That's Stupid vs. That's Different

It's the first couple of weeks of learning another language and students are really curious and asking some great questions like

• Why are there upside question marks? 
• Why are there accents on some words?
• Why is the date in front of the month?
• Why is the adjective in front of the noun in a sentence?

Some of the questions I know the answer to, some of them I don't. In the past I have "Google" many of those questions myself. Some of the answers make sense to me, some of them I just shrug my shoulders and say "OK." Some of the answers I can never truly understand.

It's great that students notice the differences between Spanish and English and want to understand! However I've also heard some students notice these differences or hear the explanation and just reject the logic by saying something like "that's stupid."

No. It's not. It's just different. You are learning something new. New information is not stupid. It's an awful habit to develop negative feelings for anything that doesn't immediately make sense to you. It will ruin every day of your life because you will probably learn new things about the world every day for a very long time! 

The world is full of different, complex languages and cultures that have completely different ways of thinking about the world than we might be used to. These diverse cultures and people are not stupid, they are different. 

You don't have to learn all the differences, or completely understand them. I don't! Be excited that there are so many different ways to think about things. It makes for a fascinating world to live in!

Introducción de Ms. Bordner

Hola! 

I am very excited to get to know the City High class of 2018 and have fun together in la clase de espanol! Since I'm asking you to introduce yourselves to me, I figured I'd tell you about me!

The biggest lesson I learned last year was that when I give my students more freedom to be creative and demonstrate what they are learning in their own way, students can produce very impressive work! This is best seen in the videos students made like Hymay Banks 005, El Restaurante de Pablo, and 

This is my 10th year teaching students Spanish. I did not grow up speaking Spanish, I learned it in high school just like you all will do with me! I grew up in a small town in Missouri and went to college in St. Louis, Missouri. In college I majored in Spanish and Media Communications, I really wanted to be a photojournalist traveling the world. I love photography, music, and making videos. (In college I had a radio show and I created, produced and acted in a TV show.) 

After college I moved to Chicago, Illinois where I taught students Spanish for six years. Then I moved to Pittsburgh and started working here at City High! As far as what I see for myself in the future, well I really enjoy teaching so I hope to continue to do that. I also hope to continue to travel to different places in the world! 

Hiking in Colombia

There are a few things that are really important in my life. The first is my family. Mike is my husband and we love to bike and travel together. Rich, my brother, along with his wife Ezichi and my nieces Amara and Zara live near Los Angeles California. Rich teaches high school English and Ezichi tutors math. My parents live in my hometown in Missouri but they visit Pittsburgh often!

Learning new things is also important to me. I love learning something new, and I find traveling to be a great way to learn about the world. I've traveled to close to 20 countries and this winter I hope to go to China and Vietnam.

Lucia and I biking in Spain

I ask my students to answer the question "What do you need from me to be successful?" so I'd like to share what I need from you in order for YOU to be successful. I need you to put forth your best positive effort on a daily basis. Learning a language is not easy, and mistakes and embarrassment can be common. Just know that's OK, it's part of the process, and to keep trying!

This August was really fun. I biked from Pittsburgh to Washington DC with some friends! It was 300 miles and took about 5 days. I also went to Chicago, Boston and Houston to visit friends.

Biking 300 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington DC

Excited to start!

I'm glad the first week is over! I tend to do the most talking in the first week, explaining expectations, procedures, routines, etc. It's important work that keeps us from getting tripped up once we really start rolling, but I'm glad the first part is over.

I read through the Goal Setting answers and I was very excited. I was excited because many of the things students want to have conversations about (talking about things you like to do, describing school, talking about food, weather, music and shopping) are things we cover in our Spanish 9 and 10 classes! We aim to teach things that are valuable to students, and when they tell us they want to learn some of the things we already plan to teach well then, we think we are going to have a great year!

Many students mentioned some things that are different about Latino culture, or they mentioned similar things about latino culture that they wanted to learn more about. Some of these things were how Latinos dress, their dances, currency, food, sports, and celebrations like Cinco de Mayo, Día de los Muertos, and Quinceñeras.  This showed us that you are an observant bunch, and you pay attention and notice things. That's great because that a big part of being a knowledgeable traveler is paying attention and asking good questions. That so many of you are already aware and curious means we are going to get a lot out of this class!

What's even better, is that we all share the common goals of being successful, and speaking Spanish and understanding Hispanic culture!

Words of Wisdom from Conan O'Brien

Great Hispanic Music Projects

I was so impressed with some of our Hispanic Music Projects I wanted to highlight a few!

• Two students recorded themselves playing songs on a piano, used Adobe Soundbooth to mix in latino beats like bachata and cumbia, then created their own bandcamp webpage. This project mixes jazz, Mozart, piano, bachata and cumbia beats and mixing audio using Adobe Soundbooth.

• Many students decided to make webpages. One student made a website with translations of lyrics of a Panamanian hip-hop group called Los Rakas. She wrote "I found it pretty fascinating how hip-hop is similar no matter what language it’s sung in or who is singing it; they all have similar tones at times and they also share similar ideas."

• One student created a website where she review four bands. The first one was from the band she was assigned to review on the first day, Hello Seahorse. Using the keywords/search terms Pete gave her, she found the other 3 bands. I had never heard of the other 3 artist, but what suprised me is that one of them, King Coya, has remixed music from Amadou & Mariam, a African band, as well as tango, and more!

• Another student started by making a Soundlcoud mix, then created a Tumblr that gave details about each song she selected and the artist who made them, and finally made a poster for one of the bands as if they were coming to Pittsburgh. I was very impressed with how this student kept delving deeper and deeper into different aspects of the music.

• Here is a video two students created from a song they liked.

• This .gif was drawn by hand, scanned then color was added. This was "cover art" to a song two other students created.

As you can see, the projects we get are incredibly diverse! I'm constantly blown away with the creativity and technical skills our students demonstrate. Bravo, 2015 Team A!

Best Blogs From Team C 2016 Spanish 9

In general, Mrs. Akhand and I were very impressed with the quality of blogs that Team C 2016 completed during Spanish 9 class. We want to showcase some of the best post and blogs.

Blog that was as clear as it was cute - Konika

Konika's blog is very stylized, and looks unique! It is also very easy to read. This is a great example of a student personalizing their blog while also making sure it doesn't get out of control!

Amazing visually beautiful blog - Kaylona

Kaylona got an advanced grade for most of the posts because she always went the extra mile to complete a visual. She is a Prezi guru! Her attention to detail makes her blog one of the most visually enhanced blogs of the trimester!

Awesome Advanced blogger - Kelsey

Kelsey delivered a quality blog every week. She was very careful to follow all directions. The result is a great portfolio of work throughout the trimester!

Best Male blog - Dylan

Dylan, like the ladies mentioned above, completed all required posts as well as many optional posts. What makes Dylan's blog great is how he has used technology to let his personality and work shine! 

Great blogs by post

• Latin America Post - Chaise

• Basic Spanish Convo - Vinny (make sure to listen to the conversation between Vinny and Michael!)

• Basic Spanish Comic - Kelsey

• Floor Tour - Sam 

Sam's Floor Tour post w/ a visual

• Country Profile Website - Aniya (The photos make it pop!) Also check out Kaylona's!

• Immigration - Allana

• Quien Soy - Konika

Konika's Quien Soy Glog

• Guess Who presentation - Ricco

• Native Speaker Interview - Kayla and Olivia!

Muchas gracias for a great trimester Team C 2016! We're really excited to continue your Spanish conversation and culture learning next year!

Native Speaker Interview Day July 2013

Native Speaker Interview Day is one of my favorite days to be your Spanish teacher. I get filled with pride and excitement watching students engage in bilingual conversations with our guests. Here are some photos from the day.

Ricco and Kori interviewing Ms. Dimate

Josh and Stevie interviewing Ms. Aguirre

Kayla and Anna interviewing Mr. Matteo

As I was listening I even learned things. I learned that when someone asks your age in Spanish and they don't want to tell you, they say "sin cuentas" which means "without counting" but also sounds like 50. That was a reminder to me that in many situations it is not appropriate to ask someone's age!

Another thing I overheard was one of our guest engaging in "chit chat" with students before the interview began. He explained that in Latin America, it is considered rude to just get straight down to work without having an informal, how are you check-in conversation. That is very different than what I am used to and I remember struggling with that a lot when I traveled, but I saw how it helped some of our students get comfortable and less nervous before they started the formal interview.

The last thing I want to mention that I overheard was one of our native speakers encouraging a student to try again. He said "No one is going to laugh at you, no one is going to make fun of you." That is very true. Many times, we are too afraid to try something because we are afraid of looking stupid or failing. When you are learning another language, and you practice that language in an attempt to try to communicate and respect someone else's background, even if you mess up, they appreciate the effort. No one is trying to embarrass you, so try your best, and learn something.