I have survived Week One of Distance Learning. It has been a bit of whirlwind to be sure. I would like to share with you my plans for Distance Learning, but first, I would like to thank the LIFESAVERS. Without their generosity, I would not have been able to survive, and even thrive, during this time.
THANK YOU, CAROL GAAB & the Fluency Matters team. Your rich, meaningful content has allowed me to continue to provide input to my students in a meaningful way. THANK YOU, JIM WOOLRIDGE, aka Sr. Wooly. Your fun and engaging content will provide my students with an escape from an uncertain reality. THANK YOU, MARTINA BEX & the team at SOMOS, your plans and their online counterparts - are what I will be tapping into near the end of the year. THANK YOU, WORLD LANGUAGE BLOGGERS: Kara Jacobs, Maris Hawkins, Keith Toda, Annabelle Williamson! And so many more that I have forgotten to mention here. You have shared plans, struggles, and shining moments, which makes everything less overwhelming. We truly are all in this together. THANK YOU TO ALL EDUCATORS! You are making it work! Every! Day! As I read the list above, I am humbled to share the plans I have created for Distance Learning. However, before I get to the nuts and bolts, I want to provide some background to my situation, as we are all in unique situations. Please know that what works for me may not work in your situation, and whatever you are doing in your classroom, it is enough.
So...research has shown that language acquisition occurs with comprehensible input, right? Not output. That is where I am putting my focus during Distance Learning. Input. I am still trying to provide comprehensible, compelling input, without requiring a lot of output from the students. And most importantly, I am trying to keep it simple. For all of our sakes. Spanish I: On the days they would normally have class (A/B), students watch a video created specifically for their class and answer some comprehension questions about what they saw and heard. Students also vote for their favorite song - ¡long live Locura de Marzo! Finally, as an “exit ticket” I ask for input regarding Distance Learning, my classroom videos and I allow students to ask me any questions. All of this is done via google form. Simple for me to see student responses. Simple for students to complete. I have also taken advantage of Fluency Matters free 21 day e-course for Laritza. Students read a chapter a day (5 chapters M-F) and complete any two activities per chapter. This will take 3 weeks. Then we will do a week of post-reading activities related to the novel. Next, we will use Sr. Wooly’s beautiful plans for the song “Las Excusas.” (They are free!) I have a PRO account and have been using Wooly in my class all year, so my students are familiar with his songs and his website. Spanish II: The same as Spanish I, mostly. Students had a choice to read either Laritza or Una Heroína Improbable. The reading requirement is the same regardless. Everything else - videos, Locura de Marzo, exit tickets - are all the same. Spanish III: Throughout the school year, students had a standing assignment of completing a weekly blog using kidblog. On Monday, I would post a prompt, students wrote their post by Wed, and responded to at least two others by Friday. This has not changed. Prior to the shut down, we were about to watch Voces Inocentes as pre-reading work for Vida y Muerte en la Mara Salvatrucha. Since we could no longer view the movie, and in the interest of keeping it simple, we spent the first week doing a few pre-reading activities (here and here) about the history of El Salvador and how MS-13 was created. (Much of the work was NOT completed in the target language since I wanted the focus to be on building background knowledge in order to successfully read the novel.) Moving forward, we will read Vida y Muerte en la Mara Salvatrucha using the e-course from Fluency Matters. (On a personal note, I am so saddened that I can’t share this great story with my students in person. It is always a class favorite and there is so much depth to it. Alas, we all are making sacrifices during this time.) For all classes: In order to provide clarity for all students and parents, I created a monthly schedule and weekly schedule (posted here) which lays out when work is assigned as well as when it is due. These plans will take us through April. I do have some thoughts sketched out past that, but we are waiting to hear from our governor whether we will be back in session in the building, or continue with Distance Learning. I know what my preference is! Honestly, my main goal during this time isn’t to advance language acquisition. It is to maintain a healthy relationship with my students, as well as maintain my own sanity. Yes, I want them to acquire language, but I want them to know I care about them even more.
3 Comments
Merly
4/5/2020 06:29:56 pm
Thank you very much for all the advise and ideas!
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Renae
4/10/2020 04:49:50 pm
We use a Google form too. My form stays the same each day. I created a spreadsheet for the responses. Since the replies have a time and a student email stamp, I don't need to change the form. I just highlight one day's responses in a color after I manually enter it in the grade book. Any new responses have a white background. Makes it easier to find where I left off. My colors alternate. Hope this helps!
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4/11/2020 09:27:49 am
I use the same google form structure every day. I simply click "Make a copy" from the 3 dots in the upper right corner. Then I simply need to adjust the date, a couple of questions, etc.
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Jessie Oelke
#deptofone providing compelling and comprehensible input Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
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