Cami Ponton
12/3/14
FLTeach: ideas and reflections
Prof. Karen Auten
EDUC 310
FL TEACH IDEAS AND REFLECTIONS
1.)Documenting student engagement
A post talked about a technique to document student engagement in class that keeps
students motivated and engaged by having an oral participation grade. The way it
works is a copy of the seating chart is made for each class every day. Whenever the
teacher calls on a student, or the student volunteers an oral response, the teacher
enters a tick mark, indicating full, partial or zero credit. These marks are cumulative
so they would end up making about 15% of the student’s grade. I thought this was a
great activity because it allows students to take ownership of their own learning and
to be aware that their own participation counts. Many times in classes, especially
foreign language classes, there are a couple of students who try to dominate oral
activities and others who avoid participating as much as possible. Once the students
are informed that part of their grade will be based on speaking the language, it gives
students the incentive to volunteer oral responses. This is also a way for the
student to gain a few extra saving points if they are not doing so well in the course.
This also will allow me as a teacher to keep track of how each student is doing
independently.
2.)Technology: Spanish Apps
A post asked about good Spanish apps that would give the students an opportunity
to practice verbs and definitions or just anything that related to Spanish. Some of
the suggestions included study blue and word reference. Someone replied to this
post and included a couple of links to the following websites:
Spanish characters:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/spanishcharacters/eljimcnjopajndeef
mkfcagfbhgfccid
Numbers:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.perfektemo.android.numeros
Duloingo https://www.duolingo.com/
Learn Spanish - Qué Onda
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/learn-spanish-qu%C3%A9onda/pmcdjmebmeoobmdghjbjhbifoocbcmaj/related
I think that as a Spanish Language teacher, I want to incorporate many low-stress
activities for my students because it is proven to be one of the best ways to learn
and its also fun. Many students may feel intimidated or frustrated at the thought of
having to express themselves in a new language and I don’t want my students to be
able to overcome this fear by allowing them to practice the language in as many lowstressful activities as possible.
3.)Practice on accent marks
A post asked about suggestions for activities for the students to practice accent
marks. The idea suggested purchasing several Spanish newspapers and having the
students find words with accent marks. Then the class would come together as a
whole and talk about/analyze these words. Students would work in pairs to further
discuss the words. The teacher could make the activity more purposeful by having a
couple guidelines or things to touch on while talking about accent marks. The
activity will be better focused if the teacher previously finds the articles and cuts
them out. Something to keep in mind is that sometimes some words should have
accent marks, especially the titles and many times they don’t. This could be used as
a teaching point and the students could be given the task to look for specific words
which should have accent marks but don’t. I really liked this idea because it allows
the students to read about current events and it allows them to learn more about
the culture/politics/economics of the country. I think that many times students are
given books that are outdated and the students realize this and feel cheated. I want
my students to learn about the real world and teach them mainstream culture, not
information that is outdated.
4.)How to teach High Frequency Questions
I thought this was a very cool post. A teacher said that her students were always so
full of questions (about going to the bathroom, sharpening pencils, going to the
bathroom, getting help in general) and she wanted them to be able to ask these
questions in Spanish. A suggestion was done on doing language chunks and or
teaching the students basic questions. These are questions that are not explicitly
taught during the unit, but should be introduced to students at the beginning of the
year. A good idea was to have those questions posted around the room. A teacher
suggested having a bulletin board with “No se olviden de pedir ayuda.” With a
variety of questions listed: como se dice___ en espanol; ayudame por favor; no
comprendo; repite por favor; como se escribe. All of these have the English
captioned so that the students can use the questions confidently. She introduces
these at the beginning of the year and periodically throughout. She also has
bathroom passes (ninos y ninas) next to the question puedo ir al bano? With a
picture of a toilet. She suggested acting confused and say “no comprendo, en
espanol por favor?”(higher achiever/risk taker) if the student asks the question in
English. Or she encourages them to repeat after her in Spanish while showing the
student the sign (lower achiever/nervous nelly/anxious learner). I really love this
idea, but off course if I would choose to incorporate these in my classroom, I would
have to decide how much Spanish I will use in my lessons and be consistent in
reinforcing the students to ask these questions only in Spanish. If a teacher is not
going to use Spanish as the main language in the classroom, then the “no
comprendo” would not work well to reinforce the students to ask the question in
Spanish and another method would need to be used.
5.)Voice Recording
A post asked about suggestions about a user-friendly website for Spanish one
students to be able to do a project. The teacher wanted them to be able to put
pictures and text in the project and then have the students record their voices
reading the text as a speaking practice. A suggestion was given to use a website
called Story robe. Another one given is called Gloster. I think this is an awesome
idea. The students are able to practice speaking in Spanish without having to do it
in front of the teacher, which could many times be very intimidating. This seems
like a fun activity to do with the classroom and it also allows the students to be
creative.
6.)Teaching Kindness
I think the school is a great place to teach and incorporate moral values into
teaching activities. One of the questions posted was how do we teach kindness in
the classroom and a great way to do this is through story telling. I also think that as
teachers it is our duty to somehow address a lot of issues that are affecting our
schools such as bullying, suicide, drugs, etc. The post suggested a couple of books
that would teach kindness. “Siempre te querre,” ,”Miss Rumphius,” and “Too Many
Pumpkins .” This story is about a pumpkin that falls off a truck into a woman’s yard.
She doesn’t want it so she beats and smashes it then buries it so she won’t have to
see it. She even shuts the curtains on the side of the house where it is. Eventually it
grows, and when she realizes she is overrun with pumpkins, she carves them up,
makes pumpkin bread, muffins etc. and give it all away. In the end, turns out she
hated pumpkins because she was poor as a child and had to eat them often. These
stories off course are great, but I think they have to be adjusted to the grade level
and off course they must be in Spanish.
7.)Grammar: Que vs. Cual?
As a pre-service teacher, I am trying to gather as much information as possible
about teaching grammar in Spanish. One of the things I love about FL Teach is that
any question a teacher has is answered right away by other teachers who have
experience with that subject. A question was asked about the difference between
“cual” and “cuando” and when to use each of them. A post suggested that the actual
rule is that in front of any noun you have to use “que,” but if there is a selection and
the next word is a verb then you must use “cual.” I thought this explaination was not
explicit enough and someone else gave a better reply.
1.use “que” in front of nouns and verbs other than “ser”
2. use “cual/cuales” in front of “de”
3.use “que” with “ser” when you are asking for a definition or classification
4. use “cual” with ser when you are asking for information that you could input into
an on-line form or survey.
This information for me is very helpful. I can use these rules and plan an activity to
allow students to become more familiar with all of these difference.
8.)Quizlet
A post asked for suggestions about Quizlet. She was looking for a way for her
students to be able to practice verb conjugation drills. She wanted her students to
do 100 of these in 5 minutes and she was wondering if you could do these
conjugations on quizlet. A post offered that Quizlet does not have a way of doing
conjugations, but another website called Conjuguemos does. Students can use
default practices and quizzes. The teacher can also make her own activities for the
students to practice and quiz. Both teachers said they loved this website and they
plan to use it constantly. I had no idea that there was a website where students
could practice conjugations. I think that this is probably a great way for beginning
students to practice getting familiar with conjugations because these must become
almost innate so that they can become better speakers. I would only use this game
however, for beginner students or whenever we learn a new conjugation.
9.) Spanish V or B sounds
A post asked if there was anyone or certain countries that may pronounce the
Spanish B and V as one would in English. She said that her professor, who is a
linguist, told her that he had noticed that some natives have started using the
English pronunciation of B and V in Spanish because of their many interactions with
Americans. I thought this was a very interesting answer. Due to the fact that
language is so flexible and is constantly changing, this would not surprise me. A
suggestion offered that as far as teaching the proper pronunciation, the more
authentic resources we use, the more the students will hear that they really are the
same in Spanish instead of being 2 different sounding letters. In an American’s
mind, seeing the letters will always cause a distinction between the two. Another
post suggested her linguistics professor said that b and v have the exact same sound,
but there are two sounds depending on where they appear in a word. A b or v at the
beginning of a word sounds most like an English B; in the middle, it is still the B
sound but softer, with the lips barely touching one another.
This is something to keep in mind as I am teaching, but certainly I have to be aware
of the changes that the language is undergoing.
10.)Acitity for videohistoria- preterito e imperfecto
a post asked about an activity with preterit and imperfect in Spanish and someone
else shared a really cool activity with the preterit and imperfect. The activity
consists of watching a video on youtube and answering the guided questions. I
think this is a great activity for those students who are more visual. It allows the
students to take a break from worksheets. As a teacher I want to share with other
teachers whatever is working in my class and whatever gets students attention.
What I like about FLTeach is that teachers can share these ideas with each other and
give each other suggestions. Also, these activities could be altered to fit the learning
styles of the students or the teacher’s personal teaching style.