Martes

Here is the plan I posted yesterday:

   So tomorrow is the first day back after break and after my 2 days of OWL.  How will it be different?
     In my exploring Spanish class, we will practice with greetings and etc.  From Que tal? we'll go to Que tal las vacaciones?  Then talk about what they did on their vacations.  Acting it out, drawing it.  No English.  One week of Spanish.  We'll do 5x5x10, and in the air.  We'll play mora as a brain break after we review numbers 0-10.  I think I can pull a fair bit of vocab from them, talking about activities they did on their vacation.
     In my Spanish 1A class, I will teach them new expectations.  No English-o.  Dibújalo, o actúalo.  We will also talk about vacations, and I will pull vocabulary from them. Transitions: jump forward, backward, left, right.  Hands up, hands down.
     In my 8th grade classes I will do the same.  Review vacation vocabulary.  Review new expectations.  New transitions.  Do conversa y descubre activity.  Tarea: cara a cara WS.
     We'll see how it goes!

Here is what I will do tomorrow:

     In my Exploring Spanish class, we will review the vocabulary we came up with today: las vacaciones; la escuela; (muy) bien; (muy) mal; así,así; regular; mas o menos.  We'll start a circle with greetings, como estas/que tal,  expand to que tal las vacaciones.  Then get into the vocab.  Can I pull Where did you go?  How did you go?  That would get us into transportation.  Cross the circle like_____. 

     What amazed me is how SLOWLY the novice low 6th grade class went today compared to the novice mid-high 7th and 8th grade classes.  Repetitions!  Activities!  Brain Breaks!

     In 7th grade, we pulled honesto, las vacaciones, un museo, actor, and la playa.  Something to start with.  We'll talk more about vacations: where and what they did.

     In 8th grade, we found people who_____.  Then we talked about question words. Tomorrow, students will use the questions they devised at home to talk to each other about vacations.  I'll have them in groups of 3 or 4 at first to check the questions, then new partners to ask the questions.  We'll review places in the city.  Did they go there on vacation?

     Both 7th and 8th are doing an accountability exit slip with me.  Maybe I should have 6th grade do it, too.

     I'm over 8,000 steps, and that's usually my daily total!  Woo-hoo!

Comunidad

   For much of my teaching career I operated under the belief that if we weren't using Spanish it wasn't valuable.  I have come to learn that sometimes it is OK to use no language-- to engage in activities simply to build community, trust, and to have fun!  Here are some of our favorites:
Asesino o rana: one person is the asesino or the rana-- asesinos "kill" by winking, and ranas kill by sticking out their tongue-- while a detective (absent from the room when the asesino is chosen) tries to identify the culprit before everyone "dies."
Achi-pachi: one person in the center, everyone closes syes, teacher selects a/some student(s) by tapping them on the back.  The center person asks a question-- the same question-- of various members of the class.  Students answer correctly, or, if they were tapped, answer with "achi-pachi", at which point everyone has to move to a new seat at least 2 seats over from where they were, while the person in the center also tries to find a seat.  The one left standing takes the center for another round.
Two simple activities/games that leave everyone smiling!

Monday, Monday....

     So tomorrow is the first day back after break and after my 2 days of OWL.  How will it be different?
In my exploring Spanish class, we will practice with greetings and etc.  From Que tal? we'll go to Que tal las vacaciones?  Then talk about what they did on their vacations.  Acting it out, drawing it.  No English.  One week of Spanish.  We'll do 5x5x10, and in the air.  We'll play mora as a brain break after we review numbers 0-10.  I think I can pull a fair bit of vocab from them, talking about activities they did on their vacation.
     In my Spanish 1A class, I will teach them new expectations.  No English-o.  Dibújalo, o actúalo.  We will also talk about vacations, and I will pull vocabulary from them. Transitions: jump forward, backward, left, right.  Hands up, hands down.
     In my 8th grade classes I will do the same.  Review vacation vocabulary.  Review new expectations.  New transitions.  Do conversa y descubre activity.  Tarea: cara a cara WS.
     We'll see how it goes!

OWL Tools

I spent 3 days last week (part of my spring break!) with fellow OWLers in Columbus, OH.  We had a day discussing the OPI and ACTFL levels, and 2 days practicing OWL. There is so much more I can do!  Here are the tools I brought home with me:

Transitions:
opposites/differents-- animals, desserts, transportation,
cross the circle like...

Hooks
technology-- video, word pics, video ele, google drive, padlet, linguafolio, google classroom, edmodo, songo (?), facebook, current trends
infographics
#auth res, #spanish (?)

Circle:
Identify the specific levels, and what they already know.
pairing activities

flow

keep circle tight-- cross hands, elbow to elbow, foot to foot

positive and encouraging

community building games

room for mistakes and risk taking

accept mistakes

encouraging / modeling

depending on level, clarifying for meaning

What would a sympathetic listener understand?

appropriate prompts!

pairs create action for vocabulary

share outs-- b'day month

i/o circle

students provide prompts

Management:

students set own goals

students see their progress

redirecting, separating

attention getters