Today was the first day I got into some actual teaching, and I'm discovering that I really love my classes this year. They're going to challenge me in a good way, especially my first period. Probably my favorite thing about teaching a language is exposing my students to the fact that there is a world outside of [insert your town's name here]. During my first year of teaching, I was shocked by a response when I gave a survey that asked if you have ever traveled outside of the US, and if so, where? One student circled yes, and then answered North Carolina. Our town was about 20 miles from North Carolina! I knew I had a big job that year.
This year, my kids couldn't be more of the opposite. In my first period class of 19 students, I think at least 10 of them have been outside of the US. At one point I specifically asked if any of them had been to Mexico, and I think about 8 kids raised their hands, maybe more. (They were mostly cruise ship stops, but still!) So today I was going through all of the Spanish-speaking countries and telling them a little bit about each country, but most of these kids already knew the main points I was going to tell them! When I showed them a picture from Mexico City and I was talking about how big the city is, one boy raised his hand and asked, "Don't they have a big problem with pollution there?" I said yes and started to go on to explain, when another boy asked, "Isn't that because the city is surrounded by mountains?" I was shocked. I've had students before that couldn't even find Mexico on a world map, let alone tell you about the causes of the capital city's pollution problems.
Later we were going through South America, and we labeled the Spanish-speaking countries one at a time. I also had them label Brazil, because, as I told them, it's just so big that you can't ignore it. Anyway, in two of my three classes I had a kid ask, "What are those other 3 little countries?" Wow, these students are eager to learn! The first time this was asked, I told them, but I couldn't remember which was Guyana and which was French Guyana - I always get the two mixed up. A 7th grade boy pointed out which was which, and I realized he was right. I have never had a student who knew those countries.
My challenge this year is going to be to teach these kids things they don't already know. If they're this eager to learn about geography, I can't wait until we start getting into the language!
This year, my kids couldn't be more of the opposite. In my first period class of 19 students, I think at least 10 of them have been outside of the US. At one point I specifically asked if any of them had been to Mexico, and I think about 8 kids raised their hands, maybe more. (They were mostly cruise ship stops, but still!) So today I was going through all of the Spanish-speaking countries and telling them a little bit about each country, but most of these kids already knew the main points I was going to tell them! When I showed them a picture from Mexico City and I was talking about how big the city is, one boy raised his hand and asked, "Don't they have a big problem with pollution there?" I said yes and started to go on to explain, when another boy asked, "Isn't that because the city is surrounded by mountains?" I was shocked. I've had students before that couldn't even find Mexico on a world map, let alone tell you about the causes of the capital city's pollution problems.
Later we were going through South America, and we labeled the Spanish-speaking countries one at a time. I also had them label Brazil, because, as I told them, it's just so big that you can't ignore it. Anyway, in two of my three classes I had a kid ask, "What are those other 3 little countries?" Wow, these students are eager to learn! The first time this was asked, I told them, but I couldn't remember which was Guyana and which was French Guyana - I always get the two mixed up. A 7th grade boy pointed out which was which, and I realized he was right. I have never had a student who knew those countries.
My challenge this year is going to be to teach these kids things they don't already know. If they're this eager to learn about geography, I can't wait until we start getting into the language!
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