About the Practicum
ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Curwensville Area High School is the school where I had the opportunity to complete my teaching practicum. I was able to teach for a month under Señorita Tonelli. This is also where I went to high school not long ago, and I have noticed that the atmosphere within this school is second-to-none. The teachers care about their students, the students respect their teachers, and there is just a general energy about this school that I have not found elsewhere. Although it is small in size compared to some schools, the character and quality that pour out of here from both teachers and students make it simply amazing. It is from this place that I try to shape my classroom, my teaching, and my energy.
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LESSON PLANS
Included are two of the lesson plans that I was able to write up and present to the students. Both went very well and the students really seemed to grasp the concepts that I was teaching them. The students were very engaged and energetic for both lessons.
Te gustan frijoles?
The first lesson plan focuses on the verb "gustar" where the students learned how this verb works. It was their first exposure to this kind of verb, but they all seemed to grasp the concept well. They were able to practice their interpersonal speaking, writing, reading, and listening throughout the lesson. They also were able to reflect on what each classmate liked as well as discovering some differences about the Spanish culture and their own.
Research Project
The second lesson plan guided the students through a small project. The students were able to research one other country's cuisine and present it in front of the class. This exposed them to the different foods from other cultures and it helped them use their newly-learned vocabulary. At the end there is a check sheet that helps guide the students through the project. Altogether, it was a fun and exciting way for the students to gain some intercultural understanding while learning and growing their own language skills at the same time.
MATERIALS
Below are some of the materials I used in the classroom to teach the students throughout their lesson focusing on food. They were given practice with vocabulary, practice with verbs, and practice with gustar. The game Battleship was a huge hit among the students to help teach them verb endings.
Vocabulary Practice
The students were given a short worksheet to assist with their learning of the food vocabulary. This sheet required them to not only translate the words into Spanish to practice their vocabulary, but also to think about where the words fit onto the food pyramid, making them think about what each word means as well.
Verb Practice
This was a big hit with the students. They were told to write down the verbs that they were learning in this section (er verbs), putting one on each blank. Then, they would draw their Battleship "pieces" onto their boards and in order to guess a space, they would have to say the pronoun on the top row along with the corresponding version of the verb that they wanted to guess. The winner would be the student who sank all of the other student's ships first.
Chapter Test
This is the test that the teacher and I were able to create. It was created using Google Forms so that students who were at home could keep up and take the test as well. Since I taught during Covid-19, we had to find ways to reach the students who were sick or quarantining at home and we found that Google Forms was a very user-friendly way to administer short quizzes and tests.
Research Project
The research project that the students did was based around their intercultural awareness. This helped them look deeper into the Spanish culture instead of simply learning about the language. They were required to learn about and present on a specific food in the Spanish culture that intrigued them. They would make a presentation with the slideshow below as a reference and then present it in front of the class after working on it for a couple of days.
TEACHING EXAMPLES
I was able to record an entire class that I taught. In this lesson, the students learned about the verb gustar. I made sure to use technology to help them stay focused and energetic throughout the lesson, and I made sure to constantly be in contact with them to show them how the verb gustar works in Spanish. The students were very perceptive to this lesson, and they got the concept of the verb down enough to communicate using it.
BLOG
I was also able to blog about my experiences while teaching at Curwensville High School. I wanted to keep track of my time teaching here and be able to look back on it in the future. It also gave me the opportunity to reflect on my lessons and see what could have been better for the next time I teach them.