Well- as always- NYSCATE is inspirational. Already have attended two workshops( Web 2.0 tools for Differentiated Instruction by Sarah Martabano and Linda Brandon and Google Earth and Google Maps: The Next Killer Apps by David Jakes. I knew they would energize my morning sessions and get me thinking of a million new things I can add to my teaching. Keynote this morning was by Gary Marx, President of Center for Public Outreach-author of Sixteen Trends. His presentation was information-stuffed. He is also one of the fastest talkers I have seen in a while too…….! Keeps me interested with my mild ADHD(acquired from too much time teaching middle school) I am off to meet Nancy Sharoff face to face- I may even have to create a Second Life avatar and join in the fun there……
I have had this theory for awhile. It helps now that there is a wildly popular TV show to help make the point. (American Idol is so yesterday’s news) Teaching Spanish for communication is my game. There are no verb charts on the wall in my room- and no one is afraid of forgetting an accent mark on my quizzes. A typical task to complete in my class is for example: I am your friend. You are having a huge party at your house this weekend. You need my help to get ready for it. Start the conversation and we will talk about the arrangements. Sound easy? Not really, but fun-certainly. Students in my school study 40 weeks of Spanish in grade 7, and then the same in grade 8. We administer the New York State Second Language Proficiency in June to earn a HS credit for scoring at least a 65. My students learn to speak the language-guided by me. Vocabulary is taught, expressions provided and then we practice until we are task performance ready. I teach them useful all purpose sentences like Can you help me? I need…..(Puedes ayudarme. Necesito….) I have told them this is like a dance, I am the trained professional here to make sure they look good. I will not let them flounder-but I will guide them through it or follow their lead if need be…… Some students are exceptional at taking the control and letting me just follow and respond. That is the coolest feeling-when they are totally functional in the language and can take the lead. Then I can sit back and smile knowing we just performed our own little verbal samba. And it was great!
Well I appreciate all the support the DEN gave me as I attempted to be an Olympic Torchbearer in China next summer. Best part of the whole experience was seeing the level of support I got from people I truly respect as leaders in education. I was honored by your efforts. Thank you all!
Well, still about a week before the Lenovo torchbearers are announced. Since only the top three contestants actually get to go- I am out of it. I was behind in votes by quite a lot. It was a fun experience either way. I got some serious media exposure and spoke about my DEN involvement every chance I got. Need to go fill out my activities to keep my STAR status! BTW on Halloween I wore my labcoat all day-I was envied by all the science teachers………….the kids loved it!
