This is what I have so far, to be made into posters for use in German, Spanish and French classrooms. Comments/upgrades welcome. It is the combined comments of Judy, Bryce and Grant plus my rules and I request permission from you three to put it under copyright it for use here and not get sent all over the internet by someone. Not that anyone would do that bc most people don’t even care or know about learning targets and assessments attached to the Three Modes and habits of learning. Here is what the posters look like. You will find them soon online here except no longer on the public side, but rather here on the blog side. They will be labeled simply “Rules 2012″.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE LEARNING WHEN…
Language classes don’t seem like other classes. To really learn a language, you have to feel it and not think about it so much. So, the students who succeed in Spanish will be the ones who don’t feel like they are learning, but who feel like they understand. Therefore:
– You will know you are learning when you understand the conversation or the reading.
– You will know you are learning when you notice that you can write more in Spanish than you could before.
– You will know you are succeeding when it all starts to look like a movie in your mind.
– You will know you are succeeding when you forget that it is even a foreign language.
– You will know you are succeeding when you start speaking Spanish without thinking too much or worrying about mistakes.
At the end of every class, remind your teacher to make time so that everyone can talk about how they did. Just read the checklist below with your teacher and discuss how you did. When you can talk to your teacher about how you did and make a few comments, your teacher will know that you are trying and your grade will go up. Even if you don’t want to talk about how you did, you will notice that your grade is an A or B anyway, because you can understand. It may take you a little while before you master this checklist, but keep trying – it will be worth it!
STUDENT CHECKLIST
Students who get high grades in this class say:
• I listen to comprehend.
• I read to comprehend.
• I sit up with squared shoulders and clear eyes.
• I respond to questions using short answers.
• I use the stop sign when I don’t understand.
• I do my 50%.
• I don’t talk over.
• My acting is like a mirror to my teacher’s words.
• I stay focused on the message.
TEACHER CHECKLIST
• I stay in the target language 95% of the time.
• I stay in bounds.
• I remember to get us reading 50% of the time.
• I circle slower than I think I can.
• I remember my PQA counters.
• I engage everyone.
• I remember the three tasks for stories.
• I remember to discuss how we did at the end of class.
[credit: Grant Boulanger, Spanish teacher, Skyview Middle School, Minneapolis, MN; Jody Noble, Spanish teacher, San Francisco Day School, San Francisco, CA; Bryce Hedstrom, AP Spanish teacher, Roosevelt High School, Johnstown, CO; Ben Slavic, French teacher, Abraham Lincoln High School, Denver, CO]