My middle-school students come from diverse backgrounds, both racially and socioeconomically. Yet each comes to my classroom expecting me to teach him/her Spanish, and most for the first time ever. They trust me to meet each of them where they are academically and emotionally and expertly guide them along the path to proficiency. I trust them to give me their full attention, enthusiasm, and best effort every day.
Mutual trust enables my students to thrive in a class where 90 to 95% of teaching and learning is in Spanish.
Together, we act out stories, interview each other, discuss videos, listen to music, play games, read, write, and joke—all in Spanish.
My students expect to learn Spanish, but they don't expect the sense of community that results from personal engagement with the language and each other. They know their classmates well and are tolerant of one another's idiosyncrasies. Each class has inside jokes none of my other classes would understand or appreciate. It's that sense of community my students love the most.
My Project
I primarily base my middle school Spanish curriculum on music videos created by a now-former Spanish teacher. His website provides not only wacky, catchy songs & music videos, but also a digital practice component as well as tons of hard-copy activities for each song. My students LOVE the units centered around these songs. They also love Wooly Week, when subscribers to Señor Wooly's website are treated to Wooly Week with special competitions for students & teachers alike, new music videos & new activity ideas.
Wooly Week is always a favorite of my students and this year I'd like to offer some Wooly merch - t-shirts & character scarves - as grand prizes for our raffle.
The way it works is students earn tickets for completing challenges both in-class and outside of class throughout Wooly Week. Then, an assistant principal comes to class the next week to draw the names of the winners. It was such a hit last year after coming back to face-to-face learning second semester.
Students across the country have been working hard throughout this pandemic. I want to treat mine to prizes that will be cherished for years to come and bring back fond memories, despite the hardships they have had to endure. Thank you for your support! We very much appreciate your generosity.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Sissell and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
