¿Hablas español?
Welcome to my Spanish class!
¡Buenos días! My name is Travis Patocka and I’m a Spanish teacher here
at Lexington High School in Lexington, Nebraska and I’d like to share with you
just what I do.
My day starts around 5:15 every morning and I usually get to class around 6:30 AM or sooner. I teach three different levels of Spanish, but with the help of my colleagues Juan and Socorro, we are able to offer a total of six. This is my class, and what it looks like every morning before my students arrive. Don’t worry, before you know it, it will be full! Here at the high school we have a ton of technology we use and all of my students have their own laptops. I use my LCD projector, laptop, and the Internet to bring the world of Spanish to my students. One of my favorite pieces of technology is my Lightspeed microphone system. It allows students to hear me speaking at the same volume regardless of where they sit. I do find that by being early I have plenty of time to read e-mails, grade homework assignments, and double check to make sure my lesson plans and class website are all set to go.
My day starts around 5:15 every morning and I usually get to class around 6:30 AM or sooner. I teach three different levels of Spanish, but with the help of my colleagues Juan and Socorro, we are able to offer a total of six. This is my class, and what it looks like every morning before my students arrive. Don’t worry, before you know it, it will be full! Here at the high school we have a ton of technology we use and all of my students have their own laptops. I use my LCD projector, laptop, and the Internet to bring the world of Spanish to my students. One of my favorite pieces of technology is my Lightspeed microphone system. It allows students to hear me speaking at the same volume regardless of where they sit. I do find that by being early I have plenty of time to read e-mails, grade homework assignments, and double check to make sure my lesson plans and class website are all set to go.
8 AM and the students are here. We
typically start class with a game, as it is a great way to wake everyone up. This game is called “Matamosca” and
helps students learn class vocabulary.
We then move on to a grammar review of the past tense. Students do most
of their work on their laptops and maintain a digital portfolio that they
submit at the end of the year. From there, the students work with their
partners on their weekly conversations.
We have a different topic each week. Once the students have had a chance to work on their
conversations we go online and investigate a different Spanish website each
week. This week, Spanish poetry!
We typically finish class with a learning game and today we are playing “Rags
to Riches”. After that, the bell
rings and the students move on to their next class. My school day usually ends
at 3:30 but today I’m working with one of the afternoon clubs that I sponsor,
the high school game club. I
return to my class and around 5 PM and gather a few things before I head home. Tomorrow,
I’ll come back and get ready to do it all again, and I love it. Thanks for joining me.
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