Imagined Classroom
Imagined Classroom:
1. PICTURES
1. Entrance: I feel it is a small, yet, powerful reminder that the students are entering a foreign language class and that they will now be immersed in and speaking German. I feel that I will establish this idea in my classroom that as soon as the students cross the threshold of the door, it will be 99% German.
2. Partner/ Group Discussions: The important thing to notice in this picture is that all of the desks have two chairs. I imagine having two students or maybe even three to four sitting in groups because when learning a foreign language, it is crucial to constantly interact and work with other students in the class.
3. Language Immersion: I feel that part of language immersion is literally to have aspects of the language on the walls of the classroom so that the children are surrounded by it. My future classroom will have walls with words and phrases very similar to this one.
4. Culture Immersion:
It is not only important to have the students surrounded by the language, but also the culture. Therefore I will implement different maps, pictures of food, bands, buildings, etc. so that they will get a real sense of what life is like in Germany.
5. Routine: It is important for the students to begin most days in the same way, because when one gets used to routine, stress levels go down and this makes for a much better environment to learn a foreign language. This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but I will have a calendar and weather setup similar to this one shown, and at the start of every class one or two students will present 1.date and 2. how the weather is. I do this in my German 102 class right now and it works great.
2. CLASSROOM SURROUNDING
The classroom has many flags, decorations, words, sentences, etc. on the walls to make the students feel totally immersed in the language and culture. The desks are organized in such a way that group discussions, interviews, activities, etc. will be convenient and effective. I prefer that the desks are in groups of 2 or 3 for these activities, with my desk being in the front corner of the room. The students will have access to chromebooks provided by the school (I have seen this in multiple foreign language classrooms) as well as books, maps to further improve their German learning experience. The students will use the chromebooks when needing access to dictionaries, online quizzes, games such as quizlet, etc.
3. STUDENTS OF THE CLASSROOM- BACKGROUNDS, INTERESTS, BEHAVIOR IN CLASS
I imagine having students from various backgrounds, cultures, etc. In my experience of observing high school classes as well as teaching intro classes at BYU, I am imagining several students from Spanish and perhaps even Chinese or Korean speaking backgrounds as well, since I could very well be teaching in an area outside of Utah. The nice thing about most students in high school who take a foreign language is that they pick that particular language because it interests them in some way. They will also have interests in all things from outdoors, electronics, sushi, and traveling to math, cooking, social media and politics. There is really no limit to the things that will interest them, but language is something that I feel unites us all and can generate a lot of interest when students invest in it. The students behavior will probably reflect that of an average high-schooler. I imagine that I will be able to keep their attention and utilize several activities that will help keep the majority of the students on task. Surely there will be students who require special help and attention every now and then, but the group activities are also geared towards these students because the students all work collectively to learn new concepts and principles and apply them with each other.
4. POLICIES- RULES, DISCIPLINE PLAN, HOMEWORK POLICIES
I imagine to have similar classroom policies to the ones that I currently have right now. Rules will definitely entail- participation, only speak in German unless the language arrow is pointed to English, no cell phones out unless specified for quizlet or other group games, and all homework will be turned in on the assigned day and will lose 10% every following day. The discipline plan will be organized into minor, middles, or majors and punishment will be given accordingly. Examples of minors would be phone out, teasing, talking out of turn, etc. These will be handled by me. Middles include cheating, lying, and other similar offenses and will be initially handled by me and then given to administration if it becomes chronic. Majors include fighting, theft, vandalism, bullying, etc. and will be referred immediately to the administration. I don't imagine problems ever getting worse than Minors, but it is still good to be prepared. As previously stated, all homework will be turned in on the assigned day and will usually consist of vocabulary lists, take home sheets, and presentations. Anything turned in or done late will be a 10% deduction for every day after the due date.
5. TYPICAL LESSON
In beginning German, it is extremely common to spend a lot of time on adjective endings and articles because they have a large part of German grammar overall and also require a decent learning curve. This is an important topic that requires a lot of time and dedication not only on my part, but also the students. This will be done effectively by drawing pictures on several cards. These cards will have pictures on one side, and the word on the other. For instance, one side has a picture of a dog, the other side says "der Hund". The students will then use this cards in groups and take turns picking out a card and saying, "Ich bin der Vogel" or I am the bird, then picking another card and saying "Ich liebe den Hund" or I love the dog. This requires the students to think about the verb being used and how that changes the ending of the article or adjective. Then they say "Ich gebe dem Hund die Lampe" or I am giving the dog the lamp. This requires them to use the 3 main cases in German and to think about the correct article being used. The main thing that the students will learn is to think about subject, direct object, indirect object, since these change articles and sentences. This is probably one of the more difficult concepts for students to learn, but I have already found that this game is extremely helpful for them and will improve their German exponentially.
6. WORK AS A TEACHER IN THIS LESSON:
I will introduce the game and make sure that they have all of the tools needed- cards, article charts, etc. and then I will proceed to let the students carry on their own games. That is one of the best ways to learn a foreign language, simply using it and applying it with classmates or friends and helping each other as you go. I will go from group to group and make sure they are grasping the concept. I will also sometimes give them examples and either say correct or incorrect articles and see if they catch it. Usually they do and then they will explain to me why the examples I used were false.
7. STUDENTS ACTIONS:
The students are getting engaged in the game because it is like solving a puzzle and once they understand it, you can immediately see the "aha!" light in their eyes. They are talking and laughing and enjoying the game and paying close attention as their classmates in their respective groups say the sentences/ articles and check to see that everyone is enjoying it. English will come out every now and then I'm sure but that is why I move from group to group pretty regularly to make sure they are staying in the target language. I feel that it is easiest for students to learn foreign languages in low stress, fun environments where they can notice themselves expressing themselves in the target language.
8. ASSESSING STUDENTS LEARNING AND ACHIEVEMENTS:
This is one of the more rewarding parts to me. I will eventually bring the game to an end once I have determined that the majority of the students understand the concepts fairly well. I will then spontaneously call on different groups and introduce similar, yet somewhat more complex sentences on the board. The groups will then work together and the first one to show me the right articles will win points during this end portion of the game. I will continue this several times, and then I will have the students take about 10 minutes to complete a few sample sentences on worksheets that I will give them. I will then take these sheets and find the articles/ cases that are most often missed and review them. This will most likely be done at the beginning of next class where I will have put together a quizlet or some other type of interactive game that helps me see how well the concepts have stuck. It is truly impressive to see how fast students can grasp these difficult concepts when games and activities such as these are implemented.
Imagine the surrounding in your classroom. What does the room look like? What resources are available for students? How are the resources used during the lesson?
1. PICTURES
1. Entrance: I feel it is a small, yet, powerful reminder that the students are entering a foreign language class and that they will now be immersed in and speaking German. I feel that I will establish this idea in my classroom that as soon as the students cross the threshold of the door, it will be 99% German.
2. Partner/ Group Discussions: The important thing to notice in this picture is that all of the desks have two chairs. I imagine having two students or maybe even three to four sitting in groups because when learning a foreign language, it is crucial to constantly interact and work with other students in the class.
3. Language Immersion: I feel that part of language immersion is literally to have aspects of the language on the walls of the classroom so that the children are surrounded by it. My future classroom will have walls with words and phrases very similar to this one.
4. Culture Immersion:
It is not only important to have the students surrounded by the language, but also the culture. Therefore I will implement different maps, pictures of food, bands, buildings, etc. so that they will get a real sense of what life is like in Germany.
5. Routine: It is important for the students to begin most days in the same way, because when one gets used to routine, stress levels go down and this makes for a much better environment to learn a foreign language. This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but I will have a calendar and weather setup similar to this one shown, and at the start of every class one or two students will present 1.date and 2. how the weather is. I do this in my German 102 class right now and it works great.
2. CLASSROOM SURROUNDING
The classroom has many flags, decorations, words, sentences, etc. on the walls to make the students feel totally immersed in the language and culture. The desks are organized in such a way that group discussions, interviews, activities, etc. will be convenient and effective. I prefer that the desks are in groups of 2 or 3 for these activities, with my desk being in the front corner of the room. The students will have access to chromebooks provided by the school (I have seen this in multiple foreign language classrooms) as well as books, maps to further improve their German learning experience. The students will use the chromebooks when needing access to dictionaries, online quizzes, games such as quizlet, etc.
3. STUDENTS OF THE CLASSROOM- BACKGROUNDS, INTERESTS, BEHAVIOR IN CLASS
I imagine having students from various backgrounds, cultures, etc. In my experience of observing high school classes as well as teaching intro classes at BYU, I am imagining several students from Spanish and perhaps even Chinese or Korean speaking backgrounds as well, since I could very well be teaching in an area outside of Utah. The nice thing about most students in high school who take a foreign language is that they pick that particular language because it interests them in some way. They will also have interests in all things from outdoors, electronics, sushi, and traveling to math, cooking, social media and politics. There is really no limit to the things that will interest them, but language is something that I feel unites us all and can generate a lot of interest when students invest in it. The students behavior will probably reflect that of an average high-schooler. I imagine that I will be able to keep their attention and utilize several activities that will help keep the majority of the students on task. Surely there will be students who require special help and attention every now and then, but the group activities are also geared towards these students because the students all work collectively to learn new concepts and principles and apply them with each other.
4. POLICIES- RULES, DISCIPLINE PLAN, HOMEWORK POLICIES
I imagine to have similar classroom policies to the ones that I currently have right now. Rules will definitely entail- participation, only speak in German unless the language arrow is pointed to English, no cell phones out unless specified for quizlet or other group games, and all homework will be turned in on the assigned day and will lose 10% every following day. The discipline plan will be organized into minor, middles, or majors and punishment will be given accordingly. Examples of minors would be phone out, teasing, talking out of turn, etc. These will be handled by me. Middles include cheating, lying, and other similar offenses and will be initially handled by me and then given to administration if it becomes chronic. Majors include fighting, theft, vandalism, bullying, etc. and will be referred immediately to the administration. I don't imagine problems ever getting worse than Minors, but it is still good to be prepared. As previously stated, all homework will be turned in on the assigned day and will usually consist of vocabulary lists, take home sheets, and presentations. Anything turned in or done late will be a 10% deduction for every day after the due date.
5. TYPICAL LESSON
In beginning German, it is extremely common to spend a lot of time on adjective endings and articles because they have a large part of German grammar overall and also require a decent learning curve. This is an important topic that requires a lot of time and dedication not only on my part, but also the students. This will be done effectively by drawing pictures on several cards. These cards will have pictures on one side, and the word on the other. For instance, one side has a picture of a dog, the other side says "der Hund". The students will then use this cards in groups and take turns picking out a card and saying, "Ich bin der Vogel" or I am the bird, then picking another card and saying "Ich liebe den Hund" or I love the dog. This requires the students to think about the verb being used and how that changes the ending of the article or adjective. Then they say "Ich gebe dem Hund die Lampe" or I am giving the dog the lamp. This requires them to use the 3 main cases in German and to think about the correct article being used. The main thing that the students will learn is to think about subject, direct object, indirect object, since these change articles and sentences. This is probably one of the more difficult concepts for students to learn, but I have already found that this game is extremely helpful for them and will improve their German exponentially.
6. WORK AS A TEACHER IN THIS LESSON:
I will introduce the game and make sure that they have all of the tools needed- cards, article charts, etc. and then I will proceed to let the students carry on their own games. That is one of the best ways to learn a foreign language, simply using it and applying it with classmates or friends and helping each other as you go. I will go from group to group and make sure they are grasping the concept. I will also sometimes give them examples and either say correct or incorrect articles and see if they catch it. Usually they do and then they will explain to me why the examples I used were false.
7. STUDENTS ACTIONS:
The students are getting engaged in the game because it is like solving a puzzle and once they understand it, you can immediately see the "aha!" light in their eyes. They are talking and laughing and enjoying the game and paying close attention as their classmates in their respective groups say the sentences/ articles and check to see that everyone is enjoying it. English will come out every now and then I'm sure but that is why I move from group to group pretty regularly to make sure they are staying in the target language. I feel that it is easiest for students to learn foreign languages in low stress, fun environments where they can notice themselves expressing themselves in the target language.
8. ASSESSING STUDENTS LEARNING AND ACHIEVEMENTS:
This is one of the more rewarding parts to me. I will eventually bring the game to an end once I have determined that the majority of the students understand the concepts fairly well. I will then spontaneously call on different groups and introduce similar, yet somewhat more complex sentences on the board. The groups will then work together and the first one to show me the right articles will win points during this end portion of the game. I will continue this several times, and then I will have the students take about 10 minutes to complete a few sample sentences on worksheets that I will give them. I will then take these sheets and find the articles/ cases that are most often missed and review them. This will most likely be done at the beginning of next class where I will have put together a quizlet or some other type of interactive game that helps me see how well the concepts have stuck. It is truly impressive to see how fast students can grasp these difficult concepts when games and activities such as these are implemented.
Imagine the surrounding in your classroom. What does the room look like? What resources are available for students? How are the resources used during the lesson?
Comments
Post a Comment