Advent Calendars for German Teachers

There are quite a few online Advent calendars each year for German teachers and their students.  

Some years I'm better at keeping up with them than others!  It's always tricky since we have semester exams before winter break, and there's not always a lot of time to celebrate German Christmas traditions amid the review and end of semester craziness.

But here are links to some of the calendars I'm enjoying this year:

• AATG Advent Calendar: https://www.aatg.org/page/AdventKalender 

• Klett - USA Adventskalendar: https://www.klett-usa.com/adventskalender/c-3101

• Die Sendung mit der Maus Adventskalendar: https://www.wdrmaus.de/extras/mausthemen/adventskalender/2019/index.php5 

• Erster Österreichischer Dachverband Legasthenie:  https://legasthenie.at/Weihnachten2019/

Viel Spaß und schöne Adventstage!

Math Puzzles for my German Students

Because why not?

I love logic puzzles and think they are great for students to promote playful, logical thinking and problem solving.

The amazing Sarah Carter of Math = Love very generously shares puzzles that she uses in her classroom on her blog, and I've found time to print out two so far and put them in my room for students when they have a spare minute or two.

The first one is the A+ puzzle, which can be really tricky unless you approach it in the right way.

Then I added in the 1-4-5 Square Challenge.

Of course, I put it right by my Deutsch macht Spaß sign!

I think it's about time to rotate out the A+ puzzle and bring in a new one - as soon as I find the time!

Weltschul Maus - Kleidung enrichment for Deutsch 2... and a request

https://www.wdrmaus.de/filme/sachgeschichten/welt_schul_maus.php5 

As promised last week, here is the Enrichment activity for Deutsch 2 focusing on the topic of clothing in the Sendung mit der Maus Welt-Schul video. 

 https://drive.google.com/open?id=1isWxAL9QVNItM_6OSnU3BLrTGCjLshX6 

This time I focused in more detail on the first 10 minutes.  Students need to write complete sentences describing the different school uniforms worn by the children in different countries.  My students worked on it yesterday, and the level seemed good for them.

This is such a great video!  There are so many things you can pull out of it - clothing, languages, weather, transportation to school - and it's really accessible even at the beginning levels.

And, readers, now a request from you:  Could you please leave a note in the comments about which German textbook you use in your school?  We are entering textbook adoption season and embarking on the eternal quest for the perfect German textbook.  What do you recommend or not recommend?  Danke im Voraus!

Weltschul Maus - Enrichment for Deutsch 1

Die Sendung mit der Maus had a great new episode recently which works perfectly for enrichment for my German 1 Schule unit.  (Have a I mentioned lately how much I love Die Sendung mit der Maus?)

https://www.wdrmaus.de/filme/sachgeschichten/welt_schul_maus.php5

It's a fairly long video  - 23 minutes - for German 1 in the target language at the beginning of the year, but so much of it is understandable from the videos that I feel like they can handle it.  I also have a strong German 1 class this year, and I really want to challenge the students who are doing well.

Ralph visits schools in 10 other countries and spends a day with a student in school in each one.  There are so many great topics you could focus on, but I was mainly trying to get my strong students to try watching a show in the target language and realize how much they are able to understand.  I created a short worksheet to go along with the video, mainly just to hold the students accountable for watching all of it:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MCodj8W_T9bihYg8zJ4VunEr_87_MifZ/view?usp=sharing 

I plan to use this same video as enrichment for German 2 at the end of their Kleidung unit, focusing on the uniforms worn by many of the children.  I'll post it to my blog once I make it!

Oktoberfest 2019

After last year's exhausting Oktoberfest, I wasn't sure I'd want to attempt another one, but with my new half-time schedule and wisdom gained from last year's failures, I thought I might just give it one more try.

This year, my colleague and I were able to schedule things so that we could both be at the Oktoberfest, and two teachers are definitely better than one!

We started planning earlier and more students volunteered to bring in food.  My colleague also emphasized to the students that they should only take a small serving until everyone had been served, and there was enough for everyone.

This year I pre-made dough for Lebkuchenherzen, which we rolled, cut out, and baked during the Fest.  

Our Success period (intervention/enrichment time) is only 40 minutes long, so not all of the students' cookies were baked and cooled by the end of the period, but I was able to stay and finish up and students picked up their cookies later on the way to lunch.  They were delicious!

Most students had time to do their own dishes, though there was still quite a lot of cleanup to do afterwards.  My colleague had a class right afterwards, but I was done for the day and could enjoy some peace and quiet and dish washing.

Overall, it was a big improvement over last year and a good experience for students.  It's still super tiring for teachers, and the 40 minute Success period really isn't long enough for what we wanted to do.  Maybe we'll need to scale it back for next year and/or use some class time for part of it, but I'm glad we tried again.

Room Updates

Here's a quick look at some of the updates I've made in my room this year!

I've already blogged about my new seating arrangement (which I so far really like!): https://frauswank.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-new-look-for-new-year.html 

Here are some updates to my back board / agenda area to meet (I hope!) new expectations of our administration:

First Enrichment Activity for Deutsch 2

Last year in German 1 during the second semester, I started assigning students enrichment or corrections after their unit tests.  The idea was to push students who struggled to look closely at their errors, learn from them, and then retake their test if they wanted to.  I also wanted to give my students who had mastered the material a chance to go further.

It worked quite well, so I've decided to expand it into the first semester of both German 1 and German 2 this year (hopefully!).

German 2 takes their first unit test next week, and I've definitely noticed a wide range of mastery among my students so far on formative assessments.  So, I expect to have students with a lot of corrections to do and others who are ready for new challenges.

The enrichment activity I've designed has students watching a 2 minute segment on the Tagesschau from August 23.  I'm trying to teach my students how to work with authentic video clips that contain a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary by focusing on what they can understand and by viewing a clip several times.

Here's what they'll do:

You will be watching a 2 minute segment from the German news several times.  Repetition is important in learning a new language!  Don't worry that you don't understand every word.  Focus on what you can understand.

Write the answers to the following questions on a separate piece of paper:

1. 1. 1.  Before you watch the video for the first time, write down what you think you might hear based on the pictures below.   
      2. Watch the video from 6:30 to 8:44.  You can turn on German subtitles by clicking on UT.  https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/sendung/ts-32903.html (Links to an external site.) What did you see?  Was it what you expected? 
      3. Watch the video a second time.  What do you think the story is about?  What questions do you have?
      4. Watch the video a third time, making sure that you have the subtitles turned on.  Choose 3 unfamiliar words that you think are important to the story, look them up, and record them with their English meanings on your paper.
      5. Watch the video a fourth time, making sure that you have the subtitles turned on.  Answer these questions in German:  

a)  Wie viele Menschen waren (were) in 1989 in der Menschenkette?

b)  Wie lange war (was) die Menschenkette?

Listening Feature in Quizizz

I'm a fan of Kahoot, Quizizz, and Quizlet Live.  All three games provide a fun way to practice material, and each has its own strengths and classroom situations when it works best.

I really like the way Quizizz allows students to work at their own pace.  It also shows the answer choices on students' own screens, which can be very helpful if the answers are long or quite similar to each other.  I have also had classes which are not mature enough to handle the whole-class competitive aspects of Kahoot (or choosing an appropriate name), and Quizizz offers a good alternative.

As I was looking at my collection of Quizizz this week, I found a Quizizz made by another teacher for the German alphabet:

 https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/57c3570c9debbafb240a341f 

It asks students about the German names for the letters of the alphabet: 

My students usually really need practice in hearing and recognizing a letter of the alphabet.

As I was looking at this Quizizz, I found that you can upload 10 second MP3 files or record yourself very easily to give an audio clue.  Perfect!

I found a great website, https://www.thoughtco.com/the-german-alphabet-1444644, which has individual MP3 files for the letter of the alphabet which you can download.  

I'm going to record myself spelling words as well for my students to practice, and there are lots more possibilities for listening practice on Quizizz with this function.  I hope you find it useful as well!

A New Look for the New Year

For the past 6 years I've had desks in my classroom arranged in table groups of 4, like this:

It's worked quite well for me, though there were always a few spots where students had their backs partially to the front board.  This year when I came back after summer break, the desks were in rows after being taken out and put back in for floor waxing.  So, I decided to try out a new arrangement.

The idea is to have everyone arranged in more of a U-shape, facing the center of the room.  I did this during my first two years of teaching in my math classes, but I haven't used it since.

I've made a few modifications since the above picture was taken.  The desks are now in pairs of 2 within the U-shapes, so students have a convenient partner for quick speaking exercises.  There is one group of 3 tables for my classes which have an odd number of students.  Here's what I think I've settled on:

I'm using Name Tents again this year to learn students' names and mix them up with different partners at the beginning of the year, so that has made it easy to tweak things a bit as I go.  

So far, I am quite happy with it.  Students took their first quiz this week, and I didn't move desks for that.  I reminded them to focus on their own work, and the questions are in a different order for each student, so I don't think there was much of a problem with wandering eyes.  So far, so good!

Liechtenstein in the news

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-liechtenstein-anniversary/beer-with-the-prince-liechtenstein-marks-300th-anniversary-idUSKCN1V51S5

Liechtenstein made the news in the U.S. this week as it celebrated its 300th anniversary on Thursday.  

We're discussing holidays in German 2 and introducing German speaking countries in German 1, so we'll definitely be talking about Liechtenstein next week in both of my classes.  

This Reuters article gives a nice overview of the country and has a photo slide show of the celebrations.

I couldn't help noticing the tent behind the prince which says "Ein Land, ein Bier."

Deutsche Welle has this video in English about Liechtenstein and its 300th anniversary:

and this one from a few years ago:

Typisch Deutsch Video Activity

Was ist Typisch Deutsch?

School started this week on Wednesday.  I'm always glad when we start with a short week because the first week is tiring for everyone.  It went very well!

One of the activities I did with my German 2 classes was to watch the German in Me video from Easy German.  

It was a nice way to engage the students in the target language without overwhelming them since there are German and English subtitles.

As we watched, students were asked to select one key German word for each typically German characteristic and to make some notes in English about what it meant:

We did one example together as a class:

We didn't have enough time to get through the whole video in either of my two German 2 classes, but we did get to several typisch Deutsch characteristics, and I think students were getting the hang of it.  Definitely something to do again.  I may turn this activity into an enrichment assignment for students who score 90% or better on the first test.

Das Grundgesetz ist 70 Jahre alt!

https://www.bodowartke.de/medien/698 

The Bundesrepublik Deutschland was founded in May 1949, which means it and the Grundgesetz (basic law/constitution) are 70 years old this year!

Bodo Wartke, a popular German piano player and singer, performs a rap of the first five articles of the Grundgesetz.  It's fantastic!  

It's fast, but you can download the lyrics as a pdf here: https://www.bodowartke.de/seiten/download.php?id=7645 

I think it would be great to do with an upper level class as part of a unit on the German government and history.

Less is the New More

My yoga teacher said "Less is the new More" to us once, quite some time ago, and it has stuck with me ever since:  More is not necessarily better.

I've known for quite a while that for me, more is not always better.  

• It's why I decided to stay home full time when our children were born.
• It's why I eventually returned to work in a half time aide position.
• And it's why I returned to certified teaching in a part time position when a full time German position was also available.

Since I started teaching two classes of German at Bloomington High School North in 2013, my school's German program has grown, and with it, so has my teaching load.  From 1/3 time to 2/3 time to 5/6 time, and finally, the past two years, to full time.  

I'm proud and pleased that our German program has grown, but the increase in my teaching load has been faster than I had expected, planned, or wanted.  From the outside, it probably looks like a perfect progression, but from the inside, it's been too much.

During the six years that I've been there, my school has had four different prinicpals, and one position in my department has been held by six different people.  There's a lot of tension and turnover in public schools currently, and my school is not immune.

For the past three years, I've requested to return to half time teaching.  Last year I tried to move to a middle school math position which was half time.  Nothing worked out, so I tried to keep going.

I blogged very little this spring because I just didn't have energy or words anymore. 

I thought about taking a year off, returning to an aide position, or leaving the profession entirely.

Finally though, this year, things have worked out so that I can continue teaching German at my current school but half time.

I am so, so thankful.  

I can feel my energy, joy, and love of teaching begin to return.  

I spent a week in Germany with my closest friend and got to attend the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag in Dortmund with her.  It was the best professional development I could have imagined.    

Yesterday I saw the people at Target setting out the school supplies, and I felt quiet excitement, rather than dread, at the thought of the new school year.  

I'm currently scheduled to teach two sections of German 2 and one section of German 1, and I couldn't be happier.  I know that this slower, less is more pace is right for me.

März Musik Winner

And the winner is...

Happy Birthday, World Wide Web... and thanks!

The World Wide Web celebrated its 30th Anniversary March 12, which makes me feel rather old, but also grateful.

On the day before Spring Break, I was pondering what to do with my students on the first day back from break, and I was drawing a blank.  It's more difficult since it is the second day of our block schedule, and on the day before break, I had a lot of students gone, so it was mostly a catch-up day / make-up day.  I don't really want to come back from break to that, so what do I do with my sleepy students who will claim that they've forgotten all their German?

I glanced at my blog reading list, and suddenly I had two good ideas:

For German 1, from World Language Classroom, a "Who is it?" minibook:

The post does not contain a template for German, but I've done minibooks before, so it was quite easy to make my own template.  

I made one following the model from World Language classroom:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_4HTdBgY-_ghly6tO_DyMfYZd4HSCdmE 

and modified it a bit for my students:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XqxS5cBz0lNg1k_TBDlAtOYD_xvEEGjH

Rather than doing a selfie, I plan to number students' books when they finish writing so that they can read each other's books and fill in a guess on a chart:

For German 2, from The German Sector, a March Madness-style German video competition:

I am very, very grateful to Ashley for selecting, previewing, and sharing the 16 German music videos because I'm not very knowledgable about German pop music.

A quick Google search led me to this great March Madness bracket from Plexkits: https://plexkits.com/march-madness-bracket/  

I deleted the parts of the bracket that I didn't need, and Rick very kindly added a winner box for me.  I added hyperlinks to the bracket so that students can click and view the various videos.  

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/138BiHAN3nwxLbM9Ojbyx7eYRNGs_CQRRy52AmAYu5_Y/edit?usp=sharing

This is definitely something that I couldn't have come up with on my own, and I'm very grateful for all the people who shared resources with me.  I hope it will energize my students next Monday morning!

Eins, Zwei, Drei Tier Video

This weekend I found a great video from Die Sendung mit der Maus to use as enrichment with my German 1 students for this unit:  

https://www.wdrmaus.de/filme/lachgeschichten/eins_zwei_drei_tier.php5 

Students have been working with adjectives and adverbs in opposite pairs as well as Haustiere recently, so it's a great fit.

You can turn on subtitles in German (UT), so students can see what they're hearing.  

I've created a short worksheet to go with it so that students can view the video independently while I am helping students who need reteaching.

 

Here's the file if you'd like to try it with your students: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1JtvQJ6yr-t8oAoAUfgvXmGfeTdvPLqZ8