tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1558504512735092882024-03-13T14:44:46.433-04:00Alles Klar!High School German Teaching in Bloomington, IndianaNancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.comBlogger202125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-22026576212587218862023-08-09T07:33:00.001-04:002023-08-09T07:33:32.759-04:00Possessive Pronouns with Easy German<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="404" src="https://edpuzzle.com/embed/media/64d00793caf6d24168cf4dd7" width="470"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sometimes everything just comes together! I've blogged about my love of <a href="https://frauswank.blogspot.com/search/label/Easy%20German" target="_blank">Easy German videos</a> and also how useful <a href="https://frauswank.blogspot.com/2022/12/easy-german-reise-nach-dresden-yule-blog.html" target="_blank">EDPuzzle</a> can be for teachers. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Put them together, add a good worksheet to go along with the video, and you've got a great lesson to teach possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, etc) in German 1 or to review them in German 2 or 3. Enjoy!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Here are the links:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Original <a href="https://youtu.be/o-Zu-bUlPb4" target="_blank">Super Easy German Possessive Pronouns Video</a></span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My <a href="https://edpuzzle.com/media/64d00793caf6d24168cf4dd7" target="_blank">EDPuzzle Video Version</a></span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1b-U6tucZoC-2eWp1Aa5Cm2iy8AZsSbB4/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101223176573208168677&rtpof=true&sd=true" target="_blank">Possessive Pronouns Worksheet</a></span></p></blockquote>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-16342215930498341562023-08-03T13:45:00.000-04:002023-08-03T13:45:31.089-04:00Berliner Mauer Kreuzworträtsel<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brandenburg_Gate_-_Flickr_-_The_Central_Intelligence_Agency_(1).jpg" title="The Central Intelligence Agency, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Brandenburg Gate - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency (1)" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Brandenburg_Gate_-_Flickr_-_The_Central_Intelligence_Agency_%281%29.jpg/512px-Brandenburg_Gate_-_Flickr_-_The_Central_Intelligence_Agency_%281%29.jpg" width="512" /></a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I seem to be on a crossword puzzle roll lately. I created a Berlin Wall crossword puzzle for my good friend to use with her German 2 students. It's German to German but uses relatively simple language, so it should be accessible to strong German 2 students or German 3 students who have studied a bit about the Wall.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Click on the link if you'd like a copy: <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11XxeZt-rFxWR8aHegcuJf-o3W8vdly1Q/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101223176573208168677&rtpof=true&sd=true" target="_blank">Berliner Mauer Kreuzworträtsel</a></span></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-22019317170454398392023-07-26T06:24:00.001-04:002023-07-26T06:38:03.323-04:00Kreuzworträtsel / Crossword Puzzles<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7aHMch5dCRxA_2tSJMlrdbxQX92_FEImm2K8xkxTHhDN-CglQ2zs6yeUSu6gIvLQX35akXOy6fKfVJqS91892sdahNQIEGjpkx4gW1FoTZhw0QaSi0drY0uQdTiI7wauL_Z4mG8El7GQ9TOsWiDbpSaew7ILKrf4JewFATQ5kkFJ2_wZheE-_4iFaSV8/s370/Screenshot%202023-07-25%20143027.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="280" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7aHMch5dCRxA_2tSJMlrdbxQX92_FEImm2K8xkxTHhDN-CglQ2zs6yeUSu6gIvLQX35akXOy6fKfVJqS91892sdahNQIEGjpkx4gW1FoTZhw0QaSi0drY0uQdTiI7wauL_Z4mG8El7GQ9TOsWiDbpSaew7ILKrf4JewFATQ5kkFJ2_wZheE-_4iFaSV8/w280-h370/Screenshot%202023-07-25%20143027.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I liked to use crossword puzzles in my classes as a way to sneak in some vocabulary drill in a way that was slightly more enjoyable to students. It also has the perk of being self-correcting, so no need to spend a lot of time grading/going over it. Win-win!</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The tool I have always used is the <a href="https://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/criss-cross" target="_blank">Criss-Cross Puzzlemaker from Discovery Education</a>. It's not fancy, but it gets the job done.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I take the puzzle that is generated by Puzzlemaker and paste it into a <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qSy75GHzwbUTT8IolIFpo8baYGzKyHVl/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101223176573208168677&rtpof=true&sd=true" target="_blank">PowerPoint template</a> so that I can save it and use a format that is similar to other paper assignments. This certainly isn't necessary, but I think it's a nice touch.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I recently made a <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NGmrpkoeyi2PW3FoRgPVoNgqneSImU25/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101223176573208168677&rtpof=true&sd=true" target="_blank">puzzle to be used as a review for the beginning of the year for incoming German 2 students</a>. It reviews typical German 1 vocabulary, such as school, numbers, colors, family, and food. I made two versions. One is easier and has the clues as the English definitions. Students fill in the German word. The other version is more difficult. The clues are in (very simple) German, and the answers are German as well. I feel like this is attainable for strong German 2 students and might even be challenging to German 3 students who are working on using the target language only. Both versions are included in the same file, which is available here: <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NGmrpkoeyi2PW3FoRgPVoNgqneSImU25/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101223176573208168677&rtpof=true&sd=true" target="_blank">Willkommen Deutsch 2 Kreuzworträtsel</a>. Here is the list of words for a key and for easy modification to tailor the puzzle to your own students without needing the retype the whole list: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mAuBwwTSSBF4zIYLw6tB3RgoOC9U8Eu1/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101223176573208168677&rtpof=true&sd=true" target="_blank">Willkommen Deutsch 2 Kreuzworträtsel word list</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-41703039412371929142023-07-24T09:22:00.002-04:002023-07-24T09:23:32.710-04:00Advice for Multilevel Classes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ugHhdLIlLlEJlwxVHZE3p_uOYLSq96aRnudbt0THzHya57Mzw1yqlRvPWnh7XUDd8-jvzMxxsuqyM2zUUmiL7LgZZ9Ya4yN83UldFxssSnU02y9pqaEJ3ZWR3Fh0jHNIEr54RwjUbtAP6ul1tC0eZY0Qg13xdwjwGJ_rBcxcR06BjThnH8WJiRz2UNg/s480/blogger-image-1698159522.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="389" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ugHhdLIlLlEJlwxVHZE3p_uOYLSq96aRnudbt0THzHya57Mzw1yqlRvPWnh7XUDd8-jvzMxxsuqyM2zUUmiL7LgZZ9Ya4yN83UldFxssSnU02y9pqaEJ3ZWR3Fh0jHNIEr54RwjUbtAP6ul1tC0eZY0Qg13xdwjwGJ_rBcxcR06BjThnH8WJiRz2UNg/s320/blogger-image-1698159522.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial;">I was recently corresponding with a new German teacher in South Carolina (schöne Grüße, Frau Becker!), and she asked for advice about planning for a class with both German 2 and 3 students in it. Multilevel classes are pretty common in upper level world languages, so I thought I'd put my reflections here in case they can help anyone else.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial;">The combination of two levels is tough for teachers. Administrators don't seem to understand how much more work it is for the teacher and how the students are shortchanged. They just look at numbers. As I was told, just be grateful we're letting you do this level at all. At my school it was a 3/4 split. (And one year I did a 4/5 split, though we only had German 5 that one year!)</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial;">When facing a multilevel class, first of all, be kind to yourself. This isn't easy and you won't be able to give the students the same learning experience as if they were separate classes. You are one person and can only do what you can do. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial;">The upper level students (I'll call them German 4 here for clarity since that was my experience) should be seniors and, at least theoretically, more mature, so focus on the German 3 students, and give the German 4 students more independent work. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial;">You may be able to have your German 4 students play the role of conversation partner or assistant teacher. Give them a note card with a speaking question that they ask of the German 3 students one on one or in small groups. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial;">This isn't what you'd do if you had separate sections, but it is using the language and does benefit them. If parents complain, explain that it isn't under your control and ask them to take their concerns to administration. Overall, focus your energy on German 3, where you likely have more students, and do what you can about German 4, but don't expect yourself to be two people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-35922341809062997322023-07-22T08:35:00.006-04:002023-07-24T08:52:15.185-04:00Summer 2023 Update<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhZAEFwAc4uz6C81axtaWjswCm7Z21Go6MuWO76AS7N1_cQtGb_WzRFs1V0CJF6AkJ5P6-sBKvsGi0rhGeaZlA8P5R-cINaTzAwWLidR7dIW720GOxbEV7DiuG0MkBfXdhj0GnALP3MNJR4hrWGiV29kogzO1b1GEPqkzkD6SiWy_OV1uc0pE0zhDLso/s4032/IMG_4411.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhZAEFwAc4uz6C81axtaWjswCm7Z21Go6MuWO76AS7N1_cQtGb_WzRFs1V0CJF6AkJ5P6-sBKvsGi0rhGeaZlA8P5R-cINaTzAwWLidR7dIW720GOxbEV7DiuG0MkBfXdhj0GnALP3MNJR4hrWGiV29kogzO1b1GEPqkzkD6SiWy_OV1uc0pE0zhDLso/w392-h294/IMG_4411.JPG" width="392" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: arial;">Here's what I've been up to lately:</span><p></p><p></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Two elbow surgeries, one case of COVID, and one sinus surgery in 2022.</span></li></ul><div><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">A trip to Germany in the summer of 2022 to visit our son at the end of his exchange year in Schwebheim, Bavaria. This was our first major trip since 2019 - it was wonderful to travel again!</span></li></ul></div><div><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">A <a href="https://frauswank.blogspot.com/2022/12/a-success-story-from-2022-yule-blog.html" target="_blank">return to teaching</a> during the 2022-23 school year as a part-time middle school math support teacher at <a href="https://school.stcharlesbloomington.org/">St Charles Catholic School</a>. I worked every other day from 10:30-2:30, and the school is a 15 minute walk from our house. It was a wonderful way to <a href="https://frauswank.blogspot.com/2022/01/update-short-version.html" target="_blank">return to the classroom, and being there helped restore my love of teaching</a>.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I still love (and miss!) German teaching and creating lessons for German, so I'll definitely keep my blog up for others to use. I might even post lessons or ideas if I see something I just can't resist sharing.</span></div></div>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-76624628797709672922022-12-24T16:20:00.003-05:002022-12-24T16:21:29.006-05:00Easy German Reise nach Dresden - Yule Blog<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShqelSMk_afNJ0FcSwJBT_cw-jwexlAvbp8t7XmkjiGtRA8Eo5Q5dxikS7IFEVUt4YYEM4d9v7w0O8xOvg3Q3hiqlcOwInt6DT_i-me4jLgskdIGR82_YPuxu0BhsNjE_umMpINgadJ6yhi01YCMj0ZbeIuIxjNy8RwFP5PvbmDt_1NpPO4suZN14/s398/yule%20blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="398" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShqelSMk_afNJ0FcSwJBT_cw-jwexlAvbp8t7XmkjiGtRA8Eo5Q5dxikS7IFEVUt4YYEM4d9v7w0O8xOvg3Q3hiqlcOwInt6DT_i-me4jLgskdIGR82_YPuxu0BhsNjE_umMpINgadJ6yhi01YCMj0ZbeIuIxjNy8RwFP5PvbmDt_1NpPO4suZN14/w436-h154/yule%20blog.png" width="436" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Easy German Reise nach Dresden <i>Trip to Dresden</i></span></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="404" src="https://edpuzzle.com/embed/media/63a71b6402031640d195e2ae" width="470"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">A tool I find really useful is <a href="ed[uzzle.com" target="_blank">Edpuzzle</a>. I've blogged about it before, and I really like it for cutting and adding questions to online videos.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">This video is the first 3 minutes of a new Easy German video filmed in Dresden. The whole video is pretty good but probably a bit long for students' attention spans. There is also the word "Scheiße" and some consumption of alcoholic beverages (by adults) later in the video, so it may not be something you want to show in your classes, depending on your school's policies and the maturity of your students.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">However, the first three minutes show some beautiful sights in Dresden and provide great opportunities to use weather, clothing, and travel vocabulary, which are all German 2 topics in the district where I most recently taught. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I made a one page worksheet to go along with my video. <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1G634BVuSs3qmDUVS4Cv-3rPxuYy9Vs3d/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=101223176573208168677&rtpof=true&sd=true">Click on this link</a> if you'd like a copy.</span></div>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-18238924961039628282022-12-23T09:25:00.000-05:002022-12-23T09:25:02.721-05:00Start / Stop / Continue in 2023 - Yule Blog Challenge<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjBN7qfmaGPWYD9vI-c2Gz1ORIEraiFGijTAFvSEpSLTmN_k9WnGI9hPCXKfblF-6WJkg5nU3Nc0amfPcTNa6mFe4SLbgqMiLZCH4ry3nD8GEDrAYNUP16lnGXymMAqoFNe2GV5Kdqht80lZ2KKeRKDO0Lzodn8kFSsEf1Lpx6DuqAwHvN-6KblFTX/s398/yule%20blog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="398" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjBN7qfmaGPWYD9vI-c2Gz1ORIEraiFGijTAFvSEpSLTmN_k9WnGI9hPCXKfblF-6WJkg5nU3Nc0amfPcTNa6mFe4SLbgqMiLZCH4ry3nD8GEDrAYNUP16lnGXymMAqoFNe2GV5Kdqht80lZ2KKeRKDO0Lzodn8kFSsEf1Lpx6DuqAwHvN-6KblFTX/w410-h145/yule%20blog.png" width="410" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Start / Stop / Continue in 2023</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As a math support teacher, I do less of the initial instruction but work with students more individually or in small groups when they have questions. I'm happy to report that they have lots of questions, and I love helping them. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One thing, though, that I want to <b>stop</b> is telling them information that they have in their notes. Instead I need to <b>start </b>prompting them to reference those notes. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's so much easier and faster just to answer their question, but it benefits them more in the long run if I help them become more independent in their learning. Particularly middle schoolers don't automatically think to look back at the notes they took in class if they get stuck while doing their homework. It seems obvious to us as teachers, but it isn't a habit they've developed yet. If I can make sure my students learn to do this in middle school, I've planted a seed for their success in high school.</span></div><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-36089349227483062002022-12-21T09:59:00.000-05:002022-12-21T09:59:57.175-05:00A Favorite Resource of 2022 - Yule Blog Challenge<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfV9Os_TfhVui0Muf0wWD42NijzQOiQfCXOq8rKQGvtOHrk7Xvgxbn2RTcPKWGiiup7POjtd1GKElYlNO8AVFHD_zlsZWre8Rsto3aEjSlhAcQw6s4KdXCMXv1jO27JVi16PMzF9fI6QLmg2Cl00MU0v5NyWzWYVgiBCxCvAY3Y9MB3wCeQ-SsFkP2/s398/yule%20blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="398" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfV9Os_TfhVui0Muf0wWD42NijzQOiQfCXOq8rKQGvtOHrk7Xvgxbn2RTcPKWGiiup7POjtd1GKElYlNO8AVFHD_zlsZWre8Rsto3aEjSlhAcQw6s4KdXCMXv1jO27JVi16PMzF9fI6QLmg2Cl00MU0v5NyWzWYVgiBCxCvAY3Y9MB3wCeQ-SsFkP2/w403-h142/yule%20blog.png" width="403" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A Favorite Resource of 2022 - Easy German</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ok, I'm cheating a little here since Easy German has been a favorite resource of mine for some time, so it's not new to 2022. I've blogged about it quite a bit. But it continues to be great and keep getting better, so it continues to deserve mention.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Recently they posted a video about Relativsätze, relative clauses. This is a topic my German 3 students often found confusing, and the video explains it very well.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XchW3E0kTPk" width="320" youtube-src-id="XchW3E0kTPk"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I made some guided notes to go along with the video.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFi-_rXtgoapdJtFOfMrCPUMOquDVHhjobtFfNwYSk9n-YJUXfXXN9lyTH_cuL8tiRvoc9Sh_JG1sDzlMHShQAPs030-FySH8uApOitnaqWsHUkpr0zcMEyFoX74mdnAIKqFxMCj0qiGtvVJDXXFMtkh-WxrxIWQeF7FbUtlWITqwbysv6nA-m7J0H/s489/relative1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="370" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFi-_rXtgoapdJtFOfMrCPUMOquDVHhjobtFfNwYSk9n-YJUXfXXN9lyTH_cuL8tiRvoc9Sh_JG1sDzlMHShQAPs030-FySH8uApOitnaqWsHUkpr0zcMEyFoX74mdnAIKqFxMCj0qiGtvVJDXXFMtkh-WxrxIWQeF7FbUtlWITqwbysv6nA-m7J0H/s320/relative1.png" width="242" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa2Hov8BFBS2FNO5DZ-Kf-T74S_pH3KsiGKATIyYU3dnN6ETcKje2J3NIRhTPARPgzYBT-ZCf1mYYL_IsURbRWlzjPkfWAt0178qyB_2GUXQO1C0eBPCQXXICZ0lSaBZODxOU1f8x1r33GbJgFS6O3CXc5e5AE0boDEqn6j-9_nUW65Hm3VwcEegE/s487/relative3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="371" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa2Hov8BFBS2FNO5DZ-Kf-T74S_pH3KsiGKATIyYU3dnN6ETcKje2J3NIRhTPARPgzYBT-ZCf1mYYL_IsURbRWlzjPkfWAt0178qyB_2GUXQO1C0eBPCQXXICZ0lSaBZODxOU1f8x1r33GbJgFS6O3CXc5e5AE0boDEqn6j-9_nUW65Hm3VwcEegE/s320/relative3.png" width="244" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP-F4rPGS0579P3gAU0dTKUO_Dy6YlnTMwo8Dw00mQsiI10X8KcSz07M5WM7Dy4eKo_BhkycjYLxrk63rlMGMiC4aFfsESKN5PAhDEhYPQBH7UC01GXtdP2ghXZ-a1ql62Z34r0xwFhjhvDGhy9IMNWEaUS3jHYrqRb2JSlJqPQczBg2Wr1WwKrHLH/s487/relative2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="368" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP-F4rPGS0579P3gAU0dTKUO_Dy6YlnTMwo8Dw00mQsiI10X8KcSz07M5WM7Dy4eKo_BhkycjYLxrk63rlMGMiC4aFfsESKN5PAhDEhYPQBH7UC01GXtdP2ghXZ-a1ql62Z34r0xwFhjhvDGhy9IMNWEaUS3jHYrqRb2JSlJqPQczBg2Wr1WwKrHLH/s320/relative2.png" width="242" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZSataWjipvgWx2iFPJaq6jc90976cLEGvIOKYuStOgYHdVjWJrRfZSroaxCqpeSLEs2sBZwkqVIi9bKfPZwNVWGlAF6eu6TIFgNMO3qFgiVtF8MKMGucOUFthsKr2VhYvJd4014Ci37Ub4J4_LxDletrq-PJGQCB75O6SWr9A5gzszGpKA3iubz_/s490/relative4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="369" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZSataWjipvgWx2iFPJaq6jc90976cLEGvIOKYuStOgYHdVjWJrRfZSroaxCqpeSLEs2sBZwkqVIi9bKfPZwNVWGlAF6eu6TIFgNMO3qFgiVtF8MKMGucOUFthsKr2VhYvJd4014Ci37Ub4J4_LxDletrq-PJGQCB75O6SWr9A5gzszGpKA3iubz_/s320/relative4.png" width="241" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Click the link if you'd like a copy: <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QJzTpad72lkEM6bBlOTP6-B_qG7GE8B6/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101223176573208168677&rtpof=true&sd=true" target="_blank">Relativsätze Relative Clauses notes</a></span></div></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /> <p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-61116235073496238572022-12-20T10:53:00.004-05:002022-12-21T09:47:04.426-05:00My Favorite Lesson of 2022 - Yule Blog Challenge<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKvutapyAmU30PINMSZChycUORCIZMAZRzHVARJ15cAz63r8EYbqux5-RTF2PI3lvIVC1M2z7EjBxGVKE9RDXf6tMPXSiS7cVHwr6GTcBvI_VDA3NQ0EeTQbeWXB3UfRJqrSFX-TClUQuUDe-90SYX7ufkxEXPDK6xFVRT6Gs4EhOef3oVEUoXe96/s398/yule%20blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="398" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKvutapyAmU30PINMSZChycUORCIZMAZRzHVARJ15cAz63r8EYbqux5-RTF2PI3lvIVC1M2z7EjBxGVKE9RDXf6tMPXSiS7cVHwr6GTcBvI_VDA3NQ0EeTQbeWXB3UfRJqrSFX-TClUQuUDe-90SYX7ufkxEXPDK6xFVRT6Gs4EhOef3oVEUoXe96/w432-h152/yule%20blog.png" width="432" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My Favorite Lesson of 2022 - Slope Dude</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One of the joys of returning to math teaching in 2022 after 8 years of teaching German is that I got to teach about slope, which means I got to introduce my students to Slope Dude.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Z38NtmjzEc4AJ-6QTLP21gKVytXMAHil-Rz1ko6405qD9L3O3_HD6S-T0ZbCH4EqHnN5HVSxPDOd8K2nPU-UQhFTf1zO1G1JYi1SNytGo8EzAv444mzL42DcK-3a5mUYxmdYhx3VX2lclfShkPMNp5P06jqAEhsZ7npC2rPy6B_3cZw0qhMlOA0J/s372/slope%20dude.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="372" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Z38NtmjzEc4AJ-6QTLP21gKVytXMAHil-Rz1ko6405qD9L3O3_HD6S-T0ZbCH4EqHnN5HVSxPDOd8K2nPU-UQhFTf1zO1G1JYi1SNytGo8EzAv444mzL42DcK-3a5mUYxmdYhx3VX2lclfShkPMNp5P06jqAEhsZ7npC2rPy6B_3cZw0qhMlOA0J/s320/slope%20dude.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I first learned about Slope Dude from <a href="https://mathequalslove.net/" target="_blank">Sarah Carter at Math=Love</a>, and I've wanted to teach a lesson using him ever since. This fall, I got my chance!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I was working with a small group of seven pre-algebra students who were being exposed to the concept of slope for the first time. We started with the video<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZcSrJPiQvHQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="ZcSrJPiQvHQ"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">and played <a href="https://mathequalslove.net/slope-dude-says/">Slope Dude Says</a>. It did not disappoint! My students got very into it, and the competition between the final two was intense. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then, we drew pictures of the four types of slope in our notes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXlTQu4J9fdJEkgl5ydyjA7ijusgnWid4rSWAi5VFDA596XyzZTVOJJ4ZcD4QKnmQTD6YNJluEgNKrT9H22Fs4T93axJqbYMe5YxNNgv4O6_15ofeG1f9NfHlz6I-YsQIK9QVTwylq-ylzc6fXkoMXvV9QwsHKg_lnFzcVvUN8IvnuDSVYph-LRQlr/s608/4%20slopes.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="152" data-original-width="608" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXlTQu4J9fdJEkgl5ydyjA7ijusgnWid4rSWAi5VFDA596XyzZTVOJJ4ZcD4QKnmQTD6YNJluEgNKrT9H22Fs4T93axJqbYMe5YxNNgv4O6_15ofeG1f9NfHlz6I-YsQIK9QVTwylq-ylzc6fXkoMXvV9QwsHKg_lnFzcVvUN8IvnuDSVYph-LRQlr/w437-h109/4%20slopes.png" width="437" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">and color coded our names based on the type of slope in each line segment. (I missed a few here!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcyARaA2mzX_mmdw45r23FImdp6kd6zXdBC0q2_XISVKp3o8McfAuWa0oH5WV2bHq-_S8KBRSyH7jOYYTeA8I0TbjEYOmFgPIvtVF6APQTDpiybiaE62F8hQ9PAT98oz7j7xhRnfjsqsDuFoToXaTIBPec2m04xysa5oF4vWffXHjyScLCAn87GeTb/s299/name.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="75" data-original-width="299" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcyARaA2mzX_mmdw45r23FImdp6kd6zXdBC0q2_XISVKp3o8McfAuWa0oH5WV2bHq-_S8KBRSyH7jOYYTeA8I0TbjEYOmFgPIvtVF6APQTDpiybiaE62F8hQ9PAT98oz7j7xhRnfjsqsDuFoToXaTIBPec2m04xysa5oF4vWffXHjyScLCAn87GeTb/w408-h102/name.png" width="408" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, we progressed to finding the numerical slope of a line from a graph. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhnqMTiwp4z2dJUNXGWgW5LO-JCo44UwAyisk8FkQVCo3vBnMSNnZV8gAzehGEbuMsPwRJ3pvxYcYWD-qagv9DH-U53B5tEQLqol5VG6PoJFbRZlZT8m0rh1Aw7HSNN_XWDBfaKokpDW5OTwfevbLHvbZmQlpX3R5fgjmSD_aot_GM63FLdQ2yFpuE/s604/graph.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="604" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhnqMTiwp4z2dJUNXGWgW5LO-JCo44UwAyisk8FkQVCo3vBnMSNnZV8gAzehGEbuMsPwRJ3pvxYcYWD-qagv9DH-U53B5tEQLqol5VG6PoJFbRZlZT8m0rh1Aw7HSNN_XWDBfaKokpDW5OTwfevbLHvbZmQlpX3R5fgjmSD_aot_GM63FLdQ2yFpuE/w528-h266/graph.png" width="528" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>It was a lot of fun, and my students definitely finished the day with a good conceptual understanding of slope. I could hear them saying "puff, puff positive" and "nice negative" - music to my ears!</span></div></div><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-26047851248729807172022-12-18T16:25:00.001-05:002022-12-21T09:47:44.879-05:00A Success Story from 2022 - Yule Blog Challenge<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFn6HP8VQK0JF_8E1gBbqu2LFubZmnKHfgfp0RS536jQE50KmeZyj-PXpAIELS48vAbJxG6KDUmVhXPmWh6k-tPT3d1FKkj5AKdsfu9PDoJgVDL5IqWD5Y9H40w-LPvLFllHzsZSVXPUWmjrB6-QlvbRe3m3vstS9rDfoFOog1A3fwAwzcTKNR732_/s398/yule%20blog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="398" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFn6HP8VQK0JF_8E1gBbqu2LFubZmnKHfgfp0RS536jQE50KmeZyj-PXpAIELS48vAbJxG6KDUmVhXPmWh6k-tPT3d1FKkj5AKdsfu9PDoJgVDL5IqWD5Y9H40w-LPvLFllHzsZSVXPUWmjrB6-QlvbRe3m3vstS9rDfoFOog1A3fwAwzcTKNR732_/w419-h148/yule%20blog.png" width="419" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I read about the MTBoS Yule Blog Challenge on </span><a href="https://statteacher.blogspot.com/2022/12/brushing-off-blog-for-yule-blog.html" style="font-family: arial;">a blog I follow</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> and thought this might be a good way to return to blogging. The challenge is to blog 12 times during your winter break, and there are prompts to get you started. I'm starting with</span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">A Success Story from 2022</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My success story from 2022 is a pretty big one for me personally - I returned to teaching. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://frauswank.blogspot.com/2022/01/update-short-version.html">I took the 2021-22 school year off</a> and wasn't sure if I would return to teaching afterward. When I started looking at options for this school year, I knew that I was only interested in a part time position. Unfortunately, the district where I worked for the past 10 years would only let me return full time. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Then, friends put me in touch with the principal of <a href="https://school.stcharlesbloomington.org/">St. Charles Borromeo School</a>, a K-8 Catholic School which is a 15 minute walk from my house. (Our younger son went to preschool there.) They were looking for a Spanish teacher and knew I had taught German and had taken some Spanish. Sadly, I don't know enough Spanish to teach it, but when I said I was also licensed in math and really enjoy supporting struggling students, the idea of my position as math support teacher started to take shape.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I help the middle school math teacher </span><span style="font-family: arial;">with a 6th grade math class and a 7th grade pre-algebra class.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The middle school is on a block schedule, so I work every other day from 10:30-2:30. I mostly work with students individually or in small groups, and I love it! It's a wonderful way to return to the classroom and return to math teaching without being overwhelmed. I'm so happy to be back!</span></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-29998171687561856672022-11-16T07:44:00.000-05:002022-11-16T07:44:58.620-05:002022 Update<p> <span style="font-family: arial;">Here's what I've been up to in 2022:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Two elbow surgeries and one sinus surgery</span></li></ul><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">A trip to Germany to visit our son at the end of his exchange year in Schwebheim, Bavaria. This was our first major trip since 2019 - it was wonderful to travel again!</span></li></ul></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">A return to teaching as a part-time middle school math support teacher at <a href="https://school.stcharlesbloomington.org/">St Charles Catholic School</a>. I work every other day from 10:30-2:30, and the school is a 10 minute walk from our house. It's a wonderful way to return to the classroom, and I'm so happy to be there.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I still love (and miss!) German teaching and creating lessons for German, so I'll definitely keep my blog up for others to use. I might even post lessons or ideas if I see something I just can't resist sharing.</span></div></div><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-68888930833598242862022-01-11T06:55:00.007-05:002022-01-14T09:06:39.181-05:00Update, short version<p><span style="font-family: arial;">When I last blogged in 2020, I was teaching high school German online and in person simultaneously during the continuing pandemic. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">By the spring of 2021, it was clear to me that I needed to make a change, which sadly meant leaving the German program I had built up over the last 8 years. The original plan was to teach middle school math during a more normal school year, but the Delta variant and life circumstances intervened, and I'm watching this year of pandemic teaching from the sidelines.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When I told people I was taking the year off, they asked what I was doing with all my free time. I loved this Twitter post as an answer:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxkueMAXqvByrO8FMpEa0UUf1L1qDh6vMRUS6fsPBxiidWM2Jn-Fr-hjBpfNT5-MXQ9odkpBVEXjqpIufnFW4BrA3O3x6PbQESFWfLQjmyQKqhxBoVDGGAZrQIvb78gkZ7n8ISZYoRJuFi1eIQ1hKW3nK5zy3tYVx_B6ASCcekTi65jSC-8pSDKSIA=s968" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="625" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxkueMAXqvByrO8FMpEa0UUf1L1qDh6vMRUS6fsPBxiidWM2Jn-Fr-hjBpfNT5-MXQ9odkpBVEXjqpIufnFW4BrA3O3x6PbQESFWfLQjmyQKqhxBoVDGGAZrQIvb78gkZ7n8ISZYoRJuFi1eIQ1hKW3nK5zy3tYVx_B6ASCcekTi65jSC-8pSDKSIA=w259-h400" width="259" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I've been loving having time to run, quilt, read, bake, sleep, and do crossword puzzles. But some days it takes most of my energy to get out of bed and take a shower.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I've been taking a Russian class, something I haven't done since 1994. I've forgotten a lot of the grammar, but a surprising amount of vocabulary is still in my long-term memory.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I've been going to lots of medical appointments. It turns out that you can get severe tennis elbow from too much typing while hybrid teaching. (Another reason I haven't blogged.) It also turns out that secondary trauma is a real thing, which isn't fixed by taking a few days off and some self-care.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I've been amazed by the understanding and compassion of people. I've been heartbroken by the cruelty and selfishness of people.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I've been grieving the (non-COVID) death of my father and the COVID deaths of more than 5 million people worldwide.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I've been slowly healing, and most importantly, I've been realizing this:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I <b>am</b> a teacher. Not by profession or job title, but by vocation, by calling. I love taking difficult topics and making them fun and understandable to students. This has always been me, and it isn't changed by where or if I'm working. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I don't know what comes next in my teaching career. If the pandemic has taught me anything, it's that the future is hard to predict. But I know I'll continue to <b>be</b> a teacher.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-77559206736125734872022-01-07T14:21:00.010-05:002022-01-17T05:44:44.533-05:00German Joke for students learning "werden"<p><span style="font-family: arial;">It's been a <b><i>very</i> </b>long time since I last blogged, and much has changed since my last post. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I was inspired to write again by a </span><a href="https://youtu.be/NCiomJTAT8E" style="font-family: arial;">video</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> from </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbxb2fqe9oNgglAoYqsYOtQ" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Easy German</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> with cheesey jokes which might be useful to other German teachers, so I'll post about that and save updates for another day (maybe).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NCiomJTAT8E" width="505" youtube-src-id="NCiomJTAT8E"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><u>Warning to K-12 public school teachers:</u> this video has two or three words that would be inappropriate in most schools, so be sure to preview it before watching with your students and/or show only clips.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In spite of a few bathroom language moments, this is a sweet video, especially since Janusz is Manuel's dad. I could imagine asking students to memorize and present one of the jokes as a short speaking assignment or extra credit opportunity. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My personal favorite is at 11:33 and uses the verb werden, which I've generally taught in 2nd year. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw3jiX6Sa9jnu9k-e3e-CPJzIwtlp7YEn5jIY0Whl5-jPBCmHWOo_rMHKj3cxKnsIPSg99-knCeDCzzqcxhaw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's a pretty easy joke to understand in terms of language level, and what I like about it most is the way it contains both uses of werden:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">As a helping verb to form the future tense - Wir werden sehen. <i>We will see.</i></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">As its own verb meaning to become - Wir werden Seen. <i>We're becoming lakes.</i></span></li></ol><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Ist das nicht fabelhaft? Thanks, Easy German team. Ach, I love teaching German! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Update: I've updated my guided notes to include the joke video</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nmTkRD8TO1Y/YeQd02MGL0I/AAAAAAAAFtU/ocm23wuUnCEk_TiGcLmtK0bTYjven5JSwCNcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="341" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nmTkRD8TO1Y/YeQd02MGL0I/AAAAAAAAFtU/ocm23wuUnCEk_TiGcLmtK0bTYjven5JSwCNcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="182" /></a> <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0yCDP8hx56o/YeQd8f1MCbI/AAAAAAAAFtY/-vcmPzJImfwdpYtWzutgioge4GDvOV7wwCNcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="340" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0yCDP8hx56o/YeQd8f1MCbI/AAAAAAAAFtY/-vcmPzJImfwdpYtWzutgioge4GDvOV7wwCNcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="182" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">and made a Google Slides presentation for the lesson.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9joR6cCBPi4ynKmZAO616Szrb_SHSCwLq2H1y_1dfMc_28B3-Q3Jz-RRTsWdocg6HgdeNtI00BOm0Gi0UgwMnfHO2PwjgMVFiU6yS0Wk3LlzPuGyWXekE4-8CkBBTELVaHzoFo6One6JqEVWsXV7Eh-yOQN5zYVcTBIZZoB3kCOX7d8fH01i7QWlc=s690" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="690" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9joR6cCBPi4ynKmZAO616Szrb_SHSCwLq2H1y_1dfMc_28B3-Q3Jz-RRTsWdocg6HgdeNtI00BOm0Gi0UgwMnfHO2PwjgMVFiU6yS0Wk3LlzPuGyWXekE4-8CkBBTELVaHzoFo6One6JqEVWsXV7Eh-yOQN5zYVcTBIZZoB3kCOX7d8fH01i7QWlc=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm happy to share - just leave me a comment, and I'll send you a copy!</div><br /></div><br /><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-41882280642392671692020-10-17T08:46:00.004-04:002020-10-17T08:46:47.119-04:00Going Green<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WwGpTqzoF5Q/X4rdh803zbI/AAAAAAAAFdY/nayIFR8KOgofzOkxAeonwhHHuC7S_KOFACLcBGAsYHQ/s521/Annotation%2B2020-10-17%2B075945.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="521" height="259" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WwGpTqzoF5Q/X4rdh803zbI/AAAAAAAAFdY/nayIFR8KOgofzOkxAeonwhHHuC7S_KOFACLcBGAsYHQ/w409-h259/Annotation%2B2020-10-17%2B075945.png" width="409" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As of Monday, October 12, we're officially in Phase Green. Thankfully, this was also the week of Fall Break, so we only had 3 days of school before a 4 day weekend. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Case numbers and percent positivity remain low in Monroe County. We're averaging 2 or 3 COVID cases in the high schools per week, but these seem to be acquired in the community and isolated quickly so that we haven't had noticeable in-school transmission. </span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ewFl8A5Xetg/X4rdhuby9JI/AAAAAAAAFdc/iMaiBot2a9YqeXlHb06BezX3izSJRZByACPcBGAYYCw/s571/Annotation%2B2020-10-17%2B080137.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="571" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ewFl8A5Xetg/X4rdhuby9JI/AAAAAAAAFdc/iMaiBot2a9YqeXlHb06BezX3izSJRZByACPcBGAYYCw/w371-h271/Annotation%2B2020-10-17%2B080137.png" width="371" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I had previously been nervous about having all of the in person students in the building at once, but so many students have switched to all online that the in person numbers are not too high. My largest class has 17 in person students, which I can fit in my room while maintaining physical distancing. My smallest class is 8 in person students.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Things don't look as good in the rest of Indiana or in much of the country, so I'm not sure how long we can maintain our Monroe County bubble.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MGK0HuH5aY8/X4rdh0zzlNI/AAAAAAAAFdk/K-kp-kVKOeIz1GDlt9UMgtblp5BO1c4zgCPcBGAYYCw/s589/Annotation%2B2020-10-17%2B080054.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="589" height="264" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MGK0HuH5aY8/X4rdh0zzlNI/AAAAAAAAFdk/K-kp-kVKOeIz1GDlt9UMgtblp5BO1c4zgCPcBGAYYCw/w377-h264/Annotation%2B2020-10-17%2B080054.png" width="377" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Some positives about Phase Green:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">I now only have 2 groups of students to keep track of: in person and online, instead of 3 groups during Phase Yellow: in person A-K, in person L-Z, and online. It's surprised me just how much easier this is!</span></li></ul><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">We've returned to our normal maroon/gold alternating block schedule. During hybrid, we had a modified block schedule of maroon maroon gold gold alternating Fridays. It took me about 5 years to get the hang of a regular block schedule, and this new twist nearly pushed me over the edge. Students had two days of class in a row, followed by almost a week off, which is terrible for language learning. Not to mention keeping track of who is where on which day. I don't recommend it!</span></li></ul><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bmjmR5lvhxI/X4ri2b_jWKI/AAAAAAAAFds/XbXUqQUQwCUfTlHnXnGhcPYI1Ho_Fq3jQCLcBGAsYHQ/s742/Annotation%2B2020-10-17%2B082534.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="742" height="165" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bmjmR5lvhxI/X4ri2b_jWKI/AAAAAAAAFds/XbXUqQUQwCUfTlHnXnGhcPYI1Ho_Fq3jQCLcBGAsYHQ/w423-h165/Annotation%2B2020-10-17%2B082534.png" width="423" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">It's more practical to teach a lesson in person now than it was on a hybrid schedule. I've been using the flipped classroom model and pre-recording lesson videos, which works well for some students, but many don't have the self-discipline to watch the video carefully and take good notes. On Wednesday I taught the lesson live for in person students. That way I could make sure that they were following along and could check for understanding. Most of them preferred this method, and it definitely gave me a better feel for their comprehension.</span></li></ul><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">This isn't specific to Phase Green, but I LOVE my <a href="http://frauswank.blogspot.com/2020/09/contact-free-bathroom-signout.html" target="_blank">contact-free bathroom signout</a>! It is even better than <a href="https://frauswank.blogspot.com/2018/02/my-week-in-three-words-bathroom-pass.html" target="_blank">my bathroom pass flowchart</a>. I'm keeping this forever!</span></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6q6XZSiVOZ0/X1IabqOm4MI/AAAAAAAAE9U/3Dcz7OW3AecNh8hgBFJZPNKLOax5qi2AgCPcBGAYYCw/s795/Annotation%2B2020-09-04%2B064327.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="795" height="211" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6q6XZSiVOZ0/X1IabqOm4MI/AAAAAAAAE9U/3Dcz7OW3AecNh8hgBFJZPNKLOax5qi2AgCPcBGAYYCw/w393-h211/Annotation%2B2020-09-04%2B064327.png" width="393" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Overall, it's really a year of figuring things out as I go and doing what I can. I'm super grateful to be half time because all of the changes/new procedures/worries are exhausting! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A teacher in Mishawaka (northern Indiana) expressed it eloquently to her school board this week:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q035f-CZco4" width="320" youtube-src-id="q035f-CZco4"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-2258176283584542792020-09-12T08:00:00.000-04:002020-09-12T08:00:57.702-04:00A Whole New World<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-34-64bPHid8/X1yz4X2kWrI/AAAAAAAAFaw/YpWRMhQQzVwVBJ_EvXIozVNLnhlunKBuwCPcBGAsYHg/s3264/IMG_3841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-34-64bPHid8/X1yz4X2kWrI/AAAAAAAAFaw/YpWRMhQQzVwVBJ_EvXIozVNLnhlunKBuwCPcBGAsYHg/w300-h400/IMG_3841.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We returned to in-person hybrid instruction this week after 4 weeks of all online learning to start the school year.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It was my first time teaching students in the school building since March 12, 2020. It's definitely very different.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D3QbdSz8GH0/X1y0eqpozKI/AAAAAAAAFa4/YNu-jnLlI-UMMKWuwpVS0al4VaJVckqIwCPcBGAsYHg/s3264/IMG_3840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2118" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D3QbdSz8GH0/X1y0eqpozKI/AAAAAAAAFa4/YNu-jnLlI-UMMKWuwpVS0al4VaJVckqIwCPcBGAsYHg/w260-h400/IMG_3840.JPG" width="260" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">(sanitizing shoe mats)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;">After all of the planning, discussion, changing of plans, and worry, I have to say that the first week went pretty smoothly.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">About 1/3 of our students have remained completely online, and the remaining students are split into two groups that alternate attendance days. So, instead of 1600 students in the building every day, there are more like 600 on any given day.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SpSlp_GHxY4/X1y1S0kbZmI/AAAAAAAAFbE/qgT25W8HzgomFMZv4tgMifcDVAaRb9K-ACPcBGAsYHg/s3264/IMG_3839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SpSlp_GHxY4/X1y1S0kbZmI/AAAAAAAAFbE/qgT25W8HzgomFMZv4tgMifcDVAaRb9K-ACPcBGAsYHg/w400-h300/IMG_3839.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This certainly made maintaining physical distance easier. My classes have between 6 and 12 students in them, which allows everyone to be well spread out. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We have block scheduling, so that plus the hybrid schedule meant that it took all 4 days of the week before I met all of my in person students. It was like 4 first days of school! Needless to say, everyone was exhausted by Friday.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But students have generally been cooperative about mask wearing and physical distancing in the classroom. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's difficult, though, to figure out how best to help a student from 6 feet away and how to continue to work with my online students when I have students in the classroom. I'm using a flipped classroom model, which is not how I chose to teach BCE (before COVID era), but it seems to me the best option in the CE (COVID era). Many things just aren't ideal right now.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The first few days just felt weird, but by Friday I did feel like I was starting to get a little more comfortable. It's just a very different school world now, and I think it will be for some time to come.</span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></div><br /><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-41526613176887326412020-09-06T10:12:00.001-04:002020-09-07T07:05:37.663-04:00Ready, set...<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I went in to school on Friday to make sure my room is ready for a hybrid return to in person instruction on Tuesday.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've got 16 desks, spaced 6 feet apart,</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RSTGDztBKik/X1TdHkYpcKI/AAAAAAAAFQA/csrhvDTkArIggeVUY7GR2F-81eSrTo3hACPcBGAsYHg/s3264/IMG_3829.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RSTGDztBKik/X1TdHkYpcKI/AAAAAAAAFQA/csrhvDTkArIggeVUY7GR2F-81eSrTo3hACPcBGAsYHg/w400-h300/IMG_3829.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;">my required CDC posters,</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ewNPidttylc/X1TdWlJtCsI/AAAAAAAAFQE/X9e4d83sL8YKRyD8a3Tw7q1joimI6Ac-wCPcBGAsYHg/s3264/IMG_3832.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ewNPidttylc/X1TdWlJtCsI/AAAAAAAAFQE/X9e4d83sL8YKRyD8a3Tw7q1joimI6Ac-wCPcBGAsYHg/w400-h300/IMG_3832.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">spray cleaner and paper towels (instead of books) on the bookshelf,</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ykEgRKiwtsA/X1Td-3St-1I/AAAAAAAAFQU/vv_sIFBfeEMYJKM8uYZbVhvtqhiKS2B6QCPcBGAsYHg/s3264/IMG_3831.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ykEgRKiwtsA/X1Td-3St-1I/AAAAAAAAFQU/vv_sIFBfeEMYJKM8uYZbVhvtqhiKS2B6QCPcBGAsYHg/w400-h300/IMG_3831.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">and the schedule on the board so hopefully we know who is supposed to be where.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gxj7udDTn20/X1TeVuXWxzI/AAAAAAAAFQc/UOyng5KADGYsd4cGtfcEcMQVSDOf2YXLQCPcBGAsYHg/s3264/IMG_3830.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gxj7udDTn20/X1TeVuXWxzI/AAAAAAAAFQc/UOyng5KADGYsd4cGtfcEcMQVSDOf2YXLQCPcBGAsYHg/w400-h300/IMG_3830.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-22363501959286077382020-09-04T16:18:00.001-04:002020-09-04T16:18:03.487-04:00Contact-free Bathroom Signout<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yVD4vNCsSY0/X1IYf5l7chI/AAAAAAAAE88/vWYU5ejidPo3FAsqs8ZYG2OXr3_8m3xmACLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Ich%2Bgehe%2Bauf%2BToilette.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="960" height="75" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yVD4vNCsSY0/X1IYf5l7chI/AAAAAAAAE88/vWYU5ejidPo3FAsqs8ZYG2OXr3_8m3xmACLcBGAsYHQ/w500-h75/Ich%2Bgehe%2Bauf%2BToilette.png" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">People who have been reading my blog for a while know that mid-class requests to use the bathroom are the bane of my teaching existence. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I thought I had solved that issue once and for all with my <a href="https://frauswank.blogspot.com/2018/02/my-week-in-three-words-bathroom-pass.html" target="_blank">bathroom flowchart</a>. COVID-19 now laughs in the face of my naivety.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In preparation for a return to in person classes after Labor Day, I spent yesterday afternoon pondering a way to keep track of student bathroom use for contact tracing while not using a pass or a paper signout sheet. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The solution: a Google Doc Contact Free bathroom signout. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">From the Course Resources page on Canvas, students click on the Restroom Signout button,</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oYEVwfq_-9c/X1IZ-bho37I/AAAAAAAAE9I/G3sJMcvkOKoLvXgA9HtNT5ICadmt_He2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1023/Annotation%2B2020-09-04%2B064130.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="1023" height="168" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oYEVwfq_-9c/X1IZ-bho37I/AAAAAAAAE9I/G3sJMcvkOKoLvXgA9HtNT5ICadmt_He2gCLcBGAsYHQ/w500-h168/Annotation%2B2020-09-04%2B064130.png" width="500" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">which takes them to a Google Doc which they can all write on.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6q6XZSiVOZ0/X1IabqOm4MI/AAAAAAAAE9Q/IbTE9hJDF0QJf3yl0LCrJWBCxHxcShnVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s795/Annotation%2B2020-09-04%2B064327.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="795" height="269" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6q6XZSiVOZ0/X1IabqOm4MI/AAAAAAAAE9Q/IbTE9hJDF0QJf3yl0LCrJWBCxHxcShnVQCLcBGAsYHQ/w500-h269/Annotation%2B2020-09-04%2B064327.png" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Students will sign themselves in and out and will be able to check if they need to wait because a classmate is in the restroom <i><b>without my involvement</b>. </i>Hallelujah! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Because 2020.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Need one for your German class? <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DcR37MQY2T2IHaha9cY90Sf0Afw6YITxUahY3Jil4og/copy?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Contact-free German Bathroom Signout Form</a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-14889369188679855412020-08-31T07:16:00.000-04:002020-08-31T07:16:09.376-04:00MTBoS Blaugust Report<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jcji1iqIXfE/X0zZqcfPwdI/AAAAAAAAE8Q/1F8c3F0R_00OL5bod2cMGSmWjhWHowtYACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Blaugust2020.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="142" data-original-width="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jcji1iqIXfE/X0zZqcfPwdI/AAAAAAAAE8Q/1F8c3F0R_00OL5bod2cMGSmWjhWHowtYACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Blaugust2020.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today is the final day of MTBos Blaugust! This will be my 15th post for the month, which I am very pleased with, especially considering that I only blogged 17 times during the entire 2019-2020 school year. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Many thanks to Sarah Carter (<a href="https://mathequalslove.blogspot.com/">https://mathequalslove.blogspot.com/</a>) and Druin (<a href="http://statteacher.blogspot.com/">http://statteacher.blogspot.com/</a>) for inspiring me to join in. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We've made it through the first month of the 2020-21 school year!</span></div><br /><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-64667481353826144822020-08-28T07:38:00.004-04:002020-08-28T07:38:49.935-04:00Back to School<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wFToeWgpc7I/X0eUt_Z5pbI/AAAAAAAAE7g/-ddkBpf_bd0_HAvNg0VkOx4tALfJZX4tACLcBGAsYHQ/s724/Annotation%2B2020-08-27%2B070659.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="724" height="403" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wFToeWgpc7I/X0eUt_Z5pbI/AAAAAAAAE7g/-ddkBpf_bd0_HAvNg0VkOx4tALfJZX4tACLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h403/Annotation%2B2020-08-27%2B070659.png" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After starting the school year on August 12 with all students online, our school board voted on Tuesday to return to in-person learning on September 8.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We'll be moving into Phase Yellow, with elementary students attending 5 days a week and secondary students on a hybrid schedule. Here's the secondary hybrid schedule:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-57otz_d9Am4/X0eVXVVzCyI/AAAAAAAAE7o/z8y0s7TA2oQrD1MJNtL-ZeswdMdVjH3FgCLcBGAsYHQ/s768/Annotation%2B2020-08-27%2B070810.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="768" height="166" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-57otz_d9Am4/X0eVXVVzCyI/AAAAAAAAE7o/z8y0s7TA2oQrD1MJNtL-ZeswdMdVjH3FgCLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h166/Annotation%2B2020-08-27%2B070810.png" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Bloomington North is the only school in the district with block scheduling, and our hybrid schedule now looks like this:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PKBqcwTZ5ds/X0eWR0zGf9I/AAAAAAAAE70/8GLzxpZ8-lINWHUEYEfJwhNNOISVCpYBACLcBGAsYHQ/s641/Annotation%2B2020-08-27%2B070906.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="641" height="228" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PKBqcwTZ5ds/X0eWR0zGf9I/AAAAAAAAE70/8GLzxpZ8-lINWHUEYEfJwhNNOISVCpYBACLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h228/Annotation%2B2020-08-27%2B070906.png" width="512" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Phew! It's taken me about 7 years to adjust to block scheduling, and now this maroon maroon gold gold alternating maroon/gold makes my brain hurt! I will definitely need to write everything down very deliberately.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our community positivity rate has dropped to about 2%, which is quite good. The big concern is that we are a university town, and 40,000 Indiana University students just returned to campus and started classes Monday. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I just hope that we don't get everyone adjusted to being back in school, only to have to return to online learning a few weeks later. Fingers crossed, and working to be </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D2H6lN1UXJk/Xya5hAwcpWI/AAAAAAAAEyo/5F6e-ZFzOWIf1V57Z1D8rQAdZ9rzTRR1wCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/IMG_3745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1571" height="512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D2H6lN1UXJk/Xya5hAwcpWI/AAAAAAAAEyo/5F6e-ZFzOWIf1V57Z1D8rQAdZ9rzTRR1wCPcBGAYYCw/w393-h512/IMG_3745.JPG" width="393" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-61881274809639861092020-08-23T08:13:00.006-04:002020-08-23T08:13:51.230-04:00It's β is not ß season<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I think you have to have a healthy level of year to year amnesia to be a teacher. Otherwise, no one would do it more than one year. Case in point:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">β is not ß season</span></h3><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There's always a phase about a week or two into the school year where my German 1 students struggle with typing German special characters, most especially ß. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I give them a menu of options to chose from: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="413" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vR-qgkvqEQZqIYZ_cpL7F15rr6a3w4E_iP6kBVV6_2lST_Oml0aVqib22cgoj4Bf9O0Dr0HHvKzn5U_/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="504"></iframe></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">But an ess-tset does look a lot like a Greek beta, so more than a few students type that instead of ß, and their answer is marked wrong even though it looks right.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's especially intense this year since I have 3 full classes of German 1, which makes about 90 students. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's also harder to get the word out during remote learning. In a classroom, once I notice it happening, I make multiple loud announcements, and this catches about 95% of the students. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There really isn't an equivalent to a loud classroom announcement in remote learning. I've put an announcement on our LMS, and I'm going through assignments to try to catch the students making this mistake. And of course I'm replying to emails and Canvas messages asking "Why is my answer wrong?" It definitely felt like that was all I did on Friday.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Sigh. This too shall pass.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-28879060393143918082020-08-20T14:55:00.000-04:002020-08-20T14:55:09.238-04:00I need bells!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">Me and Pavlov's dogs, I guess!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">I've learned during the first few days of online learning just how dependent I am on bells.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">This is our schedule:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4DJLbzIKtfM/Xz0H_qRK0bI/AAAAAAAAE6w/K1K3bXDwNH0uZvabx0vSyR_t5UIKrqJwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s795/Sample%2Bonline%2Bschedule.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="795" height="342" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4DJLbzIKtfM/Xz0H_qRK0bI/AAAAAAAAE6w/K1K3bXDwNH0uZvabx0vSyR_t5UIKrqJwgCLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h342/Sample%2Bonline%2Bschedule.png" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It pretty much mirrors our in person schedule, though live classes are now only an hour (instead of 80 minutes), and there's a live instructional support / independent work time block to start the day which we don't have in person. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But because I'm not in the school building, there are of course no bells. And apparently I really need bells to help me not lose track of what class period it is. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So, this morning I got smart and set timers on my computer to ring to remind me when a period is almost over. (I tried my cell phone alarm first, but it kept startling me.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8kLEpxeK9QY/Xz7FBr7M14I/AAAAAAAAE68/pMMOaGIiOuYh170xjofapKBo3ZndyMr-QCLcBGAsYHQ/s477/Bells.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="477" height="289" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8kLEpxeK9QY/Xz7FBr7M14I/AAAAAAAAE68/pMMOaGIiOuYh170xjofapKBo3ZndyMr-QCLcBGAsYHQ/w382-h289/Bells.png" width="382" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's a really good reminder to get up from the computer, stretch, and maybe get a little fresh air. If you're teaching remotely, I highly recommend it!</span></div> <p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-41441529434933745762020-08-18T14:42:00.000-04:002020-08-18T14:42:14.320-04:00New Routines<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cXsf644JD4g/Xzu3_1OxUqI/AAAAAAAAE6Q/rwce_C4FwtcxFbIsYK4k9S6EzN6QWTqtACPcBGAsYHg/s570/ISDH%2BCovid%2B.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="570" height="181" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cXsf644JD4g/Xzu3_1OxUqI/AAAAAAAAE6Q/rwce_C4FwtcxFbIsYK4k9S6EzN6QWTqtACPcBGAsYHg/w456-h181/ISDH%2BCovid%2B.png" width="456" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My morning routine BCE was to start the day with a Duolingo lesson (I've been doing the Arabic class for a little over a year now - slow progress, but fun!) and then checking email while eating breakfast and drinking a cup of tea.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My CE routine still starts with Duolingo, but now it includes a check of the <a href="https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/2393.htm" target="_blank">Indiana Department of Health Dashboard</a> before I go to email. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Here's how things look today.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Statewide:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Y4GXz6b8hA/XzwfkJRzFBI/AAAAAAAAE6g/To3GtjEd-HYrlZlz4Nn3J7hxBiBcLWDrQCLcBGAsYHQ/s591/Annotation%2B2020-08-18%2B143427.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="591" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Y4GXz6b8hA/XzwfkJRzFBI/AAAAAAAAE6g/To3GtjEd-HYrlZlz4Nn3J7hxBiBcLWDrQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Annotation%2B2020-08-18%2B143427.png" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Monroe County:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qnqtgCjpngw/XzwfkC68NrI/AAAAAAAAE6c/rX8hhm9lPVIiQvzzca88L9XLmhA35kgywCLcBGAsYHQ/s593/Annotation%2B2020-08-18%2B143514.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="593" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qnqtgCjpngw/XzwfkC68NrI/AAAAAAAAE6c/rX8hhm9lPVIiQvzzca88L9XLmhA35kgywCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Annotation%2B2020-08-18%2B143514.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I try not to obsess about the numbers but still stay informed about how things are going in my county and in the state. (I wonder if statistics teachers are using COVID data with their students...) I don't think this new routine is going away any time soon.</span></div><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-70889323892310053512020-08-14T15:39:00.002-04:002020-08-16T08:39:28.203-04:00Help! My German textbook is in German!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--iZRDGL5jac/XzbkjyWNQsI/AAAAAAAAE5c/P-SwN2O_oiIcZaa_jsQuopfPNVJkF8vlgCLcBGAsYHQ/s786/Friday%2Bagenda.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="786" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--iZRDGL5jac/XzbkjyWNQsI/AAAAAAAAE5c/P-SwN2O_oiIcZaa_jsQuopfPNVJkF8vlgCLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h400/Friday%2Bagenda.png" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Happy Friday, everyone!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today was the second day of class for my first two groups of students. (We're on block schedule.) On today's agenda was setting up students' notebooks and signing up to access the online textbook.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I was expecting to get lots of messages saying that students were having trouble connecting or the access code didn't work. Nope. Not <b>one</b> of those. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I did have 2 students try to join the wrong section, but 2 out of 63 is not bad. (Not everyone has signed up yet, so there's still time...)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What I did start getting was some variation on the theme of "Help! My German textbook is in German!" </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, yes it is. This is pretty standard for textbooks from </span><span style="font-family: arial;">German </span><span style="font-family: arial;">publishers, as their books are designed to be used in many different countries, not all of which are English-speaking. I'm not opposed to a textbook by an American or British publisher, but there just aren't many to choose from out there. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I've blogged previously about our <a href="https://frauswank.blogspot.com/2015/06/new-books.html" target="_blank">struggles to find a good textbook</a>. We adopted this book in the spring, and it's the third textbook I've used at Bloomington North. I think it's the best one we've had yet, but of course it isn't perfect.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So, I prepared this to help my students</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mCEAVvv7C5Y/XzbnP_fGs9I/AAAAAAAAE5o/8ScMs66pp5En1RqODcA9pm71XhRFFTjBQCLcBGAsYHQ/s798/German%2Binstructions%2Bchart.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="798" height="389" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mCEAVvv7C5Y/XzbnP_fGs9I/AAAAAAAAE5o/8ScMs66pp5En1RqODcA9pm71XhRFFTjBQCLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h389/German%2Binstructions%2Bchart.png" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Welcome to German class!</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-49255870577756281272020-08-13T14:54:00.000-04:002020-08-13T14:54:40.256-04:00Detective Work<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WOJAEKovFwg/XzWJxe1FelI/AAAAAAAAE5M/zPgrtAjZK8Aj3ng4ishw1wliWJbmiMQzACLcBGAsYHQ/s163/Detective.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="163" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WOJAEKovFwg/XzWJxe1FelI/AAAAAAAAE5M/zPgrtAjZK8Aj3ng4ishw1wliWJbmiMQzACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Detective.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-family: arial;">Detective work describes what I did today during my prep time. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On the first day of online classes, nearly all of my students logged in, did at least some of the lesson, and/or contacted me in a live meeting. I consider that a win!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But...not everyone completed the lesson, which involved submitting a short video saying "My name is _____." in German.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So, my first task was to sort through the missing videos to see whether those students had completed the first item on the agenda. If not, had they managed to log in to the course at all?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For my first two classes, I had only 4 students who were completely MIA. I sent out emails to them and their families to check in and see if there were any problems with technology or access that I could help with. I heard back from 2 right away, so now I'm just missing 2 students. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Students who had logged in but not done their video got a message in our LMS checking to see whether they understood what they needed to do and if they needed help with the technology. I heard back from several more students after that, so I think my students are off to a good start!</span></div><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155850451273509288.post-46777636440743543502020-08-12T16:44:00.000-04:002020-08-12T16:44:28.545-04:00First Student Day<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z7mjouIs5PI/XzRRrBYTgdI/AAAAAAAAE24/75E_9N788DgJEeC7HNMlaV0mkVct0YELwCPcBGAsYHg/s778/First%2Bday%2Bagenda.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="778" height="402" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z7mjouIs5PI/XzRRrBYTgdI/AAAAAAAAE24/75E_9N788DgJEeC7HNMlaV0mkVct0YELwCPcBGAsYHg/w512-h402/First%2Bday%2Bagenda.png" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today was the first day of online learning for students. It seemed to go well! I did not have a required live meeting with my students; instead, they were to work through the above lesson on their own.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Based on the responses I got to the Germany Quiz and Introduce Yourself speaking task, most (though not all) of my students seem to have gotten themselves to the right place and been able to work on the lesson independently, as I had intended. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I had 3 students live video chat with me to get help with technology problems they were having, and several others sent email messages with questions, so I think communication is off to a good start.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now the challenge is to track down those students who haven't yet engaged and see what might be preventing them from doing so!</span></div><p></p>Nancy in Indianahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13815880089265103557noreply@blogger.com2