Ideas and Resources for Spanish Teachers
Teachers grow when they are reflective. This is drilled into us in our teacher preparation! Learning how to get students feedback in Spanish class is one way to reflect on your teaching practice so that you know what to keep and what to improve!
At the beginning of my career, field trips were a highlight for students and teachers. As time when on, less field trips were approved, and then Covid hit. After the pandemic, field trips are making a comeback! But what about Spanish In School Field Trips? If you haven’t considered them, keep reading to find out why you should!
Music is a powerful tool that can be used to enhance language learning in the world language classroom. We all know that words set to music have a way of working themselves into our long-term memory. And music is a universally human way of expressing ourselves. Teens especially love music, and using music in Spanish class brings joy and happiness! Here are some ways to use music in the classroom!
How do you celebrate your Spanish Class Seniors at your high school? Don’t you agree that teaching seniors is so bittersweet? They bring with them a depth of knowledge, a sense of humor and usually some maturity. But when the end of the year starts to approach, I get that bittersweet feeling! There’s such pride for their accomplishments! And there’s sadness to know that they are moving on and we won’t see their smiles in our classes or hallways next year!
How do you start your Spanish classes? This year we have a new school-wide initiative to do bell-ringers, or do-nows, or schema activators or warm-ups… there are so many names for them! Research shows that if you have an academic routine to start each class, it increases time on task and readiness for new learning! If having students self-start each class, while you take attendance, check homework and help the new kid sound good to you, bell-ringer activities for Spanish class are for you!
As the holiday season approaches, it can be a lot of fun to teach our Spanish students about how Christmas is celebrated in other parts of the world. I look at it as a great opportunity for some cultural comparisons! The AP Spanish Exam has a section where students make an oral cultural comparison, but why should we wait until their last year? Even if you live in an area where Christmas is not a big thing in your community, it IS a big thing in every Spanish-speaking country. Here are some fun facts to share with your students!
Do you do Class Recognitions in Spanish class? Both during the year and at the end of the year, it’s nice to find reasons to celebrate and recognize students’ success. Here are some ideas!
Learning to be a culturally responsive educator is an imperative step towards closing the achievement gap.
