2018 Year in Review

2018 has (almost) gone, so I'd like to reflect briefly on some of the highlights of my year. 

2017 was a year of life-changing highs and lows. I passed the edTPA, got and accepted my job in Georgia, completed student teaching and my Masters, moved to Georgia, and finished my first semester in my new job. All these helped me through 2017, my most painful year personally. 2018 has had its ups and downs too, but I am grateful to be in an even better place now.

2018 was my first calendar year as a Latin teacher at Parkview and as a 100% CI teacher, so it's overwhelming to narrow down a list of highlights. 

Teaching:

• TPR - I first used TPR in 2017, but I did not feel that I was as successful as I wished to be. This past August, I really felt successful doing it again. See my post about it here.
• Brain Breaks - I first used Brain Breaks in 2017, but did not implement them consistently. Starting in August, I have made them a routine. See my post about it here.
• Writing my own novice-level Latin texts - Most of these have been translated and adapted from primary sources like Hesiod's Theogony (Saturn's overthrow of Uranus, the Titanomachy) and Homer's Iliad (Jupiter, Neptune, and Hades drawing lots) for Latin I students.
• Modifications for special ed. students - Miriam Patrick and I have been working closely to create activities and supports for our special education students, especially in Latin I. More details to come in a future post!
• Acting in the faculty play - Students invited several of us faculty to star in Check, Please, a play about a series of blind dates gone horribly-yet-humorously wrong. I played the role of Tod, a little boy who fools a woman into a date. 

  

  At 29 I could still pass for a kid. Yes, I am wearing a Mickey Mouse hat. Thanks for the youthful genes, Mom and Dad!

• Dressing up as Luigi for Halloween!

  

  Luigi forgoes Italian for the day because of half-off burritos at Chipotle on Halloween!

Greek & Latin:

• Biduum Georgianum - I had so much fun! I would love to do the longer immersion programs for both Latin AND Ancient Greek! See my post about it here. 
• Batrachomyomachia - I read two Greek texts this past year. First was the Batrachomyomachia, an epic poem that parodies Homer's Iliad. Instead of Greeks vs. Trojans, it's mice vs. frogs. I loved it - especially the deus ex machina ending!
• Digenes Akrites - The second Greek text I read was Digenes Akrites, a Byzantine poem about the life and adventures of Digenes Akrites ('Biracial Frontiersman'), a half-Arab, half-Roman hero who lives on the nearly-lawless eastern frontier of the empire (eastern Turkey today) and fights wild beasts, a dragon, and guerrillas. I graciously consulted Elizabeth Jeffrey's editions and translations of the Grottaferrata and Escorial manuscripts. This experience was a fun introduction to demotic Byzantine Greek and I'd love to learn more Modern Greek!

Travel: 

• The Midwest - In May and June, I enjoyed a nice roadtrip through the Midwest (Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio) with my girlfriend. It was great to see my family and best friends again in the Chicago area. Cedar Point was AMAZING! The best amusement park I've ever been to!
• Egypt - Also in June, my lifelong dream of going to Egypt came true and it was everything I had hoped for and more. Let me travel geek right now - I stayed in Cairo (just blocks from Tahrir Square!), Aswan (on Elephantine Island!), Luxor (steps from the Nile!), and Alexandria (right across from the Mediterranean!). I saw and did so much and I can't wait to go back!

  

  The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza! I went inside too!

• Istanbul - Coming back home, I had a long layover in Istanbul thanks to flying Turkish Airlines, one of my favorite airlines. Since it is Istanbul - AKA my favorite place in the world - I had to go see it even for those brief hours I was there. I got on the metro shortly after it starts at 6:00 AM and explored the city on foot. I checked out some Byzantine churches, walked along the Sea of Marmara, and visited Hagia Sophia (my eleventh visit - yes, I'm shamelessly obsessed!) - all with more than enough time to hop back on to the metro and return to the airport to fly home. 

  

  Under Hagia Sophia's legendary dome for the eleventh time, but just as excited as ever!

Annum novum faustum felicem tibi, lector!

Brain Breaks

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this year I have been implementing Brain Breaks more regularly than last year - and with considerable success!

How I do Brain Breaks

I set the timer on my phone for 15 minutes after I take attendance and do my no-phone ritual at the beginning of class. When the timer goes off, we stop what we are doing and do the Brain Break or do it as soon as we finish the activity we were doing. I do not do Brain Breaks when students are working independently because of the self-paced nature of such activities.

What I like about Brain Breaks

They refresh the students' brains - and mine! - to continue what we were doing - receiving comprehensible input in Latin. I also like to remind my students that Brain Breaks are a chance for me to make my students' well-being a priority. Our students are in class for 6+ hours with little downtime (they have to be "learning from bell to bell," remember?). Let's not forget the immense pressure on students to be involved in extracurricular activities, do homework, study, hold jobs, and tend to the needs of their families. Brain Breaks are my way of telling my students, "Downtime is a good thing. It is okay to take a break."

Some Brain Breaks I love (so far)

• Tangite (Touch) - kind of like Simon Says, but without the tricking. In the first week of Latin I, I introduced three body parts (head, nose, chin). Every week I introduce a new body part, so students are getting repeated input of body parts without having to have a body parts unit or requiring the students to memorize body parts vocabulary.
• Name Game - I like to do this one within the first week of school. I select a student in one corner of the room. They say their name. Then their neighbor has to say the first student's name and then their own name. The third person then says the previous two students' names and then their own name. And so on until we go through all the students. Then I have to name all the students in order. This helps me put names to faces. That I have to do it last and know all the names takes the pressure off of the students too.
• Sentence-by-Sentence Story - The students make their own story. I start with one student, who says one word. The next student adds another word to the student and so on. Since I teach Latin I and II, I have only done this in English, but I may try it in Latin with my Latin II students in the spring.
• Line Up - The students have to line up based on a particular criterion, such as height, age, hair length, et al.
• Class Wave - The class does the wave from one end of the classroom and back. I have also done a variation on this with clapping; one student claps, the next student claps twice, the third student claps once, the fourth student claps twice, and so on.
• 4 Corners - The students move to a corner of the room depending on how they answer a question (so the question must have four answers or 3 answers and an "other" answer). Questions I've used are: what is your favorite color? Favorite time of day? Favorite season? Birth month? Favorite sport? Favorite pet? Favorite type of movie?
• Would you rather? - I project two options in Latin, count the number of students who choose each option, state the number of students in Latin (e.g. Duodecim discipuli malunt habere pecuniam.). Questions I've used include: Would you rather have true love or money? Know the day when you will die or how you will die? Have more time or more money?
• Do Nothing for 2 Minutes - Just as the title states. If students do anything (e.g. talk, eat, make noise), then we resume class. I project this on my screen: http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/
• Silent Ball - The students throw a ball to each other, but they cannot talk or noise. If they do, the Brain Break ends.

I'm always looking for more Brain Break ideas, so please share yours with me! 🧠

First 3 Weeks of the School Year

The first three of weeks of the school have come and gone, so I'd like to reflect and write about my experiences so far. This year I am teaching three classes of Latin I and two of Latin II. I am also in charge of the Latin I curriculum this year. I'm not going to lie, I felt a lot of pressure to be in charge of level one. If I messed up and did not establish a solid foundation, I could jeopardize my students' Latin experience and fail to provide them with the skills to succeed in Latin. 

Thankfully, this has not been the case at all. In fact, I am having a blast with my Latin I students! I attribute part of this to my goal of having more consistent procedures in my classes this year. Just as in previous years, I open the class with "Salvete, omnes!", close with "Valete, omnes!", and expect my students to respond in Latin. To associate names with faces (and because admin insists that we take attendance within the first five minutes of class), I then do roll call and each student must say "adsum" if they are present. When a student is absent, we say, "(Insert student name) abest." 

To fight against the almighty cell phone, we then do a cell phone chant, as developed by Bob Patrick. I ask the class, "Ubi sunt telephona?!" Then we go through various locations where phones may be: "Non in manibus!" "Non in gremio!" "Non in sinibus!" "Non sub cruribus!", followed again by "Ubi sunt telephona?!" "Telephona sunt in sacculis!"

I have also implemented Calendar Talk more consistently this year, inspired by CI Liftoff (Ben Slavic and Tina Hargaden). The students and I write and say the date in Latin (day of the week, date, month, and year). Then I ask about the day's weather and we discuss it in Latin. My Latin I students in particular are having fun with this. One class debates almost every day about whether it is humid or not. In another class, a certain student is always cold, so the rest of the class disagrees and tells her to wear layers! To take advantage of this enthusiasm, I lead class polls:

"Quis ex vobis putat hodie umidam esse?"
*Some students raise their hands and I count aloud in Latin*
"Undecim discipuli putant hodie umidam esse!"
"Quis ex vobis putat hodie non esse umidam?"
*Students raise their hands and I count aloud in Latin*
"Duodecim discipuli putant hodie non esse umidam!"

Compared to my own experiences as a Latin student, I love that my students are so comfortable and eager to listen to and interact in Latin. They also understand indirect statements! Yes, they cannot describe what indirect statements are or they function in Latin, but they understand what I am saying and that is all I want at this time for their level of proficiency.

Another change this year is Brain Breaks (more on this in a future post). I used Brain Breaks last year, but I placed them between activities. This year, instead, I set a timer for 15 minutes and we stop class and do them, no matter what. This change has made a HUGE difference! Last year, students felt like Brain Breaks were just another tedious activity to do, but this year, my students look forward to them. I have also noticed two benefits of Brain Breaks. First, my students and I are truly refreshed and ready to do more afterward. Second, and as a result, my students and I work more efficiently for the entire duration of the class period. 


Some aspects of my year have been off to rougher start, but overall I'm very satisfied.