What do I want my classroom to look like?

OK, so in interviews, this has more to do with the environment and activities rather than physical appearance.  However, as I'm hearing more and more about our new campus and thinking of things that I'd like to have readily available to help students, I'd like to touch on the actual physical appearance of my room.  Like many of my posts, this will be one that gets updated over time :)

• Materials and resources
• "Store" - all of our props and costumes
• student library
• teacher library
• Common objects (door, clock, window, etc.)
• Spare items (golf pencils, loose-leaf-papers)
• Spanish support
• Labels for objects and areas
• Conjugation charts (not for focus, but support)
• Decorations
• window curtains
• cultural artifacts
• posters/pictures of other countries

Resources

Here's a compilation of resources I'd like to keep track of :)

General Professional Development resources
Twitter
Google+

TPRS
MoreTPRS Yahoo! Group

General Spanish
Pinterested board with resources

Genius Hour/20 Time
The Global Genius Hour Project
Genius Hour Wiki Space
20 Time in Education
20% Time Google Plus Group
20% Time in Education Google Plus Group
Genius Hour Collaboration
Genius Hour

Flipped Classroom
Free resources for the flipped classroom
27 Simple ways to flip your classroom

Technology Resources
Most used education Apps

Shopping List

I am compiling a list of resources and materials I'd like to gather for my classroom.  As I come across items I want, I'll list them here!

• Reading Materials
• Class library
• Children's books
• Popular books in Spanish
• Readers
• Class story collections
• Articles in Spanish
• Class sets of curriculum novels
• LICT Extended Stories
• Storytelling
• Stuffed animals
• Clothing
• Wigs
• Misc. Props
• Ben Slavic Posters
• References
• The Power of Cognates
• Songs for Spanish Class
• TPRS in a Year
• Story Scripts, Volume 1
• Story Scripts, Volume 2
• PQA in a Wink
• Stuff for Spanish Class
• Decorations
• Verb endings posters
• Rejoinder Poster
• Maps
• Cultural Artifacts
• Other
• Sr. Wooly Subscription
• Singing the Basics: Beginning Spanish
• Singing the Basics: Intermediate Spanish

Embedded Reading

In my efforts to flip my classroom, I've been trying to think of an effective way to prepare my students for the reading days.  I wanted to find something that they could read (since that's what they're preparing to do), but that would be easy enough that they could be successful on their own.  I was having some trouble until....

I discovered embedded reading!  This is something that I've been hearing about every now and then without actually understanding what it was.  Initially, I thought it was something like supplemental reading - different texts that would support the themes and concepts in a main text, much like was done in both my US and Latin American history and literature classes.  I decided to finally take a look and see what all the fuss was about.  I found this wonderful blog, Embedded Reading, that set me straight (it's now added to my blog list on the side panel of this page).

The blog is very thorough about them and I highly recommend heading on over to it, but I'll write a brief explanation here.  Rather than different texts focusing on a particular theme, embedded readings are essentially the same text, but with various levels created for it that are embedded in one another.  The first level is easy enough for anyone in the class to read and understand without effort.  Then, each of the following levels has more detail and elaboration, making the text more complex and difficult, until students are reading a text that would generally be difficult, but not impossible for them.  However, because students already have background knowledge about the text that was easily understood at previous levels, students are better able to understand the more complex levels o the text.  It's scaffolding!

This is the answer to my reading preparation days :)  I want to use these in two ways:

Extended Reading - This will be pretty straightforward as I take the Look, I Can Talk! extended stories and create easier levels for them.  I imagine I'll probably make 3 levels for each story using the "top down" approach (starting with the hardest text and simplifying it):  The hardest will be what is actually written in the Look, I can talk! textbook, while the easiest will be what I have students read at home as part of my "flipped" classroom.  I can see various activities we could do in class to read both the "middle" and "highest" levels.  Since I'll be scaffolding them appropriately, I can easily see us being able to read the stories as a whole class, in groups, and even individually with me there to support them.  One thing I do enjoy doing - especially for independent and group reading - is to have students ask me what unknown words mean and I can write them on the board with their definitions in order to support the entire class at once.

Storytelling/writing - I like this idea to support both reading and writing.  After we tell a story, the students' homework and preparation for the next day is to rewrite the story told in class.  From the stories submitted, I can choose three to edit and type for students to read the next day - one that's basic, another that's a little more difficult, and one that's advanced.  (Another idea I have to support students' writing, especially at first, is to provide a "skeleton story" where students can just fill in the blank to re-write their story, which would be at the basic level).  Then, students can read and re-read the stories they and their peers wrote!

Tips, Tricks, and Ideas

Here are various tips and tricks I use to create a classroom,  curriculum, and individual lessons centered on TPRS.  Click the links for more information and practical applications!

Story Writing 101

There is a common theme and pattern to every story in TPRS:  There is someone and they want something.  They go somewhere to get it, but they are unsuccessful.  So, they go somewhere else and resolve their problem.  Once you understand this structure, writing your stories are simple.  Here's how...

Class Story Books
Have your students create a wonderful resource for your classroom that can be used to review the next day as will be a keepsake and reading material for years to come!

Inter-class Pen Pals
Get students reading, writing, and building a class community all at once!

Spanish Nicknames
During the first week of school, students choose nicknames that they will use throughout the year.  I provide a list of nicknames, but students are also allowed to create their own as long as it's school-appropriate.  I love this activity!  It achieves many things that are critical in my classroom.  First and foremost, the students learn to "play" and develop a unique relationship in my classroom with me and their peers.  Another perk is that students have a jump-start to their vocabulary as they're already interested in what the names mean and will get many repetitions of these words throughout the year! Rather than real Spanish names, I use nicknames such as "Pato" (duck) or "Vato" (dude).

TPRS in a Week
This is an example of how I would structure my week.  Each "day" is a 45-minute period.  Because most schools in my area are on various types of block scheduling, I have combined the days into 90-minute periods, with one flexible half-day.

Structure/Word Cards
I got this idea from a fellow TPRS teacher and added my own ideas and adaptations to it.  I'd love to hear what you would do with something like this!  For me, it makes me more intentional about what I'm teaching without a lot of effort on my part as well as helps students become more engaged and focused.  Plus, we keep track of the things we've already learned and are able to continually review them as we progress!

Interactive Notebooks

Interactive notebooks are a note-taking method I plan to utilize in my classroom.  Students create their own interactive notebook out of a composition notebook.  Tabs are added to create sections, and students fill in the contents of the notebook throughout the year.  In general, students take notes (teacher input) on the right-hand page, and personalize the information on the left-hand side of the page.  At the end of the year, they will have created a comprehensive record of their classroom experience.

Teaching through Novels
There has recently been a discussion in the MoreTPRS yahoo group about doing novel-based classes, and I am very excited about it!  Similar to how I am pulling structures from the LICT extended reading stories, I would take them from the novels themselves.  It may take a week or a few weeks to complete a chapter as we ask stories in class that circle the structures and vocabulary students need to know in order to comprehend what they are reading.  In addition, I would want to choose books with which I could integrate other activities for students to explore and describe themselves and the world around them.

Games
TPRS-friendly games to play with the class!

Shopping List
The list of items I'd like for my TPRS classroom!

Positive Reinforcement (Rewarding Great Behavior!)

Kindergarten and Movie Days

Flipped Classroom: Week 1 Student Resources

I'm working on my curriculum and putting it together nicely for myself and others to use!  I've decided to use my Weebly site for organization.  I'm still working on getting together lesson plans, but I do have a nice webpage completed that students will refer to in order to prepare themselves for class in the "flipped classroom" model.  Essentially, I've given students a preview of what we will be learning the next day, including the vocabulary, the topics we will discuss, and the objectives and activities that will be completed in-class.  I intend to count these activities as part of the "citizenship" objective in my class have most of these activities submitted via EdModo, where I (or Edmodo) can quickly assign and keep track of grades.

Now that I'm actually developing resources and plans and am able to visualize more concrete details, I'm even more excited about flipping my classroom.  This gives me a whole new level of integrating technology into my classroom and opening up opportunities for learning.  In addition, by using various resources, they are able to come to class prepared to contribute, facilitating a classroom where I can be a guide on the side and allow them to share and elaborate on what they already know from resources they can get on their own.  I also feel that this will help students develop the research and other skills necessary to succeed in the future, with particular attention to success in an technology-driven world.

Spanish 1 Materials

I'm still figuring out a way to organize materials for students and anyone else who need to access them.  However, in the meantime, here are the first materials I have to support my Spanish 1 curriculum: A TPR notes handout with the words we will do in order and the master structures list for students to fill in.  That's it for tonight - more coming soon!

A child's Imagination Lost

I came across this thought-provoking piece just now on Twitter and wanted to post it before I go to bed: A Child's Imagination Lost.

For me, this simply reaffirms what we do in TPRS.  We ask students to use their imaginations and play - both with the language and their behaviors as we get a little silly and act out our stories.  Playing and imagining are such beautiful and wonderful things!

Misc Resources

A log of resources I've come across and want to sort through - I'm adding things whenever I come across them to review later :)

Cool website where you can listen to radio stations around the world!
http://multilingualbooks.com/

http://www.mezzoguild.com/2013/04/06/good-and-ugly-perfectionism/

http://edudemic.com/2012/08/50-must-download-apps-for-lifelong-learners/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LoEx134YpGR_vgNfnSHr2b25m9uu115Cm4PLJaumE0I/edit?pli=1

http://blog.calicospanish.com/2013/04/22/best-texts-for-teaching-communicative-proficiency.html

Vocaroo for QR Codes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fglkSWjhZd0

Voice response to writing http://www.mypaperlessclassroom.org/2013/04/why-voice-response-is-so-effective-and.html

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/search/label/Twitter%20tools?&max-results=9

http://creativelanguageclass.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/tell-me-about-it/

700 Reasons to Learn a Language

Check this out!  It's organized by subject as well as searchable :)

Interactive Reading

Today, I discovered Señora Barragán's website and blog.  She's got a lot of great ideas!

One in particular was for a resource called Inklewriter.




Isn't this exactly what we do for our stories - having a framework, and then allowing students to change the details??  Of course, I would most likely be using the feature that simply changes the nouns used throughout the story...  But, I could also change the ending!  What a great way for students to practice reading stories at home!  Adding this to my must-do list :)

Props!

Props really enhance storytelling as students enjoy playing with the toys and costumes and are inspired to add new details.  My cooperating teacher had a wonderful supply of props and accessories, and I'm excited to start gathering my own!  I called my mom and asked her if my 300-item Beanie Baby collection had ever gotten donated.  By some miracle, it's stayed in my old bedroom for the last 5 years, so it'll be my jump-start animal collection for stories!  Gotta love Beanie Babies :)  I also stopped by Deseret Industries and picked up these lovely fellows:

They'll make excellent story-telling characters/props since the words are easy cognates that students remember (mono, girafa, y hipopótamo) and they have a lot of character.  The hippo sits up on his own, but looks grumpy/sad all the time.  The giraffe is happy, and those horns are perfect handles for riding him somewhere.  And the monkey is simply cute, pink, and funny-looking with really long arms and legs that even have velcro on them so we can make him hang on to things.  When I mentioned I was getting these for my class, the cashier asked what grade I taught.  She wasn't expecting my answer: middle and high school!  I love my job :D

Student Work

As I plan for my class this fall, I'm envisioning the types of things students will be doing and how they will be turning them in.  I'm not a fan of paperwork and homework - it's too much to grade and doesn't really do much anyway.  However, I've come up with a few ways to organize student work that I think will work very well.

First, I am a huge fan of interactive notebooks and plan for students to create their own.  I've mentioned this before, but now as I'm working through my curriculum, I have a much clearer idea of what I want their notebooks to look like.  This takes a huge amount of forethought and planning as there are a limited number of pages and they cannot simply be added or taken away, but should contain evidence of all the learning and activities students complete as a part of my class.  As I solidify my ideas about what I want students' notebooks to look like, I'm also creating my own version as a test-IN as well as a future example for students.  Thus far, my IN is laid out like this:

• Front cover: Name, Class, and Teacher (and any other decorations and designs as they please)
• Inside front cover: Glued/Taped-in Table of Contents
• Page 1: Taped-in Syllabus
• Pages 2-3: Grouping arrangements
• Pages 4-13: Grade Trackers
• Page 4: Objective 1: Listening (Semester 1)
• Page 5: Objective 1: Listening (Semester 2)
• Page 6: Objective 2: Reading (Semester 1)
• Page 7: Objective 2: Reading (Semester 2)
• Page 8: Objective 3: Writing (Semester 1)
• Page 9: Objective 3: Writing (Semester 2)
• Page 10: Objective 4: Speaking (Semester 1)
• Page 11: Objective 4: Speaking (Semester 2)
• Page 12: Objective 5: Citizenship (Semester 1)
• Various chunks of this grade have their own tracking sheets taped in
• Page 13: Objective 5: Citizenship (Semester 2)
• Various chunks of this grade have their own tracking sheets taped in
• Pages 14-69: Pruebitas (warm-ups)
• This is the only section that we will be using on a daily basis to check understanding and learning, so there needs to be plenty of room.
• Pages 70-89: Timed Writes
• Students will do timed writes in their notebook and on separate sheets of paper taped in to conserve notebook space.
• Pages 90-155: Stories
• The first two pages are reserved for hand-outs with an overview of all of the structures.
• The remaining pages are for notes about the stories on the right-hand pages (writing the structures and any info about them, events in the story, etc), while the left-hand pages are reserved for student interaction with the information, such as re-writing the story in various ways, illustrations, etc.
• Pages 156-200: Misc
• Everything else, including culture, songs, alphabet, numbers, anything extra we do with the novel, etc.  Oftentimes, these will be taped-in hand outs or notes.

Though most in-class work will be completed in the IN, which will be checked/stamped periodically and assigned a mid-term and final grade, there are a few other activities that won't be included in the IN other than where they're recorded in the grade-tracker.  Here's what I've got so far:

• Reading Journal: Assigned and submitted weekly via EdModo using a form or template.
• Re-Writes: Students can submit their re-writes of the stories the same night via EdModo (see my Classroom Storybook post).
• Pen Pals: I can check of that students have turned in Pen Pal letters before distributing them

TPRS without a teacher

I've been planning to create videos for the stories and structures that I TPRS.  These wouldn't necessarily be the exact stories that students came up with in class, but still teach the same structures, complete with questioning, adding details, and then circling them.  I even purchased an animation program with which I can animate pictures of things - i.e. famous people (including myself), animals, stuffed animals, etc. - to compensate for my lack of hand-illustration skills and then adding audio.  Of course, students wouldn't be able to suggest details to include in the story, but these would achieve taking TPRS home to prepare/learn/practice/review the structures we did in class with "real" TPRS.  Plus, students can pause, rewind, and replay as much as they'd like!  Of course, I want them to do that in my real-life classroom as well, but watching a video on your own removes some of the inhibitions to signal me to stop/slow down/repeat that will remain in a real classroom setting no matter what I do.

I imagine a few uses for these videos:

1) First, for my use, I have a way for students who miss class or need to review to do so in a classic TPRS-style.  Sure, the stories may not be as interesting or interactive, but that's why you show up to class!  However, it is still a useful and valuable resource for any students that need and/or want it as well as something that I could assign for review.

2) Second, for other teachers' use.  I want to spread the word about TPRS!  One of the best ways to learn about TPRS is to actually experience it.  This would open up opportunities for other teachers to realize the strength and power of teaching through asking stories as well as provide a rough guide for how it's done.

3) Third, for other students' use.  Unfortunately, I cannot be my husband's or little-brothers' full-time teacher.  However, with videos like these, I can give them a starting point for learning the structures.  Of course, that would then be supplemented with leveled reading material.  And, with a motivated student, I can almost simulate the TPRS experience for them to learn on their own time and schedule.

Interactive Notebooks

Interactive notebooks are a note-taking method I plan to utilize in my classroom.  Students create their own interactive notebook out of a composition notebook.  Tabs are added to create sections, and students fill in the contents of the notebook throughout the year.  In general, students take notes (teacher input) on the right-hand page, and personalize the information on the left-hand side of the page.  At the end of the year, they will have created a comprehensive record of their classroom experience.  Note: There are some assignments and items completed outside the notebook (EdModo, culture projects, etc.), but there is always some evidence of this work in the notebook (see Grade Trackers), so it truly includes everything done in class.

Here is the Interactive Notebook I created as example for my Spanish 1 Students - hopefully once next year is over I'll have some wonderfully-done and much more creative student examples.  Click on the pictures for a bigger version.

The front of the notebook!  I prefer to use composition books as it gives me a concrete notebook for students to personalize.  They can choose any type of composition book, but they all have 200 pages for you to make the most of.  Pages cannot be taken out or moved (no more "it fell out of my binder!" or "it didn't have holes!"), but you can add pages, such as worksheets and handouts, in a variety of ways.  We'll call these "foldables" from now on - and there are a lot more foldable ideas than I'll be listing here (check out this pinterest board for a bunch of creative and fun foldables!).  I used heavy-duty tabs on this notebook, but you can also use tape to make your own tabs by lining up two pieces of tape with each other on opposite sides of the same page, and then putting a slip of paper in the middle of the tape.

Inside the front cover.  \This is where I put my Table of Contents.  (I'm going to have to think of a nicer way for students to do this - possibly by creating/coloring their own Table of Contents?).  On the first page goes the syllabus for the class.  As you can see, a sheet of paper folded in half fits nicely and inside notebook. Students write the headings for that page on the top, and then papers can be taped or glued in.  Taping the paper in allows you to use both sides of the paper - if I open it up to the right (as shown), you can see the front, but I can also flip it over to the other side with the tape acting as a hinge.  This also allows me to still use the page behind the paper for notes!

A very important point that I need to make here is that each item has its own specific page.  For example, EVERYONE's syllabus is on the first page.  And the page 152 in one students' notebook should have the same information as page 152 in another students' notebook.  I keep my Table of Contents in the front of the notebook very simple - mainly restricted to what tabs students need to use - and have more detailed Sub-Table of Contents pages where I need them (seen below).  This requires planning on your part and a clear idea of where you're going as well as how much of the notebook is going to be used for each section.  I find this keeps me very organized as well!  Of course, there's always that semi-large "Misc." section at the end of the notebook for everything I don't have a specific plan or section for ;).

1st Tab: Grouping.  I want students to be able to find their groups quickly and so wanted it to have its own tab.  Since it is more of a procedure, it seemed logical to put this at the front.  I left two pages so that I have plenty of room to add additional grouping configurations.  It is easy to tape in additional papers behind the first one and fold them over one another, so I could really have as many grouping configurations as I wanted to.  In addition, I could even have them tape in or copy down "group roles" for quick reference here.

2nd Tab: Grade Trackers.  These are one of the most important parts of my IN.  In order to empower my students to use keep track of their progress (and even predict their grade!), students graph their scores on each of my five objectives (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking, Citizenship).  Each objective has a page for first semester (S1) and a page for second semester (S2) opposite one another.  Each time students do an assessment (usually formative, but also the occasional summative), students record and graph their scores, including a page number for the notebook if applicable.

 I have students label their grade trackers with the different levels of achievement - in this class, I use proficiency levels of "Advanced", "Proficient", "Basic", and "Below Basic" - which roughly translate to grades of A, B, C, D and less.  Certain objectives, such as my writing objective, use benchmarks along the way that students grade themselves against, which you can see in the grade tracker.  My grading is based off student performance at the end of the semester.  However, by checking the trends in their grade trackers, students will have a pretty good idea of where they're at in meeting the objectives and how they will do on the final, which determines their final grade.  This also helps them focus their studying by showing which areas are strong or need improvement - and recording page numbers where that assessment is in the IN also allows students to identify which specific materials they need to work on.

My citizenship grade takes into account things like participation and attendance, the notebook check (once per quarter), completing mini-assignments like EdModo submissions and pen pal letters, etc.  As such, I plan to use a variety of forms in the Citizenship grade tracker that I can quickly check.  The Participation and Attendance also serves as a classroom management tool - if a student needs to use the restroom during class or is absent, they can note it in their notebook (I need to make a key!).  If a student does make-up work, they can also note it.  Then, when I do notebook checks, I simply need to check the sheet, fill out the score, and hand the notebook back! I'm planning on students putting their rubric and score for their culture presentation here as well.

3rd tab: Pruebitas.  These are formative checks done daily. Students simply complete the warm up or other activity, date it, and will usually record and graph their scores in the appropriate Grade Tracker section.  Again, if a student scores poorly, they can simply check the Grade Tracker and turn to the pruebita they scored poorly on to study.

4th tab: Timed Writes.  This is where students do their timed writes.  If students need more space than allowed in the notebook, or if I want to collect them, students can do their timed writes on loose-leaf paper that will later be taped in (I provide loose-leaf paper to my students since it will only occasionally be needed and students may not have their own).  I only set aside 20 pages in the IN for timed writes since I only need enough pages for students to have a place to tape in their timed writes after I've collected and checked them.  I haven't decided the type of feedback I want to give on timed writes, but this is an excellent way for students to track their progress and observe how their writing is changing.  Of course, students graph their scores and record the page number of the timed write on the Grade Tracker for our Writing objective!

 5th tab: Stories. This is the largest section of my IN since so much is dedicated to storytelling.  Of course, any reading or activities that go with these stories logically fit here as well.  The first page after my tab is a Table of Contents specifically for the stories so students can find a specific story quickly.  The opposite page will have a hand-out taped in of all of our structures for the entire year for quick-reference and studying.  I plan to only have the Spanish structures listed, so students have to fill in the English translations themselves as we go along. (I don't have pictures of these since I haven't decided on my entire curriculum, so I don't know what I want to put in there yet!)

The next two pages are dedicated to the TPR words I plan to do at the beginning of the year.  I limited myself to 20 concrete words that I would use often in class when giving directions, but also come up frequently in the story.  The basic layout for this entire section is how I was taught to do a "traditional" interactive notebook: Teacher input on the right-hand page, student interaction on the left-hand page.  As such, the list of TPR words are on the right-hand page with their translations and a hint or "bridge" between the word and its meaning (Note to self: this would make a great foldable!).  On the left-hand page is the "assignment" - "Pick three words that are difficult for you.  Illustrate the word and add a caption that helps you remember what it means."  As you can tell, I am a wonderful artist.

This is what the notes for a story would look like.  On the right-hand page is the teacher input: The structures and their translations are copied down.  After the divider goes any miscellaneous notes, whether I told students to write it down or students wrote down something that stuck out to them.  On the left-hand page is the assignment for that particular story.  For instance, this assignment was to "Illustrate each of the three parts of the story and a summary of what happened in each part."

 6th tab: Misc.  This is my "everything else" tab - culture, songs, random vocabulary, etc.  It allows me to be flexible - it's OK if I don't get to the Sr. Wooly song like I wanted to!  I just don't have that page in the notebook for that class.  Of course, that means there has to be a Table of Contents at the beginning of this section - Since i set aside about 50 pages, I set aside the first two pages for the Table of Contents.  The rest of these pictures are various examples for how I could use this section.

"Power of Cognates" handout to be filled in as we cover new cognates, as well as a notes page for False Cognates.

Alphabet and Numbers Notes/Handouts

Sr. Wooly Cloze Activity with notes behind it.

Sr. Wooly foldable

 Hand outs and notes about Spanish-Speaking countries of the world.

Subject pronouns nots and song lyrics

 Day of the Dead KWL and response question