1. Immersion: This whole trip, I have been immersed in the Costa Rican culture. Staying with two host families, I learned a lot about the "Tico" way of life and how Spanish plays a part in that culture. When I am teaching, my students will obviously be immersed in the English language in my classroom. I hope to provide many other opportunities for them to engage in learning and practicing English, such as school events and promoting joining clubs or sports teams. On the other side of the spectrum, however, my classroom will not be overwhelming immersion, as I discussed in a previous blog post.
2. Engagement: Students need to have a need to know the content. During this trip, I have had a personal goal of being able to have a conversation with my Spanish-speaking friends that has given me motivation to learn. Every lesson that I prepare for my students needs to have an "engage" phase to get students excited to learn and provide a "need-to-know."
3. Demonstration: Modeling is the best way to help students understand, especially when it involves directions for completing an assignment. Read more about this idea in my blog post about San Luis Primary School.
4. Risk: The most important thing in this category is creating an environment where failure is acceptable. In my class, I plan to use a lot of community builder activities to help the students feel comfortable with one another. This also involves building a relationship with the teacher.
5. Expectations: I have had great teachers at CPI helping me learn Spanish. Because I knew they believed in me, I tried harder in class and on the homework. If I had thought that they didn't believe in me, I think I would have given up as well. It is important to never give up on any student.
6. Feedback: My Spanish teacher the first week was great at giving appropriate feedback. She had the general "good job" that I received when she graded my homework. But more importantly, she knew when to correct us and how to do it. The feedback was almost always positive (ex. "that's really close") and helped us get to the correct answer (ex. "should you conjugate that with an 'a' or 'o'?"). When I teach, my feedback needs to be specific and helpful.
7. Use of Learning: The thing that has made the learning stick the most has been speaking with my host family. I have taken the words and phrases that I've learned in Spanish class and applied them to a new situation. I have made the learning mine and it has made those words and phrases embedded in my mind more than any more hours spent in a classroom could. When I teach, I need to have many opportunities for students to apply what they have learned in a way that is connected to the real world outside of school.