Independent learning

There is a debate at a college level whether Independent learning should be included in the first year curriculum, considering it as one of the secrets to success in tertiary education (Rachael Field, James Duffy & Anna Huggins, 2014).  

According to Zimmerman (1986, p. 308), when students are able to self-regulate their learning, they: 

• have an understanding of their own approach to learning and how best to maximize their learning in the most efficient ways
• are motivated to take responsibility for their learning 
• are able to work with others to enhance the depth and breadth of their learning

I personally think that is a skill that should be learned at a secondary level as well. And for doing this, we have to adapt the idea and the resources to our learners. This presentation is my adaptation, a simple way of introducing our learners to their independence in our Spanish class.

If you put this into practice in your class, please contact me and let me know how it went.

There are more ways of motivating our students to be more independent, if you are interested in this approach, check these posts below:

• Developing strategic competence through portfolios: a language biography
• Flexible Homework
• Mr Luna is absent

Sources:

• Independent Learning Skills, Self-Determination Theory and Psychological Well-being: Strategies for Supporting the First Year University Experience [pdf]
• Independent learning: a literature review and a new project [pdf]

Lunaprofe 10/08/2018  No comment

How to assess your students oral skills

Hi there,

We're back from our summer vacation, well rested and batteries charged, ready to start a new fresh school year ;)

It is always great to start over again thinking a little bit about what we do and why do we do this and that in our classes. Reflection is the key to keep growing.

During my beginnings I remember assessing oral skills one of my big struggles, too much going on at a time, intonation, pronunciation, grammar structures, interaction... that's why I read a lot about this specific topic to improve my way of assessing my students on their oral skills. There are million ways of doing this and every single one has a particular purpose and has to be contextualized to be valid.

I found this invaluable text online, and I mean it, because this changed my perspective on language acquisition strategies. The whole point of this text being so valuable is that you can find a million strategies to scaffold your students. Give it a try!

I summarize what I found the most important to include in a rubric for assessing oral skills in this visual that I attach to this post. 

As always if you have any questions, suggestions... contact me, I am usually looking forward to answer your emails. 


Want to know more?

• Mª Ángeles Mayor (1994): La evolución del lenguaje. Available online 

Lunaprofe 8/31/2015  No comment

Expressions in Spanish: Ser un pez gordo

To learn idiomatic expressions in the target language is essential because native speakers do use them all the time. 
Expressions are used in formal and informal speech. 
A language learner that is using expressions transmits certain information about him/her that is implied. Students communicating effectively with expressions show a deeper understanding of the language and also of the target culture.
For showing our proficiency in a language. Once you have mastered a certain number of expressions and include them in your interactions you are ready to go beyond the language borders.

Check your answers ;)

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

Aristotle

Lunaprofe 10/14/2014  No comment

Language through content: Geography

This is a trend we must consider when teaching/learning languages. Go a little bit further and offer something else than just the language. You'll get impress by your students response(if they like the topic chosen).
This is one of the sequences we do in class:

1. Try a website focused in a particular area of knowledge (in my case Geography)
2. Related vocabulary (Geography) + Locations (Ser/Estar) 
3. Useful patterns: questions 
• ¿Dónde está____?
• ¿En qué continente está _____(país o capital/ciudad)____?
• ¿Cuál es la capital de ____(país)____?
4. Help them understand how do you use a question to build up your answer:
• ¿Cuál es la capital de Chile?
• La capital de Chile es Santiago de Chile.
5. Work with them the cardinal points:
• Sur
• Norte
• Este
• Oeste
6. This is an excellent opportunity to learn and practice the seasons:
• Invierno
• Verano
• Primavera
• Otoño
7.  Help them understand we have different ways of naming geographical positions and explore with them the origin of these words helping them understand the roots of the language and some reasons/logic of the Spanish language:
• Oriente
• Occidente
• Meridional
• Septentrional
8. On a cultural note, I bring up some shocking topics:
•  How many continents are out there? Explore with them this concept in English and Spanish and the origin and the consequences of it. Talk about the different approaches: geographical or cultural. I also make a connection with the notion of being open minded.
• Help them understand the logo of ANOC and reason the causes.
• Names of capitals: do we translate them or not? all? why?

Further reading:

• http://www.juegos-geograficos.com
• Image's source 

Lunaprofe 10/08/2014  No comment

Learning through Apps: Hello Talk

Apps, apps and more apps. That's the way this tiny world works! Thanks to my wonderful student Valentina for introducing me to this app! 
But this app, although they should keep developing it to improve on a few things, is bringing up a great idea to the table: personalized language exchanges through our phones. 
Basically, you sign up, you fill out which your native language is and which languages you are interested in and start your learning experience.
Immersion is a very effective way of learning languages. Today is way easier to travel to the target country and give yourself a first-hand experience to push your language learning ability, but at the same time we live in an over-connected world, thanks to Internet, so we should consider to get into virtual immersion. Advantages: cheaper, convenient, it builds your social sense of exchange things with others...
Hello Talk is a great opportunity to have a native speaker on the other side of the phone. 
The app will count the exchange time automatically, so you do not have to worry about fairness and accountability ;)
The app allows you to write a 500 characters text.

Keep it simple: 5 minutes in your native language, 5 minutes in the language you are learning and vary your friends to have a wider picture of the variety of the language you are studying.
As every on-line tool it also has disadvantages. This one is a kind of social network, so always be careful with the type of information you give to your co-learner. 
A good advice for this would be: think like you'd be in the real world. Don't give anybody any information you wouldn't give to anybody in your real life.

Get Hello Talk here!

Sources:

• http://www.hellotalk.com/

I never teach my pupils.

I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.

Albert Einstein

Lunaprofe 9/29/2014  2 comments

IB Profile in Spanish

Hi friends!

How many times were you surfing the net searching the IB Profile in Spanish? I can count a few on my side...
Simple, just plain text to use it to create/edit your own documents for your class ;)

Learn the IB Profile in Spanish here with Quizlet


El objetivo fundamental de los programas de la Organización del Bachillerato Internacional (IBO) es formar personas con mentalidad internacional que, conscientes de la condición que los une como seres humanos y de la responsabilidad que comparten de velar por el planeta, contribuyan a crear un mundo mejor y más pacífico.

Los miembros de la comunidad de aprendizaje del BI se esfuerzan por ser:

Indagadores:
Desarrollan su curiosidad natural. Adquieren las habilidades necesarias para indagar y realizar investigaciones, y demuestran autonomía en su aprendizaje. Disfrutan aprendiendo y mantendrán estas ansias de aprender durante el resto de su vida.
Informados e instruidos: 
Exploran conceptos, ideas y cuestiones de importancia local y mundial y, al hacerlo, adquieren conocimientos y profundizan su comprensión de una amplia y equilibrada gama de disciplinas.
Pensadores:
Aplican, por propia iniciativa, sus habilidades intelectuales de manera crítica y creativa para reconocer y abordar problemas complejos, y para tomar decisiones razonadas y éticas.
Buenos comunicadores: 
Comprenden y expresan ideas e información con confianza y creatividad en diversas lenguas, lenguajes y formas de comunicación. Están bien dispuestos a colaborar con otros y lo hacen de forma eficaz.
Íntegros: 
Actúan con integridad y honradez, poseen un profundo sentido de la equidad, la justicia y el respeto por la dignidad de las personas, los grupos y las comunidades.
Asumen la responsabilidad de sus propios actos y las consecuencias derivadas de ellos.
De mentalidad abierta: 
Entienden y aprecian su propia cultura e historia personal, y están abiertos a las perspectivas, valores y tradiciones de otras personas y comunidades. Están habituados a buscar y considerar distintos puntos de vista y dispuestos a aprender de la experiencia.
Solidarios: 
Muestran empatía, sensibilidad y respeto por las necesidades y sentimientos de los demás. Se comprometen personalmente a ayudar a los demás y actúan con el propósito de influir positivamente en la vida de las personas y el medio ambiente.
Audaces: 
Abordan situaciones desconocidas e inciertas con sensatez y determinación y su espíritu independiente les permite explorar nuevos roles, ideas y estrategias. Defienden aquello en lo que creen con elocuencia y valor.
Equilibrados: 
Entienden la importancia del equilibrio físico, mental y emocional para lograr el bienestar personal propio y el de los demás.
Reflexivos: 
Evalúan detenidamente su propio aprendizaje y experiencias. Son capaces de reconocer y comprender sus cualidades y limitaciones para, de este modo, contribuir a su aprendizaje y desarrollo personal.

A smile is the light in your window that tells others 

that there is a caring, sharing person inside.

Denis Waitley

You might be interested in this post  about IBLP activities as well. Don't be shy and contribute!
Related links:
- El perfil de la comunidad de aprendizaje [IBO]
- Póster del perfil en español [IBO]

Lunaprofe 9/25/2014  No comment

Useful Spanish phrases

It's always hard to start a conversation, to reply to a question... That's why we all should work on this prompts with our students in Spanish. 
They are basically chunks of language, but very transportable chunks, very movable. 
They can fit in a lot of contexts and there it is where resides their power.
Many of my students told me they just go blank at the beginning of a conversation. Once they have started everything goes smoother but sometimes it's really hard to get the ball rolling. This might be a great tool to use in this type of situations.
   

Siempre me han interesado los asuntos que tengan que ver con____ Este tema empezó a interesarme después de que lo estudiáramos en clase___ Tal vez / quizás___ La primera vez que me enteré de esto fue cuando____ Me sorprendió mucho que fuera un problema tan grave en _(país)__ Nunca hubiera imaginado que fuera así____ El gobierno debería hacer algo____ Es imprescindible que el gobierno haga algo___ Hay que concienciar/concientizar a los jóvenes de los riesgos___ Lleva mucho tiempo así / Es así desde hace mucho tiempo___ Durante la dictadura de Franco / durante el franquismo___ Hoy en día___ He estado siguiendo esta historia en las noticias___ En la actualidad___ Estoy harta de ver y escuchar esta historia todos los días____ Creo que los medios están generando pánico___ Lo que no entiendo es____ Estoy convencid@ de que____ Creo que / pienso que___ Sin lugar a dudas___ En mi opinión___ Me parece que____ Considero que ____ Estoy seguro de que___ Me da la impresión de que____ Lo que más me interesa de esta película es la manera en que retrata___ Para mi___ Desde mi punto de vista____ Siempre me han interesado los asuntos relacionados con ____ Parece ser que _____

If you know more useful Spanish phrases, please, leave a comment and let us know! We'll include it on this list. Two heads think better than one ;)

I am not a teacher, but an awakener.

Robert Frost

Lunaprofe 9/22/2014  5 comments

Stop and think: José Martí (thinker)

Introduce the language and the cultural component through writers, philosophers... from the Spanish-speaking world.
If you are teaching an IB course a good idea could be to identify the IBLP in characters in books.

Do you want to know more?

• José Martí [Wikipedia in Spanish]
• La página de José Martí
• Poemas de José Martí
• José Martí [UNESCO]

Lunaprofe 9/12/2014  No comment

Oral communication: thoughts before choosing a topic for a presentation

Hi folks! 

We are here today to share some thoughts about what to do and what not to do when choosing a topic for an oral presentation:

This is a collaborative document! If you have any ideas/suggestions to incorporate to it, please, leave a comment! Thanks a million!

To have this type of conversations and/or analysis with our students is really important. They really want to be an active part of their education and they want to know what to do and what not to and why.

Definitely, to get our students involved in these conversations help them engage in the class. They kind of change their perspective on your class becoming ours/theirs.

Do:

Don't:

ü  Consider a topic that really interests you (yes, YOU!) and goes well with your personality/identity This is a crucial point, we are all different and we all have different interests, so something that works for your best friend doesn't have to work for you. ü  Think of a theme that enables you to learn about an aspect of the target language or culture (our case, Spanish) For example: not all topics will enable you to learn a lot about every language or culture. It will depend on the target language/culture.  ü  Choose an open-ended topic that encourages you to express lots of opinions This will let you raise additional questions and info. ü  Take into consideration a topic that offers the potential for complex thoughts Higher-order thinking is a high value. ü  When making your choice consider a topic you'll be able to research quite easily So you can focus on important transferable ideas & language skills. ü  Begin with a stimulus (a song, a picture, a painting...) as this helps you stay on track ü  Place the stimulus within a social/cultural/historical/political/artistic context It will help you understand (and others) the topic deeply. ü  Brainstorm your first ideas and limit the range of your research ü  Set down some questions about your presentation and try to answer them  This will help you to anticipate some questions you might have during your Q/A session. ü  Practice with your friends, family, neighbors… (better if you can practice with a native)  But PRACTICE don't bombard them 24 hours a day ;) ü  Choose a topic is easy for you to break it down in different pieces. Make an outline of each one and practice separately. Finally, put all your pieces together.

Ø  Be too ambitious (if you choose something you know nothing about, you may end up wasting a lot of time). You want to be challenged but not over challenged Ø  Pick something too difficult, we don't want anxiety and/or stress! Again, give yourself a break, we are working on developing your language skills. Ø  Select clichés or stereotypical topics like bull fighting or flamenco, unless you have something quite original to say. It might be quite uninteresting for your audience Ø  Choose something so unknown you can't find any information about it You want something you don’t have to make a huge effort to find information about. Ø  Relate/Narrate someone's biography It sounds like rehearsed and it's definitely boring. If you want to score highly you might want to take your audience into consideration Ø  Do all your research in a different language (English?) and then just translate it all (it won't sound authentic) It won't sound natural. Remember the importance of thinking in sentences and ideas. Ø  Use Google Translator  It won't sound authentic and you will get lucky if your presentation makes sense. Give yourself a chance, you might know more than Google! Ø  Leave it to the last minute!!! Unless your goal is to have a zero to show yourself you can also handle really low scores ;) Source: IB Spanish B SL/HL  OSC IB Revision Guide

Lunaprofe 9/08/2014  2 comments

20 potential questions you can get in a Reading Comprehension task

Practice makes perfect!

You need to have solid language skills (of course!) but at the same time you need to make sure you understand and practice the type of questions you will have to answer in a Reading Comprehension test if you want to score highly.
This is a summary of some of the more typical questions you can find in a Reading Comprehension test.
When taking this type of assessment you also need to know what it is expected from you: in this case we are testing your ability to comprehend/understand what you are reading and not your writing skills. This justify that some teachers don't pay much attention to your grammar, sentence structures... when grading this type of papers. But remember: don't relax and try your best!

	Español	Inglés
1	Basándose en el sentido general del texto, elija la opción correcta	Basing your answers on the general meaning of the text, choose the most appropriate option
2	Busque  la palabra del texto que significa (sinónimos, antónimos y/o definiciones)	Find the Word which means (synonyms, antonyms and/or definitions)
3	Clasifique las respuestas según se refieran a X o Y	Classify the answers according to whether they refer to X or Y
4	Complete el cuadro	Complete the table
5	CUIDADO: Hay más frases de las necesarias	WATCH OUT: you won’t need all the sentences
6	Debe dar  tres palabras/razones para obtener un punto	You need to provide three words/reasons to gain one mark
7	Conteste a las preguntas siguientes, indicando si son Verdaderas o Falsas, incluyendo la justificación	Answer the following questions indicating whether they are True or False, with justification
8	Escriba las palabras que justifican su respuesta	Write the words which justify your answer
9	Faltan algunas palabras	There are some words missing
10	Resuma uno o varios párrafos en oraciones	Summary sentences with different paragraphs of the text
11	Relacione las dos mitades de una oración	Match up two halves of a sentence
12	Indique en cada grupo cuál es la palabra con un significado distinto al de las otras	Indicate which word from each group has a different meaning
13	Indique las frases que mejor corresponden a lo que ocurre al final de la historia	Indicate the sentences which best describe what happens at the end of the story
14	Ser consciente de los elementos cohesivos/conectores que dan coherencia a un texto	Be aware of the cohesive devices that give a coherence to a text
15	Escriba la letra correspondiente en las Casillas	Enter the appropriate letter into the boxes
16	Relacione los espacios numerados con una de las palabras de la siguiente lista	Match up the numbered spaces with one of the words from the following list
17	Relacione a una persona con una afirmación	Match up a person with a  statement
18	Seleccione las frases apropiadas de entre las que vienen a continuación	Select the appropriate sentences from the ones below
19	Preguntas de respuesta corta	Short-answer questions
20	Relacione ideas o secuencias con imágenes	Match up ideas or sequences with pictures

Champions keep playing until they get it right.

Billie Jean King

Lunaprofe 8/29/2014  6 comments

Personal reflections: new reality, new teaching

The power of an idea is unquestionable. Plato was right when he said ideas rule the world. Ideas also change the world. And this is the tool we want to provide our students with, because we want them to be able to solve new problems in the near future. New problems require new solutions and critical-thinking skills.
We want them to develop problem-solving skills and for that we are not helping if we are giving them everything already done.
In my beginning years as a teacher I clearly understood that I have the responsibility not to do anything that can be done by my students. If I do something they can do by themselves [like accessing information] I am stealing that precious moment of the discovery or just simply I am making their life too comfortable, too easy, or I am stealing the possibility of even practicing something.
The old paradigm in which the teacher present the "knowledge" / "information" and students study it and reproduce showing it through an exam is no longer valid. Our real world nowadays doesn't work that way. Education needs to be the driving force for shaping our future. Therefore, we need to update our strategies to our new reality.
A language class has a huge potential to introduce these new ideas to our students. A language class can be much more than just a snap course.

Let's put this into practice:
In my class I have built-in in my schedule a weekly time for "independent learning":
I provide my students with learning tools and I give them time to "play & learn". Let's take a look to a possible sequence:
1.- The teacher presents the "tool" (can be an app, a website, a manipulative, a worksheet, a game...)
2.- The teacher use the tool, showing to his/her students how does it work, what it is for, the benefits, the type of learning associated...
3.- The teacher and the students use the tool together.
4.- The students are independent to use the tool by themselves. The teacher just need to supervise them or check their progress later on.

This sequence is based on a wonderful one I learnt from my wonderful friend Marisa, thanks!

I encourage my students to present "tools" they like to me, and if I consider it appropriate, then we share it with the class. (This is really powerful, to let and encourage them to really take ownership of their learning, to do what they really want).

With this simple activity we are saying to our students: 
- You can do it independently
- you can learn by your own
- you can make it happen, you are capable to do whatever you want if you take the necessary steps (which depends on multiple factors: personality, type of learner...)

We are providing them with the idea that:
- THEY can learn by themselves (they will need to understand this perfectly to step into the outside world)
- learning is not a passive thing. A teacher just throwing content in their heads does not work anymore.
- to learn can be funny and can be done in many different ways.
- THEY can learn all subjects with different approaches and strategies.
- learning is not an isolated thing that occurs separately in each subject, they can transfer strategies to one subject to another.

Potential activities are endless. I'll try to post more strategies and activities with their sequences based on ideas more than just in rules, but the idea that underlies all this post is deeper and wider; it refers more to a change in our approach of teaching assuming we are entering into a new era and new realities need new ideas and solutions.
Further reading:

• The two-way language bridge [Melinda Martin-Beltrán] 

This is an interesting research on how students transfer knowledge between languages and how they benefit from that.

Image source: http://arte-actual.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

Lunaprofe 5/23/2014  No comment