A former student was talking with a couple of my current students saying that my German courses were based so heavily in vocabulary that she felt like she missed out on some of the "other things" that others knew. This stuck with me. Maybe because it was criticism... maybe because it's hard to look at myself in that critical way, but the only way things in life can change for the better is if you can find and reflect on the honest truth.
So I've been thinking about this. And having minor conversations with colleagues about it.
Vocabulary is easy. Vocabulary is low level. And vocabulary is how I learned language.
I want to push it beyond that.
More into the skills of language.
But how can I assess that most efficiently and effectively so that it is the center of curriculum and consideration?
And how does this play into the concept of concept-based instruction? and backward design?
Do themes pull these skills in or do the skills pull the themes in?
Showing posts with label fluency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fluency. Show all posts
Friday, November 9, 2007
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.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Updates... and Conferences...
Updates:
Yesterday I mentioned how awesome the use of those pictures were going in German 1... and how I was excited about using those in German 3... along with the money.
So maybe I built it up too much. The German 3 kids weren't as creative as the German 1 kids. They said hardly 4-5 sentences for each one... and I was pulling teeth to get that. Bleh. And then we brought in the money idea... which was good that kids were policing each other... but they were a bit gamey with it... and loud... and playing around with the coins. And I noticed a couple kids who had run out of money (yikes!) and they just completely shut down. Ugh. I think it's important to keep it... and maybe they will settle down. We'll see. Let's get positive!!
So now on to the conferences... you'll take the good, you'll take the bad, you'll take it all and then you'll have the Facts of Life. Just kidding.
Conferences went well. I love conferences. It's SO nice to talk to parents... tell them how great their kids are... and have a nice time talking with them. So here are some of the highlights...
First, and truly most importantly, I truly felt I was able to have more meaningful conversations with parents about their child's actual language progression. Some of this is due to the "Snapshots of Learning" and otherwise it is due to just being aware... taking note of the kids and what they're doing and being proud of them... and making sure they are proud of what they are doing. I loved being able to have those meaningful conversations with the parents... and noticing the things myself. Awesome.
Next, a conversation with one of the parents... she asked if we had college in the schools. I told them that we don't have it at this point and that they are pushing AP, when we would prefer the college in the schools program. She asked who she could talk to as parents to help get this in motion. So I gave her a couple names... I hope that wasn't a bad idea.
And at one point, my principal came up and sat down... saying that she never knew I was the German teacher. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I'm thinking it's bad... but I suppose it could also be good... Ugh.
Finally, just a couple notes... warm fuzzies, if you will...
German 1 guardian: Her student said that "If everyone taught like her (me), I would learn so much more!"
German 1 parent (I've had both of her other children in the past... all are great kids but get mediocre grades): "I wanted to thank you for what you do for th ekids. All my kids really loved you...and I'm sure that's why it went all the way down the line... because of you."
German 2 parent (of a very quiet student): "I can tell he likes your class--he does the work." and "You keep him going! You keep him motivated!" and finally "You're always my favorite to talk to--that's why I save you for last."
I had almost all the other parents talk about how much their student loved German... how excited they were about it (especially the German 1s) and how much they truly enjoyed the class... and me.
SO I'm glad this blog is just for me... or I would feel ashamed of "tooting my own horn"... but I don't want to forget these things... save them for a rainy day.
Yesterday I mentioned how awesome the use of those pictures were going in German 1... and how I was excited about using those in German 3... along with the money.
So maybe I built it up too much. The German 3 kids weren't as creative as the German 1 kids. They said hardly 4-5 sentences for each one... and I was pulling teeth to get that. Bleh. And then we brought in the money idea... which was good that kids were policing each other... but they were a bit gamey with it... and loud... and playing around with the coins. And I noticed a couple kids who had run out of money (yikes!) and they just completely shut down. Ugh. I think it's important to keep it... and maybe they will settle down. We'll see. Let's get positive!!
So now on to the conferences... you'll take the good, you'll take the bad, you'll take it all and then you'll have the Facts of Life. Just kidding.
Conferences went well. I love conferences. It's SO nice to talk to parents... tell them how great their kids are... and have a nice time talking with them. So here are some of the highlights...
First, and truly most importantly, I truly felt I was able to have more meaningful conversations with parents about their child's actual language progression. Some of this is due to the "Snapshots of Learning" and otherwise it is due to just being aware... taking note of the kids and what they're doing and being proud of them... and making sure they are proud of what they are doing. I loved being able to have those meaningful conversations with the parents... and noticing the things myself. Awesome.
Next, a conversation with one of the parents... she asked if we had college in the schools. I told them that we don't have it at this point and that they are pushing AP, when we would prefer the college in the schools program. She asked who she could talk to as parents to help get this in motion. So I gave her a couple names... I hope that wasn't a bad idea.
And at one point, my principal came up and sat down... saying that she never knew I was the German teacher. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I'm thinking it's bad... but I suppose it could also be good... Ugh.
Finally, just a couple notes... warm fuzzies, if you will...
German 1 guardian: Her student said that "If everyone taught like her (me), I would learn so much more!"
German 1 parent (I've had both of her other children in the past... all are great kids but get mediocre grades): "I wanted to thank you for what you do for th ekids. All my kids really loved you...and I'm sure that's why it went all the way down the line... because of you."
German 2 parent (of a very quiet student): "I can tell he likes your class--he does the work." and "You keep him going! You keep him motivated!" and finally "You're always my favorite to talk to--that's why I save you for last."
I had almost all the other parents talk about how much their student loved German... how excited they were about it (especially the German 1s) and how much they truly enjoyed the class... and me.
SO I'm glad this blog is just for me... or I would feel ashamed of "tooting my own horn"... but I don't want to forget these things... save them for a rainy day.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Holding On...
A few thoughts about holding on...
My German 1 students are so well behaved. They work hard... are super excited... and quiet down instantly when I do the hand! I see this and then get frustrated with my upper level kids for not quieting down in the same way... so I realized that I need to look at this differently. It's awesome that these kids are great and that things are getting done and they are living up to my expectations. Instead of getting down on myself about the others not doing the same (because they've been trained for a longer amount of time NOT doing that), I'm starting with the 1's... and holding on to it with them. They are, if you will, the beginning of a new era. And the others will be out within 2 years. By 3 years, it will be an entirely new crew! So I'm beginning the new era with these guys and it is good. I am really enjoying the class and the things we accomplish. For instance, today I showed them the bent objects powerpoint I had prepared for my 3's... and told them we needed to say as much as we could and prefaced the entire thing with it being "a chance to be creative". I was SUPER surprised at what they came up with! They were saying things I would have never even thought of. And to think that if I would have stopped them, or moved on after I heard the 2-3 sentences I expected, I would have never had the opportunity to be impressed and surprised! They are excited about verbs and excited to learn "haben" tomorrow. I want to keep building on this in a very fluent way. I'm excited about this.
Another bit of holding on... it is dark, dreary and (very) cold around these parts lately. My body is going into hibernation (AKA eating/craving fatty and sugary foods and not exercising). I hate this. I need to get back into the schedule of exercising at least. That helps. But there is a bit of stress coming up that I want to be sure I'm well taken care of for...
We have conferences tomorrow night, then Friday is there and Saturday/Sunday is another Master's weekend. So I need to finish my homework on top of the grading and meetings that I have in front of me already. I haven't gotten to that stressed/anxiety place yet about any of this... and, honestly, I hope I don't. So I'm trying to do it bit-by-bit so I can get some things taken care of ahead of time. Then we're back at school again next week... but at least we have conference days on Thursday and Friday. That should help with some of the stress... and should re-energize me!
I'm excited to go to the language conference. It's the first time for me and I know how energized I feel going to the speech conferences and the master's conferences... I'm excited to be energized and to make some contacts who are interested in the same things I am. So I'm holding on for that.
Finally, we talked quickly about circumlocution today in German 3. It was a good thing for them to be told about... they got it right away, and then we practiced (probably too easily) with some food words. But it was a good stepping stone. What they didn't know was that tomorrow, during "Deutscher Donnerstag", they are going to have to use some of those skills. I think it is a great stepping off point.
Tomorrow is also the first day of money. This should be interesting. The Spanish teachers have had huge success with the money. I am excited to give it a shot and have the students police each other (and myself!). I think I will also try it with German 2... and tomorrow we will not have a walk.... we'll keep it all inside. I would like to move the German days to twice a week for German 3... start slowly stepping it up. Spanish 3 is doing 30 minutes at the beginning of every day. We can do the 45 minutes at least twice a week! So, just keep holding on to this fluency... it will only keep getting better...
and I need that as a strong trick in my bag for next spring!
My German 1 students are so well behaved. They work hard... are super excited... and quiet down instantly when I do the hand! I see this and then get frustrated with my upper level kids for not quieting down in the same way... so I realized that I need to look at this differently. It's awesome that these kids are great and that things are getting done and they are living up to my expectations. Instead of getting down on myself about the others not doing the same (because they've been trained for a longer amount of time NOT doing that), I'm starting with the 1's... and holding on to it with them. They are, if you will, the beginning of a new era. And the others will be out within 2 years. By 3 years, it will be an entirely new crew! So I'm beginning the new era with these guys and it is good. I am really enjoying the class and the things we accomplish. For instance, today I showed them the bent objects powerpoint I had prepared for my 3's... and told them we needed to say as much as we could and prefaced the entire thing with it being "a chance to be creative". I was SUPER surprised at what they came up with! They were saying things I would have never even thought of. And to think that if I would have stopped them, or moved on after I heard the 2-3 sentences I expected, I would have never had the opportunity to be impressed and surprised! They are excited about verbs and excited to learn "haben" tomorrow. I want to keep building on this in a very fluent way. I'm excited about this.
Another bit of holding on... it is dark, dreary and (very) cold around these parts lately. My body is going into hibernation (AKA eating/craving fatty and sugary foods and not exercising). I hate this. I need to get back into the schedule of exercising at least. That helps. But there is a bit of stress coming up that I want to be sure I'm well taken care of for...
We have conferences tomorrow night, then Friday is there and Saturday/Sunday is another Master's weekend. So I need to finish my homework on top of the grading and meetings that I have in front of me already. I haven't gotten to that stressed/anxiety place yet about any of this... and, honestly, I hope I don't. So I'm trying to do it bit-by-bit so I can get some things taken care of ahead of time. Then we're back at school again next week... but at least we have conference days on Thursday and Friday. That should help with some of the stress... and should re-energize me!
I'm excited to go to the language conference. It's the first time for me and I know how energized I feel going to the speech conferences and the master's conferences... I'm excited to be energized and to make some contacts who are interested in the same things I am. So I'm holding on for that.
Finally, we talked quickly about circumlocution today in German 3. It was a good thing for them to be told about... they got it right away, and then we practiced (probably too easily) with some food words. But it was a good stepping stone. What they didn't know was that tomorrow, during "Deutscher Donnerstag", they are going to have to use some of those skills. I think it is a great stepping off point.
Tomorrow is also the first day of money. This should be interesting. The Spanish teachers have had huge success with the money. I am excited to give it a shot and have the students police each other (and myself!). I think I will also try it with German 2... and tomorrow we will not have a walk.... we'll keep it all inside. I would like to move the German days to twice a week for German 3... start slowly stepping it up. Spanish 3 is doing 30 minutes at the beginning of every day. We can do the 45 minutes at least twice a week! So, just keep holding on to this fluency... it will only keep getting better...
and I need that as a strong trick in my bag for next spring!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Surprises...
Surprise #1: After our first Thursday of just speaking German (15 minutes in 2 and 45 minutes in 3), I have had many students asking for and looking forward to that Thursday. On top of that, Annaliese asked me to ensure that Thursday we were going to go on a walk again with the German. Apparently the "real-life" application of seeing things and being able to talk about the things around us every day has been meaningful and other students asked for that as well. When I feared that we wouldn't be able to go for the walk (due to time) I asked if they wanted to just do the German in the classroom. It was unanimous that we should go for the walk. This time we stayed in the building. It was nice. I often get a couple stragglers, and the students look forward to the stamps if they just spoke German during that time (I tell them it is their own integrity and ethics on the line if they lie). The kids are reacting positively to this at this point. I'm glad I'm doing it.
Surprise #2: Last Wednesday was the talent show and one of my students wrote and sang her own song. It was AMAZING. I've been pestering her ever since about it... and she's doing some recording this week! I hope I can get her music.
Surprise #3: Friday after the carnival, each of the returning speech coaches found an envelope with a 10-page letter along with a personal letter full of gripes, complaints, venting and castigation. It was hurtful and did not make for the start of a good weekend.
Surprise #4: We returned a letter... and received a surprisingly positive e-mail in return. Alles wird besser... aber nichts wird gut. (Aber besser ist auch jetzt gut.)
So that's it for these parts! More about an idea in a moment.
Surprise #2: Last Wednesday was the talent show and one of my students wrote and sang her own song. It was AMAZING. I've been pestering her ever since about it... and she's doing some recording this week! I hope I can get her music.
Surprise #3: Friday after the carnival, each of the returning speech coaches found an envelope with a 10-page letter along with a personal letter full of gripes, complaints, venting and castigation. It was hurtful and did not make for the start of a good weekend.
Surprise #4: We returned a letter... and received a surprisingly positive e-mail in return. Alles wird besser... aber nichts wird gut. (Aber besser ist auch jetzt gut.)
So that's it for these parts! More about an idea in a moment.
Friday, September 14, 2007
It doesn't have to be hard...
Today we played the "Ich mag Leute..." game and again they LOVED it. It's always a little loud, but also a lot of fun. And best of all? The kids are speaking, listening and responding to the language!
Today I also started the routine of "Foto Freitag"... where I will bring in Fotos... and it could go anywhere from there. Today I described what the fotos were... then the kids had to guess, and then it came up on PowerPoint once they guessed it! So they were listening to the German, getting meaning, and remembering vocabulary. I think I will also bring in fotos for them to use to tell a story or to tell what is happening (I got an idea from Kate that I could bring in Fotos from my youth and then they could tell the story of what was happening... I love it!)
What's important here is that there is just more language happening. I need this. I love this. And I especially love how easy and fun it can be. It does NOT have to be hard. It should be fun. (Unsere geheimnisse Sprache...) now I just need to be sure that we reinforce that usage!
It is the baby steps of a big and exciting change. Baby steps that I need... not because I can't handle the big steps, but because I can get overwhelmed and depressed about the big steps... and really, the kids need the scaffolding just as much as I do.
So here's to baby steps. PROST!
Today I also started the routine of "Foto Freitag"... where I will bring in Fotos... and it could go anywhere from there. Today I described what the fotos were... then the kids had to guess, and then it came up on PowerPoint once they guessed it! So they were listening to the German, getting meaning, and remembering vocabulary. I think I will also bring in fotos for them to use to tell a story or to tell what is happening (I got an idea from Kate that I could bring in Fotos from my youth and then they could tell the story of what was happening... I love it!)
What's important here is that there is just more language happening. I need this. I love this. And I especially love how easy and fun it can be. It does NOT have to be hard. It should be fun. (Unsere geheimnisse Sprache...) now I just need to be sure that we reinforce that usage!
It is the baby steps of a big and exciting change. Baby steps that I need... not because I can't handle the big steps, but because I can get overwhelmed and depressed about the big steps... and really, the kids need the scaffolding just as much as I do.
So here's to baby steps. PROST!
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