Category: Conversation - Talia Block

5 Top Tips For Picking Professional Development

9/17/2018

We all know that professional development (PD) is important to our practice and that without it, we cannot continue to grow and learn. Picking the right PD, however, can be daunting and a bit frustrating. No one wants to spend money on a session that doesn’t spark ideas or build knowledge. No one wants to write sub plans only to find out the PD wasn’t worth the time. But how do you determine what PD is worthwhile?

Set goals
What is your professional goal for the year? What do you want to bring to your students and what do you want them to leave with at the end of the year? It is always important to set goals to help guide your practice, but these goals can also help guide your choice of professional development. Many of us have what my friend, Pauline (@PaulineZD) would dub “Shiny Object Syndrome”. We hear about new theories and/or practices and we throw ourselves into them without a thought as to whether they really help us meet our goals or not. Think about deepening your knowledge in one area as opposed to knowing a little bit about everything.

Attending a conference? Pick sessions that are directly connected to your goal. Plan your time to maximize the PD potential from the sessions. Even better, team up with a friend to double the amount of sessions you can attend.

Keeping Current with Current Events

5/11/2017

I don’t know about your school, but with my elementary students, fidget spinners are all the rage. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen these toys on the news, on social media, and in your students’ hands. What was meant to be a fidget to help certain students concentrate has become just another distraction in class. Add it to the list: putty, cubes, erasers, squishies – the list goes on.

Instead of droning on to the students about who might need the spinners and who doesn’t, I decided to let them use information to decide for themselves. A colleague of mine shared an article from BBC Mundo with an easy to understand title for our novice level students. While she decided to share only the title with her students, I decided to take it one step further.

To help acclimate the students to the conversation, I created a word cloud from the article using Tagul.com. As an aside, I love this site as it allows you to change the shape of your cloud (and upload your own image) and to save the clouds you make for later use.

Students easily understood the topic of conversation, and were then able to pull a large number of familiar words and cognates. After working individually to highlight all of these words, students worked in groups to brainstorm a list of vocabulary from the word cloud. Each student then took a turn writing a word on the board to create a larger vocabulary list. In doing this, they also created a second word cloud of sorts with words they knew.

Using their brainstormed words, I asked them to make a prediction about the article’s take on fidget spinners. Not only did they have to give an opinion (good, bad, toy, tool, etc.) but also give me the words that supported this claim.

Day two meant diving deeper into the article. I created a t-chart for students to place evidence in the categories of tool or toy.

I pulled various sentences from the article that supported both sides of the argument. In groups, students read through the sentences and chose the correct category for each. I made sure to choose sentences that had enough cognates or familiar words that students could work through them without the use of a translator and without too much frustration. We did the first two together: I asked students to tell me all the words they understood.

Originally, I did not have students complete this step, and despite doing the first few together, they struggled to work through the sentences. By breaking down each sentences into doable words and phrases, students were less anxious and more able to see the sentence in pieces.

After assigning each sentence to a category, we switched into English. Based on the evidence, we had a short conversation about whether fidget spinners were tools or toys and whether they should be allowed in school. It was important to me to have the end conversation - just a few minutes long - in English to ensure that we were all on the same page and that they heard themselves and each other give the answers. In each of my five classes, students concluded that the spinners were ok for kids who need it but that they had become just another toy that was a distraction to themselves as well as their peers and teachers.

In having students do the “research” and come to the conclusion themselves, I’m hoping this conversation will have an impact on their choices. This was an incredible opportunity to address a current issue in a positive and engaging way while using the target language and pushing students to think and engage in that language.

This, of course, works for any current event. What was a big thing in your school that you could find an article for?

Word Clouds

5/31/2016

Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth on whether I like word clouds or not. After attending Amy Lenord’s session on Liberation from the List at Central States, I decided to give them another try. Over the past few weeks, I’ve worked with the clouds in various capacities to get the most out of their use. Here are a few of the activities:

1. Introduction of vocabulary
Copy and past the content of a website into the word cloud site and create! Once the word cloud is complete, students can begin by searching for cognates and words they know. I also encourage them to make educated guesses about words based on what they already know about the language. Students can share all the words with the class, and this becomes their vocabulary list. Once students have found these words (which usually ends up being WAY more than they could imagine), have them write a short summary of what they think the website might be about. For novice mid students, you may just have them write the most important words from the cloud. Now that you’ve activated some prior knowledge, students can read through the text and do various interpretive activities.

2. Info gap activities
There are a few different ways to do info gaps with word clouds. For my 3rd graders, I created a word cloud with adjectives and asked students to highlight the words that describe themselves. Once they did that, students paired up and asked each other about the various adjectives, highlighting with a different color on the word cloud. Students finished by creating a Venn Diagram to compare themselves with their friends. This could work with any set of vocabulary in terms of likes and dislikes.

In the 5th grade, I used word clouds to condense an “All About Me” page from a blog post. I created two clouds – one for each post. Students answered questions about their post based on the cloud and then partnered up to ask and answer questions based on their cloud.

3. All About Me
Word clouds are also a great way to present information. They can be used to start the year as a way to introduce students to one another or at the end of the year to sum up the various vocabulary pieces the students learned. I find that providing a brainstorm document of some sort helps students organize their thoughts and put more information into the cloud.

4. Guess Who
A word cloud is a great way to play Guess Who? in class. Students create their cloud without their name and their classmates try to guess who it is. The other day, I had students move from cloud to cloud. Not only did they guess the name of the person, but also wrote palabras claves, key words that helped them determine to whom the cloud belonged. Some were obvious, such as the student obsessed with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lebron James, and others were much trickier as multiple students participate in the same activities.

There are various sites you can use to create your world cloud. Here are a few that I’ve used in the past:

-Wordle: This is one of the original sites and provides you the ability to change fonts, colors, and word direction. The more times you write a word, the larger it becomes. You can copy text from websites, song lyrics, etc. It requires flash, so it cannot be used on a iPad. It often asks for updates and seems to work best on Firefox rather than Chrome or Safari.
-Tagxedo: This site is similar to Wordle, but also allows you to create the word clouds in various shapes. It also requires a plugin, but once downloaded, works just fine. It also works best on Firefox or Safari.
-Tagul: My favorite of the three at this point, Tagul works on any browser and also on the iPads. It gives more freedom than the others in that colors, fonts, and word directions can be changed for individual words or the word cloud as a whole. Tagul does require a login, but if students have Google accounts through the school, they can use them here. The benefit of logging in, however, is that the site saves your work and you can return to it later.

How do you use word clouds in class?

Taking it to the Next level - Connecting Students to Content

3/26/2016

I don’t know about you, but as long as I’ve been a Spanish teacher, I’ve always taught some iteration of activities students like to do. Sometimes it’s sports focused while other times it’s plans for the summer. No matter what, kids like to share what they do. Over the years, like many others, I’ve tried to find different ways to incorporate this into larger themes or ideas – no more me gusta without a purpose or intent. I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a thematic unit around world sports for the past few years, but it never seemed to gel. With the help of some great ideas from #CSCTFL16, I think I’ve finally started to pull it together. With the summer Olympics just around the corner, I figured this was the perfect time to get my butt in gear!

Part of the push to focus on the Olympics, or anything other than just sports, was that many of my students had no interest in sports. Ask them what they like, and they say “I don’t know”. If the goal is to have interpersonal conversation, that obviously isn't going to work. With the Olympics, however, there are something like 42 events to choose from. There has to be at least one that interests everyone! (Or at least I hope!) While still a work in progress, the unit is starting to take shape. Here are the current essential questions:

As a way to introduce the unit, I shared the official Olympic events symbols. Without any information, I asked students to match a set of vocabulary words to the pictures.

After attending Amy Lenord’s Central State’s session on List Liberation I went back and forth on whether to provide any vocabulary at all. After some internal debate, however, I decided a set of core vocabulary was necessary to get my 4th graders started, but to let them go from there. The personal vocabulary piece is essential to maintain their interest, but at this age, I believe they still need a starting point. Once students matched the vocabulary I gave them (mostly cognates or words they needed to think about but could guess), they were tasked with finding 3 extra words which they shared in groups.

Once we matched the vocabulary, we began the conversation about the Olympics with this great infographic:

Using interpretive reading strategies from ACTFL’s Implementing Integrated Performance Assessments, students worked in groups to see what they could figure out. There is a lot of language here for a 4th grade novice mid, so I made sure to focus their attention. Students already saw the pictures in a previous activity, which helped bring down their affective filter. This map gave us the opportunity to talk geography (Where is Brazil? What is the capital?) and language, since many students don’t realize that Brazil is not a Spanish-speaking country. I also made sure to focus a question on the transportation available, to give students an opportunity to add these words to their vocabulary. We used the map to practice our interpersonal skills with questions about what activities are available and the similarities and differences in the offerings at each stadium. By breaking students into 4 groups (one per stadium), they needed their classmates to answer questions about event availability before they decided which stadium location they might choose to attend.

Sadly, neither my 4th graders nor I will be attending the Olympics this year. And even if we were, the students certainly would not be planning the trip. Keeping this in mind, I decided to focus on what students might watch with their friends instead of what they might attend. In 4th grade, they may not be planning travel, but they are deciding what to watch on TV and with whom to hang out.

Using the schedule of events, we did some more exploring of what was available when. Central States keynote, John De Mado, discussed the need for students to “guess” effectively in order to continue their language growth. Acting on this principal, I focused my questions on sports that students had possibly come across, but would not necessarily know. For example, they know correr is to run, but could they figure out Track and Field based on the picture and previously hearing the information in conversation? If they know nadar is to swim, can the determine that nado sincronizado is synchronized swimming? It seemed easy enough, but for some of my 9 year olds, it was a push. Not only did the schedule allow me to bring in more vocabulary, but also to have the conversation about the date in Spanish. Despite having this conversation before, the students ALWAYS seem to get tripped up! Another crack at a cultural difference (and numbers practice) is always a plus!

The schedule was also a great way to talk about student interests around the sports. Since each word has a picture associated, there is less stress in choosing activities that might not be so popular or easy to decipher. If I like archery and you like fencing, it doesn’t really matter that they aren’t cognates. I have the pictures and Spanish there to assist me! As students started talking about which events interest them – moving away from me gusta and introducing me interesa – we also added in some adjectives to describe why. Yet another chance for guided interpersonal practice (woohoo!). Using a simple chart, students tracked their friends’ answers and talked about who had similar interests. (I use this structure a lot for interpersonal practice so students can clearly see the questions they are working with and also keep track of the information.)

As we move forward in the unit, we will look at medal counts as a way to further practice numbers in context. Lord knows we need the practice! Eventually, students will predict what country might win the most of each medal and why. Students will take on the identity of an Olympian in a sport they enjoy and will do a presentational activities with personal information as well as information about their sport, which will lead to a final interpersonal.

Bringing the Olympics into the classroom is so much more than just activities. We’re making connections to geography, math, culture, and beyond! Using authentic resources to guide the conversation makes the language more real and gives it a purpose beyond the classroom walls. So many of my students play sports that are involved in the Olympics, and now they have a chance to share about themselves in a cultural and language context.

Central States Conference 2016 Reflections and takeaways

3/19/2016

Just a week out from Central States Conference 2016, and I think I'm finally ready to put what I've learned into words. As I reflected on my time at the conference, I realized that aside from the classroom and student focused takeaways, there are some big picture ideas that really stuck with me. My growth and learning came to more than buzzwords and targeted practices, but also in the importance of sharing time with colleagues and learning from those colleagues. We may not all be experts in anything, but we have a passion for language and teaching and we want what is best for our students. The presentations and conversations at Central States made this very clear. So here’s some stuff I picked up:

Everyone is doing their best to make learning better for their students.
No matter where my colleagues are in their career or in the process of writing or rewriting curriculum, we are all working hard to take the baby steps necessary to make huge changes. The way we teach language has changed drastically over the past years and there is a lot to take in and learn. It isn't just about what and how to implement ideas, but an incredible shift in the way we view language teaching. Just accepting this shift is a huge accomplishment. Diving in and making those changes is just a part of the process. Each time we take a small step, we really can't have a big impact on the students learning. Just the small steps can lead us to where we want to go with her teaching to where we want our students to go. It doesn't have to happen overnight and we, As teachers, have to be OK with making one change at a time to reach our bigger goal.

Sometimes all we need is a spark.
As I started the weekend at Central states, I was feeling a little lost as to what I really wanted to get out of the conference. I feel really good about where we are in our curriculum as a district, but it just isn't enough. I really couldn't decide what it was I wanted to focus on. After Amy Lenord's presentation on ditching the vocabulary list, however, I realize that I wasn't looking for a solution, but a spark. Just one idea can have a huge impact in changing the way we think about curriculum and how we teach. Why was I picking vocabulary (seemingly out of thin air) when I could use my authentic resources to dictate? Add this to Laura Terrill's idea of starting with culture and content and the pieces begin to come together. Neither one had the whole answer, but each of pieces begin to fit together to help solve the puzzle of how to push students to higher language proficiency.

Don't forget the conversation
The amount and variation in the sessions offered at Central states was incredible. But sometimes conversation after and between sessions is more valuable than attending twice as many sessions. Not only is it a time to continue the learning from the session, but to brainstorm ideas and connect with other colleagues. The more connections we make, the more potential there is for sharing and collaborating down the road. I am a person that likes to process information with other people; I like to talk it out to help formulate ideas and thoughts. Without these conversations, I’m not sure I would necessarily come to the same ideas or conclusions that I do when sharing and brainstorming with others. Not only do they have different perspectives and come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds and situations, but also they have differing experiences that lead to seeing material in distinctive ways.

Social media isn’t just a distraction
Despite constant commentary about millennials and technology, Twitter played an extremely important role in Central States for me. Not only is it impossible to attend all of the sessions, but it is also impossible to take everything in over the three day conference. The backchannel Twitter conversation provides an archive of thoughts, ideas, conversation and more that occurred during, between, and after sessions. Days, weeks, and months later, I can return to that “archive” under the #CSCTFL16 and review these ideas or moments to spark a new idea. Not only that, it is a great way to process ideas and have conversation even if you aren’t sitting next to the person in that moment. The amount of sessions I was able to “attend” was expanded just by virtue of reading the ideas or thoughts of others. Moreover, everyone hears the information differently, even if they are in the same room. The ability to read another perspective opens my mind to greater possibilities.

Central States this year didn't really feel like a regional conference. It was amazing to hear from some of the top people in the field and to connect with those who are facing the same everyday struggle to make language learning more effective and authentic for our students. Looking forward to next year in Chicago!

Top 5 Reason Language Teachers Should Travel

1/4/2016

Winter break is over and it’s back to work, but this year, the first day back is a bit different. I spent the past two weeks in Panama, living the culture and the language. Other than having a great time and enjoying the warm weather, it made me realize how important travel is for a language teacher.

Travel is fun. It can be relaxing, educational, inspiring and more! For language teachers, however, travel can be much, much more. For many language teachers, the opportunities to practice their target language (TL), is rare. While many of us may have chance to use our TL in our everyday lives, it is often at a surface level. Travel, on the other hand, opens us to a world of possibility to learning and practice, which we bring back to our classrooms in both planned and unplanned ways.

1. Brush up on your language.
Whether or not you use language in the classroom every day, I would imagine your TL could use a bit of a brush-up. Speaking classroom language to 8 years old (in my case) is not ensuring I maintain my language skills. Many of our classroom conversations are limited; travel expands the topics of conversation, challenges our language negotiation skills, and often pushes us out of our comfort zone. It is also a great reminder of what our students go through everyday as we acclimate to new vocabulary and situations.

Top tips for Getting the Most out of Professional Conferences

12/4/2015

It's been just a week since I've returned home from #ACTFL15, but my brain is still buzzing with everything I learned. Not only was the conference held in the gorgeous San Diego, but also it has been a while since I’ve attended a conference of this size. It was a whirlwind of learning, connecting, and sharing. At such a large conference, it can be extremely difficult to make the most of your time. There are so many sessions and so many workshops, that it can feel impossible to choose, and you certainly cannot make it to them all. To make the most of any conference, whether big or small, here are a few tips:

1. Plan ahead.
Before you go, it is essential to determine your goals. What do you need to work on the most? What are you hoping to achieve from the conference? Once you determine your goal, spend some time going over the conference guide and decide on sessions that could help you meet that goal. By focusing your attention on those sessions, you are sure to walk away with ideas and activities that support your needs. As you read over the session descriptions, search for keywords and phrases such as: activities, ready to use, and tricks and tips. Spend some time looking at the presenters. Do you teach elementary school? If so, university presenter probably won't be your best bet. It's not to say that their presentation won't be good, but rather that they may not have the boots-on-the-ground experience you're looking for.

2. Don't be afraid to meet new people.
One of the best parts about attending a conference is meeting other professionals like you. These attendees are looking for the same things you are; that's why they're there! Pick their brains, share information, and ask lots of questions! Other attendees may have suggestions on sessions to attend, great websites and blogs to follow, or, they may just provide you with great conversation. It never hurts to broaden your professional learning community (PLC).

3. Connect with social media
Many conferences these days use Twitter as a way to connect attendees and cull information. This is a great way to share information from sessions you’ve attended and gain insights from those you couldn’t make. Further, Twitter gives a platform to reread highlights and re-explore ideas. By using Twitter during the conference, you also expand your PLC, which helps extend your learning beyond the few days spent at the conference. With so many attendees and so many points of view, the Twitter cache is sure to have tips and ideas you missed during your session.

4. Take time to process.
Attending a conference does not necessarily mean attending a session at every time slot. While sessions are a must, so is conversation and processing time; there is only so much you can take in at one time. Attending more sessions does not necessarily guarantee taking more back to your classroom. Some of my best learning and creating, in fact, takes place between sessions or at lunch. Focus on a few ideas that truly stood out to you and spend some time thinking them through. What will the idea look like in your classroom? How can you adapt it for your students? Look back at your notes and annotate with how these ideas connect to your classroom.

Taking time to process on your own is important, but so is conversation with colleagues. Invite a new friend to lunch or to grab coffee between a session you just attended together. Take the time to not only get to know them, but to process the workshop together. The back and forth can lead to bigger and better ideas, and to ways to begin implementing ideas on Monday when you return.

Attending a conference can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. With these quick tips, you can make the most of your time and create a scenario for continued learning and improving even once you return home.

Making Conversation Happen

10/14/2015

My job as a teacher at the novice level is to provide my students with the building blocks to creating conversation. That is, to give them set questions, phrases, sentence starters, and conversation structures that they will eventually use to create their own language (pushing them into the intermediate level). Not only do I provide the language chunks, but also the opportunities to use that language. Almost every activity we do is based on creating conversation. The distinction between conversation and speaking is important, as my goal is to encourage a language exchange between two or more people, rather than a one-sided answer.

I explain to my students that conversation is like a tennis match: the goal is to volley the ball (or the language) back and forth as many times as possible.
A tennis match isn’t very exciting if one person serves and the other is unable to return the ball. The longer the volley goes, the more intriguing and exciting the game becomes. This is our goal.

Pushing for Proficiency Through Conversation

9/28/2015

It's the first day of school, and one of my fourth-grader says: “Are we going to learn how to speak Spanish next year?”. “No!” I respond. “You're going to learn today!” What he really wanted to ask was if he was going to speak in Spanish the same way he speaks in English. As much as I would love to tell him that by the end of fourth grade he would be fluent in Spanish, but the reality is that he won't. Until this moment, I never thought to share the proficiency guidelines put out by the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL). I just did not think it would matter to an elementary school student. The more I think about it, however, the more I see the importance. In order for our students to understand their growth potential, however, we need to be clear on what we truly expect them to do. ACTFL provides proficiency levels to help guide us through our language learning.