As with any research undertaking there were some limitations outside my control that might have impacted my results.
My main concern is the disjointed schedule that can occur which impacts my instructional time with the students. I meet with my jr. high classes 2x per week. Due to different scheduling of school events/activities and holidays my time in front of my 8th grade students averaged 1x per week from November-middle of January.
However, being flexible and meeting the needs of both the students and the school are part of being a teacher. While it was an inconvenience, it did not take away from the informative experience and positive impact it has made in my classes. |
Based on my results from my class inquiry which prompted this implementation, an area that I hoped would see a visible change was student attitude and motivation towards Spanish.
Spanish is designated as one of the "specials" along with P.E., Computer, Drama and Music at my school. Not to say that less effort is put into these classes, but different priority is given to these classes in my students' minds when compared to Math, English, Science or History. I have been increasing the accountability in my class since I took over the Spanish department last year and this year was especially challenging at first when laying down expectations from groups of students who were used to receiving an A with minimal effort. I am happy to report that this change in our Spanish class has sparked interest and motivation from students. Granted, there are those who do not like the shift of focus from a teacher-centered class towards them, but an overall sense of teamwork and community learning is starting to form. |
I was very happy to find that the data suggests changes made in our Spanish class impacted formative assessment scores in a positive way.
While the formative assessment scores are improving there is still the matter of keeping the momentum going so it can make a positive impact on our summative assessments. I feel more conversational prompting on my part would benefit students in this regard. Now that they able to explain why different grammatical structures and phrases are the way they are, it is time to put this into linguistic practice. This aspect, along with the culture are going to be my main areas to improve on for the remainder of the school year. |
Even though time in front of students has been a challenge, I can no longer ignore the culture aspect of our foreign language class.
Keeping most students interested in a different language can be daunting at times. The more I observe other teachers and read on the subject I have come to the realization that I have not been using an extremely effective tool, culture. Culture can be the carrot that lures a students' interest back into our Spanish classroom. Making cultural growth opportunities available can not only be helpful in a cross-curricular aspect, but also increase motivation to pay attention on "grammar and structure" days. I will be setting aside 1 (possibly 2) class periods a month to do some kind of culture aspect activity with the students. March will focus on Caesar Chavez in anticipation of the holiday coming up. I would like to leave it open to the class which aspect they would like to delve deeper in every month. This inclusion of student input also cultivates a community aspect that I strive to achieve in my classes. |