Denise Hanson - Malcolm Shabazz City High School, Madison WI ...

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While we have spent a great deal of time reading some of the great Spanishlanguagewriters, we have also, as noted, put a premium on writing. I have structured theclass to be portfolio-based. There were at least three formal writing assignments eachquarter and students were to organize them into a portfolio as half of their final exam.The portfolios also included poems they had written in class, goals, and personal andacademic successes, some graphics, lists of the authors and stories we read in class andreflections. The portfolios that were actually handed in were wonderful—absolutelyheart stopping. Unfortunately, only seven were handed in at the end of the first semester.On a positive note, those who did it were very proud and all earned very high grades, asthe task was simply to put together all that they had done all semester.La Clase Como CasaThis class ended up being a "home base" for these students and at this writing; Iam already realizing how much I will miss that sense of community and comfort in theclassroom. Though many of these students had very difficult times in traditional Spanishclasses, the very fact that they were all together in this classroom created a bond andcomfort level that was crucial for them. Their experiences in the traditional Spanishclasses were often humiliating and demoralizing. At the beginning of the year when wetalked about their experiences in other Spanish classes only one had had a positiveexperience—all the others had failed either Spanish II, Spanish III or Spanish IV. Part ofmy strategy in creating a community of learning that was also safe and recognized theirstrengths and language expertise is that from the very start, I have been very clear aboutthe fact that I realize that I am a white, native English speaker. I am clear about the factthat I know Spanish and that I know it well, but I also consistently acknowledge what areoften their superior skills -- they may not always know what part of speech they areusing, but they "know" their Spanish in a profound way, and in some ways, they knowmore than the teacher knows. I want them to see me as a learner as well, and understandthat we are all lifelong learners.This has led to many fun moments and a sense of playfulness in the classroom, asI give them full permission to call me on any errors I may make. In fact, if they are rightwhen they call me on it, they get an extra credit point. This tends to make the class much
more attentive and clearly gives them a sense of great pride and self-empowerment.They see me as their teacher, but in no sense as someone who is infallible.I have also spent a fair amount of time in the class on social justice issues. Acolleague of mine in the university is doing her doctoral research on this class and hasworked with me to bring several guest speakers to the class to discuss issues ofimmigration and education, job rights for immigrants, and other related issues. When theissue of immigrant rights really came to the forefront around the country in March andApril, I tailored several writing assignments around the different legislation at the stateand federal levels that threatens to undermine the rights of immigrants. As might beexpected, the students had much to say about this.I also frequently allowed the students to talk openly about their experiences inschools, including concerns and issues they may have had with other classes. My goalwas to create a climate in which it was clear that I respected and welcomed their voices,and their opinions.Teacher ConcernsBecause this was a first time course, there were few prepared materials for me tofollow--no prepared curriculum, no lessons plans -- in short, no real starting point. Therewere two textbooks I used over the course of the year (Sendas literarias and El Españolpara nosotros), and these were particularly useful for the kinds of readings they offered,including short stories and poems by well-known authors, writing assignments, a focuson spelling and grammar difficulties particular to native speakers of Spanish etc. Overthe summer, I read Cajas de Cartón by Francisco Jiménez, a memoir of his childhood asa poor immigrant. I was very impressed with the book, and wanted each student to havea copy available to them. Because our small foreign language budget was already usedup, I went to the school's PTSO and they agreed to purchase 20 copies for my class. Itpaid off well, as the students were enthralled with the book, with several students readingfar ahead of the class assignments, passing it on to family members to read, etc. I thinkthe book made such an impact on the students because they could relate to virtually everydetail in the book--being poor, dealing with school, family struggles, learning English,health care problems and on and on.
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Denise Hanson - Malcolm Shabazz City High School, Madison WI ...

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