Lessons Learned Teaching Spanish under COVID19
Years ago when I learned about Second Language Acquisition, comprehensible input, and communicative driven instruction, I spent countless hours in front of my computer trying to find the perfect lesson plan for my classes. After one year of going to bed at midnight or even later, I sat down and wrote a framework. I´m so thankful for these pillars and framework that help me stay intentional while teaching Spanish under COVID19 in 2020.
I wouldn´t have been able to write my pillars or framework unless I had a lot of clarity about what comprehensible input is and isn´t. I believe that clarity empowered me to make decisions in my class. That´s why I created this free CI Video Series. There are 4 short videos explaining what comprehensible input is and isn´t, and how to incorporate it in our classrooms. You can sign up for this series here and receive all the videos in your inbox.
How my pillars and framework helped me stay intentional in 2020?
Teaching Spanish in 2020 with COVID19 has been a true challenge. However, this framework and pillars help me stay focus and keep what´s important at the very heart of my lesson plans. My pillars are the 3 Cs: community, comprehension, and communication. When I develop or adjust a lesson plan for my virtual or my F2F classes, I want to foster a strong community, to stay comprehensible at all times, and to encourage and support authentic communication.
If you want to check out this framework, you can subscribe below and you´ll receive it in your inbox.
I was doing a pretty good job for the last three years, and then COVID 19 came. During this first semester of 2020, I had to teach Spanish to more than 160 students, with 3 preps, and 3 different formats: F2F with dividers and masks, 100% virtual, and hybrid with half of my class F2F and half of my class at home. My classes are 90 minutes long and I have to teach live for the entire period.
When I saw this back in August, I cried. Who could I teach Spanish and follow my 3 pillars while facing COVID19? I thought it was impossible. This semester was the most challenging one in my career. But after the first shock, I lean on my pillars and my framework to make it happen. After one entire semester, I’m proud to say that we did it. It was far from perfect, but there were some good things.
The survey:
During the last week of school, I surveyed more than 50% of my students, and these are the results. I already shared with my FB community my results and reflections, so if you want to watch this live session, just click here to join the community and you can watch. If you rather read my conclusions, just continue here.
I learned the importance of surveying your students from La Maestra Loca here. Since then, I have done the same thing. Click here to get a copy of my survey.
Staying true to my pillars was one of my priorities this semester. So let’s see how it went.
My First C: Building a Strong Community
My first C is community. Building a strong and caring community in my class is essential and the foundation of my classes. In the end, language is about relationships and communication. My first weeks of school are all devoted to building a strong foundation for that community. If you want to learn more about how I start my year, click here to watch a training session with my friend Bertha Delgadillo about this topic.
So, were we able to build a community despite the barriers? The answer is YES. Check out the answers to my questions about connections, and community. It makes me so happy and inspires me to continue working on this aspect. Almost 100% of my students think a truly care about their learning. That is trust! Also, more than 98% of my students feel we have a positive culture in the class. Those results are incredible.
How do I build a community? I use comprehensible input-driven activities like calendar talk, and the star student interview for that purpose on a regular basis. Check out my previous posts for more details about that. If you need more ideas, check out my pillars and framework too.
Okay, so pretty good for my first pillar.
My Second C: Staying Comprehensible
My second pillar is comprehension. The input that my students receive must be comprehensible. Otherwise, it’s just noise and it does not lead to acquisition. This pillar was the most affected by the different formats. This was and is my biggest challenge. Let’s unpack the results.
First, the use of the target language in class was lower than in the past. It was around 80% average. However, I’m okay with that because having so many physical barriers forced me to use English to establish meaning. What worries me the most, is how comprehensible that target language was. According to the survey, at least 20% of my students only understood 70 to 75% of the class. That means that 25% of the TL was just noise for them.
Ouch! That’s the hard one to digest even when my students said that the main reason was the physical barriers like internet issues, software issues, masks, and dividers, or distractions at home. Regardless of the reason, I think I can make some changes to make my class more comprehensible. How? Probably it will be a mix of pre-recorded videos, more visual instructions, more chunking, shorter lessons, and additional students’ jobs. You can know more about specific strategies and activities I will be incorporating into my classes in my live session inside my FB community during January. Click here to join.
My Third C: Fostering Communication
My last C is communication. As a language class, fostering authentic communication is paramount. Even though I did not include a specific question about communication in my survey, my students were very engaged and communicative in the classes. They did the best in low anxiety activities like calendar talk, weekend talk, and PQAs. Also using tools like Padlet, a note catcher, surveys, polls, and Jamboards helped us visualize and motivate their participation. We also did a Socratic seminar this semester and it was the favorite activity of my upper-level students, so I’m planning to do more.
For 2021, I will focus on comprehension. I will continue working on community and communication. I’m planning to add more opportunities for my students to engage with the language using activities like free writes, and a “tertulias con café”. Again, if you want to know more about these activities join my FB Community. January will be packed with great PD sessions to start 2021 strong.
Even if you did not survey your students this year, you can use similar questions to help you reflect on what worked this past year and what has to be adjusted for next year. I have been doing this for two years, and it helps me a lot to grow. Also, if you’re looking for a framework and pillars that help you consolidate your ideas and structure your lesson planning for a comprehensible input-driven class, check out my framework here. It’s all yours.
