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.

Ich liebe meine Schülern...

Today in German 1 we had yet another amazing discussion... and a real connecting point with the kids. It was amazing.

We began with the geese (which the vast majority of THIS class actually had done...) and then, while we were still in a circle, moved on to "Wie Geht's" and how, in Germany, you only ask that question if you really want to know. It's not a shallow/polite thing to say just as passing conversation.

I then tell them the Cora story (about having an awful morning and someone in passing time asks how she is, but doesn't stick around to hear how she actually is... so she just ends up there in the hallway... talking to absolutely no one... before she realizes that person is gone).

This time we discussed the downfall of this in our society... and how they should try a social experiment and when someone asks... they need to answer "awful" (or really, just something other than "good")... and see what happens.

Then I challenged them. I challenged them to be more like the Germans. To not have meaningless or heartless conversations with others... to not ask if they don't care... and, if they ask, to stop, listen, and care. Because, as I said, we are all humans, and we all just want to be loved. Then the kids brainstormed what it meant to "actually care" and really found some meaningful answers. Simply put (according to the kids): Stop not caring, start caring, don't ask if you don't care, and be ready to listen with care if you do.

Then we practiced our "Wie geht's" question around the circle(and this is where, in the past, there has been a disconnect)... and we agreed that if people said so-so or not good or bad, we should ask why (so they learned the word "Warum")... and really listen. So we did. We also asked "warum" even when kids said that they were doing awesome! Because we wanted to know! But we allowed people, if they weren't feeling brave, to just say "good" and we wouldn't ask any more.

It was such an amazing connecting point. I heard students who had bad mornings, others who are having major problems with friends, others who bombed tests, yet others whose bones hurt because it is going to rain and even those who just "have a case of the Mondays". The fantastic thing is it gave the students an opportunity to care. Sometimes it's not "cool" to just start caring... and giving them this opportunity gave them the chance to care openly and not feel like they shouldn't ask or know. It felt amazing.

I just need to be sure to build on this and keep it up again tomorrow.

If I can't teach my old dogs new tricks... I can sure as hell teach the new dogs some pretty amazing ones.

What a great day.