Obstacle
#1: Spanish classes are limited to an hour each week.
With the current
focus on “core” subjects and standardized test preparation, foreign languages
are often left with minimal classroom time. How can you teach Spanish in such a
small window?
Solution: Use a multisensory curriculum to
increase retention.
Teachers can
increase students’ retention by using a curriculum that includes visual,
auditory, tactile and kinesthetic elements. While we’d love to teach Spanish to
kids every day, it is possible to make significant progress with this kind of
curriculum, even in a half
hour each week.
Obstacle #2:
Students are bored or disengaged in class.
While some
teachers dread a misbehaving class, a roomful of bored students might be worse.
It’s important that every student be excited and engaged, especially in the
foreign language classroom, where participation is vital to learning.
Solution: Introduce
multimedia tools to keep classes stimulating.
A multimedia
program that engages the senses and addresses students’ different learning
styles will ensure that everyone stays involved. Music, games, videos, art,
play, reading, listening, dancing, singing and imagining can all become part of
the class. Spanish will be the class your students can’t wait to do again next
week.
Obstacle #3: Instructors
lack specific training to teach elementary Spanish.
Finding
a native Spanish speaker who knows how to work with elementary grade children
and has experience teaching a second language is not an easy prospect. Lacking
such candidates, teachers are often brought in without the requisite experience
or knowledge of the established scientific research behind effective language
teaching.
Solution:
Invest in a proven curriculum that provides teacher guidance.
Not everyone has
the background to effectively teach children Spanish from day one. But a
teaching program that compensates for this reality makes it much easier. By
investing in a field-tested curriculum that uses proven teaching techniques and
strategies, even the greenest teacher can provide a fun, high quality Spanish
education.
Obstacle #4:
Teachers have few materials and have to spend many hours on class prep time.
Elementary Spanish programs often lack a comprehensive language curriculum, leaving teachers to piece one together from scratch. Schools often don’t realize how time consuming this is. The extensive prep time is rarely compensated or taken into consideration when evaluating curriculum costs.
Solution: Find
a complete Spanish program with
all the materials teachers need for a full school year.
Ideally, your school should find a complete Spanish program with all the materials that teachers need to get started straight out of the box. Of course, teachers will want to add their own creative twist to the program. But that’s much different and less stressful than cobbling something together from various websites. By using a well-designed, sequential Spanish curriculum, you’re setting up teachers and students to succeed.
Obstacle #5:
Teacher turnover gives students an inconsistent learning experience.
High teacher turnover can be a cause for failure of elementary Spanish programs. When a teacher walks out the door, they often take their curriculum and classroom continuity with them. Meanwhile, the new teacher is left scrambling for materials and the students are back to square one.
Solution: Get
a program with scope and sequence that stays with the school.
If a school is serious about teaching Spanish, it is
imperative that they choose a curriculum that has the scope and sequence to
stay with the school year after year. It should provide tools for
accountability, with testing and evaluation to allow new teachers to pick up
where the last one left off.
