Startklar für Deutsch 1!

During this month series, we’re blogging on the theme of back to school! We hope it helps you ease back into your classroom and sparks ideas for you!

This week, I want to share five guiding principles/mindsets that I have when working with beginning German students. I hope that these will help you to have a fun and effective first week of instruction!

1) Create confident speakers.

In the first weeks of school, I do all I can to set students up for easy wins with the language. Success builds confidence and is motivating. I want them to feel like they are good at German from the first day! This means that I praise every attempt and am very slow to correct mistakes. I consider it a win if they will risk putting their own voice to the German-language. I don’t focus on accuracy. There’s enough time for that later. I ask them on the first day to speak German. And I make them do it a LOT! I make them practice speaking to everyone in the class. Even though the temptation is there for me to speak and explain, I remember the one(s) speaking the most are learning the most.

2) Put students at ease.

How can I make my students feel comfortable in my classroom from the moment they cross my threshold? Don’t take for grated the role that repetition and routine play in helping students to feel at ease! If they can walk into my room knowing how I conduct class, and if I can keep my routine standard at least at the beginning, it will put them at ease. You might consider teaching one classroom routine a day (how will they hand in work, how do they ask to go to the bathroom, how do they work with a partner, etc.)
I also use repetition a lot. I repeat their learning as we build it. The first day of school, we often learn greetings and how to introduce ourselves with our names (Ich heiße…) and start the alphabet. The next day, I start off having them use all of those skills again and build on them. I think we can worry that students will get bored, but they can feel like they’re drinking from a fire hose, so keeping it consistent can help them be relaxed and ready to learn.
I would be amiss if I didn’t mention that one of the best ways to help your students be at ease is to start the work of knowing them. I say it that way, because I think it’s important to model to students how to get to know each other and this takes building trust over time. So I think about:
-how will I be consistent in my interactions with them so they can predict how I will respond to them,
-which students have I connected with and which should I seek out
-do I know everyone’s name and how to say it?

3) Set the tone.

Show your students how you want them to interact with each other, model, model, model. Don’t assume they know how you want them to turn work in on your LMS or in your room. Show them the expectations you have for them upon entering the room, upon cleaning up, getting supplies, returning supplies, I know these are high school students, but this is their first time doing it in German! Show them the language expectations you have, when do you want them to speak which language? Laying the groundwork here can save you many frustrations later.

4) Keep it light and fun!

Make sure to be yourself the first week. Laugh with your students, play games, find ways to smile together and be playful. I know that there may be behaviors that you already see, but I believe you will have stronger relationships that last longer if you can let the small stuff slide (I do think that you HAVE to deal with big issues, especially if it makes other students feel unsafe-as this also sets the tone and shows students you’re trustworthy.) I want my students to stay in the German program and a love of language and learning can’t be taught, but I believe it can be caught and I do what I can to help them catch it!

5) Have a strong plan in place.

I have my first week all planned out as much as I can. I think about high-impact lessons, and unless your district requires it, I would avoid your syllabus on the first day. I want to show them what class is like and not spend the whole time talking about it. It’s a principle I live by quite often in my room, show first, tell later! I often give my syllabus and a scavenger hunt that goes with it as an assignment they have to turn in. I, personally, feel like it is a mistake to waste the excitement of the first day with all the rules and expectations. I make sure to show up to school with my first week fully planned out: supplies collected, worksheets made, lessons planned, this helps me to be present to the hard work of the first week.

I’m looking forward to using our brand new notebook, “Alles Über Mich”, this year to help my students get started off well and wanted to share with you an overview of my first week.

Join us next week to learn all about how Kristy starts German 2.