My New Approach

As I transition back into the classroom from my TOSA: Tech Integration Coach, one of my personal goals as an educator is to truly dive deeper into project based learning and the COVA approach. COVA is really just about giving students Choice so that they can take Ownership by using their Voice in Authentic ways. Now, that all sounds wonderfully academic and all, but what does that actually look like?

One of my newest ideas is to have the students log a journal of them speaking/conversing so they have an actual record of the progress that can come from mindful practice. But I want these journals to be of real world phrases that they would need to use in their actual lives. Perhaps they work at a local restaurant and have colleagues or customers they want to interact with or there is an exchange student in their Math class.  Maybe their family takes vacations to Spanish speaking countries; whatever it may be I want them to be able to see the purpose in what we do each and every day.

So I will begin by introducing them to platforms like Flipgrid or Voicethread so that they have choice along with the choice of prompts based on the scenarios that seem most likely for them. Each unit has several phrases and scenarios to highlight. After a couple months they will start to notice changes to their rhythm and pronunciation, hopefully helping them take ownership and also building their confidence. Ultimately I want them to get to a level where they can pull all of these phrases together into mini blogs where they converse with peers or others in the target language about things that matter to them.

And although the beginning will be a slow build up we can start with culture. Having students choose countries they want to learn more about and giving opportunities for them to search out current events and cultural practices so they can become more knowledgeable about other cultures and spread that knowledge. Maybe we can even invite people in virtually from those countries with tools like Skype or Google Hangouts! In any event, I think this will be a great year for both my students and me; we are going to learn a lot together! This year there will be no sage on a stage, but a community of learners coming together through my facilitation of each day’s objectives.