I started this blog with the intent to share with my students' parents what was going on in my classroom each week. That was kind of a failure. I did good the first few weeks, but since then my blog has disappeared into the black hole where blogs go when they die. This is my attempt to revive it. I will write about my experiences with a new language acquisition method I've been implementing in my classroom.
Over the past few months, I have been attempting to teach with a language acquisition method known as TPRS. From everything I've heard, it's wonderful. The students love the language, and the fluency comes naturally. It's fun and personal and the students are constantly engaged.
But not in my classroom. We're flailing in there. It's like we're drowning in a sea of personalization, storytelling and vocabulary. I was so comfortable doing it the 'other way'. I had vocabulary games that were fun, quizzes that assessed the students, and they constantly performed well on the exams. So why did I decide to change it all up? Because I want what's best for my students... Because what I was doing before was ineffective... Because I want my students to be fluent, not learn grammar rules. At least that's what the experts say. But it's hard when I'm out here in the proverbial middle of nowhere, with nowhere to go. What I need is a life vest, but the question is... where do I find one?
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February 14, 2011
October 11, 2010
Exámen, Round 2
The kids are getting ready for their next test, which is this Friday, October 15. The test will cover everything we've learned in class the last unit: greetings and goodbyes, asking and answering questions, likes and dislikes, definite articles, plural nouns, and culture questions. The students have a review packet that they've been working on in class, and of course they have their books that they can use to study from. I let the students know last Thursday that they should start studying. That way they aren't cramming at the last minute! As always, if your child needs extra help, I am available most days after school.
I also recently sent with the kids a report of everything that they have missing in my class. Unfortunately, it is too late to turn in worksheets from the last unit (Capítulo Preliminar), but I am still accepting worksheets from Capítulo Uno (Chapter 1), and they have until next Monday, October 18 to turn these in.
After this unit, the kids will start working on a 'Cultural Project' in which they will work with a partner and choose a topic concerning Hispanic culture (I have a list that they can choose from). They then research and put a power point project together to present to the class and tell them all of the information they need to know about that topic. It is a very fun project, and the kids do very well with it, so I am looking forward to what they show me this year!
Have a great week!
I also recently sent with the kids a report of everything that they have missing in my class. Unfortunately, it is too late to turn in worksheets from the last unit (Capítulo Preliminar), but I am still accepting worksheets from Capítulo Uno (Chapter 1), and they have until next Monday, October 18 to turn these in.
After this unit, the kids will start working on a 'Cultural Project' in which they will work with a partner and choose a topic concerning Hispanic culture (I have a list that they can choose from). They then research and put a power point project together to present to the class and tell them all of the information they need to know about that topic. It is a very fun project, and the kids do very well with it, so I am looking forward to what they show me this year!
Have a great week!
October 1, 2010
¡Tarea para Padres!
¡Atención Padres (Attention Parents)!
Your kids are learning so much in my class, I wanted to encourage them to share with you what we are learning and encourage you to engage in Spanish dialog with your kids so that you can learn a bit of what they learned! I will be assigning, each week, a Parent Challenge that will be posted here, on my website, and on my Edmodo.com account. You may submit your answers through your child on Edmodo.com. If your child needs the code to join my class on Edmodo.com, please email me at jrounds@landerschools.org or have your child ask me in class!
So here is YOUR homework parents!
Parent Challenge:
Working with your child, can you guess the meaning of each greeting? Remind your child to use appropriate cultural body language! With your child, log on to Edmodo.com (make an account with your child if you need to and let me know if you need the code for your child's class) and write a response of what happened between you and your child! Did you guess correctly? Tell me if there was laughing involved!
1. ¿Cómo te llamas?
2. ¿Cómo estás?
3. ¿De dónde eres?
This "homework" assignment is due on Friday, October 8!
Your kids are learning so much in my class, I wanted to encourage them to share with you what we are learning and encourage you to engage in Spanish dialog with your kids so that you can learn a bit of what they learned! I will be assigning, each week, a Parent Challenge that will be posted here, on my website, and on my Edmodo.com account. You may submit your answers through your child on Edmodo.com. If your child needs the code to join my class on Edmodo.com, please email me at jrounds@landerschools.org or have your child ask me in class!
So here is YOUR homework parents!
Parent Challenge:
Working with your child, can you guess the meaning of each greeting? Remind your child to use appropriate cultural body language! With your child, log on to Edmodo.com (make an account with your child if you need to and let me know if you need the code for your child's class) and write a response of what happened between you and your child! Did you guess correctly? Tell me if there was laughing involved!
1. ¿Cómo te llamas?
2. ¿Cómo estás?
3. ¿De dónde eres?
This "homework" assignment is due on Friday, October 8!
¡Buena suerte! I look forward to hearing your responses!
September 24, 2010
¡Adelante! ~ Forward!
This week in class we have been working on how to tell people about ourselves and our friends! ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?); ¿Cómo te llamas? (What is your name?); and ¿Cuántos años tienes? (How old are you?) are just a few of the phrases we've learned how to ask and answer. It's been a long, busy week! The kids are also almost all the way through their second set of "Oral Proficiency Terms", which are a series of speaking quizzes that they complete every couple weeks to assess their proficiency of speaking terms. So far so good!
We've also been working and discussing very thoroughly some of the cultural practices of Hispanic people, including the infamous 'kiss on the cheek' (always an interesting conversation!), Spanish slang terms, and how Hispanics write their names. Speaking of this... if you child comes home writing their full name and THEN some... consider it perfectly normal. I have asked my kiddos to practice the way that Hispanics write their names (First Name, Middle Name, Father's Last Name, Mother's Maiden Name) with their own names. We also discussed how and WHY many Hispanic people have Jewish or Muslim names or are named after religious figures. Ask your kid about this!
Lastly, we enter into the vast realm of Spanish grammar, focusing in this chapter on the subject pronouns 'yo' (meaning "I" in Spanish) and 'tú' (meaning "you" in Spanish). We will work more with how Spanish subject pronouns are different from and similar to English subject pronouns, but that's another blog!!
I hope your kids are teaching you as much as they can about what they learn in class! I love hearing stories the kids bring from home about 'trying' to teach their impossible parents what they have learned in my class. The laughs my students and I get out of this definitely makes my job worthwhile! Have a wonderful week. ¡Adiós! ¡Hasta pronto!
We've also been working and discussing very thoroughly some of the cultural practices of Hispanic people, including the infamous 'kiss on the cheek' (always an interesting conversation!), Spanish slang terms, and how Hispanics write their names. Speaking of this... if you child comes home writing their full name and THEN some... consider it perfectly normal. I have asked my kiddos to practice the way that Hispanics write their names (First Name, Middle Name, Father's Last Name, Mother's Maiden Name) with their own names. We also discussed how and WHY many Hispanic people have Jewish or Muslim names or are named after religious figures. Ask your kid about this!
Lastly, we enter into the vast realm of Spanish grammar, focusing in this chapter on the subject pronouns 'yo' (meaning "I" in Spanish) and 'tú' (meaning "you" in Spanish). We will work more with how Spanish subject pronouns are different from and similar to English subject pronouns, but that's another blog!!
I hope your kids are teaching you as much as they can about what they learn in class! I love hearing stories the kids bring from home about 'trying' to teach their impossible parents what they have learned in my class. The laughs my students and I get out of this definitely makes my job worthwhile! Have a wonderful week. ¡Adiós! ¡Hasta pronto!
September 20, 2010
The First "Examen"
Here is a quick run-down of the last week or so. We finished up with 'Capítulo Preliminar' (Preliminary Chapter) with some fun review games and activities. I hope that so far, the kids are having as much fun as Mrs. Rounds!
On Thursday morning, several students came into class with heavy hearts and nervous insides about the test, but (much to their surprise, but certainly not mine!) most of them passed with flying colors. As I told the students today, if they didn't do as well as they had hoped, the best way to bring up those grades is to turn in all work ON TIME, study for vocabulary quizzes and study harder for the next test (as I also told them - I know it stinks, but it's the truth!).
The next month will be dedicated to 'Capítulo Uno' (Chapter )1 - greetings and goodbyes, exchanging personal information, subject pronouns (tú and yo) and telling likes and dislikes. We also continue forward with the ever-daunting 'Oral Proficiency Terms', which we will start the next quizzing session of this Thursday, Sept. 23. We jumped right into Capítulo Uno with vocabulary today, so their first vocabulary quiz will be this Thursday also, and we'll have about one every week for the next month. So study up!! As I tell the kids (on average, 12 times a day...) if you don't know the vocabulary, it's hard to learn a language!!
As always, please let me know if there is anything I can do for you!
¡Adiós!
On Thursday morning, several students came into class with heavy hearts and nervous insides about the test, but (much to their surprise, but certainly not mine!) most of them passed with flying colors. As I told the students today, if they didn't do as well as they had hoped, the best way to bring up those grades is to turn in all work ON TIME, study for vocabulary quizzes and study harder for the next test (as I also told them - I know it stinks, but it's the truth!).
The next month will be dedicated to 'Capítulo Uno' (Chapter )1 - greetings and goodbyes, exchanging personal information, subject pronouns (tú and yo) and telling likes and dislikes. We also continue forward with the ever-daunting 'Oral Proficiency Terms', which we will start the next quizzing session of this Thursday, Sept. 23. We jumped right into Capítulo Uno with vocabulary today, so their first vocabulary quiz will be this Thursday also, and we'll have about one every week for the next month. So study up!! As I tell the kids (on average, 12 times a day...) if you don't know the vocabulary, it's hard to learn a language!!
As always, please let me know if there is anything I can do for you!
¡Adiós!
September 9, 2010
Parent Night
After the long weekend, we started focusing on learning how to write dates in Spanish, and over the next couple of days, we will be learning how to tell time! Both of these things can be pretty tricky, but I've tried to make it fun and explain it in a way my students can understand. I am always willing to spend extra time and help answer any questions for my students. I encourage any student who is just not getting it to please come ask me and I'd love to help you!
I am very excited to meet some of you parents tonight @ Parent Night! It's always fun for me to see who raised these wonderful kids that I get to teach! If you are unable to make it to parent night, I encourage you to contact me so we can meet in person! It should be a great time for parents and teachers to connect!
¡Nos veré este noche!
I am very excited to meet some of you parents tonight @ Parent Night! It's always fun for me to see who raised these wonderful kids that I get to teach! If you are unable to make it to parent night, I encourage you to contact me so we can meet in person! It should be a great time for parents and teachers to connect!
¡Nos veré este noche!
September 1, 2010
La Primera Semana!
We made it through 'la primera semana' - the first week (and a half)! We have already taken one vocabulary quiz, over colors and days of the week and most of you did amazingly well on it. Next up: tomorrow is the vocab quiz over the months and seasons, so study up!
We've also had some fun with the Oral Proficiency terms, which is a speaking test. We have learned five terms so far and I know you are all practicing them like crazy. Remember, we're going to start quizzing them soon, so make sure you know the terms!
If you have any free time, get started on the extra credit worksheet. It's optional, but it's worth 15 points! Hopefully you won't need the extra points, but it's always better to be safe, right??
I hope you've had fun this first week (and a half!) because I'm having a blast with you guys! Keep up the good work. You are AWESOME!!
We've also had some fun with the Oral Proficiency terms, which is a speaking test. We have learned five terms so far and I know you are all practicing them like crazy. Remember, we're going to start quizzing them soon, so make sure you know the terms!
If you have any free time, get started on the extra credit worksheet. It's optional, but it's worth 15 points! Hopefully you won't need the extra points, but it's always better to be safe, right??
I hope you've had fun this first week (and a half!) because I'm having a blast with you guys! Keep up the good work. You are AWESOME!!
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