Mapping

Mapping asks students to arrange groups of ideas visually and to show relationships among them... Maps allow students to represent thinking that involves multiple, simultaneous associations, rather than just linear steps. (DZS, 60)

See my map

Writing is Thinking, BPR Ch. 13

"Writing is not about memorizing a series of facts and reiterating that information... Writing lets us think of things we didn't know we knew until we began writing." (Rief, 191)

I don't know why, but this paragraph from the book reminds me of a girl I tutored a couple years ago. This girl, about 16 years old, was from Mexico and as a volunteer to the Every1 Reads program who spoke Spanish, I was assigned to her. She didn't speak much English although she'd been in the United States for a while. In addition to that, her Spanish was very conversational. I soon realized that this young girl could not read or write in her native language, let alone in English. She had stayed at home with her mother growing up, doing household duties instead of going to school. This girl was very shy and intimidated and frustrated with her literacy level (or at least how much we focused and promoted the advancement of this). At the very beginning our sessions, which were once a week for an hour, the young girl would refuse to read. She would simply say "No puedo," in English "I can't." Instead of reading, I resorted to writing - starting with the alphabet. To my surprise, she could write! We capitalized on this aspect of her literacy. I asked her to write a word for each letter of the alphabet and we progressed to working on her portfolio pieces. I believe this quote epitomizes this student with whom I had the privilege to work.

The Art of Language, BPR Ch. 11

"Language is our canoe up the wilderness river, our bush plane, our space capsule, our magic. Instead of 'now you see it, now you don't,' using language works in reverse: 'now you don't see it, now you do.'" (Romano, 170)

This is the epitome of what I believe writing should be. I completely repeating myself by saying this as I did in the "I believe" post, but you have to become Stephen King in your writing (compliments of my high school peer editor). Many times we envision what we read - get a picture in our head about what it looks like. But I believe it should go beyond this. A writer should allow their audience to feel their writing. Language is such a powerful tool that our students in which our students should be equipped. As a Spanish teacher, I feel as if I increase grammar knowledge and vocabulary in English as well as in the foreign language. For example: the word edificio in Spanish refers to the word building in English, but the actual cognate is edifice. One out of 56 eighth grade students answered this correctly, but now 55 more now the word.

The Almighty Rubric, BPR Ch. 17

"Posted rubrics can become a fraud, an activity in which we go through the motions of sharing with students the standards for what counts as a quality piece of work without really helping them come to grips with what quality looks like and more important ,how a quality piece differs from one that fall short. I don't think rubrics have any value unless we involve students in examining what in means for a piece to have a certain feature..." (Brenner, 267)

Can I get an AMEN? So many times during my first year of teaching, I would distribute a rubric for projects and whatnot. To my surprise, many of these rubrics were left behind by students in the desks, on the floor, and in the garbage. We went over each rubric as a class so that it would be clear what I expected of them. But why did they care so little? A large project's grade was at stake! I now know that students must be invested in the assessment. I can stand at the front of the room and explain a project until I am blue in the face, but if the student body helped me create the guidelines, maybe I could save some oxygen (maybe?).

Nevertheless, I do have an excellent resource that I want to share with everyone. This site helps you create your own rubric: Rubistar.com Try it out. It really is a wonderful help.

Last thing: How come we as college (undergrad & grad) don't partake in creating rubrics for our projects? Interesting, I think.

Thinking Maps and the like, BPR Ch.16

"Thinking maps provide a common language for teacher to use in culturally diverse classrooms to develop both the critical thinking and language needed to strengthen students' ability to construct meaning from text and to communicate their learning." (Cooper, 252)

Is it just me? Am I the only one who never used graphic organizers or "Thinking Maps" (with the exception of the traditional Venn Diagram) in my educational career? I do see how they can help students (especially spatial learners) with organizing their thoughts and such. But where in the Almighty Teaching Manual does it say we must use graphic organizers? I had never heard of this concept before last summer and it seems to be an increasingly popular trend for teachers. But what happens if a student doesn't benefit from these strategies? What if the graphic organizer is just busy work for students ready to write? On the flip side, I see how a teacher can use the "Thinking Maps" and graphic organizers for assessment, but shouldn't the written work be what is up for assessment?

I'm not off my soap box yet... What happened to the traditional outline? Was it replaced with cute bubbles and lines on a work sheet? For me, the outline is a clear, sequential layout in which to follow in the writing process. I cannot be the only one who finds outlines useful!

I'm not going to write off graphic organizers just yet, but it has gotten to a point where my students moan and grumble whenever they see one (and I haven't used them very often). Are we beating a dead horse by implementing these adorable layouts repeatedly?
PLEASE! Tell me I'm not the only one...

I believe...

that writing is a great outlet for thoughts, frustrations, stress, and so much more. I have always enjoyed writing: poems, songs, stories and the like, much more than I have ever enjoyed reading. Is this because my writing directly relates to me? I also find that I am more patient when writing than reading. Of course this does not include research papers and other mandated writings. I love making a story come alive through descriptions you can feel - not just see, but actually feel. I was told one time in high school by a peer editor to "become Stephen King" in my writing. From that point on, I was never shy about the use of adjectives and similes. In the spring of my senior year we were asked to write a personal narrative as a portfolio piece. I will never forget Mrs. Buchanan being so impressed with my work that she read my narrative to the entire class.

As a teacher, I promote writing - not only in the Spanish language but in English as well. When I started teaching, my students could not form a complete sentence in Spanish. Within a month (or two for 6th grade) they were writing complete, coherent thoughts. I made sure to praise them whole heartedly on this accomplishment. By the end of the year, my 8th grade students were writing complete paragraphs and letters. I have never felt so proud! When students were required to write in English, all rubrics had a mechanical and grammatic section. Students seemed to be frustrated knowing I would grade them on this, but I feel as if it crucial for every content area to do this. (My biggest pet peeve: they're - their - there) Of course I promoted grammar and mechanics in writing Spanish as well, but I did not grade as heavily on this aspect.

Book Trailer Reflection

House on Mango Street book trailer
by Brandi Gates & Heather Eaton

I can't believe I dreaded this assignment! For some reason, I thought it would be very time consuming and difficult when in actuality, it took me back to my high school days. I decided to take broadcast journalism my senior year of high school to fill my schedule. Little did I know how much fun it would be. Don't get me wrong - it was a lot of work, but the final product made it all worth while. We used a program called Avid Cinema. It was very similar to Windows Movie Maker (but still more advanced even in 2001). I found my knack for broadcasting wasn't in front of the camera or behind the camera, but instead in the editing process. For this reason, I was completely enthralled with this assignment.

Ok - so I may be a complete nerd, but if I had this much fun with this, then I can imagine what my students would do. I can't wait to see their creativity exposed through media such as this!

Vocab - the new approach

Yes, I'll admit it. Learning a foreign language is full of new vocabulary. Teaching it, can be an absolute drag some days. I particularly enjoyed the podcast of the new terminology. I am always looking for new ways to "re-invent" teaching vocabulary. I could tell that the students had a rubric to follow by giving the definition of the word, the part of speech, and correctly using it in a sentence or conversation. I did like how the students were given the freedom to compose their sentences and conversations however they deemed appropriate. I'm definitely stealing this idea for my students! It beats boring pre-assessments.

Multiple Texts Assignment

The lesson behind the Multiple Texts Assignment is learning the gender of nouns in the Spanish language. Although this is a very basic lesson, it is hard for some students to grasp this concept as we do not have anything similar to it in English. I chose 3 different texts for this.

The first is an audio practice from StudySpanish.com that offers many free (and subscription) supplemental material for learning the Spanish language. This lesson practices definite articles that determine the gender of the now. Para escuchar, haz un clic

The second text is basically an overview of how to determine gender of nouns. This information can be found in basically any Spanish text book or online. Para leer, haz un clic

Finally, the third text is more practice and reality oriented. It is a resume (or in Spanish, curriculum vitae). In this Spaniard's resume, I have highlighted certain words. Some words have the definite article while others must be determined on prior knowledge. This text is copied below:

DATOS PERSONALES
Nombre: María Jesús López Mañueco.
Lugar y fecha de nacimiento: Granada, 27 de febrero de 1975.
Nacionalidad: Española.
Dirección: C/ Fermoselle 25-27, 2 A. 41070, Granada.
Teléfonos de contacto: 958 315472 - 610 176577.
E-Mail: mj_mañueco@redestb.es

FORMACIÓN ACADÉMICA
- Licenciatura en Filología Hispánica, Especialidad Literatura Medieval Española. Universidad de Granada, Granada. 1998.
- Curso de Aptitud Pedagógica y Prácticas docentes. Universidad de Granada. 1998.

FORMACIÓN COMPLEMENTARIA
- Curso de Formación de Profesores de Español Lengua Extranjera. Universidad de Granada. 1999.
- El Español en los Estados Unidos. Columbia University, Nueva York, Estados Unidos. 1998.

IDIOMAS
Inglés: Nivel avanzado oral y escrito.
* Proficiency in English Language, Cambridge, 1997.
Alemán: Nivel avanzado oral y escrito.
* ActiLingua Academy. Wien, Austria. Junio-septiembre 1996.
Italiano: Nivel elemental oral y escrito.
* Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci, Florencia, Italia. Agosto, 1997.

INFORMÁTICA
Conocimiento a nivel de usuario de Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access), WordPerfect, Entorno Windows (95 & 98), MS-DOS.

EXPERIENCIA PROFESIONAL
- Septiembre-diciembre 1999: Profesora interina en el Instituto de Educación Secundaria Fernando de Rojas. Salamanca.
- Prácticas docentes en el Instituto Fray Luis de Granada, Granada. Curso Académico 1997-1998.

OTROS DATOS DE INTERÉS
- Disponibilidad absoluta para viajar.
- Monitora de Aeróbic y natación.

Podcasting, Yeah!

Wow! How do you fit an entire book into a 3 minute podcast while still allowing time for seven group members to partake? We ran into a few technical issues, for example, the sound recorder would only record 60 seconds at a time. Obviously we overcame this and made it into a 5 minute podcast. Still, the podcast was a lot of fun and a great way to recap the book.

Anything we can make hands-on for our students is extremely beneficial. It allows them to make something intangible tangible. In doing so, the retention of the material must be astounding in comparison to reading or taking notes. The same can be said for science experiments. This is absolutely something I will implement in my classroom.

Give it a listen

Para Entender, BPR Ch.4 & 15

I think the big dilemma here is: how do we as teachers go beyond making students understand material by making them want to learn the material? How do we create this desire in them? Too often, and I speak for myself too, students will learn the subject matter to take a test and then discard the information as soon as it's over. Unfortunately we are programmed to do this to an extent. I also believe that in order to do this, we basically memorize the material and maybe not fully understand it. Memorizing is quite different that learning, understanding and applying. We need to create this desire as I said above. Motivate our students by allowing them to form their own opinions and think beyond what is in the text book. How does this apply to them? When/Where have they seen or experienced this? Of course this is easier said than done. How do you relate students' lives and experiences to verb conjugations. Nevertheless, we must find this outlet for students in order to increase understanding.

Censorship, BPR Ch. 6

Censorship is always a debatable subject. For me, I believe it is good to a certain extent, but is fairly detrimental too. Of course you have to censor within context. You don't want to hand a kindergarten student a photographic depiction of the Holocaust. We, as teachers, must chose wisely - not only for the sake of our student's innocence but for their benefit as well.
Still, if we censor material out of our classrooms, are we not promoting some form of ignorance? Yes! Even though a kindergarten teacher might not go into graphic detail on the Holocaust, if the subject arises, the teacher must be prepared to answer "Yes, it did happen."
On a more age appropriate level - for me that is - issues such as sex, drugs, and online safety (i.e. chat rooms, myspace) must be addressed. My school does not promote literature in these fields, but invites guest lecturers to discuss the matters. To me, even though these presenters offer good persuasiveness, it is the shock factor that is what is delivered to the children. The shock factor works to an extent; but what happens when children are shocked too much? They shut the information out!
Allowing children (middle school students for me) to read about these pressing issues that face our youth today gives them so much more. They are allowed and promoted form their own opinions and beliefs. The most important aspect of censorship is choosing the right material to be presented, not just any piece of fiction on sale.

Vocabulario, BPR Ch.7

For beginning Spanish (or any foreign language) learners, the classes are very vocabulary intensive. There is simply no way around this. Each lesson presents new words and applications (i.e. conjugations) that the student must obtain in order to move on to the next level. The order in which a student learns a foreign language is very rigid - like building blocks.

I agree with Allen that students must be able to know and apply vocabulary; not just memorize it for the test and forget it. Like in many other contents, you must know the material presented now for the new material presented tomorrow. However, I do not feel compelled by Allen's research on vocabulary as I do not believe it is directed to vocabulary-rich contents like Spanish. Nevertheless, I have taken into consideration her processes of learning terms and will try to mold them to my content area.

For example, the fill in the blank activity called "Poop on Poop" can be integrated into a Spanish classroom. Depending on the level of the class (Spanish 1, middle school or high school) is how it should be arranged. For me in a middle school, my fill-in-the-blank activity will probably be in "Spanglish" - leaving the text in English and the word bank in Spanish. I think this will be a fun sponge activity for students in practicing new vocab.

Blog. Compose. Podcast. Jam. Share..., BPR Ch10

"When I was a student, for instance, we read, wrote, spoke and did 'rithmetic; now, according to the poster in the Apple store, kids "Blog. Compose. Podcast. Jam. Share. Photocast. Chat. Switch. Play. Create." (Burke, 150)
How true is this? I am 23 years old, a mere 10 years older than my students, and I don't know half of the terminology listed above!
In an article by Gloria Ladson-Billings, she explains the link between education and culture by telling the story of a Native American Educator, "one of the reasons Indian children experience difficulty in schools is that educators traditionally have attempted to insert culture into the education, instead of inserting education into the culture." Of course this was quoted referring to the actual culture - race, ethnicity, religion - of the Native Americans, but think of the culture our kids today have, regardless of color. We live in a very technologically advanced society, and even though the older generations are struggling and racing to keep up with new advancements, it comes very naturally to our youth.

However, if one aspect rang true in this chapter, it was that of the "Passionate Personalizers." We must keep our society competitive - if not in prices and wages, then in services and products. We must express and educate this to our students. It is not enough to have one trade anymore. Instead, we must be able to market ourselves to be what the consumer needs.

Bringing the learning to the student: BPR, Ch.1

As I read this chapter, it ironically referred to a book that my mom just finished reading, "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. Mom had me find and buy this book for her on half.com and since completing her reading, has spoke extremely highly of it.
I went upstairs to get this book from the shelf for my own reference in blogging. It was filled with post-it markers throughout the pages. I noticed one that said "Brandi on teaching," and this is what I found:
"Some kids are just born [curious], but for the many who are not, the best way to make kids love learning is either to instill in them a sense of curiosity, by great teaching, or stimulate their own innate curiosity by making available to them all the technologies of the flat-world platform so they can educate themselves in an enormously rich way." (Friedman, 2006)
Before today, I had never connected online or technological avenues such as blogs to be appropriate in the school setting. As Beers said in this chapter, they are mostly "online diaries." But why not? This is a fantastic way to bridge the generation gap between schools and students, and teachers and students (and it saves paper too!). Still, in Collin's case, his passion wasn't his blog - it was the environmental issues that perplexed and drove him. So this may be the "cool" new thing the students get excited about at first, but as a teacher, I must find a manner in which to challenge them and allow them to learn. Yet, I cannot lose sight of what goes on beyond the classroom in our community, society and world and make sure these important factors are brought into the learning community.