Interactive Activities

Are there any materials apart from books that you find are especially effective for slow learners or bright students?

In the class that I am currently teaching in, we never use the Spanish book because it is boring. In addition, it's better to learn Spanish by doing interactive activities, because it is difficult to learn a second language through a book. In order to learn a language, a person must engage in conversation and do interactive activities. Moreover, I think interactive activities are effective for both the slow learners and bright students. For example, when I introduce a new vocabulary list, I show them a gesture for each word. They have to act out the word with me. This allows everyone to see the meaning of the word while acting it out. Just from observation, I have noticed that my lower achieving and higher achieving students both love this activity. They think it’s fun and it helps them learn the definitions quicker. In addition, once I feel like the students have had enough practice, we play the game “Simon Says”, which they really enjoy. This is just one of the many activities that I use, that is not in the book, and I feel that it's good for slow learners and bright students.

Gifted Student

How do you handle a child who seems gifted, but is a discipline problem?

If I had a gifted child in my class who was a discipline problem, I would assume that he/she is bored because I am not challenging them enough. I would need to make some special changes to my lesson plans in order to keep them engaged. I can relate to this story because I am currently teaching honors Spanish, and I notice that the students get bored when I am not challenging them enough mentally. I know this because they look uninterested and the start chatting with each other. When this happens, I know that I have to change what I am doing quickly and give them something more challenging. I have to give them an assignment that will make them think out of the box, but it has to be an activity that they will enjoy. In addition, I have learned that the activity they do cannot be longer than fifteen minutes.

How to Respond to a Parent

What part do parents pay in their children’s education? How can you enlist their help?

How would you handle making a difficult phone call to a parent?

Parents play a huge role in their child’s education. Many times the way students’ behave at school has to deal with what is going on at home with their parents. For example, maybe the student is not getting any attention from their parents, so they act out in class so they can get some attention from their teacher. I believe that parents can either have a positive effect or negative effect on their child's education. Case in point, if a student has parents that are supportive and involved in their life. I think the student will tend to do better and have more of a positive attitude in school. On the other hand, if a student were to have parents could careless of what their child does, the student will most likely not care about school. I would enlist their help by getting parents' emails, and trying to keep in touch with them throughout the year. I think teachers should keep in contact with parents when the student is doing really well and when the student is misbehaving.

I would handle a difficult phone, by first talking to other teachers and getting some advice from them on how to handle parents. Then I would really need to prepare and think about what kinds of questions the parents may ask me. I would try and think like a parent so I can come up with some response to the questions they may ask me. Then when I make the call, I must be firm and stick to what I believe and not be so defensive. I must understand that a parents’ first instinct is to defend their child.

Tough Situations In The Classroom

If a student said she thought you were the worst teacher she ever had, what would you say?

If a student fails, what would be your feeling or reaction? What would be your way of dealing if half of the class failed in a particular test?

If a student had tell me that I was the worst teacher they’ve ever had, I would be offended and I’d get my feelings hurt. It would be hard for me not to take a comment like that so personal, because I want to be a teacher that has a positive influence on my students. This would make me wonder what I did to make them feel that way. In order to find out, I would ask them in private what caused those emotions. When talking to the student, I would take notes, and I'd make sure to keep them for future references. I would end the conversation with them by coming up with ways to resolve the issue. Another thing I would do is to talk to their other teachers, or teachers that they like, to find out what they do differently. In the end, I think the best way to resolve the problem is by talking to the student and listening to what they have to say.

If a student were to fail my class, my instant reaction would be to blame myself. I would wonder where I went wrong? However, before thinking like this, I would need to develop some information about the student, like checking to see if they have any disabilities, or if they are they having any issues at home. I would also look at the student’s records to see if there have been any recent, or noticeable changes in their grades. This will allow me to see if it has been an ongoing problem or if it is something that has just recently occurred. Then I will take the next step to meet with the student and talk to them and to find out what's happening. I could do this by talking to the student and by give them a brief assessment to see where they may be having difficulties in the class. If the problem doesn't get resolved, I will try to have a conference with the parents so they are aware of the situation. Moreover, if I had a class completely fail a test, I would take full responsibility because it means that I did not explain the concept well enough for them to understand it. In cases like this, I would re-teach the lesson, but I would present the material differently than I did the first time. Then I would closely monitor their progress just to make sure they fully comprehend it this time. Next I would allow the students to retake a different version of the test. However, first they would have to attend one session of tutoring that I will be held during lunch or after school. After their session, they have three days to retake the test.

Lesson Planning

How do you decide whether a lesson has been successful or not?

How do the assignments you give offer students the opportunity to express their creativity and individuality?

There are many things that allow me to know whether a lesson is successful or not. To start, knowing that the students enjoyed it, is one method I use to determine if a lesson is successful. It is important for me to do things that the students enjoy in this class because it is an elective, so it shouldn’t be boring. One way to check if it’s successful is by listening to the students’ responses. For example, when I first present a lesson, I explain to the students what it is that they are going to be doing, and by their responses, I can tell if it interests them. Case in point, when the students are excited about a lesson, they get really excited, they cheer, and they get to work right away. If the lesson doesn’t sound appealing they complain and it takes longer for them to get started. Another thing that tells me if a lesson is successful is when the students ask me if when can do that lesson or that activity again. Moreover, another factor that is important to me if a lesson is successful is making sure the students fully understand it. I can determine this by walking around the class and by look at what they have written on their papers. For example, when I walk around, I check for errors, and if I see more than three papers with the same mistake I know that I wasn’t successful. Also, by collecting their assignment at the end of the class, and going over them can tell me if the activity I presented was done well. I can also check level of understanding this way.

In the class that I am currently teaching in, I give the students many opportunities to show their creativity. And it’s done in different ways, so everyone has an opportunity to show their creativeness. For example, the students got to make weather forecast presentation videos in which they got into groups and create a video where they had the freedom to use props and pretend to be weatherperson. Many students were able to show their talent by the use of technology, like using sound effect, by showing their acting skill, and by the costumes they wore in the videos. Another way I allowed them to express themselves is by having them create a collage when they were learning body parts vocabulary in Spanish. Student made a collage by creating a body by using pictures from magazines and then they had to label the parts. For instance, one student showed his creativity by using a picture of soda bottle and a neck and a spoon as a tongue. In addition, I also allow students to express themselves through art because I let them draw pictures so they can depict what their sentences in Spanish say. I really enjoy teaching Spanish because it can be fun and it allows students to show their creativity at the same time.

Classroom Management PowerPoint

From viewing the PowerPoint, I learned that a teacher must provide a safe atmosphere for their students, meaning that they will treat everyone fairly. One example of this happening in the classroom is that the classroom rules should apply to the teacher as well. For example, if a class rule is no chewing gum, then the teacher should not chew gum either. Another thing that I noticed was that a teacher that has good classroom management has guidelines and procedures the students have to follow everyday. For example, as soon as the students walk into the classroom the start doing their warm-up, and they look at the classroom objectives. Also, the teacher has their rule posted up in the room somewhere so they students can see them. For example, the teacher had a sign posted on how the heading should be on their paper. What I learned is that an effective teacher is prepared, fair, and has class procedures that the students need to follow.

Teamwork and Adapting Lesson Plans in the Classroom

Are there any strategies that you use to encourage teamwork among your students?

What ways are you adopting to instruct students who have varying abilities?

In the Spanish class that I am currently teaching in, I don’t really need to encourage teamwork because most of the activities they do in this class are group activities. They enjoy doing group work, and they already understand the importance of teamwork, because in order to be successful, each group must have cooperation from the entire team. For example, we play a game called “Donkey Races”, which requires groups of four to compete with each other, and every person in the group has a task. One person translates the sentence posted on the board, another person writes the sentence onto the mini white board given to them, while the other person checks the sentence for errors, and the last person has to take the white board to the front of the class to get the sentence checked by me. Each time they do this, they rotate, so every person has a different task each time. Also, if their sentence is correct when they show it to me, I move their donkey one space up. The first team to get their donkey across the board wins the game. This game requires every in the group to participate in order to win the game. They love this game and I don’t even give a reward to the winning team. The students understand the significance teamwork and they enjoy these kinds of activities. I don’t really have to do anything to encourage them to do activities that require cooperative learning.
For students who have different abilities or disabilities, I modify my lessons according to what their needs are. For example, there is one student in my class that has a 504 plan because he has cerebral pulsy. One of his hands is deformed so he cannot use it. For him, I have all my notes ready to be printed out for him so he doesn’t have to use his hand to write everything out. Also, because of his disability, I use a lot of songs so he can memorize or learn new concepts. This eliminates the amount of notes he has to take because learning new concepts through songs don’t require note taking. In addition, I also provide many oral activities, which is another way to do assignments that do not require the use of his hand. My lesson plan adaptations are based on the student’s needs and each adaption I do varies per individual.

How to Handle Different Situations in The Classroom

If a student is consistently late to your class, how would you handle the situation? How do you give your students recognition? Do you think a student can have too much recognition?

If a student is consistently late to class, I would address the issue by first giving him/her a verbal warning.If the problem continues, I will speak with them and to try and find the reason for their tardiness. By doing this, maybe I can help resolve the issue. If these two methods don’t work, I will issue a detention. Lastly, I will contact their parents.

When it comes to student recognition, I have to say that I tend to forget to do this often, but when I do remember, I complement them verbally. I say things like, “muy bien “ or “exelente” when they do a good job on their warm-ups. I also give extra participation points, which I notice students tend to really enjoy. However, the way I give them recognition really depends on what we are doing in class, because if the students are in groups and are playing a games, I hand out candy to the wining teams.
Moreover, I believe that students can have too much recognition, which can cause problems. First, it could devalue the rewards I hand out, and students will lose interest in trying to earn them. Plus, it will create unnecessary expectations. They will expect to get a reward every time they finish a task or ask a question.

Enforcing Classroom Rules

I have seen Debbie put these classroom management skills in order. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, but I feel strongly that consistency is the key here. Students will test your limits regardless, and based on many different factors (makeup of a particular class, pending break from school, testing period, etc) each classroom really wants to learn and know that they can do this in the classroom setting that you have provided. Debbie mentioned giving verbal cues and using the bell as a signal that things are getting out of hand and taking away participation points as a consequence. I think this has been a successful method, thus far. I would suggest calling out the names of particular students that like to instigate things. Whether or not you came into the classroom at the beginning of the schoolyear or in the middle of the term, these rules should still be enforced ie. respecting each other, you and time.

Classroom Management

Do you have a set of rules in your classroom? How do you put them across to your class? How do you establish authority/ discipline? What do you do when a discipline problem arises?

The class that I am currently student teaching in has a set of classroom rules already. Student are to respect people, respect property, and respect time. Moreover, finding a way to put the rules across has probably been the most challenging part of student teaching, because I am coming into the middle of the school year and they know that I am fresh meat, so they test me a lot. I establish authority by signaling them by saying words like “ escuchen” or ringing the bell. After this, I wait till everyone is quiet before I start speaking. If a discipline problem arises, I first I warn the student first, then I deduct participation points, next I change his/her seating arrangements. However, I understand that everyone is entitled to a bad day so sometimes I try to reason with them before I start disciplining them.