October 24, 2013
Week Four
Tuesday
The class earned ten flames today, allowing them to have a party of their choice. in choosing what to do for their party, Manny had the kids voice some suggestions and the aide had another suggestion of her own. Manny then eliminated some of the ideas that cost money, explaining that they would really need to work for a party like that. they then voted on the rest and eliminated six more. He then did something interesting. He had the class vote on the two remaining options. He explained that each student was allowed one vote and they had twenty six students present that day, so there would have to be twenty six votes total. If there were not exactly twenty six votes, they would receive a strike, and if they received three strikes, they would not throw a party at all. They ended up getting a strike the first round and voted correctly the second time, yet it was a great strategy to both keep their good behavior constant and get them to follow directions.
Thursday
There is a definite challenge when it comes to responding in Spanish. many of the students go home to a family whose first language is English. In that instance, they are unable to practice at home and they do not refine those skills. Likewise, some of the students go home to a family whose first language is Spanish. They are able to get that practice in and they are able to communicate quite well. It was amazing to see how Manny handles those situations. Today, a student was struggling with a sentence in Spanish and resorted to explaining in English and Manny stopped him and had him continue only in Spanish. It took the student quite a while, yet it really challenged him, and he ended up getting his idea out.
Manny then explained the situations with family languages and congratulated the students for trying so hard. I know, from seeing the students during the Spanish-taught lessons, that many students lose attention and say that they do not know Spanish, yet when they try, they know much more than I do. I think seeing the student struggle but then succeed was good for some of those students.
Manny then explained the situations with family languages and congratulated the students for trying so hard. I know, from seeing the students during the Spanish-taught lessons, that many students lose attention and say that they do not know Spanish, yet when they try, they know much more than I do. I think seeing the student struggle but then succeed was good for some of those students.