Melissa Campbell

FL 561

Dr. Burnett

February 27, 2016

Observation #1

1. Wednesday, October 21st, 12:05-12:45 (shortened class due to collaborative schedule); Spanish I class; a

year-long skinny

2. Tables with 2 students at each; 32 seats; Students are greeted when class starts and teacher asks in

Spanish, Why did I greet you with good afternoon? I usually say good morning. One student raised

his hand and answered the question. Teacher circulated and checked homework for completion while

students were working. Students are responsive to the teachers questions in Spanish although they

answer him in English. The students were silently working on the bell ringer. The teacher reviewed the

bell ringer with the students and asked follow up questions such as, How did you come to that

answer?. The teacher wrote the correct answers on the board so students could see the correct spelling

and make corrections. The teacher continued to refer to the bell ringer on the board and made pointing

gestures to assist the students in focusing their attention. The teacher progressed to the next activity by

explaining what was going to happen and then going into examples. The teacher asked individual

students, Who are you? and they responded with, I am. He also asked, Who are all of you? and

the student answered with, We are. They practiced subject pronouns and the verb to be. After

practicing some examples the teacher played a recording in which the students had to listen to a question

and then choose the correct answer from two options. The recording went quickly and was difficult for

the students to understand so the teacher paused after each question and repeated it. The students

listened intently and recorded their answers. The teacher played the recording one more time for

students to check their answers and fill in any they were missing. The teacher called on individual
students, asked them the question, had them answer in a complete sentence and then asked them for a

reason why they chose that particular answer. When one of the students had a problem pronouncing the

word for dictionary, he took a break to practice the pronunciation and give them another example of

the problem sound. The students repeated the words after the teacher. The teacher then continued

asking the students each question and they continued answering in a complete sentence and giving a

reason for their answer. After concluding the activity, the teacher explained the rules to a review game

the students were going to play. The teacher switched between Spanish and English. He explained parts

in Spanish using gestures and switched to English when the students didnt understand what he was

saying. He provided models for the students prior to them beginning the game. He called on specific

students to help him with the examples. The students rolled two dice to help them create sentences using

the verb to be. For example, they rolled one die that gave them The teacher. They changed The

teacher to He. Then they rolled the other color which gave them the ending to the sentence. For

example, they had (to be) French. They had to combine the two parts to make a sentence saying He

is French. The teacher continued to provide two more examples, calling on students to help create the

sample sentences. The teacher asked them if they had any questions and one student asked him to clarify

if they needed one sheet of paper for each person of if each set of partners could share one paper. The

teacher clarified and then proceeded to hand out the materials for the game. The students were still

confused so the teacher provided another step-by-step explanation while the students could actually look

at the materials. The students began rolling their dice and writing sentences. The teacher circulated

through the room to answer questions as they came up. A couple of groups still didnt quite understand

the instructions so he was able to provide quick one-on-one instruction. The students continued to ask

questions as they came up and the teacher continued to circulate to help them individually. When the

students had a question, they waited until the teacher was free and then raised their hand. After a couple

of minutes of the activity, the teacher was able to approach each group and check on their progress.

When he ran into a group that had mistakes, he took a moment to help lead them to the correct answer.
 Once the students were all on track, the teacher was able to step away to organize his materials. When

he needed the students attention, he said in Spanish Attention please and waited for all of them to stop

what they were doing. The teacher instructed the students to write their names on their work and turn it

in. He also instructed them how to get to their online homework assignment. The students proceeded to

organize their materials and turn in their work on their way out of the room. The teacher helped collect

papers and then said farewell to students leaving and greeted the next class as they began to enter the

room.

3. I really enjoyed this observation because this particular teacher is new to our department and I hadnt

had a chance to observe him yet this year. He is a native speaker with a variety of experiences from

teaching high school in Baltimore for a couple of years, to covering a long-term sub position in the

Spanish immersion program here for first grade. At the beginning of the lesson, he was really focused

on staying in the target language and was doing a wonderful job of pantomiming, slowing down his

speech and repeating things until the students understood what he meant. He focused on eliciting full

sentences from his students and used a lot of repetition. Because of the shortened period, I could tell that

he started to feel rushed as he was trying to explain the rules of the game and that was when he slipped

into quite a bit more English. Had it been a normal class period, I think his timing would have been

perfect and he could have found a way to explain the rules while maintaining use of the target language.

I could tell that the students were accustomed to him speaking Spanish. When he asked them questions

directly, they were expected to answer him in Spanish using a complete sentence. If they stumbled, he

would model the correct answer and then have them answer one more time. I think his error correction

technique worked very well throughout the lesson. I also liked that he paused a couple of times to focus

on pronunciation. When he actually stopped to focus on it, he was demonstrating words that are

typically difficult for any Spanish learner. He didnt single anyone out, but provided a quick tutorial for

everyone. Students were expected to interact with each other through the partner activity but they spoke

to each other in English. They helped each other form sentences in Spanish, but their communication
 was not in the target language. I wouldve liked to see some partner work that involved them asking and

answering questions to each other instead of all of the communication being between teacher and

student. Because this 40 minute lesson only showed me a snapshot of the unit, its hard for me to judge.

Maybe the next day they had more interaction with each other or maybe the teacher chose this particular

activity out of necessity. Perhaps the students were struggling the day before to form accurate sentences

and this was the best way for him to aid them at that time. The communication they had with the teacher

was extremely valuable and was helping them learn to answer basic questions using an extremely

important verb.

4. Because its nearly impossible to get a student to stay before or after school to do an interview, I will

have to interview the teacher for all of these observations. I met with this teacher the day after the

observation to talk about his experiences and this lesson in particular. When I asked him about his

language learning, he has had a completely different experience than the other teachers in our

department. He was born in Mexico City and grew up speaking both Spanish and English and then

attended the University of Wisconsin. He actually didnt get a teaching degree there but was able to

teach in Baltimore because Spanish was a hard to fill area at the time. He said he hadnt planned on

teaching but instantly fell in love with it. When he moved to Minnesota, he had to go back to school and

get a teaching degree and student teach in order to be licensed. He said that although going back to

school was a burden, he was happy to have the chance to observe other language classes and student

teach because when he started teaching he didnt have any experience. He said that he learned a lot

about methodology and child development that has helped him become a better teacher. I commented on

his ability to use so much of the target language in a first year class and he said that it had taken a lot of

groundwork in the beginning of the semester. He slowly incorporated more and more of the target

language as the students learned the daily routine. He said some days are better than others but he tries

to focus his lessons on providing a lot of input and creating opportunities for communication. He said

hes still adjusting the timing of his lessons and that is typically what causes him to revert to English. He
 said this lesson wouldve worked better in a regular 45 minute class but that he felt rushed with only 40

minutes. He teaches two sections of this class and he said that in the second section he was able to

explain the rules of the game using more of the target language. Because it was the first time students

did this activity, they were having trouble understanding his explanation and by the second time he was

able to break down the rules better. He said that his focus will continue to be on communication and

providing as much input as he possibly can.

Observation #2

1. Thursday, November 18th; 11:45-12:30 & 1:05-1:50; Spanish I class; semester long block

2. There are 6 rows of 6 desks all facing the front of the room and the door. The teachers desk is on the

right side of the room. Students are greeted as they walk into the room and while the teacher takes

attendance. The teacher directed the students to move the desks back to where they are supposed to be.

The students began asking about the teachers sweatshirt (its college day so we are all wearing shirts

from our alma mater). The students asked about the nickname change that happened yesterday and has

been all over the news. The teacher explained the story behind the NCAA making the university change

the name. The students also asked about the logo and the teacher explained the logo design as she knew

the person that designed it. The students were invited to share their opinions and discuss the situation

with the teacher. The teacher brought the discussion to a close and went over the agenda for the day.

One of the students asked if they could play a game today and the teacher said they cant today because

they have to get through their work on gustar which is used to talk about things they like or dont like.

The teacher instructed them in Spanish to take out their homework, Saca tu tarea. The students found

their homework and then the teacher circulated throughout the room to check for completion of the

work. The teacher said While I check your homework,I want you to write down, on the side of your

worksheet, 3 things you like. Students helped each other remember the appropriate vocabulary to write

down 3 things they like. The teacher visited with a student who was absent yesterday who was supposed

to be copying the notes that he missed yesterday. The teacher asked individual students, Qu te
gusta? (What do you like). The students each responded with Me gusta (I like). The teacher

provided extra vocabulary and corrections as needed. After asking a few students individually, the

teacher started going through the homework on the document camera. One student made a comment that

one of the names on the homework was dumb. The teacher paused and explained where the name

came from and said its rude to make fun of someones name. The student apologized for the remark.

After finishing the first section, the teacher asked Preguntas? (questions). There were none so she

moved on to the next section on the homework. The students answered each question in unison and the

teacher provided feedback (sper, muy bien, perfecto, etc). Once finished with the first page, the teacher

asked Thumbs up, thumbs in the middle, thumbs down. How did you do? The students held up their

thumbs to show if they did well on the homework. The teacher moved to the next section of the

homework and students continued answering in unison while the teacher pointed out things that were

slightly unusual or different than the other questions. The teacher said, Thumbs up, thumbs in the

middle, thumbs down. How did you do? one more time and the students responded. The teacher

reminded the students that their chapter test is next Tuesday. She pointed to the objectives on the board

and showed them all of the things they studied in the chapter. The teacher moved on to the last section

of the homework and took the students step by step through forming the first sentence. The students had

them practice pronunciation No nos gusta...No nos gusta el libro. She kept repeating it until every

student repeated after her. When she got to the fifth sentence, it was slightly more challenging so she

walked to the students through it step by step one more time. When they finished going through the

homework the teacher asked one more time if they had questions. The teacher passed out a worksheet to

review gustar. One row didnt get enough papers so they asked the teacher for another. Students

began working on the review. The teacher circulated throughout the room to answer questions. Several

students raised their hands to ask questions. The teacher asked the students questions and gave hints to

help them find the answers on their own. The teacher continued to circulate and check their work.

When she saw an issue she stopped and pointed out the error to the student and helped them make a
correction. Several students turned to people around them to check answers or ask questions. After the

teacher circulated throughout the room once, she returned to the student who was absent yesterday and

helped clarify the material for him. He appears to be a native speaker as he responded to her in Spanish

several times. She helped him with the questions he had and then continued circulating. She stopped at

several desks and provided affirmations (sper, muy bien, perfecto) again. As the teacher circulated, the

students continued turning to each other to ask quick questions. One student was very distracted and not

working very hard but the other students worked hard through the entire worksheet. Several students

pulled out a yellow vocabulary sheet to look for words they couldnt remember. As some students

finished they began visiting with each other. The teacher continued circulating to help the students who

werent finished yet and directed the others to study their vocab with a partner who was also finished

with their work. With 2 minutes to go before the lunch, the students began asking if they could go to

lunch. The teacher responded in Spanish and said they needed to wait two more minutes. At 12:30 the

students left for lunch. Students returned from lunch at 1:05. Several students asked to go to the

bathroom and the teacher said they shouldve gone during lunch. The students were all talking over each

other and werent paying attention to the teacher. She stood at the front of the room and silently waited

for them to stop talking. As students noticed what she was doing they told each other to stop talking.

After about 15-20 seconds all of the students were quiet and the teacher started reviewing the activity the

students completed before leaving for lunch. The students responded in unison with the answers as the

students showed them the written answers. When students had an issue, she stopped and clarified the

answer for them. On the last answer, the subject was Juan Carlos. The student stopped and explained

that many people in other countries have two names but that it is actually one person. For the last

section of the practice, the teacher drew names from a cup of popsicle sticks and called on individual

students to answer the questions. The teacher continued to clarify things as issues came up with each

answer. When one of the students had trouble with pronunciation, the teacher stopped and had students

repeat after her several times to practice the pronunciation of the troublesome word. After reviewing the
work, the teacher presented some clarifications of how to change subjects between questions and

answers. YOU like to listen to rock music? I like to listen to country music. She also clarified some

issues they were having with third person subjects. Once the students understood, she transitioned into a

partner activity. She passed out the paper with the activity, waited for students to have a paper and stop

talking, and then explained the instructions. The teacher explained the first step of the activity which

was to put yes or no under the yo (I) column to state whether they like or dont like the activities

or things listed in the activity. The teacher gave the students time to finish filling in their answers and

answered a few questions that came up while students were doing this step. Students also turned to each

other to get help with vocabulary. The teacher explained the next step. Students need to walk around

the room and talk to 3 people who they havent worked with in class yet. The students need to ask their

partners if they like to do the activities or things listed on the paper and then record their answers. They

were expected to ask and answer in complete sentences using the verb gustar correctly. All of the

students found a partner and immediately got to work. The teacher circulated through the room to

answer questions as they came up. While the teacher was helping with the activity, a student from a

different class entered the room to ask her a question. With the other students working together, I

couldnt hear what the question was but I do know that he is a Spanish IV student in her class. The

student left the room and the teacher continued helping her other students. Once all of the students were

definitely on track, the teacher started to organize her materials for the next activity. The students

continued to circulate through the room and talk to their 3 different partners. A few students approached

the teacher with specific questions while she was preparing her materials. As the students finished their

work they slowly returned to their seats. The teacher announced that they had 30 seconds left, the rest of

the students finished their work and returned to their seats. The teacher announced that she heard a lot of

talking but not enough Spanish. The teacher pointed out that only about half of the students completed

the activity entirely in Spanish like they were supposed to. She was also disappointed to see that some of

the students simply exchanged papers and recorded answers instead of asking and answering each other
 out loud. The next step was to compare their answers with their partners and write the total number

they had in common with each person. The students were struggling to stay on task and the teacher had

to call on several students to get back to work. At this point, the teachers practicum students from one

of the universities arrived and also helped get students back on task. The teacher explained that the

person that they had the most common answers with could be one of their new friends. She collected the

papers so she can look at who had a lot in common with each other and can make a new seating chart

based on who they should be partners with next time. After collecting the papers, the teacher took time

to explain a project they would begin working on tomorrow. The students will be creating a poster to

present things they, and other people, like and dont like so they can show their understanding of the

verb gustar. Each student got a paper with a written explanation of the project so they could follow

along while she explained it. Tomorrow she will have construction paper for them so they can draw or

paste pictures of things that are liked or disliked. The students must write sentences to accompany each

picture. The teacher provided examples of possible sentence structures they could use for their project.

Students were able to ask questions and were then instructed to put the project description in their binder

to keep for tomorrow. Then the teacher handed out their homework and explained the instructions. The

students had the last few minutes of class to begin their homework and ask questions. Students were

dismissed at 1:50.

3. One thing that surprised me in this 90 minute class, was the amount of material that was covered. In a

90 minute class, especially with Spanish I, I change gears at least every 15 minutes. That means that I

can do anywhere from six to nine different activities in a block. This keeps the class moving and holds

their attention spans better than focusing on one thing for too long. Although the beginning of class was

spent discussing something that was off topic, I was amazed at how much time was taken to go through

the homework from the night before. There were definitely some areas of the homework that needed to

be addressed because they were troublesome but I think it couldve been more beneficial to spend less

time on that and more time in a communicative review of the topic. It wouldve been very easy to do a
 review using a question/answer method to elicit the correct structures. In the first half of the class, there

was no focus on communication. Students corrected their homework and then completed a worksheet

that couldve been done outside of class. In a methods course I took a couple of summers ago, the

professor talked about time on task and reminded us that if the goal is communication, we have to

spend the most time on communication and save the drill and kill worksheets for homework. After

lunch, the students were able to participate in a communicative activity where they had to speak with

several different classmates. I think this couldve been a great place to use an information gap activity.

The students had to form questions and answers but they didnt actually have to listen to their partners

other than to hear yes or no. They each were asking the exact same questions so they knew what

was coming. They were sharing their opinions with each other but they werent necessarily creating

language. They were given things like correr en el parque (to run in the park) and they had to say Me

gusta correr en el parque or No me gusta correr en el parque (I like the run in the park or I dont like

to run in the park). Besides greeting the students in Spanish at the beginning of class, the teacher didnt

use much of the target language except for reading the answers on the homework. The students were not

creating language at any point in the class. They were simply repeating what was on their papers or

changing the form of the verb but they werent given the chance to create their own statements. The

teacher did work on pronunciation at a few points during the lesson. When the students ran into

troublesome words, she paused to have the entire class repeat the correct pronunciation. Again, its

difficult to judge based on one class but in this particular lesson, the teacher didnt use the target

language and there wasnt a focus on communication.

4. I was able to sit down with the teacher two days after the observation to discuss the lesson. We started

by talking about her own language learning. She said that her first years of language learning in high

school were almost entirely taught in English. They focused on explicit grammar instruction and a lot of

translation. During her last year of high school Spanish, she had a new teacher (who was my teacher

over 25 years later!) who focused on communication. Her new teacher taught almost entirely in Spanish
and expected the students to speak in Spanish. She said that last year was really difficult for her because

it was a completely different experience than the first few years. Then when she went to college, the

focus was on grammar translation and explicit grammar instruction. She said that she knows times have

changed but she is having a hard time changing her teaching style. She said she still likes to use explicit

grammar instruction in English and tends to use a lot of translation. After students work that way, then

she likes to do some kind of skit or project in which students create with the language. She showed me

samples of some of the recent projects she had used in other classes and its obvious that the students are

able to write fairly well in the target language. She said she is typically disappointed with how the

students do in skits or spontaneous role-plays. I asked her what she thought the reason might be and she

said it probably has to do with the lack of input she provides for students. She said she is trying to shift

away from her traditional methods and move toward a more communicative approach but that it has been

a difficult change to make. She has been teaching for a long time and feels like she is stuck in her

comfort-zone. When we talked about this lesson specifically, she said that this class has been a

challenge all semester because of a few students who are very easily distracted and can cause big

disruptions for the rest of the class. I asked her if she thought a faster pace might help solve some of the

distractibility issues and she thought that it might. She was hoping to try working at a faster pace and

changing gears more often to see if that would help with the management issues that had come up that

year. It was interesting to hear her speak about how hard it was to change her teaching style. She had

learned Spanish using this less communicative method and thats how she had been teaching for her

entire career. She had trouble convincing herself that her students would understand her if she taught

grammar in the target language. This also made me think about my own teaching career and although I

havent been teaching nearly as long as she, I still feel a little bit like Im stuck in my own comfort zone.

I do try to incorporate new methods and new activities as often as possible but I do see myself reverting

to some things that I used in my first years of teaching. This just proved to me that I need to continually

look for best practices and try to incorporate more communication into each of my lessons.
Observation #3

1. Friday, December 18 ; Spanish III; a year-long skinny, 45 minutes

2. Tables with 4 students across; Enough seats for 32 students but only 15 students in class; they were fairly

spread out among the tables. The teacher greeted the students and began with basic questions in

Spanish. The students answered in unison and the teacher asked follow up questions. What time is it?

Whats the weather like? The students followed along and answered each question, including follow up

questions. The teacher told them to take out their vocab and look at pages 1 and 3. All of this was in

Spanish. Cmo se dice...en espaol? How do you say...in Spanish? She said uno, dos, tres (one, two,

three) and then the students answered in unison with the correct word. The students moved to page 3.

The students repeated after the teacher to practice pronunciation of some newer words. What does

Hace tres das mean? Students: 3 days ago Teacher: How can you change that to 2 weeks ago, one

month ago, 4 years ago, etc. Students responded with the correct phrase. There was a loud noise that

started and students asked what it was. The classroom shares a wall with a bathroom and one of the

sinks makes a loud noise. The teacher had to step out of the room to stop the sink from running.

Students visited about the noise while the teacher stepped out for about 30 seconds. The teacher began

to explain a new game the students will play. The teacher explains everything in Spanish. The teacher

used hand gestures and held up cards as she explained the first step. The students split into two teams

and each student took 4 cards that were to be placed face up in front of them. The teacher circulated to

make sure the students had the cards face up and answered questions the students had as she circulated.

The students asked each other what some of the cards meant. The teacher explained the rest of the rules

in Spanish. The teacher reads a question and the student with the answer to the question raises their

card. Where is the alphabet? One student raised her card and read it but it was not the right answer.

Another student raised a card, read it and it was correct. The team won a point. What is an example of

social media? A student held up the correct card and read it. The team won a point. This continued

with more questions and answers. All of the questions incorporated vocabulary related to technology
which is included in lesson 11 of their textbook. The teacher provided feedback such as excelente,

muy bien, maravilloso, etc. The game kept a fast pace throughout the entire process. Students were

able to find the right card very quickly. Several times, the students from each team tied. The game

practiced new vocabulary, question words, present tense, past tense and future tense verbs along with

commands. A student came in with a pass from the office 16 minutes into class. The students stayed

focused while she got herself organized in her spot at the tables. It became evident that in order to

officially win the point, the students had to hold up the card and read it correctly. The teacher corrected

pronunciation as needed. One student struggled to read a phone number in Spanish and the teacher

provided support while also telling him Yes, you can. You can do it. in Spanish. Pass the cards to

the middle, quickly. The teacher continued to interact with students in Spanish while collecting the

cards and setting up the next activity. Take out the questions from the video. I want to talk about the

questions a little bit in English. One student missed a question on the viewing guide. The other

students helped her with the answer while the teacher guided the discussion. Another student asked a

question and the students continued to help each other. When the students asked a question in English,

the teacher prompted them to ask in Spanish. Only after they asked in Spanish would she answer the

question. Even though they were discussing the questions in English, the students were still expected to

speak in Spanish when it was possible. The students discussed communism, radicalism, the Vietnam and

Cold Wars, etc. The viewing guide was from a video titled Walkout. The teacher then instructed

them, in Spanish, to finish comparing their answers while she prepped another video about the civil

rights movement. This video is real footage and includes interviews. While prepping the video, the

teacher passed out a piece of candy to the members of the winning team from the game. She continued

to interact with them in Spanish. The teacher then provided background information the students needed

prior to watching the video. The video came from YouTube and was in English. It showed real footage

of the civil rights movement including both African-Americans and Chicanos. The students jotted notes

on their viewing guide during the video. The teacher occasionally paused the video and pointed out
 things that the students had already learned about from the original movie (Walkout). The YouTube

video included a lot of great live footage and black and white photos from this time in history. The

narrator was interesting and kept things moving. The students appeared to be engaged throughout the

video. No one had their head down or was flipping through other homework/books/etc. The video was a

great follow up the original movie because it incorporated many true images of what was dramatized in

the movie. About 2 minutes before dismissal, the students began to pack up their materials. The teacher

had to stop the video just a couple minutes short of the end because class was ending. The teacher asked

the students to pass in their viewing guides while they were leaving the room. The teacher continued to

interact with them in Spanish while they were leaving.

3. I was really impressed with this lesson. The focus was on communication from the moment the students

stepped through the door. The teacher greeted them in Spanish and chatted with them even before class

began. As soon as class began, she greeted everyone and then ran through a list of basic questions which

students have obviously practiced many times. They had to tell her the day, the date, what the weather

was like, how they were feeling, etc. These are all very basic questions but at this point, they were able

to answer them automatically. They knew the necessary structures and vocabulary. The game that she

used for the beginning of class kept the students very engaged. They had to process her questions very

quickly. They had the answers to her questions on their card but because they didnt know exactly what

questions she would ask, they had to think quickly. She kept a fast pace throughout the activity.

Although this was a brand new activity for the students, the teacher was able to explain all of the rules in

the target language through the use of modeling. It was obvious that the students were used to her

speaking in the target language. When they had questions, they asked in English but the teacher

responded in Spanish. At one point, when a student was struggling to read numbers back to her, instead

of saying it for the student, she provided encouragement and allowed him time to think. There were

several times throughout the lesson that the teacher would chat with students in between activities. The

students were encouraged to create language and were able to have simple conversations with the
 teacher. Although the students werent creating with language during the game, they were focusing on

structures and had to process the information quickly. Creating questions and answering them is always

a difficult task for students and this game provided a lot of incredible input for them. For the second part

of the lesson, when the class moved toward a discussion of civil rights, the teacher changed to English. I

do think that it was an appropriate time to do so because the conversation would not have been nearly as

meaningful in Spanish because of the limited vocabulary they have. Sometimes it is very easy to

incorporate culture in the target language, but sometimes its more valuable to do it in the native

language.

4. I was able to visit with this teacher after school the same day as the observation. We were able to talk a

little bit about her language learning experiences. She studied Spanish in high school and college and

also spent a lot of time living abroad. She spent time in Mexico and Puerto Rico and has great

proficiency because of those experiences. She went back to school in her late twenties to get her

teaching degree and has been teaching since then. She said that she focuses all of her classes on

providing as much comprehensible input as possible. She believes that students learn by hearing and

doing so she tries to provide ample time for both. She likes to use the basic questions at the beginning of

class to get students warmed up and used to hearing the language and responding. When I asked her

about the cultural instruction in English, she said that sometimes she does culture in Spanish and

sometimes in English at this level. She is also teaching a level 5 class and she said that is conducted

purely in Spanish and that at that level the students are able to discuss a lot of social and political issues

in the target language. At this lower level, she incorporates as much discussion in the target language as

she can but sometimes uses English either because of time constraints or because of language

constraints. She said sometimes the conversations are much more valuable in English than they would

be in Spanish, so depending on the goal of the lesson, she decides which language to use. Although I do

think its important to use the target language as much as possible, I remember a methods professor

telling me that he always taught small chunks of culture in English. He said time is valuable and in order
 for students to truly understand some things, they needed to be done in the native language. I, like the

teacher I observed, typically use a combination of the native and target languages, depending on the

content and the level of the students.

Observation #4

1. January 20; 12:50-1:30; Spanish I skinny; shortened day for collaborative schedule; 26 students

2. Teacher opened class by counting back from 5-1 in Spanish. Students quit talking before he got to 1. He

greeted the students and put up their journal. Its a review of possessive adjectives that they apparently

started learning yesterday. The teacher did an example on the board with them. How do you say cousins

in Spanish? Primo, right! Now how would we say my cousin. Mi primos. Teacher wrote it on the

board and then asked the students if they saw an error. A few students raised their hands and corrected it

to mis primos. You now have 2 minutes to finish your journal entry. Students got to work right away

and all but one appeared to be working on the journal. The teacher circulated and helped as needed

providing prompts to remind the students of the family vocabulary and the possessive adjectives. As

students finished they began to chat with each other. Ok, vamos a empezar. Since you are starting to

talk everyone must be finished. Lets review. The teacher began calling on individual students to check

the answers. He wrote them on the board as they went and pointed out small errors. He called on

students in Spanish and asked them to read their answers. It was obvious that the teacher uses a lot of

the phrases each day as they students knew exactly what he wanted them to do. I could see that there

was a structure to the class and students knew what was expected of them. After finishing the review,

the teacher asked if there were questions and then said he would present about his family. All of this

was done in Spanish. He also asked a student to turn the lights off in Spanish while he got his

presentation ready. He explained in Spanish that he would talk about his own family. Before beginning,

he told students in English that he wanted them to pay attention to his use of the possessive adjectives

and the verb tener (to have). He began by showing a picture of his entire family. The next slide was of

his grandmother. He said her name, what they call her and how old she is. He also had certain vocab
words bolded for the students to see. The next slide explained how many children his grandmother has.

Five are boys and two are girls. Six of them are my aunts and uncles and one is my mother. The teacher

paused and asked clarifying questions in English. How many children does my grandmother have? He

called on one student to translate one of the sentences. He provided ample wait time and congratulated

the student when he got it right. The next slide talks about his aunt. He told her name, that she has a

new spouse, what his name is, that she had one daughter, her daughters name and that the new spouse is

the stepfather of his aunts daughter. The vocab was bolded in one color and the possessive adjectives

bolded in another. Again, he asked clarifying questions. Some in English and some in Spanish. Next he

talked about his aunts daughter - her name, her relation to his aunt, her relation to himself, her age and

that she doesnt have a spouse. The next is a slide is a picture of his mother, or his cousins aunt. He

tells her name, that shes not married, that she has two sons, their names and her relation to himself. He

paused and had a student tell him what the womans relationship is to himself. Ella es su mam. Why

did she answer with su and not tu? She was speaking to you formally. The next slide showed the

teacher, his brother and one of their cousins. He told his and his brothers ages and introduced his

cousin. The next slide is of his brother. He is not married but he has an ex-wife. He said what her name

is and that they have two children. The next was a slide of his niece and nephew. He then introduced his

nieces age and where she lives. The next slide introduced more pictures of his niece and introduced the

word for great-grandmother. He paused and asked a question to review the verb estar. Why did I use

estar and not ser in this question? The first two students didnt quite know the answer. The next student

pointed out that they used estar because it was showing location. The next slide introduced his nephew,

his name, his age, who his relatives are. The next slide introduced his pets. He talked about two cats.

The teacher asked a student in Spanish to describe the relationship of one cat to another. The student

answered correctly in a complete sentence. The next slide introduced two dogs. The next slide

introduced his bird and what her name is. The teacher had the students flap their arms while repeating

the word for bird in Spanish. The students then were instructed to take out paper and write a sentence
describing who some of the people were. The teacher did an example with the students first. Who is this

person? Shes your mom. How do you say that in Spanish? Ella es su mam. Muy bien. Empiecen.

The students began to write sentences explaining who the people were. The teacher circulated and

answered questions as needed. After students finished writing, the teacher asked individual students,

Who is it? Students answered in complete sentences. When it got to the cat, the teacher paused and

pointed out that you can make some animals feminine and others not. The teacher moved to the next

slide and students wrote more sentences describing who the people in the pictures were. The teacher

continued to call on students and helped make corrections when needed. Did you notice the verb tener in

the slides? What did I use tener to express? It means to have, but when was it used in the slides? Talk

to your partner. Ok, 3-2-1. The teacher called on a student and the student responded by saying that

tener was used to express age. How is that different from English? One student answered by saying we

use is in English. In Spanish we use tener. Turn to your partner and tell them how old you are. The

teacher modeled for them and then had them turn to their partners. While students practiced, the teacher

circulated and asked individual students in Spanish How old are you?. He helped students formulate a

response if they were struggling. After about 60 seconds he brought students back together by counting

down from 3 again. Then he called on individual students and asked the in Spanish How old are you?.

The student responded in Spanish saying that he was 14 years old. Then he called on another student

who answered also saying that he was 14 years old. Then he asked the same student How old is

Gavin? referring to the first student. He helped him formulate a response. Then he moved to another

student and followed the same pattern. He paused and wrote the word tambin on the board. One

student blurted and said it means also. The teacher modeled a way for students to respond to how old

other students are using the word also. The teacher closed the conversation and then asked the

students about issues they had on homework from the night before. They complete some homework

online and some students had issues getting on there, finding the right assignment or the assignment

wouldnt submit correctly. The teacher resolved those issues and then explained to them how to find the
 homework that would be due the next day. Its a short practice having to do with the possessive

adjectives. After clarifying homework questions, the teacher had 4 students go to the front of the room.

The teacher gave the students a verb and they had to write out the conjugation of the verb on the board.

The fastest student to get it correct won the race. Other students tried to help the ones at the board find

the right forms when they got stuck. This took them to the end of the period. Students were dismissed

and had to put away their textbooks while they walked out of the room. A couple of students stopped to

ask a question while they were on their way out of the room.

3. This is the same teacher that I used for my first observation. Again, I was impressed with his ability to

stay in the target language throughout most of the class even though it is a first year class. It was

obvious that there was a structure in place and that the students understood what the expectations were

when they were asked a question. They answered in complete sentences and when they struggled with

the structure, the teacher provided assistance or modeled as necessary. The teacher used very little

English in the lesson and when he did, it was necessary for their understanding. The lesson included a

large amount of comprehensible input and also allowed for several opportunities of creating language.

The students were asked clarifying questions after each slide which typically only required them to

repeat the information found on the screen. Later on, however, they had to write sentences describing

who certain people were from the presentation. At this point, they didnt have any information on the

screen to assist them but instead had to recall the information and format it correctly into a sentence.

They were also asked to create with language when they learned how to tell each other how old they are.

In addition, they worked on listening skills during this part of the activity. The teacher would ask one

student how old he or she was and then when he moved to the next student, they had to answer how old

the previous student was before the told the teacher their own age. The teacher provided models

throughout the instruction and the lesson included listening, reading, writing and speaking. The teacher

provided feedback in the target language and kept the lesson moving.
4. I met with this teacher after school the day of the observation. Last time we had visited about his

language learning so this time we focused on the lesson. He thought that this particular lesson went very

well and he was happy with the amount of the target language he used throughout the lesson. We talked

about the use of the powerpoint slides to talk about his family members. The slides incorporated

vocabulary they had been studying such as family members, descriptive adjectives and possessive

adjectives. He also included the verb tener which they had not used before. Instead of using an explicit

explanation of the verb, he incorporated it into the descriptions of his family members and let the

students discover the meaning through context clues. Through the descriptions and models of the verb,

the students were able to see that it was an irregular verb and then used it while talking about their ages

and the ages of other people. He said that the next day he would walk the students through all of the

forms of the verb, but with the presentation and the quick speaking practice after, they already could use

the singular forms of the new verb. He said he likes to let students discover grammar through input but

that he does use a combination of that discovery with explicit explanations. I really enjoyed the

presentation he used and want to make my own presentation to use when I get to this point in my

Spanish I classes in a couple of weeks. It is an easy way to include a lot of comprehensible input and

provides students the opportunity to create with language.