Piaget y Vygotsky hablan español T2P Module 4

Every new mommy that ever took a psychology class loves Jean Piaget and his stages of cognitive development.  When you have your baby, you get to see the textbook come to life.   Look!  My baby is sensorimotor! Wow! My son just  developed object permanence and knows his toys haven't gone anywhere.  For me, it was a little depressing as the mother of a child on the autism spectrum when she didn’t hit the milestones the way other children did. 

During my high school classroom hiatus being a mom to two toddlers, I taught 2 year olds Spanish.  Talk about cognitive development in action! That drove me nuts- you think they aren’t listening because they can’t sit still and you ask them a question and they smile or ask for juice.  Later during free choice time you hear them singing a song you taught them that morning or labeling objects in colors in Spanish.  Never think that they aren’t listening, they are.

While the mommy in me loves Piaget, the teacher of teenagers in me is a Vygotsky woman. Pouring the liquid from glass to glass is cute.  I am sure my students have concrete operations.  I want to hear them work out together how to ask for more water in Spanish. 

Lev Vygotsky believed that people in a child's world supported their cognitive development-it wasn't just happening to the child, the culture and social life were involved. He also believed in the "zone of proximal development" -this is the area where children can't solve a problem alone.  Children need to work together to find an answer.  As a teacher, I need to make them struggle a little to find that answer. This is what Vygotsky called "Scaffolding."  Once they have an answer, I give them another question, and scaffold them again.  

Whether you prefer Piaget or Vygotsky or a combination of both, it is all about experience and working together.  How can you work together if you are sitting in nice little rows copying notes off a board?   The only thing that is good for is laughing about at the 20^th reunion.  Twenty years later I want my students to speak Spanish, not laugh at my mood swings…Ok, maybe they can do both.

I prefer Vygotsky.

I like noisy teenagers.

Some Spanish teachers give a participation grade, I give a collaboration grade.  Collaboration to me means everyone at the table is playing their strengths.  It does not mean one person does all the work while another one copies.

I have found that as they sit in groups and say the words to each other or work on the projects together, they remember more.  Sometimes this could be a dialogue-where they act out a scene with a partner. This could also be grammar based- when they help each other learn the difference between ser and estar.  These can be simple flashcard drills or more advanced conversational questions.  The point is, they are working together to find the answers.

Anything they can do to interact with each other improves the Spanish content internalization and application.  This was the best thing about my online course.  My students had their coursework- a calendar of activities that they technically could have done alone, but twice a week we met to work together.  The majority of them preferred to speak and practice together.  It changed the dynamic of the course when they had classmates to interact with in the online live classroom.  The best part was no bathroom pass writing for me.

Always remember this as the teacher....

NO matter how perfect your lesson, exciting your activity, or innovative the technology, kids will be kids.  You have to teach the artist and the athlete.  You are working against the latest fight in the cafeteria.  Some of them can’t sit still to save their lives.  What is a brilliant idea to you is just work to them, and they would rather be gaming, playing ball, or making out with their girlfriend of boyfriend.

Sometimes I think getting them to stick with me is my zone of proximal development....

Keep scaffolding me, Lev.....

Making it stick......T2P Module 3

I have one hour a day, five days a week to get as much Spanish into my students  as possible.  I have to really work that working memory.

 What is working memory?

"In essence, working memory is the component of memory in which active thinking occurs (Ormrod, p167)."  In an article for the National Center for Learning Disabilities, Dr. Tracy Alloway refers to working memory as "The Brain's Post-it note." 

We have a lot to put on one post-it note.

I found this video on what happens if a teacher isn't clear in her directions and how a student could get lost. 

I could see this happening in my room. It has happened in my room.  I can gauge it by one of my all-time favorite students.  When I lost him, he'd take a bathroom break. How do I keep from losing them?

While world language learning involves grammar, culture, conversation, and reading,  I'm going to use vocabulary as my example.  How would I get a class of 25 students with all their quirks and personalities to learn a Spanish vocabulary list?

 First I type it up on paper or a website.  There are always twenty words and they go together.  This week we are talking about reflexive verbs, so all the vocabulary is part of a morning routine/personal care.  (I'm shuddering at where it could go, but oh well....)

 I keep the directions and activities SIMPLE. I may ask all of them, what color is you toothbrush?

Until I feel they all understand the word.

 Instead of repeating the list over and over, my students work in groups.  They use visuals and manipulatives to say the words to each other.  One group will brush a doll’s hair while another will pretend to brush teeth.  One group will be playing bingo and another group will describe pictures.  After five to ten minutes, they switch groups.   Working together, changing activities, and movement helps the vocabulary stay in working memory.  Silly props help too.  A class will always remember the word for "head" if you hold up a decapitated Barbie (true story).


When I first started teaching, my principal told me to always end a lesson by reviewing exactly what I wanted the student's to remember. After a session of group activities, I'll ask review questions and the majority of them will be able to answer me. I keep the vocabulary parameters.  The questions and conversations can all relate back to the list.  If I were to ask a student, "what do you do in the morning?" I've left it too open ended.  If I say, "Do you take your shower in the morning or at night?" I've given them a choice and an opportunity to succeed without being overwhelmed.

Teaching within a framework, keeping the unit organized, and changing the activities have all contributed to my students remembering not only for a test, but also for using the words and phrases during classroom conversations.  For language to enter long-term memory, I have to be really active in the working one.