senoracmt

5 days, 5 ways- How can I come closer to the 90%? Day 5

Find a topic THEY are interested in. It is so important to avoid the trap of finding a topic that we think they will be interested in! I’m not the first to say it, but I completely believe it! I have done it a million times myself.

So how do you know what interests them? Send out some feelers, look at student interest inventories, go by your intuition… They are willing to share their interests if we are willing to ask!

So what then? Let’s say you find out that a majority of your class is interested in music… Find two or three songs or music videos and bring them to class. Use them to create a discussion about favorite music styles, about popular bands, anything at all!

Our song of the week is Solo Soy by Doctor Krápula. Great for Spanish classes! The video is so positive and they all love the music. We will discuss the video style, compare it to songs we already know, and will describe what we see in the video!

They’re not interested in music? What movie did they see recently? What makes a film “good?” Do they all agree on the criteria?

If you are not up on pop culture, ask a family teen for advice on discussion topics! The kids don’t even know who Julio Iglesias is but boy do they know Enrique!

If you are active on twitter, follow @TMZ for updates on the Hollywood gossip! Sometimes you can find articles in the TL related to a breaking story on TMZ! These are usually a hit!

I hope the 5 days will give you a week of new activities to try as you push to reach the 90% TL goal!

Published by senoracmt

I began teaching Spanish in Illinois in 1994. I have taught levels 1-4 in a small rural high school, 8th grade introductory Spanish, Biology 1, and 101 and 102 at the community college level. My Spanish classes are partnered with the community college to offer students 8 semester hours of dual credit on completion of Spanish 4. In 2011 I met Carol Gaab and Kristy Placido and have since co-authored the book "La hija del sastre" with Carol Gaab and authored the novels "La Calaca Alegre", "Bianca Nieves y los 7 toritos." "Vector," "48 horas","Bananas", "Sostenible", and "Papálotl" through Fluency Matters. In 2006 I became National Board certified and I have been serving as a mentor both for candidates seeking certification in world languages other than English and a virtual mentor for candidates in all certificate areas. I completed my Masters degree in Spanish education in 2011 and did my research on the use of Understanding by Design to create meaningful cultural units for the language classroom. I am a frequent presenter on this topic, please consider me if you are interested in a workshop on backward design. In 2013 I was named the ICTFL Foreign Language teacher of the year and in 2014 I was selected as CSCTFL's teacher of the year. In November of 2014 I was lucky enough to be one of the five finalists for the ACTFL National Teacher of the Year in San Antonio, TX. What a "Cinderella" experience! You can reach me via email at carrie at somewheretoshare dot com.

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