Spanish 1/2

As we finish the first semester of Spanish One I notice that there are 3-4 kids in both my classes who just don't get it. There are 2-3 in each class who have missed too many days and have no hope of catching-up. I have been tossing around the idea of creating a Spanish One class that begins at the start of Semester 2 for these kids. They would take the second half beginning in the fall at the start of semester 1. Is anyone doing this?
I realize that there are some other issues involved with creating this type class but, I would be interested to know if people are doing this.

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Amorocho on January 29, 2009 at 7:14pm

Our school has had the same problems too. Logistics didn't allow for what you suggest for us. The kids end up dropping the class 1st semester & re-taking Sp I the following year. Most of the time there is a huge improvement, maturity & study skills kick in (usually) the second time around.

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Permalink Reply by Fred Ravan on January 31, 2009 at 4:00pm

We are in the same situation. It would take a huge paradigm shift for my administration to go for this. The big issue would be the idea of finishing a year without awarding the credit. We don't do half credit. I even considered double blocking the class and giving one credit but that would be too much for kids who aren't all that interested to start with and who are habitually truant.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Vetter on April 1, 2009 at 8:53am

I've been wondering the same thing!
In the past students have taken one of two approaches. Either they have dropped and took it over in the fall with success or my preferred solution is to get together with the student(s) and parents and discuss options. I have held informal after school classes to help the students catch up on what the missed and keep them up-to-date with their classmate on the new material. I will have them come in 2-3 times a week for an hour after school. If they are willing to make the effort I've had some really good results. It does require a lot of extra work on my part, but I don't mind if they're willing to put in the time, I will too. I've also set things up with the counselor, that if they are willing to redo the work from the past quarters, I've allowed them to change their grades. For some kids/parents that has been a motivating factor.
There's a part of me that thinks that the second chance thing with the grades is unfair to the kids who did the work the first time around, but my goal is that they learn Spanish, so I'll do what I can to make that happen.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Weltz on April 17, 2009 at 10:52pm

Hi Fred. I am going through the same thing. I think that by differentiating instruction, I am able to keep a better track of all of the different levels within a class. Look me up on twitter. sraweltz