tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063911725209460612024-03-13T19:22:30.659-07:00Jalen Waltman's Complete Spanish Lesson PlansGet organized. Have everything ready at your fingertips. And devote your energy to teaching your class!Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-53461620751837441722020-07-07T15:27:00.010-07:002020-09-01T14:06:53.136-07:00Announcing My Online, On-Demand Spanish 1 Course!<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzK5XHdqKEVLLVjQZ32UHQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="Jalen Waltman Online Spanish Course on YouTube" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XJbsBhXJFGg/XwTZUFwl7bI/AAAAAAAABgk/aqt5Y3npEE47Q1e2bVA2_56Q1qg--WVmgCK4BGAsYHg/w640-h360/Spanish%2B1A%2BL1%2Bpt1%2Bthumb3.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click ↑ to go to my new YouTube Channel!</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">It's here! I'm teaching my "Jalen Waltman" <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzK5XHdqKEVLLVjQZ32UHQ" target="_blank">standards-based high school Spanish 1 curriculum on YouTube</a></b> and have published a <a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank"><b>Spanish 1 workbook</b> to go with the videos</a>!</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">Meet Your Instructor</font></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">I'm a certified K-12 Spanish teacher currently holding professional teaching licenses in both Colorado and Oklahoma. I was Nationally Board Certified in World Languages Other than English in 2003, and I have a Master's degree in Teaching from Colorado College. I've taught every level of Spanish from Spanish 1 through AP Spanish Language and Culture. I've been writing and selling Spanish lesson plan curriculum for all of those levels since 2005 all over the U.S. and Canada, on <a href="https://amzn.to/3f8K5Ld" target="_blank">Amazon</a> as well as on <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Sellers-Im-Following/Add/Jalen-Waltman" target="_blank">Teachers Pay Teachers</a>.</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">It's Spanish 1, Online and On-Demand!</font></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><b>S</b></font><b style="font-size: x-large;">tudents can access <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzK5XHdqKEVLLVjQZ32UHQ" target="_blank">my YouTube videos</a> from any device, anywhere</b><span style="font-size: x-large;">. They can pause my instruction, re-watch segments of it, come back to where they left off later, and they will </span><b style="font-size: x-large;">grade everything themselves <a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank">in their own workbook</a></b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> by following along with me in the videos.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">There is also no need for schools or students to buy software, pay a subscription fee to a program, create an account, log in, or participate in video calls with a Spanish teacher. <b>All of my instruction is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzK5XHdqKEVLLVjQZ32UHQ" target="_blank">free on YouTube</a></b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzK5XHdqKEVLLVjQZ32UHQ" target="_blank">.</a> The only cost is the <b>281-page, $35 student workbook. </b></font><b style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/32r9Bbd" target="_blank">The student workbook contains my syllabus and ALL the work for the course</a> - </b><span style="font-size: x-large;">there is no need to copy anything else to hand out to students or supplement the workbook with any additional assignments. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank"><img alt="Jalen Waltman's Complete Spanish 1A Workbook for YouTube" border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--0tf6dTYkuw/XwTkh0uEq4I/AAAAAAAABhI/UN-1lbfmVpY_92oFvUalkqT7OEEDXN6cACK4BGAsYHg/w309-h400/Cover%2BSpan%2B1A%2BWorkbook.jpg" title="Workbook for YouTube" width="309" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank">Paperback only - now Available on Amazon</a></td></tr></tbody></table><font size="5"><br /></font></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">How to Use my Spanish 1 Online Course</font></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">Schools or families can use my online Spanish course with students <b>in a classroom setting</b> (with or without a "highly qualified" Spanish teacher) or as an <b>at-home, individual online learning foreign language course</b>.</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">My workbook <b>covers all <a href="https://www.waltmania.com/p/first-day-lesson-toca-la-guitarra-va-la.html" target="_blank">the vocab and grammar taught in a mainstream Spanish 1 textbook</a></b> and is <b>aligned with novice-level ACTFL standards.</b> I teach and lead students through exercises in <b>all 4 skill areas of Spanish: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing</b>.</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">The <a href="https://www.waltmania.com/p/scope-and-sequence.html" target="_blank">scope and sequence</a> is <b>exactly what I taught at the high school level</b> in my own classes since 2009. The only difference is that <b>on YouTube I was able to cover ALL of it more thoroughly</b> and reach the end of my first semester lessons since I wasn't being interrupted by assemblies, special testing days, school events, snow days, delayed starts, going over the student handbook, giving absent students their makeup work, etc.</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">Students taking my YouTube Spanish course can <b>go at their own pace,</b> pausing the videos as needed, re-watch any segments that they didn't quite understand, and review any material they so choose.</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">Students will <b>work <a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank">in their own workbook</a></b> as they watch my video instruction, pausing the video and writing in their own handwriting <b>as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzK5XHdqKEVLLVjQZ32UHQ" target="_blank">I direct them on the videos</a></b>, to prove that they did the work themselves. They will also <b>evaluate and grade all their own practices and formative assessments</b> throughout the <a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank">workbook</a>, with me, on the videos.</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">(Note: my <a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank">Spanish 1A workbook is copyrighted</a> and </span><b style="font-size: x-large;">not for copying and distribution as handouts or online</b><span style="font-size: x-large;">. If you want or need copies of my curriculum for a Spanish teacher to use for handouts in class or post in his or her Google classroom, that would be my </span><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-1A-UPDATED-2017-Supplemental-Word-Documents-5124766" target="_blank"><font size="5">Spanish 1A Supporting Docs bundle on TPT.</font><span style="font-size: x-large;">)</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">Pacing</font></h1><div><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div><font size="5">There are <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_uo37c_jKh6it5QH5_8pf9sLCk_TJnXA" target="_blank">32 videos in my Spanish 1A</a> course</b>, averaging 60 minutes start-to-finish. They should be watched at the rate of about <b>two per week</b>. Since students must <b>pause at various intervals in each video</b> in order to complete an assignment in the <a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank">workbook</a> before going over it with me, the total instruction time would be more or less equivalent to <b>four to five 45-minute classes per week or 1.5 to two 90-minute blocks per week.</b></font></div><div><font size="5"><b><br /></b></font></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><b>Grading</b></font></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I would give a </span><b style="font-size: x-large;">completion grade</b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> for completing all activities and quizzes in each of the </span><a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank"><b style="font-size: x-large;">4 major sections</b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> of the workbook:</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><font size="5">First Day - Lesson 8/Essay Uno</font></li><li><font size="5">Lesson 9 - </font><span style="font-size: x-large;">Lesson 17/Essay Dos</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-large;">Lesson 18 - Lesson 24/Essay Tres</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-large;">Lesson 25 - Lesson 30/Final Reading and Essay</span></li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">There is a <b>writing pre-assessment </b>at the beginning of the <a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank">workbook</a>, a <b>10-minute essay prompt</b> at the end of each of the first three sections, and a <b>final 20-minute essay prompt</b> at the end of the fourth section. The essays could also be graded separately if desired and assigned letter grades. (Student progress in 10-minute total word count can also be charted from the pre-assessment to the final essay if desired. I usually have students keep a chart of their word count progress in my in-person classes.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">For a <b>final grade in the class</b>, a student must have completed all activities in the entire workbook in their own handwriting as well as pass a final exam, placement, or proficiency test with a 65% or better. You can assign letter grades according to how they score on the exam combined with effort and completion of the workbook. (More on testing below.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">For students scoring below 65%: I personally allow re-takes of tests if students wish to study the videos again and try to take the test again for a passing grade, but that provision is up to the school or institution granting credit.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Testing</span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Since the course is being taught online by a certified, highly qualified Spanish teacher with 19 years of experience, it can be used for <b>foreign language or world language credit</b>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">After completion of my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzK5XHdqKEVLLVjQZ32UHQ" target="_blank">Spanish 1A video course</a> and <a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" target="_blank">workbook</a>, there three options for schools or institutions in certifying credit for one semester of Spanish 1:</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">1. There is a <b>proficiency-based summative assessment at the end of the workbook</b>, which I direct and explain in the Lesson 30/Final Lesson video on YouTube. The two skills assessed at the end of the workbook are Reading and Writing proficiency.</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">2. Institutions can <b>give their own first-semester final exam, proficiency test, or placement test</b> to verify that students have acquired the skill level to progress on to Spanish 1B, the second semester of Spanish 1.</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">3. I can send school administrators a new multiple-choice test (that's not in the workbook) with study guide and answer key upon request. (You will receive a mailing with details about that.)</font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5"><br /></font></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font size="5">Timeline for Spanish 1B</font></h1><div><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div><font size="5">I intend to have my Spanish 1B workbook ready to ship by November 1, 2020, and videos will be coming out weekly during Spring semester 2021.</font></div><div><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/31VaTuw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="Jalen Waltman's Complete Spanish 1A Workbook for YouTube" border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RZ1hNT-UaXk/XwTv_MYQLnI/AAAAAAAABhk/ukwuBg7C2Js1KGNXthhHrDOobaLufTcqgCK4BGAsYHg/w309-h400/Cover%2BSpan%2B1A%2BWorkbook.jpg" width="309" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click here to order!</td></tr></tbody></table><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div>Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-37451453731359864342020-01-09T14:43:00.004-08:002020-01-09T14:43:58.722-08:00Spanish 1 for Middle School - Now Live in my TPT Store <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-1B-2005-for-Middle-School-Supplemental-Word-Documents-5152038" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j5lwB_eDH-0/Xheofa8dpvI/AAAAAAAABYQ/KNO_l3SOrxYcWD0d-TFJKCu-6GsPF7NWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Cover%2BSpan%2B1B%2BWord%2BDocs.jpg" width="492" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-1B-2005-for-Middle-School-Supplemental-Word-Documents-5152038" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Wow, the skits in this book are...weird.</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Okay, at long last, I have created the packs of lesson materials for both of my older 2005 Middle School Spanish 1 books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I confess, I have not looked at these skits for years. Years and years. So as I was going through each page creating the products for TPT, I got the pleasure--if that's the right word?--of reacquainting myself with my "masterpieces" contained in these older books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-1A-2005-for-Middle-School-Supplemental-Word-Documents-5148762" target="_blank">Spanish 1A 2005 for Middle School skits</a> cracked me up. I made that product yesterday and laughed the whole way through while I was updating the formatting. I see why that book still sells well after all these years. (yay, me!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today, however, I did my <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-1B-2005-for-Middle-School-Supplemental-Word-Documents-5152038" target="_blank">Spanish 1B 2005 for Middle School</a> word docs product. The skits in that book are stunningly weird, dark, and odd...lots of strange purse situations, monsters, mean people, and eating. Eating of mud, paper, sickening dishes cooked by a controlling girlfriend, and a vacuum cleaner that eats the evil stepmother. Who lives to tell about it from the belly of the vacuum cleaner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'm like, hm, what was going on in my life in the Spring of 2005 when I wrote these bizarre skits??? All I can say is, I was teaching middle school then and you kind of go a little crazy when you spend your entire day with 12 and 13-year-olds. So, if you are in the mood for dark, gross, and strange, my <a href="https://amzn.to/2Nf1KVI" target="_blank">1B 2005 lesson plan book</a> is your ticket.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-1A-2005-for-Middle-School-Supplemental-Word-Documents-5148762" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TTPHJEwPO1w/XherMdeCzII/AAAAAAAABYc/Mr6JeeyF8yUrP-RgyiSKDTW1LL8VhIu7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Cover%2BSpan%2B1A%2BWord%2BDocs.jpg" width="494" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-1A-2005-for-Middle-School-Supplemental-Word-Documents-5148762" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">An oldy but a goody.</span></a></td></tr>
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Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-2391114589805078962019-10-23T14:36:00.002-07:002020-01-04T10:34:02.140-08:00The Perfect Mid-Week Reset - A Mini-Weekend!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n24S1YQ5GsA/Xayaj6_gyMI/AAAAAAAABP8/jK3bwob6Gg0zzQrXJZdxYm3dm5RsjykOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/live%2Blike%2Bmillionaire6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1202" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n24S1YQ5GsA/Xayaj6_gyMI/AAAAAAAABP8/jK3bwob6Gg0zzQrXJZdxYm3dm5RsjykOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/live%2Blike%2Bmillionaire6.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for yoga class and enjoying the Oklahoma Fall sunshine.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Life of a high school teacher</b>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Mondays are hard. In class, it's like turning a rusty crank...students are tired and unmotivated, and not in the mood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Tuesdays classes go a little better, but you expended a lot of energy yesterday getting that crank going, so Tuesdays aren't necessarily a rest and recoup day either.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Wednesdays require more energy, and you find yourself looking at the second half of the week going, wow, it's already been a long week and I still have 2.5 days to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Thursdays you're just glad tomorrow is Friday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Friday you get a huge mood boost because in a few more hours, it's the weekend, and you can rest and recoup.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What we need, my friends, is a mini-weekend in the middle. On Wednesdays after school, to be exact.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I'm going to share my Mid-Week Reset Mini-Weekend Plan below, but yours might be totally different. I just want to encourage you to use this as inspiration if nothing else, and <b>come up with your own little mini-weekend plan to beat stress, revitalize your mind and body, and create some joy</b> right smack dab in the middle of the teaching week.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-we3f9KJKJMs/XaydS44gPdI/AAAAAAAABQc/qTOfeBU9xYkpQO6yZCgAFA9x7GsUXk7jQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/2019-09-29%2B18.28.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="749" height="261" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-we3f9KJKJMs/XaydS44gPdI/AAAAAAAABQc/qTOfeBU9xYkpQO6yZCgAFA9x7GsUXk7jQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/2019-09-29%2B18.28.41.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well, it's Wednesday, hump day. I don't FEEL like bouncing around right after school, grinning like a fool, strutting around with my shoulders back. How do I jumpstart that "Unlimited power-Tony Robbins" state?</span></h3>
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One Recent Wednesday I Nailed It - Here's How</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I took very comfy, not-necessarily-attractive yoga clothes to work with me. As soon as my last class of the day left, I went to the faculty restroom to change. I was tired, a little irritated, and unmotivated, and it took me a lot longer than it should have, but I pressed on.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ironically, a teacher came in to the bathroom, and it sounded like she was crying. A younger girl, and when I came out of the stall, I asked her if she was okay. Problems with students, she said ruefully.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I knew exactly how she felt. I've spent many an afternoon crying over this job and how painful and difficult it can be at times. Many more times than I care to admit, and I told her so.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I asked her her name, and we told each other what we taught. (I was new to NHS last fall and I hardly knew any of the staff, because our days are spent in our own classrooms attending to the wave after wave of students who come in and out.)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I left the building wishing there were some way I could wave a magic wand and make teaching a fun, easy job where students came to school eager to learn and show respect, and teachers could devote their energy to being creative and innovative in their instruction.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The warm sunshine outside was a relief to my senses, and I loaded up my things to drive to Grey Owl Coffee shop.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DadsSHgF8_g/XayaqgE5_bI/AAAAAAAABQI/cL3v8OQuIZ0FU9igtVbEXqrfSVv_u9PYQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Seattle%2Buptown%2Bespresso%2B1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1508" data-original-width="1600" height="602" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DadsSHgF8_g/XayaqgE5_bI/AAAAAAAABQI/cL3v8OQuIZ0FU9igtVbEXqrfSVv_u9PYQCEwYBhgL/s640/Seattle%2Buptown%2Bespresso%2B1.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This isn't the Grey Owl. This is Uptown Espresso in Seattle, but the photo looks good here so I'm using it. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">
Change of Scenery + Creative Time</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Grey Owl was full of people drinking coffee and working on laptops, cool, quiet, and perfect. I ordered a jasmine green tea, sweetened it with a packet of stevia from my bag, and sat down to work on <b><a href="https://amzn.to/37Cj0vO" target="_blank">my novel</a></b> (didn't know I wrote novels under a pen name, did you??? I just released the one at that link. ;-)) I only had 45 minutes before my colleague Erin's yoga class started back at NHS, so I set a timer on my phone for 30 and opened my laptop.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">No time to waste means you'll get right to work and make every second count, so I jumped right in to 5th century Europe with my hero running through the woods escaping his own execution, wounded, thinking about his brother.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The light caffeine from the yummy tea plus 30 minutes spent on my favorite hobby was perfect for changing my state. I left the coffee shop feeling energized, productive, happy, and free.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">
Movement + Relaxing the Mind and Body</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I know of no other workout besides yoga that has the effect of energizing you while relaxing and calming you at the same time. Between gentle stretches and strengthening poses, breathing, and focusing on being in the moment, all the cares of the day were long gone. I felt happy to be a part of the community--of teachers doing yoga together in the middle of the week, of 30-somethings (with some college students and older folks thrown in) working and talking quietly at the coffee shop, and of all the diverse people who call Norman, Oklahoma home.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I left smiling and feeling physically better than I had all day.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Wkp_6wEh_Y/XaybzY7vMPI/AAAAAAAABQU/--Bm4zbomg0vl_AWzzPhaL9xb2HDU6TLwCEwYBhgL/s1600/roasted%2Bbroccoli%2Bbowl3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Wkp_6wEh_Y/XaybzY7vMPI/AAAAAAAABQU/--Bm4zbomg0vl_AWzzPhaL9xb2HDU6TLwCEwYBhgL/s640/roasted%2Bbroccoli%2Bbowl3.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This isn't the easy dinner I describe below. This is a Roasted Broccoli Bowl, and it was the first food pic I could find to post here. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">
Easy Dinner + Winding Down</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I threw some veggies in a steamer basket on the stove (a yam, some brussels sprouts, and later, some broccoli,) and made a pot of tri-color quinoa. I soaked in the tub for 20 minutes while those things cooked, then added the broccoli to the steamer basket for a final 10 minutes of steaming while the quinoa rested and got nice and fluffy. Had all that with a side of edamame and some raw walnuts, then sat with a hot tea watching YouTube until bedtime.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Read a good book until sleep, and woke up Thursday refreshed and ready to face the last two days before the weekend with renewed vigor.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Make Yourself a Plan</span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Your midweek mini-weekend needs to involve the following elements:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. Some kind of movement or exercise. Go for a walk if the weather's okay; go to a yoga class or pull up a YouTube video and do it in your living room; hit the gym; do some kind of mind-clearing movement.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. Something that you consider to be fun and creative, something that takes your mind completely off work for at least a half hour or more.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. A healthy, non-weigh-you-down meal. Something delicious and veggie-centric. Oh and drink a liter of water right after your exercise, before you cook or go for take-out. And no excuses for crappy fast food--there are plenty of healthy fast food options these days. A few of my favorites--a salad bowl at Qdoba loaded with beans, veggies, and guac; a falafel and greek salad plate at Garbanzos or Zoe's; a box of salad goodies and cooked vegetables from Whole Foods' deli...or throw some delicious root vegetables and crucifers (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages) in a steamer basket like I did and go, "wow, steamed vegetables are actually delicious!" - and then do that more often, like at least twice a week. :)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. No grading or parent communications via email or phone.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">5. Go to bed on time, lights out, and rest up. No late-night TV or phone-distraction. :)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Here is wishing YOU a wonderful Wednesday!!!</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-67151765435849354842019-10-01T19:00:00.003-07:002019-10-20T12:34:06.849-07:00Spanish 1 Complete Lesson Plans on SALE this week!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d2S19XuOdM0/XZQDLFWdj-I/AAAAAAAABNc/NLOZqWfR_W8z96_BoyLm5VbGbTGzJ0zOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/spooky%2Bsale.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d2S19XuOdM0/XZQDLFWdj-I/AAAAAAAABNc/NLOZqWfR_W8z96_BoyLm5VbGbTGzJ0zOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/spooky%2Bsale.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">SPOOKY OCTOBER 20% OFF SALE on the updated 2017 Spanish 1A bundles in <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Sellers-Im-Following/Add/Jalen-Waltman" target="_blank">my TPT store</a>!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The first (bigger) half is regularly $75 ($60 sale price,) and the second half is regularly $50 ($40 sale price.) <b>NOTE: this 20% off sale is only good from Oct 1 - Oct 4!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Link to the first bundle: <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jalen-Waltmans-Spanish-1A-2017-First-Day-Lesson-17-Bundle-4832865">https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jalen-Waltmans-Spanish-1A-2017-First-Day-Lesson-17-Bundle-4832865</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Link to the second bundle: <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jalen-Waltmans-Spanish-1A-2017-Lesson-18-Lesson-30-Bundle-4835756">https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jalen-Waltmans-Spanish-1A-2017-Lesson-18-Lesson-30-Bundle-4835756</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You guys, these lesson plans use <b>the same crazy skits</b> as my 2009 version, and are chock full of <b>printables </b>for handouts or screen display in your class. They have <b>speaking prompts</b> for easy level 1 <b>conversation practice</b>, <b>improved quizzes and tests</b> with keys, <b>translation activities</b> to go with every lesson that you can use as <b>homework, to quiet down a rowdy class, or even as sub plans, writing prompts, and graphic organizers.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I spent an entire school year updating my 2009 stuff, so an unbelievable amount of evening/weekend work went into creating these plans. They are a STEAL for $75/$50, but with the 20% this week, you or a first-year Spanish teacher you know would get all of my latest and greatest level 1 first semester, complete lessons for $100 total ($60/$40.) So <b>please share with anyone you know who might be in search of something that makes life easier</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">STOP LESSON PLANNING NOW - I DID IT ALL FOR YOU!!!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Just take the weekend off for once! ;-)</span></div>
Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-73893533909146373642019-08-30T15:13:00.002-07:002020-01-07T12:38:30.030-08:00Spanish 1A (Expanded and Updated) 2017 BUNDLE on TPT!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jalen-Waltmans-Complete-Spanish-1A-2017-Bundle-5124813" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mD-UtR53CFc/XWmdUbMDIQI/AAAAAAAABM4/j8AEwKxkaXYbDK1oRgLGnKkJvXtBeX4zgCLcBGAs/s640/Cover%2BSpan%2B1A%2B2017.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hi everyone! Well, after getting really bogged down trying
to create an ebook (and a print book) with the umpteen jillion individual
documents that are in my updated Spanish 1A 2017 files, I changed my mind
(again) and decided to just go ahead and <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jalen-Waltmans-Complete-Spanish-1A-2017-Bundle-5124813" target="_blank">offer the lessons as a bundle instead.</a>
It's August and I'm just too busy to make ebooks and paperbacks right now (I'm
sure you can relate...)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I was concerned about the stealing and plagiarism I have
read about on TPT but after spending all my free time for two weeks struggling
to combine and format these 400 or so documents into a single manuscript (it's
VERY complicated in Word when you have columns, headers, footers, etc. for each
individual document,) I realized, it's Labor Day weekend, I need a break, and
honestly it's going to take me all weekend to finish this beast...IF I work on
it several hours a day...and even then, it might not be done by bedtime Monday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">And then I just rebelled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">And then I said to myself, if somebody wants to steal all my
stuff and spend all their free time for two or three weeks making an ebook out
of it, MORE POWER TO THEM, because it's so much work that I just can't face it
right now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Okay, end of whining session. <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jalen-Waltmans-Complete-Spanish-1A-2017-Bundle-5124813" target="_blank">The Spanish 1A bundle (First Day - Lesson 30, all lessons including final exam, containing around 500 documents)</a> should go live
sometime tonight or Saturday. If you buy this bundle, you do not need to buy my <a href="https://amzn.to/300ISyO" target="_blank">1A 2009 ebook or print book on Amazon</a>; the bundle has everything you need.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Whew! TGIF! Have a great Labor Day Weekend!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-40262095931871671682019-08-26T17:30:00.005-07:002019-10-20T12:33:54.567-07:00Survival Skills for Teachers: Essential Items To Own, Wear, and Carry to School<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OdBZKcPI-NU/XWbvBd8GRGI/AAAAAAAABMg/23Uw0plqjJYMpzi95Ak6fYkLq4RC8I-aQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5658%2B%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="1600" height="403" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OdBZKcPI-NU/XWbvBd8GRGI/AAAAAAAABMg/23Uw0plqjJYMpzi95Ak6fYkLq4RC8I-aQCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_5658%2B%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black jeans, grey t-shirt, and a cardigan. I like to keep it simple and comfortable.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Some of you probably have boundless energy and emotional stamina for all your classes. Others of us are past the age of 40 and need all the help we can get to make it to 3:00 pm Friday with a couple of nerves intact.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">With that in mind, here is my list of must-haves for the Teaching Life... </span><br />
<h2>
Essential Items to Own, Wear, and Carry to School:</h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. <b>Nice-looking athletic shoes with gel in the soles</b> + supportive socks. If you teach standing up, your feet, ankles, and legs will thank you. Also, you can go walking at lunch if you manage to find the time and energy. (If you have plantar fasciitis tendencies, I recommend ASICS or New Balance.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. <b>A backpack</b>. Not a heavy bag you carry on your aching shoulder or a cross-body bag slung across your body. Those things pull your body out of alignment and cause shoulder and neck pain. Trust me on this.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. <b>Colored/nice jeans or comfortable casual pants</b>. Preferably with stretch. You might be able to get away with leggings if you have long shirts and sweaters, and God knows leggings are the most comfortable attire known to man. (If you're a dude, best stick with jeans and khakis...But hey, no judgment. ;-))</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. <b>Comfortable t-shirts, sweaters, jackets, and cardigans</b>. Guys can do polos and belts and look really nice.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">5. <b>Bling</b> (watch, earrings, bracelet, ring, etc.) to dress up the fact that you're basically wearing jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes, and sweaters every day.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">6. <b>Water and healthy snacks</b>. Things you can sneak-eat in class when your energy dips. I like raw nuts, electrolyte powder packets I can put in my water, edamame, raw zucchini sticks, and vegan sugar-free chocolate (Lily's brand usually.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">7. <b>Escapism tools.</b> (Earbuds, book to read, Pinterest/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram on your phone, journal, tea, anything that helps you calm down and regroup when the day gets overwhelming. Find a place you can go in the school, like a quiet corner of the library or somebody's unused office or conference room, when you need a moment to yourself. If your school is like mine, students will come try to hang out with you when you're in your room without a class.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">8. <b>Your entire-semester planner</b> (pocket sized.) You will jot a couple of words/phrases that explain the main gist of what you're planning to do each day that week (or two, or three, or the whole month if you can manage it. It's okay to change this later, but it's a lifesaver when you can't think of what you're supposed to be doing the next day.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">9. <b>A movie and video guide/quiz</b> sitting out somewhere and ready for a sub when you call in "sick" in order to lesson plan the next 2-3 weeks out and assemble all the copies you need.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">10. <b>Liquid Kava Kava </b>with a dropper that you can add to your water bottle when you feel stressed during, after, or before class. I like "Anxiety Soother" by Herb Pharm. (You can <a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/Herb-Pharm-Herb-Pharm-Anxiety-Soother-1-oz/175307119?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=16931&adid=22222222227000000000&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42423897272&wl4=pla-51320962143&wl5=9029016&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=120820613&wl11=online&wl12=175307119&veh=sem&gclid=CjwKCAjw44jrBRAHEiwAZ9igKJOROPucNa42Shp4r1ynPcXz43sZ_Z2AETCxZPr3QQhke2DYF6QrpxoC1qsQAvD_BwE" target="_blank">order it online at Walmart.com</a>, I just noticed.) It takes the edge off almost immediately.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Bonus item #11 - <b>supportive colleagues</b>. Teachers are second to none when it comes to helping each other out of the pit of despair when times get tough. <3</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What are YOUR essential items to take or wear to school? Comment below if you have suggestions for new teachers!</span>Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-1758457471800703812019-08-24T16:01:00.001-07:002019-08-25T14:29:53.674-07:00Lesson Plan Book Giveaway!!!!!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oLxQSORnC8A/XWG_ahlPvnI/AAAAAAAABL8/AUC458EkENQ-WGHATCN3GPvAlbtZLx-DQCLcBGAs/s1600/JWbookgiveaway.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1600" height="410" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oLxQSORnC8A/XWG_ahlPvnI/AAAAAAAABL8/AUC458EkENQ-WGHATCN3GPvAlbtZLx-DQCLcBGAs/s640/JWbookgiveaway.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No more hauling these guys around in my car. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Hi everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As most of you know, I have been transitioning my printed lesson plan book business to Amazon.com and Teachers Pay Teachers over the past year. I am no longer getting books printed myself and shipping them out of my house...due to growth in sales (yay!)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have some remaining spiral-bound inventory that I am running a giveaway contest for on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/waltmania/" target="_blank">Facebook Page</a>. Up to 4 books per person will be given away on a first-come-first-served basis. You will only pay to have them shipped to your home or school. (I use FEDEX Ground...they are FAST...and it costs about $10 to ship 1 book in the continental US, $15 to ship two books, $20 to ship three books, and $25 to ship four.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">All the details are in the pinned post on my Facebook Page:</span><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/waltmania/"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.facebook.com/waltmania/</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Go there, meet my requirements, and let me know which book(s) you want! Go, go, go! No, wait...first glance at my current inventory:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">3 Spanish 2A</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">3 Spanish 2B</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1 Spanish 3A</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">5 Spanish 3B</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1 Spanish 4A</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">4 Spanish 1B for middle school</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1 English Version 1A</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">2 English Version 1B (one of them was misprinted double-sided. There is nothing wrong with it other than it looks really thin.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Okay, now...go to my Facebook Page and get you some books!!!!</span><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/waltmania/"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.facebook.com/waltmania/</span></a><br />
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Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-63047751223651113572019-08-21T16:09:00.001-07:002019-08-21T16:09:33.572-07:00Unit 1 for AP Spanish Language and Culture - La vida contemporánea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xSqpDbi5ZS0/XV3LUAeksPI/AAAAAAAABLw/fN6QSr8kQi8sDWaJxfCO4EMS0co2jtbgACLcBGAs/s1600/Cover%2BJalen%2BWaltman%2527s%2BAP%2BSpanish%2BUnit%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xSqpDbi5ZS0/XV3LUAeksPI/AAAAAAAABLw/fN6QSr8kQi8sDWaJxfCO4EMS0co2jtbgACLcBGAs/s640/Cover%2BJalen%2BWaltman%2527s%2BAP%2BSpanish%2BUnit%2B1.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Guess what? Due to the consistent nagging by awesome AP teacher Stella D., I finally got around to packaging and uploading the first unit I use in my <b>AP Spanish Language and Culture</b> classes to my store in Teachers Pay Teachers!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If you are <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Sellers-Im-Following/Add/Jalen-Waltman" target="_blank">following my TPT store</a>, you should get an email when the product goes "live" and is ready to purchase ($20.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This is the first unit in my AP Spanish Language and Culture
Class: <b>La vida contemporánea, with a focus on the culture of Chile</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Included in this unit:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">12 "Tópicos del día" - <b>culture topics with links
to authentic resources</b> to present and discuss in Spanish in class</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Teacher Notes</b> explaining
what to do/say in class for each topic/link)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Authentic Readings</b> taken from web articles, blog posts, etc. and
simplified to use in class</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Questions, activities, and worksheets</b> to go with the Tópicos</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Practices for the Free Response section of the AP Spanish</b> <b>Language and Culture</b> exam (email, essay, conversation, and presentation)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Two debate topics </b>for fun Debate Days in Spanish (I
sometimes do this with a food activity, where students bring a dish from Chile
to share)</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Please share this post with any AP Spanish teachers you know who are looking for ideas for the "Vida contemporánea" theme!</span></div>
Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-69193331014720688972019-08-06T14:31:00.002-07:002019-08-06T14:31:52.597-07:00Back To School Coupon Code on TPT!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vi7RBiiB1bM/XUnxY5gH1qI/AAAAAAAABLc/y8Z_rJuD7wo6KOOgK21QNYSHMzgOMY_sACLcBGAs/s1600/bts%2Bsale_740_400%2Bbanner%2Bfor%2BFB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="740" height="344" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vi7RBiiB1bM/XUnxY5gH1qI/AAAAAAAABLc/y8Z_rJuD7wo6KOOgK21QNYSHMzgOMY_sACLcBGAs/s640/bts%2Bsale_740_400%2Bbanner%2Bfor%2BFB.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">August 6th and 7th are Teachers Pay Teachers' Back To School Days. Use the coupon code BTS19 sitewide to get up to 25% off...I think <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jalen-Waltman" target="_blank">my store</a> is that percentage off, anyway...and buy, buy, buy while the prices are hot!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Update on a Spanish 1A 2017 "bundle:" I have decided <b>not</b> to bundle all my 1A lessons on TPT into one huge bundle. I've researched the issue of copyright violation (people stealing and re-publishing your stuff) on TPT and I feel the best way for me to protect my income is to publish Spanish 1A 2017 as an ebook and print book on Amazon. That is planned for this month, hopefully by August 25th. In the meantime, if you are looking for killer Spanish 1 first semester lesson plans with individual Word docs you can download to your computer, that would be <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jalen-Waltman" target="_blank">the lessons for sale in my TPT store right now</a>. I think my new assistant and I only have 2 or 3 more lessons to upload to have all 30 of them available there. :)</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jalen-Waltman/e/B07DPWPCJ9/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="1600" height="472" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_L_uIlVqYZg/XUnwxutz_vI/AAAAAAAABLY/gHNEUyMuhA0LeT6bh64dyOqKFzpcofrHgCEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_5377.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-81989745448205074922019-07-28T11:23:00.001-07:002020-01-08T12:58:22.774-08:00Homework for First Year Spanish Ideas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2I0M3ry2Q8k/XT3nlgrZKSI/AAAAAAAABLA/5jTYsXWd6s4Zn1Y3FcZ9GuZW3v5oyiZkACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1053" data-original-width="1600" height="420" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2I0M3ry2Q8k/XT3nlgrZKSI/AAAAAAAABLA/5jTYsXWd6s4Zn1Y3FcZ9GuZW3v5oyiZkACLcBGAs/s640/IMG_5529.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Looking for ideas for homework in your Spanish classes? Need grammar book recommendations? So does everyone else!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I recently received this email from a Spanish-teaching diva named Luisa:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dear Jalen,<br /><br />¡Saludos! I successfully used <a href="https://amzn.to/35wDncp" target="_blank">Spanish 1A, 2009 version</a>, to teach Spanish 1 to a small class of students this past school year. The class only meets two days per week during the regular school year. This coming year, I will teach Spanish 1 and Spanish 2. We will use <a href="https://amzn.to/3040Bp4" target="_blank">1B for Spanish 2</a>.<br /><br />I have some questions. <b>Do you have a grammar book that you recommend?</b> Last year I took excerpts form some I have. When we did the grammar lessons, I needed much class time to explain, and since we only have the two periods per week, this took away from your program.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> This also leads to my next question-<b>what do you do for homework?</b> My students had some listening to complete four times a week. Occasionally they had some grammar practice, but overall had little homework all year. I’d like to assign them some useful homework.<br /><br />Thank you!<br /><br />Luisa K</span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Here's my response:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hi Luisa! I like the grammar books I listed in this post:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.waltmania.com/2015/11/grammar-resources-i-like-and-use.html&source=gmail&ust=1564423243494000&usg=AFQjCNHHsma5WIg-xBWuy0A-zqyg9FTNLQ" href="http://www.waltmania.com/2015/11/grammar-resources-i-like-and-use.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.waltmania.com/2015/<wbr></wbr>11/grammar-resources-i-like-<wbr></wbr>and-use.html</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As for homework, I wrote homework assignments out the wazoo over the past 8 years because I realized it fit really well with the expectations of the school and parents where I work, and I am now posting all my <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jalen-Waltmans-Complete-Spanish-1A-2017-Bundle-5124813" target="_blank">updated Spanish 1A lesson plans</a> (including homework assignments and much more) on Teachers Pay Teachers. Here is a link to my store:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jalen-Waltman&source=gmail&ust=1564423243494000&usg=AFQjCNGO7HbzN4MZOJbSyUc7w-DseDXzjg" href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jalen-Waltman" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>teacherspayteachers.com/Store/<wbr></wbr>Jalen-Waltman</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you don't want to or can't buy my updated stuff on TPT, my <b>recommendation for homework is easy grammar exercises</b> that reinforce what they were learning recently, plus <b>make the skits and/or readings into translation exercises </b>(where they have to translate Spanish to English word for word in their own handwriting under the Spanish.) I shorten these reading-translations so they aren't overwhelming (usually) but they also make awesome quiet-down-and-work assignments in class when things get too rowdy for my nerves to handle any more. :-)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hope this helps!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://amzn.to/35wDncp" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NKPEjA4e9vg/XhZBnJS2M1I/AAAAAAAABXc/-lAsdydVPnY80V9Ek1-a0xnuBGC-9gmewCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Cover%2BJalen%2BWaltman%2527s%2B2009%2BSpan%2B1A.jpg" width="494" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/35wDncp" target="_blank">300+ pages of detailed Spanish 1 lessons for high school with masters ready to copy for your class.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-713048319935573862019-06-21T16:22:00.001-07:002019-10-14T09:25:34.003-07:00How To Catch New Students Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jl1i_MHwUa4/XQ1hk4WDktI/AAAAAAAABKI/ppN-HtgePMAtIaAxpcUbdGfHInW_oapVwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jl1i_MHwUa4/XQ1hk4WDktI/AAAAAAAABKI/ppN-HtgePMAtIaAxpcUbdGfHInW_oapVwCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_5460.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I received the following question from awesome teacher and blog reader Hunter Bishop this past week, and since it's a common one, I decided to answer it for all who might be wondering about this issue.<br />
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<b>Hunter wrote,</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hello Jalen! I had a question that I’ve been wanting to see your point of view on. What do you do when you have a student come into your class midway through the year when they have had no language instruction before? How do you “catch them up"?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>My answer is simple. I just keep teaching.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Haha, okay, there is a <i>little </i>more to it than that, but not much more. I <b>welcome them</b> warmly, <b>give them the semester's vocab list</b>, make sure they know <b>it's okay if they feel a little lost</b> at first, and if there are assignments that they look worried about or do badly on, I make sure they know that <b>when I grade them I'm taking into account the fact that they just joined my class</b>. They aren't going to be "failing" before they've even had a chance to learn something.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">[Note: if they've had absolutely <b>zero </b>language instruction, there is a point at which they need to wait until the next school year to start in Spanish 1, but each school will have its own rules about that.]</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Look, if it seems like you should be doing more, like staying after school for an hour every day to work one-on-one with this kid, <b>slap yourself upside the head and stop that crazy-talk</b>. You have a LIFE and in my opinion, free after-school tutoring is just not your job, unless the school wants to pay you extra for it.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now, some teachers live for that kind of extra, above and beyond, reaching-out-to-kids opportunity. If this is you, please ignore what I just said.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">But if you're like me, and <b>you need Me Time starting promptly at 3:15</b> in order to gather strength for another day of teaching, then do as I say and JUST KEEP TEACHING. The new kid will at some point catch him or herself up. <b>It may take a few weeks, but eventually, without fail, I can't tell much if any difference between my "old" and "new" kids</b>. I think the key is being flexible, positive, and including them in your warm, loving teaching environment <b>without judgment or undue focus on what they don't know yet</b>. Know what I mean?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">I hope this helps! Happy Summer to everyone!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">[Update on TPT uploads...they have been on pause while I'm enjoying my June, but I will resume creating new products for sale in a few weeks.]</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jalen-Waltmans-Complete-Spanish-Lesson/dp/1983120413/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TclM5aKaUTU/XaShMGiEpJI/AAAAAAAABPY/lW3x_j-0n_E41WL1tWJYEIsS2UYAZzS3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Cover%2BJalen%2BWaltman%2527s%2B2009%2BSpan%2B1A.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My entire 1st semester of Spanish 1 lesson plans with masters ready to copy for your class!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-59413331674351744492019-05-09T17:02:00.004-07:002019-05-09T17:02:46.136-07:00Basic Signs for Spanish 1 Classroom Walls<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uWwBjTS52_8/XNS8vFaSIrI/AAAAAAAABIw/IfF-CZHa0JoGbUa6ILisXasd9BPChmxtwCLcBGAs/s1600/Spanish%2Bsigns.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1600" height="532" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uWwBjTS52_8/XNS8vFaSIrI/AAAAAAAABIw/IfF-CZHa0JoGbUa6ILisXasd9BPChmxtwCLcBGAs/s640/Spanish%2Bsigns.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheap, colorful, and useful. What more could I ask?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Hi everyone! I just uploaded a file containing <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Basic-Signs-for-Your-Spanish-1-Classroom-4563061" target="_blank">all my basic Spanish 1+ printable signs</a></b> for walls or bulletin boards to my <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jalen-Waltman" target="_blank">TPT store</a>.</b> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">If you're new/just starting out and have nothing to decorate your room with, here's an inexpensive way to get some color on the walls as well as have useful vocab and phrases all around the room that pertain to Spanish 1 (and beyond.)</span><br />
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I'm offering the download for $1, so please let any financially challenged first-year Spanish teachers you know to run and get 'em. :)<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">These are my </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">simple text-only Spanish signs that you can print on colored paper</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">, <b>tape together</b> if desired (see the examples in the photo above where I taped together the months of the year as well as the Telling Time signs,) and then <b>laminate to hang</b> on your walls or bulletin boards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I use and refer to these basic signs in all levels, and they are a must-have in my classroom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">List of signs included</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(all are in Spanish, and all can be modified to suit your needs):</span></div>
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<li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Days of the Week</span></li>
<li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Months of the Year</span></li>
<li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What time is it? + the possible answers</span></li>
<li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What time is...? + the possible answers</span></li>
<li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Subject Pronouns</span></li>
<li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Question Words</span></li>
<li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Signs With Teacher's Name and Subject (you can modify these if your last name isn't Waltman :-))</span></li>
<li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A "Costa Rica" sign and an "España" sign - these are the "countries" groups in my class, but modify to suit your needs</span></li>
<li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Objectives" signs for Spanish 1 and 2, to post on your whiteboard above your list of objectives for the day</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">I realize this is something for the BEGINNING of the year, not the end, but hey...just trying to get you guys ready for Fall...really, really early. :)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">And don't forget to <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Sellers-Im-Following/Add/Jalen-Waltman" target="_blank">follow me on TPT</a> to get notified when I upload new goodies. :-)</span></div>
Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-58588965988125870642019-05-03T07:13:00.003-07:002019-08-06T14:33:34.796-07:00Updated and Expanded Spanish 1A 2017 Lessons Now Available for $5 each on TPT!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KwH1orfOXSU/XMxDwhPfTmI/AAAAAAAABD0/26a-PRqILlYNNWv96VoT2AcUGXFfewm4ACLcBGAs/s1600/Cover%2BSpan%2B1A%2B2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KwH1orfOXSU/XMxDwhPfTmI/AAAAAAAABD0/26a-PRqILlYNNWv96VoT2AcUGXFfewm4ACLcBGAs/s640/Cover%2BSpan%2B1A%2B2017.jpg" width="492" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I should have named these "2018" updates because it took me well into 2018 to actually finish level 1.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Hi everyone! Well, I've been busy at work on my <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jalen-Waltman" target="_blank">Teachers Pay Teachers store</a> uploading my new, updated, expanded 2017 Spanish 1A lesson plans. I mean, it's only 2 years later, right?!? I wanted to publish these last year but I was (and still am) in the process of transitioning all my lesson plan books to Amazon rather than getting them printed myself, selling and shipping them out of my house, and that has been a huge project. I'm still not completely done with the transition. :(<br />
<br />
Also, life just got a little CRAZY last year, but we won't get into that. I'm glad it's 2019.<br />
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<h3>
What's New in the 2017/2018 Version?</h3>
<br />
The skits are still the same ones, but <b>I modified/updated/standardized all the quizzes and tests</b> to be more like the format I do in level 3. You know, after I learned so much about what I REALLY wanted a lesson to look like. The <b>quizzes now follow exactly the same vocab as the vocab list from the lesson before, and include the grammar from that lesson</b> as well. The tests are in exactly the same format and take all the same info from the quizzes, so <b>you are literally reviewing for the test every single day.</b><br />
<br />
These updates and expansions also include daily <b>"Preguntas del día" conversation prompts </b>(like my level 3 stuff) so that I could get my ones very accustomed to asking and answering basic questions in Spanish, from Lesson 1 - on. The Lesson 1 question (idea and vocab taken from the First Day skit) is, "¿Tú tocas la guitarra?" with the answer stems "Sí, toco la guitarra _______ (how?)" or "No, no toco la guitarra. Yo toco ____________ (instrument)." In class, I explain exactly what all that means, brainstorm possible ways to finish each of those answers, model asking and answering, put them in their groups of 3 or 4, and go! It's pretty fun to watch level 1s go to town talking to each other about whether they play the guitar or not. Ha.<br />
<br />
I included lots of <b>translation activities</b> in case you'd like to supplement the lesson with some independent "quiet" work (yes, please!) so you can take a breather in class. I know some teachers don't like to use translations as practice, but I'm a huge fan of them, especially for loud, rowdy, unfocused classes. I simply circulate around the room helping people as they work, and I gather a lot of good information on who knows how much Spanish I've taught. Your choice if you want to allow use of online dictionaries as they work and/or partner them up to work on it together. (It's laborious to really sit there looking up every word in a story, so I do often allow the dictionary use because they will tend to go ahead and try to translate what they can without looking things up, but a dictionary keeps things moving along for people who get stuck occasionally. Just a side note.)<br />
<br />
I also <b>streamlined and beefed up all the readings</b> (to make sure there WAS one for every lesson, an expanded version of the skit usually,) and <b>moved the reading activity to being the first one right after the warm-up</b> quiz. In my classes they are more focused on reading at that point in the class, plus, if they were absent the class before and missed the previous skit, this is a way of seeing those vocab words in context in the story and hopefully getting a start on acquiring at least most of them.<br />
<br />
My 2017 <b>vocab list has all the grammar topics more clearly and consistently defined and listed,</b> plus I created <b>homework assignments</b> for each one. Those are all included in these lessons, and you can either assign them as homework or use them as worksheets in class. I still use the grammar resources I listed in <a href="https://jalensteachingblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/grammar-resources-i-like-and-use.html" target="_blank">this post,</a> but I did make a few of my own grammar worksheets for level 1 that are included in these new updates as well.<br />
<br />
What else???? That's all I can think of for now...you can also <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Sellers-Im-Following/Add/Jalen-Waltman" target="_blank">follow me on TPT</a> to get notified as I continue uploading throughout this month and over the summer. I hope to have all of 1A up for sale and at least a start on 1B by Fall. There will also be an ebook and print Spanish 1A 2017 version for sale on Amazon soon.<br />
<br />
Shoutout to <b>Julia Sullivan</b> who was asking me a few years ago if I were ever going to update my 2009 Spanish 1 lessons, to whom I replied, "No, because it's way too much work." :)<br />
<br />
<br />Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-54658292932834976432019-04-12T11:17:00.002-07:002019-04-12T11:30:01.949-07:00How to Feel Better Instantly, Even In the Middle of Class<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y-mCL3HUw90/XLDLzxNMYMI/AAAAAAAABDI/YVRqrrkcGvs9pvhzaB7psToBVMSC9YiQwCLcBGAs/s1600/bigstock-Health-and-spa-girl-enjoying--8111870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1503" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y-mCL3HUw90/XLDLzxNMYMI/AAAAAAAABDI/YVRqrrkcGvs9pvhzaB7psToBVMSC9YiQwCLcBGAs/s640/bigstock-Health-and-spa-girl-enjoying--8111870.jpg" width="600" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is me every morning before school, sipping purple tea with magical flowers flowing from my fingertips.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">You ever feel like it's early April, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Spring Break ruined everyone's motivation</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"> including yours, and the school year just seems to drag on?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It may seem like it's impossible to shake off the teaching stress overload, but my friends, I'm here to tell you it can be done. Not only that, but it can be done instantly.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I went to <a href="https://www.tonyrobbins.com/events/unleash-the-power-within/" target="_blank">Unleash the Power Within</a> with Tony Robbins in November, and this was one of the skills that was hammered into our heads and bodies over and over in the course of the 4-day, 12-hour-per-day event.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">To Change How You Feel, Change Your State</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Tony Robbins is huge on <b>changing your physiological state</b> in order to change your emotions, and thereby improve your outlook, your health, your productivity, and even your relationships.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He always uses the example of people who are depressed. Their shoulders slump, they breathe shallowly, their head and gaze are down, and their voices become strained and quiet. Movements are slow, heavy, with sort of a hopeless or irritated tone about them. For me, when I'm in this state, I feel more pain in my body (back troubles, neck pain, TMJ pain, plantar fasciitis in my left foot, etc.) Compare that with the physiology of someone who's feeling happy, proud, blessed, excited, and well. They hold their head high and shoulders back. Their expression is relaxed and open, gaze up. Maybe smiling. Breathing from the diaphragm, deeply. Jaw relaxed, heart center open and softened. They move faster and with more intention, more "bounce." I will tend to dance around a little when I'm feeling good, make jokes to myself (and laugh at them, ha.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">So Tony would say, <b>change your physiology to the happy, proud, excited one, and your emotions--and eventually, your health--will follow.</b> Try it right now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">How To Feel Better Right Now</span></h3>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Lift your sternum to bring your shoulders back.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Raise your chin a bit.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Relax your expression. Relax your mouth, jaw, eyes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Soften your gaze and raise it to a point just above your natural eye level.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Smile gently.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Smile bigger if it feels good; show your teeth.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Inhale deeply into your diaphragm, but in a relaxed, confident way.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Stand up if you're seated, and walk with intention to the kitchen.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Get a glass of water, and squeeze some lemon in it if you have a lemon.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Drink the water.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do a little dance.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Think of one thing you are truly grateful for, and hold that thing in your mind, savoring it.</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Do everything on the list.</b> DO IT. Then, check in with yourself. How's your emotional state now? How do you feel? Did that process take the negative, depressed <i>edge </i>off, at least? I consciously do this in class while my students are working on something (sipping the water from a bottle on my desk, and skipping the dance part. :)) Then I stride around the room checking on their work, seeing if anyone needs help, and purposefully <a href="https://jalensteachingblog.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-power-of-noticing.html" target="_blank">noticing the positive things</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I do this as often as I can, because I need it over and over all day long at school. Over time, it has become more of a habit, linked to "get them working on something independently" - i.e., Duolingo, Quizlet, a story translation, a 10-minute essay. (Supposedly if you train yourself that every time X happens, you do Y, you'll make it a habit that you don't have to remember or think about every time.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I hope this helps someone. May your April blues dissipate, and may you have a wonderful rest of your school year.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And in the meantime, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jalen-Waltman/e/B07DPWPCJ9?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1555092551&sr=8-1" target="_blank">follow me on Amazon</a> to stay up with my new releases. I'm working on some exciting new projects that I hope to have ready for public consumption by June 1. :)</span></div>
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Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-11929076294266747062018-10-27T05:57:00.002-07:002018-10-31T19:52:50.747-07:00Grammar In My Books + What Is the Difference Between My Books On My Website Vs. My Books on Amazon?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yB1NSZA0-lw/W9RgUr1R66I/AAAAAAAABBc/haMPD8xgcmUqJ1mKiV_5--xgG_1SZK_2ACLcBGAs/s1600/DSCF1891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="864" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yB1NSZA0-lw/W9RgUr1R66I/AAAAAAAABBc/haMPD8xgcmUqJ1mKiV_5--xgG_1SZK_2ACLcBGAs/s640/DSCF1891.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vocab and grammar topics from what I like to call the "pain and suffering" chapters in Expresate 2 (chapters 3 and 4.) I wrote a lot of twisted skits with this set. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><br />Getting this question or similar ones a lot this past week, so I thought I'd post it for all to read if needed.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Q: How do you teach grammar/how much grammar is presented in your lesson plans?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
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<b>Grammar</b>:</div>
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In levels 1 & 2 the grammar is mostly embedded in the skits and activities with occasional grammar-specific worksheets sprinkled throughout my books. I use a lot of grammar resources outside of my lesson plan books for explicit grammar instruction - you can find a list of the workbooks I use and like on this blog post:</div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://jalensteachingblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/grammar-resources-i-like-and-use.html&source=gmail&ust=1539346632293000&usg=AFQjCNH0QHHYO4NL2tLIVZN4DK1nwqJSaw" href="http://jalensteachingblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/grammar-resources-i-like-and-use.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://jalensteachingblog.<wbr></wbr>blogspot.com/2015/11/grammar-<wbr></wbr>resources-i-like-and-use.html</a></div>
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In levels 3 and 4, I wrote "Big Lists" of grammar notes, lots of grammar homework assignments, and of course grammar embedded in the skits and readings as usual. I still use that list of of grammar workbooks for explicit grammar instruction that I mentioned above. I did grammar worksheets or lessons along with skits or culture presentations almost daily on the 90-minute block schedule. Now that I'm on a 55-minute daily traditional schedule this fall, I'm doing grammar about 3 times a week.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">Q: What is the difference between the lesson plan books for sale on your website and the lesson plan books for sale on Amazon?</span></div>
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<b><br /></b>
<b>Difference between the books on the different sites:</b></div>
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<u>The books I'm still selling on my website</u> are my <b>backstock </b>of the spiral-bound books that I had printed this past summer with CD-Roms of the supplementary documents for an "electronic" version. I am no longer personally selling and shipping the levels I have sold out of - Spanish 1A and B, and Level 4, from my personal website. The books for the levels I have left are $79.95 each with CD rom, and I will continue personally shipping them until I run out completely.</div>
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<u>The books on Amazon</u> are being printed on demand (and shipped) by Amazon/Createspace. The printed versions are professionally bound like a paperback book instead of spiral-bound, and they are $39.95 each. The ebooks (if you also want an electronic version) are $9.99 each. So if you want both, you're ending up spending about $50 instead of $80 per book. My level 1A and B and 4A and B are only available on Amazon now since I sold out of my printed backstock here at home for those levels.</div>
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I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.</div>
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Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-1087154426781222362018-10-21T14:55:00.000-07:002018-10-21T15:16:17.216-07:00The "Focus Worksheet" for Job and Life Stress<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_c1m3vRuXbE/W8zZM3BLv6I/AAAAAAAABBI/uUJRuotd7IMo2mH5EkwoDLBExrsGLj07gCLcBGAs/s1600/focus%2Bworksheet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_c1m3vRuXbE/W8zZM3BLv6I/AAAAAAAABBI/uUJRuotd7IMo2mH5EkwoDLBExrsGLj07gCLcBGAs/s640/focus%2Bworksheet.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am a Worksheet Queen, and not just in class. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
All right, my friends, it's the middle of the fall semester, and I'm feeling the burn. <b>Working on weekends planning and creating student-centered materials for hours on end</b>, just to try to have some semblance of instructional skill in class [They are begging to watch music videos? I gotta make or find a cloze activity that isn't horrendously impossible to fill in for unmotivated, easily distracted 1st semester Spanish 1 students. They won't sit still and pay attention to skits? I gotta make translation exercises to give them comprehensible input and upload the exercises to Google Classroom so students who hate physical writing will at least type on their school-issued MacBooks. They have no clue what the complicated textbook grammar explanations are trying to say? I gotta find or make simplified grammar worksheets and notes that make sense in class. And the list goes on.] And we all know what happens when you work all week and then work a lot on your weekend as well...<b>stress overload, exhaustion, the feeling like your whole life is consumed by your job.</b><br />
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That is NOT my idea of the life I want to live. I'm guessing yours either.</div>
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So, as you might know, I'm kind of obsessed with Tony Robbins at the moment. I signed up for a free 30-minute <a href="https://www.tonyrobbins.com/coaching/results-coaching/" target="_blank">Life Coaching session on Tony Robbins' website</a> a few weeks ago and got an hour and a half call with a coach. (It was an awesome coaching call, and though for now I've decided not to invest in ongoing sessions, it's definitely something that I plan to look into at a later date, time and finances permitting.) The coach who connected with me has followed up by sending a couple of short teaching videos from the Tony Robbins library, which is very kind of him, considering he's hand-selected them based on our coaching conversation and both times the videos have been dead-on exactly what I needed to hear at the time.</div>
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The video I got this weekend was titled "How to Take Advantage of Uncertainty" and was about 6 minutes long, but I watched it three times and then journaled about it all morning this morning. Then, I put the knowledge into action, created a Focus Worksheet in order to process my own problem areas, and used the worksheet to map out a plan for change this next week.</div>
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Let me explain how it works.</div>
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Step 1: Figuring Out What I Can Control</h3>
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In the video, Tony Robbins said to "tell yourself the truth, feel the uncertainty, and then take action anyway," rather than allowing fear to keep you complacent in your current state. Stress comes when you feel like life is controlling you rather than you being in control...."Events take control unless you focus on controlling what is between your ears, not the events you can't control."</div>
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So, I found a <b>2-column worksheet I made a long time ago called "Potentially Stressful Situations I Can/Cannot Control,"</b> marked out the "potentially stressful" part of the column headings to make it more inclusive, and started filling it in (pictured above.)</div>
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For example, I can't control the work hours for my job. I must be in my classroom teaching and managing students from 9:00 - 11:03 and 11:55 - 3:01 every weekday. But I <i>can</i> control how I use and manage my time outside of those hours.</div>
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Step 2: Clearly Defining What I Will Focus On (and Not Focus On)</h3>
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From this worksheet, I saw that <b>focusing on the drudgery of the inflexible work schedule, the behavior of students, the noise level in the Freshmen Academy, the meeting load, the data entry load, and how much of a clunker my school-issued Dell laptop is,</b> is not productive. Tony also said that if you focus on <b>the past or what's missing from your life</b> you'll drag yourself down and increase your stress, so I added the details of those items to the "Non-Focus Areas" side of the worksheet.</div>
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For example, sometimes I get caught up in thinking about my past mistakes and failures, unhappy or embarrassing episodes in my dating life or family issues; I also spend way too much time lamenting my less-than-perfect health and lack of freedom to pursue my passions (writing, cooking, traveling.)</div>
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On the other hand, since I absolutely CAN control <b>how I manage my time outside of my job</b> schedule, the fact that I don't exercise enough [and therefore my increased back, neck, shoulder, jaw, and foot pain] is really on me. "But I don't feel like going outside in the morning, and I'm too tired after school," I find myself saying. Well, then I need to rest more as well. <b>Rest, exercise, diet, play time, self-care time--those things are all within my own sphere of control</b>. I added all those things to my "Can Control/Focus On" side of the worksheet.</div>
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Tony said in the video to also focus on things like <b>the difference you can make, what you want, and what you already have in your life that you're grateful for</b>. I journaled and made lists of those things on the back of my worksheet, under the heading, "More Focus Areas."</div>
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Step 3: Creating an Action Plan For This Week</h3>
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In order to address my work stress, daily pain levels (feet, jaw, back, neck, and shoulders,) and fatigue, I need to <b>shift my focus more fully to what I can control: my time outside of work.</b></div>
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For example, if I get out of bed, make a cup of tea, and sit on the sofa journaling for 30 minutes first thing in the morning (like I LOVE to do,) I'm in pretty severe pain for the rest of the day. On the other hand, if I get dressed in gym clothes and <b>go walking first thing</b>, that pain will be greatly reduced (though right now, the pain never goes completely away. I've got a longer-term plan to address that situation, no worries. :))</div>
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I know that I can also greatly affect how I feel if I <b>do some yoga after school every day</b> as well as <b>hang on my inversion table </b>to separate out those arthritic vertebrae in my mid-low back and neck.</div>
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I also know, from experimentation, that I feel way better and enjoy life more if I <b>buy vegetables and cook all my own food</b> rather than eating out or buying frozen meals.</div>
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I do tend to pile <b>a bunch of extra chores and activities</b> on my own plate, just because there are so many things I love doing or feel the need to do, but right now some of those things <b>need to be managed differently</b> so I can reduce stress and not be in so much pain and emotional gloom all the time.</div>
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<b>So Here's My 6-Step Action Plan:</b></h3>
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<b>1. Get up, drink water, and go walk for 30 minutes every morning. </b>10-15 minutes of morning walking just isn't enough to alleviate my aches and pains right now, and I saw a YouTube video a couple nights ago that said 30 minutes of walking daily was one of the best workouts you could get for overall fitness and health. It's been too chilly and damp here for the past month for me to enjoy walking at 5:30 in the dark, so the obvious answer is getting on a treadmill at the apartment gym and watching/listening to a podcast so it won't be so dreadfully boring. I did it this morning, in fact, and my low back was out of pain completely when I got back to my apartment, and even now is still way less painful than it was all day yesterday and last night.</div>
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<b>2. Hang on my inversion table 5 minutes twice a day. </b>It seems particularly helpful to hang on the table for my back pain right after I walk because my spine is warmed up and loosened up by the exercise. Those vertebrae can separate and stop irritating the nerves that run between them, and I get can some lubrication in the discs that lasts most of the day. And I already like hanging on it after work to relax, revive, and refocus. Since I discovered I can play on Facebook while I hang there, the five minutes goes by in a flash. :-)</div>
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<b>3. Do the back and neck exercises my chiropractor in California recommends every morning. </b>I call them my "Bergman Back Exercises," a standing spinal twist back and forth 100 times, a foot/calf stretch on a block, and a neck exercise with a roller behind your neck. Total takes about 5 minutes, makes a huge difference all day.</div>
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<b>4. Do at least 10 minutes of yoga after work.</b> This is one of those things that I find myself whiny about doing because I'm "too tired," yet 10 minutes is nothing, and I always, <i>always</i> feel 1000% better after doing even just 10 minutes of yoga. The breathing (and I like to inhale essential oils and rub them on my feet before doing yoga) combined with the stretching and releasing of tension just honestly can't be beat. It's both energizing AND relaxing, the best after-work stress reliever I know of (besides a glass of wine, and that's just not on my diet plan right now. :-)</div>
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<b>5. Reduce Errands, Chores and Paperwork.</b> I've taken a hard look at all the little organizing, cleaning, and household business tasks I do every day and decided to make some changes that as a Certified Neat Freak I never thought I'd make. Here's a summary:</div>
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<li>No going in grocery stores or health food stores several times a week. Use the <b>Walmart Grocery Pickup</b> app or order specialty/supplement items online if at ALL possible.</li>
<li><b>Clean the apartment for 15 minutes per week</b>, either Friday night or Sunday sometime. (That's enough time to clean the toilet, vacuum, and straighten and put away things. I just look around and determine what the three most critical cleaning needs are, set a timer, and tackle those first.)</li>
<li>Make two piles of Clothes Types: 1) <b>a pile of walking and yoga clothes</b> on the boxes in my closet (a pair of yoga pants, a pair of joggers, a couple of t-shirts, and a sweatshirt;) and 2) <b>a pile of pajamas and sleepwear</b> on top of my dresser. I can't tell you how much time and effort these two unruly-looking piles have saved me during the week. I just grab what I need from them and pile them back on the pile when I take them off, and eventually the various items make it to the laundry basket when they aren't fresh enough to reuse anymore.</li>
<li>No more printing out statements and <b>laboriously balancing my checkbook</b>, for now. Just let it go. Monitor the balance via apps.</li>
<li>Look through <b>bills once a week,</b> see what's coming up due, pay online when possible/easier.</li>
<li><b>Write if/when the mood hits</b> AND I have plenty of energy and time, or an awkward slice of time between appointments. (I bought a new backpack that will hold my laptop that I can carry in my car and then stop at coffee shops to write on if I want between school and chiropractor appointments, etc.)</li>
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<b>6. Get in bed at 8:00pm. </b>I can read or whatever until 9:00, but aiming for an 8:00 get-in-bed time has helped me get caught up on and stay caught up on rest this past week. Whatever I do until 8 is up to me...if I want to spend 2 hours cooking and cleaning up the kitchen, so be it. Or if I want to heat up leftovers and play Xbox, fine.</div>
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Okay, I think that's the plan I'm going to try this week. I found a new, quiet spot to spend my lunch break at school this past week...the school library...where I can get out of my classroom, put in earbuds, and write if I want. That will hopefully alleviate the need to try to find coffee shops to go write in after work, which makes it harder to squeeze in a yoga routine and a home-cooked meal, much less stopping to get on my inversion table.</div>
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I'm hoping my pain levels will reduce again soon because my low back and jaw have been worsening quite a bit since school started, to the point now that I'm feeling kind of depressed about it. But more updates soon!</div>
Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-14034824669395833032018-10-07T10:38:00.001-07:002018-10-07T10:38:12.702-07:00Spanish 1A Lesson 9 Story VideoAll right. Enough of this spending hours trying to make pre-animated people look like they are doing something besides just standing there waving at you. I decided to just try narrating my story with my own stick figure drawings and this little video is what I came up with. (And yes, I AM a big dork, as you will see and hear for yourself!)<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H01qpHBU0Rw" width="560"></iframe>
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I was cracking myself up with my attempts at voice acting, plus my camera work is admittedly pretty homemade, but hey. This only took me about an hour to produce (two takes) as opposed to five hours last Sunday with Powtoon.<br />
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I tried to slow the narration down quite a bit due to feedback I received from my students on last week's (Spanish 1A Lesson 8) animated video. I'll debut this new one in class this week and see how it goes. They weren't super thrilled with the animated story video in terms of being able to learn from it, but seemed to love the vocab one, so I made another vocab one for Lesson 9 with Powtoon:<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SN6dOMqdZjg" width="560"></iframe>
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This is definitely a work in progress, but so is teaching itself, so...welcome to my journey. :-)Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-2448980993555623012018-09-24T05:41:00.003-07:002018-09-25T05:42:26.449-07:00My First Animated Video! Spanish 1A Lesson 8 - El muchacho que juega a los videojuegos<div style="text-align: center;">
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Guess what I spent all day yesterday doing? Yeah, um...teaching myself how to make animated videos. Here's my first attempt, which took me about 5 hours.<br />
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Why?</h3>
I'm <b>desperately seeking new ways to present comprehensible input</b> in huge, rowdy, loud classes of Spanish 1. Specifically, ways <i>I can do less work in class</i> while my students do <b>more </b>(learning-centered)<b> </b>work. I need to conserve my energy and my voice, both of which by the end of some days have taken quite a beating. Also, I don't know about you guys, but I've noticed more and more over the past 8 years or so that sometimes it's just hard to get students to focus on a skit. It's hard to corral your actors; it's hard to get the "audience" to pay attention. The generation we have now is so media-oriented that if it's not on a screen, they just can't seem to focus on it. (Am I the only one having this issue???)<br />
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Also they have the attention span of a flea, so I'm thinking a 3-minute video is about right.<br />
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And if you know me, you know that I am ALWAYS looking for ways to make this job easier. If I can spend 5 hours on Sunday making animated videos and then relax in class, I'll do it.<br />
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I also made <b>this video to introduce the vocab</b> for this story:<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EFa-FRP6uKI" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
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And <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-1A-Lesson-8-El-muchacho-que-juega-a-los-videojuegos-Video-Quiz-4084604" target="_blank">this video quiz/worksheet that I'm selling on Teachers Pay Teachers</a> to go with these two videos. It has 33 total questions, 18 of which are about the animated story. My plan is to show the vocab video first while they write down (or type) the English on their <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jalen-Waltmans-Complete-Spanish-Lesson-Plans-1A-Vocab-List-for-Students-4084592" target="_blank">Spanish vocab lists</a>, then show the animated story video once, then pass out the video quiz, maybe have them write down whatever answers they can remember, then show the animated story a second time while they check/fill in their answers. Then they can answer the 15 "Preguntas personales" (PQA-style) at the end, and then we can go over that. (Will update later with my results!)<br />
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If all goes well, my plan is to do two animated videos per week plus video quizzes and upload everything as I go. You can <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzK5XHdqKEVLLVjQZ32UHQ/" target="_blank">follow me on YouTube</a> and/or Teachers Pay Teachers if you want to teach Spanish 1 along with me and enjoy the crazy ride. :-)Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-59744272365535061122018-09-18T05:21:00.001-07:002018-09-18T17:58:02.310-07:00Choosing the Meaning That Serves You<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4O2z9yszcvU/W5-aivCSTSI/AAAAAAAAA_0/z0lSRPnSTdgY89nXiH3kb8HacDwDzZwugCLcBGAs/s1600/choosemeaning.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1531" data-original-width="1600" height="612" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4O2z9yszcvU/W5-aivCSTSI/AAAAAAAAA_0/z0lSRPnSTdgY89nXiH3kb8HacDwDzZwugCLcBGAs/s640/choosemeaning.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sticky note psychology. It works.</td></tr>
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To continue on with things I've been learning from Tony Robbins...<i>this</i>.<br />
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I went to work one morning last week, sat down at my desk to figure out what I was doing that day, and <b>thought about behavior issues and how I was going to address them</b>. [Some examples of my students' behaviors at the moment: playing on phones and/or having headphones or earbuds in when they are supposed to be listening, watching, or working on something; asking to leave my room (bathroom, etc.) and then staying gone for 15 minutes; sitting there doing nothing when they are supposed to be working on a written assignment.]<br />
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I asked myself, <i>How am I going to deal with these behaviors today?</i><br />
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All of a sudden, the obvious answer came to me, forcefully.<br />
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"It's just the meaning you attach to it." ("It" = the behavior.)<br />
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I wrote that down on a sticky note so I could see it all day. It wasn't my original idea--Tony Robbins has a teaching about life and business mastery where he says that <b>we are all engaging in three behaviors</b>, all the time: 1) <b>focusing</b> on something, 2) assigning <b>meaning </b>to it, and 3) <b>deciding </b>what to do about it. I've heard him discuss this same concept in various YouTube videos over the past few weeks, and I guess it was time for me to really understand how to apply it.<br />
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What Does This Mean?</h3>
Me assigning meaning to the behavior meant the ball was in my court, because I have control over how I choose to interpret the classroom behaviors I observe.<br />
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Some students play on their phones a lot, and some of them keep doing it even after I've asked them to put their phone away. <b>Meaning?</b> I'm a terrible teacher? They don't respect me? They aren't interested in my class? My class is a boring, unimportant task they are forced to endure?<br />
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If it's just the meaning I attach to it, then I can choose the meaning I attach. All right. Then I will <i>choose a meaning that serves me</i>. I wrote that down on the sticky note.<br />
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Choosing a Meaning That Serves Me</h3>
If I'm choosing a meaning that serves my goal of keeping my positive energy flowing as I'm teaching, I need to choose well. <b>I decided to attach this meaning to to behavior of them playing on their phones during the lesson:</b><br />
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Phones and the worlds within them are fun and interesting, and they give you a brain/energy break from the mundane, long school day. You get attention from friends, you get entertained, and you can relax and just enjoy yourself. Even I feel this way about my phone, so I can understand the addiction. I want to play on my phone too. Occasionally I check my phone during long meetings and trainings, when I should be engaged instead. It doesn't mean the presenter is terrible or I don't value the learning or disrespect the person leading the meeting.<br />
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Therefore, assuming that the 4 or 5 students per class that I have to remind to put up their phones pretty much daily, sometimes two or three times per class each, are being disrespectful, hate my class, and hate me, is almost guaranteed to be false.<br />
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Case in point: one girl that I have to constantly ask to put up her phone, and who rolls her eyes when I do so, also cheerfully and eagerly greets me first when I pass her in the hallway or see her in the commons between classes.<br />
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Which brings up a follow-up meaning I can choose concerning phones: students who roll their eyes or scowl when I ask them to put up their phones do not necessarily hate me. They just haven't been taught or don't care to hide their in-the-moment emotions at being corrected or caught doing something off-task.<br />
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<b>I encourage you to experiment with these concepts in class:</b><br />
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<li><b>Realize that how behavior affects you is simply a product of the meaning you attach to it.</b></li>
<li><b>Understand that YOU choose the meaning.</b></li>
<li><b>Choose a meaning that <i>serves you</i> in your goals. Set aside your judgment of whether what they are doing is "right" or "wrong," for your own sake.</b></li>
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And please let me know how it goes! Teaching is always a journey of trial and error, and we're all in this together. :-)Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-6656374997677555902018-09-11T05:26:00.003-07:002020-09-08T14:35:33.660-07:00The Power of Noticing<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jpGrV90CtkQ/W5etrJISDuI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/-AhFGC9VzCYciZxJzgKNg7Lv2ZlL-a0GACLcBGAs/s1600/notice%2Bnote%2Bon%2Bdesk2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1380" data-original-width="1600" height="552" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jpGrV90CtkQ/W5etrJISDuI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/-AhFGC9VzCYciZxJzgKNg7Lv2ZlL-a0GACLcBGAs/s640/notice%2Bnote%2Bon%2Bdesk2.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This little note completely changed my perspective.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'll be honest with you guys, <b>when this school year started I was already exhausted</b> from the two weeks of training plus the summer's farm adventures gone wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was not in the mood for teaching five back-to-back classes full of freshmen, sprinkled with a few done-with-freshmen upperclassmen. Freshmen energy + volume level = a full 11, while my energy and volume level = -2.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Corralling them enough to get a lesson taught completely drained me of all energy by the end of each day for the first two weeks of school, and my attitude wasn't the greatest as I began each new day, which meant I started falling into a downward spiral that fed on itself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then, for some strange reason, <b>I picked up an old book I've had for years</b> and never completely read--<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unlimited-Power-Featuring-Tony-Robbins/dp/0671316451/ref=asc_df_0671316451/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312021251979&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10203454690651236023&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029028&hvtargid=pla-490948607166&psc=1" target="_blank"><i>Unlimited Power</i> by Tony Robbins</a>. Yes, Unlimited Power, I told myself half-jokingly. That is exactly what I need, if it exists.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well, Tony Robbins definitely believes it exists, and I've been a closet fan of his for years just based on the few tidbits of information I knew about him, brief YouTube videos of his interviews and speeches, and what little bits I had read from <i>Unlimited Power</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There is much more I could say (and probably will get around to it) about how spending two weekends immersing myself in Tony Robbins' teachings started turning things around dramatically for me, but right now I'll just share this particular revelation, because it's simple and yet powerful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was listening to an audio of Tony on YouTube where he had the audience <b>look around and shout out everything they saw that was brown.</b> Then he said, <b>"Close your eyes. Okay, now, shout out everything in the room that's <i>red</i>."</b> There was no shouting. He said, "Okay, now open your eyes and look around--shout out everything you see that's red." The shouting resumed, and when he got their attention again, he said, "Are you surprised by how many things around you are red, that you couldn't recall at all when you had your eyes closed? Why? What happened?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The answer of course, was that <b>they were focused on everything brown</b> before he said "close your eyes."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This hit me like a ton of bricks. <b>What was I focused on during class?</b> The one or two (or three, four, or five) students who were off task, distracting others and me, being loud, wandering around the room, yelling out and interrupting, etc. There was a sea of other students out there, NOT doing those things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>I scribbled the note in the photo above the next morning</b> when I got to class. It was a Monday, usually my worst teaching day in terms of energy level, enthusiasm, and resolve. I planned to <i>notice on purpose</i> every time I saw a student doing one of the things on the note, and make a little tick mark beside that action, so I could see in real time how often the things I WANTED to see were happening.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Then it Got Interesting...</span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first kid of the day walked in, a girl in my first Spanish 1 class. "Hola, Ms. Waltman...¿Cómo estás?" she called out cheerfully, before I had a chance to greet her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I looked down at my note. There were too many things to check off. She was <b>showing growth, risk taking, joy, learning</b>...heck, all of the things on the note. The next student immediately walked in and struck up a conversation with me about my weekend, so I asked her about hers, and we had a great conversation about California, dance, Spanish class, and other things. On my note, that was <b>positive behavior, joy, engagement, and respectfulness.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Before I could make the tick marks, the next kid came in, and the next. I noticed everything on my note, <i>for the entire class</i>. Then I noticed everything on my note, constantly, for the entire day.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And then I laughed at myself that <b>I hadn't made a single tick mark</b>, because it was impossible to keep up. I left that day feeling better than I had in weeks.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Are the negative behaviors in your classes capturing your entire focus, to the point you can't see anything else?</b> I challenge you to make a note. Lay it on your desk. Try to make tick marks as you notice the behaviors on the note. And then please let me know how it went in the comments below, because I am really curious. :-)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Happy Tuesday...</span>Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-6934092269772015612018-09-04T05:10:00.001-07:002018-09-04T07:58:44.862-07:00Back in Oklahoma - My New Classroom!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2OnMfQBh7Xc/W45tEJM44wI/AAAAAAAAA-0/XKmJTuJB8DAFbVKGFxx0oSFj96RcG_dEgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2OnMfQBh7Xc/W45tEJM44wI/AAAAAAAAA-0/XKmJTuJB8DAFbVKGFxx0oSFj96RcG_dEgCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_7548.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New job, new carpet, new furniture, and a new big screen on the wall.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I moved back to my home state of Oklahoma this summer (without a job) and was unexpectedly offered a position at Norman High School! (Why yes, thank you, I WOULD like to come in for an interview...)<br />
<br />
My original plan in moving back was to take a year off to work on my book business full time, but the inexpensive little farmhouse I bought in Southwest Oklahoma just didn't work out for this city girl. There were too many pests and predators in the vicinity--chiggers, (I couldn't wear shoes for two weeks due to festering bites!), snakes, scorpions, mice, rats (yes, actual rats,) wasps, black widows, skunks, and men.<br />
<br />
All I knew when I got the job at Norman High was that apartment life suddenly looked real, real good, and that I wanted something new, clean, and way up off the ground. Something that no skunks could crawl under and set up nests. Something with locked doors and gates, and plenty of people around to hear you if you yelled for help.<br />
<br />
New, clean, safe apartment secured, I turned my attention to setting up my classroom. They gave me a room that had just been remodeled and had not been used as a classroom yet--everything all new. I didn't have much time to set up before I had to report for new teacher orientation on August 2nd (and I had to make a road trip to close on the sale of my farm August 1st,) so I chose not to worry about putting anything on the walls and just focus on the 14-foot bulletin board on the north wall of the room.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VrUYs3ECkUo/W45tD0AowxI/AAAAAAAAA-8/HkiJ8Lam_dMBqBt_839h88r8NXq2hzGhwCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_7547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VrUYs3ECkUo/W45tD0AowxI/AAAAAAAAA-8/HkiJ8Lam_dMBqBt_839h88r8NXq2hzGhwCEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_7547.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This gorgeous orange bulletin board didn't need a thing but border and a few posters.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
My sweet mom drove down from Colorado and helped me shop for supplies including this cute black and white border, as well as helped me unpack the classroom stuff I'd quickly boxed up in May not thinking I'd be classroom teaching for a while. I was relieved to see I'd kept most of my essential props for skits, my Spanish children's books, and my favorite DVDs.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BzRKnrzrvwo/W45tBqvcBAI/AAAAAAAAA-4/7f7EjtJAkqg8Sh88fu6dPoCbWzmy2vlgQCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_7543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BzRKnrzrvwo/W45tBqvcBAI/AAAAAAAAA-4/7f7EjtJAkqg8Sh88fu6dPoCbWzmy2vlgQCEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_7543.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not perfect yet, but I have my stacking trays with handouts all set up and baskets of props ready to go. Also, notes and pictures from students in Colorado brighten my workspace and help me remember why I do this job.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The individual tables and chairs are designed to be able to form groups, so after school started I actually had one of my classes help me put them together into groups of 4. I'm planning to play around with different arrangements until I see what I like best. For now, it's been fun just to have all new "toys" to play with in a new environment.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QH6ypqDOff0/W45tBBvSS2I/AAAAAAAAA-8/FttlnykFOAMU6MqiwLvSxcAaoZF19X-5gCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_7544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1292" data-original-width="1600" height="516" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QH6ypqDOff0/W45tBBvSS2I/AAAAAAAAA-8/FttlnykFOAMU6MqiwLvSxcAaoZF19X-5gCEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_7544.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Objectives on the board keep me organized while I'm teaching. These aren't written in a "standards-based" format - they are practical and to the point.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lk51jT3F5Cg/W45tBNSvbhI/AAAAAAAAA_A/UyB6KgpQ5Egn5nmXymGX6A652f36XV7TQCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_7545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lk51jT3F5Cg/W45tBNSvbhI/AAAAAAAAA_A/UyB6KgpQ5Egn5nmXymGX6A652f36XV7TQCEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_7545.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Technology cart with laptop and a document camera that project to the screen. Thank you Norman Public Schools. :-)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'm really enjoying teaching at Norman High, although learning a new system/school/culture has been overwhelming at times. I've been in Colorado for 15 years, and there are some very clear cultural differences that I'm readjusting to now that I'm back. Oklahoma students are louder and more active (so, a little more draining on the energy levels!) They are also warmer and bond with you faster, and many of them have already completely stolen my heart.<br />
<br />
Thankfully we had a 4-day weekend (Friday off) for Labor Day and I had a chance to recoup some energy as well as be productive. I also got out and went on a little mini-vacation in Norman, walking around downtown and having lunch at Earth Café. It's still very warm and lush and green here, and as I walked around enjoying the humidity (yes, ENJOYING it!!! Colorado is high, dry, chilly desert,) I had a peace come over me that everything is going to be all right. :-)<br />
<br />
Don't forget to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jalen-Waltman/e/B07DPWPCJ9/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1536060564&sr=8-1" target="_blank">check out my author page on Amazon</a> to get $10 ebooks of all my lesson plans - and $40 print versions too!Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-53426452221175032352018-07-21T14:46:00.005-07:002020-09-08T15:41:47.434-07:00How to Adapt My Lessons for 50-Minute Classes (Instead of 90-Minute Blocks)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M85mGRRrutk/W1OnO88V0BI/AAAAAAAAA9w/15VsgsEeGogI45tlk0LvWq6HAGaj-bzcACLcBGAs/s1600/DSCF1940.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="375" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M85mGRRrutk/W1OnO88V0BI/AAAAAAAAA9w/15VsgsEeGogI45tlk0LvWq6HAGaj-bzcACLcBGAs/w500-h375/DSCF1940.JPG" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making it fun on whatever schedule you're on!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I just received the following question from a teacher regarding modifying my lesson plans to fit schedules other than 90-minute block:</span><br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
Dear Jalen,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
Thanks for the helpful info and answers to my questions! I will be meeting with our Spanish teacher tomorrow and will be presenting your lesson plans to use in our hybrid homeschool setting. The class will meet 2 X a week for 50 minutes. She may need to adjust what she tries to accomplish. I really love all the hands-on and interactive activities you have in your lessons. If you could suggest a prioritization of the activities when we don't have 90 minutes, that would be helpful. We will have 30 class periods (50 min. each) for 1 st semester.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
In answer to your question, I ran across your lesson plans on Amazon as I searched for High School Spanish curriculum.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
Sincerely,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
AN</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: calibri, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My response:</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span face="" style="color: #222222;">Hi! Well I'm excited my Amazon pages are getting some hits because I just started selling my stuff on Amazon this summer and I wasn't sure if it would get much reach at first!</span><br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ok, so if you're only meeting twice a week for 50
minutes, I would suggest:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Class 1:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Warm up quiz<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Intro new vocab<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Skit<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Grammar or Graphic Organizer/writing activity<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Class 2:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Warm up quiz<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Read the reading that goes with the skit from Class 1<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Grammar or Graphic Organizer/writing activity (whichever
one you didn't do in Class 1 above)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Culture activity and/or conversation practice OR...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Sometimes if the mood is right and I have kids who enjoy
giving me crazy ideas for a plot, we make up a new/improve skit to practice the
vocab one more time, and that can be a blast. :)<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222;">
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll
be teaching on traditional 55-minute periods this school year and the above
plan is what I'll be doing on alternating days. More on my new teaching job
soon!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't
forget to follow me on Amazon to see all my latest releases:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jalen-Waltman/e/B07DPWPCJ9/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1" target="_blank">Jalen's Author Page</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Summer's
not over yet, so let's get out there and enjoy it! (Since I changed states and
jobs this summer, I report for New Teacher Orientation August 2 >>>
:-0 <<< Is anyone else reporting back to work early August? Post a
comment below with your start date...I'm curious!)</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-29838725876913438822018-06-14T20:53:00.002-07:002018-09-04T04:29:58.318-07:00My Spanish 1A Lesson Plans Available As Ebook on Amazon for 9.99!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7bLktB1dlDc/WyM1bJpqobI/AAAAAAAAA9E/VAuFKiNef3ApKpNnUjTRfyoejw_u7-AyQCLcBGAs/s1600/Cover%2BJalen%2BWaltman%2527s%2B2009%2BSpan%2B1A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7bLktB1dlDc/WyM1bJpqobI/AAAAAAAAA9E/VAuFKiNef3ApKpNnUjTRfyoejw_u7-AyQCLcBGAs/s640/Cover%2BJalen%2BWaltman%2527s%2B2009%2BSpan%2B1A.jpg" width="492" /></a></div>
Okay, don't pass out, but...I finally worked out how I could make my lesson plan books available as ebooks as well as 8.5x11 paperbacks on Amazon!!!!<br />
<br />
My Spanish 1A 2009 ebook is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jalen-Waltmans-Complete-Spanish-Lesson-ebook/dp/B07DMBB7Q4/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">available for purchase now for 9.99</a>. You can download my book, then download the Kindle e-reader for free to any mobile, tablet, notebook, laptop, or desktop device. If you want to project the quizzes, vocab, etc. to a screen just go to the lesson or page you want and enlarge it so students can read it.<br />
<br />
You can also now order the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983120413/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1529034543&sr=1-2" target="_blank">gorgeous, professionally bound printed version of Spanish 1A 2009 on Amazon for $39.95</a> (and right now the Amazon page for the print version says "free shipping!")<br />
<br />
I will be putting all of my lesson plan books on Amazon over the next few weeks. Follow me as an author on Amazon and you'll get notified every time I publish a new lesson plan book. Here is the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jalen-Waltman/e/B07DPWPCJ9/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1529033949&sr=1-1" target="_blank">link</a>.<br />
<br />
Please let all your Spanish teacher friends know that they can get their hands on my lesson plans both electronically and in print for a <b>greatly reduced price</b> now that I am not personally handling the printing, packaging, and shipping of my own lesson plan books. Hallelujah!<br />
<br />
9/4/18 UPDATE: All my books are now available as ebook as well as print on Amazon. The easiest way to see the entire list is to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jalen-Waltman/e/B07DPWPCJ9/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1536060564&sr=8-1" target="_blank">go to my author page</a>.Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-42828691097889571852017-11-25T07:45:00.001-08:002019-10-06T19:37:48.083-07:00What To Do When Students Won't Sit Still and Pay Attention to a Skit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lciUphrotIs/XZqk1x1k2kI/AAAAAAAABOI/nmDroU5l7SAP8SVzqV63yczldn8m6Hw7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCF1919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lciUphrotIs/XZqk1x1k2kI/AAAAAAAABOI/nmDroU5l7SAP8SVzqV63yczldn8m6Hw7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCF1919.JPG" /></a></div>
<br />
I got this question on email this week about a problem I deal with myself in class as well: what do you do when you're trying to narrate a skit in class with actors and a) students in the "audience" are talking, playing on their phones, not giving you input or participating, etc. and b) the "actors" are more of a distraction than a visual presentation because they also are talking, messing around, not listening to your stage directions or the narration, etc.<br />
<br />
In my teaching situation, I have noticed this problem growing worse and worse over the past 8 years or so. With the new generations of students who are coming through our classes, TPRS (or telling a skit) just doesn't work the same way as it used to, 10-20 years ago. I have tried to address this reality, with varying levels of success, in various ways. I think it helps a little bit if you let the class choose the actors because that makes the skit into a little more of a "game." I think it helps if you don't do "circling" (asking 8-10 questions about every statement in the skit right after making the statement) or anything else that drags out the skit. I think it helps if you set up the class routine of skits right away at the beginning of the year and you coach and nag and cajole about how you want them to behave during a skit, first day.<br />
<br />
But even with all of those ideas, some days, I just get too frustrated to keep trying to refocus a class that simply can't sit still and pay attention to the skit.<br />
<br />
So here is what I do. When I reach that frustration point, I sit the actors down and have the class get out a clean sheet of paper so they can translate the skit. Yes, it's for a grade. Yes, you have to do it if you don't want a zero. I then project the Word document (but you could have copies of the skit prepared in advance) of the skit on my screen, enlarge the font, and set a timer for 5 minutes. "You have five minutes to translate everything on the screen into English on your paper. Go." Then all I do is stand there and tell them what a word or phrase means when they ask. And feel instantly less stressed out. Now they are doing all the work instead of me.<br />
<br />
When the timer goes off, I tell them to draw a line so I can see how much they got translated for that section, then I scroll to the next section and give another 5 minutes. We proceed with this process until the whole skit is translated, or until the bell rings. Either way, at the end, I have them count their words. I then base their points on word count and/or whether or not they got all of each section done. (You might need to adjust the timer for a section based on how many "fast" students were able to finish in the five minutes, by the way.)<br />
<br />
My TA alphabetizes the papers and I flip though putting points in the gradebook. Done. Next class, we get a fresh start. Either they can focus on the skit and participate, or they can translate again.<br />
<br />
Is this the best way to provide comprehensible input? No. Is it a reasonably good secondary way? I think so. Can I preserve my sanity with this backup plan? Yes.<br />
<br />
I hope this helps those of you who are dealing with this same issue. Let me know in the comments if you have experienced this and if you have figured out any other hacks!Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706391172520946061.post-4156989783025904792016-05-10T10:55:00.002-07:002016-05-10T10:55:45.974-07:00My Spring End-of-Year Classroom To-Do ListAround here, it's time to print out that final End-of-Year Checklist and start wrapping things up before summer (yay!) so I thought I'd share the to-do list I use to leave my classroom well-organized and ready for Fall.<br />
<br />
I posted my Start-Up Fall Checklists last August with <u><a href="http://jalensteachingblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/my-fall-start-up-checklists-to-get.html" target="_blank">this post</a></u>. Some of the things on that list are unnecessary and/or fast and easy "checks" if I take the time, before I leave for summer, to do everything on my Spring End of Year list.<br />
<br />
I have a week and a half left with students plus 3 teacher work days left, so now's the time I look at my list and see what I can start plugging away at and marking off when I get moments in my classroom to myself.<br />
<br />
Here's my list--feel free to modify as needed to meet your own needs!<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Jalen’s End of Year To-Do
List Spring 2016</span></span></h3>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Set up gradebook for Final Exams and Final Grades<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Grade Email Replies (Writing tests) and enter into Mastery Manager<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Grade Speaking Tests<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Enter Final grades in IC<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Post Grades including TAs<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Print gradebooks and attendance<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Reorganize/clean out filing cabinets<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Organize/purge AP files<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Clean/purge/organize room top to bottom<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Clean/organize office<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Clean out folders in email (AP, etc.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Clean desktop files, P drive, and other temp files on laptop<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Organize/clean out props & visuals<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Unhook all cords to laptop cart and wrap/tape neatly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Unplug/wipe down/open refrigerator<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Get signatures and check out with main office<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Celebrate!</span><span style="font-family: Eras Demi ITC, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Jalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04215145953021037097noreply@blogger.com9