authentic and CI-based they may be, if the kids are happy to just use the TL to speak to each other? So now we talk, for however long we'd like; sometimes it's 5 minutes, sometimes it's 25 minutes. The students are happy because they think they "didn't do anything" in French class that day, and I'm happy because we got to practice speaking without me having to actually prep anything special. :)
I've found extraordinary participation during this Quoi de neuf conversation. Even students who wouldn't normally be willing to participate in regular speaking activities or games are willing to raise their hands and tell me what's going on in their lives that day; I have three tests today, or I'm going to dinner with my family, or I have homework in five classes! Sometimes I'm sneaky and get in a little bit of a grammar reminder, like when a student says that she's "going to go to a restaurant this weekend" and it's Monday - I'll say something like, "Going to go this coming weekend?" as if I'm verifying her detail, and typically that will be enough for the student to smile, re-assess, and tell me, "No, I went!"
My students regularly tell me that this conversation time is their favorite thing about class, and I often get comments such as, "You're the only teacher that actually wants to know about our lives." I feel fortunate that, as the only French teacher in my building, I get to know these students so well and can share these moments with them.
So, go ahead...quoi de neuf?
I used to - well, who am I kidding, really, I still do - feel the pressure of having to "get to work" and maximize our scant 55 minutes to dig into our current unit topics and spending this kind of time to just talk to one another about whatever was on our minds felt like an enormous waste. But then I thought about it - doesn't language exist for this reason? To have conversations? What use is it to rush into vocabulary and grammar and reading/writing/listening, however authentic and CI-based they may be, if the kids are happy to just use the TL to speak to each other? So now we talk, for however long we'd like; sometimes it's 5 minutes, sometimes it's 25 minutes. The students are happy because they think they "didn't do anything" in French class that day, and I'm happy because we got to practice speaking without me having to actually prep anything special. :)
I've found extraordinary participation during this Quoi de neuf conversation. Even students who wouldn't normally be willing to participate in regular speaking activities or games are willing to raise their hands and tell me what's going on in their lives that day; I have three tests today, or I'm going to dinner with my family, or I have homework in five classes! Sometimes I'm sneaky and get in a little bit of a grammar reminder, like when a student says that she's "going to go to a restaurant this weekend" and it's Monday - I'll say something like, "Going to go this coming weekend?" as if I'm verifying her detail, and typically that will be enough for the student to smile, re-assess, and tell me, "No, I went!"
My students regularly tell me that this conversation time is their favorite thing about class, and I often get comments such as, "You're the only teacher that actually wants to know about our lives." I feel fortunate that, as the only French teacher in my building, I get to know these students so well and can share these moments with them.
So, go ahead...quoi de neuf?
Monday, December 9, 2013
The Choice Board
I know I have been nowhere near as diligent about blogging as I had hoped - busy semester!! - but I recently attended a meeting of my county's World Language Advisory Council and came away with a fabulous idea that I want to implement in my classroom as soon as possible. In the spirit of giving, I would like to share it all with you!
Assigning meaningful homework that is conducive to learning a foreign language has been the Achilles heel of many a World Language teacher - including us new teachers! We're relatively limited to workbook exercises and/or worksheets and maybe the occasional presentation or project. Unfortunately, the vast majority of my high school students pursue one of the following options:
1. Google Translate
2. Copying another student's homework in the hallway before class, during lunch, etc.
3. Filling in some completely rubbish answer that demonstrates no knowledge or skill whatsoever because they know I grade based on completion.
Woe.
And this, my friends, is where The Choice Board comes into play. The credit for this concept goes to one of my colleagues in the Rochester School District, though she says she got the idea from someone else at a conference or professional development session.
Click here to view a sample of a French 1 Choice Board
Here is how it works: I divide up the assignments into three categories - vocabulary, grammar, and culture. The students can pick whatever assignments they would like to do, so long as they create a "tic, tac, toe" formation on their board - which means they do one assignment from each category. When they finish the assignment and show it to me, I stamp the box - but only if it is completed satisfactorily.
Below the choice board, I have a list of "can-do" statements that mirror the new Can-Do statements put forward by ACTFL, as a means to clearly identify a student's level of proficiency in any of the categories (presentational, interpersonal, interpretive). The students, whenever they feel they are ready, must come to me to demonstrate that they are able to do the given task - there are four tasks for vocabulary, four tasks for grammar, two for culture and two tasks that are review from previous units. Again, when they demonstrate the task, I stamp the box. At the end of the unit, they turn in their choice boards to me and I assign the points based on how many items they have completed. You can determine whatever sort of grading system works best for you.
Since the due date isn't until the very end of the unit, some teachers brought up the concern that students would procrastinate and then wind up swamped with French or Spanish class homework, to which my response was, well - too bad. Effective time management is a skill that students absolutely need to learn - usually all it takes is one bad experience, and the student won't make that procrastination mistake again (we hope). Likewise, my colleague mentioned that if a student loses his or her choice board, he or she must re-do the activities, even if they had previously gotten them stamped for completion.
Creating the choice board itself was much less time consuming than I had initially thought it would be. Ideally, assessing student work via this method would take just as much time as checking in a worksheet and going over the answers in class, so no time is lost there. In fact, there may be time gained, as not all students will turn in their assignments on the same day - which means I can put more time towards in-class practice and providing my kids with the repetitions and comprehensible input they need to acquire the language!
If you have any questions or comments about what homework strategies work best in your classroom, leave a comment below!
Assigning meaningful homework that is conducive to learning a foreign language has been the Achilles heel of many a World Language teacher - including us new teachers! We're relatively limited to workbook exercises and/or worksheets and maybe the occasional presentation or project. Unfortunately, the vast majority of my high school students pursue one of the following options:
1. Google Translate
2. Copying another student's homework in the hallway before class, during lunch, etc.
3. Filling in some completely rubbish answer that demonstrates no knowledge or skill whatsoever because they know I grade based on completion.
Woe.
And this, my friends, is where The Choice Board comes into play. The credit for this concept goes to one of my colleagues in the Rochester School District, though she says she got the idea from someone else at a conference or professional development session.
Click here to view a sample of a French 1 Choice Board
Here is how it works: I divide up the assignments into three categories - vocabulary, grammar, and culture. The students can pick whatever assignments they would like to do, so long as they create a "tic, tac, toe" formation on their board - which means they do one assignment from each category. When they finish the assignment and show it to me, I stamp the box - but only if it is completed satisfactorily.
Below the choice board, I have a list of "can-do" statements that mirror the new Can-Do statements put forward by ACTFL, as a means to clearly identify a student's level of proficiency in any of the categories (presentational, interpersonal, interpretive). The students, whenever they feel they are ready, must come to me to demonstrate that they are able to do the given task - there are four tasks for vocabulary, four tasks for grammar, two for culture and two tasks that are review from previous units. Again, when they demonstrate the task, I stamp the box. At the end of the unit, they turn in their choice boards to me and I assign the points based on how many items they have completed. You can determine whatever sort of grading system works best for you.
Since the due date isn't until the very end of the unit, some teachers brought up the concern that students would procrastinate and then wind up swamped with French or Spanish class homework, to which my response was, well - too bad. Effective time management is a skill that students absolutely need to learn - usually all it takes is one bad experience, and the student won't make that procrastination mistake again (we hope). Likewise, my colleague mentioned that if a student loses his or her choice board, he or she must re-do the activities, even if they had previously gotten them stamped for completion.
Creating the choice board itself was much less time consuming than I had initially thought it would be. Ideally, assessing student work via this method would take just as much time as checking in a worksheet and going over the answers in class, so no time is lost there. In fact, there may be time gained, as not all students will turn in their assignments on the same day - which means I can put more time towards in-class practice and providing my kids with the repetitions and comprehensible input they need to acquire the language!
If you have any questions or comments about what homework strategies work best in your classroom, leave a comment below!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
How to Survive Student Teaching
Ah, student teaching. The penultimate experience for every college student who majors in education. We spend years training for and dreaming of this experience, and all summer long we feel that rush of excitement when we think of how we will soon be impacting potentially hundreds of lives each day.
Then September comes, the excitement continues for about a week - and then reality sets in and you find yourself reminiscing about what life used to be like when you had friends (and money!), as you fall asleep in front of the television at 8:00 while grading a hundred different versions of that really awesome writing assignment that the kids just had to do.
Ah, teaching.
Here are just a few tips and tricks from a current student teacher that will hopefully make your experience as a student teacher a little easier.
1. Get Organized and Develop a System
I have never been someone who has been very well organized, but organization is key to efficiency. Get a calendar or a planner, and put all the important dates for the semester into it right away - your host teacher should supply you with a calendar for a school year that details vacations, half days, parent-teacher conferences, in-service days, departmental meetings, etc. Write them down right away, or put the alerts into your cell phone well in advance.
You will also have to deal with a constant flow of papers - lesson plans, student assignments, rubrics, worksheets - and you'll want to have a system in place to keep those things organized. Have trays for each class, and when students hand in their assignments, put those papers in their class tray. Have a similar set of trays for passed-back assignments - when papers are graded, they go into the "outgoing" trays for each class, and the students can help themselves. Put your lesson plans and activities in a binder with a divider for each class. Have a section reserved for important documents - IEPs and 504s, for example. And after I finish all of my planning, I will print my lesson plans for each class (usually a week's worth) and put them on a clipboard that I keep on my desk, so they are always within an arm's reach as I'm teaching. At the end of the week, the lesson plans go back into the binder.
2. Be Firm, And Quickly
As a high school (student) teacher, I don't feel that far removed in age from some of my students. On top of that, despite being 24 years old, I still look quite young. As such, it can sometimes be hard to draw the line between being a relatable, approachable person that the students often view as a "friend" and being the adult authority figure in the classroom.
The thing about this is that you don't need to have your entire teaching persona figured out right away. That will come later. What you do need to do is establish yourself as the authority in the classroom. This doesn't have to translate to barking orders - rather, it means letting students know that you mean business. The most important way to convey this to your students is having and enforcing consequences. If you tell your students that you will take their cell phone away if you see them using it in class - take the cell phone away the first time. There should be no "negotiating." The minute you begin to negotiate is the minute you begin to lose your credibility and the students will start to walk all over you.
As I said, it doesn't have to be mean. You don't have to embarrass the student or make it a whole production. If you see a student using their cell phone in class (sticking with the same example), simply walk over to him/her and hold out your hand, but continue to lecture or speak to the rest of the class as you do so. If you notice two students in the back carrying on a side conversation, simply stop what you're doing and wait - before long the conversation will stop, and you can continue teaching without even having to say a negative word to anybody.
3. Give Prompt Feedback
What this means for a student teacher is keeping on track of given assignments. Stay on top of grading/looking over the work students hand in - homework can be a form of informal, formative assessment. There is no point assigning something and having students turn it in if you aren't going to promptly turn it around and let them know what they're doing well, and what needs to be worked on more. Letting it sit in your "to-grade" pile for a week is doing your students no favors, and will only make your life more stressful when that pile continues to grow.
4. Ask For Help
Everyone in the school - really, everyone! - wants to see you succeed. If you feel overwhelmed, let your host teacher know immediately. Talk to your principal about what resources you have available to you. Form relationships with other teachers; the easiest way to do this is by eating lunch - yes, gasp! - in the teacher's lounge. Speaking to and asking for advice from someone other than your host teacher can open up an entirely different perspective that you otherwise may not have had access to.
5. Make Time For Yourself
Teaching, particularly student teaching, can be a very overwhelming experience. The to-do list is endless, and if you don't take time for yourself, you could very quickly face burnout! Go to the gym, grab a drink or dinner with friends, spend a half hour reading just for pleasure, watch an episode of your favorite television show - it's important to continue to do the things you enjoy. Set limits for yourself - I tend to stay fairly late after school (until about 5:00 PM or so) to do my planning, make photocopies and grade papers and make sure things are in order for the next day, just to limit the amount of work I bring home with me. Teaching should obviously be an important priority in your life - but not the only priority.
So there you have it! These are just a few of the tips I have found to be most helpful. If you have any questions or other things to have, feel free to leave them in the comments!
Then September comes, the excitement continues for about a week - and then reality sets in and you find yourself reminiscing about what life used to be like when you had friends (and money!), as you fall asleep in front of the television at 8:00 while grading a hundred different versions of that really awesome writing assignment that the kids just had to do.
Ah, teaching.
Here are just a few tips and tricks from a current student teacher that will hopefully make your experience as a student teacher a little easier.
1. Get Organized and Develop a System
I have never been someone who has been very well organized, but organization is key to efficiency. Get a calendar or a planner, and put all the important dates for the semester into it right away - your host teacher should supply you with a calendar for a school year that details vacations, half days, parent-teacher conferences, in-service days, departmental meetings, etc. Write them down right away, or put the alerts into your cell phone well in advance.
You will also have to deal with a constant flow of papers - lesson plans, student assignments, rubrics, worksheets - and you'll want to have a system in place to keep those things organized. Have trays for each class, and when students hand in their assignments, put those papers in their class tray. Have a similar set of trays for passed-back assignments - when papers are graded, they go into the "outgoing" trays for each class, and the students can help themselves. Put your lesson plans and activities in a binder with a divider for each class. Have a section reserved for important documents - IEPs and 504s, for example. And after I finish all of my planning, I will print my lesson plans for each class (usually a week's worth) and put them on a clipboard that I keep on my desk, so they are always within an arm's reach as I'm teaching. At the end of the week, the lesson plans go back into the binder.
2. Be Firm, And Quickly
As a high school (student) teacher, I don't feel that far removed in age from some of my students. On top of that, despite being 24 years old, I still look quite young. As such, it can sometimes be hard to draw the line between being a relatable, approachable person that the students often view as a "friend" and being the adult authority figure in the classroom.
The thing about this is that you don't need to have your entire teaching persona figured out right away. That will come later. What you do need to do is establish yourself as the authority in the classroom. This doesn't have to translate to barking orders - rather, it means letting students know that you mean business. The most important way to convey this to your students is having and enforcing consequences. If you tell your students that you will take their cell phone away if you see them using it in class - take the cell phone away the first time. There should be no "negotiating." The minute you begin to negotiate is the minute you begin to lose your credibility and the students will start to walk all over you.
As I said, it doesn't have to be mean. You don't have to embarrass the student or make it a whole production. If you see a student using their cell phone in class (sticking with the same example), simply walk over to him/her and hold out your hand, but continue to lecture or speak to the rest of the class as you do so. If you notice two students in the back carrying on a side conversation, simply stop what you're doing and wait - before long the conversation will stop, and you can continue teaching without even having to say a negative word to anybody.
3. Give Prompt Feedback
What this means for a student teacher is keeping on track of given assignments. Stay on top of grading/looking over the work students hand in - homework can be a form of informal, formative assessment. There is no point assigning something and having students turn it in if you aren't going to promptly turn it around and let them know what they're doing well, and what needs to be worked on more. Letting it sit in your "to-grade" pile for a week is doing your students no favors, and will only make your life more stressful when that pile continues to grow.
4. Ask For Help
Everyone in the school - really, everyone! - wants to see you succeed. If you feel overwhelmed, let your host teacher know immediately. Talk to your principal about what resources you have available to you. Form relationships with other teachers; the easiest way to do this is by eating lunch - yes, gasp! - in the teacher's lounge. Speaking to and asking for advice from someone other than your host teacher can open up an entirely different perspective that you otherwise may not have had access to.
5. Make Time For Yourself
Teaching, particularly student teaching, can be a very overwhelming experience. The to-do list is endless, and if you don't take time for yourself, you could very quickly face burnout! Go to the gym, grab a drink or dinner with friends, spend a half hour reading just for pleasure, watch an episode of your favorite television show - it's important to continue to do the things you enjoy. Set limits for yourself - I tend to stay fairly late after school (until about 5:00 PM or so) to do my planning, make photocopies and grade papers and make sure things are in order for the next day, just to limit the amount of work I bring home with me. Teaching should obviously be an important priority in your life - but not the only priority.
So there you have it! These are just a few of the tips I have found to be most helpful. If you have any questions or other things to have, feel free to leave them in the comments!
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