What you’ll see in room 163.
Classroom environments are extremely important for both students and teachers. Every piece of my wall space in the classroom has a purpose; whether it is to ensure students feel welcome and comfortable— or to provide support for increased student success. My goal is to create an environment in which students feel represented and safe.
Classroom
Environment.
No distractions.
A student’s responsibility in my classroom is to receive the input I give them— and let me know when the input is not comprehensible. I have found that when a student does not have their cell phone on their person, they are more present in mind and body. The input is received quicker and is made more engaging with 100% student involvement in the lesson. Per routine, students put their phone in the wall holder as they enter the classroom and pick it up as they leave.
Deskless.
I made the decision to remove desks from my classroom several years ago and have not looked back. It has been a great way to create a sense of community and inclusion of everyone. Without desks, students are able to stand up and sit down quickly and no one sleeps during class! More importantly, students do not have anything to hide behind and are really forced to engage in the input and class. Each student has a clipboard that doubles as a whiteboard for writing activities. I do not teach from a textbook; the only books students will use are the novels they read together as a class and independently.
Wall culture.
The physical supports in my classroom are unmatched. Supports in my classroom not only engage but also inform. My walls are absolutely essential to keeping the language used comprehensible. They give students with low language levels an increase in independence and the ability to engage in the class while staying in the Target Language. Academic language in my classroom has increased tenfold.
Comprehensible Input.
Comprehensible Input– “meaningful interaction in the Target Language” (Stephen Krashen)– is the key to language acquisition. If you’d like to read more of the nitty gritty, please read SpanishMama’s blog linked HERE; I think she does a fabulous job explaining how and why I do what I do everyday.
Storytelling.
Writing and telling stories is my FAVORITE when using Comprehensible Input. In my classroom, I have a trove of student and family donated costumes and props that we utilize to create and reenact stories. We act out these stories as a means to gain repetitions in the Target Language as well as gain understanding of the target structures. Stories are some times student-created, but always student-driven and student-centered. Stories are engaging and compelling for all and always presented in a meaningful context.
Classroom Management.
Culturally Responsive Teaching.
While teaching in an inner-city, urban environment, it is important to be well-versed in Culturally Responsive Teaching techniques. Some of my go-to strategies involve the use of student voice and direction in class. Every day, students are given the opportunity to decide on the order of events the class agenda will follow that day. Every day, each and every student is called on to participate and given the opportunity to engage in the class. We do a great deal of peer teaching activities (strategically, however, in the TL) which is an excellent opportunity for all students to create community and share their strengths with their classmates.
It is crucial with an urban classroom (or any classroom, really) to run a tight, consistent, and fair classroom from the very first day. I have outlined some of the techniques and strategies you will see used in my classroom that have had a large impact on my classroom culture and allowed me to focus more on CI rather than rectifying unwanted behavior. What you will notice is that the majority of these techniques involve creating relationships with the students in my classroom.
“Beneath every behavior is a feeling. And beneath every feeling is a need. And when we meet that need rather than focus on the behavior, we begin to deal with the cause not the symptom.” -Ashley Warner, Psychologist.
Be sure to hover your mouse over each picture to read more.
Class Jobs / PQA.
My classroom is extremely personalized. Each week we assign jobs. Classroom jobs give students the chance to be show responsibility in a meaningful way. I have even created jobs for specific students to ensure success. Personalized Question & Answer (PQA) is a very effective strategy used in World Language classrooms used to get engaging repetitions of the target structures. When I PQA in class, I talk to students about themselves and their interests and I’m very intentional to create stories with those incorporated. The purpose is twofold; connect with students and use that connection to tailor instruction.
Family Communication.
Each week I send parents/investors (an “investor” is someone who has influence over a student’s behavior in a positive way) a list of that week’s target structures. This has proven to be a game changer and really impacts a student’s interest in the class and commitment to me as their teacher and an adult in their life that cares for them. Remind has also been an effective way for students, parents, and “investors” to communicate with me when needed.
CFUs / Clear & Concise.
Checks For Understanding are of the upmost importance in a World Language classroom. Frequent CFUs guide instruction (and we know if students understanding the content, they are more likely to stay engaged). My go-to CFUs include: eyes closed and show gesture, Exit Tickets, whiteboard, quick writes, use of the STOP sign, choral response, pause n’ point, self-assessment, & peer teaching. Along the same vein; expectations for every task and assignment are made explicit and concise. When students are clear on expectations, there is less of a chance for misbehavior. Click HERE to view a list of my most commonly used CFUs.
Restorative Justice.
“Restorative justice is an approach to school discipline that focuses on repairing harm rather than doling out punishment. In action, it looks like students or teachers who are in conflict having a conversation about how their actions affected each other and what they can do to fix the situation. Advocates say the method reduces punitive discipline and builds relationships that feed a positive school culture.” —Chalkbeat.org (I was featured in this article about Restorative Practices at North HS.
Self-Assessment.
In my classroom, student self-assessment involves students evaluating their own work and learning progress at the end of each class period. Students reflect on how they performed individually and how they added to the “flow” of Spanish. This allows students to stay involved and motivated and encourages self-reflection and responsibility in their learning. The participation grade students receive at the end of the week is the accumulation of their self-assessment scores. The beautiful thing is that each child starts with a clean slate everyday.
Home Visits.
At the beginning of each school year, I have a goal of visiting at least FIVE different homes of students I will have in class that year. I choose to visit students of color and students that I want to have a strong relationship with from the get-go. This has been a very effective way to get to know students and families and shows parents that I am looking to establish a support team—with them—for their student. During these visits we talk about the year ahead and set common goals. These visits foster confidence in students and I gain an enormous amount of investment in my class and content before the student steps foot in my classroom. I also gain a larger sense of empathy when I see where my students come from and what they return home to every day after school.
How I plan with purpose.
Begin with the end in mind.
Backwards planning makes the most sense in any language classroom. I really appreciate working with proficiency based standards; what do we expect students to be able to do when they leave your classroom? Colorado World Language Standards (linked here) are written in this manner and when backwards planning, I ensure to address each standard with activities planned. I also follow Denver Public Schools World Language Scope and Sequence (linked here) to dictate the target structures taught each week.
Reps+Reps+Reps+Reps.
What are the Target Structures we will be focusing on this week? I start the week plans by listing off PQAs that will engage and compel students.
The way students answer the PQA will dictate the story we tell that week.
I then type in a Google Search songs and current events that contain our target structures. With this authentic material, I can create various embedded readings and listening activities.
Community Outreach.
I encourage my students to reach out of North as often as possible to interact with the community that they live in. Each month, my students spend a day of class at the Dual Immersion Elementary School next door reading with them. This has proven to be a powerful experience for my students because they are able to see firsthand the magnitude of speaking another language. We also volunteered at a local pizza place after they donated $100 worth of costumes to our classroom arsenal for storytelling. Last year, we partnered with one of our feeder middle schools to have a story telling FIESTA where each class retold their favorite story from the semester (as a final project). This year, a former student came to visit to speak with my classes about the importance of taking Spanish as he is now stationed at the United States border with Mexico as a member of the US Marine Corps. I have single-handedly fundraised and organized a student-led trip to Spain in 2014, Costa Rica in 2016, and again to Spain in 2020. I work hard to provide my students with experiences outside of their ‘norm’ because that is my responsibility in cultivating responsible global citizens of the world.