It was a busy week on the Path to Proficiency blog that took a very reflective turn. Four new posts, including a new author, that shared some vulnerabilities and reminded me of the human side of teachers. I’ve been saying for years, I often know how effective a teacher is by their reflections. Many of the most effective teachers are often also the most reflective teachers. Blogging certainly is one way of reflecting on your practice and perhaps even processing your own reflections. I’m thankful for teachers who have chosen to share that important process with us publicly.  Here are the reflections that caught my attention this week.

• EPIC Telenovela PBL Unit & Final Exam

  Spanish teacher, Laura Sexton, recently attended the TELL Collab Nashville and shares how the EPIC Growth Plan model is now playing out in her classroom as she prepares to close the school year on a high note, developing a PBL Unit for her students. Read Laura’s post –> 

• The “Level Up” Writing Workshop Class…

  Allowing students to provide peer feedback on their work can be a daunting task that requires a carefully designed structure to ensure it truly supports the performance & feedback process. Japanese teacher, Colleen Lee-Hayes, shares how she is facilitating this process so that her students can become better writers.  Read Colleen’s post –> 

• You’re not a jar of Nutella

  In line with many of the reflective posts of this week, Spanish teacher, Jessica Pederson (aka Señora Upton), provides some words of encouragement to teachers who may be questioning if they are a good teacher or not.  Read Jessica’s post –>

• From the Path 2 Proficiency: Why Not Now?

  In her first post on the Path 2 Proficiency blog, Montana German teacher, Lisa Werner, provides the perspectives of a veteran teacher who is trying forge her own path and asking herself: “why do I, the veteran teacher, feel less confident to share? Why does the simplicity of proficiency continue to seem so complex to me?” Her post also introduces the fascinating term of “proficiency natives” and in my mind is a must read this week. ‪Read Lisa’s post –>

• From the Path 2 Proficiency: Oh, the Places They Will Go …

  World Language educator, Alyssa Villarreal, shares an inspirational experience about student empowerment from her life and provides an important reminder that “We do not know what the future holds for our students”. Implications for what that means for our role as language teacher are part of this empowering reflection.  ‪Read Alyssa’s post –>

• From the Path 2 Proficiency: Spark Forgiveness

  Spanish teacher, Paul Jennemann shares his reflections after attending the TELL Collab in Nashville earlier this month,where he realized that “it becomes really easy for us teachers to start to feel bad about everything we haven’t done for our students–not given enough corrections, not given them enough authentic resources, not taught them all new vocabulary in context.” Always an optimist however, Paul also provides readers with some important advice in response to his thoughts. ‪Read Paul’s post –>

• From the Path 2 Proficiency: The Struggle of Teaching Level 1

  No one said the Path 2 Proficiency would be easy, so in her latest courageous post, Spanish teacher Jaime Basham, reflects on her struggles as a Level 1 teacher. Read Jaime’s post –>

Disclaimer: I’m going to share a very vulnerable confession, which as a teacher is extremely dangerous because it puts me in a perceived “weak” position.  Although I confess that I struggle teaching Spanish 1, I choose to view it as a strength because it helps me evaluate what I’m doing, how I’m doing it, and what I can do to improve.  For any other educator out there, I would encourage you to do the same.

During my first few years of teaching, my mentor teacher created my schedule so that I taught only Spanish 2.  Being that I was fresh out of college, I appreciated that she wanted to help me hone my teaching skills and classroom management.  As I became more comfortable teaching Spanish 2 and the proficiency targets and descriptors, Spanish 1 was added to my plate.  I was so excited.  The growth in Spanish 1 is magical.  They literally start with nothing and you get to see their growth.  As an educator this is very empowering.  It is also very empowering for the students to think about their metacognition.  For the past few years, I have drawn some conclusions about Spanish 1.  Somedays, I feel like I am the most effective teacher in the universe and others, I feel like an epic failure.  It is hard to pinpoint exactly why my classes are or are not successful, but these are my humble observations thus far:

• The Student: Spanish 1 students are unique.  Some want to be there to learn.  Some are there because their parents are forcing them into a language because it is their one regret from their teenage years.  Some are forced into the class by the counselor, mostly because there is no other appropriate place for them.  Some have already decided that they are linguaphiles and want to add yet another language to their repertoire.  All the varied learning styles and IEPs is exhausting.  I find that I spend way more energy on my Spanish 1s than I do my other classes.  Why?  I have my lessons planned out to an exact T, because otherwise the slightest distraction takes them far, far away from our learning objective for the day.
• The Curriculum: Perhaps, some of the reason why I feel so exhausted and that a tornado has gone through my room is because of the curriculum.  Are they challenged enough?  Is their behavior a direct correlation to the lack of rigor in the curriculum?  Do we “dumb it down” for the Spanish 1 students because we are afraid we’ll scare them away?  This is why thematic units are so important, as is connect the content to prior knowledge of the students.  Spending 6 weeks on numbers is completely inappropriate.  Change the task to make it more authentic, but still incorporate the numbers.  To test this theory I bought this program from Priscilla Russel, Eugenia Porello and Paris Granville from Language Shaping Solutions called Mitos del mundo azteca.  I collected data and anecdotal observations about how well my students performed and how they could recount the entire legend of El sol y la luna.  It was a challenge, in addition to words in Spanish, it contains Nahuatl words. Like most language teachers I knew that in theory, thematic units were good for students, but in actual practice the evidence was glaring.  Sometimes, we pay lip-service to strategies and pedagogical practices without actually using them in our own classrooms and this was my “Ah-ha!” moment as an educator.  Since this revelation, I have strived to write thematically themed units with my colleagues.  We still struggle to incorporate this pedagogy in all of the Spanish 1 curriculum, and I find that my students are more complacent and/or misbehave more in the lessons that aren’t linked to thematic units.
• The Teacher:  Maybe it’s me? Perhaps, I become too impatient with them when they aren’t able to infer meaning with as much ease as my upper level students.  Perhaps, I need to be better about the behaviorism part of class; teaching them commands in the target language and how the general flow of the classroom works.  I feel as though I repeat it a lot, but I could always improve this.  I think I do a good job outlining the expectations, but perhaps I need to be even more explicit.  Also, I become discouraged and maybe my inner perfectionist gets too loud.

Whatever the factors may be, I do know that my students are learning and they are able to express it in their own individual ways.  For now, I am happy with that and I will continue to soul search and work on being a better me.  Do you have any solutions to teaching level 1 successfully?

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Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/anjan58/4894219427/

I am so excited I attended the TELL Collab Nashville, held at Lipscomb University’s Spark Center! It was an energizing way to connect with passionate language teachers, to enjoy some of Nashville’s great local music, and to reflect on my own teaching over this school year. We’ve come a long way.

In the midst of stretching our minds and growing our students and reflecting on our practice, it becomes really easy for us teachers to start to feel bad about everything we haven’t done for our students–not given enough corrections, not given them enough authentic resources, not taught them all new vocabulary in context. In addition, it is just as easy to think about all the methods we’ve done that we are having challenged–teaching grammar explicitly, giving heaps of vocabulary lists, having students memorize so many verb tenses. Because we teachers are often over-achievers, this kind of thinking can really put a damper on our end of the year, so instead of feeling invigorated at the end of the year, our classes turn more into babysitting with the hopes of starting afresh in the fall.

Forgive yourself.

We teachers are good at sharing ideas, so the TELL Collab was such an igniting way to spark new ideas and fresh thinking. We had several Hot Seat sessions where there were some really challenging questions about our teaching methods look so different, and we even pioneered live videos on the TELL Project Facebook page! So, after an inspiring weekend of learning and sharing, the temptation may be to return to class the next Monday and want to turn over the desk in frustration because you have to start all from scratch with everything you’ve learned.

Stop. Forgive yourself.

We all have worked tremendously hard this year at making sure our students knew more of the target language than they did when they started in the fall. We all have worked tremendously hard this year at ensuring our students were prepared to speak more and engage more with other target language speakers. We all have worked tremendously hard this year with all of the tools we had, and thanks to the open sharing of the TELL Collab, we have even more tools at our disposal. But remember, we must choose the right tool for the right job.

One thought that was floating around the TELL Collab Nashville to help us remember this idea of forgiveness and forging ahead was that expert chefs start with perfecting one plate at a time, then move on to another. They don’t try to perfect everything at once. With that in mind, there were several suggestions to start piloting something new in one class, then try another class, and then another. One thing I’ve done this week–a full week after the TELL Collab–was to ask my classes what worked well and what I could do to improve. This was a profoundly rewarding experience because as hard as I have been on myself this year, my students recognized great personal growth, and they really understood that they were working towards greater proficiency in Spanish. But not stopping there, I know that there are some things that would make their learning experience better, so I want to improve. I know I won’t be able to implement everything they suggest, but I can work one making some things better to add to my toolbox. I like to pilot some things in the last term of the school year in order to iron out some kinks before rolling out a new procedure or using a new tool in the fall.

Over a lunchtime conversation last week, I put my head in my hands and sighed. “Man, TELL Collab. Why you gotta open my mind so much?” because Laura Sexton (@sraspanglish) was pushing my thinking about homework choice, digital badges, and student portfolios, so I began thinking of all the things I could do to push my students to track their growth. (Laura got to seat in the Hot Seat during one session, by the way.) That’s the kind of inspiration and free-thinking that comes out of a space devoted to sharing new ideas and pushing professionals in their work. It is probably just as much work to reflect on what we do as teachers as it is to plan a lesson and implement it. And that reflection is definitely hard work. But it’s worth it. And rewarding.

Remember, forgive yourself, and push forward.

I could wait another day to write this. It’s an incredibly beautiful day outside, a truly beautiful spring day in Montana. I could wait until I’ve read those essays, typed up that report, found those fantastic resources for my unit that have until now been evading my most clever googling. After I’ve accomplished all that -or not- I could effortlessly justify waiting until tomorrow or next weekend. There’s always going to be enough time next weekend, right?

But now is good. More than good.

The past few days were filled with great professional development. Scratch that. The past few days were filled with professional inspiration. One day was spent with our district’s fifteen middle and high school language teachers and Thomas Sauer. Not his first visit, hopefully not his last, and such a valuable opportunity to continue our conversation with him on our collective and individual paths to proficiency. Add to that an additional day and a half that he shared with our state organization, taking teachers from each end of this expansive state on their first steps of the path. Invaluable.

And so I’m taking the challenge (thank you, Thomas) to put down my own words as an opportunity to explore why I’ve been so reticent for so long to do.

Here goes: I haven’t felt like I was good enough yet.

Funny thing is, I don’t think that would have been as true during my first 15 years or so of teaching. I felt fairly confident at that time that I was on track, that I was doing all I could for my students and doing it the right way. And then some four years ago our department was encouraged and given permission by our administration to become “pockets of innovation”, to implement, if it existed, performance-based, proficiency oriented language instruction in our district. Boy, did it exist, but what a journey. But that’s for another blog post.

Four years down the road, I feel so much more empowered as a language educator. What I see my students doing with the language thrills me.

So why do I, the veteran teacher, feel less confident to share? Why does the simplicity of proficiency continue to seem so complex to me? Are my years of experience a part of my insecurity?

I observe the younger colleagues in my department, the “proficiency natives”, step into the classroom without having to translate their approaches to teaching from the well-worn, well-meant yet ineffective practices of the past into an approach that is so obviously superior. I envy their ability not to get lost in the translation of then and now and be native speakers in the language of proficiency. Proficiency is the only goal they’ve known as a teacher, and I’m jealous. I want that energy, that abundance of ideas, that youthful courage to try, succeed, maybe crash and burn sometimes but always have the ability, smiling, hopeful, to get back up and try it another way.

So I’ll start by identifying the single thing I have that they don’t, what I know to be the thing that’s holding me back most of all. It’s my challenge, not theirs, and one I need to face… the ability to fall back on the “old way” in those moments of panic and lack-of-planning. I can always pull a grammar lesson or a filler activity out of the air. And that becomes my crash and burn moment, the one that leaves me feeling discouraged and remorseful. I know better. I know that more careful planning can prevent it. It happens less often now than a year ago, less often this semester than last and realizing that helps me feel more hopeful. I guess I just didn’t think I’d still be learning how to teach so late in my career. I’m not proud of it, but sometimes I resent it. Veteran teachers are supposed to have the answers, have it figured out. But I feel like I have just as many questions, just as many things to figure out -if not more – than the youngest members of my department. Something’s up with the natural order here. It shouldn’t be this way.

But I’m so thankful that it is, thankful that I’m still learning and growing as an educator. And, when I finally get over myself, I’ll likely find that my perspectives and lessons learned are as valuable as anyone’s.

I may never feel like I’m good enough at all this.

I may always feel like I’m behind the “proficiency natives” in my department.

But for today, knowing that I’m doing all I know how to do at this time to give my students the opportunity of walking out of my classroom able do something with German they were unable to do when they walked in is enough. Doing my best. Not perfectly. But now, at least, willing to share that journey, even if I am the veteran teacher who’s still trying to figure it out.

The  sun is a little lower in the sky. It’s still a beautiful spring day. Now’s a good time for that report and those essays, but I think I’ll take a walk first.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks of learning with teachers around the country, including the yet again amazing TELL Collab in Nashville last weekend (see the Google Drive notes). While I haven’t had a chance to share my weekly blog summary, all the travel hasn’t kept me from keeping up with language teacher blogs from around the country. As the school year is nearing and end, many of us are having lightbulb moments, regret moments and visionary moments for the future. Take a look at some of the posts that caught my attention over the past couple of weeks.

• I Don’t Do Standards-Based Grading, BUT…

  Like it or not, GRADING continues to be big deal for teachers. And while I don’t have the powers to get rid of grades for teachers, it was great to read Spanish teacher, Laura Sexton’s recent post on how to figure out a grading system that works for her and her students. Sure, you could probably argue with Laura about why she made some of these decision and my guess is she would welcome feedback on her post, but I liked it because of the important messages her system communicates to her learners.  Read Laura’s post –> 

• So You Use A Textbook…Stop Judging Yourself

  If you get together with a group of language teacher, the textbook question undoubtedly will come up. Next to grammar, it seems to be one of those topics we all have a very strong opinion about. Even my own changes depending on the circumstances a teacher finds themselves in. However, I have been consistent in saying that textbooks are neither the problem nor the solution to language learning. Spanish teacher, Valerie Shull, shares her own aha-moment and reminds us “that you control the textbook–not the other way around.” This using the book as a learning tool (resource) that could help advance student learning seems like a very healthy approach to this hot button issue. Read Valerie’s post –> 

• Weekend Chat Speed Dating

  Getting students to use language to exchange information in a real-life context. I can’t think of a better goal for a language classroom and yet that is hard to do and I often get asked by teachers: what does that look like in a proficiency-oriented classroom. Well, Spanish teacher Andrea Brown, shared an example from her classroom recently that explained how she got what looks to be a fairly large class talking using language for a purpose. And she even shared a template of questions that might be helpful for others. Read Andrea’s post –> 

• Primacy/Recency Lesson Plan Template

  Using some brain research in lesson planning is something that would help all of us and I’ve been trying to be much more intentional about my own planning keeping in my what I’ve learned from David Sousa’s important book called How the Brain Works. It was exciting to see Spanish teacher, Sara-Elizabeth (aka Musicuentos) take some of Sousa’s thoughts and put them into a useable template. Finding the right activities for students is only half the planning battle. Ordering activities keeping in mind that students remember best that which comes first, second best that which comes at the end and least that which comes in the middle, is the other half. Read Sara-Elizabeth post –> 

• The Power of the Do-Over

  French teacher, Megan reminds us of another important message that often gets lost in the grading discussion: when does the learning end for students. Her charge to consider what happens when we don’t allow re-takes has been sitting my head for some time now: “Prohibiting students from retaking failed assessments sends a message – a dangerous one – that if you don’t acquire knowledge or skills at the same rate as your peers, you will not be successful.” Using proficiency as a guiding principle for language teaching emphasizes the need to rethink at what rates students are learning. Read Megan’s post –> 

• Get it right from the beginning or get it right in the end

  It’s always interesting to follow language learning conversations outside of the US. While some of the labeling of educational practices might be different, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to find that many teachers struggle with the same things. French educator, Steve Smith, shares an interesting analysis that attempts to identify two different ways at looking at language learning: “The label the first ‘get it right from the beginning’ and the second ‘get it right by the end’.” I think both Steve and the original authors might be onto something here and if you’ve been thinking about the notion of a growth mindset, you might enjoy reading Steve’s post –> 

While many teachers appear to be on spring break around the country, many of them are also taking the opportunity to reflect on their practices. Let’s face it, a teacher’s job is never done and it is hard for us to turn off our brains thinking about improving that lesson, finding that resource, and developing that next assessment. This week provided us with a treasure trove of blog posts and here are just some that caught my attention.

• Teaching for Proficiency … A Career Long Journey

  Ever feel overwhelmed and don’t think that you can really make this switch to a proficiency-based classroom? Before you go back to your language teaching past, read this post by elementary and middle school Spanish teacher Valerie Shull. In the middle of her own journey she shares some important insights to what she wish she knew when she got started: 1) You are not alone, 2) Be generous and forgiving with yourself and others, and 3) You’re never done. What an important message for anyone to hear every now and then. Read Valerie’s post –> 

• 90% TL: just do it!

  You can’t go to a world language conference these days without hearing a discussion about the importance of using the target language. We have the ACTFL position statement, the TELL Project reminds us and provides several helpful tools, but when you are standing in that classroom in front of 34 pairs of eyes, it is a much different story. And from my own experience as a teacher, I admit: THIS IS HARD! We often blame our students for not wanting to commit to using the target language more, but as French teacher, Wendy Farabaugh points out so wisely: “I, however, was twice as terrified as they were. I’ve heard it said that the teacher is often what holds a class back from 90% TL in class. And for me, it was SO TRUE”. In her blockbuster post, Wendy goes on to share how she did and more importantly how her students reacted to it. Read this post if you are struggling with target language use. Read this post if you don’t think it can be done. Just read this post, be inspired and then “just do it!” Read Wendy’s post –> 

• The evolution of my interpretive reading tasks

  As a field we have become pretty good at developing authentic tasks for the interpersonal and presentational modes of communication. A quick google search will yield in a ton of good examples and rubrics to go along with them. It’s the interpretive mode that is a much different story and coming first in the language acquisition process, it’s one we should spend more time thinking about. Spanish teacher, Maris Hawkins, shares an important ACTFL resource that she used to help get a better understanding of how to assess reading with her students. Read Maris’ post –> 

• Nerd Out: Finding Professional Development Opportunities That Inspire Lifelong Learning

  Finding just the right professional development is not an easy task and it is easy to go down the blaming everyone else for bad PD road. For those reasons I’m including this blog post from elementary school teacher Tamera Musiowsky-Borneman, who reminds us to not  “be afraid of being a nerd. We all have a little in us. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be teachers.” and provides some suggestions for improving your professional development journey. Read Tamera’s post –> 

• From the Path 2 Proficiency: Another take on the G word …

  Oh, what would we do without grammar? Admit it, you love grammar! I did. It was just so logical (thanks German language) and made sense. Unfortunately, it seldom if ever helped my students learn the language. Don’t miss this great post from educator, Alyssa Villarreal, in which she reminds us that grammar doesn’t have to be a bad thing, if “Grammar instruction is aligned to our targets and be presented within a meaningful context while grammar information is easily accessible so that we best prepare our students to meet or exceed performance targets.” Read Alyssa’s post –>

• From the Path 2 Proficiency: Finding Resources is the Hardest Thing

  Finding the right resources can be very time-consuming, and educator Sharon Deering, provides some guiding question you should ask yourself BEFORE looking for that perfect resource. “Does this text fit well into my overall curriculum and move us toward the learning target? Is it age appropriate in terms of content and interest? Can the students effectively interact with this text and thus acquire or solidify some new skill(s)? With whom can I share the outstanding resources I find?” Find some answers to these and more questions in her post. Read Sharon’s post –>

• From the Path 2 Proficiency: Solving the Note Taking Puzzle

  Have you ever been told: “You are not supposed to be the center of attention. You are supposed to be facilitating the learning.” How do you do that and still provide input to your students? Spanish teacher, Rosalyn Rhodes tackles the note taking puzzle in her latest post. She figured out a way to provide input to students, allow them to process it and immediately start building ownership in the target language. Oh and she even shares her resources. Don’t miss this post! Read Rosalyn’s post –>