This saying, which I coined during one of my reflective periods in the fall of 2000 as I was listening to all the political candidates discussing the state of schools in America, reflects my philosophy and the ways I teach.  (I don't know if it's original or not, but it just came to me one day.)  Generally, I believe that good teachers provide the opportunity for students to learn- through creative lessons and direction.  Students that participate in lessons fully and make a conscious effort to learn usually do succeed.  But, as they say, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."  There are students who do not participate and do not do the work, and therefore do not succeed.  As a teacher I provide an opportunity for students to learn Spanish- at the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels.  I hope and expect that students will try to take advantage of this opportunity, for whatever reasons they see as appropriate- to get good grades, to prepare for travel or a profession, or to prepare for college.  For whatever reason a person chooses to learn, I believe learning enriches the soul as well as the brain.

No, I did not make this one up, but it certainly fits.  I would even venture to say that you could substitute any subject for "languages" and be correct.  My classes are designed around this belief.  I do not "teach" a great deal of material.  I present some material- in any number of ways- and have students use it.  Most of my classes revolve around activities (Click on the link to read about the types of activities we do in class.), projects and sharing.  I try to create activities that get students to use the language in a variety of ways- speaking, listening, reading and writing.  I also try to make the activities involve movement and interaction as much as possible.  Projects are usually personal and relate to a specific topic or structure.  Presentation, or sharing, of the projects is an important part of the cycle, which I will explain momentarily, and may take place in a number of ways.  My favorite form of presentation is to create a "fair" in which students present for half the time (to individual students that visit to observe), and observe the other half.  (I believe individual oral presentations, unless they are meant to be informative, tend to take up a great deal of time and allow for the student to present only one time as opposed to several times as in a "fair".)

What is the "cycle" and why use it?

I recently took a class on many ways of thinking and learning, and one of the subjects we studied was Bernice McCarthy's 4-MAT method of instruction.  As I studied this, I realized that what I had been doing was very close to this, but I was missing a few key parts.  I adjusted and have found it to be very successful.  I won't go into all the details of what it is and how it works, but I will explain it briefly here.  (Click on "4-MAT" for more info.)  Note that each step also deals with "both brains"- right and left, but I'll let the experts explain that.  Basically it means that each step involves some sort of a reflective or creative section, and also an analytical one too.
 

• Step 1:  "Hook" the students in some way to the topic so that they can make a personal connection to the topic.  If you don't make the connection between the topic and the person, the students' brains won't make the connection either.  Check out the opening questions in some of the topic pages to see what I mean by "hooks".

• Step 2:  Present and practice.  This is the section in which the topic is presented or explained, and the students then do a lot of practice with it. (activity sheets, quizzes, crosswords, interviews, games, etc.)

• Step 3:  Creation.  Students create projects with what they have learned.

• Step 4:  Presentation and evaluation:  Students share or present what they have created, and in some way evaluate their work.

• The final step is then for me to test the students to assess what they have actually learned.  Each student that participates fully in all the steps always does well on these assessments.  This works!

My classroom is student-centered, but teacher controlled.  That is to say that the students are doing most of the "doing" in the class, and I do the facilitating and directing.  Since I do little "teaching" (as people who attended school in the 70's and earlier will remember it), the main part of my job is to prepare the activities for my students and to keep them participating.
 

I do have certain expectations of my students that they and their parents/guardians should be aware of.

I expect that...

• students treat each other, me, and personal as well as school property with respect.
• students participate in all activities.
• students do their work when and how it is assigned.
• students clean up after themselves.
• students arrive to class on time and prepared. (Something to write with, a notebook, homework, etc.)
• students obey school rules.  I did not create them, but it is my job to enforce them.
• students listen to me when I am talking to the class.
• students get the material they miss when they are absent.
• students try to learn.

Grades will be calculated based on the following areas.  The weights of each area may change from level to level.  (For example: There are a lot fewer quizzes and tests at the upper levels, but more individual, short projects.)
 

• Homework:  This is very important, and weighs heavily on the grade.  Why?  Homework provides one or more of the following:  1)  It allows you to practice what we have studied/used in class so that you can improve your language skills, and evaluate how well you are doing.  2)  It prepares you for activities planned the next day.  (If you do not do the assignment, the plan for the next day is ruined and I become slightly more than perturbed.)  3)  The assignment may present some new material to you that you will need to know, or it may be an introduction to the next unit/lesson.  In summary, homework is for you to practice individually with the language, and is therefore very important in my opinion, and is therefore weighed very heavily in grading.

• Participation in Activities:  Refer back to "Languages are Learned, Not Taught".  We will do a lot of activities- mostly with partners or in small groups.  These activities provide you with the opportunities to practice the language in a communicative way.  (It beats the heck out of doing just worksheets, although we will do some of those, too.)  Since the majority of class time is spent doing these activities, it also must be weighed heavily when calculating the grade.

• Quizzes and Tests:  Depending on the level, you may have a number of quizzes and tests.  The quizzes are a check to make sure you are learning what you are supposed to learn.  Sometimes the quizzes will count, sometimes they won't.  Sometimes they will be announced, sometimes they won't.  You need to keep up with your studies to make certain that you are always prepared in the event that there is a quiz.  Actually you need to keep up so that you will learn!  The tests allow me to see if you have accomplished the objectives for the unit, and are very important.

• Projects and Presentations: These are a demonstration of what you can do with the language and are equal in value or greater than the tests.  It's very important that you put effort into these projects and that you demonstrate language skills as required by the assignment.

If a student who has been participating in activities or has been absent does not understand something, I will gladly sit and go over whatever is causing the confusion.  I can be e-mailed, or reached through the school's voice mail system.  I am also available after school one day a week and almost every directed study.

If, however, a student who has not been an active participant does not understand something, I generally charge a tutor's fee of $30/hour to review material which was ignored the first time around.

This is what I believe and how I teach.  Any questions or comments, contact me.