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10 Time Management Tips for Teachers

7/5/2016

1 Comment

 
I recently wrote a guest blog post for an awesome Spanish Teacher known in the internet world as La Profesora Frida.  She is a fellow Teacher-Author who has super fun and creative lessons that I have used in my own classroom.  If you haven't checked her out yet, you should.

Now, onto the main event... 


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​I never realized how much time I spent on my teaching job until I didn’t have the time to spend anymore.  In December of 2012 my son was born and after a short maternity leave, I was thrown back into the world of teaching.  My job was the same, but my life was completely different.  I had to learn how to better manage my time, and I had to do it fast.
 
We may not all have kids, but we all have people in our lives that we want to spend time with, personal interests that we want to attend to, and places we want to see.  The more effectively we can get all that other stuff done, the more time we can save to add to our personal time bank accounts.  So, here are 10 things that I learned during my crash course in teacher time management:
  • Prioritize – it will never all get done.  Look at your tasks and ask yourself if the classroom will fall apart if it doesn’t get done.  If the answer is no, either don’t do it or push it to the end of the list.  It is okay to throw away a stack of homework papers or an activity they did in class.  Trust me, they won’t notice; I’ve been doing it for years.
  • Use a Planner – if you haven’t already developed this habit, you need to.  Every time I check my e-mail I do it with my planner sitting right next to me.  Anything and everything important goes into it and I always know where it is.  I open it every morning and I take it with me every night.  My planner has events, times, phone numbers, reminders, alternate schedules, meeting notes, makeshift lesson plans, and brainstorming.   If I have a question, my planner has the answer.

If you are looking for a new planner, here are a couple to check out!  La Profesora Frida made this great Editable Teacher Planner and I made this Digital World Language Teacher Planner to help teachers manage their classrooms and plan proficiency-based lessons.
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  • Take Breaks – teachers need brain breaks too.  If you are embarking on one of those marathon-grading sessions, you can take breaks after you finish grading a class or two worth of papers.  I try not to work for more than an hour without getting up for at least 5 minutes.  Then, it’s back to work I go.
  • Just Say No – Only someone who works in a school could ever understand the number of requests there are for your money and your time when you are a teacher.  There are clubs to be run, dances to be chaperoned, detentions to be supervised, and extra help to be given.  I agree to probably about 1 in 5 things that I am asked to volunteer for.  I don’t feel bad saying no because I say yes too – I just say no more often.
  • No Distractions – Everyone has different things that distract him or her, so this one takes a little self-reflection.  If you like listening to music while you work, maybe that is not a distraction for you.  Unfortunately for me, much of my work involves being on the computer, which means there is a high danger of my falling into the “Pinterest Hole” – you know, when you click on one thing and it makes you think of another thing and then you need to see this thing and that thing and…yeah, just stay away from those situations you know will get YOU off track.
  • Small Chunks – Setting small, easily reachable goals feels way better than facing a stack of papers that seems insurmountable at 10:00 on a Sunday night.  Try to complete one small task every other night.  Set a limit to the time you want to spend and complete a task that can be done in that time.  If you do this 2-3 nights a week, you will find that you suddenly have most of your weekend back.
  • Throw it Out – Teachers are some of the biggest hoarders I know.  It must come from the fact that we are always begging for supplies to make our classes run more smoothly.  When we get them, we don’t let go easily.  However, “stuff” takes time to manage.  If you decrease the amount of “stuff”, you decrease the amount of time it takes to deal with it.  Doing your job effectively really doesn’t take as much “stuff” as you think.  For the past two years, I have taught out of a backpack.  Think about your essential things – your backpack things – and get rid of some of the things that don’t make the cut.
  • Let Go of Perfection – This is the toughest one for me.  A lot of teachers are perfectionists, but don’t feed the monster.  “Perfect” takes a lot more time than “really good” takes.  The only person who would notice how perfect you are is you anyway (and you already know you’re perfect).
  • Delegate – See if you can get a student aid or two to handle the monotonous tasks of checking off homework, sorting papers, filing, etc.  When I don’t have time to create something for my class, I delegate to the fantastic teachers on TeachersPayTeachers.  Why would I spend an hour creating something that I could buy for a couple of dollars?  My time is worth more to me than that.
  • Group Tasks – You will work much faster if you group common tasks together.  The less time you spend jumping around from task to task, the more your brain settles in to what you are doing and the more efficient you become.  Grading the last 10 papers in a set is much easier than grading the first 10.  Planning for the end of the week is much easier than planning for the beginning.  This is because your brain likes to stick with the same task and gets better at it as you go along. 
 
 
The Back to School displays are already being set up at my local Target, which means that the new year will soon be upon us.  I hope that at least a couple of these tips got your wheels turning.  Ultimately, I hope will give you more time to spend with the people that you love, doing the things that you love.           

1 Comment

Spanish Word Wheels

6/25/2016

8 Comments

 
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This past school year, one of the greatest additions to my class was definitely our word wheels.  The idea started simply enough but evolved into a versatile tool for both my students and myself.

So, first things first, what is a "word wheel"?  Well, it's pretty much what it sounds like.  Our word wheels are made up of 3 moveable parts: 
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Spanish Words
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Filter​
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Pictures​
To me, the picture part is most important because it continues our "no English" policy visually.  If I don't want students to speak in English, I don't want them to see English either, so I use A LOT of pictures during all of my activities.

At first, we just used the word wheels as a way to review and study words, but then something amazing happened!  We started to find more and more ways that they could be used for individual, partner, and whole class activities.  We also found that they helped us build more skills than just memorizing vocabulary.  We started to use them to help us build listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills.  All of these activities use the same wheel, just configured in a variety of different ways.
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1.  When we are just getting to know the word, we use them like this in place of a vocabulary list.  The filter acts as a way to focus students on one particular word-picture combination.  I would begin by showing them a Spanish word and asking what it is...they would then find that word on their wheel and look at the corresponding picture.


2.  Once students were familiar enough with the words, they could use their wheels to practice matching the words and pictures when we had a few extra minutes at the end of class and at home.  I would have them move the word wheel to the top for this so that they could easily shuffle the words by moving the wheel around.











3.  We also use them for partner practice.  We just remove the word wheel and give that to one student.  The other student keeps the picture wheel.  They can easily quiz each other.

4.  The same set up can be used to play simple class wide listening games.  I say a word in Spanish and they must find the picture.

5.  We also use them to practice writing or spelling words.  We use dry erase markers to write the words ourselves.

If you use interactive notebooks, these can easily become part of them.  When our unit is over, we keep our word wheels in a pocket chart in the classroom.  Fast finishers can go back and look at their old word wheels, I can quickly pull them out for a review activity, students can grab them for help with writing activities, the possibilities are really endless.

You can download your own template for creating word wheels, or you can check out the many pre-made word wheels available in my store by clicking the pictures below.

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How you put your word wheels together will depend on how you want to use them.  Typically, we change the construction of our word wheel throughout the unit as we move from recognition of words to production.  Here are some ideas as far as putting them together:
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8 Comments

More Than a Reminder

2/4/2016

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I began using Remind a few years ago when I had a group that was particularly bad about completing homework.  I told them that I would make them a deal - I would send them a reminder on homework nights and they would do their homework.  It undoubtedly increased the percentage of kids that were doing the homework, but there were still a group of kids that it wasn't working for.  Either they couldn't be bothered to even sign up for the service (which takes about 30 seconds) or they would just ignore the messages as they got lost in the barrage of messages that teenagers get these days.

I was determined to find a way to get more students to read my messages, so I started to mix things up a bit.  I also wanted to trick them into letting the Spanish language into their after school lives beyond just homework assignments.  So, I bring you 5 creative ways to use Remind:

1.  Offer a reward of some kind (treat, reward coupon, free homework pass, extra credit, etc.) to the first student from each class to chat you with a specific phrase in Spanish.  Usually I use one that relates to what we have been doing in class.  For example, the first student to chat me with the sentence "there are snow showers" gets a treat.  (It is snowing in Cleveland tonight)

2.  Catch something on TV that relates to culture and ask students to tune to a specific channel and answer a question.  I was watching TV the other night and I noticed that Anthony Bourdain:  Parts Unknown was on and they were in Paraguay.  I asked kids to chat me with one thing they learned from the episode.

3.  You can actually attach files to Remind texts.  I like to send pictures of Spanish comics and memes and have students prepare to explain why it's funny the next day at the beginning of class.

4.  Send a message that uses some common texting abbreviations in Spanish and have kids try and figure out what you are saying.  

5.  This one I recommend only for classes that have a BIG problem turning in homework or in a class where you are having trouble getting students to get off their butts and sign up for Remind.  I will send out a text that says they can show me the text on their phone in class the next day to get full credit for their homework assignment.  You should see the looks on the faces of the kids that didn't sign up - "That's not fair!".  Well, actually it is...as long as each student had a chance to earn the points, which they did, they just earned them in different ways!  

One last thought with Remind!  Don't forget to invite parents to join your Remind when you see them at open house, conferences, or as you deal with day to day parent e-mails.

​Have fun!   

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10 Ways to Use Speaking Prompts

1/19/2016

68 Comments

 
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As my regular readers know, a HUGE goal of mine for this school year has been to increase the amount of Spanish my students speak during class.  I ditched the grammar kill and drill activities and replaced them with speaking activities (among other things).  I am glad to report that it is definitely working, but as with any skill that you need to practice over a period of time, mixing up these activities is definitely necessary to keep things fresh and keep students engaged.  So, I took some time and created tiered task card speaking prompts for many of our major themes.

I decided to focus on 4 "categories" of questions or prompts so that I could easily differentiate for students of varying ability levels AND continue to push all students to increase their fluency by gradually increasing the difficulty of the questions and prompts.

Here are some examples from a larger set of prompts dealing with the topic of School:

Category A Prompts - Yes/No and Either/Or Questions



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Category B Prompts - Who, What, Where, When, How, How Much Questions
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Category C Prompts - Questions that require reasons and opinions
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Category D Prompts - Situational Prompts and Extended Response Questions
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Whether you decide to create your own prompts or you want to check out the sets I have already created, here are some ideas of how to use speaking prompts with your students:

1.  Have students work in pairs or small groups and have a conversation in Spanish based on a series of prompts.

2.  Have one student play the role of a celebrity or other famous person while the students ask the prompted questions during a mock celebrity interview.

3.  Invite a guest speaker or native speaking student to your classroom and have students select questions from the prompts to ask during a Q&A session.

4.  Have students write their own prompts or variations of the existing prompts on blank note cards.

5.  Pull 3 questions at the beginning of class each day and answer them as a model for your students.  Have the students write down what they learned about you in English to demonstrate their understanding.

6.  Pull 1 prompt from each category for a challenging oral proficiency assessment on the unit

7.  Have students develop conversations or role plays based on situational prompts

8.  When you have extra time at the end of class or need to get kids focused, pull a few questions and ask away!

9.  Show a prompt at the end of class and use it as an exit ticket activity.

10. Put students in groups and give them a set of prompts.  You respond to any one of the questions in Spanish and they have to guess which one you are responding to based on your answer.


If you want to save yourself some work and time, check out the speaking prompts that I have already developed.  There are over 40 prompts to choose from for each topic as well as a discounted set of all of them!
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What other ways can you think of for using speaking prompt task cards in your classroom?  Let us know in the comments below!
68 Comments

Tips for Collaborating with Colleagues

1/12/2016

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Collaborating with colleagues can be a very difficult thing for teachers.  We are told to collaborate, asked about how we collaborate during evaluations and interviews, and yet we are often never given any time to do something that is supposedly so important.  In fact, the message that many teachers get is that it must NOT be that important or schools would designate time within the work day to get it done.  So many of us just don't collaborate.  We say what we need to say to cover our butts, but we don't truly collaborate - and who can blame us?  Many times it just seems like the millionth expectation that has been added to the list.  My first reaction when I heard the term "collaboration" used to be a hearty eye roll (and still is on a bad day), but there are some big advantages to collaborating when it is done right.

True collaboration is not like the group projects you remember from your own high school days.  You know, the one where you did all the work and the other kids cashed in on a grade with little effort?  Collaboration is not working FOR someone, it's working WITH someone and it is up to you to make sure that it goes that way.  Here a few tips to start out on the right foot.

1.  Find a SMALL group of people to work WITH - many people automatically think of needing to collaborate with their whole department, but especially if you are just starting this process, it pays to think small.  Perhaps work just with the teachers that teach the same course you do.  If you are the only teacher, work with one from another local school or collaborate with someone on the Internet.  There is a great Facebook group just for Spanish teachers in the U.S. and undoubtedly similar groups exist for other subject areas.  Don't forget to think outside the box.  Can you collaborate with a Social Studies teacher who can address the topic from a historical perspective while you address it from a cultural perspective?  Is there an English language teacher that you can work with to work on the same grammar or reading strategy?  Is there a science teacher that you could work with to present a bilingual lesson?

2.  Face-to-Face meetings should be short - many people are turned off from collaboration because we just don't have a lot of time as teachers.  Make face-to-face meetings as short as possible with the goal being to do only the things you need to have conversation or discussion about.  Communicate via e-mail for everything else.  Not only will you have something to go back and read when you wake up bleary-eyed at 4:30 am wondering what the heck you have to do that day, but you will be able to work towards your goals at your convenience.  Meeting day after day after full days of teaching is not likely to produce great results.  Take advantage of the chance to collaborate electronically when you are motivated and relaxed...in your bed, with a cup of tea.  Sounds much better than being crammed into a student desk after 8 hours on your feet.

3.  Agree on a way to share - in the electronic world, there are a lot of ways to collaborate in a common online space.  Try creating a shared folder on Google Drive for things you want to share with one another.  Start a group board on Pinterest where you can collect ideas along with your colleagues.  If you are not as tech saavy, keep a folder where you throw together materials you would both like the other to see.

4.  Delegate according to strengths - once you know what you are going to create, be it an assessment, a unit, a project, or somethings else, delegating responsibility is one of the best parts.  Not only does it mean you don't have to do ALL the work, but it means hopefully that you will be able to focus on the things that you are best with and enjoy the most.  For example, we have three Spanish 2 teachers (including myself).  When we work on a unit, I tend to be responsible for the technology aspect as well as the formatting of materials so that they look nice.  I am also the "creative" one (though some days I feel this arguable) so when we need an activity that will spice things up it usually falls on me.  My colleague from Argentina is our culture guru and our proofreader.  Our third colleague is our organizer who puts together nice day by day agendas and creates folders with the materials we will need each day.

5.  Take some time off sometimes - Don't feel like you constantly need to be working on a project with other teachers.  It is not going to kill you to focus on something just for you sometimes.  Being able to do your own thing is especially important in these times where it can feel like we are all expected to be automatons.  You do you, teach something you love, preferably something that isn't in "the book".  This is what got you into teaching and this is one of the only things that will keep you there.  If you are feeling burnt out or exhausted by meeting after meeting, take a break and don't you DARE feel guilty about it.  

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Classroom Rewards High School Students Love

12/13/2015

14 Comments

 
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I have read a lot of articles that give ideas for different rewards for students; lunch with the teacher, assist the custodian, meet the principal, keep a stuffed animal at your desk, etc.

The problem?  What would be considered a reward to an elementary school student sounds more like the depths of hell to a high school student.  So, I decided to compile my own list of free or inexpensive rewards for students of the older variety.  

I am an anti-extra credit sort of teacher (yes, I know, one of THOSE teachers), but I still feel like there are times that students deserve some sort of reward.  My reward system is really just a way to trick students into good behavior and ease the stress of classroom management.  How?  Make being bad (innocently bad) a reward for doing something great rather than an invitation for doing nothing at all.  Let the kids that do what they are supposed to feel like rebels, let them live on the edge, and use them to keep the lazy kids in line!  

Class games?  A great score on a test?  In class on time?  Helping another student?  Being kind?  Working well in a group?  All of these may be situations when I reward students with one of the following coupons... 

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Nothing will drive your students insane like seeing someone allowed to stand at the door while they are forced to remain seated.


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For your more academically motivated students, being able to ask a yes or no question of the teacher during a test is the ultimate sense of security.  It's not extra credit because they not only have to decide on the question to ask but also on what to do once they know the answer.  Much better for the brain than extra credit!
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Since no high school student can make it through the day on one battery charge, this one is especially popular.  At least they won't be using it while it's plugged in, right?
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At our school, student loathe study hall.  Forced to sit in silence for 30 minutes is the ultimate punishment.  Let them spend that time  being part of your classroom instead.
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Being able to loom over the rest of the students in the ultimate gesture of non-conformity is one of the best rewards a student can get.  Have them move to the back of the row so that they don't block the view of other students.
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Watch your other students look disdainfully at the mobility and plush comfort of that kid in the rolly chair. 
Want your own copy of these classroom coupons for high school students?  Visit our store on Teachers Pay Teachers for this FREE download!
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7 Ways to Use Driver's Licenses in the Spanish Classroom

8/29/2015

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1.  Describing Someone - Have students describe the person pictured on the license.  Better yet, have students use the license's for a game of Guess Who!


2.  Culture - Teach students about the symbol of Mexico and the Aztec legend behind the emblem.


3.  Telling Someone's Age - Have students use the license's to tell the age of other's.  They could also assume the identity of the person on the license and give the information as if it were them!


4.  Learn About Famous Hispanics - Help students get familiar with the names of some famous Hispanics of the past and present, then set them off to find out more about them!


5.  Strengthen Geography Concepts - Have students use Google Maps to explore the cities associated with each address.


6.  Practice Saying Letters & Numbers - Have students read the identification number for each person.  This would also make a great listening activity!


7.  Describing Someone's Job or Profession - Get students familiar with vocabulary related to jobs and professions.


For more activity ideas and to get your own set of Driver's Licenses CLICK HERE.
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Quick & Easy Grouping

9/2/2014

1 Comment

 
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Much of the work that is done in my classroom is done in cooperative groups.  It is important to me that the actual process of formulating the groups be quick and efficient.  It is also important to me that students have experience working with a wide range of different people throughout the course of the year.  I used to let students choose their own groups, but it just ended up in mass confusion and hurt feelings - so now, I use grouping cards.

The concept is simple.  I created cards that each have a different color, number, and shape combination.  If we are going to be working in cooperative groups during the class period, I instruct students to pick up a card on their way in.  Once each student has a card, I have 3 random ways to group them - by color, by shape, or by number.  They never know which one I am going to choose, so trying to cheat the system is difficult.  If you are performing an activity where you need to change groups up several times, these are perfect. 

If you would like to try them out in your own class, the file to download them is below.  I recommend printing them on heavy paper or card stock and laminating them for continued use.  Once you start using them you won't know how you ever lived without them.  They are a huge time-saver and, more importantly, brain-saver!

grouping_cards.pptx
File Size: 126 kb
File Type: pptx
Download File

How do you like to group your students?  Leave a comment below to let us know!
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World Language Teacher Planner

6/27/2014

0 Comments

 
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I have always been discouraged when looking for a plan book for the new school year.  Most of them are geared towards an elementary classroom, and even the other secondary plan books need so much modification they were hardly worth it.  So, I finally did it!  I finally created my own plan book focused on the Two-Week Model that I have referenced in previous blog posts.  I will be excited to finally have what I need when school begins in August!

Here is the link!  Check it out and let me know what you think!

World Language Teacher Planner

Do you have ideas of anything that I could add to make this planner more helpful or easier to use? 
Leave me a comment!
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The Teaching Puzzle

6/26/2014

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Being a teacher sometimes feels like putting together one of those 1,000 piece puzzles where the pieces all look the same, but each is slightly different.  We are expected to meet the slightly differing expectations of students, parents, colleagues, administrators, and state and federal government policy makers.

As a new teacher, I found this...well...puzzling.  As I reflected on my performance I began to see that in trying to please everyone, I was losing my focus.  What was I going to teach?  What the textbook told me to and what my colleagues expected?  What my students were interested in?  What the parents wanted to see their children able to do at home?  Where did the benchmarks and standards fit into all of this?  What did all of these groups have in common and how could I fit them all together?

Eventually, I decided to focus on the skills my students needed to build.  The ACTFL (American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language) has published a series of "Can Do" statements aligned with varying proficiency levels (Novice-Low, Novice-Mid, Novice-High, Intermediate-Low, etc.).  These statements are actually written for students, so they are devoid of much of the education jargon and rhetoric we have become so accustomed to.  They are straight-forward, measurable skills that build on themselves throughout a students course of language study.  These have become my anchor as each year I face a new group of students.

Throughout the year, I have posters featuring these "Can Do" statements in my room.  They are hanging up from day one so that students can see what they are going to be able to do (if they hold up their end of the bargain) by the end of the year.  During open house and conferences, I share them with parents.  As administrators walk in and out of my classroom throughout the year and during evaluations, they are there.  They have done a lot of the communication for me and made that puzzle feel like it has a few less pieces.

Here are links to the posters I use in my room, which align with the ACTFL "I Can" statements:

Foreign Language Learning Goal Posters:  Level 1
Foreign Language Learning Goal Posters:  Level 2
Foreign Language Learning Goal Posters:  Level 3
Foreign Language Learning Goal Posters:  Level 4
Foreign Language Learning Goal Posters:  Level 5


How do you make students aware of the goals and what they should be able to do?
Leave a comment below!

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     I have been teaching Spanish for the past 15 years in a large Suburban School District.

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