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.

Plans: Part One...

I need to start planning for my 3/4/5 split NOW for next semester... that way I don't go crazy with 46+ kids and just cry (read: drink) on a daily basis.

So here are some thoughts I've been spinning around in my head:
*Thematic planning. It HAS to be thematic. I will not separate these kids from one another. Right now I'm thinking about planning it around history. (Specifically WWII and the East/West)

*Kids say they want a book. It's as if they don't think the vocabulary is "real" unless it's printed somewhere in a book. So I need to find a way to remedy this. Maybe print off "books" for the students of simply paper (like I used to get in college) so they know what they are looking for/at during any unit.

*KEEP DOING STUFF YOU'VE DONE IN THE PAST. If you re-invent everything, you will SURELY go insane.

*Keep the fluency (Speaking and dialogue journals)

*Talk to Jodi about her Comp/Conv class and great things she does in there

*DO the centers... just not every day... or maybe not at the end of the day... I think this group still expects their "Frau time" at the end of the day every once in a while. (Thank you, Laura)

*DO keep using technology... integrate it more.

Just some thoughts for now.

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!

An idea...

Since the podcasting, in order to fully thrive on a large scale, needs to have multiple people recording at the same time, that project is kind of in limbo at this point. Perhaps I would be able to e-mail Al about getting more microphone headsets and then download audacity in a lab somewhere. Who knows.

Until then, I am considering a "weekly variety show" for everyone to participate in... with whatever they dreamt of.

Rules:
*Must be in German
*Everyone has to, in some way, partake and be involved

Ideas:
*Music in German (singers/songwriters write and sing their own music)
*Poetry
*News
*History corner
*Culture corner
*Other things?
*Vocabulary/Grammar corner