Spring Break 2011 - Reflection

Last night, while going to sleep, I decided to write this post.  This post is for the future me to look back and reflect upon how I felt during this time of year.  My hope, is that next year I may look back at this post and realize that things are going better then than now.  Because with each passing year of teaching, I feel like everything gets better/easier, but at the same time it gets more difficult to continue.

Today marks the end of spring break... that awaited time of year for both students and teachers alike.  I have been looking forward to having this time away from school to rejuvenate for the remainder of the year.  I've been needing to get away from school and rest for awhile, so that I can sustain the practice of CI with my students.  The novelty of TPRS has worn off with me, and the true difficulty of the practice has worn me down.  Instead of focusing on the negatives, I need to refocus on what is important.  My goals for the rest of the school year is:

1) Be optimistic. (It definitely is a choice you must make.)

2) Focus on providing contextual, compelling, comprehensible input SLOWLY.

3) Shelter vocabulary but use grammar freely. (This means keeping story scripts simple.)

4) Use "water wings" as needed; for my sake and the students' sake.

It's so easy to get caught up in life in general: what a difference others are making in peoples' lives, what is happening with others, what our contracts are looking like for next year, how much grad homework I have, how much wedding planning is still left undone, what other TPRS teachers are doing in their classrooms, what other non-TPRS teachers are covering in theirs, what extracurricular activities you should be attending, how important it is to eat well, exercise regularly and get enough sleep, etc. that it can get overwhelming. 

But we need to remember that this too shall pass.  Summer is on it's way, and we cannot speed up or slow down the processes in place in our classrooms.  We can choose to be optimistic, focused and effective facilitators of language acquisition, or we can choose to totally freak and start cramming the grammar into students' heads in light of the overwhelming/out of control feeling that we get with the approaching end of another year.  I will feel best if I choose to be optimistic, focused and effective.  My students will feel best if I choose to be optimistic, focused and effective.  My students will acquire more language if I make the same choice.

Now, take a deep breath because you can do this (and NTPRS will be here before you know it!). 

Straying...

It's been awhile since I've had the time (ie made the priority) to blog.  We've made it through CSAPs and now we're staring spring break in the face: only 3 more days. 

Today, in the midst of my planning madness, I had an epiphany.  Recently, well very honestly since winter break, I've hit a rough patch.  Especially in first year I've been struggling with personalization.  Today we're (trying) to finish an extended reading.  I know most people have trouble making things last with TPRS, but I have trouble making things end.  I think I stray too much from the story, and don't focus on the structures enough.  I know I've been doing a worse job lately, but it takes time to figure out exactly what the problem is and what to do about it.

But I think I finally did it.  I need to focus on 1) Providing CI, 2) Providing Personalization, 3)Choosing structures that are high frequency.  And that's where I get lost. 

I'm using the LICT series with my year 1's and 3's.  Year 1's, I've been mainly using Blaine's stories and his structures, but I haven't been successful with using his high frequency structures with personalization.  I think this is due to me trying to "force" situations in which vocabulary from the curriculum will come up.  

I need to remember: "Shelter vocabulary, not grammar" and also, "TEACH high frequency, COVER the rest." 

Extra Credit

I've long been opposed to giving extra credit.  I've seen it as a frivolous padding to a grade.  In most cases, the students who already are excelling in a class are the only ones who take advantage of the opportunity.  So why give it? 
Well... my view of extra credit has been challenged recently.  In a mentor-mentee meeting earlier this semester (yes, I've been busy, so I'm just getting around to writing about this now), Tony Winger challenged my idea by sharing his view on extra credit.  He said that, to him, extra credit should be another chance for students to learn what is essential.  WOW.  Isn't that something.  Once he said that I can't figure out where I got the idea that extra credit is some waste of time, extra, worthless handout.  The fact is: extra credit should be another chance to learn what is essential or to expand upon it for the proficient students.
This doesn't mean that I am offering it this semester, but it is possible in the future...

I feel a homerun coming...

So in light of taking back my classes after fighting severe over-exhaustion, my first year classes participated in an ask-a-story today.  I made a major switch in how I planned these, and so far so good.  I switched from asking questions on my plan, to stating facts that cannot change (but that didn't work so well - but that's ok).
We started with: quiere impresionar, rompe, le gustaría.  What we've got so far is a very handsome man named Jeffrey who smells really bad, but wants to impress a Betty White.  BW thinks J smells though. :( 

Tomorrow I'm going to have them go places until he breaks a present that contains soap on himself upon which BW thinks he smells good and is impressed by him.
We'll see!

Getting over January...

This semester started out rough to say the least.  I'm not sure what happened, but it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I started the semester a bit differently than those previously, so maybe that is why.  I don't know if I'll start it out that way again.  Anyway, I'm finally starting to feel the groove again.  Which is a relief. 

Today I came out of a daze and started taking control again.  The beginning of the semester seemed like someone else was teaching my classes for me and I was just in my body watching it happen, which is no way to teach with TPRS/CI.  I have been sick to say the least, BUT I slept for about 36 hours over this weekend and am finally feeling like myself again.  WHEW!

This week is a tough week because 1) today is Valentine's day (so we talked about el día de la amistad so that no one felt left out!), 2) Wednesday is a late start because of PLC work, and 3) we have Friday off... among all of these I have a year 2 mentor meeting after school this week AND my post-observation conference with my AP.  Thus, it's a really good thing to be back (mentally). 

This stretch of being out of it has really made me aware of how important it is to always be on top of what is going on in the classes.  I realized last week that I need to stop during my extended readings to tell students to put pencils down because the pencils had crept into their hands over the past semester and I was getting a lot less eye contact.  Once I did that, things started to really shape up.  This week's challenge - PERSONALIZATION.  I've gotta get that personal touch back.  Here's to working hard!

Formal observations

Although I've been working on my perfectionism A LOT this year, formal observations still get my panties in a bunch.  I worry and fret, and usually get sick over nothing.  I know I'm a _____ (good? decent? second-year? average? outstanding?) teacher, and I should be ok with that.  I know I work my tail off and want the best for my students.  I try to work as a team with my colleagues and be a contributing member to teams  and committees that I'm involved with.  On the outside, I know my job will be ok.  On the inside, I worry. 

Nevertheless... I think this formal observation, while not my shining classroom moment, was a lot more stress-free than the last. It's possible that I'm just getting used to the beat of the formal observation drum.  This is my fourth now... and it helps that I really feel supported by my administrator in the method I'm using this year.  Who knows.

Despite all of the stress that comes with a formal observation, my shining moment today was when a student approached me after class and told me she dreampt in Spanish the other night!  HOLY MOLY!  No way!  I was super proud because I think that means she's getting ample comprehensible input in class (which only meets three days a week for 59 minutes!). Go me!

Hitting a wall...

All of this pertains to my sixth period class, which is why I'm perplexed.  None of my other classes are having this problem.  Since we've gotten back from winter break, the dynamic in my 6th period class has changed a lot.  Before it was a class I looked forward to every day, now I know it will be a challenge.  The students have changed a bit, and I'm not sure why this is happening.

Stories that I use in another class go very well and have good classroom participation (for February...).  I understand that stories may not go well in two different classes, but it's a struggle because I feel like my sixth period hasn't had a truly engaging class since we've returned from break! 

I'm really trying to focus on point and pause right now, because when I feel like things aren't going well, I tend to speed up in hopes of stumbling on something interesting.  When I point and pause, I feel like I get more student engagement, but that the students are still lacking engagement. 

I guess the lack of engagement is due to personalization.  I really try to get my students involved in the story.  I try to have actors, but they never really act.  They stand in the front of the room and distract. I try and use their interests, but it doesn't work.

I feel like there's this negative attitude in my classroom.  It started with one boy, then spread to another, now to a girl that sits between them.   They don't say anything, but I can read their body language. 

Any suggestions?  Is it me or is it the time of year?