Second Class

5/31/12

I taught my second class today.  Many of the police officers went home today, so only a few students were repeats of the first day.  I had only 7 students today.  It was the perfect number.

I was much more prepared for class today.  Last class, I spent a lot of time writing on my whiteboards (sheet protectors) and lost valuable teaching time.  Today, I had key phrases and questions strategically written beforehand.  When I changed topics, I only needed to show a new white board.  When students struggled with already covered concepts, I had the old boards still available.

I also gave the students more time to practice what they learned.  They liked having so many opportunities.  I first modeled the target language and showed the grammar on whiteboards.  Then, I let them practice while I held the whiteboards for those who needed it.  Then, I took the “cheat sheets” away completely.

Today’s lesson was a repeat of the first: “To be” in the simple present tense.  We covered how to introduce yourself, and how to introduce others.  We also covered how to ask who someone is.

After an hour or so, we moved onto a truncated lesson of “This and That”.  I wanted to introduce more vocabulary, but we ran out of time.  The students caught on quickly to the difference between “this” and “that”.  We even moved into asking questions, “Is this____? Is that _____? Are you ______? Is he___? Is she_____?” and how to answer these questions.

I am very glad to speak at least basic Spanish.  When the students were helping each other, I was able to either confirm or deny their explanations.  This motivates me to further my Spanish studies.

Tomorrow, we will have a two hour class.  I will teach more vocabulary as well as expand into “these” and “those”.