I have found that the classes in which the classroom teachers give me and the FLES program the most support do best. Good public relations within the school and classroom are definite keys to success.
Here are some suggestions that I have used in the past and present:
- During stress-filled, hectic report card and parent conference times, I
put a Chupa-Chups lollipop from Spain/México in each teacher's mailbox
with a short note of humorous encouragement.
- Send the teachers you work with e-mail greeting cards for their birthdays or for other occasions when they've been particulary helpful.
- At the beginning of every year, I ask the teachers to have the children
ready with desks cleared for my fifteen minute class. I try to be very
prompt in arrival and departure times. However, I remain flexible and
smiling if there is a delay or last-minute cancellation.
- If I need any extra materials for that lesson (scissors, crayons, etc.), I
notify the teachers at least a week in advance if possible and put another
short reminder in his/her mailbox the day before. I try to remember to
collect those materials for him/her at the end of class so the teacher
doesn't have any extra work.
- I try not to move furniture within the classroom. But if I must -- for
example, to do a mini-drama -- I put back the furniture as it was before I
leave. And likewise for any classroom equipment I use (overhead projector, maps, pull-down screen).
- I give the teacher an extra-special Spanish nametag to wear, saying, for
example, "Señora Brown, Maestra." This makes the teacher feel more a part of the class as all the children and I wear such nametags.
- I ask the teachers and the children at the beginning of every year not to
translate what I say for others. In the past, teachers who knew a little
Spanish had started to translate every word, thinking they were helping me.
I explain to them that my using the L2 most of the time and using visuals
and body language to convey general meaning will increase everyone's skills in Spanish.
-I eat lunch with the teachers in the staff room. It's important for them to
get to know me on a personal basis -- and me, them. Attending and actively participating in other social events after school hours will increase your "popularity" quotient also.
- I also try to volunteer or be present for as many special classroom
presentations (plays, contests) as possible. I make a point to give positive
and sincere comments on any classroom project or bulletin board.
- I try to link up my lesson content in some way to what is being studied in
the curriculum or being displayed on bulletin boards within the classroom.
- I stress to the teachers that I am available as a resource. Teachers have
used me to help with in-class bilingual displays, to model correct
vocabulary pronunciation of Spanish words or concepts found in English text
materials, and to elaborate a bit on current events that children have
clipped from newspapers and brought into class (i.e. World Cup winners, the
running of the bulls in Pamploma.)
- I try to keep my daily lessons upbeat and fun -- with a large dash of
humor and a huge smile. It's very beneficial to everyone to make the teacher a part of the lesson somehow. However, proceed slowly here for some teachers have had very negative experiences with previous world language learning and may balk at their inclusion and may just want to sit and observe. Be patient -- make reaching 80% of the staff your goal. That is the best to expect, in my opinion. In my case, one of my most severe critics came around after two years in the FLES program when standardized tests in English showed the class to have an above-average knowledge of the geography of Latin America.
