[ola] Re: Progressions
- From: ANGELA STEPHENS <ASTEPH1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2013 15:11:39 -0800
Calysta et all,
I find that I too am leaning toward the UNIT driven class though it stresses
me out because I feel like I am not being "faithful" to the OWL though we do
aim for 100% Spanish and I do not have desks or chairs. Most of my kiddos have
no issues sitting on the floor when we sit and they absolutely love using the
small whiteboards for a variety of activities. The small whiteboards are
available through Carlex and Teacher's Discovery for fairly reasonable pricing.
We also use them as hard writing surfaces, so they are multi-purpose.
The grammar stuff is not an issue for me at this point because I am the only
Spanish teacher in my building, but I do worry about how the kids will
transition to the next level. From what I am seeing, my 6th graders are
adapting to the speaking and accepting the "lack of grammar instruction" much
better/easier than the 8th graders who spent time in the traditional classroom
style setting. For example, my 6th graders are always trying to tell me
stories about what happens in their lives in Spanish, even with their limited
Spanish vocabulary. They draw, act out, point, and mimic just like we really
do in authentic situations. One such story was told by a young lady who was
trying to tell me that her mom, her sister, and grandparents had gone to the
pier to watch the boats for someone's birthday and her mom turned quickly and
dropped her Bluetooth in the water. She knew azul and pointed to a tooth in
her mouth, I was quite confused but when she pointed to her ear, I finally
understood that she meant Bluetooth for her phone, and the story became funny
to all of us. We then were able to add vocabulary for cell phone and
technology and money, stuff we would never traditionally cover in an
exploratory level class. This story stemmed from the student next to her
mimicking that he likes to go fishing. Just the fact that kids are using the
language, without the fear of making mistakes or looking foolish/uncool, is so
awesome to me. This is what we all work so hard to accomplish. This makes
changing the "rule for teaching" so worth every sleepless night!
Thank you all for sharing in this journey!
Angie
From: ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Calysta Phillips
Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2013 1:07 PM
To: ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ola] Re: Progressions
Yes! I know I am NOT ALONE in doing a traditional UNIT driven class in the
CIRCLE. How do I know my circle is Unit driven? In Spanish and French 2 we are
wrapping up a "Doctor/reflexive verb/body parts" unit. In Spanish and French 1,
we are wrapping up "Classroom/Emotions/Prepositions of Location/estar/ir" Unit
(Avancemos 1, Unidad 2 anyone?)...While I left room for a lot of "extra" stuff
to come up, we were hanging ornaments on the very tips of my predetermined
branches...
The good news???? I FINALLY GOT RID OF MY DESKS!!!! :) I did it, Darcy!
The bad news???? Still not letting it go, letting the Question Hook Sequence
happen... feeling "obliged" to my department that they arrive at levels 3 and
up with a knowledge of the grammar....
Who else is teaching traditional "UNITS" in the circle... bringing the agenda
to the table? I have several things stopping me:
Fear
Department Alignment
Lack of knowledge/comfort with ACTFL levels and progressions to really be able
to monitor my students that way.
Would love to know who else is in my boat. Thanks! Calysta
On Sat, Dec 14, 2013 at 4:21 PM, Call Daniel
<dcall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:dcall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Very helpful, Ricardo. I still feel that I could use a lot of practice and
mentoring with this, but every little bit helps.
Dan
From: ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>] On Behalf Of
Ricardo Linnell
Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2013 11:46 AM
To: ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [ola] Progressions
Hey Everybody,
I wanted to take a moment to talk about progressions. I am sure that quite a
few of you understand how to use them in your classes, but there are probably
as many or more teachers who are unsure of exactly what it is, much less have
the confidence to unleash it in your classes. I felt like that for a long time,
until I was able to visualize it and draw it. A progression as a visual, looks
a lot like this (see photo). You have the central topic, either dictated by
vocabulary from that day, the previous day or such. For many of you who have
been through one of Darcy's workshops, you probably remember the types of
questions that we used in one part of the workshop. Creating relevant questions
around the topic is a great way to generate interest and motivation to speak.
IE: we are wrapping up a Canned Food Drive at my school and so we counted our
cans and it was just an instant, built-in topic for the class. I asked them to
discuss in groups the reasons for giving food during the holiday season. I gave
them a couple of minutes to speak and then asked 2 or 3 of them to tell the
class their reasoning. We got time, money, resources, things...etc out of the
students as far as vocabulary were concerned. I asked the students to discuss
the different types of resources that they felt they could offer to those in
need. Again, more discussion. Finally, the last question was if they had a
friend, family or if they themselves ever had a need to rely on the Oregon Food
Bank or another organization for food and resources. If so, to explain what
that experience was like. This all happened within the course of no more than
15 minutes. It can go longer or shorter, depending on the amount of questions,
activities or depth to which the class goes. I hope that everyone has a
wonderful holiday and vacation. I hope this helps.
Ricardo
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