What do you cut out?

Having new curriculum and then some.

At the last GMWP meeting, I felt the good vibes of reflection. “How’s it going?” Jen Doucette asked us.

How is it going? Well . . . I think. I think, well, but can I say it is too early to know? My classes have met 15 class periods as of now. I only know this because one student has told me that he was absent 5 of them. Geesh! We had open house, we had our first round of progress reports and parent teacher conferences, but that always comes way too early. With 130 students, having both Spanish and English names in my class, it can be somewhat of a guessing name game when mom walks into conferences to inquire about how Lindsay is doing and I have to pause for a minute to translate to my Spanish classroom — “Oh Lupita!”

So how is it going? . . . well . . . I think. I have incorporated new ideas into my classroom. New methods, new approaches, new norms, new terminology. New, a lot of NEW. So what to do with the old? I started out the first unit trying to only glance at my old plans, phew, that was tough, to start all over. I don’t really want to start ALL over. I don’t feel that what I have been doing for the last few years was bad. It just needs to be updated, a breath of fresh air, a new perspective. So, I have tried to do just that. I have pulled out old lessons and stolen back the parts that worked well. I have integrated the new. This happens each year, right? But then I suddenly felt like a deer in headlights. What? We have already had 15 classes???? Usually I am rounding the corner to finish the second unit pretty soon. Are they ready? Am I ready? How am I going to keep up with the new and the old. The big question is, what do I cut out? What do I cut out?”

How do I approach this idea? How do I decide what to cut out? First, I need to peek at what I have added. . .

• 5 minutes or reading in the target language followed by 5 minutes of reflection every day
• 3–5 minutes of write outs, I would love for these to be everyday. I have the prompts. I need the time! Again — what do I cut out?
• Student created vocabulary lists, these take 30 minutes to an hour every unit.
• Teaching through means of communication. Steering students to learn through reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Then I take a look at my blog post ideas acquired during the GMWP institute. .

• Multiple forms of peer revision
• Write in the voice of . . .
• Student created checklists
• Sharing mistakes
• Limiting the audience
• Teacher/Student conferences
• Reflections
• Tokens
• Community

The list doesn’t stop there.

Between my new list and my “wouldn’t that be awesome” list, phew, I have compiled quite the long list. So what do I cut out?

• Games that they beg for but maybe are not as crucial to their learning as their enjoyment? But you need enjoyment. So maybe alter these.
• Note taking — many notes are a review that they already have in their folders from Spanish 3. Do I really need to reread them? Yes. So finding a shorter more precise way to review.
• Spoken walk-around activities that require quite a bit of transition time? We definitely need to move around. Heck before the school year started, I was even envisioning walking outside to work. What happened to that plan?

It goes on and on. So, here is my quest. Find the fitting place, appropriate zone, most opportune conditions for my students to learn and grow. A place where I can incorporate the new with the old. A place where students have gained the necessary skill to effectively communicate. I leave this blog with the same question. What do I cut? TBD.