Mis Clases Locas

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Para-Empezar-Musica-miercoles-for-middle-school-2052383

Thanks to a question from a reader I have a new younger sister to add to theMúsica miércoles family Música miércoles for middle school. Have you been interested in trying Música miércoles, but worried that many Latin pop videos are not appropriate enough for your school or age group? Then this is for you! Here are 25 songs that I think would be great for any age group.There are 25 music bell ringers for Spanish class, with a younger audience in mind. These songs have been picked with videos that should be pretty clean. Many of these songs are taken from other Para Empezar products, so if you have them all, you will see a lot of overlap with this one.

As a side note, if you ever see an error in something that I have posted, or find a dead link, PLEASE email me to fix it. I am more that happy to do so, but as you know videos and links change daily. I am very appreciative of those that have helped me keep items as up to date as possible!

Also, to celebrate back to school for many this week the

Back to School: 1st Week Bundle is 20% off today and tomorrow. Get everything you need for back to school in one download.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-1st-Week-Bundle-2031849

Back to planning!

a portion of my own binder collection

This year I have seen many people hopping in the interactive notebook train. While my crafty heart thinks they look like a lot of fun, I have decided to stay firmly in binderland. For those of you who have read for a while, you know I have a slight binder obsession. This is how I personally stay organized with lesson materials, sub plans, and everything else. It is also the method that I have used the three years to try and help students stay (or learn to be) organized. For those of you who are 100% paperless, cheers to you, but I am not there yet. I actually though of abandoning it all together with 1:1 and not giving a lot of paper materials, but posts like the one below from a former student remind me why we keep on bindering.

a former student made my day telling me how I taught her to use binders
(notice she is taking Spanish in college:)

Why I use binders:

It gives freshman a tool to be successful - My 8th grade Spanish I teacher required a very specific binder that she collected frequently looking for exact notes. While I am not this extreme with my own students, she taught me how to label and sort everything from her class in a manner that made sense. She taught us how to use this organized tool to keep our lives together so we would have everything together to be able to study for cumulative exams. From then on I had a separate organized binder for every high school and college course. A lot of people just expect freshman to have it together and not loose things, but not many actually give them TOOLs to be successful. This is just one option that they can possibly continue with in the future.
It is a life-long organizational skill - Post high school I do not think your office boss or university professor will be too impressed with you cutting out the meeting agenda and gluing in a decorated office composition book. Making a shiny binder with printed dividers on the other hand looks a tad more acceptable in the real world. (Yes, I know that many people have have great results with interactive notebooks, but this is not a skill that I see transfering as well outside of a language class).

Binder Organization

In my syllabus I request the following from each student (and also tell them if they can not get it I have extras).

1in. basic 3 ring binder
8 tab dividers
loose paper

If you expect students to put items in a 3 ring binder, you should hole punch everything you give them (setting on the copy machine) & also have a 3 hole punch available for students. I have a tray of loose paper as well, so if a student is out, they can just get more without disrupting anything.
Every year I have changed what the labeled binder tabs are. I just know I usually have more than five, so I learned to request the packs with 8 tabs. This year I am planning on having the following (they will be in Spanish):

Para Empezar (bell ringers),
Handouts (helpful resources such as unit plans, syllabus, useful expressions)
Vocab (where they write down target story structures, new words to them or words they are interested in - not given any lists),
Notes (for the occasional "write this down" moments, NOT extensive grammar notes)
Reading (for choice reading log & activities concerning novels)
Listening (materials for movies and El Internado)
Writing (to keep free writes to see how they have grown)
Paper (extra loose leaf paper)

I hand out this mini supply list day 1.
Week 2 we have a set binder day where I show students how to set up a binder including labeling tabs and showing them how items go Behind the tab. At first students will constantly ask which section items go in, but they will get the hang of it.
I also plan on teaching digital organization with Google Drive's folders.

Some students really embrace having a way to keep everything together since we do not use a textbook. Other will just shove everything in the front folder by the end of the year, but at least they have everything together!

Thank you to @MmeFarab for the request for this post. Is there something you would like me to write about? Please let me know!

How do your students stay organized?

Besides my Spanish Classroom Library Tour this year, the only other time I did a classroom tour was my 2nd year teaching here. Here is a little update on my classroom at my new school. As you can see, when I first visited the room was jam packed with large desks, 4 filing cabinets, 4 closets, a TV, overhead cart and lots more.

the classroom when I visited last spring

I asked for tables with chairs instead, and now have some heavy duty old science tables. Eventually I would like to try deskless, so getting chairs is my baby steps in the right direction. As a new teacher at the school I do not want to freak everyone out right away.

Here are a few pictures of my classroom so far.

The Back Wall

The whole back wall, including the proficiency rubric from the Creative Language Class & Instagram Photo Booth. Close us of the split bulletin boards are below.

Rejoinder Word Ladders from Amy Lenord

A Spain bulletin board that just came together from all things I have collected from my semester and summer living in Spain, as well as pictures from travel magazines. The only cost was the fabric background. I hot glued(which I use for everything) yarn to each city & made descriptions for cities with my classroom library template. The map itself was a free National Geographic map from a school library, that I just laminated. The España photo collage is something I made a few years ago for my class on Shutterfly with a coupon and has all my personal pictures from all over the country.

The Side Wall

Class work and reminder board using electrical tape. In the left is my absent student folder made with file folders.

High Frequency Verb Wall adapted from Mike Peto's sweet 16. I used my laminator & hot glue to make it last. I plan to take the English words off once students are comfortable with them.

The Far Back Corner - Classroom Library

See the full Classroom Library tour. Since then, I have added throw pillows, 33 Razones Para Leer, which I printed in color and had laminated, and more free National Geographic maps. (Mexico since Spanish 2 will start reading Tumba and Central America since Spanish 3 will start reading Robo en la Noche set in Costa Rica).

The Entrance

There is an information area for school related things like lunch menu, emergencies, news, NHS, etc. There are 3 hall passes with magnets by the door with instructions. The flip open/closed sign is a school wide procedure for academic zone.

The Front of the Room

The front board, which I purposely tried to keep clean and not too busy. There are just Question word posters from the Creative Language Class, a Día de Los Muertos calendar that was a gift from students and a banner I made my 1st year teacher, that I can not find he template fit anymore! The left board will be used for the projector and the right for teaching.

The View from my Desk

The tables are ready for the 1st day with Martina's seating cards set out & markers to make 1st day name cards.

You will notice I do not have a picture of my desk yet, probably because that is the area that was last priority and still needs work. :)
Now I want to see your room!

Wonderful Resources

Question word posters from the Creative Language Class

Proficiency Wall Rubric from the Creative Language Class

Rejoinder Word Ladders from Amy Lenord

High Frequency Verb Wall adapted from Mike Peto's sweet 16.

Charging Station Sign

Instagram Photo Booth

33 Razones Para Leer Poster

Library Labels

1st day seating cards from Martina Bex

I am pumped for the first week of school, how about you? One of the things that I am most excited/nervous about is my first week of baile viernes with a new school. I just hope they embrace it as much as my old students did. I LOVED seeing other teachers tweet and post about their #baileviernes, so please keep it up and share what video you are using so I can add it to the playlist. Here is Miss Bolter's 7th grade class doing baile viernes at warp speed!

After posting Música miércoles for middle school, I had some requests for baile viernes specifically for middle school age students. Well ask and you shall receive, here is Baile viernes for middle school. This product has 15 songs in Spanish geared toward middle school, but will work with any age. Many are Just Dance videos, which I have found provide less distractions for the younger kids.

Enjoy #baileviernes!

I am now more than half way through my first week at the new school. Overall things are going great, but I though I would share some flops, tweaks, and hits from my 1st Week of Spanis h Class - Daily Plans, Unit 1 & 1st Week Logistics.

Cute 1st day gift from the PTO (inside is a can of pop & chocolate:)

Flops

If you are told the morning of the 1st day of school that you need to facilitate one of your classes getting logged into a difficult system with a 20 digit individual code (*cough Infinite Campus), just say no. The biggest flop of the week was trying to throw kids into something with tech that I knew nothing about. My unpreparedness threw the class into unorganized chaos and kind of spoiled the 1st day of school magic for all of us. If it is not absolutely required and necessary, stay away from boring, confusing tech log ins on day one.

Lesson Learned: avoid tech log ins day 1

The Instagram Photo Booth was kind of a flop day 1. No one wanted to be the one to start to use it! Granted I did not know these kids and they did not know me, so they may have been nervous and just wanted to go to their seats and feel safe and comfortable. I could tell there were many who wanted to use it, but wanted a friend to use it with them, so they were not putting themselves out there alone. Over the next 2 days it has gotten a lot more use and I think it will be a fun prop that will stay out most of the year.

Lesson Learned: save the Photo Booth until later in the week.

Tweaks

If I were to do the week over, I would have had Musicuentos Talk Talk (or sent it home to read with the Parent Newsletter& Syllabus) about proficiency before setting the kids loose on the Proficiency Puzzle learning to distinguish proficiency levels. I had no idea coming in what the upper level student's exposure had been to the ideas of proficiency and performance, and did not realize we would all be starting from the ground up. Those who were more self motivated did great in pairs, but the ones who need more hand holding struggled and wanted to give up during the stations. Based on Rachel's great suggestion, I think later this week I will print out one per student, for them to then process on their own, and glue to keep in their binders as a resource.

Lesson Learned: Give students more background on the terms before setting them loose on the Proficiency Puzzle.

I tried to do a version of Ben Slavic's circling with balls and it just did not work as well as I had hoped. In the future I would have students move their chairs in a circle so there are less distractions being at grouped tables facing each other. With kids not used to circling, I should have set more expectations before beginning and created an environment better conducive to conversation.

Lesson Learned: I need to set more expectations and the environment for successful personalized questions and circling.

Hits
As always Name Game Speedball was a major hit with the freshman. They love having the chance to move around and compete with the other classes day 1. I also sneakily get to hear all names many times in a row as they try to beat their own or another classes' record. This is the reason for a Spanish 1 student leaving my class PUMPED and loving Spanish class.

Lesson Learned: Name Game Speedball is a keeper & I need to continue to provide movement breaks for active classes.

We had a student birthday on day 2 in level one, that I knew about because I had looked up and added all class birthdays for the month to the calendar. Seeing a student beam as they got serenaded with the newly learned happy birthday song in Spanish, just warmed my heart. It was also a great chance to build class community and learn a new song the first week.

Lesson Learned: Never let a student birthday go by unnoticed.

What were your flops, tweaks & hits as you started school?

Dear teacher trying something new this year,

Look at you go! You are a rockstar for realizing that you should make a change and actually trying it. Since you know better you have an obligation to do better. You have seen the light and are charging full speed ahead towards something you have never tried before.

You have crossed the line into some possibly scary waters. The old way was safe. It was easy. It was how you were taught and is all you ever knew. Until suddenly your world was turned upside down. Someone showed you something life changing like proficiency, comprehensible input, genius hour, or anything else wonderful from #langchat. You slowly sipped the kool-aid, scoured amazing blogs, planned like crazy, spent half your paycheck at TPT, and then spent the summer a nervous wreck waiting for the first day of school.

Then came the first attempt at the new thing. Maybe it was the best day of your life and you wanted to scream it from the mountaintops that you have found the magical secret to foreign language teaching. Or maybe it flopped so bad that you had to choke back tears as you tried to put the pieces back together of your broken plan. If it was the first thing you better all share with us exactly how you did it so we can all try our darnedest to replicate the perfect recipe. If it was the second, please know this.

WE HAVE ALL BEEN THERE. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

F - First
A - Attempt
I - In
L - Learning

how you felt after the 1st week of school...or a failed lesson

Just because that one class may have failed, it does not mean you should quit the profession. Remember that even a poorly executed lesson using some scary new technique, is probably better than your 15 year old textbook/workbook combo and memorizing verb charts. (AKA my class my first year teaching three years ago). I do not have all the answers, but I do know I am sure glad I keep making scary leaps, day after day, and year after year. If you don't take that first leap off the edge, how are you ever going to know if you can fly?

Have a piece of chocolate, take a deep breath and try again for a better tomorrow.

Learning and growing every day,
Allison

We did our first ever story in Spanish 1 and it was awesome. I was nervous trying a story for the first time with a new group, but once again Martina Bex's detailed plans helped lay a solid foundation. After our week 1 focusing on procedures, proficiency and positive people, week 2 we did a variation to Martina's Dice (says) unit.

It was very helpful to actually go through the expectations for story asking in advance, so that everyone was on the same page. We started with just 3 basic expectations: use confused signal when they do not understand, respond when a question is asked, and respond appropriately as a class when a new detail is introduced (ooo, ahhh, ect). Last year I jumped straight into novels, and we kind of missed the story asking basics, so this year we are trying to take it a little slower.

Also, last year as a newbie, I used to cling to the story outlines, poorly forcing stories in a certain direction. For our first try I really let the kids take the reigns in leading where it would go, while just trying to get in repetitions of our target structures (this is, a girl, a boy & calls him/her self). They Loved having control and really surprised me with their creativity and enthusiasm, even the quiet early morning class. I think the secret weapon that really helped was I got out a prop to start with, a cape. In both classes the enthusiastic boys embraced having a new identity with the help of their cape.

1st hour used the cape and came up with the story Jared el vampiro. I need to start having class jobs, but for that day once we finished we had a couple minutes left of class, so I asked everyone to write down as much as they could from our story, both for themselves and for me to remember what happened. I happen to have prep right after that class, so I quickly compiled a simplified version of their story into a typed document. We went a little too far out of what we have studied so far adding in descriptions, but since we used cognates, it stayed comprehensible. I then put it into a storyboard to use the next day as reading practice. You can download the storyboard here - Jared el vampiro.

Jared el vampiro & Taylor Swift

The other class decided that the caped muchacho was Batman and came up with an equally entertaining story Batman y Rachel. I created a storyboard for them as well. Feel free to use theses stories for emergency Spanish 1 sub plans! In this class we did not have any girl volunteers, but instead a boy who wanted to play the girl (who then got a wig, which actually completely made the story). Both classes flew through the storyboards the next day since they knew the story so well already. I also printed the other classes storyboards for extra practice, and so they could see what the other class came up with. Their reading confidence has gone through the roof!

Batman y "Rachel"

I am excited for more stories to come this year!

Sometime this summer I first saw the adorable Lil' Libros board books and knew I had to have them for my little guy. As I have mentioned before I am working hard to try and raise my son bilingual. As a non native speaker, with a husband who took just two years of Spanish in high school, I know I am fighting an uphill battle. I try to do everything possible to surround him with as much Spanish as possible, and this means building a Spanish library at home. I use many of the same tips I have shared getting books in Spanish for home.

The issue is many books in Spanish in my area are just translations of popular books in English, devoid of any culture. What I love most about the Lil' Libros books is how culture is the center of book, not just an after thought. From Frida, to Guadalupe and La Llorona, culture is the heart of the beautiful books. Each title centers on a beginning reading concept: Lotería focuses on first words, Zapata on colors, Lucha Libre on body parts and more.

When I first saw the beautiful covers online, I had hoped that these books would have a story line and could be a part of my Spanish classroom library. While I feel they could work in an elementary setting, I think the board book aspect would really make older kids feel babyish using them. Also, the focus on basic concepts, while perfect for tiny readers, may be too simplistic for older learners. I hope that someday, they will make more expanded storybook versions with these deep cultural story lines.

Overall, the books above are now a part of the regular story time rotation at home with my smallest Spanish student. He loves the bright colors (especially in his favorite, Zapata) and the toughness stands up to his rough toddler handling. Thank you Lil' Libros and I would highly recommend them for a little Spanish learner in your life!

My little reader in his favorite chair

On a side note, I feel like my hard work is finally paying off with the little guy since when he is thirsty, he now screams AGUA, AGUA!

Disclosure: The company sent me the books above. All of the ideas and opinions are my own.

Last Friday I got a great surprise in the weekly school newsletter. I was voted positive teacher of the week by the staff and students. Besides making me feel welcome at a new school, it really reminded me how great it is when someone recognizes you in a positive way. I decided to try to add more positive reinforcement in our classroom routines.

Positive Tickets

I was looking for a new positive reinforcement when I cam across a post from a while ago, Martina Bex's Chiles. Martina also just posted some great ideas for using positive tickets to purchase positive phone calls home or time sitting a comfy chair. Here is how the positive tickets work in my class.

I printed the tickets on a different color for each level. (I have seen other teachers use carnival tickets or other tokens).
I explained that tickets can be earned for: being on task, replying in full sentences, volunteering, going the extra mile, etc. Once they get one, they must write their name, class and date on it.
Tickets can be either be saved & collected for future (to be determined) prizes OR put in the drawing of the week.

Tickets earned this week can be put in the basket for a drawing Friday to sit in one of our comfy chairs for the entire following (homecoming) week.
I would love more ideas of positive experiences (not things) that tickets can be used for.

Positive Validations

One of my early blog posts detailed how I use positive validations in the classroom. Everyone loves getting "2 snaps and a power whoosh" after volunteering to lead the VIERNES chant or being the special person. Students also love creating new ones in Spanish!

El Pingüino

El Pingüino keeps students in Spanish

I loved Cythnia Hitz post about her strategy using Donkey jote to keep students in the target language, so I decided to try it out myself. I inherited a mini stuffed penguin in my classroom and he became our animal of choice. El Pingüino does not like to hear English, so he moves to sit on the table of someone speaking English. Since penguins can not fly, he must be picked up and moved if someone else speaks English. The goal is to stay in Spanish. If the penguin is on your desk at the end of class, you get to show the teacher that you CAN speak Spanish either at the end of class, or at the end of the day. I try to keep El Pingüino positive as just a friendly reminder. It is nice that the students police themselves and pay attention to their use of the target language.

La Persona Especial

One of the best changes to Spanish 1 I have made this year is starting a version of Bryce Hedstrom's Special Person interviews. Each day one student volunteers to be our special person. They can either sit on the special stool or stay in their seat. The plan is to go through the whole class once with basic questions and then go through again adding more questions. It is such a great way to practice the informal you, I and he/she forms of very common verbs and question words, without having a whole basic about me unit like I used to do. For example:

Teacher - "Jake, how old are you?"

Student - "I am 16."

Teacher -"Class, how old is Jake?"

Class - "Jake is 16."

Since in Spanish you have age, this verb can then be used to learn all about the person. In the future I would like to do a little quiz where students describe their classmates.

I love how much we have all learned about each other in Spanish, and how it really does positively recognize one particular student at a time.

What are some of your positive classroom routines?

Here is what my students said about me that made my day!

I just decided that level 1 students at the beginning of the year are some of my favorite language learners. I know that at many schools level one is reserved for the new teachers, with the seasoned educators stealing all of the cream-of-the-crop upper levels. While I do love having high level discussions in Spanish IV where students actually want to be there, there is something so special about new language learners. Here are a few reasons why level 1 (or any novice language learner) can rock.

Everyone starts fresh

There is nothing better than being able to start with a clean slate. As a new teacher in the school, other levels constantly talk about last year and how this is not how they did it before. Change is new and scary for everyone and coming in to rock their language boat makes some students uneasy. Granted some students may have some exposure to the language in the past, but for the most part in level 1 everyone gets to start together from zero.

Student Energy

In my level 1 classes the energy is usually through the roof. Freshman boys have an insane amount of energy to burn, and if funneled in the right direction it can result in greatness. Everything is new, cool, and exciting at the start, so the challenge is to keep this positive excitement all year long. Also, you have to let them use this energy with TPR, moving around the room, going outside, baile viernes, or impromptu races in the hallway while learning the phrase "he runs."

The rapid progress

Since novices are parrots and repeat everything you say, the progress at the start looks amazing. It is so great for student confidence when they see they can produce 60+ word free writes in five minutes on day 14 of school. This very limited and repetitive vocabulary gives early language students great early success, especially using comprehensible input methods!

No one has killed their spark

It is so sad to see upper levels students enter class on the first day already defeated. Someone has already told them that "you are bad at Spanish," or "you can't learn a new language, because I took x years and did not learn a thing." Maybe they had a legacy methods teacher who drilled them on verb charts and long memorized boring vocab lists, and are scared to death that you want them to actually communicate through speaking or writing. As a new language learner, the language possibilities are endless and you have the chance to keep that zeal and enthusiasm alive.

You get to be a part of something pretty special

Hearing the first words and phrases of a baby language learner is like hearing the first words of your child. (or the first Spanish words from your baby boy, which happen to be agua and más). The pride you have for their progress just warms your heart. It is a chance to see the start of what could be their amazing language learning journey.

So all of you level 1 teachers wishing for the day when you get to teach higher level, take heart. Being there from the beginning is a pretty great place to be. Or if you are like me and a department of 1, you get to teach them all :)

It is homecoming week around here, so things are spirited and kids have a lot of energy. Spanish 1 just finished Martina Bex's telling time story, which was a great way to introduce the concept of telling time through a story. They also worked on making their school schedules and comparing them with others. We were left with one and a half class periods this week, and that is even you even call Friday's early out with Parade, Pep Assembly and Homecoming a class. I knew that starting something new at the end of this week would not be successful, so I decided to expand a little more on telling time in a way that students could move around and stay active. I already plan on having students complete this activity, so I can formatively asses students asking and answering with time, but I needed something else as expansion, so the answer was Stations. I know that this is not true comprehensible input teaching, but it will give students more opportunities to practice something that I have found can be very confusing for many students.

I made this basic Station document to post on Schoology as instructions, as well as plan to have instructions posted around the room. There are just four activities this time, Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. A big shout out to the resources used from Zachary Jones & Señor Jordan. I am so thankful for those out there who share so freely, and make last minute lesson planing much easier. I have mini dry erase clocks that I bought in the dollar store one year before school started and a big clock with movable hands that students can use to practice with each other. If you do not have these, students could always just draw their own clocks to practice.

What are other activities you have found work well during crazy weeks?

Lista lunes: Day of the Dead 15

It has been a while since I posted a lista lunes, so now that it is officially October, it is the perfect time for some of my favorite Day of the Dead resources. Here are some past resources I have used, as well as some new finds for this year.

Book of Life - Novice Movie Guide

This guide is based from the amazing Kara Jacob's intermediate level guide. If you teach higher level students, her guide is perfect! I bought the movie in English online and show it in Spanish (with English subtitles in level 1).

Cultural Reading in Spanish - Mexico & Day of the Dead

I made this reading to go along with the novel Tumba. It would be a good reading to introduce a little bit about Mexico with a brief overview of the Day of the Dead.

Altar Infographic

Altares Video & Infographic

Video & Embedded Reading activities for Day of the Dead

Lista lunes - Day of the Dead 2014

All Posts for Day of the Dead

All Posts for the novel Tumba by Mira Canion (which is a perfect way to have students learn about the holiday!)

My Pinterest Board for Cultural Holidays

UPDATED: Dustin Williamson's New Day of the Dead Unit

Also, I would like to add that if you happen to teach at a Catholic school, like I used to, this is the perfect time to add in connections to All Souls' Day, and All Saints' Day, emphasizing the celebration of those who have passed away. I personally used to make a huge 3 way Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Catholic celebrations that fall during the same time frame. Just some ideas that came up from a Twitter conversation last week!

Board in my Room

Cute board in my room made by my amazing senior assistant in just 1 class period. Have I mentioned that if there is anyway you can get a student helper in class, make it happen. She has been such a blessing so far this year!

How are you planning on teaching the Day of the Dead? Share your resources in the comments!

I am pretty pumped for the IWLA (Iowa World
Language Association) conference today. Follow along with #IWLA Friday & Saturday on Twitter for some PD from your couch (or classroom). Our keynote speaker is 2013 ACTFL teacher of the year Noah Geisel and I can not wait to learn from him and and all of the other great presenters and world language educators. As a department of one I live for the face to face language teacher interactions and sharing.

If you happen to be here in Des Moines I will be presenting two back to back sessions and I would love to see you there!

Session 4 - Música en la Clase at 2:50 in Davenport/Dubuque Room

Get ready to dance as a part of this revamped *All Star Session from last year. Please do not be like the lady last year who stated "I don't dance."

Session 5 - Sizzling & Savory Reading at 4:10 in Sioux City Room

As a part of my 2014 IWLA grant to buy books in Spanish for my classroom library, I agreed to share what I did with the money. There are a whole buffet of ideas to incorporate reading books and novels in the classroom.

To see the presentations and handouts from IWLA 15 please go to the Presentations tab or click this link.

IWLA 15 Logo

Also, in honor of #iwla15 everything in my TPT Store will be 20% off Friday & Saturday.

Yeah for language teacher conferences!

As you can probably tell from my obscene amount of tweet the last couple days, I spent my weekend at the Iowa World Language Association Conference, better known as #IWLA15. I tweeted so much that I won a prize, so check out #IWLA15 on Twitter for some free PD from your couch. Also, check out the #iwla15 - 2015 Conference Presentations Pinterest Board and follow IWLA on Pinterest. You can find my presentations and handouts on my Presentations Tab.

Thank you to everyone who came to my sessions, especially my fun group who really got into the ketchup song for #baileviernes! I am very humbled when people tell me thank you for sharing on this blog, because I am just trying to pay it forward. My favorite part of the conference was just sitting down and talking to the people that I tweet with everyday. Coming to a conference alone is so much more fun, when you can finally meet the people you have been connecting with online for so long, including our keynote speaker, the very easy to talk to @SenorG.

I have so may takeaways that I am sure there will more posts to come this week with additional reflections and ideas as I decompress from this past weekend. Thanks to the idea from Muscuentos, here are five sound bytes from #IWLA15.

Keep learning and growing every day!
Allison

As a #deptof1 (department of one), the best part of conferences for me is the chance to talk with my virtual PLC and colleagues I wish I worked with everyday face to face. If you are still hesitating on joining Twitter and participating (or even lurking) in #langchat, DO IT!

Flashback to three years ago at my first #IWLA conference at the start of my second year teaching. It the time we had just gotten new textbooks that I was tied to at least (loosely) following. I devoured blogs, but was a passive online observer, just taking, as I did not feel I had anything worthy enough to contribute. As a department of one I came alone, stayed with a friend and just quietly attended sessions. I chatted with former classmates from college, but other than that, I showed up, tried to absorb some knowledge, and then left to eat with my non language teacher friend who lived in town. I had no idea I had barely scratched the surface of a conference experience.

**Enter my online #langchat PLN.

This year my conference experience was SO MUCH BETTER. Even though I drove and came alone, it was a like coming to a reunion with many people I had never actually talked to face to face. Since we had chatted and shared resources and ideas online, it was like catching up with old friends. Having an online presence, as well as presenting, gives people a reason to come up and talk to you! Also, live tweeting the event using the hash tag, connects you even more to attendees. You may find yourself looking at the person next to you in a session and realizing, oh! you are @SenoritaGeorge! Two years ago I would have never guessed that I would have multiple conversations with a keynote speaker (who called me mis clases locas).

#IWLA15

Presenting (with an awkward hand) - c/o @profeklein
#baileviernes,
the wonderful Elizabeth - c/o @SraDentlinger
& the logo she created for #iwla15 - c/o @IWLA

So, if you are a conference attendee, here is some advice:

Before the conference, join Twitter and participate in #langchat or another chat related to your interests.
Present at the conference! Even if you are a new teacher you have a voice that should be heard and ideas that need to be shared.
Use the conference hash tag during the conference to share your takeaways. (So we can all share in the learning as well! - check out Laura's awesome storify of #IWLA15! )
Read the conference hash tag and connect with those people in person while you have a chance.
Attend the social gatherings of the conference and chat with someone new. (This is how I casually met a teacher who lives in my town with young kids as well. We exchanged phone numbers with the plan to set up a summer Spanish story time/play group for our bilingual babies).
Enter raffle drawings & you may come home with swag. (I was on fire with Fair trade booth & Target gift cards and an IWLA T-shirt).
Do not be intimidated by anyone, we are all teachers. Talk to your presenters, keynote, and bloggers you follow and tell they what you think and ask questions.

What advice do you have for attending conferences?

Today our school had the great privilege of hosting educational author and speaker Todd Whitaker. This post was original going to be a book review for, What Great Teachers Do Differently, but now that he has presented, it will be a combination of what I learned from him in person, and from the book. If you would like to find more about him, check out his website and join his 63,000+ follower on Twitter @ToddWhitaker.

First of all, it was pretty neat that as a tiny school that plays 8 man football with graduating classes around 35, there were over 350 teachers from across Iowa in our gym today. As the hosts we were front row, meaning we heard personal stories from Todd and got our books signed like fan girls. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak in person I would highly recommend it, since this was the best school wide PD I have ever been a part of. You can find his handout here and check out #wgtddunk on Twitter to see what stuck with us.

front row perks include chatting with the speaker while he eats his bagel for breakfast

In the book What Great Teachers Do Differently, 17 items that matter most for effective teachers are addressed. If you would like to see them all in detail, you should read the book! I have so many takeaways, so I will just address a few key concepts that I would like to implement moving forward this year and beyond.

No one gets a degree in education to become and average teacher. Be Great.
Be the kind of teacher you would want to send your own children to. For these students this is the first time around.
Care & Try. Make it cool to care.
It is people, not programs. The quality of the teachers determines our perception of the quality of the school. It is never about programs. Acronyms will come and go, but great teachers will carry a school forward for years to come. Great teachers do their jobs and do them well. They adapt to change without loosing sight of what really matters.
The most valuable gift a leader can give others is confidence.
Greet your students every time you see them, every single day. This might be the time that matters.
Treat every student as if they are good.
If you expect respect, you must give it 10/10 days to every student.
If you want better answers, ask better questions. Look in the mirror if you do not get the result you had hoped for. Stop the blame game.
In a great teacher's classroom nothing a random. It can seem random to students, but everything is planned.
Raise the Praise, minimize the criticize. Start Positive referrals, that are sent to administrators, who then call parents with the good news. You can NEVER praise enough, but for this praise to be effective it must be:

Authentic
Specific
Immediate
Clean (no negatives attached)
Private

Overall, I loved the positive approach to teaching and running an effective classroom. One of the biggest struggles for many teachers, especially those who are new is classroom management. I loved Todd's reference that it is all about having "class." The only variable we can control is ourselves, in how we plan and how we react to situations. The key word was to Ignore (but to be confused with avoid) undesirable behaviors. Students are looking carefully to how we handle any disruptions. The key is to "shift the monkey," so we are not holding the burden, but rather the students are. Approach negative people by "sidling up" next to them, which gets rid of the false barrier of a line in the sand such as a table or desk.

The blank envelope
One example of behavior management was after a student acts out, hand them a blank sealed envelope with paper inside that must be delivered to another teacher. As they return, catch them privately in the hallway to talk. This gives both the student and teacher time to cool off and think, and gets rid of any audience to address the situation.

Remember, as a teacher, you do important work. It is not the hours that we put in that wear us down, but rather the intensity of our job. We put our hearts and souls into our students and teaching day after day, but it is exactly this EFFORT that makes a Great teacher. We have a choice when we walk in the school each day if we are going to hide behind our desk, or if we are going to enthusiastically greet every person we see. What choice will you make?

Spanish 3 is just starting a unit on immigration using the novel Esperanza by Carol Gaab. This group is new to novels, so we are starting easy to build confidence, while digging into complex ideas in Spanish, such as immigration and poverty. Here is my post from last year about teaching the novel Esperanza. This immigration simulation would also be great before starting the novel Cajas de Cartón.

Last year at #CSCTFL15 I was at a session (ok multiple sessions) with the wonderful Carrie Toth @SenoraCMT. She brought up a simple but powerful way to get students to really start thinking about immigration, and has given me permission to share it here. The basic idea is to divide students into two "countries," such as the United States & your country of study. Those in the "United States" are given comfortable accommodations, including food and technology. Those in the other country have nothing. This could also be used to exemplify the refugee crisis in Europe. This small simulation leads to discussions in the target language about immigration.

To do this small immigration simulation, do the following:

Print large flags or signs for each "country" you are representing & post them in two distinct areas of the room.

U.S. - In the comfy corner with donuts, cookies or another snack.
Guatemala - On the floor & everything they have, phones included was put in the back of the room to simulate having nothing.

Print small flags or names of countries to hand to students as they enter class. Hand these out at the door to randomly divide the students into two groups.
Post instructions on the board, like those below. (I know that these are in English, but this way students could quickly see their directions, without getting confused by the language. The goal of the lesson was not I can understand directions in Spanish, but instead the bigger picture simulation).

Allow students to enjoy their area for a while and realize what we were doing. (This is when those in Guatemala may yell "Soy pobre, quiero una galleta!")
Have a class discussionin the target language. Ask each group how they are feeling. Those chowing down on snacks in the US think everything is great (except maybe some tenderhearted souls who feel bad and want to share. Bless their hearts:) This brings up WHY the student would personally want to leave their country and move to another (food, clean water, more opportunities, jobs.etc). For many students they do not have the prior knowledge to put themselves in the position of an immigrant and this provides that background experience.
Continue the simulation as long as you see fit. I only used it as a "hook" and then let everyone have a cookies, but it could be continued throughout reading as well.
Later when reading as a class you can then reference this small simulation, reminding students that the character is risking everything to immigrate, for some of the same reasons they wanted to immigrate to the other "country" in class.

"The United States" - with cookies & comfortable seating

"Guatemala" - the floor of the classroom

Enjoying the luxury of the U.S.

upset and hungry in "Guatemala"

Here are other things we have done so far in our unit before starting Esperanza.

Students completed a reading activity to learn about Guatemala by Martina Bex - La Geografía de Guatemala.
As a class we completed a song activity by Sharon Birch for the song Ave Que Emigra by Gaby Moreno, which shows scenes of Guatemala and has themes of immigration.
**New this year we watched the hour long documentary Living on One. It is in mostly English, but it takes place in Guatemala and really made students think about the extremity of the poverty that many people live in.
I presented a Student Slideshow made by a former student that went on a mission trip with the International Samaritan organization in Guatemala in the summer of 2014.
The immigration simulation.
Which Way Home - We are currently watching this great documentary about child immigrants from Central America. Last year we watched it after reading, but I think it is even better before the book, since it gives a great visual image of the lives these children have in Central America and the treacherous journey the endure for the chance at a better life. Check out this post about why I would recommend using the English subtitles to get the most out of the movie.

What do you use to talk about immigration?

For more myself than anything I want to put together all of the best resources that people have shared for teaching the show El Internado: Laguna Negra. Here was my plan for Internado episode 1, and today I will be sharing what resources I used to teach episode 2. As I have mentioned before I bought the entire series on EBay, but it is currently also on Netflix. We watch and discuss in my Spanish 3 & 4 classes on Fridays with Spanish subtitles. We go pretty slow at the start, stopping Movie Talk style to discuss, retell and do comprehension and extension activities. The holy grail of El Internado activities can be found on Mike Peto's blog.

Here is Mike Peto's complete guide to episode 2. There are many power points to introduce target structures, which should be used to pre-teach before watching. Also, Dustin Williamson created 4 super Graphic novels to accompany the episode that should be use Before watching the scenes mentioned. Here was what we used this year for episode 2, which took 3 hour long classes.

Before starting episode

Review of episode 1 - power point focusing on the verb dejar
Graphic novel 1 Breakfast scene (@minute 5)
Culture Expansion - Desayuno
episode 2 target structures should be introduced before the scenes

During episode breaks and activities

episode 2.1 viewing guide - students summarize and write questions as we watch and discuss. (minutes 1-10)
Graphic novel 2 Elsa's class (@minute 14)
Graphic novel 3 Maria's Secret (@minute 25)
episode 2.3 viewing guide - students summarize and write questions as we watch and discuss. (starts @ minute 27)
Graphic novel 4 Elsa & Hector fight (@minute 40)
Cultural Expansion - discuss Siesta (@minute 40)
*We did not use it this year but another great resource is the Episode 2 Reading Guide by Kara Jacobs.

After episode

episode 2 review activity - Students read and complete the missing information as reading practice and to review the content.
Review of episode 2 - power point to prepare for the next episode

Do you have more resources for El Internado? Please share in the comments!

Here are more of my personal plans for teaching with El Internado: Laguna Negra. I have previously shared others with Internado episode 1 & Internado episode 2. Mike Peto's blog is my go to source of amazing Internado resources, and this is pretty much just a compilation of his awesome stuff in chronological order for my future reference.

Before starting episode

episode 2 review activity - Students read and complete the missing information as reading practice and to review the content.
Review of episode 2 - power point to prepare for episode 3

During episode breaks and activities

Episode 3 Reading Guide by Kara Jacobs or fancier version by Bethanie Drew - Students complete through the whole episode & we pause and discuss as needed.

*Break* Kahoot 1.1 part 1 (after minute 26) - discuss answers as you go & then intro graphic novel 1 below while stopped.
Graphic novel 1 Pedro & Hector's joke (@ minute 29)

Cultural Expansion - Spanish style architecture Ex. clay roof tiles while Marcos & Ivan are on the roof (@ minute 32)
Cultural Expansion - Las Palmas - Geography - where Jacinta's daughter lives (@ minute 36)
Cultural Expansion - Individual oral exams & Spain's grading 1-10 vs. A-F

Optional Story map to review 1st 1/2 of episode after Hector invites Elsa out to dinner

*Break* All 3 of these scenes below come up quite quickly, so it worked for me to intro all, and then watch them.

Graphic novel 2 Marcos & Carol talk in the bathroom (@ minute 45)
Graphic novel 3 Paula & Evelyn (@ minute 47)
Graphic novel 4 Marcos & Carol in the well (@ minute 48)

After episode

Powerpoint to review episode 3 - This could be used as a formative quiz as well, with students writing down, or stating their answers, and discussing as you go.

This Friday we will finish and review the episode. It will be the third hour long class devoted to episode 3 of season 1.

Do you have more resources for El Internado? Please share in the comments!

Hello November! Before we rush into Christmas, I wanted to take a bit to pause and be thankful for where we are at in the year. Last year I did a mini thankful series to reflect of what I was grateful for. We are exactly 1/4 through the school year, and it is a great time to reflect on what has gone well, and what we can improve on for the rest of the school year.

Right now I am thankful for:

Amazing new coworkers who I genuinely enjoy spending time with.
Students who are embracing this crazy new Spanish teacher and new to them comprehensible input methods.
My supportive husband who recognizes that teaching is not just a 9-5.
My smallest Spanish student, my little boy, who reminds me everyday what it is like to be a novice low language learner.
Anyone who reads this blog & has helped me to grow as a teacher! To thank you, everything in my TPT store is on SALE today through Wednesday. Also, check out #FallWinterSpanishSale for more sales this week as well.

Here are a few ideas for Thanksgiving in Spanish class.

Last year we made the bulletin board below. See this post for how to make your own thankful turkey in the target language.

Thanksgiving Bulletin Board

Our Thanksgiving bulletin board last year

Thanksgiving Ideas

No Prep Thanksgiving Activities for Spanish class - from a couple years a go by Cynthia Hitz
Including Culture in Thanksgiving - a unit on Thanksgiving in Puerto Rico
Turkey Week - by the ladies of the Creative Language Class
Thanksgiving Projects for the whole month - by La Profesora Frida

Infographics & Authentic Resources

This year we will have trimester 1 finals the Monday & Tuesday before the holiday, so maybe we will complete some after our tests are completed, while everyone is anxiously awaiting going home to stuff their faces with pie. An easy no prep activity is a free write in Spanish about holiday plans, a favorite past Thanksgiving, or a made up story involving the holiday. What other ideas do you have for Thanksgiving?

Remember, everything in my TPT store is on SALE today through Wednesday!