Memo Blog # 9 Field Notes (Part 2)

Memo Blog # 9
Field notes (part 2)

For the past two years I have been searching for ways to encouraged and engaged in becoming more curious learners. My goal was to find fascinating topic(s) for getting them into deep conversation even if it was in English. Sadly I discovered that today's modern students are not interested in many of the curriculum topics are often irrelevant to students’ interests, learning preferences and current trends in the world. I am desperately trying to turn this around we can turn this around while targeting and exercising all their essential language skills. 

Since we started the school year, this past week was the first time I was able to see my 8th grade class. For the past two years my school adopted and have been using a semesterised approach. Many of the high schools in the District already use this system and due to this fact, many classes were affected by this change. 

 We also have adopted an A day and a B day approach and because of this some teachers only get to see a specific class either 2 days a week or 3 days a week. I have Spanish I level students and Spanish II level students in the same classroom at the same time, so for me making sure the curriculum is being followed in order to reach each student’s academic needs have become a big job. All the planning and selecting the correct activities based on their different cognitive skills becomes a challenge. 

This past week I really wanted to engage my non-Spanish speaking students, especially my heritage learners in a interactive, healthy and meaningful class discussion.My Spanish II students were asked to work in pairs to complete a reading and writing packet. They were reviewing information they learned in Spanish I about the discovery of the American Continent. Students were in charge of not only read about the Discovery of the American Continent, but were also expected to highlight, underlined and discuss any concerns or questions that may arise from the reading pages. Students were able to do that. I was happy to see that this task brought them together resulting in a very interesting and informative class. 

The next time we met, my Spanish I students worked on a specific assignment and I moved over to the Spanish II side. I started the conversation by asking students what were their thoughts and ideas about their reading article and about their discussion(s). They stated that the article was very interesting and that they were able to find out things about Christopher Columbus and his men that they did not know/learn about in elementary school. 

After a few minutes of healthy exchanging our opinions, I handed them a 2-page reading article titled “Celebrating el Dia de la Raza”, “Celebrating Christopher Columbus day”

Once again students were asked to read the article and as they read each paragraph to talk about what caught their attention or about any information that they felt connected to. Once they were given the green light to begin, I immediately noticed that student IR and Student GR took the role of the group leader. I thank them for being brave and for taking charge of the activity. 

I then moved back to assist my Spanish I group. Approximately 10 minutes before the end of class, students called me and I was surprised to find out how interested they were in this particular reading article. This article was closely connected to the first reading packet they had since it was all about the Discovery of America and about Celebrating Christopher Columbus day. 

Students are still seating next to the classmate chosen by them at the beginning of the year, but Wednesday I noticed that since one student was absent and I had an uneven number, students were willing to welcome another student into their group. Once again the student's curiosity sparkled as they read about this holiday. Student IR and student GR were actively engaged and totally fired up about being allowed of being in charge of their group. The fact that I listened to their request and instead of assigning classmates, I allowed them to volunteer and be the teacher if you will within their group. Before leaving class I asked them what are your thoughts about how you interested in your group. They were happy, excited and thank for let them take ownership of their own learning. 

Student GR who is a very shy and quiet student, was very engaged and pretty active in his group. I asked student GR to see me for a minute after class was over. I made sure to let the student know I noticed the excitement I saw during group interaction. Student GR told me Señorita Arias you should teach History, Not Spanish. The student stated that the interest in the topic happened when they saw how excited I was when I was talking about “the past” . They become interested in learning more about Christopher Columbus and about how the perceptions most of the people have about him is not what information tells us about Spain, about im and about his man. I am going to go home and search more, GR said. I told the student I was happy to see them being interested in the “past” as they will call it. 

I also noticed that my Spanish I students also appreciated the fact I allowed them to choose a partner to work with instead of imposing a classmate to them. Of course they all stayed and stated they wanted to work with their actual peer. I thought they would probably choose another classmates, but I was wrong. They felt more comfortable with the classmate they seat next to. 

They also had a productive pair activity. Voice level was acceptable between the different groups and as I rotated around the classroom I also noticed that conversation(s) were entirely about the topic. Students were not having side conversations. I was glad to see that both levels were actively engaged and fully focused on the academic task. No behavior problems, which made a huge difference. We had a very productive class period. I was happy to see everyone engaged in active, healthy collaboration.

Student GR is actively engaged in class discussion or in class activity. Student is really distracted by other peers and since the student is a heritage learner, the student believes there is nothing to learn since they already speak Spanish. Spanish is already spoken at home, so student believes time is being wasted when they could be taking arts for example. 

Student ANL is a well-rounded student who understands the importance of personal and academic development. ANL is a friendly student who is always willing to collaborate with others, she believes in honesty and always exhibits excellent behavior. She is passionate about Drawing. She draws because when she is feeling down, drawing helps her feel better.

Student EV is a good student. He likes to spend time with friends. In class when he has a hard time focusing on completing his tasks on time. He likes to collaborate with other students, but needs to be reminded of the class expectations constantly. EV has the traits to be a successful student, but needs the extra push in order to accomplish his goals. Ev likes to play video games and ride his bike with his friends.

I already had a conversation with all students about how bilingualism and multilingualism is a great asset to them. We spoke about how Being bilingual or multilingual in many cases, may have important cognitive and economic benefits for individuals who speak, read, write in more than one language. We spoke about how speaking another language gives individuals a new perspective. Even if people do not travel abroad, becoming bilingual or multilingual can help them see the world in a different way and understand themselves better. 

I told student GR Heritage Language Learner like yourself have an advantage that others do not have. People should feel proud of their heritage and valued their first language just as they valued their second language (most of the student’s learned to speak Spanish at home). English was acquired when they entered the American School System. Student GR left the class having a different perspective on his Spanish language proficiency. Student GR expressed how the lack of formal educational experiences was the main hindrance to their ability to obtain advanced levels of Spanish language skills. 

I also spoke to IG and the learner stated that as a Heritage Learner IG is always experiencing high levels of anxiety due to their low levels of heritage language proficiency because they may think they should already know their heritage language or they may think others will think they should already know their heritage language. They understand that they probably are over reacting a little, but I reassure them that it is normal to feel this way, but they must remember that they possess a gift and should take advantage of their given gift. 

Hopefully our teacher-student moment had a positive impact. I will continue to show them that there is nothing to be ashamed about, quite the contrary being able to speak two or more languages fluently will allow them to have and enjoy the best of both or more than two worlds.