Field Experience - getting outside your bubble

I took my 8th grade kiddos on a field trip the other day and it was awesome. Leading students on a day's adventure to places they wouldn't normally go always proves to be rewarding!

We started off by visiting the Levine Museum of the New South where the exhibit NUEVOlution just opened this past weekend. It's a wonderful exhibit chock full of interactive activities, historical to current-day information, and most importantly - actual community members and leaders from our immediate area. The exhibit also highlights the works of 14 regional artists - one of which is my husband! :) When I scheduled this field trip a few months ago, my husband had not yet signed on to do a piece for NUEVOlution - so it was a nice treat for my students to see his work as a part of this great exhibit!
NUEVOlution starts with the history of Hispanics in the US, reminding us all that way back when native Mexicans, often referred to as 'Chicanos' today, established much of the southwest - way before their Anglo counterparts came along. From there, we are taken on a journey through the decades showing us how the Latino population has grown in the US. An in-depth look at immigration leads into a fantastic flow chart detailing the complicated path to citizenship. Food, faith, activism, social justice, stereotypes, dance, music, etc. are all explored throughout NUEVOlution - commenting that it's comprehensive would be an understatement. NUEVOlution will be on display through October 30, 2016. A whole year's time to enjoy it - I've already been three times in the past seven days!

The only thing I could comment that NUEVOlution lacks in highlighting is the millions of people like me living in the United States! According to the Pew Hispanic Research Center, "Spanish is spoken by more non-Hispanics in U.S. homes than any other non-English language." I am a direct by-product of this "nuevolution." I am not Hispanic, but a Spanish speaker (more or less from childhood) because of an immigrant family I became close to - which then led me to meet and marry a Colombian native. We speak Spanish in the home, my oldest child is completely bilingual, and my 3 year old is speaking-Spanish only! This demographic speaks volumes as to how our country's meshing of cultures is actually taking place. In 2013, it was reported there are 2.8 million of us (non-Hispanics) fully embracing the culture and using Spanish in the home!

"An Immigrant's Tale" by Nico Amortegui

After the Levine, I took the students to the International House (in Plaza-Midwood) so they could attend a real conversation hour. All were very nervous to say the least, but I assured them getting outside their comfort zone wouldn't kill them! If you're not familiar with the International House, it has been around since 1981 and provides assistance to immigrants and foreign-born citizens in our area. They carry out numerous programs, but one I like to promote is their FREE Language Conversation Hours, which they offer weekly and in 10 different languages.
Upon arrival, students first met Raul - the conversation circle's leader. Raul is an octogenarian from Chile and has been leading this weekly Spanish conversation hour for as long as I can remember. He may not remember me, but I remember him! :)
Raul and I chatted it up for a few minutes while my wide-eyed students attempted to calm their nerves! If you've never participated in a public convo hour, there are a few basic rules: must stay in target language, no judgement, and no politics! For the most part, there's a committed group of retired attendees, lunch hour business professionals, and ever so often teachers / students. While my kiddos entered with much trepidation, they left feeling confident and inspired! That is what I love about conversation hour! No matter your level - novice or advanced - the environment is so welcoming that everyone leaves feeling accomplished!

We ended this wonderful day by eating at Sabor Latin Street Grill, and it was yummy! The students tried arepas rellenas, empanadas, mazorca, and churros - and they LOVED it all!

The opportunity to share with my students a little bit of my world (the places I go, the things I eat, the people I know) and for them to trust me in leading them outside their comfort zone is special. They (I hope) learn and grow from such an experience; and I in turn, get to experience the things I love through a fresh lens, learning new perspectives each time.

This is what teaching and learning is all about - the experience!

Anxiety in the foreign language classroom

It's that time of year when I know I have a handful of new-to-Spanish students coming my way and they are more than likely dreading my class!

When you've never studied foreign language and you also happen to be an adolescent - anxiety runs high! Aside from just being uncomfortable, this is what the profession refers to as "affective filters." Identified and described by Stephen Krashen decades ago, affective filters are mental blocks that prohibit comprehensible input and negatively impact one's ability to thrive in a foreign language setting. The piece that many may not realize is that they can affect novice learners and advanced learners alike.

When your affective filters run high, your language learning ability is low. Here they are at a glance:
- anxiety or stress from not recognizing what you hear
- embarrassment, low self-esteem, low confidence
- fear of making a mistake
- fear of speaking in front of peers (or colleagues)
- fear of failure
- fear of not being able to speak with perfection or flow

All of these things can manifest themselves in the classroom setting and are easily recognizable during any Q&A activity I've ever done or observed. The confident student doesn't think twice upon being asked something in the target language and simply responds, but the student who lets the affective filters get the best of them shuts down or shuts off actual listening (and thus comprehension). These students answer with an interrogative or can't answer at all because they have convinced themselves they couldn't do it... before they even started or attempted to.

While all of this is quite normal, allowing affective filters to get the best of you can make or break the classroom experience. Check out these tips in taming your affective filters:

Tips - they may sound simple, but they work!
1) Remain positive with a "can-do" attitude - perhaps easier said than done, but positivity works!
2) Keep Open Ears - don't shut down your brain or shut off your hearing from actually listening!
3) Mind over matter - psyche yourself into it! Focus on what you can do, read, hear, recognize, etc.
4) Trust your teacher! Good foreign language teachers don't expect perfection - they simply want effort! Meet them half way and your experience in foreign language could go from scary to amazing! Your teacher knows you are learning and you don't know everything - that is okay! If you sit in an immersion style class and participate and walk away only getting 50% or 30% - that's okay too - the better question is did you try? Did you continue participating even though you didn't understand 100%? If the answer is yes, then you did your job! Keep it up and comprehensible input will only increase while anxiety decreases, and that 50% will rise to 80%!

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Second Language Acquisition research shows that just putting on a (genuinely) happy face can significantly impact your performance in learning a foreign language.

If you're just starting to learn Spanish (or any other foreign language) and you're 13 or OLDER - then your chances are already down by half! Sorry if this is discouraging, but the optimal gap of acquiring & retaining foreign language is from birth to age 7. This means, once kids hit puberty, their chances decrease significantly and are no better than a 40 or 60 year old in learning a language. Therefore, it's even more important to go into the Spanish learning experience (whether it be a class, workshop, or professional development) with an OPEN mind, OPEN ears, and a SMILE! :)

Colombian Thoughts & Reflections

This calendar year, I have been fortunate enough to have visited Costa Rica (for the 5th time), Mexico (for the 6th time) & Colombia - my husband’s native country - (also for the 6th time.) In all, I have spent about 3 months’ time in Colombia. I received the biggest compliment from my sister-in-law the other day.. She said, “I always forget you’re from here.” While I am not rescinding upon my Southern roots, I have assimilated into Latino culture - and more appropriately - Colombian culture. It has only made my life richer.

No matter how assimilated one is, there are naturally plenty of things that just happen differently in the States vs. other countries. Here are a few of those things that always get my attention when we head to Colombia:

1) How do you know you’ve arrived in South America? We get to bypass the masses and go first in line! Why? Because we have young children with one in a stroller! It’s marvelous. Pregnant women, disabled people, families with babies and young children - ALL get a “preferential” line to themselves. This means we skip ahead of all the long lines waiting to get through security, waiting to get on airplane, waiting to get through customs, waiting, waiting, waiting! When I was pregnant, I relished in this special treatment, but now as I am traveling with a 5 year old and a two year old, it is a blessing for sure!!
The special treatment doesn’t stop there. We fly Avianca - a Colombian airline that still gives its customers all the perks for free! Remember those days of air travel? Like a dream long faded away, Avianca still provides all the services at no extra charge. This means each one of our tickets comes with two free checked bags, two free carry-ons, free extra carry-ons (car seat, stroller), free hot meal, free alcohol. FREE alcohol! Every seat has a TV screen. There’s no better way to travel with children - and, did I mention I had free wine while in route to Bogota?! It’s wonderful to say the least.
On the way to Bogota, the attendants started meal service from the back toward the front skipping quite a few rows in between. I inquired about the process and was informed they feed all the kids first, then go back and do the adults. Come again?! Well, how thoughtful, how accommodating - to really everyone on board - keeping kids quiet, fed and taken care of first! It is the simple things airline companies can do that benefit everyone around, making the flight experience much more enjoyable for all.
If you have to fly into any big city in South America, I recommend Avianca for sure. On a random side note, if you’ve never seen Avianca flight attendants - you can spot them a mile away. Much like that scene from Catch Me If You Can, when the flight attendants are walking down the corridor forming a line across… The Avianca crew seems to do the same! They wear these very regal-looking, scarlet red hats and capes that appear to be straight from the 1920s. It’s a fun photo op : )

2) Is bigger always better? One of my favorite things to do when I travel abroad is to visit the supermarkets. In most of the Latin American countries I have visited, the first very noticeable thing is the size of beverages, snacks, etc. All is a quarter to half size SMALLER than products sold here in the US. I find this interesting because I distinctly remember when I was kid how big product sizes were becoming. Remember when the BIG GULP cup came out?
Cigarette cartons come in what would be 1/2 cartons for the US; the XL size of a potato chip bag is no where near as big as the “family size” we are use to; and the largest soda you can buy is ONE liter. And so, it makes me wonder if the typical Latin family actually consumes less on a regular basis compared to US families. Is there a correlation between consumption & size of packaging?

3) Basic kitchen necessities depends on the culture! We rented a nice, little apartment in ‘tierra caliente’ for 5 days to take a little break from BOG. If you are reading this and you aren’t familiar with the climate in Colombia - it is all microclimates. This means it could be 60, cloudy, cool, & no humidity in Bogota, but take a little drive down the mountain range and just two hours away it’s sunny, very hot & humid. The latter describes 'tierra caliente.' In this furnished apartment in Anapoima, we had a kitchen with basic necessities. I took a picture of them because “basic needs” in Colombia was strikingly different from basic needs here in the US, I thought. I imagine if I rented a furnished apartment in the US, I would expect to find a can opener, a corkscrew, and coffee maker. This is what we had:

Do you know which one is used to make coffee? :)

The takeaway:
I love the fact my children get to be a part of two worlds. While it took me years before I could say I was “bilingual” - my girls were given this gift from birth. It’s amazing (and I don’t use that word often) to see them interact with their great-grandparents in Bogota. While I love being in Colombia, its culture, and its people; Bogota is a HUGE city that I would not want to live in permanently. Being there, even for just a few days, one realizes very quickly how hard it is to get around and get things done. Have a dentist appointment scheduled? Well, consider that your whole day eaten up! Over the course of our 3 week stay, we waited in line one hour in the taxi line at the train station; and easily spent hours in a taxi trying to get to any given destination. The Transmilenio (above ground subway) is no different. Going from uptown to downtown still takes a solid 45 minutes to over an hour depending on time of day.
One day we decided to take the girls to see the new movie, Inside Out (‘Intensamente’ en español). We chose the 3:30 matinee thinking it would be less crowded on that Wed afternoon. We were wrong. It’s Bogota, there’s millions of people! We waited in line forever, not sure if we could even get tickets, but ended up with the last few available. By the way, want to know what time the movies play and what’s showing? You still call the theater! Remember doing that?

Being in Bogota makes me realize how easy it is to get things done in the US. Many still pay their bills in person! For some, that’s the only way to do it and others simply don’t trust the online systems. My husband’s grandmother pays all of her bills in person! Think about how much time it takes to arrive at each place vs. online or even by phone (which also doesn’t happen!) I think there is a trust in the mail system or online bill-pay that we have in the US that other countries simply do not. If you’re one to ponder quality of life and those happy indexes that come out each year, I would think spending countless hours simply trying to take care of business would eat away at your happy levels and increase your stress levels. Despite this, Colombians consistently rank in the top 10 (every time those reports come out) for being the happiest people on Earth. I can certainly attest to their outlook on life. As a whole, Colombians are very positive people and with that, I hope this post was mildly entertaining or slightly informative… now, find some Colombian friends & see for yourself what ‘zest for life’ is!

José Martí & Eric Garner

Two names, both alike in dignity, in fair Americas, where the scene was laid to rest ....

If you are a human being that can read, I strongly recommend reading or rereading the works of Cuban revolutionary, José Martí. A true renaissance man that was well ahead of his time in thinking progressively... because get this - he believed that diversity is a positive thing, that slavery should not exist, and that all people of all backgrounds, ethnicities and color should get along! What's remarkable is that Martí wrote these things in the late 1800s.
Martí held degrees in law and philosophy. He was a writer, a poet, a journalist, a political activist, a revolutionary and a true freedom fighter - fighting with his words and his brain above all else.
"Pensar es servir" - "to think is to serve" he wrote in Nuestra America - an essay on the status of political Cuba at the time, but really his prescriptive advice & heeded warnings are easily applied to all of the Americas (which was his intention.) The media-plastered stories of young black men being killed by people in positions of authority stops most of us in our tracks to ask ourselves, "What the hell is going on?" Is it racism? Fear? Miscommunication? Does it matter which one it is when at the end of the day human lives were lost - where the reactions were not justified? "...las armas del juicio que vencen a las otras" - "Weapons of the mind defeat the other (kind)" - Martí believed that a little cultural competence and THINKING could serve the people better than guns. The reality may be that this is not the society we live in today, but could it not be a start?
"Si la república no abre los brazos a todos y adelanta con todos, muere la república." If the republic does not open its arms to all (people) and move forward with all, the republic dies!" How profound and thought provoking as we navigate and filter through the stories brought to us on race relations or even, immigration laws!

My seniors examined these quotes from Martí just last week in class. Eric Garner's name was mentioned and one student asked what happened. This student just happens to be a young, black man. I told him what happened to Eric Garner and what did (not) happen to the police officer. He showed no emotion, but it hurt to tell him this. It is sad for everyone involved and for all of us watching from home. It's sad that an unarmed black male in a hoodie and 'hands up in the air' have become symbols of injustice carried out by the people we are supposed to trust. Why should any of us be okay with what has happened? These young men were their mother's babies and their lives do matter.
No matter if you are black or if you are white, you should not be okay or numb to these recent tragedies. Being white does not mean you have no voice in this - you should stand next to your black neighbor and say it out loud - "this is not okay!" Martí boldly stated in his essay,"No hay odio de razas, porque no hay razas." "There is no hatred of races, because there are no races," - that we are a country of one and in that, it's people should come together to build up the community they collectively own... "that salvation was in creation."

José Martí was shot dead fighting for Cuba's freedom in 1895. What will we do in 2015 to ensure the lives of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, & Tamir Rice were not lost in vain?



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The topics of race and identity have always struck a cord with me. I have spent a lot of time over the past couple years attending conferences and seminars on cultural competence, multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion. As a teacher and a parent, I see how race is a non-issue in most preschool and Kinder classrooms. My five year old says we are all chocolate - white, brown, dark. So, while most little kids notice - they don't have the history or stereotypes that can create fear, distrust, or hate. How can adults reasonably get back to that? In 2015, I will be speaking on this topic in a seminar called, "Race in Your Face: Moving from color blind to bold" - details to come.

DDLM

!Día de los Muertos!

Also, known as Day of the Dead, is one of my favorite cultural units to teach my students about. The meaning behind this (mostly) Mexican holiday is something I think transcends cultures or countries. Día de los Muertos is about celebrating and honoring the lives of loved ones who have passed away. Today, the holiday blends Catholic traditions with ancient Mexica ones as people create altars in their homes, visit cemeteries, and tell the stories about loved ones to keep the memories alive. In my 7th grade class, students learn about Day of the Dead, and choose a person they would like to honor. We build an altar in the classroom and students bring in photos, and other items that either belonged to the person or that represent the person.

The Aztec people believed in multiple layers of earth - and so, our life time on earth is only a small portion, and what you do as you pass through the many layers of heaven is what really counts. Today, Mexican people believe death is not to be feared, it is only a part of the on-going cycle of life. This is why calaveras (skulls) and calacas (toy skeletons) reign during the Day of the Dead celebrations from Nov. 1-2. Skull or skeleton art is a big part of Mexican folk art. The skeletons are lively, humorous, and usually doing worldly things, like playing a guitar or driving a car. The calaveras are usually brightly colored, ornate, sometimes covered in flowers or butterflies, but always beautiful representations of death - as odd as that may sound, it's really something to behold.
My students really get into this celebration. After they pick the person they want to honor, they write about him / her on decorative, calavera stationary and then, they go home to seek out things to bring in for the altar. The only rule to this is they can't purchase anything! By the end of the week, the altar looks amazing and is full of light, color, stories, pictures and artifacts of the lives once lived. The students place the items very carefully on the altar - finding just the right spot. Once it is up, many students come to visit my room just to view the altar and take it all in! The way they gaze over it is quite touching and they are so careful not to disturb any of the items placed. In class, my students are eager to share and tell about who and what!

Each year, I place a picture of my own beautiful, little niece who passed from cancer when she was 4 years old. Because most of them choose a grandparent, they are curious as to who the little girl is. They will ask me and then the questions stop - maybe for fear of prying or maybe because it is hard for them to comprehend. I was accustomed to this response until last year when one student asked me way more than, "Who was she?" She wanted to know all about her. I smiled at this student and wanted to hug her, but refrained for fear I would embarrass her! Turns out she also chose to celebrate the life of a child - her sister had passed at age 3 from Leukemia. This year, this same student brought in the most beautiful collection of her sister's belongings and she told us the story about each item: her sweet little shoes, her Maisy, the Mouse lunchbox with a collection of Chiclets and birthday candles stored inside, and a stuffed ladybug. We all listened intently and I personally rejoiced inside for having had the opportunity to provide an outlet to see, hear, and share the lives of these people - especially the little ones - the angelitos (as they are called in Mexico.)
And so, I'll end this post with a nod to Aisylin Grace, Hannah & Asher - the brevity of your lives is no match for how you have forever changed ours.

**Click on the images for close-up views.

There's a rabbit in the moon!

Two years ago, I was handed the Non-AP senior Spanish class. It had been a long while since I had taught "big kids," so I was a little weary. The upside was my Administrators gave me free range! The course is called Spanish Conversation and Culture for the Non-AP track. I decided I wanted to teach the big pieces that don't fit in the middle school curriculum. By big pieces, I mean those that I feel seniors should know about before graduating and heading off to college. We study Hispanic culture & history through literature pieces like myths, legends, creation stories, politics and a few films.
I love teaching Creation stories - or stories of origin - as they can tell us so much about any given society. Perhaps if we all were required to read excerpts from books like the Bible, the Q'ran, or the Torah, we would have a better understanding of how others think and believe. Perhaps this would create a mutual understanding or even better - a mutual respect!
Right now my senior students are reading the Popol Vuh - the Mayan book of origin - creation of the world and man. By reading this ancient text, they have learned why corn was deemed so important to their people and why respecting your elders is a cornerstone to familial life. We also read a little legend called "El sol y la luna" (The Sun & the Moon). It tells the story of how light was created by sacrificing two gods. These gods became the sun and the moon we know today. However, as the two balls of light arose in the sky equally bright, the other gods decided one should be dimmer than the other. To dim one light, a god grabbed a rabbit and hurled it at the moon, smacking it with the rabbit. For this reason, the moon is not as bright as the sun and to this day you can see the imprint of the rabbit in the moon.
I first heard this story in 1997 when I stayed with a family that lived in Guadalajara, Mexico. For them, it was common knowledge that you can see a rabbit in the moon. I looked up and in fact, I could see it. Living in the United States of course it had never been brought to my attention, but there it was plain as day - or night, rather! This got me thinking when people argue over the sky being blue or the grass being green - infer religion or politics, etc. here - a lot of our heated debates or complete miscommunications obviously stem from not understanding the other. If we took the time to dig in and really learn a little history about those we have conflicts with, maybe it could begin a path of peaceful coexistence. A respectful agreement to disagree, but behind it an understanding of why you see a man in the moon and I see a rabbit.



photo credit: mexicolore.co.uk

Dichos y Refranes for the classroom journal

I love DICHOS! Dichos are sayings in Spanish - they can be funny, proverbial, or just plain good advice! Doing a weekly dicho is something I initiated with my 8th graders years ago. Every Monday, they come in and get a Dicho-of-the-Week. They copy the Spanish dicho down in their journals and have all week to work on it - turning the journal in on Friday. Step 1 is to copy the Spanish dicho I have given them. Step 2 is to write out the English translation somewhat verbatim. Step 3 is for the student to write out his/her own interpretation of the dicho - what it really means and perhaps in what situation it could be used. Step 4 is the hardest - students are asked to think of an English equivalent. We do this by adhering to our school's Honor Code - meaning the students are not allowed to Google any of the dichos. Instead, they are asked to talk about them with their parents or grandparents.
I have had good success in doing these over the years, but recently received the nicest compliment from a parent. She told me that each week their family looks forward to the dicho I've given them and that the student calls her grandmother to talk about it. This makes me smile inside! My little classroom activity is dinner table conversation!

Dichos are an excellent tool for learning more about any given language and culture. I also coordinate them weekly to go along with our topics in grammar. So, for example, if we are studying Reflexive verbs, then I pick a dicho with a reflexive. Here are some of my favorite examples:

Easy - "Perro que ladra, no muerde." "All bark, no bite."

Intermediate - "En boca cerrada, no entran moscas." "Lose lips sink ships."

Hard - "Salir de Guatemala y meterse en guatepeor." This one is a pun in Spanish, so it obviously won't translate verbatim, but there is a perfect English equivalent having nothing to do with the Spanish version - "Out of the kettle and into the fire!"