A Work in Progress

Last week I began teaching Chapter 5 in the Spanish textbook to my eighth graders. I hadn't had any time to give them a test on Chapter 4 so I just decided to go ahead with the next chapter because the first trimester is ending a couple of weeks. I took my own advice from last week's post by creating a one page outline of Chapter 5 detailing all of the vocabulary and grammar lessons that we would learn during the course of instruction. As we went over the outline in class, I could sense my students understanding more of what was going on. Since they now knew what to expect and on what page, they seemed to be more in touch with the material. It really helps to be organized.

I was also fortunate enough to be observed during one of my classes. Our principal came in and watched during one of my lessons to an eighth grade class. I noticed her standing in the back while I was lecturing the students on Chile, which is our country of study for this chapter, but instead of becoming nervous, I was happy she was there. I saw her later in the hallway and she told me that my classroom management needed a lot of work. She then told me that it was clear that I knew the material and suggested I do some observing of my own. One of my disadvantages of not having a credential is that I haven't been required to observe other classes. I couldn't be happier that she came and observed me because I'm a firm believer in constructive criticism and the fact that she cared enough about me to come and watch.

In my seventh grade classes, I finally handed back their Chapter 1 tests and also gave them a Chapter 2 outline with vocab and grammar notes, similar to the one I gave my eighth graders. We were barely able to review the tests in one of classes due to all of my students coming in late and talking, but we got through it. I was happy to see all of my seventh graders engaged in going over all of the test answers. I even heard from some of my students who hadn't talked in class all year. This was like a dream come true for me because one, I now know their names, and two, I know they care enough to try and improve their grade.

One of my homework assignments last week for all four of my classes was for my students to go the textbook website to look around and try out some of the exercises. I did this mainly to get their feedback on what they found. Many of them thought that the website was a good resource, some thought it would have more games, and some probably didn't go on at all. In the future, I'll have to learn how I can incorporate more games and resources in the classroom with the little time that I have, but for now, it's a work in progress.