Why is back-to-school so hard?
After 10 years of back-to-school first-class jitters, I’m facing an August that for the first time won’t include fresh starts with new students. No bubbly excitement thinking about what the year will bring and how to improve on lessons learned in years past. In my first fall as a stay-at-home mom, I’m reflecting a lot on my back-to-school moments.
The first days of school were some of my favorites. It was a fresh start, a chance to excite new minds to language learning. However, even after a decade of teaching, it was the week that made me the most nervous. How was I going to get even the most reluctant students to feel excited about learning Spanish, make them feel welcome and safe to make mistakes, while also laying out clear boundaries (especially with technology) to set up with an environment primed for learning? Some teachers would say never to smile until November. Others would say that students needed to feel relaxed so that their minds could be open to acquiring a second language. Finally, there was the constant inner wrestling with how to protect participation in the program while also keeping it rigorous for the already intrinsically motivated language learners. It’s an impossible job – a beautiful mess!
Languages are messy
As language learners, we know firsthand that languages are also lovely messes. Most of us probably learned with a traditional grammar approach, only to discover that sometimes native speakers “change up” our cherished rules. Others may have learned in a more immersive environment and seen firsthand along the way how the rigid self-imposed structures of our second language begin ebb and flow like a changing tide with each new experience.
For this back-to-school season, you won’t get it all figured out. Some students will drop the class. You’ll slip into letting too much English in the room, you’ll teach a lesson that makes a mockery of the latest, trendiest best practices for language acquisition. You’ll have days when you’re tired and lazy and students don’t get your best. Students will come with baggage well beyond our control. Just let it go. Yes, students deserve our best every day, but they won’t get it. That’s reality. And that’s messy, just like language.
The freedom in second-language instruction
The biggest blessing in being a second language teacher is that humans are designed to acquire language. In the right conditions, you can’t prevent it from happening! The most reluctant student won’t be able to stop from soaking up some of what you are pouring into your classroom.
The second biggest blessing is that we get to teacher by sharing and creating stories with our students. Communicating messages to them and supporting their comprehension along the way is all we need to do. We have more flexibility and freedom than any other subject!
A back-to-school demonstration for your first day.
During the first class of the year, sometimes I do a slightly messy demonstration to show my students how natural language learning truly is.
I start with a few cups on a desk in the middle of the room. Two cups are filled with water, and the cup in the middle of the desk is empty. It represents a student’s Spanish tank. I explain to students that our goal is to share stories and communicate with each other in ways we can all understand – at least most of the time! I go through lists of activities we will do: storytelling, SSR, MovieTalks, presentations. Each of these will be a source of “input.” With each example, I pour a little more water from the filled cups into the center one. As it gets closer to being filled, I ask students what they think will happen with the water. “It will overflow!”
Exactly. And if I keep adding more “input,” I won’t be able to stop the cup from overflowing! I keep filling it slowly until it overflows. I explain to them that this represents the natural Spanish “output” that will happen when they have received enough Spanish “input.” They will learn to produce the language naturally – but only AFTER lots of rich input. They won’t be able to stop it from happening. Language is so unique in this way. Yes, it is messy, just like this demonstration. But it is wonderful in that, despite our shortcomings, we won’t be able to stop our students from overflowing with Spanish if we focus this back-to-school season on simply sharing stories. Keep filling those cups. Their brains were designed to do the rest.