Spanish 1 as Connections 101

A thread is a clear connection between a main theme and every conversation that follows.

Matthew R. Kay, Not Light, but Fire

When I asked my AP what we could do to promote anti-racism this year in our school, she thought a book club on a book specifically geared toward teaching was the answer. Not Light, but Fire by Matthew R. Kay was the one that drew me in and actually felt meaningful, applicable.

Kay does not go for the throat immediately. He establishes very thoroughly his own mistakes and his reasoning behind his suggestions. He firmly anchors everything–EVERYTHING–in the context of relationships first. He stresses keeping up with students’ extracurriculars even over a tearful life-changing discussion on race and privilege. He always, always brings it back to the effect on the students–we may be super proud when our little humanists break down in empathetic sobs, but what are they leaving with?

More importantly: what are they connecting with?

Chapter 3 set me off in a timely tangent, preparing for teaching in the time of Corona. What thread would tie my Spanish 1 courses together? What worthy theme would logically, and naturally, relate to whatever we learn–to the deeper purpose of even LEARNING a language? I brainstormed a list of about 11 questions that I thought could really matter, really connect the whole experience. But I came back to one and brainstormed some more:

What connects people?

Of course I wanted to say language first and foremost, making my bread and butter off of language instruction, but honestly? Honestly there are other, deeper ways to connect–and some shallower ways. I don’t necessarily know which is which, though, and I suspect there is massive variation in any group of people (no matter the hybrid learning, Monday-Tuesday/Thursday-Friday split. But here’s what I came up with:

• Location
• Language
• Family
• Values
• Interests
• Experiences
• Images
• Physical contact

Now, being the ‘Rona Times, #8 is off the table entirely. I’m still pretty bummed about all of the group and paired activities that just can’t be socially distanced. But there IS something to be said for visual contact, so I’m hoping some of Señora Chase’s socially distanced brain break ideas will still build some bridges. And as an artist myself, I can’t argue the power of images to speak volumes even without words, whether L1 or L2.

As a matter of fact, I think this will make a good first day of class debate. To be perfectly, perfectly honest, 90% TL is a faint memory in the world of learning with masks and computers, so I have no qualms about hashing it out in English and ordering and re-ordering the list for each class. I suspect it will help take the temperature of each class’s vibe to some extent too.

Oh, and wouldn’t you know? Some of those topics look an awful lot like some district units we have mapped out! I hope we’ll be able to build in some shared experiences of our own, too, even with our masks on. As for values? We might not find all common values, but it brings me to another point Kay emphasized: identifying the values at odds in a given conflict. His connection to Managing Workplace Conflict identifies values as the last, sometimes insurmountable source of conflict, but at least in identifying or “surfacing” the values at play, we can keep debate–or, rather, deliberation since we want to encourage re-examining and shifting perspectives–not just civil but truly respectful and sympathetic.

There’s also one more thread I keep tugging on year to year, and it’s these videos in English. Tim McGraw’s video will make a powerful follow-up to the connection order debate–is it the images, shared experiences, or words that make it meaningful? Is music a connector unto itself or a branch off of interests, values, or shared experiences? And then Juliet Lyan’s ASL video can bring it back to language!

So much feels so disjointed already this year, so it’s fitting that the thread that ties the course together and ties US together should be how to build connections.