Some fun and interesting collaborations and celebrations of learning have taken place at many of our immersion schools this spring. Content, culture, connections and communication are front and center in the World Language classroom, especially immersion, as students at the elementary level study math and science in the L2. In middle and high school, our immersion students continue to explore other content areas through the L2. Students are clearly having fun as they learn about content and how to communicate in another language. Second grade French immersion students at MES collaborated with the French and English speaking teachers to research an animal of their choice. They were asked to create a visual representation, write an informational paragraph in English and in French, and they even wrote a poem about their animal. Upper level French students from LHS visited the 5th grade French immersion class at MES to practice their conversation skills. The big kids were just as impressed as the little ones! GHS Spanish students collaborated all year with GPS Spanish immersion kindergartners. Featured here are the big books they wrote, illustrated and shared with their kindergarten buddies. Third grade Spanish immersion students researched an animal habitat and food chain of their choice, then created a diorama, and presented their research paper to the class. I was impressed that they all wanted to present for me, and by how they took their research even further than required. PHMS immersion classes celebrated sports and crafts from the cultures they have been studying this year. Soccer (or fútbol), Picasso, the art of the flamenco fan, and the Ojo de Dios/God's Eye are some products and practices that were created and enjoyed by students, parents and teachers. DES German immersion second graders read to their butterflies before releasing them. They will be the smartest bilingual butterflies! GES third graders create models of the landforms they were learning about to show their understanding. Tapping into students' interests is clearly a strategy we are mastering in LexOne. I am so proud of all of our immersion teachers and schools! All of our WL teachers have finished strong this year! Thank you all and enjoy your summer!
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Wow! You have all been so busy. Thank you for sharing the creative, and meaningful activities you are doing with your students. Today's post includes celebrations or competitions from four different schools. Those of you who want to start something to build student enthusiasm for languages and cultures at your school will get some ideas here, and those of you who are already doing incredible activities that I might not know about, please share them with me and the rest of our WL team. Check out the winners of the Pelion Middle School International Week Art Competition! The categories were: 1. Reflection of the quote, "The limits of my language, are the limits of my world." 2. Connection to culture 3. Creativity 4. Overall winner I was honored to serve as one of the judges for the competition, and found that it was difficult to choose an overall winner for each style of art (collage, 3-D, sketch and watercolor) since students showed such unique insight and creativity. Next year we'd love to extend the arts competition to the entire district... You will also enjoy these pictures from World Language Night at Carolina Springs Middle. One of the school's biggest events each year, it has become a Spring tradition for students, teachers and parents to showcase the vastly diverse cultural heritage that students are learning about--whether it is through school, or through family ties. (Click here to see last year's celebration) I was also pleased to receive an update from Amelia Groza at Gilbert High School about their WL Language day: "At Gilbert High school, we decided to make May 5th a day to celebrate diversity. In each language, we all had our students learn about the importance of the day and what led up to it in history. Then we joined forces and played games together. We had pétanque, fútbol and hand-ball (not the usual, but a version of soccer played with hands) open to all languages, all day. It was fun to watch the students play. If it weren't for the wind and cold... We had a blast and we've probably just started a new tradition at GHS." And finally, WL teachers gave students a chance to make their mark on Lexington High by calling for designs that show Wildcat and World Language spirit! Students received the following challenge back in March:
"Update the LHS logo to feature World Languages, and your design may be chosen as a permanent addition to LHS! The winning design will be featured as a mural on F-hall, and win a prize! Acceptable designs must include the LHS logo and represent world languages." From the designs that were submitted, you can see that students took that challenge to heart and came up with some very interesting ideas... Thank you for going above and beyond to instill enthusiasm and excitement for World Languages. My son recently started playing T-ball for the first time, and at his first practice, I immediately started making parallels to the path to proficiency that we are on as teachers and as language learners ourselves.
"Let's run around and touch all of the bases!" Coach yelled. Sounds easy enough, but this simple exercise showed me just exactly how novice these T-ball players were. All at different speeds, some kids took off with twists and hops. Others stopped along the way to pick a blade of grass, or play in the dirt. A few kids ran with determination. What really struck me as Jake and one of his buddies rounded third base, was a parent yelling out, "Touch the base! Touch the base!" One little boy was happily trotting through the infield toward home plate, and skipping all of the bases. Big grin on his face, he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing, he was running near the bases, but not tagging them. I, along with most of the parents on the sidelines, were laughing at our own children and how cute it is that most of them have no clue what they are doing yet. They are complete novices in this skill. It struck me that none of us were chastising our kids, or punishing them for not being better T-ball players. Instead, we understood that as they practice, they will become more proficient. Also interesting to note, the coach did not sit them down and immediately start teaching them the rules of the game, or the history of the game, or even a giant framework and structure of how points are kept, etc. Instead, after a few kids successfully touched most of the bases, he broke them into groups, and sent one group to hit balls, one group to try throwing and catching, and one group to try fielding ground balls. And after only 1 practice, the kids played their very first game. Did they know all of the rules? Nope. Were they proficient? Nope. But did they still engage in playing T-ball? Yep. While no metaphor is perfect, this really "hit home" (couldn't help it), the idea of teaching a second language from a proficiency mindset.
Finally, in the first game, Jake had made it to second base, and another kid was up to bat. It looked like Jake would be able to make it home, so as he ran toward third, I yelled, "Keep going! Keep going!" He tagged third base and ran toward home. Then he tagged home, and took off again toward first base! He ended up rounding all of the bases a second time. "Well, I did tell him to keep going", I thought, and I didn't specify when to stop. So, as cute as it was that he ran the bases twice, it also reminded me that when we are working with novices, sometimes we don't even know exactly how much they don't know. Today I want to share with you the kind of email that turns into a blog post. Just so that anyone who has never been featured on Voices From the Field will know how it happens. If I haven't happened to enter your classroom and take pictures of something you are doing, you can always send me an email and a few pics, and I would love to highlight you and your students' hard work. You can also invite me to come see you and your students. I know it takes an extra moment of your time, but it is such an honor to share what you are doing in your classes. So here goes: Hi Liza, I just wanted to share what Rey and I have been doing at RBHS in our Spanish IV honors classes. We had our first Symposium about Mass Communication. This was a great opportunity for parents and students to see and hear their peers speak in Spanish. For this unit, Spanish IV students investigated how technology is changing mass communication and affecting us globally. Students researched forms of mass communication and how they influence current events in Hispanic countries. In the Symposium, students had to explain in Spanish how this is relevant to our culture and other Spanish speaking countries. Attendees also saw artifacts based on students’ research portraying these differences and similarities. Attached below are the students' learning targets, rubric and photos of the event. It was such a great success, we thought we would share it with others. We are so proud of our students. Sincerely, Lisette Geib I love how the students are doing the work! That means they are doing the learning too. If we were not a proficiency-based WL program, I wonder if this would be possible? Great job Lisette and Rey! Thank you for pushing our students to produce language, to learn about culture and global issues, and to practice bilingual public speaking as well. So many skills rolled into one assignment! Click on the links for the learning targets and rubric.
At RBHS students had a very busy Day in German class and club! German 2 had a food celebration at the end of their 'I'm Hungry Unit.' Frau Buckliew and her student teacher were the waitresses. They spoke only German the whole time while experiencing authentic German food. Then after school the German club participated in the traditional Egg Blowing and Decorating. WL students at LHS created some fantastic chalk art during their annual Chalk Day! Pelion Middle School WL teachers have been gathering supplies for months in preparation for their International Week celebration. Students began creating their artwork this week around a global theme, and submissions will be set up for Spring Arts night and judged. We can't wait to see the results of the competition! May 1-May 4, they have organized International week. The International Club is working on organizing the activities. Students will also get a taste of international cuisine in the cafeteria that week, and participate in trivia, games and projects to raise awareness of other cultures.
LexOne WL teachers--you always go above and beyond for your students and for your profession. Thank you! How does where I live affect my childhood? How does the past influence the present? In my family, my mom usually does the gift buying and giving, and my dad signs the card. But last Christmas, my dad went out on a limb and bought a present for all three of the grandsons, ages 6, 7 and 10. It was a little tin filled with old-fashioned games including marbles, pick up sticks, cards and jacks. Jake was curious about the games because he had not really played any of them before, but I wondered how much use they would get next to the iPad and legos he loves so much. In comparison, pick up sticks just didn't seem that exciting to me... Fast forward to today as I was thinking about this post on childhood games, and I was trying to decide from which angle to approach the topic. A few weeks ago Amanda Hajji from LHS had shared some pictures with me of a game day she had with her Level 3 French students as a celebration of the end of unit 1 (Memories). She said, "Students brought in their own childhood games and childhood foods and we had a field day where they had to stay in the target language throughout the day. I taught them the expressions they would need to play boardgames and they just had fun playing with each other calling each other out and using the fun expressions." As you can see from the pictures, students were having fun, even though they weren't on an iPad or playing a video game. In the same way, my son has actually loved playing pick up sticks! Who would have thought? It has been a fun time for us to spend together, and he is learning how to keep score and how to be a good sport. :) Earlier this week I was at PHS, and Victoria Connelly and Katrina Wowaka shared how they had approached the same unit with their students in a completely different way. That's when I decided to showcase all of 3 of their students in this post. Victoria's German students each picked a person of German descent and researched their life and their childhood. One student picked Anne Frank, and you can see pictures of a few pages of the beautiful book she wrote and illustrated herself. Victoria also shared how a student from one of her other classes actually played the role of Peter in The Diary of Anne Frank at a local theater in Lexington, and how many of her students went to see it. She described it as a beautiful connection of German and international learning right here in Lexington. Katrina's students also created books, but they wrote about their own childhood. Below are a few pages from one student's book. I love all three of these examples because they involve students making personal connections to language learning. They also require students to produce language, and they all give students choices in what they do with the language. I'm so proud of our students and teachers! In case you're new, or haven't taught these units before you might be wondering, "HOW do I get my students to this type of creative language production and engagement with the topic and culture?"
Well, here are a few ideas... To start the unit, you might do a close reading of some images of games from different cultures (like the ones at the top of this post, hint hint). Ask students questions like, "What questions do you have? What are you wondering? What else would you like to know? Where could you look to find answers?" Here is a link for a Culturally authentic picture archive created by Michael R. Shaughnessy, who says, "As a language teacher and learner, I always seek to connect language, culture, and meaning. This site represents my interest to not only write about language learning, but provide concrete examples... " You could also try this collaborative brainstorming and writing technique that teacher/blogger Rosalyn Rhodes shares about Telling Childhood Stories. She says, "I’ve been struggling hardcore with my one of my classes recently. They’re an upper-level class, and I feel like we’re doing the same style of thing every day, or most days at least. Their interest in conversation and authentic resources and real-life issues is not really that high, and I’m at the point where I don’t want to try because the class has a weird vibe and it’s stressful..." (Read more) To practice past tense verbs, you might try some games. For example, Ana Micheli, who used to teach at CSMS had students practice past tense with the ball toss game. Students said, "When I was a kid, I used to _____________," and when they caught the ball, they filled in the blank with a verb in the past tense. The cool twist is that she had them with a partner. When the whole class game was over, they had to ask their partner about some of the things he or she used to do as a child. After this interpersonal activity, they then could volunteer to share with the whole class about their partner's childhood. These are just a few ideas to get you thinking, and below are a few more links that you might find helpful. MORE Resources Zachary Jones has a lot of resources for Spanish, and Megan and Kara from the Creative Language Class have a few fun Spanish resources as well. I found this link to traditional Chinese games, as well as games children play in Russia and Germany. This is a fantastic website for and by school children in France. Spring has sprung! We've officially entered testing season, allergy season, spring fever season, etc...
So, I thought this might be a good time to share some tips on classroom management... Click on the title of whichever article interests you most--and leave us a comment if you have any tips that work well for you. Having an Off Day: A Letter to New Teachers If your lesson fails, have a backup, ask yourself why it happened, devise a better plan for the next day, and don't assume you're a bad teacher... 5 Quick Tips for Secondary Classroom Management that Actually (I Promise You) Work! Classroom management was my biggest struggle in those beginning-teaching years. I went in suspecting I would have classroom management in the bag because I’d had pretty extensive experience working with kids from babysitting, being a camp counselor and other volunteer-type roles. But as it turns out, managing a classroom was way different and way more difficult than anything I’d done before... The Art of Managing Middle Schoolers Squirrels. That is what they remind me of. We were all that age once and we were all just like squirrels! Have you ever watched a squirrel? Zoom, freeze for two seconds, flick tail, and repeat. The trick for being a successful middle school teacher is holding their attention for more than just those few seconds. Believing that that is possible requires a huge leap of faith and trust... 8 Things I Know for Sure about Middle Schoolers Most of the time, when I told someone I was a middle-school teacher I got the same basic reaction: They’d wince, or say whoa, and then add something along the lines of “Tough age.” And I would smile and nod, knowing that tough didn’t begin to cover it. One word could never quite capture the ridiculous, smelly, stubborn, fragile beauty of them all. ♥... 9 Tips for Engaging Middle School Students Nonetheless, what does a teacher do when her students are too young to think like adults but are trying their hardest to escape childhood? This is the question that faces every middle school teacher. The awkward age that ranges from around 11 until 15 is a challenge for even the best of teachers, but there is hope. Here are some teacher-tested tips for the middle school teachers out there that will help you work with your students’ strengths and minimize their struggles... Classroom Management Resource Round-up (All Levels) Looking for information on guiding classroom communities, minimizing disruptions, and developing class routines to help students stay engaged and focused on learning? This resource collection is packed with useful tips, tools, and advice... One our goals in creating this blog was to provide more opportunities for you to pursue your own professional development experiences. By seeing the work of your peers, other WL blogs, and strategies that really work in the WL classroom, I hope you are continuing to individualize your own path to PD. Here are a few more ideas and tools for your toolkit:
World Language Week Highlights...WL teachers at LHS got together and had their students create a Wall of Peace in celebration of WL Week. Students wrote about what peace meant or looked like to them, in all different languages. What a powerful way to connect language learning to a larger perspective on life. Talk, Read, Talk, WriteTRTW is a literacy strategy that helps you teach through text. It puts the burden of the learning onto the students (remember, whoever is doing the work is doing the learning), and requires active engagement from all students. The article in the examples below is what she used with us at the conference, your article would probably be much shorter, depending on the proficiency level of your students. Kristin Ziemke"It's not the technology, it's what we do with it that counts." says Kristin Ziemke, co-author of the book Amplify. I had the good fortune to attend her workshop this week, and I'm passing the learning on to you. First of all, her website and blog are full of great links and information on digital learning and teaching. She says, "Use tech to bring kids to text." Integrating technology in the classroom does not mean that we are replacing books, we are simply focusing on our students' digital literacy as well. Kristen encourages a close reading of pictures as text. This gets students talking and making observations, even if they are not yet fluent in the language. For example, before introducing some reading and writing that students were going to do about Puerto Rico, Liz Carter (LMS) shared a picture of the bioluminescent bay. This got students wondering, questioning and excited about the topic. She said she saw a real difference between their writing this year, versus when she did the same activity last year, but without the picture. Questions you might ask, "What questions do you have? What are you wondering? What else would you like to know? Where could you look to find answers?" You could tie photos to a place, topic, question, etc.
Here are some other images your students might be interested in. International Borders Weird Toilets of the World (use with caution depending on student maturity level) What's Going on in This Picture? NY Times I am pleased to share a video that honors one of our French teachers, Todd Spaulding, from MGMS. It is particularly special because he was nominated by one of his students for News 19's Teacher of the Week. It is not every day that a world language teacher gets featured on the local news, so I thought you would all enjoy seeing the clip that was aired, and congratulating Todd for representing Lexington One so well during his interview. He talked about student learning targets, as well as the emphasis on what students can do with the language. I especially liked how he talked about how languages can open us to other ways of thinking, being and expressing ourselves. The video shows classroom footage and even features the student who nominated him speaking French. We rarely get recognized for our hard work as teachers, so today join me in celebrating student achievement and hard working teachers!
In her final speech as the First Lady, Michelle Obama said this, "You see, our glorious diversity—our diversity of faiths, and colors and creeds―that is not a threat to who we are, it makes us who we are." Those words resounded deeply to me as an educator, and motivated me to share a few thoughts on diversity with you... In case you missed it during the Superbowl, this multi-lingual commercial featuring the national anthem in many different languages really struck me as a beautiful example of valuing diversity. I believe that what we do as World Language educators
is as important as any other job on the planet. We have the opportunity to help our students see through a new lens, understand new words (and therefore new worlds), experience a new culture (thereby better understanding their own culture), and embrace a new way of thinking (which challenges their current manner of thinking). Thank you for helping our students embrace diversity! |
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