Tuesday, January 22, 2008

• Culturally Correct

  There are certain topics I like to address in the Spanish classroom that go beyond grammar and vocabulary.  There are also some I have to address, whether it is to get through to bigoted unenthusiastic students or meet standard course of study requirements.  So here's my plan for the "have to" topics, and if I get this laid out just right, I might have time for the ones I like, too!

  For the Unenthusiastic
  In addition to posting a warning on the class webpage--and adding it to the letter I have been pondering a project exploring the Spanish link to employment opportunities.  This would, conveniently enough, address one of the SCoS objectives, but I don't feel it's quite enough to reach the dyed-in-the-wool whiners.  I think what I'll do is make that assignment a stair-step one, probably extra credit, where they choose the grade they'd like to aim for:

  C - Find five employment ads online or in the newspaper that list Spanish as "a plus" or a requirement

  B - Five ads plus an original visual representation (i.e. chart or graph) of job pay, opportunities for those who can speak Spanish (though I'm not sure which way to point them on this one just yet).

  A - Five ads, plus visual, plus a brief interview with an employer about benefits of Spanish in their workplace.

  This could perhaps replace an undesirable quiz grade, and I could set up a "Help Wanted" section on the wall (like the "In the News" map on the back wall. I vow to use it to post news articles related to Spanish-speaking countries that students will bring in and present to replace an undesirable homework grade).

  What I want to do to really hook the whiner set is to make them dig into their reasons for taking the class, to render obsolete the "they make me" line.  Even if they're just their for college entrance requirements, I'm going to have them look into WHY colleges make them take it.

  I put together what I consider a relatively simple research project to throw them into after that first quiz.  The hope is that in the future, I might not even have to do the project: just post brochures and posters from previous generations!

  For the State
  Idioms, gestures, patterns of behavior, interactions, activities and celebrations, countries, capitals, geographical features, important individuals, practices and perspectives of contemporary life, generalizations and stereotyping, viewpoints and attitudes, mutual contributions, and various forms of media: these are the aspects of culture the state requires.
  

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