Hi, #langchat! Question for middle school teachers here: How do you place transfer students or any student who does not follow the “traditional” path for studying languages in your school? (1/2)
Comments
Log in with your Bluesky account to leave a comment
I’m assuming most schools’ language classes are by grade (ex: 7th grade French, 8th grade French, etc.) Please read my blog post for more context…it’s not too long, I promise! https://tinyurl.com/3antsz8p #langchat (2/2)
I teach middle school. In my school, Spanish is an elective. Some students start in 7th grade, some in 8th, some never. My “Spanish 1” classes are a mix of both grades. My “Spanish 2” classes are 8th graders who had me last year. 9th-12th graders are in a different building.
I know that doesn’t answer your question, because my program model doesn’t look like yours. You’re not asking about what your program model could be, you’re asking about what to do within the existing structure.
🧵
Thanks for sharing! I’m not sure we could mix grades in the middle school classes due to having a team structure by grade, but mixing could help more appropriately place students, especially those who transfer.
My former job was teaching Spanish K-5. In that school students were grouped by grade, not experience. And yes, some kids didn’t fit. The heritage student knew more Spanish than me on day 1. The kid who moved in new in 5th grade with zero previous experience… 🧵
What did I do about those kids? Accommodate. Deal with it. Like any class that doesn’t sort for ability, a wide variety of levels meant I could never go as fast as I wanted for the most proficient students because I also had to teach the least proficient. Using CI helped but was not a miracle cure.
In my current mixed grade program I do sometimes have students who don’t fit. I have had students with a little Spanish at home start at Spanish 2. In the past when the classes were obligatory I had a few students repeat Spanish 1. Having mixed grades made this possible.
Im not sure i understand the question but i teach Span 1 and have mixed classes 6-8. I surprisingly had many new students this year and they just joined and picked up where we were. Happy to add more if this wasn’t the right answer.
Yes, for the most part. Just want to make sure I understand your response. Is Spanish 1 the first class students take in middle school when starting Spanish, whether in grade 6,7 or 8?
Yes. So Level 2 would have 7 and 8 graders. Level 3 is only 8 graders and technically they only need 3 yrs so many stop there and don’t take a language in HS! ☹️ which is another good reason to start with 1A/1b
Comments
I know that doesn’t answer your question, because my program model doesn’t look like yours. You’re not asking about what your program model could be, you’re asking about what to do within the existing structure.
🧵
In my current mixed grade program I do sometimes have students who don’t fit. I have had students with a little Spanish at home start at Spanish 2. In the past when the classes were obligatory I had a few students repeat Spanish 1. Having mixed grades made this possible.