Blessed be the Disney Princess-for she shall teach adjectives!

The very fist lesson I ever taught a group of 6th graders was on "ser" and adjectives. It's funny when you student teach and get up for the first time in front of a real group of kids and you say "Hola" and they say "Hola" back to you.  It really works.

Adjective agreement is one of the biggest pains in the neck to teach because it either makes perfect sense or none at all.  The bottom line is the adjective will change from standard form depending on the gender and number of the noun. 

Here are some of my favorites:

• You get boys that say they are boys so all their nouns are masculine.
• You get the straight A student who will fight you over the gender of a noun for a 100 instead of a 98.
•  Somebody in the workbook sees- "Yo soy alto/a/os/as" and writes, "Yo soy altoaosas"....doesn't pick one,  just writes all four. No kidding.  Just like that-no matter how many times they are told otherwise. I really don't know what goes on in someone else's head.
• You can date yourself by who they describe in a five sentence paragraph.  My first year teaching The Titanic was in theaters. Leonardo es guapo. Leonardo Di Caprio es rubio.  Now it's Twilight time: Taylor Lautner es guapo, Taylor es muy fuerte....Who was teaching when it was Kevin Bacon and Footlose?

So, how do I teach this online?  Because even if they don't get it, it's still my job to teach it and if you aren't having fun why bother?

Time to back up:

I had a colleague with a classroom filled with  "stuff."  This was before Hoarders was cool, but her room didn't really look like one of those episodes because everything was used and organized and accounted for.  She didn't hold on to things she didn't really need ever.  No 1972 tax code books, but plenty of  dried sea horses.

When I asked her about it she said as her kids grew up, she didn't give away anything that would help her teach languages.

"Kids?  I'll never have kids...."

Ha!  The silly things we tell ourselves.

My daughter is a Disney Princess freak. She is every mother of the sexual revolution's worst nightmare.  We have every doll ever made from every movie.

I have posted previously on how the Disney girls helped me with geography:
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Princess Geography


Here is how they help me online!

Frances!!!! 

Yes mommy?

"Go get me some blondes...."

El es rubio.

Ella es rubia.

Ellas son rubias.

"Now a couple of brunettes..."

Ellas son morenas.



"Princes!!!! Mommy needs PRINCES! (well, not really....)"

The princes are mostly tall and dark...huh...you don't notice that until you have to teach adjectives.

Ellos son morenos.

"Where are the redheads?"

Ella es pelirroja.

Now an example of the ellos/ellas pronoun problem.  I don't care if there are 100 girls in the room one boy walks in and you make it ELLOS. Then some high and mighty 8th grade girl goes off on the wrongness of this, wasting your ACTFL guideline time.....  God bless taking mics away...

Ellas

Ellos

This is my favorite 7th/8th grade threat:

If you guys don't participate, I'm bringing out the Justin Beiber doll!!!!!  (I can't find Justin right now. I don't know where Frances hid him, but he worked wonders on getting kids to raise their hands....)

No Sra. P...not the Justin Beiber doll....

Justin es tonto, pero muy rico. 

Don't you just wish all you had to do was say...Bibity, Bobbity...Boo! Learn your adjective rules!

No fairy godmothers in the language teaching world...but plenty of dolls....

Setting up the Virtual elementary language classroom

As badly as I wanted to teach middle school, my first job out of college was with two elementary schools. Since I look like I'm in my late 20s now, I'm guessing I looked twelve back then. Elementary was a good place to start. I eventually transferred to older students, but that is another story for another day.

This year, 2012-2013,  I was the only teacher teaching K-8th grade. In years past, the other teacher had the elementary grades. I wasn't sure where to begin with little ones online. So I used my super memory skills and tried to remember what worked in the brick and mortar classroom. So much has changed, but so much has stayed the same.

What has changed: I am a picture taking Iphone addict. I don't know what I did before I could pull out my camera and take a picture. I take pictures of things other people wouldn't, because I want to use them in my classroom or blog.

What has stayed the same: Language learning requires a lot of visuals. The more language you plan to use, the more visuals you are going to need.

For my K/1st grade students, I told them to make sure they had a working microphone, webcam, and a Spanish "basket."
It can be a laundry basket or anything they have around the house.

 

 

 

Each week I took a picture of all the things they needed to collect around the house: Stuffed animals for dialogues, coins for a money unit, fruits and vegetables, zoo animals, weather items.  If they didn't have the things they needed, most of them had colorful books they could hold up to the camera.

 

 

 

 

 

The majority of the time, all the students were able to collect something and use it on the webcam.  The picture of my basket was easier for younger students than for me to make a list for the parent coach to collect.  This gave the younger child ownership of the learning.  Now instead of me pushing a cart of things from classroom to classroom, each child drags a special basket of all the items they need to their computer station.  What's old is made new again!





Spanish online? How do you do that?

Blogging is my favorite hobby, but alas, I have a lot of work that needs to get done this year.  Then I decided that as a teacher, mom, Spanish speaker, and armchair comedienne, why not make a blog for work?  I can still tell my funny stories, write creative posts, and do my work research all in one place!  All my needs are met!  Don't you just love it when your personal and professional passions intercross?   It's hard to put this into blog posts because I could write one entire book on my language teaching journey.... but I will try. 

This blog is going to begin in the present and work its way back.  After many years of hearing it, I finally decided to answer the number one question since I took this job in October 2007. How do you teach a language online? Especially early language learning? Don't they have to see you, interact with you, smell your coffee breath and complain about your lack of fashion sense?  Don't you miss having to sign bathroom passes? Writing up tardy slips?  Newsflash!!!  It is possible and a lot of fun to interact with students on line.  AND yes! It is REAL work.  I haven't turned the television on before four o'clock in the afternoon since Oprah turned 50 and I was on maternity leave with my FIRST baby.

 I'm going where my writing energy takes me, and it's taking me back to language learning.  I'll post what works in my classroom, hilarious stories from years of doing this, and lessons different people have taught me over the years.

As funny as I am, I'll try to remember that this is also an educational research blog. Please comment and not just say wonderful idea!   You are so clever!!!!   Please, I need feedback, suggestions, and constructive criticism. I won't grow as an educator if I hear "Hurray for you!" over and over again...  Who am I kidding?  I can think of at least three Spanish teachers off the top of my head who have no problems calling me out when I need it.

I'm finishing up the layout and then the real work will begin!