Slacker

I have been slacking off in posting on my blog, so I'm making a deal with myself (and setting an alarm!) to post every Friday. Just simple thoughts, a review of the week, or ideas I have for upcoming topics. Hope that helps me. See you Friday!

Todo Acerca de Mi

I finally finished a bulletin board I've been working on since the first day of school :) I found the images at Classroom Connection in an "All About Me" bulletin board pack - luckily they had Spanish translations for everything. I had the students fill out index cards (well, half sheet index cards. I had them cut the cards in half) about their favorite of each topic - TV show, Thing to do, Food, Book, Sport, Color, and Subject. Then they filled two out for their birthday and pets. I collected them all by topic and just finished assembling them around the topic pictures on the bulletin board. You can see what each student wrote and their name. It was a great way for me to get to know my students and them to know each other. The binders you see are the students' cubbies, so they see the bulletin board everyday. It is nice to see them ask each other questions about things they see the other students liking on the board. I was really surprised when I went through them by the variety of answers - especially in the books and tv shows. It is a great way for me to find ways to relate information back to the students and their interests. It will be nice to see how parents react when we have Open House next week!

I have found myself lately falling back into the habits that I have been trying to change this year. Little things, but they add up. Answering an email as the bell rings for class to start. Sitting at my desk when students are doing independent work, thinking about my to-do list when I should be planning or teaching. Things that after a while add up and take away from my students. I have to keep what I want in front of me. I want the students to see me focused on them and their class, not distracted by everything else going on. If I don't take the class seriously with 100% focus, why should they? I know that is how their mind will work. So, I just need to come up with a way to remind myself what I want to achieve - complete focus on my classes when they are here...maybe I'll make myself a little sign...

Image from tattooant.com

"Sick days aren't for when you're sick..."

I am usually of the mind that sick days are for when you need a day off, like a mental health day. However, I am one of those people that gets sick fairly often :( So today I'm home sick with a really nasty sinus infection. But how this relates to teaching - Sub Plans

Oh, the agony of planning for a substitute, especially when you teach something they don't know anything about. None of the substitutes in our district know anything about Spanish - some even told me not to leave anything that they would have to in any way teach or instruct. So normally I plan my days off ahead of time and make sure that I have instructions printed up for the students, along with any worksheets (usually arranged into packets) for the substitute to hand out and just monitor. But alas I didn't plan on taking a sick day today. Therefore I had to decide whether I wanted to submit plans that (I hope) the substitute could handle or let him/her use my emergency plans.

ALWAYS HAVE A SET OF EMERGENCY PLANS!

Emergency plans are lessons that don't fit anywhere in the curriculum, but reflect learning in some way. For me right now, I have three emergency lessons: 1) Cultural crossword puzzle, 2) Sentence formation from a chart, and 3) writing prompts. The cultural crossword puzzle reflects the cultural questions I have my class due everyday.

But anyway, I went with writing lessons for the substitute. If he/she can't handle them, I know my partner teacher across the hall can show him/her where the emergency plans are. That's another thing - let near by teachers know where your substitute plans and emergency plans are so they can help your substitute. It's something so simple that many people forget.

Anyway I'm off to lay down. Hope you have luck with preparing plans for substitutes or making emergency plans!

I love to read. It's that simple. I read all kinds of things - romance, fiction/literature, classics, mystery...you get the idea. When I landed my teaching position for Spanish, I wanted to find a way to incorporate reading into my curriculum. I had no idea how I was going to, but I wanted to know a few books so that I could teach them. I Googled 'spanish culture books'. Most of the books that came up were winners of the Pura Belpre award. So I chose to Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez (Amazon). It was a fantastic book about a girl growing up in the Dominican Republic under Trujillo. I thought "This is the stuff my students need to be reading. It would teach them so much!", but of course how you inspire high schoolers to read for fun still somewhat eludes me.

This year, I have decided to start a book report project. I am going to hand it out probably right before Christmas break. The librarian at our school is fantastic. I gave her a list of books that the students are going to be allowed to pick from and she ordered them for me. Even set up an area just for them in the library! For the report, the students will have to choose from a list of books one that they are going to read for the project. After they read it, they are required to write a summary, give a short biography of the author, describe three traditions/habits that they read about and compare them to US traditions/habits, five words they learned (with page number and sentence), and research the country the main character is from. They are going to hate me, but I think it will do them good.

Here is the list of books if you are interested:

           The House of the Spirits                                    Isabel Allende

Before We Were Free                                        Julia Alvarez

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents       Julia Alvarez

In the Time of the Butterflies                           Julia Alvarez

Return to Sender                                               Julia Alvarez

¡Yo!                                                                     Julia Alvarez

Leaving Glorytown                                           Eduardo F Calcines

The Tequila Worm                                             Viola Canales

The House on Mango Street                            Sandra Cisneros

Hurricane Dancers                                           Margarita Engle

Under the Mesquite                                          Guadalupe Garcia McCall

The Red Umbrella                                             Christina Gonzalez

The Book of Unknown Americans                  Cristina Henríquez

Breaking Through                                            Francisco Jiménez

The Circuit                                                        Francisco Jiménez

Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida                             Victor Martinez

Gringolandia                                                     Lyn Miller-Lachmann

The Dreamer                                                      Pam Muñoz Ryan

Esperanza Rising                                              Pam Muños Ryan

An Island Like You                                           Judith Ortiz Cofer

Call Me María                                                    Judith Ortiz Cofer

The Meaning of Consuelo                                Judith Ortiz Cofer

Cuba 15                                                              Nancy Osa

Journey of Dreams                                           Marge Pellegrino

Queen of the Water                                           Laura Resau

Red Glass                                                           Laura Resau

What the Moon Saw                                          Laura Resau
       When I Was Puerto Rican                                 Esmeralda Santiago

First Week

My first week went a lot better than planned. My quiet signal (a rainstick I made) is working out much better than I expected. The students really like the sound, and it is clear enough that it can be heard over the talking. Also, since I am using it and making them follow the procedure, it has been working steadily.

Seating arrangements are doing well too. I have the desks in pairs and I assigned all the seats. So far I only moved five students around, and it was for vision issues and vacancies left from other students dropping the class.

I have had over 15 students drop my class. Many are saying that I am too hard, so I am definitely improving in regards to expectations, classroom management, and curriculum. I know that I used to be the "fun" teacher that let a lot of stuff slide and didn't make the students accountable for their work, but I have slowly been trying to change that. Each year I make the class harder and more content focused. This year, I doubled the requirements for the nine weeks projects I have and doubled the amount of current events they have to do in a nine weeks period (We do 5 a nine weeks now, due the 2nd-7th Fridays of each nine weeks). Several students said that I am more strict and that was why that dropped. I almost broke into my happy dance! Finally I am making headway in the classroom management/discipline department. I know that is my weakest area, so when students complain that they can't get away with stuff, it's a good day :)

I tried my first Think/Pair/Share activities which worked well. I will have to try them out on other things. I am adjusting to the online planning book that I have the free trial for. I changed how I am using it. Instead of trying to plan the whole year with objectives, skills, and every type of information I could possibly need for the lesson and my records, I now just make a checklist of the activities, worksheets and book activities I want to cover. It is going much smoother and less confusing that way.

Hope all is going well for you all, too. If you can learn anything off of me, you are more than welcome to steal my ideas!

Decorating

I finished decorating my room today. I am really pleased with it. I have two interactive bulletin boards - one for the calendar and one for a map that we will cover throughout the first nine weeks. I love color so the room is very colorful and inviting. I have a place set up for objectives on the front blackboard as well as my expectations. Here are some photos: