I must remember that not all kids, nor teachers for that matter, are cut out for conversing in L2. Many have not learned the art of conversation in English yet. I can’t fault the kids. Teachers? That is another matter altogether. Their JOB is to converse in L2 with their kids. There was somebody who blogged here about a month ago that they didn’t do “that kind of teaching”. Then what the hell kind of teaching are you doing? Using English to teach Spanish? Hey, I have an physics teacher friend who is out of a job. Maybe he can get a job as an art teacher and just teach the kids physics instead. Like the Dakota Ridge teachers who told Lupe and me years ago that they don’t do what we do, rather, they teach “Academic Spanish”. Academic Spanish my ass. You are using English to teach Spanish. You are speaking ABOUT Spanish but you are not speaking Spanish. And, amazingly – is it your administration who allows this? – you haven’t been fired yet! But now that the new Colorado standards have been ratified (Dec. ’09) and they legislate your using the target language in the classroom, what are you going to do? You really can’t teach Academic Spanish anymore. You really can’t. You are going to have to actually speak Spanish in ways that your children can understand. That time you feared has arrived.
