I QUICKLY wanted to share a great resource with you tonight. I know many of us have tomorrow off because it is Good Friday, and for some that will start Spring Break, too. Perhaps over your long weekend and/or break you could check out this website and see how it could benefit your students.
Introducing: Language By Video! This website has a tab labeled "Countries." From there, you can click on any Spanish speaking country and pull up a list of videos (sorted by Spanish level) that people from that country have made. For example, I used this video when I met with my class who was preparing to go to the Dominican Republic and knew from past trips that conversations in the markets were challenging. The video is extremely short and is conducted completely in the target language. Out to the side, they have a transcript in English and in Spanish of what is being said.
Overall, I think this website provides a lot of videos I hadn't found on YouTube that show authentic, country specific language being used in a variety of contexts. Other than that, I have been a bit disappointed in the other resources (or lack thereof), but I think experienced teachers can come up with ways to use these videos as the basis for discussion, as a quick warm-up or intro, or even as a homework assignment after a lesson.
Last year, I came across a great resource for listening and comprehension of authentic Spanish (complete with dreamy Spain accent!) :) As a white, Spanish-as-a-second-language, young, female teacher, I always felt it was important to expose my students to the rhythms and vocabulary and accents of native speakers much different than myself. This is one great way to do so!
Spanish Podcast is an excellent resource from everything that I have found so far.
From @VSSpanishPodcast
On their website they have a 192 available episodes with their titles. And their twitter profile is constantly tweeting out links to episodes as well. The episodes are 100% in Spanish, mainly spoken by a male. The entire transcripts are available online, also in Spanish. This might be initially intimidating if you are hoping to use these podcasts in a level 1 or 2 class, but I love the explanation that the website gives for why they choose not to translate their transcripts:
"Sólo puedes aprender a hablar y comprender español o cualquier otro idioma escuchándolo, no traduciéndolo. Si hablamos en inglés para explicarte cómo hablar español, sería una pérdida de tiempo, no aprenderías correctamente y nosotros queremos que tengas éxito. Si quieres aprender español o cualquier otro idioma, la única forma es estar totalmente inmerso en el idioma."
What an indictment of the majority of Spanish programs in the United States, am I right?! Thankfully, there are teachers like you and I out there who know that there has to be a better way than filling in the verb conjugation tables and doing a packet of worksheets each day. Not to imply that those things can't possibly benefit some students, but they do not typically build fluency.
Granted, I have not used these podcasts in a traditional classroom. BUT, I have assigned it as preview homework for my group of students traveling to Spain this summer in order to familiarize themselves with cultural customs and to help get their ears used to Spanish. I gave them much the same advice that Spanish Podcast gives its listeners:
" Simplemente haz lo que puedas para entender lo que estamos diciendo mientras escuchas cada episodio del podcast. Una vez que lo hayas intentado, lee la transcripción en el blog y vuelve a escuchar el episodio."
Listen and try to catch any words you possibly can. Maybe write them down on a notebook sheet of paper.
Read the Spanish transcript and mark it up: What words do you already know? What words are new? Which words are vitally important in this podcast?
Listen to the podcast again and make any additional notes about what you understood. Also, highlight areas of confusion or specific questions you want to bring to class.
From http://www.spanishpodcast.net/faq/
Here is an example of how I used one episode to teach my Spanish travelers about greeting each other in Spain.
If your students have Apple devices, these podcasts are available on iTunes. If not, they are easily accessible by going to the website linked above. They also sell audiobooks and have tongue twisters available for some fun practice with pronunciation. One of my all-time favorite aspects of the website is their 7 videos that address techniques for how to become conversationally fluent in Spanish: by listening, repeating, imitating, being consistent, learning from native speakers, NOT translating, and having fun! What a great homework assignment for students who may be new to the concept of teaching in the target language!
Have you used Spanish Podcast in class before? Have you found other podcasts helpful? I would love to hear from you!
You know you're a Spanish teacher at heart when...
you get WAY more excited about Día de los Muertos than you do about Halloween.
This can be a fun holiday to decorate for, talk about, and compare and contrast with students. However, if you teach in a small town, rural, conservative area of the MidWest like I did, it can be a tricky conversation to have with parents. In this post I have included not only cultural ways of bringing this holiday to your classroom, but more importantly ways of making that culture real, vivid and meaningful to your students instead of trivial facts for an upcoming quiz. After 3 years of slow progress, here are some of my best...
1.Pan de Muertos: I suggest coordinating with your Home Economics teacher ahead of time so you can be in the kitchen on the day you do this activity. Otherwise, I have had the students do the process and then I have run down to the ovens to bake it for them to pick up later.
2. Altares en clase: Set up a table at the front of your classroom and have students contribute items. You can take pictures in front of it, use your Spanish to describe the colors and components and even use it as a prop as you discuss important vocab (see number 5!)
3. Parent Email: I highly suggest emailing parents a letter a few days before you discuss or participate in these events. Include what your plans are, give them a few details about the holiday and its cultural significance and offer them an opt-out if they are uncomfortable with their student participating for religious reasons. I also recommend cc'ing your principal or mentor teacher in that email to keep them in the loop.
4. Papel Picado: Buy cheap tissue paper, download a few patterns and collect as many scissors as you can. When your students are finished, you can string them together and decorate your classroom or even the hallway!
5.Vocabulario: There are all kinds of words you could teach your students related to these customs and this holiday. Perhaps you want to put the ball in their court? You can have your class contribute words they think are important, instead.
6. Videos: Search for tactful, interesting videos that you could show to introduce this holiday or to help students visualize how it is celebrated. This is my favorite one I have found:
7.Venn Diagram: Throughout the week, no matter what activities we did, I always had a Venn Diagram printed on neon cardstock and in my students' hands before the week began. All throughout the week, each video, activity, reading, etc I would ask them to pause and write down two facts, or one observation comparing and contrasting Día de los Muertos with Halloween. At the end of the week you could add this to their portfolio, display them in the room, or take them for a grade.
8.Fotos: One of my favorite activities was to have students bring in a picture of someone who meant a lot to them that had passed away. We got in small groups of 3-4 people, and used our basic Spanish to tell their name, relationship to us and one thing that defined them. If they wanted, they could then describe this family member or friend in greater detail. Students always enjoyed honoring someone's memory and as a teacher it was an EYE OPENING activity into the lives of my students. When I talked about my grandmother or a high school friend who had died, my students were not only engaged in the language, but connected with me on a personal level as well.
9.Decorations: Add a few of these infographics in the halls or near your desk to get students curious. I laminate mine and then file them for future years!
10. Even More: Where do I go when I need more inspiration & resources? AMY LENORD'S PINTEREST OF COURSE. Check out her Día de los Muertos board for many more goodies. And here for some additional authentic resources!
Thanks to my #langchat family, I was introduced to EdPuzzle a few weeks ago. Since I have been researching flipping my classroom and simultaneously planning for our switch to 1-to-1 next year, I thought this would be a good app to get familiar with. Here was my experience and reflection after my first assignment:
Pros:
The tutorial videos on their website walk you through each step of the process. I can normally figure tech-stuff out on my own as I go, but having these videos to refer to was really helpful.
Their customer service is unlike anything I have experienced before! When I tweeted a question/comment, they responded almost immediately. When our school filter blocked something, they gave us a possible solution. They were ON it!
The data you receive from your student's submissions is incredibly detailed. You can see how many times they viewed each segment. You can see class averages. You can see a question by question break down with individual students listed by the level of reinforcement they need. You can easily export the report to Excel for printing or other manipulation.
Students do not need an email address to create an account. This is just one more way of eliminating unnecessary steps in the process. They can easily login via their Google account, or they can opt out and create a separate account. So nice.
Cons:
Without being 1-to-1 yet, I had to guarantee lots of notice for my students without internet access to be able to complete the assignment. After a 5 days' heads up...I still had students in each class that didn't even view the video. Not exactly "flipping" a class!
It was more challenging than I expected to find a video I wanted to manipulate in the first place.
Our school security filters currently block YouTube which means EdPuzzle does not function properly on student devices if I get my video from YouTube. (They did say a future upgrade will fix this problem, though.)
For my first video, I chose an advertisement for Mexico City. The speaker speaks quite fast and uses words that my students are unfamiliar with, so I did small voice overs in certain spots to make it more comprehensible. I also included 3 multiple choice questions based on current vocab and grammar structures. Students were challenged but they were not intimidated. The class average was above 80% on each of the 3 questions.
Overall, this app was something I really enjoyed experimenting with. I am already plotting my next assignment for the coming weeks. I took our first assignment as simply a completion grade (which I never do!) so that students could familiarize themselves with the program. I look forward to when they are confident with it and we can utilize it to its fullest potential!
