Day 14 It's Feedback NOT Failure!

I LOVE this phrase and I have learned to own it as a parent and as a teacher. If we really and truly believed it, it would change the way that we assess our students and the way that they see the grades that they receive.

My goal this year has been to teach my students that when I correct them whether it is an informal question and answer session, blogging or a formative assessment, I am giving them feedback, not failure. There is something about corrections that creates a great deal of angst in our kids. On Day 1, I had them repeat after me "making mistakes is part of learning another language". It is crucial for my students (and their parents) to understand this concept so that they can breathe and just learn. Likewise, I have to let go both of the temptation to give bogus grades for meaningless homework as well as giving them the freedom to grow as language learners and make mistakes.

This year, I am also experimenting with having 1:1 conferences with each student. I praised the student for what he/she did right and then addressed some of the problem areas. I pointed out the issue but had them tell me how to fix it. Often, I pointed them to resources so that they could find the information. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will at least be aware of what they are writing/speaking now that I have explained it individually to them.

Another feedback tool that I am using is corrections on Google Drive. Students submit writing that way and I make notes of items that need attention. They make the changes, after I have pointed them out. I continue to address overall issues that multiple students are having. Instead of me explaining the problem and the solution. I asked the students to point it out and tell me how to fix it.

What I find ironic is that I didn't do as many 1:1 conferences in the past because they are time consuming. I was so busy teaching the hundreds of vocabulary words from the list and the multiple verbs and conjugations that they needed to learn, that I rushed from one assessment to another while buried up to my ears in grading. However, I find that my students are making much more progress this year with less amounts of content and targeted and specific corrections done through personal and group conferences.

Day 13 - Best EdTech Tools

Day 13: Name the top edtech tools that you use on a consistent basis in the classroom, and rank them in terms of their perceived (by you) effectiveness.

I do my planning either in my desktop at home or in the classroom. I like the feedback that I get from the big keyboard and I like the big screen for instructional planning. For social media communication and quick notes, I like my iPad 3, which my district provides for all teachers. For my students, I like them to use their iPads minis, which the district provides for them as per their Technology initiatives.

In terms of communication, nothing beats Edmodo, in my opinion. I definitively take advantage of Edmodo as a learning tool. I am in contact with my students via Edmodo. I send them reminders for assignments and they can use the teacher and classmates as resources. The application that I have found most useful in terms of collaboration, cooperation and extension beyond the school walls, is Google Aps. Through their iCloud accounts, students can work on the same document while they are at home. This has been a great tool for accountability as students are able to connect with each other virtually anywhere and cannot use the old excuse of not being able to go to someone’s house to complete a project. This is also very helpful to learners who are unorganized and forgetful. It is helpful for them to be able to access their calendars, lessons, notes from me when they are not in school. 

For vocab practice, I like Quizlet. For presentations I like Prezi, Keynote, Notability and Haiku Deck  and Pic Collage. 

For interpersonal communication, I use Todaysmeet since our students don't have access to Twitter at school. I also use Skype to connect with students from other parts of the world. This has been a very exciting and positive experience for our students.  

Day 12 Evolution or Revolution?

Day 12
How do you envision your teaching changing over the next five years?

As  I pondered this question, I couldn't help but see it globally. No surprise here, as I am a global learner, thinker and teacher. I can't imagine how *my* teaching will change over the next five years without envisioning how teaching in general will change within my circles and sphere of influence, whether that is at my current school or wherever I will be between next year and the next 5 years. Disclaimer: I love my school and have no desire to leave but life has a way of changing our plans without notice.

At any rate, as I experience my own evolution I am also starting a revolution. My weapons are research of best practices, modeling, sharing my knowledge and resources generously with others and talking to people. The thing is, I can't evolve in a vacuum because I am a Spanish teacher among many others. I am not a French or German teacher (God bless them and give them extra chocolate in heaven!) who teaches every student from Fr or G 1 through AP. What I do is profoundly affected by teachers who taught my students before me and how I teach will affect my students as they go to new teachers after me.

So, in my evolution of learning how to reach students, get them to LOVE learning Spanish and other languages, and effectively teaching them to actually speak, understand and write, I am propelled to help other teachers also evolve into the kind of teacher that research shows us gets results.

My goal within the next 5 years to be part of the group of educators who are working to revolutionize our state. We have flagship districts and schools that are doing an incredible job of teaching with evidence based practices (SBL, ACTFL guidelines, proficiency based, etc). But, I want to light a fire in our state that spreads throughout where no matter what district or school a student goes to, he/she will at least be exposed to evidence based teaching of World Languages.

In 5 years, I hope that my evolution would have brought me to the point that I am teaching a curriculum that is fully proficiency driven. I envision that most of the assignments will be submitted via technology. I will not say ALL because I believe in teaching to different modalities and some kids can't function in a 100% technology integrated classroom. In 5 years I also hope to be taking trips with my students where I am showing them some of the places that we visit virtually in our classroom.

Day 11 My Favorite Part of the School Day

I  have three favorite parts of my school day. One is individual and the other two are shared in community.

My individual favorite part is when I am writing lesson plans. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE creating lessons that engage my students. I literally get giddy with excitement when I hit on what I know is a great idea and I hold my breath in anticipation at seeing how the kids will react to it. Most of the time I am not disappointed with the expected response. This is why I resent how much of my/our day is taken up with chores and busy work that has NOTHING to do with teaching and learning. But, that is for another blog somewhere, I am sure.

The other favorite part of my day is when I am with the kids and I see the excitement in their eyes when they "get" something. I also get super excited when they create language on their own, when they make connections between prior knowledge and new information, when they figure something out on their own and when they are just plain excited to be in my class learning Spanish.

The third favorite part of my day is when my son comes to my room after his day at his school. It used to be when my almost 18 year old daughter came to my room during the day to say hi, give me a kiss and raid my closet for snacks. But now that she is a senior I don't see her much at school and that makes me sad.

Day 10The Countdown 5-4-3-2-1

Share 5 random facts about yourself, 4 things from your bucket list, 3 things you hope for this year as an educator, 2 things that made you laugh or cry as an educator, 1 think you wish more people knew about you.

5 Random Facts:
I am 1/2 Ecuadorian, 1/4 Chilean and 1/4 Croatian.

I  lived on a ship for 2.5 years between 18-21 years old and traveled to 20 countries in South America and Europe.

As a 21 year old in Ecuador I interpreted for an ambassador from the United Nations and was supposed to  interpret for León Febres Cordero, the then President of the Republic of Ecuador. At the last minute he changed his mind and handed the speech to the Ministers of Mining and Engineering. So, I translated for him instead.


My major in college was International Studies and I started my career working as a translator/interpreter for a multinational corporation. HATED it!

I came to the US as an International Student and attended Lincroft Community College in NJ and then USC in Columbia, S C.

The Bucket List Top 4
Visit Australia and the Mediterranean countries
Get NBCT
Take my family to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador
Visit the Southwest and West coast of the US

3 Things I want to accomplish this year
Fully transition towards SBL teaching and aim towards proficiency based assessments
Go to ACTFL and SCOLT
Present at my state conference

2 things that make me laugh or cry as an educator
Cry - when I see teachers who are stuck in a grammar based approach, teaching my former students
Laugh - when I see my kids' faces at some crazy of goofy thing I do

I wish that people knew about me that I want to make a difference in this world, starting with my family, my community, my students. I want people to know that nothing in my life has been wasted, both the positive experiences and the difficult times have made me who I am. I want to live my life with reckless abandonment creating and experimenting new things. I also feel this desire born out of gratitude to pay it forward because I stand on the shoulders of great parents, teachers, friends, mentors, husband and colleagues.

Day 9 They may not remember what you said....

... but they will remember how you made them feel.

Some of the achievements that have gotten me most recognition have been the things that I have done or said in public. Since this is not about the seen accomplishments but the unseen, I won't mention my claim to "fame".

Some of my most rewarding achievements have taken place when I have made individual students feel that they were worth it. I showed them in words and actions that they were worth my time, my effort, my love, and my investment in them.

A few come to mind. There is the senior at a public charter virtual school, who had horrible family problems and who was so despondent that he wanted to quit school. I spent many hours on the phone with him and his grandmother pouring myself into his life and making him believe that he was kind, smart, and important. He graduated from high school and it changed the direction of his life. I remember another senior a couple years ago, who had to testify against his mother in court because she stole from him. He quit coming to school within a few days of graduation. Once again, I was on the phone with grandma and I tracked him down until I convinced him to come to school to take his final exams. He did and he also graduated. Then, there was A. a handsome, tall, blond and affluent junior who hated Spanish and who was completely shut down and disengaged. He would try to sleep on my class and I would refuse to allow him to even lay his head against my book shelf. I called on him every day and his response was a shrug of the shoulders. Then, one day he realized that I was never EVER going to let up on him, so he managed to get a B on a quiz and I celebrated him publicly and called his Mom. I told him that if he became engaged in class, he would pass my class and that was a turning point for him. I've had a particular soft spot for my kiddos who have lost a parent.
I could go on but this has really brought me a perspective of what really makes a difference in students' lives. It is how we make them feel each day that they are in our classes because the deepest desire of every human being is to feel validated by someone. I may be the only person that day that can or will meet that need.

Day 8 - What Lurks Underneath The Desktop

I'm not at school today because I'm sitting with my almost 18 year old daughter who had wisdom teeth surgery. So, not pictures about my desk drawers. But, I have a pretty good idea of what is in there.

In the middle drawer there are lots and lots of office supplies. I am a pack rat when it comes to supplies. I hoard them but I do use most of them. Like my room, my supplies reflect my personality. I have multicolored thumb tacks, clips of all sizes, lots of colorful dry erase markers, latex free gloves, pencils and erasers (I have a latex allergy), hair bands, salt and pepper packets (obviously I eat at my desk), some make up (for when I don't have time to put make up on before I leave for work, staple refills, white out, etc. My middle drawer is really well organized and I'm only going to talk about it! Well, maybe not...

But, if you were to take a peak at my other drawers, they would tell a WHOLE different story. The drawer to the right can't be opened because it hits the computer cart, so I don't even know what it's in there and I'm scared to find out. The drawers on my left are a bit of a catch all. In there, you'll find: the nurse bag with emergency supplies, deodorant, tooth brush, paste and floss, plastic eating utensils, as well as napkins, Lysol wipes, hand sanitizer, extra office supplies (of course, because you can never have enough!), various essential oils, snacks (raising, almond, Craisins, fruit leather, M&Ms, etc., scissors and notes that I have put there so that I can check on later.

I think my drawers say about me that...

• I like color and variety
• I try to be organized but don't always succeed
• I am a Mom on the go
• I like to be prepared in case of emergencies or creative bursts 
• I like to be clean and smell good
• I'm into alternative medicine
• I'm popular with my kids' friends who stop by for snacks 

Day 7 Ode to My Virtual Colleagues

Day 7: "Who is your best colleague?"

My best colleagues are in my virtual PLN in Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ groups. I´ve written about them before in my post ¨My Twitter PLN¨.

So, here it goes again for the sake of the @Teachthought Blog Challenge. Yes, I'm cheating but didn't want to skip a day of the challenge even if I already wrote about it.

 Twitter is where I can learn, grow and exchange ideas with educators who are hungry for learning about best instructional practices for World Languages, technology and other fields. These are passionate "crazy" people, like me, who want to continue learning after we leave school. I have learned more about teaching Spanish, from my Twitter PLN than from any other college course, WL conference, or PD. Twitter puts everyone on an even playing field. It is a place where the novice teacher has equal access to generous veteran teachers who want to share their experience and knowledge. It allows me to talk to experts in the field, writers, and people who otherwise would not be accessible to me unless I traveled to a conference. Twitter is a lab where we are all experimenting with various evidence based techniques for the same purpose: to spread knowledge about WLs, to bring our kids to proficiency in TL, to get them to experience target cultures, to make the United States into a multi-lingual country where the rule is that people speak more than English. 

I am humbled and awed by the incredible generosity of so many teachers who spend hours sharing their knowledge with others. So, this is my thank you letter to those who host #langchats, to those who write for Edudemic, to those who write blogs and to those who have personally reached out to me and encouraged me in this journey. You have made me believe that I CAN teach in a way that brings results. Thank you, @Sraspanglish, @msfrenchteach, @dr_dmd, @ColeeSensei, @SECottrell, @alenord,@placido, @tmsauer, @ZJonesSpanish, @csctfl, @SenoraWienhold, @bleidolf67, +SenoraCMT, @ProfeCochran, among others. 

 

Post 6 The Man Who Believed in Me

Mentors - I wouldn't be where I am today, if it weren't for the mentors that I've had in my life. I've have mentors for different areas in my life, but here I am just going to focus on one mentor who helped me educationally and career wise. Dr. Albert Eyde, the Director of the American High School in Guayaquil, Ecuador, was my principal. All of us girls had a massive crush on him because he was so good looking. He smoke an aromatic pipe which added to his Hollywood type of elegance and allure. He saw me doing presentations and spotted potential as a teacher in me. He encouraged me to pursue education. When I came back after 3 gap years, where I travelled around South American and Europe, he asked me to come teach at the American school. I was called an instructional assistant, since I didn't have a college degree, but I was teaching classes on my own. He also offered me a scholarship to attend the night time American community college. I did that for a year and he felt that I would get further if I came to the US to finish my studies.  During my studies in NJ, he secured a scholarship for me and a home to live in. He also secured a job for me so that I could pay for my expenses. He did this again, when I transferred to The University of South Carolina as a Junior. He always checked in on me and had encouraging words letting me know that he believed in me. His dream for me was that I would be an educator. I'm glad that he laid the groundwork for me to achieve his dream, even when it wasn't my dream. Dr. Eyde is no longer on this earth but I was able to thank him for making it possible for me to get a great education in the United States. He had the satisfaction to know that I became a teacher.

This blogpost is my tribute to my mentor, Dr. Albert Eyde.

Day 5 - A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

 Allow me to introduce you to my Spanish room.

 When I see this picture, I have to laugh, because my room reflects me so well. There is a lot of color and texture from various authentic items from Spanish speaking countries. I want to create an atmosphere in my room that feels as if my students are at a "mercado artesanal" in Ecuador. I have an hamaca (hammock), wall hangings, modern and indigenous clothing, art prints, posters, curiosidades, student work, etc. The items come from various countries reflecting both my heritage and my travels. Notice that a poster has fallen off the bulletin board and is on the ground propped against the wall. I obviously missed the empty space on the board. As I say... this room reflects me well.

I have the classroom set up in a sort of square shaped U. I like to keep the middle as a wide open space so that students can get up and dance, do group activities, get on the floor to work on big papers and because I need a big stage for my teaching. This year I have 26 students in my Spanish 3 Honors classes, so the kids are pretty crowded. It has been a challenge keeping this shape with so many kids.

The things that I want to change about my room are:

• Get rid of the textbooks - store them somewhere to make room for authentic books, mags, etc
• Create an inviting library corner with these print materials.
• Bring in some lamps to get rid of that mood killing fluorescent lightning. 
• Create language ladders or word walls. The kids NEED them! 
• Maybe next year, get some tables so that students can collaborate better. Almost took the plunge this year, but I am not sold on this idea yet. 

Would love some suggestions from you fellow teachers.

Day 4 - If I am an awesome teacher but have no love......

Day 4 challenge "What do you love about teaching?

It would seem as if this would be an easy topic to answer, after all teachers generally go into teaching because there is some aspect of the profession that they love. For me, my love of teaching has been an evolution. There is the "what I selfishly LOVE about teaching" aka "All about Me" and where I have evolved in my love of teaching.

My selfish love of teaching has to do with my lifelong love and passion for performance, creativity, and learning. I am a born actress and since I can remember, I played teacher. I taught my dolls, cousins, younger siblings, Sunday school toddlers, preschoolers, elementary children, etc. I even taught at one of the American High Schools in Ecuador while I was in college. I only had a HS diploma (which I had gotten 3 years before) but in spite of my lack of credentials I was hired because teaching was such a natural process for me. So, on a daily basis, when I stand before that captive audience of kids and I can hold them spell bound with my acting, I simply LOVE teaching for the excitement that it provides to my life. I am a creative person. I am one of the dually "blessed" with a divergent brain that won't quit cranking ideas that I want to use in my classroom. However, I would never be able to implement them if it were not for the AWESOME people in my virtual PD, who have put those ideas in an organized fashion that makes sense. I also love learning new things, new ways of doing things, and growing as a learner, a person and a teacher. This is why #langchat and Google + groups are so awesome because I can literally learn something new every single day.

Even though all of these things are wonderful to have, for a number of years, they were in conflict with the reality of my students. Because, those precious children couldn't always meet the expectations of my wild imagination and they didn't always have my passion for learning. That frustrated me but I kept right on riding my high horse pulling along those who could keep up with my love and passion for teaching and learning.

That was the case until last year, when I got a Masters in Ed and found the #langchat group. I understood that there was a piece of my love which was missing and that was a love for my students - all of them. So, this year, I have worked and prayed hard so that I will love all of my kids. The thing is that I still love all of the things I mentioned before but now my focus in on the kids. The results so far have been amazing. After all... if I am a born performer, a creative teacher, and a lifelong learner but have no love, I am just a bunch of noisy maracas making a racket in the air.

Day 3 Blogging Challenge - When Teachers are Graded

I must be one of those rare show off teachers that actually enjoys getting observed by my Administrators. At my school, we have a very visible principal who is constantly popping in classrooms, so it is part of our culture. I feel as if having visitors brings out the best in my teaching. I want my supervisors to know the good job that I am doing and I want our World Language program to be recognized for its excellence.

However, this year, we are rolling out a new plan where it is ALL about what the students are doing. We have gotten copies of the rubrics and there are multiple layers of how we will be getting graded. I am not really worried about it, but I do feel that there is more pressure not just to perform but to get the kids to perform. I know that as a performer I kick butt. But, now with this new system, I feel as if I am not 100% in control of my evaluation and that sort of bothers me.

This year, I have changed my teaching towards more student driven learning, not just because of the evaluation but because it is good for students. What I like about this new instructional practice is that it gives me a great excuse not to teach in a grammar/vocabulary driven way because that is very teacher directed. All the great tools that I have learned here are coming in very handy. For example, today, I did Movie Talk with this video http://youtu.be/YXnjy5YlDwk. Since I was showing it to my Spanish 3 Honors students, I had them do the talking. It was SO impressive! I asked them in L2 "What do you see?". They came up with rich vocabulary off the tops of their heads. As they came up with answers, I would ask follow up questions based on their answers and they would ellaborate with more detail. They also got a lot of new vocabulary from the silent movie. Then, I asked them what they thought would happen next and I got some predictions This went on for 20 minutes but the time flew by. The kids were SO engrossed by the silent movie clip and were eager to hear the actual sound. To my surprise, when I played the sound, they understood a lot of it because of the previous Movie Talk that they had done.

I plan to use this as an instructional strategy with my students again. It should also be something really cool for our new observation rubric.

P.S. I wish I could give credit to the person who blogged about Movie Talk. I have read so many blogs this week that I am afraid of mentioning the wrong person. So, thank you Movie Talk teacher peep.

Day 2 of Blog Challenge. Digital Native or Digital Immigrant?

Day 2
Write about one piece of technology that you would like to try this year, and why. You might also write about what you’re hoping to see out of this edtech integration. #reflectiveteacher

Our District went 1:1 with iPads for teachers 3 years ago. So, for 3 years, I have had a love affair with my iPad and I think my husband would agree with that. Two years ago, the district went 1:1 with all HS students and it has been a roller coaster ride. After last year, I decided that I want to focus on those Applications that lead towards proficiency. I did some incredible things last year that didn't lead to proficiency in Spanish. Kids spent days photoshopping themselves unto sites in Spain last year, which made for wonderful and impressive photography but didn't increase their ability to read, speak or write in the language.

This year, I plan to expand some of the uses of my favorite Aps and try some new ones. My favorite and most useful tool is Edmodo. I use it for everything but this year I plan to add blogging. I would love to use Twitter but our district has Twitter blocked for all students, so that wouldn't work for in class blogging. I also want to use SockPuppets for dialogues, Socrative for formative assessments and want to experiment with Kahoot since I hear so much about it. I want to expand my use of Google Drive for collaboration and play with Google classroom. Maybe I will  add one section to it, just to try it.I also plan to do at least one lesson on Google Earth. I have learned how to use it but haven't done much with it. I think it is a wonderful tool for our field.

Our district is moving towards All In Learning for Data Teams testing and reporting, so it will be an Ap with which I will become quite familiar.

Tech integration is bringing the world into my classroom. It is allowing me to access and bring authentic resources in real time to my students.

Move over millennials, this teacher has taken up citizenship in the digital world!   

Day 1 of the Blogging Challenge

I've taken up the 30 day challenge by @TeachThought because I want to become more of a #reflectiveteacher. I'm exhausted and ready to go to bed so this will be a short, sweet and to the point.

Goals:
For my Spanish 1 students, I  have already been blogging about my feelings and the transition from elitist snob to fun teacher to all students.

• I want my novices to love Spanish: both the language and the culture.
• I want them to believe that they CAN learn Spanish and to want to continue outside of my classroom.
• I want to expose them to the culture in a way that they will experience it and be changed by it. 
• I want them to be able to communicate at a basic level and have a limited but meaningful interaction with a Spanish speaker, when they leave my class at the end of May. 

For my Spanish 3 Honors:

• I want them to love Spanish: both the language and the culture.
• I want them to lose their fear of making mistakes and to believe me when I tell them that mistakes are part of the process.
• I want them to be risk-takers in the language 
• I want them to make an impact in the community outside of my classroom as a result of being in my class.
• I want to rock their neat suburban world of going to the mall, the lake and football games so that they will realize that there is a world out there that needs them and that they can be world changers
• I want to show them how awesome it would be to do a Study Abroad program while they are in college (Career Unit).
• I want them to be able to reach at least an Intermediate Low level by the end of May.