#blogamonth

The hardest part of teaching for me is reflection. I do not give myself or my students enough time to sit and reflect on anything! After a strong Pirate start, I was just barely treading water leading up to midterms. Lucky for me, a new semester is a fresh start! It doesn't feel quite as clean as a new school year, but I'll take it.

I recently stumbled upon the hashtag #blogamonth and I am going to stick to that idea-to write one blog post a month. I have this blog for a reason-to help MYSELF become a more reflective teacher. I am only letting myself down if I don't keep it-but that's the problem, isn't it? I'm quite OK with letting myself down in too many aspects of my life. I would never drop the ball with those who I am accountable to the way I do with myself. I would feel incredibly guilty if I were to give up on my colleagues or students in the same way I give up on myself. So-here it is. My first blog of the year in trying to be a more reflective and purposeful teacher.

The good, the bad and the ugly. 

I am proud of quite a bit of what I have done so far this year. I really like the emphasis being placed by my entire department on the modes of communication. We have common units with similar assessments for the 3 different languages, and rubrics for the different levels. As a group, we are reflecting on the units as we go to make adjustments as we see fit. I have also made a conscious effort to be more organized in my classroom. I have created a lot of tools with our new Google Accounts For Education to make life easier for myself and for my students.

I am horrible at planning for my singleton class. I teach two classes of Spanish 4 and two classes of Spanish 5-which I spend most of my time preparing for. I also have one small class of novice learners in Spanish 1. That class flies so far under the radar that I often start class without a clear objective in my mind. We just go where the wind takes us. These are my most vulnerable learners and they deserve so much more from me. The content is simple-I just need to work at making it more relevant to them and help them use what I am teaching them in real life situations.

What happened to my 90% target language goal????  I have fallen so far behind on that! I gave up speaking Spanish in class because I feel like what we're doing is important culturally-and it's just EASIER to do it in English. I was so proud of how well the kids were doing with the immersion classroom the first few weeks of school, and I am embarrassed of how little Spanish we're speaking in the classroom on a regular basis.

New Semester-clean start. Time to get my head back into the game and work as hard as I expect my students to work.

My head is spinning

We are back at it! It is only my third day of school, and since we're on a block schedule I have seen most of my students only one time. It's the perfect time to reflect on how the first day went!

I was nervous having my seniors again for the third year as I wrote about in my post about fears I have about the year. The first day was exciting. I started in English talking about the two THEMES I want to have this year. I did not want to talk about rules and policies because they were hearing about those in all of their other classes on the first day...well, all of the classes with teachers who haven't read Teach Like a PIRATE anyway. We talked about RESPECT and CHALLENGES. I had them brainstorm "What does respect look like?" and "How can we feel good about challenges?" Since I'm a technology freak, I made sure to use Polleverywhere.com to collect my answers. The students were thoughtful and gave a nice range of responses. In my opinion, with these themes I don't really feel the need to go over RULES with them. If they are not doing homework-they're not rising to the challenge. If they're being too silly or teasing a classmate they're not being respectful to me or their peers. Some kids really make an extra effort to BREAK the rules and if I don't have any that are explicit, then they're kind of hard to break, right?

The next phase of class was to roll out the new "NO ENGLISH" policy to my juniors and seniors. I could see their anxiety level rise when the Keynote slide appeared on the screen:

Here, I pirated the idea from Cristy Vogel (@msfrenchteach).  First I made them a bit nervous, and then I slowly gave them tools and "blankies" to make them feel more comfortable in class. I explained that each student would need to bring in a dry erase marker because they would all have a sentence strip on their desks in the future. They cannot SPEAK English, but if there is a question they cannot say, they may WRITE it down for me to see. I also gave them a laminated Pink and Green post-it note for me to use as formative assessment. If they don't understand something, they can turn the card over from Green to Pink. I demonstrated how some students may like to make it obvious when they don't know something to be funny, but the point of this is really to be more subtle about it. As one of our 3 teacher inservice days this summer, we had Christine Fulford (@cfs19009276) speak to us about formative assessment in the classroom. It was NOT what I was expecting at all. I was ready to play Words With Friends with the guy next to me, but I was interested in everything she had to say. She made the analogy of formative assessment being like a gas gauge on the car. How important is it for us to know how much gas we have at ALL times? Pretty important!!! My post-it notes are the cheap version of the poker chips idea she had. Green chips-I'm good. Red chips-I'm not understanding. Black chips-I want to die. This is going to take awhile for me to get accustomed to LOOKING FOR the gas light, but when it becomes routine for me, I think it will be awesome.

NO INGLÉS: Students keep tabs on their peers and if they hear them speak English, they say "¡PÁGAME!" and I will keep a tally next to their names on my clipboard. When a student gets caught speaking English 10 times, they need to clear their account by either writing me a 1 page letter about how awesome I am and how much they enjoy my class or they need to bring something Spanish into class. I suggested that if they go to a Spanish-speaking country for February vacation that they bring home a bunch of free stuff with Spanish written on it to sell on the "Spanish class black market" for their friends who frequently need to clear their account. The first day was kind of tough for my seniors to get into it, but the second day went a bit smoother. 

Students then got right to it!  They completed a Tic-Tac-Toe board by filling in answers about themselves. As they finished, they chose 2 Pipe Cleaners to create something that represents them. I did not get to use this time to talk to kids about what they were making because I had to answer language questions about the game. I will probably change this next year so that I can dedicate that time solely to getting to know my students and having them get to know each other. 

Back to the game: I wanted them to be able to find people around the room who have things in common with them. For example, they would have Soy ________. If they wrote RUBIO, then they would need to ask a question in order to get a SÍ or NO response. (Eres rubio?) If the person says SÍ, they can put an X in the box. If not, they need to ask someone else. When they got 3 in a row, they needed to yell "Gané" to get a piece of hard candy I brought back from Costa Rica. 

In some classes we did not have enough time to get to the game part of Tic Tac Toe so we did that on the second day. I also tried an alternative way of playing where students just sat with partners and took turn asking the questions-that way they were actually playing the game against each other. They assigned themselves either an X or an O. If they got a SÍ answer, they put their own symbol on the board, if their partner said NO, they had to put their partner's symbol on the board. I think this way worked a bit better because they were asking many more questions instead of just 3 to make their 3 in a row. 

How did your first days go??  I am interested in hearing ideas about community builders to do in Spanish. I want to keep them talking in Spanish but have them get to know each other a bit better as well. 

Dear Me, Thanks for everything...

I was at my colleague's house talking with her about the book I recently finished Teach Like a PIRATE by Dave Burgess. I told her how PIRATE was an acronym and I could list off what all of the letters were except T. I couldn't remember what the T was for the life of me. We just agreed that it must be Teaching because that is what makes sense. Well, of course I ran home to check it out. It's TRANSFORMATION. I needed to read that section again.  OH YEAH...now I remember. I can picture where I was when I was reading it-two feet in the Atlantic Ocean enjoying a few hours of free time while the kids were in day care. I remember reading about and wanting to do the letter-writing exercise for the reasons outlined in the book:

"I found this letter-writing exercise to be extremely valuable, and it is something I recommend you consider trying for yourself. It allowed me to construct a vision of what I want students to experience in my class. It serves as the ideal goal that I'm shooting for as I proceed through my career. When I lack motivation or inspiration, I can re-read this passage and re-dedicate myself to fulfilling the vision." -Dave Burgess

What kind of a teacher do I want to be? I want to be a mixture of the qualities I see in my colleagues. I want to mix in the calm thoughtfulness of one, with the mama-bear kindness of another, the organization and lesson planning strategies of another, while still keeping my sense of humor and creativity that I am known for.

I want to be able to connect with ALL of my students, not just the goofy boys. My perception of the "goofy" boys in class is that they are not engaged. I work hard to build a relationship with them so that they will feel compelled to be more involved in class. I chat with these kids in the hallways and in the lunchroom. I tease them a little bit, and I make it to as many events they are involved with outside of school as I can. These kids KNOW that I care about them. I would love to use what I have learned in Teach Like a PIRATE to continue the rapport I have with them, but engage the majority of my students, not just the ones who I see as goofy.

I want students to look forward to being in my classroom, and I want them to feel compelled to be there-even on senior skip day! There are some teachers who punish their kids if they participate in the "ritual" of senior skip day, but I want my students to feel a tug on their heart if that day happens to fall on the day they have class with me. This will come through the Passion and Enthusiasm I show the kids I have for them and for Spanish.

This letter-writing exercise is hard! I know what I want to do, but it's difficult for me to place myself in the future and write as if I have already implemented all of the awesome things I want to accomplish as a teacher. Maybe this is because I'm really good at dropping the ball. I'm so excited right now, but I have always let go and faltered back into my old habits of going through the motions without much thought. OK...here I go...

Dear Señora Bolaños,

I loved Spanish this year. I  never thought that I could be good at a foreign language, but in your class I really felt comfortable communicating in Spanish. You showed us so many different (and fun) ways to learn and study. I have learned so much about myself as a learner just through the different methods and mnemonic devices you had us try. I loved how I could show you what I learned in a way in which I could be creative and confident.

Your classes this year were awesome!  We did something fun every day and I always felt like what we were doing was relevant to me and the real world. I am really proud of the work that I did with our class blogs with the students in Costa Rica. Hopefully my parents will take my suggestion and take me there on vacation next year!

There is a different feel to your classroom. I knew I was safe and respected when I was there. Kids who weren't usually nice to me in other classes worked with me in your room and seemed to appreciate my contributions. I knew that you cared about me and wanted me to do well in your class, and be happy in successful outside of school. I know that I can talk to you about things happening in my life and you will listen and not judge me.

Have a good summer and I will be sure to visit you when I am home from college!

I did it. It was not easy. I recommend you try it out and see what you come up with! Have you done something like this before?  

As always, feedback is appreciated!!

Fears, Inadequacies and an Invitation to an Exciting Ride

"Do you want a guaranteed formula for disappointment in life? Set up the rules of your life so that you have to win every time or have one hundred percent success in order to feel fulfilled." -Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess (@burgessdave on twitter)

I am not quite finished reading Teach Like a Pirate...I mean it's only been 2 days since I started and I have two small children at home. I hope to finish it today while they're in daycare, but only so I can start reading it again and pick up pieces that I missed the first time through!

As I have been reading, I am picturing my classroom and the students I know I will have next year. It is a blessing and a curse that I am able to have the same students for more than one year. One question I posed on Twitter was: How can I start fresh and make it exciting for students I have taught for 2 years? the feedback I received made me think:

@jennahacker: Change room? Seating, decor, etc. Wow them the first 3 days with unique intro to class with costumes, etc.

@garnet_hillman: mix it up! Do something outside your comfort zone and turn it into a learning experience...they can step out too! 

@trohaphys: I bet if you show up with more passion and enthusiasm than last year, they will see the difference and come along with you

@MrsGrayiron: Have a class theme, chant, or special yell; a special class name or logo. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

I am getting excited just thinking about it too! One of my problems is that I do exactly what Dave Burgess explains is the #1 problem for implementing the PIRATE "system": Fear of Failure.

I am afraid that the kids I have taught for 2 years will take this as another way I am trying to change, only to have it fall through by second semester. 

I am afraid that by putting so much effort into planning the excitement I will lose sight of the standards that need to be taught. I am sick of hearing that I am not challenging enough from students and having kids feel like they are not prepared for a college level Spanish class.  

I am afraid that I will not have enough time to devote to family, fitness, AND school. I am afraid that the first two will be sacrificed so I can "be the best" teacher. I have husband and two young kids and I have lost 40 lbs over the past year and a half. I am really starting to enjoy running and I have just enough time to get a few miles in right after school before the madness of after-school snacks, dinner, and bedtime routines. When will I have time to plan???

To start the school year, I am going to focus on really using my prep periods. It is too easy for me to float around the school in search of coffee, food, and conversation when I should really be sitting in my room planning my amazing lessons! I am stuck on the fact that my seniors will be starting their third year with me. They don't have the reputation of having the best attitude, most knowledge, or work ethic of other classes, but to be honest I don't think I do either. I will need to work extra hard to get us all on the same page.

Some ideas I have for my seniors is to write them a letter of my intentions-or maybe an exciting invitation or some sort. I wanted to let them know that I am human and had a pretty crappy year last year, but I think I should start the year with a bang instead of an Eeyore-esque depressed beginning replaying the mistakes of the 12-13 school year.  

I have already started removing EVERYTHING from my walls, getting rid of computers that are ancient and unused, and moving my desk to the back of the room. I want my walls to be resources for students with authentic language all over the place. I want to have a rolling word list where we continue to add words that are necessary to communicate. I want there to be more space for us all to move around, and I want the clutter OUT of the room.

Comment below with some ways you plan on starting fresh after reading Teach Like a Pirate? I would love the feedback!