World Language Week: Coworkers & Administrators

When you are taking on an endeavor to promote awareness of your program,  it helps to have HELP.  Some of you are blessed with entire departments of teachers in your language and possibly multiple other languages;  they should be every bit as passionate about this week as you are!  Delegate, brainstorm, and as soon as this week is over...start dreaming of an even better next year!

However, some of you are a courageous department of one.  You PLC with no one.  You swap resources online with whoever you can reach out to.  Ideas and initiative fall to you alone.

Whichever boat you are in, there are ways of utilizing and equipping those around you to support you.  But, there is a strategy to doing so.

Getting Volunteers:
I have had success getting donations of time, food and materials when I have asked well in advance.  For example, my cultural breakfast always involved TONS of helpers, even outside of our language department.  I suggest choosing carefully and specifically here:  Don't send out a broad email of "help if you can!"  Rather, email (or better yet, visit in person) specific people that you think would be good for a specific job.  Keep it simple, keep it cheap and keep it focused on the STUDENTS that will benefit because of it.  Also:  it helps if you are known for returning the favor later on.

Involving Administration:
Each building is different, and each administrator has their own preferences on how involved they like to be.  However, in my experience it can't hurt to inform and invite.  I sent out handwritten or emailed invites to any activities we were doing throughout the day, including project presentations in class.  If they come, thank them.  Engage them with students so they can see the learning taking place and the value that your program has in the lives of your students.  Take pictures of them interacting and print them to send with a thank you note in a week!

Other Teachers:
Don't assume that because someone teaches Math or Choir, they haven't had international travel experience.  I found out (quite to my surprise!) that nearly 20 teachers in my building had studied abroad, gone on missions trips, taken vacations or studied a foreign language in another country.  They had amazing stories of cultural misunderstanding, language bloopers and once-in-a-lifetime experiences that they were eager to share with students.  I compiled them via email and made them into a scavenger hunt of sorts.  Instead, you could video interview them during their preps and play them for your class throughout the week.  Or, you could just orally read off statements about them and have students try to predict who you are describing.  Another idea might be to have a map and paste teacher's pictures close to the country they have traveled to.  The more people you can incorporate the more that students can realize these opportunities are for EVERYONE.  Plus, who doesn't like reliving a crazy story from their youth?! :)

Follow-up:
Regardless of how many people you do or do not get involved this year, make sure to go out of your way to thank them for their level of involvement.  I love picture thank-you cards so they can hang on walls and sit on desks for the following year, reminding the recipient of a great memory.  Have a running Google Doc of people who were involved and people you would like to include in the future.  Next year, it will make your planning process easier!  In fact, include all kinds of ideas and comments there so you don't have to start from the beginning all over again next time.

These quick summaries don't even mention the world that is the staff at your school, parent volunteers, area schools, social media and the immense amount of communication that all play important roles as well.  Don't limit yourself.  You might be surprised by the way the right question at the right time can yield a huge reward for you.  Reach out!

Who knows?! You might end up with a nice little video crew like my high school did...see the genius I came into?!  I truly deserve little to no credit for any success of our program.  Take a look-see:

World Language Week: Cultural Breakfast

This year, World Language Week is being celebrated from March 7-13.  Maybe you didn't even know it existed?  Me neither just four short years ago.  But our department truly embraced this opportunity to show students how vibrant and vital languages can be in our world.  Read more about our activities, competitions and projects to get ideas for your school!

One of our most popular traditions in the World Languages Department is DEFINITELY our Cultural Breakfast.  It takes a lot of work in planning, but if you delegate well and promote it like crazy, it is definitely worth every minute and cent you put into it.  It can boost the notoriety of your program, but more importantly it can also be a unique way to expose students to authentic foods and customs.

We picked Thursday morning, March 19, last year.  We asked teachers, staff members, community members and parents to contribute anything they could.  We raved to the students about how delicious it would be. And then...we shopped and cooked and baked and decorated!

The main objective:  Introduce students to breakfast foods and customs around the world.  To do so, we asked each language teacher to contribute something from their target language/culture.  In addition, we reached out to teachers who travel frequently, ESL teachers, and our social studies teachers who incorporate a lot of cultural information into their classes.  Many hands make light work, as the saying goes, and without so many helpers there is NO feasible way to do this.  Some volunteered to purchase store bought items, some asked local restaurants to donate in exchange for advertisements and some cooked up their concoctions on their own time.  For those who aren't so handy in the kitchen...we also asked for plates, cups, silverware, napkins, water, hot chocolate packets and people to help serve.  Everyone can help!

The menu over the past three years has included the following items:  tortilla española, French baguettes with jam or nutella, Chinese assorted breads, Chinese noodle salad, clatites, naranjas preparadas, French quiches, Peruvian parfaits, Mexican chilaquiles con huevos, churros, magdalenas, pan dulce, Chinese dumplings, taquitos, doughnuts, biscotti, Indian doughnut holes, Indian chickpea bread, arroz con leche, and more.  To drink we normally provide water, orange juice or hot chocolate.  The items are labeled with names and the culture they are from.  We have also learned it is much easier to have the teachers serve the items so we can control the portions initially. Plus, it gives us a great opportunity to greet the students in our target languages!

Here are some logistical tips, from someone who has learned the hard way more than once:

1. Plan ahead. Like months. Email and check in person to follow up.  We meet face to face once ahead of time just to triple check.
2. Publicize!! Get it in school emails, over the morning announcements and show videos like these two (2nd video has "a*s at 2:03 but is generally unrecognized because of everything else that is going on)in the days leading up to it in class.  The more students have friends going, the more students will show up.  So get them excited!
3. Know people in your building who can help.  Our head custodian provides large serving tables, extension cords/surge protectors and extra trashcans.  Our cafeteria manager provides hot water carafes, chaffing dishes and a case of individual sized orange juice cups. Two teachers who have connecting rooms let us use their space to eat/serve.  Many times the resources to help you are there, you just need to know who to contact.
4. Have students sign up in advance.  To limit numbers, we require students to get rides before school (not ride the bus).  We also have them sign up and receive a sticker for the back of their ID card so that they can get in the door on the morning of.  We have even played around with the idea of charging students and collecting it for our World Language Club budget or to give to a local charity, but we haven't done so yet.  The bottom line is your teachers and community members need to know if they are making food for 15 students or 200.
5. Have adults serve. Have adults mingle. Have adults. Lots. Period. 
6. We don't infringe on class time.  That would do more harm than good for our department.  But if you are, make sure first period teachers know that ahead of time.  We tell students to get there with enough time to eat and get to class on time. (Our school day starts at 7:35 so breakfast is served at 7:00am)
7. Prepare a simple slideshow to have in the background as students are eating.  We have trivia questions about breakfast traditions/foods around the world as well as how to say "Good morning", "Breakfast" and "Delicious" in each language. You can even turn on some authentic music!
8. Have "Thank You" signs in all represented languages and take pictures of students holding those signs and stuffing their faces.  Then, print cheap "Thank You notes" and distribute to servers, cooks, and support staff.
9. Apply for grants.  You can get teachers and staff reimbursed for their contributions to your meal...that might make you even more likely to get more volunteers in the future.
10. Invite the big wigs!  Have your administration and Central Office staff come and see what your program does for students.  They love free food, and you might love the publicity!
11. Take pictures. Post them on your school webpage, give them to your yearbook editor, put them on your class Instagram and save them for publicizing for the next year.

You might be thinking:  It's way too late to plan something for next week, Maestra! Agreed. Don't do that.  But it's not too late to organize something small for the last part of the month.  Your school can adapt to create its own World Language Week at a time that doesn't interfere with standardized testing.   This year, I am helping out at the high school's breakfast that will be taking place March 30.  I'll be posting pictures and reflections after that!

Do you do something similar at your school?  If not, what would you bring?

Estacion Estudiantil

One adjustment I made my second year of teaching that I NEVER regretted was creating an "Estación Estudiantil."

From the poor picture quality it is hard to tell, but this small table was located directly next to the door to my classroom and also next to the turn in tray that my students used when it was time to submit their assignments.  My goal was to keep students away from my desk and to avoid constantly getting office supplies from my desk for them.  This way, students could find what they needed, when the needed it and leave me out of the picture!

I purchased...

• Two 3-ring hole punchers
• Two tape dispensers
• Two staplers
• Two large pairs of scissors
• One package of sharpened pencils 

Then, I labeled them all in the target language.

• Perforadora
• Cinta
• Grapadora
• Tijeras
• Lápiz

I lined them up on the table so the students could see everything and so that multiple students could use the table at once.  The pencils went in a pencil jar.  The scissors went in a jar as well. If I found random rubberbands, paperclips or other supplies on the floor throughout the year, I threw them in the jar.  

I printed out a label for my table as well by finding a font I liked, cutting and pasting it on bright construction paper and then laminating the whole thing and hanging it up with magnets. Underneath the table, I had a crate labeled "pizarritas" for white boards.  I normally had another crate (not pictured here) labeled "premios" full of random prizes for class competitions.  

My policy was that students could use anything on the table at any time without asking me.  By the end of class, everything had to be returned to the table.  If something went missing, I never replaced it.  Of course, we mysteriously lost all our pencils by the end of the year, but that just meant the students didn't have any "grace" pencils and they had to remember their own!

I would encourage ANYONE to do something similar, even if it is not in Spanish.  You could customize this station with whatever students need in your class most commonly.  It never became a distraction or a problem in my room; the students who needed to use these items frequently came in a minute earlier to get them done before turning in their assignments.  All in all, it was a way for me to streamline the process of getting assignments organized and completed without ME having to do anything during class time.

#Teach2Teach Q1: The Balance

How do you balance the workload between teaching and planning? 

This is a question that I have grappled with every week since I began teaching.  There are thousands upon thousands of new, great, creative and inspiring ideas out there...and I, for one, have been known to spend hours upon hours just pondering the philosophy of what I do in my classroom and why.  But, when the bell rings and the students file in, at some point I am going to have to actually teach, explain, and model all these fantastic thoughts.  And, if I'm not careful, my passion for deep thoughts will impede my effectiveness as a teacher.

I hate that last sentence.  But it has been true at different times in my career.

So, here is my best advice for anyone embarking on this intimidating adventure of education:  prioritize.  You cannot do it all today.  You cannot do it all this week.  But you can do it all (to some degree) this year if you prioritize your goals.  Easier said than done, for sure. If I'm being honest, the following tips are best case scenarios for me...they don't always happen.  However, they have become vital to me this year in particular as I try to manage time with my 5 month old and time at school.  So, take everything with a grain of salt and fit it to your style, but if you're like me this might help you balance your enormous "To-Do" list:

1. In one sitting, plan out an entire "unit" (chapter of a textbook, project, etc).   As any good education major knows, start with the end in mind.  Focus on 3-5 objectives that are vital to your students' success.  Look at a calendar and vaguely map out how long you want to spend on each topic.  If you're new to teaching, this might be a MESS at first.  Just jot it down, even if it changes daily, to give yourself a timeline to work from.  I write down what formative assessments I think I'll need along the way (not specifics, just where I think I'll want to quiz) to give myself some short-term goals.  If I have any specific activities already in mind, I write those down too, but I don't spend time "lesson planning" per say.  Just over-arching themes here.  This is normally a Saturday or an evening a couple of days before I begin a unit.

Calendar in my classroom for student use.

2.  Now focus on step-by-step lessons for one day at a time. I know not everyone has to do this to be a good teacher, but I definitely did at the beginning (and still do when coming back from summer break, Christmas break, etc until I'm used to it again).  Using the general timeline you made for the whole unit, look at the activities you want to do on the first day.  I usually split mine up into a "Para Empezar", a few activities as a class and a "Tarea/Salida".  I go into school, sit at my desk, and open all my files and cabinets for this step.  I make my copies for the week.  I post as many details as possible on my Teacher Webpage.  Rarely do we get to everything I've planned for a day, so as I look at specific details for Day 2, I adjust.  When I first started teaching, this was something I did literally the night before a lesson.  Now, I can do most of my detail planning on Saturdays for the following week.  The more detailed I get at this step, the easier everything goes on the day of the lesson.

3.  Mentally plan to spend 1 evening a week at school. When I say evening, I mean an additional 2 hours after school.  I advertise to my students that on Thursdays from 3-4 I am theirs.  They can study with me, ask questions, make up assessments, work ahead...whatever they need.  Then, I usually stay until 5 working on my own organizational nightmares.  When I first started teaching, this was every night of every week until 6 or 7...or 10pm.  I simply cannot commit to that anymore, so I make stringent limits for myself.  This is not planning time; it is essentially additional teaching.

Baby Girl comes to Momma's study sessions.

Students at study session after school.

4.  Grade immediately. My policy has become that if I cannot grade it and get it back to them the next day, it is not worth assigning.  My first year, I was the teacher who put stacks of worksheets in a random desk drawer and ended up throwing them away the day before grades were due out of total frustration.  I've learned now that feedback must be immediate and consistent in order for it to affect learning.  So, when baby girl goes to sleep, Momma gets out a stack of exit tickets or quizzes and grades while she watches old Tonight Show episodes online.

First year frustration:  Why did I assign this nonsense?!

5.  Dream!  After you have mapped out your unit, zoomed in on what you will do tomorrow, set aside time for students, and graded what you've assigned..now you can change the world!  Or, at least, this is what I tell myself.  It's like a reward system:  if I've done the tedious items above, I will allow myself to #langchat, to read up on blogs (Maris Hawkins, Amy Lenord, Sr. Howard, yeah, I'm looking at you!), fantasize about future field trips and delve into what practices I've let slip into my routine that are not aimed at proficiency.  If I do not let myself get to this step, I wither away.  If I let myself start here, I'm about in tears by 2nd period because nothing seems to be going right.

Field trip to La Carniceria!!

As I look over what I've written, I'm amazed by how crazy it looks. But, it is honest.  I force myself to plan the little things (what I assume most people see as teaching) and reward myself by planning the big things (the things I LOVE to incorporate, but the things that are sometimes too huge to tackle everyday).  To teach, you must define what is most important for your students and put that first.  To teach effectively, happily, and for many years, you MUST define what energizes you and purposefully put doses of that into your life as well.  

Hall Passes

Many teachers I know have difficulty deciding how to monitor how often students are permitted to leave their classroom to retrieve forgotten homework, find their ID card, run to the bathroom or get a drink from the drinking fountain.  I have come up with a system that works well for me:  Boletos Gratuitos.  At the beginning of each semester, I give each student three boletos printed on neon colored paper.  They are to keep them in their classroom binder and have them in their possession each day.  If they forget a pencil or need to leave the classroom for any reason (including if they are tardy for any reason) they quietly put their name and the date on the back of the boleto and turn it in to their class period's tray.  If they run out of boletos they are no longer permitted to leave the classroom or if they must, then they are assigned a lunch detention.  If they keep boletos all semester without needing to use them they can turn them in for one point of extra credit at the end!

I have been using these for the past two years, and it has really cut down on unnecessary running in and out of the classroom.  What system do you use that holds students accountable for their classtime and yet still allows for mistakes?