Embedded Files
Collaboration
Collaboration
Students work on MCP units for only the middle 30-40 minutes of my 80-minute class - we start and end the class with 15-30 minutes of group learning - it is almost always fine with me if a student chooses to work independently for most of their self-paced time. However, collaboration is definitely encouraged and enabled in a few ways -
Audio Splitters: I have plenty of these available for students to use when working through the Instructional Video with a partner and/or on audio Practice activities.
Practice: Each of the 9 activities on my Practice Choice Board indicates whether the activity can be done independently or with a partner or both ways. For activities that can be done with a partner, I further indicate whether this can be collaborative or competitive or both.
Note about competition: This option has proven to be an effective way to get students to repeat a quick practice activity they already did independently. For example, two students might pull up the Lock-Breaker practice simultaneously on their own Chromebooks, say “Uno, Dos, Tres, Vámonos!”, and then race to open all the locks!
Mastery Check Revision: I frequently pair a student who was successful on the Mastery Check to re-work through it with a student who will reassess with another version.
Synthesis Games: One motivator for my students to stay engaged with the self-paced work is knowing that we frequently come back together to play a collaborative game based on the content of these lessons! In the picture, small groups are working to read/annotate a 1st-person narrative based on a text they have read and practiced with independently. They will then answer questions as part of playing a game they love - “¡Arriba, Abajo!” (this is why there are cups all over the floor).
Teacher Time
Teacher Time
I teach on a block schedule and meet with my Spanish classes for 80 minutes every other day. In general, my full class structure looks like this:
Whole-Class Opening: Culture-building in the target language (10-15 minutes)
Self-Paced Time: Most activities require Chromebooks, content is at or slightly below current level (30-35 minutes)
Whole-Class Time: Teacher-paced, instruction/practice rarely requires Chromebooks, content is slightly above current level (30-40 minutes)
One-on-one instruction: The first column on my Progress Tracker is "Meet w/ Profe." This is where I track meeting with students 1-on-1 (rare) and/or in small groups of 2-4 (daily). In general, I strive to ensure I meet with every student in this way at least 1x every 2 weeks (which is 5 classes on my block schedule). I want to make sure I’m equitable with my time and that I meet as frequently with students who are currently high-performing as I do with students who are currently struggling. When I meet with a student 1-on-1, it is usually someone I have identified as needing support with work habits - how to choose appropriate practice activities and how to engage with these activities in a way that maximizes learning.
Small group instruction: During a 30-40 minute work block, I will meet with two pre-identified groups of two to four students for 5-10 minutes each. After that, I meet with individuals or other groups based on what I see in real-time.
When I pre-identify groups, I generally use homogeneous grouping. I might work with a small group that has high comprehension of the text on output-based activities to develop their speaking and writing skills. I might prioritize a comprehension activity with a group that is still working on mastery of the target language.
In the picture to the left, I’m working at a large whiteboard with a trio that has high comprehension of text and is now working to retell the story from a different perspective. The rest of the class knows that when I’m wearing my “Gorro” (this is a specific hat - it’s kind of an inside joke), they should not interrupt unless there is an emergency. If a question arises, they ask 2 peers and then put their name on the “¡Socorro!” (Help!) area of my front chalkboard.
Whole group instruction: I use whole-group instruction daily for 15-30 minutes at the start and end of each class; my self-pacing fit in the middle 30-40 minutes of each class. This class structure meshes well with brain research on how we acquire languages - learners need TONS of input from a proficient speaker and/or an on-level text.
Exactly what we do in the whole-group instruction changes throughout the year, but the core elements are generally highly collaborative experiences where we stay in the target language 90%+ of the time. The whole-group portions of class rarely feature technology and often feature a ton of physical movement. Through some experimentation, I have found this back-and-forth to fit my style and energy, my content, and the developmental needs of my students.
Teacher Tips
Teacher Tips
In the past year or so, I’ve become obsessed with learning about self-determination theory, which posits that the three psychological needs underpinning human growth and development are autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In my self-paced units, I focus on autonomy by providing students with tons of choices, particularly on my Practice Choice Board. The struggle here is that it takes time to develop a variety of practice options, so I’m always on the lookout for technology that lets me easily and quickly develop practice using my baseline text. Here are a few of my current favorites:
Flippity offers a bunch of free templates that I use for practice activities. For this lesson, I used Flippity Scavenger Hunt, Flippity Quiz Show, and Flippity Matching. For other lessons, I also frequently use Flippity Game Show and Flippity Manipulatives.
Textivate is the one teacher tool I pay for out-of-pocket, and I truly feel it is a game-changer in the World Language/Language Acquisition setting. Don’t be fooled by its low-tech look! My students consistently rank Textivate #1 out of the tech-based practice choices I offer! Feel free to try your hand at the Textivate Challenge that is part of this unit - just put your initials or a fake name on the scoreboard and take a look.
Blooket is a tool lots of teachers love for whole-class game-based practice. I also love the independent homework option - but I don’t assign it as homework. Instead, I include it on my Practice Choice Board. This lesson doesn’t feature a Blooket option but check out this one from a different lesson.
Page updated
Report abuse