Spanish Community Service Learning: First Day of Class

by Ann Abbott

I have shared my first-day-of-the-semester lesson plans before.


I think the first day is really important. You have a chance to make a big impression. So I always teach. I don't go through the syllabus and tell them I'll seem them next time.

So here's what I did on the first day of class of the Spring 2015 semester. It walked them through our never-ending cycle of class, community, class, community...

Class

I thanked students for signing up for this course. I know that it is an elective and that for many students it doesn't officially "count." It takes a special student to take one the unique work for this class and to show solidarity with a vulnerable community.

Then I put them into pairs, told them to talk five minutes (hablar sin parar) about why they are taking this class. They had many reasons--speaking Spanish, keeping up their Spanish after a study-abroad experience, a friend took the course and recommended it, etc.

Community

I told students that they will have to work 28 hours in the community. Our work in the class will help prepare them for their work in the community, and their work in the community will inform our class discussions. I showed them the wiki that they will use to sign up and previewed some of the choices they have for their community partners.

Class

Before playing the video below, I wrote these phrases on the board:
  • Algo que ya sabías.
  • Algo que no sabías.
  • Una pregunta.
I told them to take notes while watching the video below so that they could then write down a sentence for each phrase.

Students were very interested in this video. And most of the information was new to them.



Community

Then I passed out telephone message pads. I told them that the situation in the video isn´t just happening in Texas. Our community is also impacted by the border crossings of young people.

I read this message from a local Latino leader. Students had to listen and take down the information on the telephone pad. That's hard! They saw that they had a lot to learn, even with just the Spanish language. But of course it also shows an example of the needs that they will encounter in our community. 
FAVOR: tengo un estudiante de High School que tiene cita con inmigración en Chicago el día 4 de febrero a las 9 am. Este estudiante no tiene a sus padres aquí ni a ningún adulto que maneje. Si alguien va a ir a Chicago ese día por favor comuniquense conmigo si pudieran darle ride a este muchacho. Yo pago la gasolina. La persona que lo lleve no necesita entrar con el a su cita, puede dejarlo afuera del edificio y esperarlo ahí. La cita no tarda mas de una hora. Si alguien esta interesado en ayudar por favor avisenme. Gracias!

So that's it. My first class of the new semester. We talked about class, then the community, then did classwork, then talked about community needs. And that's what we'll continue to do all semester.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vocabulary for Parent-Teacher Conferences

Image
I'm very happy that so many students responded to our community partner's need for help. Our students' language skills will help Central High School's Latino parents better communicate with the teachers during the parent-teacher conferences next week. Central's secretary will contact the students directly to schedule times with them. Here is some vocabulary help for students. Materias. School subjects are "materias" NOT "sujetos." You should remember subjects from your intro Spanish courses, but here are some reminders: historia, matemáticas, inglés, física, química, biología, educación física, etc. General vocabulary. Notas = grades; aprobar = to pass; suspender = to fail; conducta, comportamiento = behavior. Topics. Ms. Citraro offers the following advice: "The topics and vocabulary that would come up are about the subjects at school. For example: no ha entregado las tareas tiene que tomar el examen otra vez habla mucho en clase falta muc...
Read more

How to Correctly File Hispanic Names

Image
I know that community-based learning students don't like it when they are asked to file during their time in the community. However, their learning goals are to improve their Spanish and knowledge of Latino cultures. Filing information on clients with Hispanic names helps them with both. And imagine the impact of mis-filing for the organizations where our students work and and their clients. That's why I was unhappy to learn that many SPAN 232 students did not do well on their exam section asking them to put some Hispanic names in alphabetical order. I can imagine that some students feel that putting names into alphabetical order isn't important. It is! It is especially important in the organizations where they work because they are dealing with clients who may not have "accommodated" to the American system of using only one last name. And it is especially important for clients whose papers are so important for their legal status, medical information and oth...
Read more

Interview with Jessica Horn of ACCIÓN Chicago

Image
By Carolyn Kloecker , Span 232 student This past week I completed an assignment for my Business Communications class (SPCM 211) which was to interview someone in a field that I am interested in working for in the future. I asked her many questions about the organization, and lots of information can be found on their website www.accionchicago.org . This organization is a Community Partner with Spanish & Illinois, and has an extensive connection with the Spanish-speaking community in the Chicagoland area. Here are a few of the questions and answers from Jessica: Is ACCIÓN a fairly new organization? How did it begin? ACCIÓN Chicago started in 1994, but the parent organization, ACCIÓN was started in 1961. It is the largest micro-lending organization, and it began in Venezuela, and took root in the U.S. in 1991. How do loan officers communicate with clients? Mostly by phone, as people call in to the office to get a loan for their small business. The website is also a main form o...
Read more