Foreign language teachers build teaching excellence

Athletic contests and plays aren’t the only events that can fill a Catholic elementary school gym on a Saturday night.

On March 31, more than 500 spectators gathered at Rita School in Harahan as 140 students from eight Jefferson Parish Catholic elementary schools performed dances, songs – and even a fashion show – to salute their schools’ foreign language programs. The 18 performances were done in Spanish, except for three presentations in French by St. Ann, which exposes its students to both languages.

Dubbed “Catholic Schools Unite in Languages,” the fast-paced extravaganza of colorfully costumed students began with the recitation of the “Hail Mary” in Spanish and “The Pledge of Allegiance” in French.

“Parents love to see their children doing things in the foreign language they are studying,” noted Martha Arostegui, St. Philip Neri’s Spanish teacher of 13 years. “We were thinking, ‘How can we show or let people know what we do in a fun way?’”

Support group of instructors

The idea for the evening of song and dance came out of bi-monthly social gatherings of foreign language faculty from the participating schools. Since 2007, the eight-member group has met at coffee shops, restaurants and on their own campuses to share curricular enhancements and to troubleshoot problems they encounter as foreign language teachers.

The informal gatherings, which are usually held on a Saturday morning, also provide valuable social time in which the teachers can unwind with their peers.

“We thought it would be a good idea to meet and exchange ideas every once in a while; that way, we could help each other,” said Arostegui said, whose own elaborate Spanish language festival at St. Philip Neri spawned the larger, multiple school event.

Teaching strategies shared

Connie Heirsch, the Spanish teacher at St. Rita and Our Lady of Divine Providence, said foreign language teachers face unique obstacles at Catholic elementary schools. For example, the wide majority does not have their own classroom, and are compelled to float across campus to teach the various grade levels.

“What makes us a little different is that we’re alone on campus – we’re not a (grade-level) teacher, where there are two or more teachers who can collaborate together; we are the department,” Heirsch said.

“It’s been a learning experience for me learning from some of these teachers who have been teaching longer than I have,” Heirsch adds, noting that she and her peers are always on the lookout for new ways to incorporate games into their lessons. For example, spelling and vocabulary games already in use in students’ language arts classes – such as Tic-Tac-Toe, Hangman and Sparkle – can easily be adapted from English to Spanish.

“Because all of us are the single (foreign language) teacher in each school where we teach, we do a lot of repetition of material,” Heirsch said. “I like to use a lot of games to break up the lesson. They need change in how they’re learning, and it’s a good way to review vocabulary.”

Heirsch shared with the group of teachers a lesson plan suggested to her by a Spanish teacher in the public school system: challenging older students to write and narrate the Spanish text for a make-believe fashion show.

“It’s been a wonderful teaching tool because the students have to know their color and clothing vocabulary, but they also have to be able to conjugate verbs in Spanish,” Heirsch said. “You’re limited in what you can do at the elementary school level in terms of writing (in the foreign language),” she said. “So doing an exercise like this makes it easier when they get to high school.”

Learning through music

Arostegui, a native of Peru, said the teachers’ diverse backgrounds – with ties to Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Puerto Rico – has also been a boon to classroom instruction. On visits to their native countries, the teachers look for Spanish-language DVDs and CDs at bookstores and educational supply outlets and then share them with their colleagues at the various schools. These items are “very difficult” to find locally, Arostegui notes.

“My approach to teaching is different from some of the others. I’m not a (teach-exclusively-from-the) book person,” Arostegui said.

“Music is something that I use a lot,” she said. “There is a lot we can teach through music and games. They can learn and have fun at the same time. Everybody likes the idea of exposing kids to a foreign language, but most of the kids only come to us once a week – it’s not continuous teaching on a daily basis that most of the subjects are.”

While some foreign language materials areavailable on local shelves, the majority is designed for the high school level and above, she said. Elementary foreign language teachers have the added burden of having to provide materials for an age group that typically spans pre-kindergarten through seventh grade.

Heirsch said she and her colleagues often turn to online sources for lesson ideas and to software programs, such as PowerPoint.

“You can put anything in a text box and create your own lesson,” she said. “I can also record on PowerPoint. I can put a picture on my vocabulary slide and pronounce (the word) for them, so wherever they are, they can study without me being there.”

Despite the many challenges, Arostegui said exposing youngsters to a foreign language is the source of great personal and professional satisfaction.

“The biggest reward is seeing the kids trying to use the language, and feeling good about it, and understanding a word here and there,” Arostegui said. “When they go to Epcot, they’ll say, ‘We went to Mexico and we were able to understand some of the Spanish words,’ or they were able to order at a restaurant. It makes me happy that they’re not just learning from a book, but using the language.”

The “Catholic Schools Unite in Languages Program” featured performers from Our Lady of Divine Providence, St. Ann, St. Christopher, St. Edward the Confessor, St. Francis Xavier, St. Matthew the Apostle, St. Philip Neri and St. Rita, Harahan.

Beth Donze can be reached at [email protected].