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I focus on developing lessons that are
cognitively achievable and that focus on
teaching the most frequently used words/
phrases first, so that students are much
more likely to understand what they read
or hear. My goal is to help EVERY student
feel successful in the language and to reach
a minimum threshold so that independent
learning and relevant application is
at least possible. I do that by focusing on
ordinary high-frequency structures, (e.g.,
I don’t have, I need, I can’t), as well as
other structures that are high-frequency,
but only as they apply to their particular
situation. I call these phrases situational
high-frequency structures (e.g., throw,
catch, ball). I focus on a few key phrases
each class period and at the end of the
week, I instruct students to listen for and
look for those target phrases (on the field;
in the locker room; on the bus; on TV; on
Facebook, Twitter, or our class Wiki, etc.).
Each week, students must share at least
one instance of how new learning was
applied (either on the field or off); how
they used their new skills to help another;
and what new word(s) they picked up (or
acquired) independently, outside of class.
Consciously recognizing and articulating
personal learning outcomes helps students
develop confidence, as well as a sense of
accountability and responsibility—both to
themselves and others.
Carol Gaab, Spanish
Fluency Matters/TPRS Publishing, Chandler, AZ
In Spanish 3, my students do a “study
abroad project.” I teach them how to get a
passport, make airline reservations, find a
school where they can study, how to deal
with culture shock, etc. Then I recommend
a school in Salamanca, Spain, where they
can study Spanish. I do not take the students
to Spain; they engage in independent
travel. Last summer, seven students studied
for a month in Spain (4 hours of class per
day) for the same cost as an eight-day tour
with a teacher through a travel group.
Pattipeg Harjo, Spanish
Norman North High School, Norman, OK
In my mind, languages should be at the very
core of any good 21 st century educational
program as we are uniquely positioned
to facili tate so many of these skills. For
example, in my Spanish classes, students
must be flexible and adaptible when they
don’t know a particular vocabulary word and
they make use of circumlocution to express
meaning. During Skype conversations with
a partner school in Venezuela, they demonstrate
cross-cultural skills when they discuss
the realities of being a teenager in New York
City and Caracas. When they write, illustrate,
and construct their own picturebooks
in Spanish and post them online or share
them with younger students, they are demonstrating
productivity and accountability.
Languages are not just a “nice” skill—they
are the “killer app” of the 21 st century.
Lori Langer de Ramirez, Spanish
The Dalton School, New York, NY
To provide my German 4 students with
experience designing their own learning
plan and not always depending upon their
teacher to define what they would learn, I
had them create six-week learning plans.
I outlined 10 curricular areas in which
students could work and earn points toward
a grade and at the start of each six-week period
the students needed to present me with
a learning plan for work in 7 of the 10 areas.
However, they could decide the emphasis
that they placed on any one of the areas. For
example, one of the areas was to produce a
“writing piece” of some 150 words worth up
to 20 points. One year I had a student who
wrote 3,000-word chapters of an excellent
original story each six weeks and did not do
as much in the other areas.
Robert Morrey, German
retired, high school level, San Jose, CA
Share the So You Say Questions
We can connect what we do in the classroom
with our students’ identities by creating
activities that will enable the expression
of their own “self.” For instance, when talking
about colors, rather than asking them
to repeat the words for colors or describe
isolated objects based on color, I share a
list of questions in which we discuss our
preferences of colors at different moments
and places in our lives. For instance, they
would talk about their favorite color for
their room, car, a dress for a cocktail party,
etc. Enabling them to speak on their own
will help them find a stronger connection
of language as a tool for self-expression and
hopefully motivate them to see themselves
as language speakers rather than learners.
Maria Villalobos-Buehner, Spanish
Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ
So You Say
To foster independent learning, I try to get
students to understand the importance of
thinking in terms of tasks and not chapters,
units, etc. I found it a lot more helpful to
have a piece of paper with the language
that I would need to say to successfully
complete a transaction at the bank than to
have Chapter 1 of my Beginning Korean
language book when I was in Seoul. I like
to have students create their own portfolios
of tasks. Today’s technology brings this
to a whole new level. If students feel they
haven’t quite grasped something as effectively
as a fellow student, they can download
that task from their friend to their
own playlists and/or folders. Another way
to personalize learning is to give several
options for projects. Given some choice,
they produce some amazing things demonstrating
their knowledge and interests.
Janina Klimas, English and Spanish
Real Life Language, Inc., Lake Jackson, TX
We appreciate your help in getting more voices to include in this section. Please feel
free to share the upcoming questions with your colleagues in the language education
profession and urge them to send in their own responses. Mention them in person, via
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great ideas coming!
The Language Educator n February 2013 25