This is the time of year that, in my Spanish teacher's opinion, is the most fun. It doesn't matter to me whether we are talking about my level 1 students or my level 2 Honors, this is the season when things start getting interesting. At this point, I am not having to work so hard to help students in either level to make meaning. The coaching I did in first semester is really starting to pay off. They are reading more confidently, decoding words more efficiently, and I am able to stay in the target language more consistently because we know what the heck is going on now. Classroom procedures are no longer new, and instructional rhythms have become second nature. But that doesn't cover the best part. No. What I love the most is that moment when students feel strong enough, no matter what level they are studying, to start to make connections on their own. I love it when their questions are less about, "what's going on," and more about, "so, if X then... Y?" And when that moment arrives I know it is time to turn up the heat a little bit on the rigor scale and start nudging them towards creativity. I don't believe my only job is to present new material and get them to parrot it back. I know most of you don't believe that about yourselves either. While I know that anyone who knows ACTFL and their proficiency guidelines knows that we should have proficiency targets for each level we teach, one of the hardest things about our job is figuring out how we get students to hit that target consistently by the end of our instructional year. Something I do believe is that there is a difference between that student in your class that is very intrinsically motivated to learn the language, and the kid who is there to fulfill his graduation requirement, even if he is taking a advanced level course. Getting both kids to explore what they know about the language so they can exceed the limits of what they own in the language takes strategy, skill and a little creative thinking of our own. Our goal is to create creators. How do we do that? How do you do that? How often do you think about that? This is probably one of my favorite things to think about and one of the most fun things to design because I never know what will come out of a learning experience that is based upon completely turning the outcome over to my students. Let me clarify something here. I'm not talking about assessment or PBL. This post is about asking ourselves what we do to train students to think outside of the box whether that box be a story, novel, authentic resource, video or whatever other form of input anchored the unit for you. How do we coach our students to look for opportunities to take the language they know apart and put it back together in their own, personalized ways? How do we lay the language pathways they need to really understand how the language works so they are unafraid to take risks? Here' are some of my ideas and recent experiments with my students:
Wrapping Up When I think about creating creators in the language, I know that the tasks and learning experiences I design for them should loosen my control over them in one way, but structure their output by manipulating their focus a bit. Ultimately, it is not the output itself that I am as interested in as the questions they will ask and the processing they will do as they create their output. When I design these tasks, I am thinking more about those questions. How can I get them to think about how the language works, so they grow more confident in what changes and what stays the same? The more of THAT knowledge students have, the braver they are to take risks with the language. Creating creators is the MOST fun. Happy Coaching, Friends!
1 Comment
6/20/2018 07:28:18 am
Excellent post! I love the games and activities that you use in your classroom. I can definitely see myself trying the Timed Group Write, Whiteboard Splash, and Justify This. These seem like great activities to get our students writing and putting the target language to use. I especially like that some of these can tie in with presentational writing. I am always looking for engaging presentational writing activities that are not just the same old. Perhaps you might find my blog interesting: teachinginthetargetlanguage.com. I like to include a variety of games and activities that you might be interested in. Thank you for sharing these ideas! :)
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