Rationale / Motivation

Have I succumb to the blogging propaganda put forth by my school district? It seems I have. Of course, the intention isn't so much for me to blog as it is for me to educate children through blogging. But how can I do that before I am accustomed to blogging myself? Sounds like a reasonable rationale to me. I have entitled this blog Better Language Teaching, Sooner because I see this blog as a tool for helping me to become a more effective teacher. The most helpful thing for me is interacting with colleagues but, especially in the field of ESL, time with colleagues is limited. Why not open the collaboration and discussion up to all those colleagues I haven't yet met and expand my horizons even further?

Currently, my focus is on motivation. Motivation is a concern of all teachers in all subject areas and something we work on daily but I find it to be a struggle among frustrated students of Spanish. I think of these students as those who see value in foreign language learning but who want to see immediate results in the here and now. They become frustrated when school instruction does not allow them to communicate authentically outside of class. In my short teaching experience (so feel free to correct me), I find this to be the case among teenage boys who do not typically see consequences in the long term, be they positive or negative. If they can't communicate authentically now, what's the sense of prolonging the battle? I understand their frustration and recognize that the typcial model of classroom instruction which focuses on vocabulary, grammar, drilling, and repition is insufficient. As much as we would all love to switch to a completely authentic program, current state mandates and testing make this a challenge. I hate to use the word cover but there it is, glaring at us. How do we cover all the necessary vocabulary and grammar to meet state mandates while also allowing our students to become authentically engaged in language on a consistent basis? When I say consistent I don't mean by asking to use the bathroom in the target language. Let me refrase the question. How do we create an authentic, motivating, and engaging classroom environment while also satisfying state standards for content? How do we foster instrinsic student motivation and meet all our goals?