Resilience in the Teaching of Languages

Above: The Nerf microphone ball enables boys learning remotely to hear their classmates well.

The pandemic has challenged educators to reinvent and reimagine units of study to keep learning engaging, regardless of how it is delivered.

The following article, written for Saint David’s Magazine by our Modern Languages Chair Dr. Victoria Gilbert and Lower School Spanish teacher Flor Berman, addresses how this was done in the Spanish immersion language program at Saint David's. Ms. Berman and Dr. Gilbert, recipient of the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers' Ruth E. Wasley Distinguished Teacher Award, presented on the topic at NYSAIS’s Flexible Classroom Conference last summer.

How Spanish Classes Have Bounced Back

Resiliency implies an ability to bounce back, but as teachers working with the youngest learners in the school, we would reframe resiliency as the opportunity to reimagine. Whether boys are learning through a face-to-face experience or through the mediating screen, our goal is to make language acquisition so engaging that students forget to be nervous and just launch into using the new expressions they hear. By asking ourselves what will hook our students’ interest as we design curriculum to be delivered in multiple modalities, we have to reimagine how, when, and why the boys would choose to use Spanish.

Last spring, with very limited notice, we went from ordinary lives to a complete change just like everyone else. Luckily, we had a brief interval called spring break in which to revamp our plans. While we were still allowed outside, and knowing that we would be working with the theme of exploring one’s neighborhood in Second Grade, Doctora Gilbert traveled around Spanish Harlem interviewing different shop owners from butchers to soccer equipment and specialty drinks to provide the boys who would be stuck at home with a chance to peek into another corner of the city. This became the basis of our work for part of the spring. By using Can-Do statements to focus student attention on what they can do with language (as recommended by the American Council of Teaching of Foreign Languages), boys were able to complete a “just right” level task during each of the abbreviated class times we had with them. Whether it was listening to the exchange between the shop owner and Felipe, our puppet, or creating their own questions, the boys were engaged by the real-life context. In a sense, the city became our new “textbook.” Boys even learned how to make tamales and had the chance to try it out with their families while learning about this new food.

Trying to figure out how students might be able to work together in Third Grade led us to investigate new applications such as Bookcreator. Rather than working on an individual text, third graders used technology to collaborate with a peer in real time and asynchronously. Using Bookcreator, they wrote nonfiction texts about a favorite wild animal, integrating science and Spanish studies. They were so proud of their results. The online format made it easy to share these books with family and friends. In reimagining how to accomplish these projects, we actually were able to do more with them.

During the spring, Saint David’s enabled all Lower School students and faculty to connect via Seesaw. This wonderful interactive platform allowed us to engage with students during distance learning. Profesora Berman created a series of Seesaw Tasks for active learning and to boost proficiency in Spanish. Lower School students were challenged to sing and move to the tune of new songs, to read relevant books, and complete a series of follow-up activities. They even learned how to play cultural games and dance to salsa music.

Our Spanish Seesaw Tasks sparked students’ curiosity to discover more about the culture and use the language beyond the classroom. In addition, we used Seesaw as a proficiency portfolio for students to complete projects and demonstrate their growth in Spanish. Omega students created an interactive mini-biography of their favorite dinosaur called “Mi Omegasaurio.” First Grade students pretended to be engineers and prepared and presented key features of their preferred futuristic form of transportation. The advantages of using the Seesaw platform included being able to stay connected to our students’ performances and save their work electronically over time so that we could easily track their progress.

Technology allowed us to bring “the outside world in” for our younger learners. Each Performance Assessments Task included a real world scenario for students to use their Spanish skills. Online platforms also provided a channel for students, parents and teachers to work together and celebrate students’ accomplishments.

This fall presented new challenges and once again challenged our creativity. How could we manage learners in front of us and learners in cyberspace simultaneously? How could we make this a point of strength rather than a tripping hurdle? Again, imagination and a lot of hard work came to the rescue. By imagining that all content had to be delivered on paper and virtually (until Chromebooks were available) at the same time, we transitioned to playing the same games we had always played in new ways and with new formats. Every activity we designed had to have a paper version and a virtual component. Luckily, our presentations from the NYSAIS summer conference came in handy as we designed these newly formatted lessons. Being able to transition seamlessly from all face-to-face to a sudden virtual learner was a key new skill. Essentially, every lesson had to have a “Plan B” just in case a boy switched his learning situation.

Many of our classes rely on games that level up to address the boys’ ambitions and varied abilities on the fly. In pre-Covid times, these games required props such as flyswatters, tossing cubes, poster board and tic-tac-toe boards. Part of our work this summer was to reinvent each game in such a way that it could be played in person and online at the same time. Keeping up with other teachers’ social media posts, conference offerings, and reimagining has allowed us to find substitutes for most of these games. Most important, is to preserve a kinesthetic element to game participation so that our boys can move as they learn, no matter where they are.

One of our newest tools is the Nerf microphone where boys disinfect their hands and desks and then toss a speaker around to each other. This allows the boys at home to hear their classmates very well. Thanks to Nora Sundar, our Director of Curriculum Integration, we continue to explore new tools that make learning engaging and possible across screens and six feet. Who knows, maybe some will even remain a part of our tool kit post-Covid? 

Saint David's School: www.saintdavids.org