Subjects Matter - Teaching strategies

Chapter five presents the reader with various methods on teaching reading skills to students. I think it can be tempting in teaching to fall into a routine continuously implementing the same teaching methods. This is not only boring for a teacher, but it makes work become monotonous for students as well. Although for me the acquisition of the spanish language and a general understanding of culture are always the goal, Chapter Five provides many different strategies at achieving this. Although all are not necessarily functional in a foreign language class (especially a lower level course), they all bring up valuable points and suggestions which will hopefully prove useful.

STRATEGY I

The first lesson plan suggestion that stood out to me was the Anticipation Guide. Using this strategy students are asked to respond to a few open ended question prior to doing a class reading. They then discuss their responses in pairs, and then students discuss together as a class.

As a Spanish teacher I would have students initially write their thoughts in Spanish, and then speak in the language when sharing their thoughts with fellow classmates. This will allow for both written practice and also the opportunity to practice pronunciation, and explore new vocabulary.

Another aspect which I like about this lesson is that none of the questions given are suppose to have a correct response. They are to be open ended questions where students can have the opportunity to explore some of the higher level thinking skills desciribed I Bloom's Taxonomy of Knowledge. This may be a great opportunity to explore some more controversial issues such as illegal immigration, the genocide in Guatemala, Jugo Chavez's Presidency in Venezuela, or stereotypes about Spanish and Latin culture.

STRATEGY II

A second strategy that stood out to me was the written conversation. During this lesson students complete an activity (such as reading an article or watching a video), and then correspond with one another back and forth by writing brief notes to one another.

Although being able to speak a language is important so is being able to use proper spelling and accent marks when writing the language as well. When learning a language in an academic way, being able to both write and read are hugely important.

One thing that came to my mind is that this would give students to correct one another's work as they corresponded to one another in Spanish. This will help them recognize some commonly made errors that both they make and others students in the class make as well. One fault I see in examinations is that often students are not made to look at the errors they have made, and never learn what it is they are doing wrong. The exchange back and forth will allow students to see some of these mistakes.

I also like this strategy, because it encourages students to ask one another if they have questions or concerns. I once heard a teaching strategy where students were told if they had a question they had to ask three of their fellow classmates before approaching the teacher. Although I think it is important that students see their teacher as a resource, I think it is also great when they can see one another as a resource as well.

I think many students also may feel more comfortable raising questions to one other person. Sometimes I think students are worried about asking in front of the entire class for fear of looking "stupid". They may not be as hesitant to pose a question to a partner.

I also think that collecting these dialogues at the end of class will help me see some of the questions and concerns students had about the activity. It will be a way of assessing how much of the activity the students comprehended. More than anything I just think it is a novel way of conducting a class and students (as well as the teacher!) may be happy to have a change from the day to day routine.