Señora Cummins' Reflections

 My father-in-law is an amazing man.  He taught leadership classes for many years and I respect his wisdom.  We were talking about my classes once and he asked me if I essentially teach a survey class at the beginning level.   What an excellent question.  A year later I'm kicking that idea around.   My response a year ago was no, I don't because my 1411 builds into my 1412 which builds into my 2311 and then into 2312.  My classes are based heavily on grammar that must be mastered at a lower level before used correctly at a higher level. However, now that I'm really thinking about it this is because of the textbook I was using.  I chose to use the same McGraw-Hill text for all 4 of my semesters, beginning with Ch 1 in 1411 and ending 2312 with Ch 18.   This seemed like a great idea for a few reasons: 1-a contact I have at another community college does it this way 2-students don't have to learn a new curriculum 3-it's logical be...

Learning.  How do we ensure our students are really learning what we teach?  How do I design a class so that there is enough focus on learning?  How do I motivate students to invest the time and energy it takes to learn?  How do I guide my students to truly learn as opposed to just capture enough to pass the class? The other day in church I asked a couple in my Sunday School class how online classes are going for their daughter.  The dad said she's doing well but he's concerned she's not really learning very much.  Ouch.  That struck a nerve because I have a sense that this is a common issue with online learning.  We expose students to information and then expect them to magically know everything and produce it on assignments, projects, quizzes and tests.   Students this semester in my online 1412 and my 2312 as well as my hybrid 1412 have communicated that they do the work assigned but they don't feel like they really get it.  One ...

 I've been working on my editable textbook.  It was a big week: *Chelsea, my graphic design helper through my college, sent me a graphic for the front cover of my textbook.  It's fantastic. When I began this process I realized the the cover and title of the textbook didn't suit my class.  I emailed our graphics dept and asked for help.  Help I'm getting :)  I love that there is an expert artist along for the ride with me as we create something really amazing for students.  She asked for specifics and I told her she has free reign.  I want graphics that will appeal to students and not feel "high-schoolish".  Graphics are not my area but I know visual appeal is important. *Viva Español is the title of my book.  I really like it. *I've settled into a scope and sequence that fits my students and it dovetails with where my second semester class begins. *I met with our technology trainer, Julie, and talked through the logistics of getting what...

I've chosen the OER textbook going to use as the bones of my 1411 class.  I have it in an editable format.  My next step is to present it to my dept chair.  After that I present it to the dean. Today I had an epiphany:  I can use my creativity to truly make this class fit the needs of the students I teach.  My son made a great recommendation:  teach the class 1 way for students who just need 1 semester of Spanish and teach it a different way to those who will continue on for another semester.  In a perfect world that would be something to explore, but not for now. Eventually I want our campus to offer conversational Spanish which is a 3 hr credit instead of a 4 hr credit, but I want to get this new curriculum up and going before I tackle that task. For now, I can look at the concepts that typically cause the most trouble for students in my 1411 and do what I can to help make those pinch points less tricky.  One thing I'm addressing is that the las...

 As I'm working with a new text I'm at this place wondering how much practice is needed for each concept.  How much has to be graded? I'm reminded of the concept of differentiation.  Not all concepts are equal.  Some require only memorization (vocab terms) while others require understanding how to do something and being able to apply it. This is the part of teaching I get excited about.  When I was still an adjunct a student told me she really liked that I could make something hard feel simple.  (She had taken French in high school and was brand new to Spanish).  Yes.  I can see the steps involved in mastering concepts and break them down into pieces. I'm realizing that by taking the time to truly redesign my 1411 I can take the time to view the steps in what students learn and build in practice sufficient for the complexity of each task.  It doesn't need to be a 1 size fits all kind of thing for each chapter or section.  I have the beau...

 Yesterday I previewed 2 OER textbooks for Spanish.  Both could work well for my 1411 and 1412 sections.  One I really liked--it was written for the flipped classroom model and I could see it working very well for a hybrid class.  It could also work for an online class, but the students would have to do weekly online chats.  Possible and probably an excellent idea from a pedagogical standpoint. This is all very different than what I currently have.  Currently, they pay $139 and with it they get a phenomenal curriculum with tons of bells and whistles.  The assignments are all online and 98% auto-graded by the Connect robot. If I go to the OER text that I like I will have to rethink how they practice the material.  I'm wondering how much practice is enough?  Could I make Quizlet graded? I love the thought of making the class look like this: 1-learn it.  (Read, take notes, memorize--marinate in the information--to get a really good understa...