Learning Clothing FUN Activity!

Learning clothing vocabulary has never been more fun! This activity gets everyone involved, learning, competing, and really working to win! 

It's very simple... 

Divide the kids up into team. (I already have the students in "countries" therefore they are already in teams). Give each team several magazines, scissors, blank pieces of paper, pens/pencils, and roll of simple scotch tape. 

Tell the kids where their "area" of the classroom is. They MUST cut out different clothing pieces. No, it does NOT have the be all the same outfit. I hope it's not...that is what makes it so funny & fun. 

After they will label IN SPANISH all the pieces they have put together. 

I tell them the group that has the MOST pieces cut out, MOST labeled correctly, and can add the MOST detail to each piece...wins!!! 

ENJOY the examples below (some of them are quite comical): 

God Bless,
Britt 

I'm NOW Social media UP TO DATE!

So if anyone truly knows me, they know I'm not HUGE on social media. I have a personal FB and I do use it frequently to look at my friends' weddings, baby pictures, fun vacations, etc. but that is about as far as my social media stretches me. 

I had a friend suggest opening up an account JUST for sharing of ideas for world language teachers and I thought well, that would be pretty easy, and I'm always really excited to share, discuss, and get inspired! 

So.....I'm now MODERN!

Below are my social media accounts: 

Facebook Page: Senora BB Spanish 

Twitter: @ProfesoraBB

Instagram: SenoraBBspanish 

My GOAL is to keep ALL my accounts up to date with ideas, tips, discussions, and more. Follow me & I'll follow you back, and maybe we can avoid recreating the wheel every year & semester! :) 

Work smarter, not harder!!! 

God Bless,
Britt 

Station Listening Practice - November 4th

Below are the Station Listening Videos. Feel free to pause at any time to get down information.

LISTENING #1 

LISTENING #2

LISTENING #3

LISTENING #4 

Reader Appreciation Bundle....Thank You All!

Thank you to everyone for the generous support of my blog. I have the best readers! As in nEARLY celebration of Dia de los Muertos & as a way of saying "Thanks" I am offering my Nice to Meet You Unit for $6.99

In the past, I priced it at $18.99 and had it on sale at $15.99. Feel free to check out the video to see what all is included :) 

Thank you all again. 

Here is the link to the Mega Bundle: 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/MEGA-BUNDLE-NICE-TO-MEET-YOU-UNIT-2149536

I'm changing my classroom...

Well, I'm ditching the desks! Yep, getting rid of them. My mentor teacher at school has turned her room into a cafe, yep...like a little coffee shop and of course I  was salivating at the mouth. I love the comfortable, no pressure modern-day, interactive atmosphere. I love how the students feel like they are older, more sophisticated, able to socialize, and able to interact at their finger tips. 

I literally walked out after being in her class and said yep, I'm next. I have literally been playing the role of vulture in every goodwill & flea market in the central KY area. 

I have a rule: no more than $5 per seat. So if I buy a small table for $10 that will fit 3 people, bam...deal...but $45 for one comfy chair...nope, not worth it! 

Stay tuned...I really want to show you all what I have so far, BUT I'll wait for the FINAL product :) 

God Bless,
BB 

Extra Infinitive Practice

If you saw my previous post, I have fully completed the Extra Infinitive Practice Packet. I will be using this for my "advanced learners" to push them a little more in levels of Spanish 1 & 2. Once I feel like they have mastered this set of infinitives, I will be teaching them a few more. 

My goal is that by the time my kids get to Spanish 3, my kids know a HUGE VARIETY of Spanish infinitives AND can recognize them in different conjugated forms. This will save lots of time in advanced levels! 

Here is the link if you all are interested in using my own: 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Extra-Infinitive-Practice-2142655

Also, here is the link to my quizlet which has all the extra Infinitive Practice: 

https://quizlet.com/97809555/extra-infinitive-practice-flash-cards/

Let's Teach Them Some Verbs!!!

Hoping to have it ready by 10:00 pm tonight, est! Let's get these advanced learners rolling on :) 

God Bless, 
Britt B.

The Transition: Going from Teacher-Centered to Student-Centered

I'll admit...I am a leader, a do-er, and until these past few years I didn't think "teaching" included anything else but the teacher being in front "teaching" the class. 

Through some professional development, the teacher evaluations constantly changing, and observation: I am starting to see a NEW way of learning. I'm starting to realize: I need to STEP BACK! I need to trust my kids! I need to let them learn on their own! That doesn't mean Mrs. Baxter's taking "15" but rather even the Master has to sit back and watch his apprentice "do".  

I love my job and I love teaching, and I also love holding my kids' hands a bit too much! (Guilty) I want them to know I am always right there and "WE" can do it together, but I am starting to see that sometimes you have to let them DO! (And I'm not talking about the worksheet you gave them, the quiz you designed, or the project we just went over but actually let them discover)! 

I am right now in the transition mode of taking my traditional techniques of teaching and turning them into student-led practices. You just can't expect to shut the door, say "We're learning Reflexive Verbs today" and expect them to teach themselves BUT after displaying the content, I am learning it's okay to let them explore. 

I read an article: 
http://www.justintarte.com/2015/09/should-all-classrooms-be-like.html?spref=fb

(Love this article by the way) 

This article basically talks about how Kindergarten is full of exploration and discovery, I love his comparison to how the kids move like well-oiled machines from one center to the next. 

But think about it? Why are we running our classrooms differently in high school? Is there no time for exploration and discovery? Is it too hard to fit our content knowledge into this style of learning? 

I, myself, am asking these questions because I want to take my kids BACK to exploration and discovery. I want them to have the learning at their finger-tips, and I want to know as a teacher "What can I do to make this happen?" 

Here are some of my tips I am learning to transition my classroom into a student-centered classroom: 

1. You have to give choices to the students. 

2. Don't be scared of technology. 

3. The kids MUST work together. Pick strong leaders from the beginning. 

4. If a kid is sitting (without moving, doing, talking) for more than 5 minutes...too much of the attention is on YOU! Time to make "THEM" do something! 

5. It will get a little crazy at times, but they are still learning. 

6. Make use of EVERY minute!

7. Assign chores, roles, procedures the kids can follow day by day. 

8. Make sure there is always accountability for each student. 

So these are just a few...and I am learning a few more here and there. 

Hope you enjoyed today's post. 

How is your classroom? How do the kids learn? Any tips, advice, concerns, questions to share? 

God Bless & Happy Teaching,
Brittany B. 

Something New I'm Using Which Is SOOOOO Exciting!

Hey guys! So I am so excited to talk about something new I learned at KWLA, and I'm so excited that I had to share! I went to a session called "Movie Talk" At first, I was really hesitant to check this session out because I don't like showing movies, but this is not about showing movies at all. This was about using "short clips of movies" as a tool for teaching Spanish.

Our kids are living in a technological world where they use video games, movies, shows, the internet, and apps to learn. Sadly, if we don't use these devices in our classroom...everything else seems "foreign" to our kids and outdated.

One thing for me is I don't teach advanced level Spanish until mid-year and I often catch myself saying "There is only SO much you can do with Spanish 1 and 2." Well, I'm so glad I went to this session because it showed me that, yes, Spanish 1 and 2 can go outside the box.

So first things first:
1. I did not invent Movie Talk.
2. Not everybody DOES Movie Talk the exact way.
3. You can use ANY clip you want - Pixar & Disney are great. You can use commercials, music videos, etc.
4. The clip does NOT have to be in the language you're teaching. Often times they are in English. The example I am using is in English.

So, I was so excited to do this...I started getting all my stuff together immediately. I found a clip from a movie called Monster House, it's actually the movie trailer on youtube and it's about 2:34. First of all, I had not SEEN the movie but after watching the clip 50 times developing my Movie Talk, I rented it that weekend on Amazon Prime! :) Yes, it was awesome!

Side note: Your kids do not HAVE to see the movie to be able to do the Movie Talk but they will probably want to go home & watch it afterwards!

Okay, so how do you begin:
1. Pick any clip & watch it (2 to 5 minutes)
2. I jotted down stuff I thought that was important and I could "Connect to Spanish"
3. Pick out the vocabulary you want to teach. Side note: You can't teach EVERYTHING. Movie Talk experts actually recommend only teaching 3 to 5 highly-used structures. (I know that is hard for us---they must learn EVERYTHING!!!) With the first one I did, I admit I did WAY too much but it went awesome AND my kids are STILL using the vocabulary!
4. Develop your Movie Talk Guide.

Okay, so I'm not saying you HAVE TO BUY mine BUT I did already do one and if you are interested, I have it for a hot price, already completed, ready to go next school day for $3.99 on TPT.

Here is my TPT Movie Talk Link for Monster House:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Movie-Talk-Casa-del-Monstruo-Monster-House-2133547

Okay, so here's what I did...Vocabulary Group #1 this is BASIC BASIC vocabulary. You have the freedom to do this ANY way you want: Partners, as a class, individuals, make them write on flashcards if they don't know it, random call out, whatever you want to do to get "them" to get that basic vocabulary. Okay, they got it.

Next, on my guide is the question words...they MUST know their questions words because you're going to be saying them A LOT: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, & HOW (but in Spanish).

The next part is predictions: I love this...I wrote a few questions (all in Spanish - language THEY know) and they have to pick A, B, or C of what THEY think the answer is. I show them about 10 seconds of the clip, the front cover which I googled, and they answer. See, already using Spanish.

I then included a few vocabulary exercises & some grammar lessons. How you teach the vocabulary, grammar, etc. is totally up to you. You can just easily go over it or go into a greater depth...your choice.

I personally show the clip right now! :) I am ALWAYS going to show it again but right here is where they need to see it.

After, they answer questions that specifically have to do WITH the movie and all this is in Spanish. They also have some quotes that they will put in Spanish. They really loved these! At the end, we had 2 minutes and I let some of my goofballs act them out now that they knew the Spanish!

At the very end, there are some practice activities that deal with the learned grammar.

Also, something I did is that we went through each little section and I told them the Spanish "el chico tiene miedo porque la casa es muy vieja y rara." I called out to them "What does that mean?"

I'm an awesome listening activity!

Here is the link to the youtube clip I used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmWLvymcR4c

Please let me know if you have any questions. I am by no means a Movie Talk expert, but I am learning and really really like how my students responded. Feel free to create your own or try mine out. 

God Bless Everyone,
Brittany B. 

Affirmative Commands Song - Irregular Verbs

So there are these 7 tricky little verbs that always stump my students! I love Fifth Harmony so I decided to put together a little song that would give my kiddos an easy way to learn this little tricksters! They loved it and insisted that I perform it along with one of my good friends, Science Teacher, Becky Davenport!

P.S. I know the kids recorded me, if they watch it continuously and laugh...they're technically learning!!! :) 


To get the lyrics for free, click here: 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Irregular-Affirmative-Commands-Song-2096686

God Bless,
Britt B. 

Desk Writing

White boards are great but something that is so nifty is letting the kids WRITE on their own desks. All you need is a class set of dry erase markers (a lot of my kiddos had their own from other classes) and some old towels for erasing. 

We are currently in Spanish 2A learning food vocabulary/phrases/concepts. I love when the kids get to write but not feel so nervous/pressured. Also, pen and paper are so 1990, right?

I had the kids come up with certain questions that pertained to our unit, and then I made them go sit in a desk that wasn't theirs. They had to answer the questions with their marker. 

You can do this multiple times. Have them erase their current desk they are sitting in, write new questions, and switch again. 

I also directed my kids at what I wanted them to write. I explained the scenario and they wrote the questions and answers. Pretty neat activity! 

Warning: Make sure your classroom desks are suitable for the activity. NOT all are! Also, make sure to use the correct type of markers. I used Dry Erase Expo and they were great...no markers or mess! 

Happy Teaching!
God Bless,
Britt B. 

Giant Board of Questions

I often get lots of questions on my big board of questions. I got this idea from the kids looking around my room and trying to translate EVERY little word on my walls. Hmmm, I thought. What if I could get them speaking Spanish and conversing. So, I took to the computer. I just created lots and lots of questions! 

I used all kinds of cute fonts and made them really big so I could cut them out and they can be seen. 

It's one of the top favorite things about my classroom. I can't tell you how many kids look and start seeing if they can figure out the questions/answer the question, ask others...It's such an awesome tool! 

But, I have used these questions for one than just one big board. 

Here is list below of what GIANT questions can serve (haha) ;) 

1. Big Display Board - Yep, I think you got that! lol 

2. Station Writing - I put several big questions on a table (get the kids in groups) and they rotate and answer the questions at the table, then rotate to a new one. Seriously? Engagement ;) 

3. Circle up and talk. I love this one! I get the kids in a giant circle. I go around and give a kid each # (usually all the way up to 38! ;) Yep- big classes! I tell the kids if you are EVEN, you are the leaders and will be working with the student to your right. We play music - kind of like, hot potato. While playing music, they pass the big questions. Yes, lamination is a GOOD thing! ;) When the music stops, if the odds are holding the question, they hand it to their leader. They must STOP and CONVERSE over that big ol' question! It's so genius and so much better than giving them a worksheet and saying "Habla" 

4. QUIZZES - Yep, I stand in the front, they have a blank sheet of paper. I hold up the question, say it, and they must write the answer! Easy peesy!

5. Conversation Show DOWN - I use this for a day where field trips, clubs, where's my class at?!?! I set up various games/activities and this is one of them. They can be in a group, partnership, whatever and they get a timer and must try to answer all the questions between the buzzer goes off (they can use their phones as a buzzer). 

6. Find Me the Question: I clip all the questions to my board. I say the answer. The teams run up and try to grab the correct question. 

7. No, You May NOT Pack Up - Hate the kids packing up early but you're done? Keep these by your board/door & grab them when a couple of minutes are left to go. 

There are sooo many other things I use this for. I usually try to make 4 copies for the year, and get one laminated for sure!

Feel free to create your own questions, or you may buy mine if you don't want to create them. I believe mine is $1.75 on tpt and it includes over 20 questions. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-Spanish-Questions-Large-Print-2056616

Happy Teaching and guess what day it is?!?! HUMP DAY!!!!

-Britt B. 

Conjugation Race

Got a little time to spare? My kids this week have been kicking butt in class! They have read, wrote, taken so many notes, created sentences, and so much more. I thought it was time to have a little fun and to honestly get them off their feet. 

Conjugation is STILL something my kids struggle with yes in Spanish 2! After trimester classes, switching teachers within Spanish 1, and long summers...sometimes it is just one of those things that slip the mind. 

We have been practicing a lot in class here lately and I copied this game from my KTIP teacher and made slight adjustments to pep it up. 

Okay here's the game steps: 
1. Count how many people are in your class. You'll be dividing by two so that is how many people will be on each team. 

2. Ask for 2 team captains. I have them come up and stand by me. I have learned it's really embarrassing when the kids are calling their friends up one by one to be on their team. Usually the unpopular kid, shy kid, or not as intelligent kid gets left out so I made some adjustments. 

3. Instead of letting them pick, you say things like "Okay, Timmy (one of the leaders) what is your favorite class?" Timmy answers "Math" I say "Who also likes Math?" Hands go up. I simply pick just a random person who raised their hand, the closest, or someone who I think Timmy wouldn't USUALLY work with. Bam, you're on Timmy's team. Then I ask for Maddie "Okay, Maddie...what is your favorite subject?" She says "Spanish" (what a doll). Then hands go up in the air of everyone who also likes Spanish. Once again, I just simply pick a person (make it simple). 

4. Continue to ask questions like this (Birthday Month, Favorite Sport, Color, Food, Hobby, Class, etc) Eventually the teams are divided. 

5. Now give the kids 30 seconds to pick up their stuff (I usually do this more towards the end of class) and to move to the side of their captain. 

6. Now # the kids 1 to whatever. Do the same with the other side. 

7. Then show the kids how each team will get a small white board and a marker. 

8. Call random #'s up (5) and tell them they are to get in a straight line. Those 5 people are going to represent Yo, Tu, El/Ella, Nosotros, Ellos/Ustedes (sorry can't get accents to work). So essentially you'll have 10 people up in front of the class (5 from each team). I let them get in ANY order they want. I tell them to put their strongest for the Yo and Ellos/Ustedes. 

9. I write down a verb on the board (this week we are focusing on stem changers) and GO, CONJUGATE!

10. ONE PERSON CAN ONLY WRITE ONE CONJUGATION. So the person representing the YO can only write for YO, 2nd person can only write for Tu, and so on. When done, they run and place it in my hand. If there are errors, the other team can steal. If they're wrong, it can go back to the other team until someone has it right. 

Shew, we played it today and it was SOOOO much fun! The kids got into it and had a blast. I didn't realize how competitive my Spanish 2 kids were!

Anyways, try it out! I think it will be a blast!

Letting the Music Speak

So I am sure many of you use music in your classrooms. If not, I highly recommend it! I use to just find a Spanish song, play it in the beginning, and that was it. The kids never asked any questions, I didn't provide them any info...I just thought hey, I'm a SPANISH teacher so I'm going to play some tunes. 

It wasn't until one day, I had a kid ask a question that totally got my attention on how MUSIC is such an important tool in a language.

So one day I played Charlie Rodd - Historia. Love the song! I had one kid say "This is MEXICAN music?!" I could have shot fire out of my eyes because the kids KNOW how much I hate to hear "Mexican, Mexican, Mexican---there are SOOOO many countries that speak SPanish, not everything is MEXICAN"

I literally stopped what I was using, went to the front of the room, addressed the class, and began a mini lesson on music. 

I said "Hey, who likes country music?" Hands went up...I responsed, "Guess what...there is COUNTY music in Spanish speaking countries!" I then said, "Who likes pop music?" Hands up again. "Guess what again...there is pop!" and I continued "Who likes rap music?" Once again, hands went up (and a lot of them). 

I then went into this "Preaching" of how just like here in the United States we have our favorite genres, and they "SOMETIMES" match who we are in style, and this ALSO happens in the Spanish Speaking Countries! 

You would have thought I had 3 heads...seriously?!

One kid replies "Soooo there are like Boho Hipsters in Mexico?" I screamed, "Yes, yes, yes and in Bolivia and Colombia and Venezuela!" 

You would have thought I just told them you could make ice cream just green beans...they were amazed and a little dumb-founded. So now, I started a new trend. I have a comment box in my room where the kids can randomly write messages to me to communicate. I told the kids if you want to hear a certain style, just write it on a piece of paper and I'll play that style in the next week. I also NOW always open class up with a little "Spanish Immersion Full Speaking Practice" of information about the artist and song they are hearing! 

This broke SOOO many barriers. They are starting to see that Spanish speaking teenagers have the same genres and styles as the American teenagers here. That they are NOT all wearing Ponchos, Sombreros, and singing the "Cucaracha Song" (Who would have thought!) It has made Spanish more "practical" and "real-life" and more than anything, they are seeing it's a big big world out there but sometimes we're still the same! 

So I say again...USE music! Talk about the artist, tell where they are from, how did they get famous, what do they like to sing about, how popular is the artist ---give a comparison to someone who sings in the United States. 

Update: Since using this in my classroom, my students are downloading Spanish artists...do they know all the words? No, not yet (Keywords yes) but they love the rhythm and beats! Not complaining, they are taking it ALL in! :) 


Coming Soon: Spanish 3 class - Lyric Translations to Popular Songs! 

God Bless,
Brittany B. 

The Total Review for Spanish 2 is UP!!!

It's here, It's here!!!

The "Total Review for Spanish 2" is hot off the press on my TPT site. :) 


Packet:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Total-Review-for-Spanish-2-2024060

PowerPoint:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Total-Review-for-Spanish-2-PowerPoint-2024103

BIG REVIEW COMING SOON!

Hola Chicos y Chicas,

So I have spent the majority of my summer working on a review that I hope is going to be LIFE CHANGING (okay, maybe not LIFE changing but LEARNING changing) for my Spanish 2 kiddos! 

I am sick and tired and tired and sick and SO-OVER my kids saying "My teacher didn't teach me that" or "I never mastered that" or "I don't remember this" We have amazing teachers in our department who I KNOW are teaching this content, doing projects, giving homework, blah, blah, blah. It's the fact the kid probably just doesn't remember it, simple as that. 

And you know what? That's totally and completely OKAY! A good review never hurt anyone so yes, I went to work this summer on a review that I hope is going to be totally awesome for my Spanish 2 kiddos!

Here's MY strategy of reviewing: 

-We are only doing a few concepts a day. 

-We are taking our time. 

-We are going to use some type of "Did you get it?" check for understanding...anyone heard of Plickers? (Had a tech PD over them last year & LOVE LOVE LOVE!) 

-I have performance based tasks embedded into every concept. 

-I am also going to be teaching their new content as well. 

I am so excited to release my review as I have had many of you message me asking what I gave as a review and to be honest, I had a few little things here and there but NOTHING to this caliber! 

I will be posting this on my TPT account with a Back to School Discount Price. I will also be posting the PowerPoint that has the performance embedded tasks with it too for a Back to School discount price! 

Here is what is covered in the review:

-All conjugations (AR, ER, IR)

-Basic Conversations Greetings & Questions

-Subject Pronouns

-Dating Writing (Days of Week, Months, Etc)

-Numbers 

-Ser Verb

-Tener, Jugar, Venir, and Ir Verbs)

-Popular Places to visit vocabulary 

-Age & Birthday

-Description Vocabulary

-Lots and Lots of Infinitives

-Weather

-Gustar Verb

-Family Member Vocabulary

-School Vocabulary 

and much much more!

Also, everything can be edited to add/reduce for your own liking!

This will release TOMORROW on TPT! :)

I, myself am so excited to use it in my own class!

God Bless,

Britt B. 

Reflect Now, Not Later!

So, I get it...it's March. The papers are high, the nerves are on edge, and you're desperately counting the days until Spring Break (hoping you have one). It's that time of year when the year is closing in and you're starting to say "What if I had done this..." or "What about THIS for next year..." 

Every June after the school year ends I always "Reflect"...well I try! I look back on my year and say "What could I have done different?" In years past, I focused on BIG changes in my classroom, which is great but...you know what? It's the nitty-gritty-itty-bitty stuff that we forget that drives us up the wall in mid-year!

C'mon, you know...the things that make you look like this: 

Making larger changes are great but it's these tiny things such as "I really need more return bins" or "I need to investigate getting a student-use computer for online independent study" or even "I need more white board cleaner (hoping the old bottle will get you to the end of the year). BUT, we don't realize these itty bitty fixes, (to-do listers) when we are sipping our sangrias on the beaches of Florida, right? I know I don't! 

This is why I am urging to REFLECT NOW...NOT LATER. I'm super corny and a super list maker. Yep, go figure. I have created a list that sits taped to my wall right beside my desk that I am constantly adding to! (Obviously I need to add "Buy tape to the list") This list means nothing to anyone else but I interpret it perfectly and these are bigger and smaller projects that will help me be a better teacher next year!

Right now, we are knee deep in the chaos and really seeing "WHAT" we need to work on whether its adding supplies, creating assessments, dividing curriculum of levels, or just simply needing to mix up (throw out) some old resources. Write it down now because we know the end is such a blur. 

If you have a second and you're truly knee deep in the chaos, ask your kids. "Would it be easier....", "Would you guys  prefer...." If your kiddos are anything like mine, they'll be super honest :) 

Thought for the day! 

God Bless, 

Britt B. 

Readers, Calling All Readers....

So I want to do something a little different! Any teacher knows this time is year is known as the mid-year crunch! I don't know about you guys, but this time of the year my head is spinning in two different directions. I have all these PLANS in my head I want to do, all these revisions, ways I want to better my classes and program but I'm sitting here writing this blog entry instead of grading the heap of papers sitting beside me! :( 

I think this time of year, teachers need INSPIRATION! I know I do. So....here's what we're going to do...I want you guys in the comments to share what you are MOST proud of in your classes and with your language program. It could be that you have increased your higher level numbers, conquered performance assessments, flipped your classrooms, etc. It's up to you but I want to hear it because I NEED IT. I need praise stories, I need inspiration, and I love hearing what makes all these language classes unique. 

So, anything that you want to share, please do! 

Gracias & God Bless,
Brittany B.