If you are like me, you start the year with so many ideas and goals for your students. You plan ahead, make all kinds of notes in your teacher planner, and you jump in!
Then, you go to the iFLT/NTPRS/CI Teaching page on Facebook… you spend way to many hours looking at all the amazing ideas, and you think to yourself, “Hey! That’s a much better idea, I think I’ll do that instead!” Then, suddenly it’s Christmas break. Just as suddenly, you find that you are trying to figure out a way to survive March so you can get to Spring Break (Hellllooooo March Music Madness!).
And, BOOM!, it hits you like a ton of bricks… THERE ARE ONLY 5 WEEKS OF SCHOOL LEFT!!! I don’t know how it happens, but it happens to me every year. And I always think, “What did I do with my time? Why didn’t I accomplish all those goals in my teacher planner? Why can’t my kids do X, Y, Z???”
This year, I’ve decided to go easier on myself. I provided a TON of comprehensible input. My level 2’s and 3’s can do more this year than any year prior. We had more fun doing it than we’ve ever had before. We have laughed together and even cried together while watching Voces Inocentes. We have built a strong community based on respect and sharing. My students report that they aren’t afraid to speak in public IN SPANISH! They ask that I play Spanish language music over the loudspeaker at track meets and they listen to it at cast parties. Additionally, our school has gone from not offering a level 4 class to this year having our first ever class of 9. And you know what? As of right now, I have 40 signed up for level 4 next year and weekly reports of more going to the guidance department to add it to their schedules.
I finally realize that NONE of this would have happened if I had stuck to my precious, well-planned lessons. My willingness to be spontaneous and to change tracks has provided us with so many more opportunities to acquire language. So, this year, I’m going to celebrate the many things we have accomplished and stop beating myself up over what we “should have done.”
