segunda oportunidad

Sometimes you do get a second chance…in your classroom anyway.

In my Spanish class this year, I have been teaching verbs in the present tense.  We began by learning the subject pronouns (I, you, he, etc.); then we learned some regular –ar, –er, and –ir verbs and their present tense conjugations.  Right before Christmas break, I began to get frustrated because the kids were not retaining things the way I would have liked.  I felt that I had taught the material well and that I had reasonable expectations for them.  However, I couldn't move on in the new semester because they hadn’t mastered the information.  I needed new ideas.

Then God gave me a second chance!  Due to certain circumstances, we had to reorganize the Spanish classes starting in January.  This means that I gained two students in my class.  Perfect!  The two new students have never learned to conjugate verbs in Spanish, so this is my opportunity to go back to square one.  Now I can set a stronger foundation.  Also, having a greater number of students allows me to be more creative with class activities.  One more bonus…my original students will have opportunities to teach their classmates.  If I’ve learned anything so far, it’s that teaching is the best way to learn.

One of the greatest struggles the kids had the first time around was learning the subject pronouns.  So this time, I’ve come up with new ways to teach it.  Because deaf students are primarily visual learners, I try to use pictures and video often.  Here is one activity we did.  After we set up and took the photos, I printed them and used them to make flash cards.  If anyone has more ideas…please let me know!