October+26

=Tentative Agenda for October 26=

//I'll pick and choose what we'll focus on based on what you sign up for. Based on the feedback I've been receiving from your field instructors, your mentor teachers, and in private e-mails from some of you, I am thinking it might be a good idea to spend the majority of our class time on planning from the textbook and managing transitions between activities.//

= =

=12:40 - 12:45=

1) **Housekeeping:**


 * Roll
 * Rearranging the Room
 * Oral Proficiency - Where are we, what are our next steps?
 * Priorities:
 * Teaching Demos
 * Mentor Conversations
 * Classroom Management (Big Classes, Chatting, Power Dynamic, Questions, Transitions)
 * Planning
 * Passion

=12:45 - 12:55=

2) **Learning Logs**:


 * My biggest success in the last month . ..
 * One thing I'm discovering that I'm really good at . ..
 * What I need the most help with RIGHT NOW is . ..
 * One goal from my current "Target Language Refinement Plan (TLRP)" is:

=12:55 - 1:30=

3) **Insights & Issues:** (Nominate items for discussion here.)

How to keep the balance between whats best for me, and whats best for my kids. user:cartierm

I would like to touch a little bit on how to interact with the parents of a child who really does not want to take Spanish because he already has a full plate (football, soccer) and two AP classes. The kid is not doing well at all (got 0/30 on a quiz) and now his mother has come in asking to let him retake the quiz. Apparently the kid had already talked to the counseling office and had dropped the class, his parents made in change it back. What gives? Today he was supposed to retake the test first thing in the morning but didn't show up, parents called and now he got to take it after school. The kid has no interest. What gives? Gaby Butcher

Maintaining professional relationshipsuser:mllegibbs - Shall we try some role plays with this? user:chericem1 I second Gretchen's suggestion user:decortem

Also I was wondering what a typical week in a Spanish classroom would look like for you. I've been reading a ton of information in vocabulary exercises, learning centers, etc. and you could definitely spend a lot of time on any one topic. How much time would you devote to each (vocab., grammar, culture, etc.)? user:fraucote1

What strategies can we use for students who just don't study? user:amandabainbridge I 2nd this motion :) user:fraucote1

I know we have touched upon this a little, but what are some good ways to get the class' attention after students have been working in groups or have just lost focus in general. user:dawnmarie To piggyback on Dawn: **Transitions:** I think some noise and attention problems come from me not being prepared enough to handle smooth transitions from activity to activity. Are there some good strategies to work on this? user:decortem

Working on smoothing out transitions sounds like a good idea to me also, Cherice. Also, Gretchen has a good point with covering professional relationships. I'm especially interested in interactions with "problem parents." user:senorastafford

=1:30 - 2:00=

4) **Swap Shop**: (Who has something they are dying to present to the WHOLE group? Post it here and on the Swap Shop page.)

TL Train Wreck (Group Activity) user:gabybutcher

ID CARDS (Individual Project) user:AmandaGSpanish [|carne de identitdad project rubric.doc]

MiWLA Debrief user:chericem1

MSU Tech Conference Debrief user:chericem1

Speed Dating with descriptive vocab. user:richa521

[|www.gcast.com] user:decortem

= = =BREAK: 2:00 - 2:15=

=2:15 - 3:15=

5) **Collaboration Stations:** (Sign your username (with 3 ~) next to the topics you are most interested in, or nominate a new one. We'll only have time for 2 or 3 at the most.)

//**[|Classroom Management]**// This would be helpful after our GLT experiences... user:leonar77 Students that NEVER stop talking user:AmandaGSpanish I second Amanda's issue...I still can't seem to get control of my focus class! user:kristynd I agree! user:richa521 How to do activities with 34 (or more students) while still maintaining control user:cartierm I've also a very full focus class -- 31 students. How to focus them all???user:senorastafford

//**Closure Activities**//

//**Culturally Authentic Service Learning Activities**// **-** I have a contact at a school for orphans in Honduras who is interested in doing some collaborative projects with our class. We could talk about what the needs are at the school for orphans (English language learning, health education, literacy, etc.), how those needs might fit in with the communication and cultural skills you are trying to develop in your students, and then we could brainstorm ways that all of our classes could work together to collaborate with the students in Honduras in a service learning sort of a project. user:chericem1 I would love to know more about this! user:emilylewis I'd like to find out more about this... user:decortem me too! user:richa521 This would be incredible! user:cartierm

//**[|Designing Learning Experiences]**// **//(Flow)//**


 * A Question of Communication: Flow of Energy
 * A Question of Comparisons: Flow of Thinking (Learning as Shifts in Perspective; Neuroscience: Sense/Meaning)
 * A Question of Scaffolding: Flow of Instructional Activities
 * Pre- - Bell-ringer or warm-up activities
 * During - [|Managing Transitions], Handling Interruptions & Health Emergencies, & Preparing for Improvisation
 * Post- Closure, //Managing the paperload// user:gabybutcher
 * A Question of Creativity: [|Flow from Imitation to Innovation]
 * A Question of Movement: Flow of Students and Teachers (Wasted Potential) user:gabybutcher

//**Planning Effective Lessons from the Textbook**//

I second that dawn!!! user:AmandaGSpanish user:cartierm
 * This one would really help me out! I am just starting ch 2, and all I have is the textbook (and the wiki of course) and have no idea where to start. user:dawnmarie**

I second this motion! my mentor wishes me to use her own plans, fine tune them and use them on my two focus classes. How dependent should I be of her schedule? often times I finish with two to three minutes left. Is it o.k. to encourage them to read the cultural reading on the book even if I may have to go over it one more time the next day? Or just have them read it quietly and have them as a questions as they come up.

I think that all of us could use some ideas for planning from a textbook. I'm also interested user:senorastafford


 * [|Planning for Proficiency]
 * Layering the Learning - [|Super Duper Music Looper]

//**Sample Activities/Strategies**//
 * Analogies
 * Board Games (Dice Games, Discovery Toys, Generic Board Games, Interactive, Speed Scrabble, TV Games)
 * Dot-to-Dots (ABC, #s, pictures)
 * Drawing (Coloring Worksheets, Describe & Draw, Draw Grids)
 * Flyswatters user:gabybutcher
 * Hear/Circle
 * Hear/Sayuser:cartierm
 * Interactive Activities (4 corners, Information Gap, Inside/Outside Circles, Think/Pair/Share)
 * Learning Centers (user:gabybutcher
 * Listening Grids
 * Manipulatives (Flashcards, Paper Plates, Wrap-ups)
 * Mixers
 * Movies user:gabybutcher
 * Paired Activities (Bill Heller - Richard Ladd, Barbara Snyder - Sentences)
 * Rotation Review
 * Signal Cardsuser:cartierm
 * Simulations
 * Skit Sacks (I would like to learn more abou this -Gaby Butcher
 * Snowballs
 * Songs (Cloze, Number, Match, Predict, Sort, etc.)
 * Story-based instruction (Chumba la Cachumba, Fractured Fairy Tales)

I'm interested in all of these- are they up on the wiki in various areas? user:richa521

//**Target Language Refinement**// - How to improve your own target language skills and things you can do to help students do the same outside of class user:AmandaGSpanish I would like some quick and simple things to keep my Spanish skills up user:emilylewis I feel as if teaching Spanish 1 all morning is making me lose my higher-level Spanish skills. Help! user:kristynd

I feel almost the opposite as you Kristyn, I am forgeting a lot of stupid minor things that are pounded into students head in the lower levels that I am forgeting about. IE what country names use del and what dont, y otros. Also, I need help understanding grammar explicity, because I do not explain it well user:cartierm

Can I even speak French?! How did I even get here?! (I second all of these feelings)user:mllegibbs

=3:15 - 3:30=

6) **Inquiry Projects**


 * 1) Collecting the Data
 * 2) Evaluating Information
 * 3) Representing the Data
 * 4) Disseminating the Findings

7) **Assignments for** **the Week of 10/26/07**
 * **Agenda -** Add items to the agenda above in appropriate places. Be sure to sign up for something in #5.
 * **Bring a copy of your textbook to class again on 10/26. You'll be using it a lot during class.**
 * **Bring notes from the** [|MiWLA Conference] and/or the [|MSU Tech Conference] to class on 10/26/07
 * **Discussion Forum -** Post at least one insight or issue to the October 26 Discussion Page. Please start a new thread if your topic is substantially different from what has already been posted and be clear and specific in your title. If you don't have anything to post, respond to someone else's posting.
 * **Inquiry Project -** Come prepared to talk about the question you plan to investigate for your inquiry project
 * **Swap Shop -** Sign up sometime between now and the end of the semester to share something you have created, something you've tried from your mentor, or something you learned from one of the professional conferences you have attended at some point in the next 3 weeks. You will have approximately 5-7 minutes to accomplish this.