2 do for Spanish 2
1. Increase target language interaction during Spanish 2 discussions
I need this to happen, in part because National Board certification demands it. According to my new National Board bible:
A wisely-selected video segment will show your interaction with the students in the target language. It should not focus entirely on you but should allow the assessor to see how comfortable you are at using the target language with your students on a regular basis.
I don’t know if this means my teacher-led discussions are necessarily a bad idea, but I for sure have got to get them to answer me in Spanish!
This means I probably need to do still more frontloading (the survey and plátiza not having passed muster) as well as scale back the depth of the conversation a bit. Engagement is good, but I need to start them where they are.
Which brings me to…
2. Break down ChocQuibTown interview further
The vast majority of my Spanish 2 classes did not respond to the ChocQuibTown glog questions as assigned, despite getting 20-40 minutes in class to do so AFTER an initial class viewing of the interview, with picking out vocabulary. Those who did answer the questions missed the point of some or just didn’t answer them. Part of the problem, I think, is simply lack of practice interpreting aural input: they just need to do this more. However, the lack of practice lowers confidence, thus raising the famous affective filter, so I need to scaffold a little more.
I wonder if making soundbytes from the interview (using Audacity) would be a good way to isolate the parts that answer their questions. I didn’t do this at first, because part of what I wanted them to do was to be able to pick out the sections where the answers could be found. Then again, that might be too much to ask while they’re just getting exposed to aural interpretation.
The good news is that if they responded on Glogster, they can resubmit on Edmodo, and vice versa.
3. Make a good rubric for the Experiencia Afrolatina unit based on the 5 C’s
Especially after today’s discussion on what is and is not racist, more than anything, I want students to put themselves in someone else’s shoes for this unit. Of course I want them to express themselves in Spanish and to make connections with familiar situations (not necessarily their own experience, maybe history or hearsay). I want them to have some freedom of format, and I’m thinking any C’s not covered in the 1st person narrative can be incorporated into the culminating glog. So here’s what I’m thinking:
Communication: presentational
Cultures: details from at least 1 country we discuss
Comparisons: parallels to experiences in the United States demonstrated
Connections: tie to American History/Civics?
(I’m going to let Communities sit this one out, though it will come up with the AskSrVilson.wikispaces.com along the way.)
4. Fit grammar & vocabulary in
This would be a good time to A) review object pronouns and B) (finally) introduce reflexives. I’m thinking the texts that I’ll use (besides the ChocQuibTown interview and wiki w/ Sr. V.) will be an excerpt from Cartas a Mi Mama, and MAYBE Me Llamo Celia, so I need to be extracting these from one or both.
Which brings me to…
5. Finalize text selections for the unit
The first is cool because it’s an actual Cuban novel–muy autentico–and gets at some of the attitudes I want students to see. The second is a picture book about Celia Cruz. Apart from an excuse for some awesome salsa, who doesn’t love a picture book? However, it is bilingual, and NOT from a Cuban perspective (I’m sorry, Monica Brown, but your Spanish is possibly worse than mine. Kudos for putting yourself out there, but I want the highest quality input for my kiddos).
Still, Me Llamo Celia offers two significant things that Cartas a Mi Mama does not: an actual historical figure’s story and an afrolatino perspective that is not just doom and gloom.
Also to do, 6. Figure out where I can record in this unit one last time for National Boards
