I guess a better question might be, “Why NOT?”. Is there a lot of planning involved in these trips? Does it take time to organize? Sure, of course. But totally worth it!! Because of my experience as an exchange student I know the many benefits of travel not just with regards to language and culture but also regarding personal growth and development. One of my favorite quotes is by Mark Twain who said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Traveling to other places, experiencing other cultures, can change our perspective of the world and in turn teach us so much about our self and our own culture. Travel in itself is an amazing experience but being a language and culture teacher, I have the opportunity to take students to Spanish speaking countries on immersion trips where they get to EXPERIENCE culture and ENGAGE in the language in real life context. Isn’t that what we strive for in our classrooms? It’s like utopia for me. No lesson planning, no paper grading, just real life and real learning. Watching my students make connections to things we have talked about in the classroom or listening to them proudly tell me how they used the language to navigate through the streets of Spain, those are the moments that I take away from these trips. During spring break of this past year I took students to Costa Rica and we spent an evening with a lovely family and my high school students played with their children of all ages. They played jump rope, practiced gymnastics, played with puppies, sang and danced. I did not see obstacles or borders, I saw kids playing, friendships emerging and I saw a true cultural exchange. And there is something magical about that. I guess my answer to the question, “Why travel aboard with students?” would be, “because I love to.” For all those reasons mentioned above and more. Because as much as I want my students to experience these things, I’m a lifelong learner myself. And I never want to stop learning and growing. Travel allows me to grow with my students and it never gets tiresome. J'étudie le français en ce moment (I’m studying French right now) because in a few weeks I’ll be taking some seniors to France, Germany and the Swiss Alps. And next summer I have 2 more trips planned. An immersion, service trip to Peru and a senior trip to Paris & Amsterdam. I love it. Me encanta viajar. J’aime voyager. Where would you take students on a trip ? Check out an article I wrote on my Costa Rica Immersion trip experience by clicking on the button "A True Cultural Exchange"
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After being in the classroom for 12+ years, I thought it was time I get out there and share some of my experiences and resources as a way of giving back for all the resources and ideas that have been shared with me. After all, it is only fair. Lord knows, we are in a profession where it is easy to feel like an island or so busy we have little time to collaborate with fellow teachers. And so my goal is to share my ideas and thoughts, those things that work for me, the amazing resources I have grabbed from others, and pass them along to you in hopes that you also will find something useful. A collaborative space.
But first. WHAT’S MY STORY? I am a gringa. A non-native speaker. My sophomore year of college I transferred schools and was placed in the international dorm with exchange students from all over the world. This had such a huge impact on a farm girl from Wisconsin. I watched as students from France, Germany, Mexico, Colombia & Pakistan experienced my language and my culture. And I loved it! I decided then to study abroad and spent the next year and a half in Puebla, Mexico. I learned by immersion for the most part. I had only 4 semesters of Spanish before I arrived in Mexico. I could barely speak the language. My roommate spoke no English. The first night we sat on our beds with dictionaries and in broken sentences, “chatted”. Every single day I was pushed out of my comfort zone. Every single day I listened to the radio, my suitemates, my teachers, and the television in Spanish. After 6 months, I remember finally feeling fluent—like there was nothing I couldn’t express in the language. But it took LOTS of comprehensible input before I could give comprehensible output. Those experiences have shaped how I teach. There is a heavy emphasis on speaking in my classroom. I spend the first few weeks teaching students how to set their default button to Spanish. I teach them what to say, when they don’t know what to say. I structure my classroom with resources all over the walls so they have the support they need to function in Spanish. And we have daily conversations. Not with me, but with their compañeros, (face partners and shoulder partners.) I have them regularly practice with freedom to make mistakes and be messy. The only thing I ask is that it is completely in Spanish. I eventually assess their conversations and give them feedback, but not until they have had lots of structured practice with zero consequences for mistakes. I tell my students, “You have to be willing to make mistakes.” For my GT students and perfectionists, sometimes it is a hard concept to grasp. In short, my goal is to give them an immersive experience as much as possible, push them outside their comfort zone on a regular basis and instill at the very least an appreciation for the language and cultures of Spanish. I strive to create a culture of respect and family in my classroom as we go on this journey of proficiency together. We work hard, play hard and have fun. I'm excited to start sharing some of the things we do, with you. Your words matter. The environment you create for your classroom matters. As a language teacher you have the ability to create an environment that is engulfed in the language and culture from the very first moment of class to the last. Greeting your students every day in the language, teaching them how to respond to instructions in the target language are all an important part of this environment. As an immersive learner myself, it was the constant repetition (input) for me and the constant opportunity to give output that really helped my proficiency grow. It was repetition that became habitual--especially when the repeated phrases had a usefulness and meaning for me.
I love to teach my students little phrases that I found super helpful as a language learner. Phrases like, "No me digas" "¿En serio? "¿De veras? [No way! Seriously? Really?] Because to me, these were the phrases that I could throw in any conversation and sound more authentic--and they worked for every situation. So I began challenging my students to find ways to use these in EVERY conversation. My students picked them up quickly and they became staples for any conversation. They also created a lot of laughs when I would remind them of a quiz coming up and they would respond using their new favorite phrases....Really? Seriously? No way!! Or when I would look at their unfinished homework and would respond likewise. These phrases became part of our class culture and we used them all the time. Likewise, I end my class with the phrase ¡Qué tengan un buen día! and teach them how to respond, "¡Qué tengas un buen día!" [Have a nice day!] In this case my purpose is two-fold. 1). I want to provide them with a real world way of leaving a conversation, and walking out of a room. It's polite. 2) I want to expose them to more complex grammar without them knowing it. Eventually I will teach them about the subjunctive and they will easily make the connection because they will have used it over and over by then. Here is what I've noticed. In the beginning I have to explicitly ask them to respond to me every day with this phrase. I explain that I see them more than I see my own children and that it's a very polite way to leave my classroom. I remind them--a lot. After the first 6 weeks, it has become a habit. I don't have to remind them anymore and sometimes they are reminding me. It becomes habitual. When they come in for tutorials, when they come in to ask me something, when they drop by to share something with me, they always leave my room the same way--!Qué tengas un buen día! It is music to my ears. Students who learned a lot and students who struggled all year long are proficient at ¡Qué tengas un buen dia! and they love it. But the best part is, when former students visit me to tell me about college or a study abroad they are doing--their last words before leaving my room are ¡Qué tengas un buen día! It keeps me wondering what other language habits can I help to create? What phrases do you incorporate in your class that have real world meaning and purpose? |
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