10 Tips for Spanish Teachers (and others!)
There are a few things that have proven beneficial throughout my years of teaching middle school Spanish . I hope some or all are helpful to you!
Make a seating chart. In the beginning it helps with names. After that it helps behavior and it can help for differentiation. I often put buddies together who I know can help each other, group heritage Spanish speakers together so they can work on their own assignments and most often put those who need to pay attention up front or around the edges so that when I walk around it helps keep them focused. Over the years I have kept pretty traditional seating in rows because that is what works for me. Occasionally if I have space I’ll do a big circle for some conversation activities, or push all the seats away to have some movement and dance fun.
Have a starting activity. Having something for the students to do routinely and as soon as they get in the classroom is good for getting into the mindset of class and is good for classroom management because they are expected to start as soon as they get in the room. I do calentamientos (warmups). The students have a running document with the date each day completely typed out copied from a presentation on the SmartBoard. I have an attractive slide with a Bitmoji or meme and they will complete, translate, answer or take note of something that reminds them about or helps them practice what we are working on.
Take a Pause. I work at a Catholic school but this can easily be incorporated in a non-religious way with any social emotional strategies: Take time to just breathe deeply, choose something to be thankful for, think about something nice someone said to them or that they heard, remember something kind someone did for them or that they did, play a song with positive lyrics and calm music, draw, and more.
Mix it up. Change activities every 10-12 minutes. I usually give a short lesson with guided notes/slides which include some practice as a class with call and response/repeating of conversation questions, vocabulary words, sentences with new concepts and vocabulary. Then I give them some written and/ or spoken practice on their own or in pairs and ending with a game to reinforce what they are learning.
It’s OK to use worksheets and book work! There are the naysayers out there that say “oh no I don’t use a book.” Especially if you are a new teacher, don’t apologize for using a textbook and some worksheets! We are here to reach all learners and there are plenty who need to see the written word and do written practice. Textbooks are written by professional, experienced teachers. They are an excellent guide for what concepts and themes are typically covered in a given course, especially for Level One courses and above.
Quiz often. I heard this in my first year teaching from a successful child psychiatrist who had to work hard through school to get good grades because he had ADD before the days of medication. He said it was the best thing his Latin teacher did for him. I quiz on one concept or set of vocabulary and it really does get students to study which helps them learn the material and it helps me assess the learning.
Incorporate positive reinforcement. My students love pesos! I copy simple paper pesos that I made and they keep them in an hole-punched envelope in their binders. Some days they earn them for showing up, not talking over me and doing their work. Often I will “catch students being on task.” I also give them for winning games and for other positive participation. We have raffles at the end of the quarter and they can also “purchase” outside or fun movie time and other “treats” of all kinds.
Use immersion or comprehensible input as you can. There seems to be a lot of pressure out there to speak 95% or so of the target language in the classroom and after all the experience I have, I can tell you this is NOT easy in a classroom with 25+ students (or any more than say 15 in my experience). I have done immersion camps for over ten years and there I find it easier to do, mostly I think because it’s not a school setting involving grades. I will speak more to this in another blog. But I want to assure beginning teachers that if you are trying to survive and connect with your students, don’t beat yourself up if you are not speaking Spanish most of the time.
Be flexible. Sometimes I can’t decide on final lesson plans until the day of class or the day before. I have plans, but sometimes they have to change. Also, I could begin a class and read the room and see that they are not ready for what I’m about to present and I have to slow it down. Or maybe they do something really fast and I have to have something else ready to go.
Let it go. Finally, remember that the day is seldom perfect and that is OK! Just OK is OK! You have been there, present for the students and if you have at least not made them HATE the class and Spanish itself, you have done something! More likely, they have had a good class, but middle school and high school audiences are tough! Hang on to one or two small things that you know went right, focus on a happy, sweet face or two that you saw and move on!