When I began working as an elementary World Language teacher, I thought I knew it all. Fun things to do, great culture to teach, classroom management skills, how classes were run: Everything. Boy, was I wrong!
Not only did I learn about what it really means to be a World Language Elementary teacher (everything from not fun but ENGAGING lessons, how to build a *hopefully great* curriculum, learning abilities of students, and especially classroom management skills) but I also learned about a very important need within our K-12 Spanish program.
At the elementary level, students leave the school and new students come to attend almost every week. And it almost always feels like these students are lagging behind in what I am teaching, specifically in the areas that are most important to a beginning language speaker: Numbers, Alphabet, Colors, and Greetings. These concepts are central and are integrated into all of my 18 units (6 for each grade) throughout the year. The students who begin school in the middle of the year need a ‘catch up’ so that they can ‘hang’ with the other students in class; not feel like outcasts. I try to create unity and collaboration, not the opposite.
It is for this reason that I plan to create a website where the sole purpose would be to provide students with the necessary resources to independently catch themselves up in Spanish class while the class is finishing up their units (students typically enroll in school during the middle of my units). This will give them an opportunity to comprehend and understand the information that is crucial to success in Spanish, while I can continue teaching the Spanish unit without worry that the new student isn’t catching on.
There are several resources that I have used and will continue to use to determine the most important aspects to include in the modules. The most important resource are my fellow Elementary World Language teachers in the area. Through Wayne RESA, there is great following of Elementary World Language teachers. Another great resource is the Center for Applied Linguistics. They have a great portion of the site called Ñandutí geared towards pre K – 8 and includes a listserv that I subscribe to with a lot of great information.
This project will affect the four common places of education by allowing the students to learn independently the most important language aspects that will be crucial to their success in Spanish. The teacher will be able to monitor progress (through various checks as well as integrated assessment through the use of Google Forms and email) all whilst not leaving the rest of the class to catch one new student up. It allows the teacher to touch several different needs at once; the class and the new student. Finally, although the students will complete this workshop in class via computer, adults within the community may use it once it is up and running to brush up on Spanish as well as learn right along with their students, and possibly even excite some parents into supporting the program. It would even be great if we could have a community education facet of the catch-up program someday.
During this class, I plan to implement the “Alphabet” as we just received two new students and the alphabet is incredibly important to reading and pronunciation. As Spanish teachers say, “If you know the alphabet, you can pronounce ANYTHING in Spanish.” I plan to create several independent StAIR modules for this project, integrate Google Forms as a means of informal assessment, and create several videos for the students to access as a teaching point for each module which I will upload onto TeacherTube. It is also important to note that my project will be formed on a Weebly website: either at: barnesspanish.weebly.com, or at a new website address yet to be determined.
After the class is completed, I will work diligently to integrate "Numbers", "Colors", and "Greetings" in the same manner.
I am wondering, though, if there is another facet of this that I am not thinking of? I have to remember that this project is geared towards 3rd, 4th and 5th graders - all three levels, so it has to be easy to comprehend at a 3rd grade level but challenging enough for a 5th grader.
Any comments are very welcome!
After the class is completed, I will work diligently to integrate "Numbers", "Colors", and "Greetings" in the same manner.
I am wondering, though, if there is another facet of this that I am not thinking of? I have to remember that this project is geared towards 3rd, 4th and 5th graders - all three levels, so it has to be easy to comprehend at a 3rd grade level but challenging enough for a 5th grader.
Any comments are very welcome!
