These are some good questions that Alex, the lead teacher of a school I am working with, has asked:

What habits have you observed in excellent Spanish programs? 

This is what has worked for me and what I have observed:

• Routines. Regular, well though-out routines and rituals.
– Predictability combined with novelty
– Bookends: Start and end class with the same routines every day. Make the middle different each day.
– Predictable weekly schedule

• Positive behavior management.  Catch them doing what’s right or almost right, rather than jumping on every error or misbehavior.  Positive rewards for proper behavior works.
– See The Whale Done School , by Zurchin, et al. This is a short but powerful read.

Sincere praise works better than criticism. Here are some phrases you can use to praise students when you see them doing something right. Many of them are cognates so students will pick them up quickly.

• Sensitivity to student interests. We need to talk with them and look into their eyes and figure out what interests them. For me it has been Persona Especial student interviews. Students like to learn about one another.

• Fun. Games that support content. Not every class, but as a treat or a reward for positive behavior. Preferred Activity Time (PAT) has worked well for me. This is an idea from Tools for Teaching, by Fred Jones.

• Relevancy. Students need to understand how they will be able to use the course content. You will have to point it out to them over and over.

• 90-95% TL usage. How will they acquire the language if we are not using it clearly and often? See this Checklist for Observing a World language Classroom.

• Comprehension Checks
Frequent (almost constant?) comprehension checks
– Language is acquired by comprehensible input. If students do not understand they are not acquiring
– Check for understanding at different levels:
1) Low: Literal understanding of the sentence you just said.
2) Mid: Making connections with similar words and grammatical structures.
3) High: Applying to new sentences.
See this article on the how to of Differentiating Instruction with Questions

• Reading
Planned reading experiences with these components:
1) Regular Self-Selected Reading. This is how you differentiate the learning in a multi-level class (and they’re all multilevel classes after just a few weeks because students learn at different rates). Daily SSR for 10 minutes at the beginning of class, if possible.
– Well-stocked classroom library with many different genres. No money to create a classroom library? See how to fund a classroom library here.
– Allow students to check out book and take them home. This is a great promotion for your program: “Look how much Spanish/French/Latin I know, mom!”
2) Whole Class Reading, once or twice a semester.
3) Reading Aloud to Students, once a week or so. Your kids need to hear your voice, their teacher who they know and love, reading well-written stories and articles.  There is something to this: “El alma está contenida en la voz humana.” (The soul is contained in the human voice.)  ―Jorge Luís Borges

Paper books are best because students read faster, understand more and retain more from paper books versus screens.

• Classroom Jobs
– You’re probably doing too much. The teacher doesn’t have to (can’t?) do it all. You can ask students to help with the routine tasks that need to be done in your classroom.

What habits have you observed in mediocre Spanish programs? 

• Lack of consistency.
– Random reinforcement is the way to create gambling addicts and also students that will never give up negative or apathetic behavior. This is straight from BF Skinner’s Operant Conditioning. When you are not consistent, you are creating your own problems. Pick a routine that makes sense to you and stick with it.

• Overdoing grammar instruction. Focus more on communication and comprehension than on memorizing grammar paradigms.
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• Ineffective classroom management. Best to catch them doing what’s right instead of focusing on the negative.
Not getting the kids on your side makes for exhausting teaching.
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• Too much English. Long explanations in English about grammar or culture may be mildly interesting, but they do not help students to acquire the target language.
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• Noun-based rather than a verb-based focus. Verbs are where the action is (pun intended).
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• Missing some of the components of good teaching. If you missed it above, see see the Checklist for Observing a World Language Classroom. This is what good teaching is. The checklist was originally put together by French teacher Susan Gross, my mentor, and one of the best teachers I have ever known.
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These are not always indicators of mediocre programs, but I have questions when I see these:
– “Brain breaks” that are too long, too frequent, and/or not content-focused.
– Letting class clowns run the show. They can add a lot when they are under control and working with you, but do not let them have free reign.
– Too many worksheets. I’m not 100% against worksheets, just not all the time.

When should we teach what?

Some teachers advocate a “just talk to your kids” approach, arguing that students will pick up what they are ready to get. I see the appeal, and I have seen experienced and fluent teachers with a dramatic flair pull this off, but I tend to loosely follow a traditional curriculum in my mind with C.I. methods.

ACTFL’s “Can Do” statements can be a good starting point.
Level 1 students are well served learning to use the present tense in order to talk about their everyday lives and immediate world. Some sports, some foods. Not exhaustive lists. Teach the core verbs right away so that absolute beginners can begin reading right away
Level 2  Past tense. Widening their world
Level 3 and up  Subjunctives, and moving toward unsheltered content.

But fluency in all levels, that is, they can confidently talk about what they have learned.

What are your reactions?

What would you suggest?