Highlights from the 23-24 school year

Every June I love to reflect on the past school year and I'm always blown away by everything we did! This year was my 5th year at Obama, and while I have a lot of things that have become tradition (like the games and music competition), this year brought exciting new experiences to enrich learning! Here are some of the activities that stand out from the 23-24 school year, in chronological order going from most recent to oldest. 

Obama and CDS students outside the African American History Museum in Washington DC.

7th graders to go Washington DC

The last full week of school we had 12 7th graders from Obama go on a 4 day trip to Washington DC. This trip was the culminating activity of a year-long partnership with Community Day School. This group of Obama 7th graders have been participating in events with CDS 7th graders throughout the year focusing on cultural traditions of the diverse groups of students we have in Pittsburgh. We've watched documentaries, visited museum exhibits and shared meals with traditional food from different cultures. During the trip we went to the Holocaust Museum, the African American History Museum, the American History Museum, the Whitehouse, many memorials, the capitol and even met Senator Bob Casey. We hope this partnership continues and becomes part of the 7th grade experience at Obama!

Obama 7th graders reading their stories to Liberty elementary students.

The collection of storybooks made by 7th grade Obama students

Making & reading storybooks 

During quarter 4 the 7th grade Spanish students created storybooks based on stories we had read during our 6th and 7th grade Spanish classes. Students illustrated the stories and rehearsed reading them. Then we went to Liberty Elementary and read the stories to students in the Spanish magnet elementary school! Many Obama 7th graders loved getting to visit their old teachers and the elementary students loved seeing big middle school students share what they do in middle school! We celebrated with a lunch at La Feria, a Peruvian restaurant near Liberty. Students tried traditional Peruvian cuisine! The books that were made will also be kept for our class library in the future. 

Obama's first Kids of Steel Run Club racers on race day!

Kids of Steel Run Club

This was the first year I lead an after school organization. I have a passion for running and wanted to share that with our middle school students. We had our first Kids of Steel Run Club. We practiced weekly in March and April and the first weekend of May we ran the Kids of Steel one mile race as part of the Pittsburgh Marathon weekend! We had an 8th grader finish top female in the entire race of thousands of runners! I'm looking forward to building the program next year!

6th graders playing the Royal Game of Ur

6th graders playing Tower of Knowledge

Games

I always love game days because the fun and competitiveness really come out! This year the two big hits were Tower of Knowledge (a Spanish writing and building game) as well as the Royal Game of Ur (a game invented in one of the first civilizations in Mesopotamia).

Many of the 7th graders in Spanish class wanted to try the crickets (chapulines)!

Food

This year the "Qué Asco" (disgusting) food combo day took a fun turn when students recorded themselves trying the food. It's always fun to see the different reactions to new food. Some students have strong negative reactions and some are surprised when they realize it's tasty!

Lego representation of Africa

Lego Continents

In the fall my 6th grade Geography class partnered with the STEAM class to re-create continents out of Legos. The challenge to make a map of a continent using different Lego shapes on a Lego board was a fun way to learn about geography in a unique way. 

Obama's Dia de los Muertos Ofrenda

Our School Day of the Dead Altar

For the first time this year our school community came together to create a Day of the Dead altar. Art classes created decorations specific to Day of the Dead celebrations. Students could bring in photos of friends and family that have passed to be showcased in our ofrenda. Spanish classes from all grades came down to the ofrenda and were invited to add post-it notes to honor anyone they wanted. 

What's amazing to me as I wrap this year up is how each year we are able to do new, fun, exciting things! I'm looking forward to the new things we did this year becoming traditions. I can't wait to see what we can add for the 24-25 school year!

Highlights from the 2022-2023 School Year

Here we are again at the end of another school year! I'm feeling lots of mixed emotions. Obviously I'm excited for summer and very proud of everything that my students accomplished this school year. However I'm also pretty sad that we have to end the year remotely. I have been so impressed that students continue to show up and engage in lessons online. It really speaks to their focus on learning and character!

This year I have LOTS of highlights, because we had LOTS of good times in our classes! Presented in chronological order (starting from the beginning of the year), here are some highlights from the 22-23 school year!

Calendar Talk

I loved getting to know students by talking about how they felt and what they were doing in Spanish and putting it on our calendars. Every week there was something going on, from birthdays to games to weekend trips, and getting to hear about my students' lives and talking about it in Spanish personalized the class as well as help us get to know each other.

Simulations

For most units in World History class we had a simulation. Could you survive in prehistoric times? Would you be a successful merchant along the Silk Road? Who would win the Panhellenic Games, the original Olympics? It was great to see students engaged and competitive to learn about how life was like in various ancient civilizations.

Towers of Knowledge

One of my favorite games we played this year was the Tower of Knowledge, where groups of students wrote unique sentences on notecards and then used them to build the tallest tower! One of the best things that happened in all my classes this year was the level of positive collaboration, and this game was one of the activities where I saw it the most! The skills used in this activity also helped increase student's growth in our monthly timed writing checks.

Free Choice Leer

At the start of the second semester, 8th and 9th graders started each class by picking out something to read in Spanish. Renowned language acquisition researcher Stephen Krashen says "People acquiring a second language have the best chance for success through reading" and "Picking up word meaning by reading is 10 times faster than intensive vocabulary instruction." Students were able to engage in Spanish text that were of interest and at the appropriate level for them, and they were able to use what they read to improve their writing!

Qué Asco Food Day

I'm just not one of those "food day" teachers like Mr. Bynum and his German waffles 😝, so having anything other than fruit snacks in my SOAR store or candy for game winners is a big stretch for me. So when students pressured me to do a food day, I compromised and connected it with Señor Wooly's song "Qué Asco". Apples with soy sauce? Qué rico! Takis in milk? Delicioso! Oreos in A1 sauce? Mi favorito! It was really funny to see which kids would try the different combinations and record their reactions. 

Class Stories

In 6th and 7th grade Spanish classes a few students worked with our classroom helper Valentino to create a story that was told to the class. These stories were based on the ideas of students and it was great to see how their interests came through in the unique stories. The classes enjoyed getting to illustrate the different stories and come up with their own alternate endings!

Holi Celebration

7th graders were learning about Ancient India in February and March, just in time to celebrate the annual holiday of Holi! All 7th graders got to participate in various activities from coloring mandalas, playing games that were invented in Ancient India like chess or chutes and ladders, and watching videos related to the holiday. The feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive so I think this may become a tradition!

Cinco de mayo Grudgeball

Continuing with holiday celebrations, the loudest fun we had all year in Spanish class was definitely the Cinco de Mayo Grudgeball games. After reading a short text in Spanish about the holiday, students got in groups and played an intense game of Grudgeball. There were tears, there were shouts of joy, and there were a lot of fun.

El Antídoto del Dragón

When you read "14 minute long animated rock opera in Spanish about a princess and a dragon" you might not think epic bop, but if you talk to most of my 6th and 9th graders, they'd tell you the truth - that the princess is one major hero. Seriously, the classes CLAPPED at the end of watching the video. "No temas a las mariposas" (IYKYK). 

Elimination Game

What better way to practice telling a story in Spanish and play a game in Spanish than a murder mystery Who Dun It? The 7th graders loved this game so much they were begging to play it everyday. Similar to the game of Mafia (but without all the negative associations to organized crime and violence) we would get in a circle and I would select who would be the eliminators. Once they were selected, in secret, they would choose who to eliminate. I would tell a story in Spanish about how this person got eliminated (one student drank water and got sick, another one fell off a tube in the Sandcastle lazy river, you get the idea), and then we would vote on who we think eliminated them! After we played the game I would type up the story and we would review/illustrate the different scenes. 

All in all we achieved a lot in Spanish and World History classes this year and we had lots of fun too! I hope everyone has a great summer and I look forward to teaching my rising 7th and 8th grade Spanish students next year!

Highlights of the 2021 - 2022 School Year

 This academic year had it's ups and downs, and we made it to the end! Time to celebrate all that we've worked hard to accomplish! The highlights are in chronological order (from September until the end of the year. 

1. Student Interviews

At the start of the school year I was so excited to be back in the building with students! Even though teaching 9 months pregnant was hard, I loved getting to know students as we conducted "student interviews". It was fun to talk about families, pets, places to travel, and fears in Spanish. 

2. Locura de marzo

I was excited to return knowing that we would be completing Locura de marzo together! This is always one of my favorite units, and I felt the same this year even though no me gusto the winning song. It was so close on some of the votes! 

3. Class Characters & Individual Characters

This year we had the opportunity to create class characters and have student artists draw them as we were creating them! Each class had a unique and special character that had quite the interesting story. Then we leveled up and had students create their own characters. Each class voted for the best character created by a student (pictured below)!

4. Special Events in World History Class

In World History we had a fun finish as we had a Mr. Patrick Campbell from GASP-PGH come speak to the class about Pittsburgh Air Quality (this tied into our China Unit as we compared the causes and effects of pollution in China to our lives in Pittsburgh). 

First period also had a special "chopstick competitions" where JC, using unconventional (but effective) methods, was able to win the race!

5. Growth in Speaking Skills

The final (and greatest) highlight of this year is how many Spanish students improved their speaking skills! We played the Question & Answer game a few times to practice answering questions in Spanish about our class stories and the Locura de marzo, and it was great to hear students say complex sentences from their head! (Using notes was OK too!) For 7th and 8th graders I checked their speaking individually with volleyball translations of our class story and so many students had strong pronunciation and understanding of the story! It was so nice to hear students speak after a year online and being out on leave. 

I'm so excited to build on the growth we accomplished this year! Have a great summer!

A Fresh Start For the Head and the Heart

It's been a year of transitions! At the start of the year we transitioned back into in-person learning, and as we were getting in the swing of things I had a baby and was out for awhile. Now I'm ready to return and finish the year strong. 

David my son (in his "monobobsled" because we were watching the Winter Olympics), Mike my husband, myself and the newest family member Evelyn.

For seventh grade Individuals and Societies classes we are going to continue with the unit on India, learning about Hinduism, Buddhism and the caste system. 

For all Spanish classes we will be participating in our annual Locura de marzo, a music competition built in a similar way as NCAA's March Madness. All Spanish students at Obama will be voting on these songs to select the school favorite! You can get a sneak peak of the songs in the video below or listen to all of them on this Spotify playlist.

One thing I love about my job is that I'm a student's Spanish teacher for a few consecutive years (and sometimes even across subjects). This has alleviated at least one challenge of the pandemic because I get to develop a relationship and leverage the strengths of my students. I also know what I taught them in previous years, and they know my classroom expectations. I wanted to write up a few reminders that will carry over from last year (and probably continue next year as well). 

• Schoology will be updated with folders for each week. 
• There is a Week at a glance document that will contain important information about goals for each lesson, links to assignments, directions for missed/make up work and due dates. This should be the place students and parents go to answer questions like What did I miss? and I'm going to be out what do I need to do? 
• In Home Access Center (HAC), in the description of the assignment, I will reference the folder on Schoology where the work/directions can be found. 
• In general, work for the previous week will be due the following Monday. For example, work assigned the week of March 7th - 11th needs to be turned in by 7:30am Monday March 14th. (This gives students time to get it to me during homeroom.) 
• Please review the Welcome Letter posted in Schoology for information about grade categories and the late work policy.

While I am so grateful for the time I got to spend with my family, my passion is teaching, and I'm excited to return to the classroom and work with my students. 

Highlights of the 2020-2021 school year

Even through a wild year of remote learning, when I look back at all we accomplished this year I'm so proud of the effort and growth I've seen from students. Here are the top 5 highlights of this year in our middle school Spanish classes.

7th grade playing Humans vs. Zombies

5. Games 

We had so much fun playing vocabulary games on Quizlet, Blooket, Kahoot and Gimkit. The most requested version of games was the Among Us version of Gimkit. I personally enjoyed when students played against me in Boss Battle on Gimkit, and I remember some really intense games of The Floor is Lava on Gimkit. The strategy aspect of many of these games added an additional layer of fun to review games. It was enjoyable to hear students in the class (or off mute at home) having fun and commenting like we were playing video games together!

4. Music

This year we had TWO music competitions, one in the fall (Locotubre) and one in the spring (Locura de Marzo). Similar to the NCAA March Madness basketball competition, we have a bracket of a variety of songs in Spanish. Students previewed the songs and completed their own bracket before the competition. Then each day we voted between two songs, and one song advanced to the next roun, until there was a champion! 

You can listen to all the Locotubre songs here, and all the Locura de Marzo songs here. If you love Just Dance or Zumba, check out some of the dance videos from Locotubre here!

These music competitions are a great way to practice listening to different accents and musical genres, as well as learn about culture through authentic music videos. 

Locura de Marzo 2021 Final Bracket

Locotubre Bracket Final

3. Class Characters / OWIs (One Word Images)

This year we imagined creative, complex characters in Spanish from scratch. The creativity of students made these so fun to make! We had a huge box of rice win rap battles against Gozilla, a mean pot of soup that wants to share their soup but couldn't because of Covid, and a non-binary ice cream cone that is always tired. 

6th grade characters

7th grade characters

8th grade characters

This activity was a great way to review high frequency vocabulary and practice describing people!

2. Growth in Checkpoint Assessments

Each quarter I assessed students' reading, listening, speaking and writing growth. I was so impressed this quarter with how much growth I've seen over the year! Students were able to understand so much of a familiar (and more complex) text this quarter. For the speaking assessment in quarter 4, students recorded themselves describing a character and used a variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures with improved pronunciation and fluency! 

Students received personal feedback via email with a specific comment on what they did well and what they can focus on improving next year. 

The biggest growth was in our writing assessments, where students DOUBLED how much they were able to write in Spanish in 5 minutes from quarter 1 to quarter 4! 

1. We wrote books! 

My biggest highlight of the school year is that we wrote a 50-page book all in Spanish! Each week we discussed a topic (like what food or activities we liked, how we were as younger children, or how we would describe ourselves) and each class worte a summary of our conversation in Spanish. Throughout the year we wrote more complex sentences and increased our variety of vocabuly. See the work from quarter one here, quarter two here, quarter 3 here and quarter 4 here. We also used them for review activities on Quizlet. 

Through a generous grant from Obama's PTSA I was able to print 14 books of our writings that will be the basis for our classroom library we'll use next year. You can check out the master copy below.

We did it!

This year brought many challenges but as you can see our classes achieved something truly special that we can all be proud of!

How We Learn a Language

Hello! At the beginning of the school year I like to talk a little about why we do what we do in our Spanish classes. This year I've made video explanations and included them in this blog post so it can easily be shared with parents and reviewed at any time. 

In this class, students don't learn about the language. Students will acquire the language naturally through input.  The videos below will go into detail about what I mean by this. I've broken the presentation into short videos (between 2-4 minutes) to chunk the information. I've also included a reflection question after each video to help you process the ideas of the video.

In This Class We Learn to Speak From the Heart

Reflect: What does it mean to "speak from the heart"?

What is "Input" and Why Is It Important?

Reflect: How do people develop the ability to speak a language?

The Right Kind of Input to Speak From the Heart

Reflect: What skill(s) did you develop through practicing?

The World Needs People That Speak From the Heart

Reflect: Given that our planet faces many serious problems, why is it important to be able to connect with people around the world?

I hope the videos above give you an idea of the WHY and HOW of our Spanish class. I also wan students and families to know that language learners will understand much more than they will be able to produce, and that's OK! The image below is a nice visual representation of this idea.

I'm excited to start another year! Feel free to reach out with any questions! 

Highlights of the 2019 - 2020 School Year!

What. A. Year.

This year I started teaching middle school students Spanish at an International Baccalaureate school. In early March I was so darn proud of how much my students had learned and grown. My sixth graders were reading a multi-chapter novel in Spanish and doing a great job! My 7th and 8th graders were having conversations about food, family, school, and more! These students were understanding and producing more in Spanish than high school students I've taught!  And then school closed for the year. 

I want to take a moment to highlight a few of the great moments of the year I was able to capture through photos and video.

We WORKED TOGETHER

I told lots of stories, and then we played lots of games working with the vocabulary and grammar of these stories. 

6th graders placing parts of a story in the correct order

7th graders playing BOOM game based on a story

6th graders playing Quizlet Live Relay

We had FUN

We drew, we watched music videos from Spanish speaking artists, and we danced!

A great example comparing Victor and "el otro hombre" 

6th graders drawing what they want to be when they grow up

7th graders dancing to Just Dance videos! 

7th graders trying to find differences between Señor Wooly videos.

Our Locura de Marzo Bracket!

6th graders dancing to Tooty Ta en español

6th graders dancing during a Gimkit review game

This isn't the ending I wanted for the year, but this isn't the end anyway. 

I'm very grateful that I will get to teach the current 6th and 7th graders as they move up to 7th and 8th grade. Whatever the future of school will be, I'm looking forward to continuing our learning. As the ad below says, we are never too far down to come back. 

I wish everyone a safe, healthy summer break!