Hola a todos! What a wonderful first half of the school term! I must say that, for a secondary education major, my time in the elementary program has been wonderful. Everyone is willing to learn, and I've never felt more comfortable in front of the classroom. I couldn't have asked for a better group of little Spanish learners. :)
In terms of housekeeping, I would say that sadly our numbers are declining! If you're keeping up with the blog, or would like to contact us personally/privately, I would be more than happy to get some feedback from parents. What are your kids thinking? What is working or not working with the program? Would you all like to be more involved in the processes and information of the program? Hopefully, we can work together to keep students' motivation on track!
We've covered a lot of material in the class, and we're going to continue to successfully progress in the upcoming semester! I would encourage parents and students alike to work at home and bring any questions into class! Thank you for your participation so far, and I look forward to whatever's to come!
I'll be studying in Spain in the month of January, so enjoy break and I'll see everyone upon my return!
Señor Christian
Monday, December 31, 2012
Message from Señor Luis López!
I would like, once again, to thank you for this opportunity.
During the last month, I've been in charge of the students in 2nd grade. As you can imagine, the teaching of a second language when children are still developing an understanding of their first (that is, English) is quite challenging. Nevertheless, my focus has been to performing communicative activities based on the topics we have discussed.
The following list, I believe, summarizes the content areas that all three of us (in Spanish) have taught:
1. Greetings and good byes
2. Numbers (0-30/50)
3. The Spanish alphabet
4. Days of the week
5. Months of the year
As I previously said, I tend to focus more on communicative activities in second language acquisition: I want my students to be able to express themselves in a new language using the vocabulary we have learned in context-based situations. For example, we discussed numbers in small digits (e.g. 1-5-6-4...) by asking "What is your phone number?" (in Spanish, of course) question and then, having them respond to the question with an imaginary phone number they had wrote or were given. This way, children understand that even at their age level they can communicate (involving reading, listening, writing, and speaking) in a new language...and while having some fun as well!
Of course, having divided the original group (of almost 30 students) into three age-based categories has been very productive. I must say, though, that with individual classrooms our students will benefit more from every lesson we teach them. If each instructor has an individual classroom, students at every level will have less distractions and will enjoy each lesson to the same extent they would benefit from their regular classes. I suggest this is something we could re-arrange for the spring 2013.
I wish everyone a happy winter break and I'm looking forward to seeing you again in January.
~Sr. Luis López
During the last month, I've been in charge of the students in 2nd grade. As you can imagine, the teaching of a second language when children are still developing an understanding of their first (that is, English) is quite challenging. Nevertheless, my focus has been to performing communicative activities based on the topics we have discussed.
The following list, I believe, summarizes the content areas that all three of us (in Spanish) have taught:
1. Greetings and good byes
2. Numbers (0-30/50)
3. The Spanish alphabet
4. Days of the week
5. Months of the year
As I previously said, I tend to focus more on communicative activities in second language acquisition: I want my students to be able to express themselves in a new language using the vocabulary we have learned in context-based situations. For example, we discussed numbers in small digits (e.g. 1-5-6-4...) by asking "What is your phone number?" (in Spanish, of course) question and then, having them respond to the question with an imaginary phone number they had wrote or were given. This way, children understand that even at their age level they can communicate (involving reading, listening, writing, and speaking) in a new language...and while having some fun as well!
Of course, having divided the original group (of almost 30 students) into three age-based categories has been very productive. I must say, though, that with individual classrooms our students will benefit more from every lesson we teach them. If each instructor has an individual classroom, students at every level will have less distractions and will enjoy each lesson to the same extent they would benefit from their regular classes. I suggest this is something we could re-arrange for the spring 2013.
I wish everyone a happy winter break and I'm looking forward to seeing you again in January.
~Sr. Luis López
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