owp05

Postcards from OWP

Description of Position Paper: A series of postcards to future students and my colleagues composes my position paper for the Oregon Writing Project.  In these postcards I plan to highlight new ideas for curriculum and morsels of information I will continue to explore and to incorporate into my teaching.  The postcards will also function to remind me of the high value that I place on writing, not only for my students, but also for myself.

(POSTCARD 1:  To my students)

Queridos estudiantes,

¡Bienvenidos a la clase de español!  I hope you are enjoying your summer and looking forward to the upcoming school year.  In your Spanish class this year you can expect to spend part of each class period working on a combination of the four major language skills:  speaking, writing, reading, and listening.  During a month-long workshop through the Oregon Writing Project this summer I have had the chance to get a head start on preparations for the writing component of our class.  I’m looking forward to the writing that awaits us!

I hope you will find our writing activities to be engaging and exciting.  My goal is to create lessons that are meaningful and purposeful for you.  For those of you in Spanish I and II, I encourage you to explore Spanish and to take risks with this new language you are studying.  We will work our way through simple sentences to paragraphs to short stories.  Along the way we will also have the chance to experiment with poetry.  You will be amazed at how much Spanish you will be able to produce at the end of the term!  For those of you in Spanish IV and Spanish Immersion 10, I encourage you to be playful with the language and to find your voice in Spanish.  We will seek to expand our writing skills in the narrative, persuasive and expository modes.  Poetry is another area into which we will want to delve.

Please do not be concerned if you think writing is not for you.  I know many of you find writing to be challenging, if not completely frustrating.  My goal is to provide you with a basic strategy so you will confidently be able to tackle any writing project.  Along the way you just might discover that you enjoy writing a little!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!  ¡Nos vemos en septiembre!

Saludos cordiales,
Señora Albrich


(POSTCARD 2:  To fellow teachers)

Queridos amigos,

¡Felices vacaciones!  Can you believe that we are already here in the middle of July?  This Friday I will finish the Oregon Writing Project.  In just a short month I have acquired endless ideas to share with you in the fall.  Here are some objectives I am working on for my classes:

• Aspire to give students plenty of high-interest writing activities that will allow them to take ownership of the work.  Students will have a much easier time expressing themselves if the topic is of some interest to them.  Chances are they probably will like the assignment, too!

• Provide students tools to support them and make writing less of a struggle.  The PREPARE, FIRST DARE, REPAIR, SHARE strategy is an easy and effective strategy to teach and model in our classes.

• Remind students that writing is often a messy process.  Rare is the writer who achieves perfection on the first try.  Students should know that sometimes it is best to let a writing take you where it wants to go.  If you are not happy with the end result, so be it.  You can always revise it later or start fresh.

This is just the beginning.  I look forward to brainstorming and collaborating with you when we return to school in August!

Con cariño,
Lisa



(POSTCARD 3:  To teachers) 

Queridos amigos

In my previous postcard I mentioned my wish to create interesting, enthusing writing activities for my Spanish classes.  Thanks to the generosity and creativity of my fellow OWP participants, I have several lessons that I am anxious to work on during the school year:

• Talk/Write activity:  Students collaborate on this project; ultimately, they are the teachers.  Students bounce ideas off one another on the assigned topic, ask questions, and then guide each other through the writing process.  The combination of speaking and writing is perfect for the language classroom! 

•  Mapping of the Neighborhood: This mind map provides students with an ample supply of writing ideas based on their own experiences.  Students can pull the map out of their folders at any time and find an interesting time, person, event, place, or conversation to explore.  This particular graphic organizer would be an invaluable addition to journal writing.  I have to admit, though, that I still haven’t figured out how to modify this activity so students have a way out if they do not wish to focus on their own neighborhood.   

•  More ideas:  Dialogue poem (compare/contrast); Three items in a paper sack; Bio-poem; Sentence combining; Super sentences; Interviews; Poetry; Fractured fairy tales...

It looks like it’s going to be a busy year!

¡Cuídense!

Un cariñoso saludo,
Lisa


(POSTCARD 4:  To teachers)

¡Hola amigos!

Technology has been another important feature of our time at OWP.   There are many opportunities to incorporate technology into the writing process. Here’s a sample of what awaits:

•  Blogs (Web Logs):  They’re similar to websites, but much easier to build and navigate.  Our students are pros with blogs.  Even if we do not use them, it is a good idea to know what they are  and how our students are using them. 

• Handheld computers:  Teachers can provide students will another writing tool when they incorporate these mini-computers into the classroom.  A plus to the handhelds is students composing, beaming, and instantly sharing their work with other students.

•  Inspiration (software):  This software helps students to organize their ideas before and during the writing process.  It is especially useful for visual learners.

•  More technology to investigate:  Power Point, iMovie...

That’s enough to keep me busy for awhile!

Hasta pronto,
Lisa


(POSTCARD 5:  To teachers)

¡Por fin!  La última tarjeta!

In addition to all the materials and technology discussed at OWP, there are a few other areas that deserve consideration as we plan writing activities:

•  Create!  Our students love doing art projects in class.  Hands-on activities are always a big winner!  Let’s strive to maintain art as an integral part of our language classes.  Art can be especially effective when coupled with writing.  While creating the drawing, watercolor or graphic design, students begin to prepare their ideas for writing.  The art ultimately functions as an early outline or mind map for the writing itself.

•  Celebrate!  After all that time preparing and revising, students need to celebrate their writing. The celebration can be as simple as sharing the work in small groups, posting the work on a bulletin board, or exhibiting the work in one of the display cases.  Other possibilities include organizing a poetry reading, taking stories to nearby elementary schools to share with younger students, or working on a local oral history project.

¡Nos vemos pronto!  ¡Que les vaya súper bien!

Chaucito,
Lisa

Please Don't Tell Me the Tooth Fairy Doesn't Exist Either

I spent many Sundays at my great grandmother’s house in the country when I was younger. Grandma’s gray and pink house sat back off a dusty road that wound its way through forest and cherry orchards to the top of a hill.  At the base of the smaller road that led to Grandma’s house stood her mailbox.  It was the traditional silver box with a flap door on hinges and a red flag that rested on its side; it was the same mailbox my family had at home.  There was one difference, though.

Although Grandma and I shared a similar mailbox, there was no possibility of sharing a similar postal carrier.  My postman, sitting on the wrong side of the car, drove a little white Jeep from which he could pull up next to the box, open the door and slip in our mail.  Grandma’s postman did not drive.  As far as I could tell, his job called for a vehicle that would allow him to reach Grandma’s mailbox perched high above the ground on a 20 foot pole.  From my young viewpoint, her mail carrier surely must had flown a plane.  After all, someone had gone to a lot of trouble to let the postal service know what type of mail she had by painting the word “airmail” on the side of her box.  The only dilemma I could not figure out, though, was how the postman could possibly swoop down between the trees and manage to deliver her mail.  Some things might best be left to the wild imagination of a young child who did not understand that it was all just a joke.

Down the hill at the other end of road from Grandma’s mailbox and house was the site of our annual family reunion picnics.  Each August we would ramble down that same dusty road in our cars and troop out to the family park.  Adults spent the day reminiscing, sharing family recipes and dishes, playing softball and reminiscing some more.  Children spent the day wading in the creek, turning over rocks looking for salamanders and polliwogs. While our focus was below the water, we could not help but eye the watermelons that bobbed nearby in the stream, guarding their cool for our afternoon snack.  Before we were unleashed for our adventures, however, my mom would take us around and introduce us to all her aunts, uncles and cousins.  It was the same every year:  lipstick kisses on the cheek, endless handshakes and a flurry of names. 

One summer I was eager to see my mom’s uncle Richard and his wife.  I had remembered meeting him before, but never his wife.  She was mysterious, almost magical to me.   On the day I was to meet her I was excited, curious, apprehensive and a maybe just a tad frightened.  My anxiety melted to delight, however, when I realized that Aunt Bunnie was a pleasant woman and not a furry giant with huge ears.  In a way, our meeting was a little bit of a letdown for me.  I would no longer have the joy of claiming that I had a bunny for an aunt.

While they are alive, our misconceptions are sheer magic.  Anything is possible, anything is unbelievably believable.  If your mom tells you that she and your dad are soon to install a fish tank in the wall between your room and your sister’s room, you believe her.  You do not take into consideration that it might be the holiday cocktails at a neighborhood party influencing her decision to reveal to you the mystery gift in the big box near the Christmas tree.  Instead you spend all night dreaming of the fish you will buy, the ceramic castle and scuba diver you will use to decorate the seascape and how eventually the gurgling sound of an aquarium will lull to you sleep every night.  Your better judgment tells you that your cautious parents would never knock a hole in the wall in the name of gift giving and home decor, but you choose not to listen.   It is difficult to feign your excitement on Christmas morning as you open the gift of a wooden box with a reversible lid for games of chess and checkers when the night before you had already planned your trip to the pet store.  You have begun to learn that what seems too good to be true, often is not real.  For the time being, however, your pure, simple and honest misconceptions are a joyous truth.

A-OK in Y2K

New Year’s Eve had never been her favorite holiday. Most years she spent the day finishing a major household chore so that she could cross it off her to-do list in the nick of time; the day was nothing more than the chance to complete one more job she could squeeze into her calendar before the new year arrived. She often found herself racing to clean out cupboards, to sort through papers or to weed out boxes in the dreaded spare room she referred to as “Pandora’s Den.” This year wasn’t looking to be the same holiday, though. This was no ordinary New Year’s Eve. This was Y2K.

For months she had listened to the media’s messages of impending doom. Computers would go berserk, then come to a screeching halt. Airplanes would start dropping out of the sky. The electrical grid would crash and everyone would be left in the dark. Drivers would line up around the block to gas up their cars, hoping to secure fuel one last time for their vehicles. Grocery stores would be overrun with consumers stockpiling supplies for their homes. Marshall law would take over and your neighbors next door would suddenly have a new understanding of what it meant to run the Neighborhood Watch Program. The end was near. She thought the ideas were ridiculous, absurd even. But in the end she could not help but be swept up in the mad dash to prepare for Y2K.

She spent several days running around town gathering supplies. Water was a frequent topic in news stories so she made a point to pick up a bottle of two at every store she visited. The bottles would be useful for a short-term emergency, but in case of a longer crisis, she decided to invest in one of those large containers that she herself would have to fill. Candles and batteries also topped the list of must-buy items. If the lights went out, she was going to be prepared. Food was another priority, but this proved to be more of challenge for her. She hated grocery shopping. How was she supposed to plan meals for the end of the world? Some cans of tuna, a few jars of peanut butter, cereal and several bags of M-n-M’s completed her survival kit. Her menu might not work for everyone for doomsday, but for herself and her family, it seemed to be right.

Although she tried not to take the end-of-the-century frenzy too seriously, she secretly felt good about her preparations. If something were actually to go wrong, at least she could say that she had taken some precautions. The strange part was that she also felt an undeniable urge to make the whole event into a party. Why not make it festive? She organized gift bags filled with firecrackers and sparklers. Flashlights purchased previously for the survival kit were now decorated with Sharpies with slogans commemorating the occasion: I survived Y2K. Her Martha Stewart side kicked in and she eventually made souvenir scarves for everyone out of royal blue tulle dotted with silver lamé stars.

When the day finally arrived, she was glued to the television set, watching the millennium roll in around the world.  Sydney, ok. Bombay, ok. Moscow, ok. Paris, ok. So far, so good. It was beginning to look like all those candles and water bottles were not going to be used after all. In the afternoon her grown children and a few friends joined her and her husband for the countdown to the year 2000. She greeted each at the door, decked out in her new scarf and passing out Y2K treats. They visited, dined and visited some more. Some guests had to work early the next day, so they left before midnight. As midnight approached, she and her husband were both found sleeping in their respective spots, he in his chair, she on the sofa. Their children watched tv in another room. It was beginning to look like she was going to miss the entire event. All that planning and she was going to sleep her way into the new millennium.

At twelve o’clock she awakened and jumped up. “Did I miss it?” She quickly gathered everyone and led them to the patio. She passed out sparklers and began lighting the tips. Flame, but no sparkle. Smoke, but no flash. She continued to try lighting the sparklers. At one point she even announced that she was going to take them back to the store where she had bought them and demand her money back.  Finally, someone suggested that the sparklers might not be sparklers after all. They looked, and smelled, an awful lot like incense sticks. New Year’s Eve had never been her favorite holiday.

 

 

Spanish Lessons

August 16, 1994.  The anniversary of Elvis’ death.  Madonna’s birthday.  Random tidbits of trivia, but they were enough to keep me occupied.  I needed something to focus on as I made my way from my parents’ home to the Portland International Airport.  My first trip to Spain was just a few hours away.  Since that beginning day in Spanish I in high school, I had been thinking about taking this trip.  Now that it was a reality, I did not want to go.  Traveling to Spain by myself with a puny backpack?  No agenda.  No contacts.  What was I thinking?

My favorite Spanish professor at the University of Oregon had planted the idea in my head of a solo trip to Spain.  When I found out I had been accepted into the Graduate Program and would be teaching Spanish to undergraduates, I went to see her with a fairly significant concern:  How can I teach Spanish to others if I have never traveled to a Spanish-speaking country?  Her answer was quick and direct:  Travel to Spain by yourself.  It seemed like a wise and obvious answer to me.  If you have not traveled, travel.  I went home, started calling for ticket prices, and in just a few days I had a flight booked to Madrid. 

As the airline started to board passengers for the flight, my bold move no longer seemed to be such a good idea.  It is one thing to buy travel books and watch travel programs and fantasize about the dream trip.  It is another to actually put yourself on the plane.  I was in tears and telling my mom and sister not to make me go, as if they were the ones who had bought the ticket and were sending me away.  Somehow I made it on that plane.  Somehow I  made it to Spain.

That month alone in Spain happened over ten years ago but the experience itself is still present in my life.  The sights are sometimes a blur because, really, how many churches and museums can a traveler visit until she is completely saturated?  The feelings and sensations of the trip remain quite vivid, though.  It is difficult to forget the fear of figuring out bus schedule arrangements between cities.  Each time I boarded a bus to a new destination I could not help but flash back to first grade when my teachers put me on the wrong bus and sent me home to another Lisa’s house, many miles away from my own house.  To this day, buses are an unnerving adventure for me.  I have learned to enjoy the scenery and know that if I end up in the wrong location, all I have to do is hop on another bus and head off in a new direction.

I also cannot forget the confusion, and later profound sense of accomplishment, of figuring out how to pay for my coffee at a Spanish café.  Sitting in a plaza, drinking café con leche, writing postcards and people watching, this was the life!  But how long was I supposed to sit here?  Was anyone concerned that I had been here for two hours and still had not paid my bill?  With some astute observations on my part, also known as copying the actions of the family at a nearby table, I eventually figured out that I had to ask for the bill.  I could spend the entire evening in the plaza if I wanted.  If I wanted to leave, however, I was going to have to ask for the bill.  I like to think that I save my students from future café
embarrassment when I share my story with them.

As a Spanish teacher I now find myself relishing e-mails from my own students living and learning abroad for the first time.  Their keen insights and descriptions of their new daily existence remind me of the importance of the unexpected lessons we learn about ourselves while traveling.  We might occasionally be intimidated by fear and uncertainty, but fortunately it is never enough to stop us from our journey.