The first days and weeks of school play an important role in how the school year might go. In this post I have shared a series of practices and strategies I use in my classes.
Find a Signal To Get Your Student’s Attention
I’m a fan of having chimes in different places in my room. I also have them in my bag when I travel from classroom to classroom. Watch the video to see how I use a three-tone chime in my classes. I would love to say that I came up with this idea, but I learned it from an awesome colleague and translated it into Spanish.
Use Call and Response Chants
Yes, sometimes using our chime or clapping our hands doesn’t work! I have found that call-and-responses work magic to get my students’ attention while using the language. Find some that you like and work for your class!
Use Songs As Quiet Reminders and Transitions
Songs are great a way to remind your students what they need to be doing at the moment, especially younger students. You can use songs to remind students to line up, clean up, and so on!
Set Classroom Norms and Expectations
Some teachers like to set their norms prior to the first class, other teachers create them with their students and others piggyback on the norms students created with their homeroom teachers.No matter what you decide, make them simple, talk about your norms and expectation, model them, practice them and also make them part of your everyday routine. If possible place posters in the front of the class to keep them as reminders!
Greet Every Student
If you have a classroom, waiting for your students and greeting them at the door is one of the best ways to set the tone for your class. If you don’t have a classroom, you can still make sure to greet every student in your class. Remember that saying their names when you greet them is important for your students, and also a way for you to remember all their names.
What else would you add to this list? Write them in the comments!
Stories are a great tool to introduce and/or review vocabulary and expose learners to the language in context. When using stories with second language learners in the setting of a world language program, where students only have the language once or twice a week, you have to take into account that you can’t bring any story written for native or heritage speakers. Most of the time these stories are packed with too much language and not enough repetition which can lead your students to frustration. These stories might not be comprehensible enough for them. It’s important to take into account that most students who participate into this type of programs follow under the Novice Proficiency Guidelines by ACTFL.- (Visit link for more info).
Looking for ways to build classroom community from day one? Community is one the most important things to have a successful school year with your students. Having strong classroom communities will lead to empowered students who will feel validated and ready to thrive. These are just some of the ways you can start building community in your classes:
Introduce Yourself
Students want to know who their teachers are. Sharing simple things about you will make them feel safer and find ways to connect with you.What can you share with your students? Likes, dislikes, special traditions, languages you speak, and so on! I recommend not asking about summer activities since not everyone has access to the same opportunities.
Learn How to Pronounce Your Students’ Names Correctly
This is key for building classroom community. Let your students know that it’s ok for them to correct you if you mispronounce their names. Find ways to help you remember the correct pronunciation.
Celebrate Your Students’ Cultures
World language classes should not only focus on the cultures of the target language. Our classes should be spaces where all cultures and traditions are celebrated. Look for ways in your classes to elevate your students. Make your class a space where everyone is welcome!
Focus on the Positive and Always Celebrate Your Students’ Milestones
Focus on the positive and always celebrate your students’ milestones: Remember that our classes are filled with students that have different learning styles and personalities. It’s important to keep in mind that they are all processing and learning at different paces.
Involve the Families of Your Students From Day One
Send a letter or email to your students’ families / caregivers prior to or right after you have your students in class on the first day.Let them know about you, your program, your professional experience, and expectations for your class, and ways to connect with you! Families are also important when building classroom communities!
As a World Language educator I want my students to understand the power and responsibilities we all have and carry as ethical citizens of the world, and I have been working hard on making sure that my lessons and class routines support this by going beyond linguistic goals and intentionally including topics on gender, race, identity, the environment, and opportunities for cross-curricular connections. Cultivating a sense of belonging is important at any age, but crucial in the early years. It is important for our students to be able to see themselves in the materials we bring to our classes, but also to be able to see and appreciate others who are not like them.
A good resource to help me guide my teaching practices is the Learning for Tolerance’s website. I have been basing my lessons on the Social Justice Standards in anti-bias education from their website.
Here are some ideas to celebrate family diversity in our classrooms:
Bring Pictures:
Show pictures of various different kinds of families and describe them.
Use sticky notes to label the family members in each picture.
Ask for volunteers to describe each family in the pictures.
Use Videos:
These videos are in English but you can pause them and talk about the different families in Spanish.
This song is algo great to pause and talk about the different family structures.
This song is algo great to pause and talk about the different family structures.
Picture Books:
Books are a great way to spark conversations. In most of the cases in the early language classroom, students have already read them with their homeroom teachers. (Click the image to see the list on Amazon or CLICK HERE!)
Inspired by this beautiful idea of the family as the strength and support ask your students to think about their families. Make sure to have multicultural crayons or markers for your students to use and ask them to draw their families. Invite them to talk about their families. Be aware that not every student might want to share about their families. Find a space to display their families. Ask your students to look at them and talk about the different families in their class.
Adapting the Family Tree to Different Levels:
Students draw a picture of themselves and their families.
Students make the pictures and label them.
Students make the pictures, label them and write a paragraph about their families. For example: “Esta es mi familia. Yo vivo con mi papá, mi mamá y dos hermanos. Tengo un gato y un perro.
Use multicultural family figures to talk about different kinds of families and continue reinforcing vocabulary in Spanish.
Are you ready for the summer version of the “A mí también” game? I have played this game with different age groups, and it’s always a success!
You will need to print the cards or project the slide on the board. I have blogged about this game before, but I can tell you quickly that anytime you show a card, read it aloud to your students or ask a volunteer to read it for you. Students who identify with that card can raise their hands or jump saying “A mí también”, then you stop and ask a few students questions about the card.
