The Beat of my Heart...

Or is it the beat of the African drums??
Nah... I'm pretty positive it's my heart beating so proudly.

German 3 today was fantastic.
And what was different, you might ask??
First: instead of grades on their quizzes, I matched them in groups of three... one high, one medium and one low. Their task as a group was to help each other so that everyone's paper was perfect. The amount of coaching that was going on... especially for those lower kids who seriously need it... was nothing short of amazing. Kids were looking out for each other... making sure they had enough time... making sure they asked the questions they needed to get the answers... and even more importantly, the high achieving kids were asking the questions for the lower achieving kids... and then they would go back and teach it!! It made me so proud... and I knew that what we were doing was good. HOORAY!!

Second: I split them. The kids who hadn't finished their verb conjugation had computer time to do so. Those who had split into groups and added to our wikispace about past tense verbs. This was SO meaningful... because the kids who had finished felt like their purpose on the wikispace was a privilege and they were working so hard to get the information that they understood onto that space. They even figured out inserting tables... and were having discussions about what the most meaningful way to write things was for people who were just learning. Awesome. Everyone working on their own stuff... one of those "productive buzz" moments.

Third: Positivity. I think I understand. This class needs a bunch of positive feedback. When theywere told that people from district were looking at the website... and when I said I was so proud of them for their coaching and so proud of them for the work they've done on the wiki... they just beamed. And then they got to work... really productive, meaningful work. Awesome kids. Thank you, SMU.

Whew. So that was awesome.

Tomorrow I have an IEP... and I'm the only general education teacher... and the student has an incomplete for last quarter. I don't know how this is going to go. We'll see.
Tomorrow is the last day for the week!
Happy Thanksmas!

P.S. I almost forgot. German 1 we looked at houses for sale online today. They did a good job of making up sentences and talking about the houses! I really want to continue meaningful exercises like this and bent objects. I like them and the kids have even asked to do more... Meike was the one who asked! Keep this up!

Also, note to self: try to add more ways to draw... everyone is asking for it... and denying that is denying a big piece of who these kids are.

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.

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.

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!

Memememe again...

What went well today:
The students in German 3 were really impressed with the "ambient learning" powerpoint that I had created to play between classes. They also seemed to think the SpongeBob trailer was alright. I'm wondering if I need to do a new ambient learning PowerPoint for the German 3 class, or if I can just add more... or if I even need to do that.
Splatsch also went sowieso well.

What could have been better:
Since I had let myself believe that I didn't have sophomores in German 1 today, I was just kind of off my game. We went over endings and they did what I wanted them to, but I just wasn't feeling the normal excitement. Then when they wrote 3 sentences about what they did in their freetime, I noticed that although we said the -e ending thing, the majority of them didn't apply that knowledge. So that tells me we need more practice tomorrow. I think the chart from today probably helped. But they probably also need to hear more and need to see more actual examples for them to just pick it up. This is something to think on, and maybe create a more practice-voll experience for them tomorrow. I wish I would have noted how many didn't do it correctly, but it felt like at least 70%. So that will be a place of need for tomorrow.

What/who I need to touch base with tomorrow:
Erin about her music: how's it going?
German 1 about verb conjugation.

*I'm noticing that it's easy for me to fall back into the routines of what I've always done. This does "get me by", however, I think it's more meaningful if I purposefully plan ever more new things as I implement that perfect classroom. The more I put in, the more I'll get out.

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.

Mememememe?

I don't really know what that means, but I saw Liesl's and thought I would give it a try!

What went well today:

German 1 was awesome (again) today. They worked well with remembering our work from yesterday and practicing their new verb (kommen). We did patty-cake today to try something different. One of the students even mentioned that she was singing the verb conjugation to herself the other day without thinking about it! Awesome! We also watched the Landeskunde video today and the kids did a great job of picking up on the age/how they get to school. I think I front-loaded it correctly with saying you won't get everyone... but listen for what you do get, leave some blanks and we'll fill them in as we listen more and more. They did great. I think they are listening well... not getting down on themselves when they don't know/hear right away... and being creative! That is awesome. I think I might implement the conversation groups with these kids right away. Keep those high standards high and let them scaffold the experience a bit. The babies of a new era.

German 3: We just could not get the German past tense down. Yesterday I had them tell a story about what happened on my weekend and only 2 or 3 had the past tense down pat. I was distraught. Yet I also didn't see them being creative or taking risks or anything... so I was hitting a wall. I knew I needed to do something... so I put the e-mail out to everyone with the hope that I would get some great feedback. I didn't. I think I need to explain it in the "I have done blah blah blah" words. Maybe that would help. But while I was waiting for other people to send me ideas, I came up with one on my own. I decided that I needed a purpose for them to make things easy. They needed to make an animated PowerPoint story that uses present tense and changes to past tense for the German II students to use when they learn past tense this fall. The beauty of this? The kids HAVE to keep it easy... they have every excuse FOR keeping it easy and not getting down on themselves! So they wrote their stories and did their thing. Tomorrow we put it on the computer. I think I just need to do more baby step scaffolding with them where they can feel proud of things at the baby step level... and then they'll move into the stuff they think they should be doing. But the key is I can't make it seem remedial. Baby steps are the way... better than not moving at all... "Habe keine Angst davor, langsam zu wachsen. Habe nur Angst davor, still zu stehen!"

What didn't go well:
German 2 must have been nothing spectacular today because I don't remember it. Oh yes... now I remember and this is a good place for it. We learned "Durch den Monsun"... not enough front loading... or perhaps not the right place for the song. They did not like it. At least the very vocal ones didn't... the same way they didn't like "Nie Wieder". Ah well.

Who I need to touch base with tomorrow:
Karsten and Edgar. Make sure they're still on track and feeling good about their past tense.

*One other note: Tave came in and worked on my LCD and such this afternoon for about 45 minutes... and the LCD projector works!! Now, seriously, we are just waiting for the SmartBoard!

*One MORE thing: I got approved for the conference and got everything figured out and sent in so I can go! WooHoo! I am looking forward to learning new tricks, tips and other things from educators just like me!