Friday, September 02, 2005

Heh Pi Berth dey tu yu (Happy Birthday to You)

I’m definitely roping the students in; each day is a slight improvement. With new students joining the groups each day, I’ve been readjusting the seating almost continuously. It was an unexpected challenge when I directed students to their assigned seat by having them listen for their name and sit where I had pointed. So, one of the keys to the improvement is having every single detail prepared and set out before class begins. Since yesterday, before the students enter the classroom (they are accustomed to waiting outside anyway, as they ask the teacher for permission before entering) I have their “name cards” on the desk where they are to sit.

Also to help the classroom environment, I enacted “The Stars of the Week.” The deal is this – each day the students’ have a chance to gain or lose points, based on following the classroom rules and at the end of the week, the five students from each group with the most points wins a prize. Next week I’ll probably make it the five students who have improved the most. To get the students excited about this, I went out and bought about $30 (we’re talking dollars – not pesos) worth of candy for the bribes – I mean prizes.

Students may lose points by talking without WAITING after raising their hand, calling out to me, not sitting well (feet must be on the floor), touching anyone, accusing anyone of anything (I’m sick of “He did this, she did that”), making fun of someone, chewing gum or eating food in class or passing notes (I intercepted my first one today! Very exciting. It reads, “I’m sorry I didn’t think about what I did. Now if you want to be my girlfriend let’s try it for a while if you want.” – Too cute!)

Students may gain points if they are patient, raise their hand and WAIT to be called on, if they pronounce and say their answer loudly and clearly, if they help someone, if they teach me a new word or a better way to say something and if they behave well during the entire class period – no distractions, no outbursts and try to participate, and finally by.

In preparation for “The Stars of the Week” this morning I had the bicitaxi drop me off at the “papelería,” (stationery store) just beyond school, where I bought florescent (fosforente in Spanish) green cardboard to make stars and very thin white paper on which to put them. Then, I printed the students’ photos that I took during class yesterday, and on my pathetic looking stars, cut out of the green cardboard, I put the photo of each “Star of the Week”. The five stars from group 1A excitedly came to claim their prizes; Karla, Dayami, Sharon and José Francisco chose chips while Jorge took a Snickers bar. Since groups 1B and 1C had class today, I’ll post those winners on Monday.

With all of the excitement of “Stars of the Week” going on, I was still able to have the students help me do something special for Faye’s birthday. At the end of class I taught them the “Happy Birthday Song,” which many of them knew, but now the pronunciation is a lot better. On my iPod I recorded us singing “Happy Birthday to Faye” and will send it to her as soon as I edit my voice out of the beginning and end. Unfortunately, I can’t edit my voice out all together – my singing is pretty rough to take.