26.2

I would not call my marathon experience fun, however, I would say it was an amazing experience that really forced me to push farther than I thought I could and if I could go back I would definitely do it again. I now feel like I can do anything.
























My students threw me a surprise going away party my last day at Panther Creek High School.

Leesville Road Middle School

http://leesvillems.wcpss.net/

This is where I will be teaching ESL next semester.

Choices Choices

This past summer, as I was thinking about my post graduation plans I told myself that I had until Christmas to decide...because after studnet teaching I would have a better idea of what I wanted to do post graduation.

Well....it's almost Christmas; meaning I'm supposed to have decided what I am going to do post graduation, right?

In case you were wondering I still don't know. I've been praying about all semester and I just don't feel any certain "pull" in one direction.

My choices are:
Staying in Raleigh and teaching (Spanish or ESL)
Staying in Raleigh and teaching while attending grad school part-time
Returning to Asheville and teaching
Returning to Asheville and teaching while attending grad school part-time
Returning to Asheville and interning with MNA (mission to North America) doing an ESL ministry
Going to Peru with MTW (Mission to the World)
Going to Mexico with MTW/RUF (Reformed University Fellowship)
Going to Queens, NY with Campus Crusade to start a Destino group

Quien sabe???

Last Week before Christmas Vacation

Well I never though I would say this, but I am really sad about the end of this semester. I am excited to go home for a MONTH (!!!) but I am going to really miss my students. I have gotten really attached to them.

This past week we have been working on the Subjunctive. To practice distinguishing between the Subjunctive and the Indicative we played "Roba el Tocino" (Steel the Bacon). I knitted an S and an I to represent the subjunctive and the indicative. Once the class was divided into two teams each student was given a number (each team had a one, a two, a three, etc). I would read the beginning of a phrase and then call a number. The two students with the number called had to run into the middle of the room (where the S and I were on the floor) and grab the letter based on what should follow the beginning phrase. Once a student grabe the correct letter they had to make it back to their team without the other person tagging them. We had a blast!



Friday night I went Ice Skating in downtown Raleigh with Mi Familia (NC State's Latino organization) and Sarah Riddle. The Winter Festival began with the lighting of the Raleigh Christmas tree, games for children, and an outdoor iceskating rink. It was "magical" and just like the movies skating outside.

After iceskating I went salsa dancing with friends from Chapel Hill and NC State.

There is no such thing as being bored....just boring people

I hope that is not true, because I'm bored. Right now it's a good kind of bored. I'm bored because I'm done with my work for this semester. I'm done with my teaching portfolio, I'm have my last two weeks of student teaching all planned all copies made, and I have two (soon three) planning periods.... what to do????? For now this is a good kind of bored. No stress, no anxiety, just relaxation. But soon I will get tired of "wasting time". Please send suggesstions!!!!

(P.S. I can't access Facebook on school computers=NO FUN!)

My level II class (who I am no longer teaching...sad!) recently learned the imperfect tense. This tense is used to describe conditions and reoccuring events in the past tense. So, Ms. Toreson and I brought in Milk and Cookies and large blankets. We cleared the desks, put the blankets on the floor and had the students bring in their favorite childhood toy. We had "show-in-tell" and the students each had to talk about their toy using the imperfect. It was delightful!

gifts of the parents

So, I got my car towed. Long story short (well, really it's just a short story) I got back late one night to my apartments and there was no parking anywhere near my building. So, being the [really cute] young 21 year-old FEMALE that I am, I decided I did not feel safe parking [really] far away and walking back... [also, out of laziness]. So, I parked in front of the dumpster. Yes, dumb, I know, but I was going to get up [really, really] really early in the morning for work and I know the trash men don't come before 6 a.m.

Well, lo and behold, sometime in the wee hours of the morning my car was towed. The point of this story is to highlight my GRATEFULNESS [in light of the Thanksgiving season] I have toward my parents for the gifts that have given me: persuasion [thank you, mom] and stubbornness...because the "customer" is always right" [thank you, dad].

Due to the gifts [that I once, and sometimes still do, hated as a child in public] that I have received from my parents, I was able to talk the towing company down from a $100 recovery fee to a $50 recovery fee. What talent!

...and I parked in front of a dumpster!....duh, Lara, duh.

Dona Dollars

One of my goals for this semester (and for any semester I teach Spanish) is to get the students speaking in the target language (aka: Spanish). Most students who take Spanish in high school expect to be "fluent" after a few years, but realize they can barely carry on a conversation with a native Spanish speaker after all those semesters. Part of this is the fault of teachers for 1.) not speaking to their students in Spanish and 2.) for not making the students ever have to speak in Spanish. These are both understandable problems. For one, it's SO MUCH EASIER to speak to your students in English. As for getting them to talk to you in Spanish, it's challenging, makes them feel vulnerable (what if they say something funny or incorrect in front of their peers), and they know you will understand them perfectly fine if they speak in English. So to achieve my goals of making my students as conversationally "fluent" as they can possibly be from Spanish class, I have create the "Dona Dollar". This is how it works... 10% of the students' grade is participation and I give the a weekly participation grade. Each Monday the students will start with a 90% participation grade. When they speak to me in Spanish or a classmate in Spanish I give them a Dona Dollar. (Side note: they cannot randomly yell "hola" during class and get a Dona Dollar. Their comment must be relevant and beneficial for the whole class. ) At the end of the week I collect their received Dona Dollars and for each dollar their participation grade goes up a point. (example: 90 + 6 dona dollars= 96%). I also have a seating chart taped to my whiteboard that has each of their names on it. If during class they are talking in English, while either I am talking or another person is talking I put a tally by their name. I also put a tally by their name if they are sleeping in class. At the end of the week I subtract a point from their participation grade for each tally by their name. (example: 90+ 6 dona dollars - 4 tallys = 92%)

This system is also a great way for me to diferentiate. I have some students who are very conversational in Spanish and some students who are still working on learning how to introduce themselves in Spanish. I remind them that I am the Queen of Dona Dollar (because I am Dona Sullivan after all) and I determine when a Dona Dollar is deserved. For example, my more advanced students must use an upper level phrase or sentence to earn their dollars but some of my students will earn dollars for simple phrases, because I know they are reaching the current potential. I also give them Dona Dollars if they see me outside of class and use Spanish.

The Dona Dollar system is AMAZING and I can't get my students to stop talking in Spanish. Even though they think up questions to ask that might not be super necessary, just to get a Dona Dollar, I don't care because they are speaking in Spanish!

*** this picture is the picture of my actual Dona Dollar and I print 600 (10 per page) of them each week on light green paper.