St. Paul wrote, " I have become all things to all people, so that by all possible means I might save some." As a teacher, my challenge is to teach in all possible ways so that I might reach my students. It will always be an area of growth, but here are some of the many ways we learned this week:
Listening:
As part of our Advent, we have been listening to different Spanish versions of "O Come, Emmanuel" each day. We have heard renditions from several different countries and noted the differences in musical instruments and translations from each region. One of our favorites was from South America, recorded for the Católicos de hoy program (Catholics Today).
Every week we practice with the ¡Avancemos! audio CDs, and I encourage students to use the links in the right side bar of the blog, as well. This gives students exposure to a variety of accents and speakers using the vocabulary and grammar structures we are covering in class.
I conduct about 25% of the class in Spanish. While I never want to frustrate the students, I do want to give them exposure to the sounds, rhythms and intonation patterns of a native speaker. Usually I will say things in Spanish first, and then repeat it in English. You can see their confidence grow as they understand what I say the first time.
The elementary classes are practicing with a dictado (dictation) this week, and it is exciting to see their competence and confidence increase!
Seeing:
Besides reading, we love to use the Promethean board to find images of topics we are studying.
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| Popocatépetl and Ixtaccíhuatl |
Our 8th graders have been learning about Popocatépetl and Ixtaccíhuatl, and we found several images of those mountains that illustrate the legends associated with them. This morning we looked at some of the chocolate in Oaxaca, and how it is mixed with spices and nuts.
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| Oaxacan chocolate ready to be ground |
Each chapter in our ¡Avancemos! textbooks includes several DVD clips with vocabulary, cultural info and story-lines that provide a fun way to reinforce what we are learning.
Movement:
Whether it is dancing along to a song in Spanish or playing games, we try to find plenty of opportunities to move around in class. One of our favorite things to do is to play a game of catch with a couple of very soft and fuzzy balls. The student who catches the squooshy has to conjugate a verb or give the correct Spanish response before throwing it to someone else. Since you never know who will get it next, it keeps us on our toes!
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| Señor Suave and Señor Scushi |
Although we don't get to do this one quite as often, every one of my classes agrees that when it comes to learning about the foods and drinks of different Spanish-speaking countries, it isn't enough to read and talk about them. We have to actually try them. During our Country-in-a-Bag presentations, the students tried authentic tamales, tostones, papas, limonadas, and many other recipes for each of the countries that we presented. After learning about the chocolate in Oaxaca, we all had a cup of real Mexican chocolate.
These activities are more than fun, they are the key to engaging all kind of learners. While we do plenty of traditional pencil and paper work, too, we know that sitting still and writing is not the only way to learn. Recognizing that each student is unique and helping to capture their imaginations is part of why I love teaching--my students make sure that I never get bored!
