Today in German 2 the directions lesson went really well. Yesterday we started the vocabulary from the chapter (using photos with the German words so there is less translation happening) and I had signs that I kept the translation of the sign in original German (not L2 learning German). I was surprised today at how many students remembered some of the words that I didn't even go over with them... for instance, I had spoken about the bike paths in Germany and how some are separated and some are together. Then after speaking about it, I quickly went past the slides that said how to say that in German (not having the students do the normal "repeat after me" thing). Today they even remembered that it was a "getrennter Rad- und Fussweg"... wow.
The second "wow" from this class (perhaps an "a ha"?) was when I (instead of going through a bunch of easy left-right sort of things) put the "nach links" and "nach rechts" on the board and then started giving directions. Students followed and then after three times, they tried it with their partner! Some students tried it for me in front of the class and they did a great job! They needed a bit more practice using the words that were there for them, but they had no practiceup until that point and had felt wonderful enough to give it a shot and really do it! Very cool.
So my question is this: is it because the directions are easy? (once you know about 4-5 words you can do so much) Is it because the directions are obviously useful? (but that's the thing about language... it all is used and is useful...) Or is there something else?
Showing posts with label German 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label German 2. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Fidelity (and a check-in with K. 11)
Fidelity is something that has been on my mind lately. I find these fantastic ideas and resources and do/use them... and then never touch them again. If I find something that is wonderful, I should keep it and continue using it with fidelity. Stick with it. If it's good for kids, it's good for kids. Period.
then again... since there are so many wonderful things that can be done out there, perhaps it's best for some of them to be treated more like another "trick" that I have in my "bag". And really split up the goodness between everything that we do during the year. That's a thought as well.
Quick check in with K. 11:
I did a bit of the front loading needed with the kids about why doing the chapter in this format... although many of them were dazey... so I got those questions afterward. I feel sometimes like I've permanently lost an entire half of the room. In all actuality, it's probably 4-5 kids... but it break-a-mah-heart. Ah well.
So a few questions about "So... what are we supposed to be doing?" and then many dove right into workbook work. A few did the birthday card. The quizzes don't "open" until Wednesday... I wonder if they will be caught off guard with the amount of preparation they needed to do for the quizzes... I guess we'll see. Tomorrow should be interesting: our first round-table and our first study group. let's see if anyone takes advantage of it.
then again... since there are so many wonderful things that can be done out there, perhaps it's best for some of them to be treated more like another "trick" that I have in my "bag". And really split up the goodness between everything that we do during the year. That's a thought as well.
Quick check in with K. 11:
I did a bit of the front loading needed with the kids about why doing the chapter in this format... although many of them were dazey... so I got those questions afterward. I feel sometimes like I've permanently lost an entire half of the room. In all actuality, it's probably 4-5 kids... but it break-a-mah-heart. Ah well.
So a few questions about "So... what are we supposed to be doing?" and then many dove right into workbook work. A few did the birthday card. The quizzes don't "open" until Wednesday... I wonder if they will be caught off guard with the amount of preparation they needed to do for the quizzes... I guess we'll see. Tomorrow should be interesting: our first round-table and our first study group. let's see if anyone takes advantage of it.
Friday, November 16, 2007
What a downer
wow.
I have been such a downer lately. Like for the past six months or something... I swear. Maybe it's just a natural shift that happens as I'm figuring out that I don't, in fact, need to please everyone all the time... which is still hard, but I see myself standing up for myself in ways I never would have before because, although I yearned to be noticed, I didn't want to stick out. So I hope this is just part of the phase... and maybe it's because I feel loaded down... but the other day Liesl mentioned that she didn't like all the negative energy she had been giving out lately (which I hadn't noticed) and it really struck a chord with me. It is definitely true for me.
So here's my positive spin on today:
German 1 did some exit slips about how they were going to study. I think that I like the exit slip philosophy... but I also don't know if I have enough stamina to follow through with it on a daily basis (and is that really necessary?). Anyway, a number of kids said they were going to use the internet resources (podcast and online flashcards)... so Monday I am going to give the exit slips back and check back in to see how many actually did... and what they thought.
I was lucky that the class of kids I've had the longest is the class I had to miss today... because they know what to do and have fun. And one of the subs said she liked the clapping. Me too.
It's good that the doctor says that Caitlin just has the croup... and I'm sure he listened to my concerns before handing out this diagnosis.
German 2 had a very interesting conversation about sarcasm, and I was surprised to hear how many didn't appreciate sarcasm in the least... and I was very surprised at who said it.
I got to spend some time with my medicine loving baby today. She was so good at the doctor's office and afterward... a lady in the waiting room didn't think she was even sick.
The conversation with daycare from my perspective went really well. We have a conference on Monday and I think everyone knows the agenda... which is good: no surprises.
Tori and Hannah are super excited to start the speech season! (They saw me in the hall and said they were just talking about speech last night!)
So... all in all... an excellent day.
I have been such a downer lately. Like for the past six months or something... I swear. Maybe it's just a natural shift that happens as I'm figuring out that I don't, in fact, need to please everyone all the time... which is still hard, but I see myself standing up for myself in ways I never would have before because, although I yearned to be noticed, I didn't want to stick out. So I hope this is just part of the phase... and maybe it's because I feel loaded down... but the other day Liesl mentioned that she didn't like all the negative energy she had been giving out lately (which I hadn't noticed) and it really struck a chord with me. It is definitely true for me.
So here's my positive spin on today:
German 1 did some exit slips about how they were going to study. I think that I like the exit slip philosophy... but I also don't know if I have enough stamina to follow through with it on a daily basis (and is that really necessary?). Anyway, a number of kids said they were going to use the internet resources (podcast and online flashcards)... so Monday I am going to give the exit slips back and check back in to see how many actually did... and what they thought.
I was lucky that the class of kids I've had the longest is the class I had to miss today... because they know what to do and have fun. And one of the subs said she liked the clapping. Me too.
It's good that the doctor says that Caitlin just has the croup... and I'm sure he listened to my concerns before handing out this diagnosis.
German 2 had a very interesting conversation about sarcasm, and I was surprised to hear how many didn't appreciate sarcasm in the least... and I was very surprised at who said it.
I got to spend some time with my medicine loving baby today. She was so good at the doctor's office and afterward... a lady in the waiting room didn't think she was even sick.
The conversation with daycare from my perspective went really well. We have a conference on Monday and I think everyone knows the agenda... which is good: no surprises.
Tori and Hannah are super excited to start the speech season! (They saw me in the hall and said they were just talking about speech last night!)
So... all in all... an excellent day.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
14 November
Wow. I just cannot believe it's Wednesday. So many times this week I have just been totally off on what day it actually FEELS like it is. I could swear it's Tuesday... and I would have sworn yesterday was Monday. AT least I'm keeping time... and being a day behind is always nicer than feeling it should already be Friday and it's only Monday. However I feel like I'm packing a lot of "stuff" into my hours. I rarely watch TV anymore and most of the time I don't really care. I never thought I would be "that girl"... maybe it's just a phase. :)
German 2: We did "Chairman of the Board". It sucked. There are so many reasons it sucked, but it was made extremely evident that it is not, in fact, a close knit community. So not worth the time with these kids. (But I have an inkling that it would be worthwhile with my German 1 class... I'm just a bit gun-shy at this point.) So then we delved into the book, notes and the like... and I think that is what these kids need. The "feel" in the class was better. Kids were on task. Having those standards is what this class needs. I feel like it's boring stuff... but apparently they need it. So we will be doing more. More quizzes, more writing, more check points. They need to be held accountable for their learning in a way that most don't. Call it lazy on their part... whatever. If that's what it takes for them today, then that is what they will get. The pleasant "hum" of productive work was nice. Otherwise I had even some of my good kids with other classwork in front of them... so maybe they were just bored. Isn't it weird how different classes need different things? This is when I'm glad that I'm not stuck in a position of trying to keep one class at the same pace of another.
German 1: They are just too cute. The house drawing is going well... I think I found a "shining star" spot for one of my SpEd kids... she came to class today (after just getting the introduction to it all yesterday) with her project 70% done. Apparently drawing and the like is beneficial for her... and boy is she shining. I want to make sure I touch base with her again tomorrow of how proud she should be of her work.
Speech auditions again today... I'll get back to those later... but we've already perhaps lost a couple coaches again today. I hope not. This is supposed to be a TEAM activity... maybe we need to look at the mission statement again.
German 2: We did "Chairman of the Board". It sucked. There are so many reasons it sucked, but it was made extremely evident that it is not, in fact, a close knit community. So not worth the time with these kids. (But I have an inkling that it would be worthwhile with my German 1 class... I'm just a bit gun-shy at this point.) So then we delved into the book, notes and the like... and I think that is what these kids need. The "feel" in the class was better. Kids were on task. Having those standards is what this class needs. I feel like it's boring stuff... but apparently they need it. So we will be doing more. More quizzes, more writing, more check points. They need to be held accountable for their learning in a way that most don't. Call it lazy on their part... whatever. If that's what it takes for them today, then that is what they will get. The pleasant "hum" of productive work was nice. Otherwise I had even some of my good kids with other classwork in front of them... so maybe they were just bored. Isn't it weird how different classes need different things? This is when I'm glad that I'm not stuck in a position of trying to keep one class at the same pace of another.
German 1: They are just too cute. The house drawing is going well... I think I found a "shining star" spot for one of my SpEd kids... she came to class today (after just getting the introduction to it all yesterday) with her project 70% done. Apparently drawing and the like is beneficial for her... and boy is she shining. I want to make sure I touch base with her again tomorrow of how proud she should be of her work.
Speech auditions again today... I'll get back to those later... but we've already perhaps lost a couple coaches again today. I hope not. This is supposed to be a TEAM activity... maybe we need to look at the mission statement again.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Meme again...
In an effort to sort through today (I still can't even begin to try to comprehend yesterday's huge discussion) I'm needing to go back to the Meme thing (shout out to you, Liesl!):
What went well:
Speech auditions! I am excited about the quality of kids we had audition and look forward to holding them to high (but fun) standards and really finding a lot of success... I am SUPER excited about Liesl's lightbulb about having a certain young man do extemporaneous poetry reading... Seriously. He will go to state. I am SO excited.
What went pretty well:
German 1 went pretty well today... I ended up telling more culture today than normal, but sometimes culture can go by the wayside and it is definitely not only already one of the standards of world language education, it's also inherent in many of the other standards. So no problems here.
German 3 went pretty well also. The new way of doing music was fantastic. We listened to it three times and for different things each time (degrees of difficulty scaffoldling throughout) and I asked what they thought. Even Dirk said that he liked it because sometimes listening to it the first time with all the lyrics and not knowing (or having to find out) what they mean is too overwhelming... and he's one of the best students in class. This is great feedback. I'm glad I learned the technique and I know it is pedagogically sound as well as effective! Awesome. They also did more conjuguemos today. Only 4-5 have passed it. They really are having a harder time with this than kids have in the past... but they all recognize how beneficial it is for them to do... despite the fact it might be frustrating. How do I know this? Because right after their complaints (Man, this sucks! I can't do this!), they verbalize things like (ugh. But I know I'm doing better already... or I know it's good for me Frau, but I swear, I can't do this). Then I cheerlead a bit and ask them if they've been having personal bests... and they always have been. So this is all good. We're not going back tomorrow. We'll save it until Thursday.
What could have gone better:
German 2. Seriously. The kids are being lazy. They are tired. They are just not excited... even today when I was excited! So today is an example of an anomaly of the theory that my excitement will always infect the kids. The discussion about the podcast didn't give the results I had hoped for, but perhaps another avenue to try instead. They mentioned an 8th grade class where they did show-and-tell... and could do anything as long as it related. I might just try this. We'll have to talk more about it tomorrow. I think I also need to just get them up and moving. More community building. Something. Maybe Chairman of the Board tomorrow??
Who I need to touch base with:
A colleague about speech team. And I'm not really looking forward to it, but maybe I need the mindset that it truly is painless and without judgment... ask it like Biener would.
What went well:
Speech auditions! I am excited about the quality of kids we had audition and look forward to holding them to high (but fun) standards and really finding a lot of success... I am SUPER excited about Liesl's lightbulb about having a certain young man do extemporaneous poetry reading... Seriously. He will go to state. I am SO excited.
What went pretty well:
German 1 went pretty well today... I ended up telling more culture today than normal, but sometimes culture can go by the wayside and it is definitely not only already one of the standards of world language education, it's also inherent in many of the other standards. So no problems here.
German 3 went pretty well also. The new way of doing music was fantastic. We listened to it three times and for different things each time (degrees of difficulty scaffoldling throughout) and I asked what they thought. Even Dirk said that he liked it because sometimes listening to it the first time with all the lyrics and not knowing (or having to find out) what they mean is too overwhelming... and he's one of the best students in class. This is great feedback. I'm glad I learned the technique and I know it is pedagogically sound as well as effective! Awesome. They also did more conjuguemos today. Only 4-5 have passed it. They really are having a harder time with this than kids have in the past... but they all recognize how beneficial it is for them to do... despite the fact it might be frustrating. How do I know this? Because right after their complaints (Man, this sucks! I can't do this!), they verbalize things like (ugh. But I know I'm doing better already... or I know it's good for me Frau, but I swear, I can't do this). Then I cheerlead a bit and ask them if they've been having personal bests... and they always have been. So this is all good. We're not going back tomorrow. We'll save it until Thursday.
What could have gone better:
German 2. Seriously. The kids are being lazy. They are tired. They are just not excited... even today when I was excited! So today is an example of an anomaly of the theory that my excitement will always infect the kids. The discussion about the podcast didn't give the results I had hoped for, but perhaps another avenue to try instead. They mentioned an 8th grade class where they did show-and-tell... and could do anything as long as it related. I might just try this. We'll have to talk more about it tomorrow. I think I also need to just get them up and moving. More community building. Something. Maybe Chairman of the Board tomorrow??
Who I need to touch base with:
A colleague about speech team. And I'm not really looking forward to it, but maybe I need the mindset that it truly is painless and without judgment... ask it like Biener would.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Heute... noch wieder...
What went well:
German 2: The lunch tray way of learning went really well. As we were doing it, I was reminded of the success I have had with it in the past... and I wonder why I don't do it every time. I think it's because I remember it as being something I had originally just dreamed up on the spot, so it must not be useful... but BOY it is! So let this stand as a lesson: DO IT EVERY TIME. The kids get to draw a lunch tray, then they get a HUGE list of food vocabulary and they draw the food they would like to eat (at least 5 things) and label the foods in German on the back. This is good because kids get to construct and use the knowledge that is meaningful for them. THEN we stand in a circle, and play "musical lunch trays". I play music and they pass the lunch trays around. When the music stops, they write down 1-2 words they didn't know in their notebooks. This is a great (and interesting) way for them to get a bunch of new vocabulary that their peers thought was (at the very least) interesting. Cool. It was cool and I need to keep this as a reminder that I should, in fact, do this every time that I teach food.
What could have improved:
My planning for 4th hour. It will all come together, but since I'm leaving early (for the doctor apponitments) I just started them on new vocabulary for our first movie. Bleh. Oh well. At least it is something that needs to be done.
Who I need to touch base with:
KT to see how it went today during 4th hour.
I got my musician's new songs!
German 2: The lunch tray way of learning went really well. As we were doing it, I was reminded of the success I have had with it in the past... and I wonder why I don't do it every time. I think it's because I remember it as being something I had originally just dreamed up on the spot, so it must not be useful... but BOY it is! So let this stand as a lesson: DO IT EVERY TIME. The kids get to draw a lunch tray, then they get a HUGE list of food vocabulary and they draw the food they would like to eat (at least 5 things) and label the foods in German on the back. This is good because kids get to construct and use the knowledge that is meaningful for them. THEN we stand in a circle, and play "musical lunch trays". I play music and they pass the lunch trays around. When the music stops, they write down 1-2 words they didn't know in their notebooks. This is a great (and interesting) way for them to get a bunch of new vocabulary that their peers thought was (at the very least) interesting. Cool. It was cool and I need to keep this as a reminder that I should, in fact, do this every time that I teach food.
What could have improved:
My planning for 4th hour. It will all come together, but since I'm leaving early (for the doctor apponitments) I just started them on new vocabulary for our first movie. Bleh. Oh well. At least it is something that needs to be done.
Who I need to touch base with:
KT to see how it went today during 4th hour.
I got my musician's new songs!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Heute...
What went well...
German 1 was excited to get the packets... they worked ahead on their own... so I'm glad I didn't stop them! They also had done very well on their tests... All A's and B's with only like 2 C's. Sweet!
Reflecting back on yesterday, the PowerPoint with German 3 and the games and such. They were up and moving at variuos times, they interacted with the whiteboard and everything went really well. I like it.
What could have been improved...
German 2: It felt like we just weren't doing purposeful things. I feel like sometimes this arrangement of desks leads to that b/c the kids are so busy focusing on other things (like each other). (The desks are in groups/circles right now.) It's just frustrating. I also think it was a bit early to do the touch game with the vocab... since hardly anyone knew any.
Who I need to touch base with...
My German 1 11th and 12th graders... we get to play tomorrow! The sophomores are gone. I am looking forward to connecting with them personally... because there are only 7 of them. I think we'll play Cranium.
*Erin told me today that her song has been remastered and she will e-mail me the new version!
German 1 was excited to get the packets... they worked ahead on their own... so I'm glad I didn't stop them! They also had done very well on their tests... All A's and B's with only like 2 C's. Sweet!
Reflecting back on yesterday, the PowerPoint with German 3 and the games and such. They were up and moving at variuos times, they interacted with the whiteboard and everything went really well. I like it.
What could have been improved...
German 2: It felt like we just weren't doing purposeful things. I feel like sometimes this arrangement of desks leads to that b/c the kids are so busy focusing on other things (like each other). (The desks are in groups/circles right now.) It's just frustrating. I also think it was a bit early to do the touch game with the vocab... since hardly anyone knew any.
Who I need to touch base with...
My German 1 11th and 12th graders... we get to play tomorrow! The sophomores are gone. I am looking forward to connecting with them personally... because there are only 7 of them. I think we'll play Cranium.
*Erin told me today that her song has been remastered and she will e-mail me the new version!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Back to memememememe...
What went well:
This morning in German 2, one of my students said that he felt bad for the Spanish students because their classes just seemed to be lame. Everyone was always quiet, sitting in their desks, doing their stuff, and every once in a while they would have fun. He then said that he would probably take French if I were teaching it, but if it's not me, there's no way he would take it. :) It's those kinds of things from a student who is highly intelligent but also definitely what one would call a "typical German"... not necessarily popular, verging on gothic and truly a free thinker. It is so good for me to have these badges of honor because every once in a while I wish I had those quiet Spanish classes... but I know I'm really reaching these kids where they need to be met... and that they appreciate it. That's awesome. I've had a girl who is also in that class tell me the same thing... and she took another language.
German 1, we learned spielen and some new sports today after the test. First of all, I felt good about that use of time (instead of just letting them sit around mindlessly), but second, I made the decision this year to teach the verb endings in German 2 so that the students can discover them a bit more on their own. Today I previewed the fact that we'll learn the "general rule" to how things go together, and one boy (whose sister is in German 3) was so excited that he already knew how because his sister taught him this past weekend! I think it will be great for the kids to "discover it" on their own. I'm excited about this move. Chapter 1 was full enough and this will bring some meaning to all the verbs in Chapter 2.
The Speech Team meeting went well. We had about 12-15 at the meeting... and others signed up. All of the coaches had a chance to talk, which is important as we create this team. Overall I think it went very well.
What could have improved:
In German 3 the past tense story was okay. The kids were listening and they drew well, but they didn't pick up on the words like the lady promised they would. Oh well. The rest of the hour was very productive though, and I found myself speaking a lot of German... I think it's because I had the opportunity to hear it again last week from "real" speakers! I decided internally that, like in the immersion programs, they can still speak in English when they need to, but I can still speak in German. This way they'll move into that German place when they feel comfortable.
Who I need to touch base with tomorrow:
Those 11th graders in German 1 because I don't think I'm going to have much of a German 1 class tomorrow. I don't know what we'll do... maybe I should bring a game. We'll see.
This morning in German 2, one of my students said that he felt bad for the Spanish students because their classes just seemed to be lame. Everyone was always quiet, sitting in their desks, doing their stuff, and every once in a while they would have fun. He then said that he would probably take French if I were teaching it, but if it's not me, there's no way he would take it. :) It's those kinds of things from a student who is highly intelligent but also definitely what one would call a "typical German"... not necessarily popular, verging on gothic and truly a free thinker. It is so good for me to have these badges of honor because every once in a while I wish I had those quiet Spanish classes... but I know I'm really reaching these kids where they need to be met... and that they appreciate it. That's awesome. I've had a girl who is also in that class tell me the same thing... and she took another language.
German 1, we learned spielen and some new sports today after the test. First of all, I felt good about that use of time (instead of just letting them sit around mindlessly), but second, I made the decision this year to teach the verb endings in German 2 so that the students can discover them a bit more on their own. Today I previewed the fact that we'll learn the "general rule" to how things go together, and one boy (whose sister is in German 3) was so excited that he already knew how because his sister taught him this past weekend! I think it will be great for the kids to "discover it" on their own. I'm excited about this move. Chapter 1 was full enough and this will bring some meaning to all the verbs in Chapter 2.
The Speech Team meeting went well. We had about 12-15 at the meeting... and others signed up. All of the coaches had a chance to talk, which is important as we create this team. Overall I think it went very well.
What could have improved:
In German 3 the past tense story was okay. The kids were listening and they drew well, but they didn't pick up on the words like the lady promised they would. Oh well. The rest of the hour was very productive though, and I found myself speaking a lot of German... I think it's because I had the opportunity to hear it again last week from "real" speakers! I decided internally that, like in the immersion programs, they can still speak in English when they need to, but I can still speak in German. This way they'll move into that German place when they feel comfortable.
Who I need to touch base with tomorrow:
Those 11th graders in German 1 because I don't think I'm going to have much of a German 1 class tomorrow. I don't know what we'll do... maybe I should bring a game. We'll see.
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