I said in the target language, “Class, if you would like to ask our guest a question, please come up to the chair, cross your legs, look her in the eyes and ask your question. I took my teacher stool and I set it next to her and I modeled for the students. It’s a special chair reserved for special times. Instead of having students raise their hand and asked question, I invited our guest to sit in the front of the room on an ottoman that I have in the classroom. That’s why I had probed for deeper questioning on Wednesday. My students of course are getting better at asking the typical questions. The next day I changed things up just a bit to keep the process of interviewing a guest from becoming mundane. In this way, my students were not just practicing Spanish questions, but they were demonstrating interest and inviting a new person in to our community. Another student asked what the child likes to do. Next, another student asked how old the child was. One clear and obvious follow-up question was what’s the name of the child. For example, the visitor said she had a child. Rather, I stated quickly in English that the answer to the question allowed for a clear and obvious follow-up question that somebody in the class needed to ask. Having recently listened to Bill VanPatten talk about the importance of having a purpose, I clearly stated ahead of time that at the end of the class, students would be held responsible for recalling and producing 7 to 10 facts about our visitors.Īnother change I made spontaneously on Wednesday was that I did not allow a new, topic-changing question immediately. With all day visitors on Wednesday and Thursday, we spent almost the entire class on both days interacting with the visitors.
The information provided by the visitor has sometimes shown up on end of class period quizzes giving students a purpose to listen.īut this week, I felt a tremor in the force. Students have asked these questions from their seats while the class interpreter (another student job) interprets from Spanish into English and the standing visitor responds. In the last couple of months January through March, most of the questions have been the same questions that I have asked them:
After the class says hello and welcomes the visitor in unison, I typically open up the floor for student questions directed to the visitors. One student job is to greet visitors and introduce them to the class. Over the last several years the number of visitors coming to observe class has increased. Over time, I allow students to ask follow-up questions of their peers and sometimes even attempt to lead an interview. They also change in how much of the interview is teacher driven and how much is student driven. Over the course of the year, they grow in duration and detail. As a result, they’re short in duration – perhaps 7-10 minutes. These interviews with complete novice learners are, initially, not terribly exciting. In the fall, I interview students and invite them to share information about themselves.
Personal interviews have become a major component of how we build a positive learning community and develop meaningful proficiency in Spanish 1. Our brains were built to make sense of other brains and to understand everyone’s place in the pecking order.