During Distance Learning, our district is required to take attendance every day, every class period. Students can take attendance or “check in” at any time during the school day, meaning my 7th hour students can “attend/check in” at 8:30 A.M. if they choose to. However, all students must have attended/checked in with all of their classes by 3:00 P.M. We, the teachers, are expected to have attendance for all of our classes entered between 3:30-4:00 at the latest. Because our district is 1:1 with Chromebooks and google classroom, to complete attendance in my classroom, students must complete a google form. I post the attendance form daily at 8:00 A.M., giving students the majority of the day to “attend/check in.” (My classes meet asynchronously.) On the google form, the first response students complete is to type their LAST name and first initial: Oelke J. This will help sort students for faster attendance taking as you will see in a minute. This is a required response for students. To make it required, click the toggle switch in the lower left corner when creating the form. Throughout the day, students complete the google form, which verifies their attendance. Honestly, I do not look at these forms until 3:00 P.M. At that time, I open the attendance forms for the day and close the from to new responses. (1) I do this from the “response” tab of the google form using the toggle switch on the right. (2) Then, I link all the responses to an existing google sheet. I do this by clicking the greens sheets icon in the upper right. Now, I can choose to create a new spreadsheet or link to an existing spreadsheet. Choose to link to an existing spreadsheet. Choose the correct spreadsheet, and click Select. I have a different spreadsheet for each class I teach, so I Select the spreadsheet for the correct hour. All of the information the students completed on the google will be imported to the spreadsheet you have selected, and google will create a new tab in that spreadsheet. Rename the tab with the date. This way all the responses for each class are in one convenient location. To change the tab name, simply highlight the name on the bottom tab and type in the name you would like it to be. Near the top of the spreadsheet, find the dropdown option for Column B (Column A is the timestamp noting when the form was completed). Choose “Sort Sheet A-Z.” And just like that *snap,* google will sort your students alphabetically by last name...if students followed directions! Students are now sorted the same as they are in my attendance program, meaning I do not have to cumbersomely peruse the google form to verify who has attended/check in.
PRO TIP: Make a copy of this form each day! Doing so will tell google that a “new” form has been created and therefore a new tab will be created on the spreadsheet. Personally, this works better for me and my organization style. If you do not make a copy of the form, and simply wipe out the responses on the form instead and reuse the form from day to day, when you link the form to an existing spreadsheet, it will not create a new tab, but will add today’s responses onto the same sheet below yesterday’s responses. If that works for your style of organization, go for it!
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Every day, I greet students at the door. We say hello to each other, I ask how they are doing, and they tell me the class password to enter. (If you aren’t familiar with this process, check out Bryce Hedstrom’s blog post.) This mean that students are entering the classroom and are unsupervised (EEEEK!!) for a few minutes while I am at the door. What do they do during this time? Roam like pack animals, set the classroom on fire, figure out how to conspire against me for the day? Usually, no. (However, some days it seems like it.) While it is loud and bit chaotic, there is a method to this madness.
First, my classroom is deskless. At the end of each period, students “reset” the classroom by putting away their chairs so the room is empty for the next class. Therefore, if students want a place to sit, they need to take out a chair and set it down in the correct spot. (Yes, I have a seating chart.) By its very nature, this is loud and chaotic. Next, students direct their attention to the Daily Dashboard. This is not a warm-up activity, but information about what is coming up during the class period. (I have decided to break up with my bell ringer for various reasons.) By this time, I enter the room and we begin class. But what does that look like if some students are still getting their chairs, not yet seated, chatting with their BFs? Well, I start singing. I first saw Grant Boulanger do this in his classroom and was absolutely blown away by its effectiveness! Singing is the cue that students need to get settled because we will be starting class by the time the song is finished. It works like a charm. EVERY. Time. I sing a few lines of a song, and students join in singing the last few. By then I have their attention and we go right into our daily calendar and class calendar discuss. Class has begun and we are on our way! In Spanish I, I start the year with the rhyme “Bate, bate chocolate.” I start chanting the rhyme and students join my be the 3rd line and we all end together. In Spanish II, I start the year with the traditional children’s song, “Mi gallo se murio.” (This is the one I saw Grant using.) I sing a few lines and students join in by the end. When students seem to be getting bored with the song we are currently singing, I simply choose a different one to open class with. (It usually takes at least a month for this to happen.) I choose the opening song in a variety of ways; for the season, popular tunes, traditional children’s songs, etc. Sra. Chase often sings with her students; here are the song, chants, rhymes she uses. Now, everyone singing together doesn’t just happen. It takes purposeful instruction and I set the expectation that ALL students will participate. When I introduce the song (or chant or rhyme), we spend some time as a class learning the song, learning the meaning of the song, learning about the artist, learning about the country of origin, etc. Then we listen to the song (or just perhaps the chorus) and practice, practice, practice and sing, sing, sing! Below are a few examples of what I have used successfully in class. Each song sheet has the lyrics we will be singing (the students sing the bolded lines). I try to add cultural information and a personal connection as well, but sometimes I just introduce the song and off we go. Happy singing!! Traditional Spanish Round: Mi Gallo Se Murio Spooky Mexican Rhyme Day of the Dead Song: Chumbalaca Children's Game/Chant: A La Lata Traditional Christmas Song: Mi Burrito Sabanero |
Jessie Oelke
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by Bethanie Drew The Language Coach by Amy Lenord Bryan Kandel TPRS by Bryan Kandel Bryce Hedstrom's Blog by Bryce Hedstrom CI Peek by Carol Gaab Creative Language Class by Kara Parker & Megan Smith La Clase de Sra. Dentlinger by Elizabeth Dentlinger The Comprehensible Classroom by Martina Bex Grant Boulanger's Blog by Grant Boulanger Kristy Placido's Blog by Kristy Placido Maris Hawkins' Blog by Maris Hawkins El Mundo de Birch by Sharon Birch Musicuentos by Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell Mis Clases Locas by Allison Wienhold Making Good Mistakes by Courtney Johnson MJ's Comprehensible Input by Michele Whaley My Generation of Polyglots by Mike Peto PBL in the TL by Laura Sexton Somewhere to Share by Carrie Toth Spanish Nobility by Jason Noble Teaching Spanish by Kara Jacobs Todally Comprehensible Latin by Keith Toda Tripp's Scripts by Jim Tripp |