What exactly is a hybrid Spanish class? I think if you ask ten different teachers you’ll get ten different answers. We are all in a different boat trying to navigate these very tricky waters.
My situation is: half of my students come in every other day while the other half work virtually and asynchronously. We are fully virtual one day of the week and I also have some fully virtual students.
There is no question that hybrid teaching presents unique challenges that we could have never dreamed of, but after a few weeks I am ready to share some things that are working well in my classes (that’s not to say there hasn’t been a lot of trial and error!)
1. Streamline
Make your lessons as streamlined as possible so that your in person and remote students can easily follow along. There are bound to be problems (connection issues, broken links, miscommunication, etc) so if you can have a script for your students, they can be successful in your lesson no matter what.
You can do this with a Daily Agenda Slide. Think of it as a visual of the short-hand version of your lesson plan. 4-5 bullets (sometimes less sometimes more) of what you will be doing in that class.
I like to create mine in Google Slides. For each day, I add the next slide on top of the previous (so any absent students can go back and see what they missed) and I can hyperlink any documents, activities or websites right there for students; easily organized all in one space.
2. Give Extra Time
We have a lot of obstacles to overcome this year. Some of these include, mask/shield wearing, social distancing, Plexiglas barriers, etc.
These changes to our classroom mean that we cannot (and should not) be doing the same lessons that we have done in the past. The flow is COMPLETELY different and we need to account for this.
Give yourself extra time to complete some activities. The mask in itself provides a challenge just to be able to hear students who are far away. Socially distanced students mean there are new challenges when it comes to “turn and talk”.
If we are working with more digital platforms we need to account for time spent navigating websites, logging in, and sometimes just turning on the Chromebook.
On our digital days, we need to remember that on top of wait time we have to include “unmute time”. It takes our students an additional second to unmute and answer.
There is a lot of silence in the online learning space but we have to get comfortable with this shift in energy. Wait time is so important, we just have to make the proper adjustment to our wait time for this year.
3. Flexibility is Key
On any given day there will be changes. You need to be prepared to go with the flow (this is super hard for Type A people like myself!). Look at the activities you are using in class, can you slow them down or speed them up as needed?
We are going to have students transitioning from in person to virtual learning at different points throughout the year and for different lengths of time. Are your activities remote and in person student friendly? How can you tweak them to be?
It is SO important to be flexible with our students. We don’t know or understand their personal current situation. There is going to be more stress at home, we have to support their mental health and well-being. This is not the year to be strict with deadlines.
Social Emotional Learning needs to take a front seat. It’s something we need to be building in to our daily routines. A simple “Is there anything you want to share with me today?” on a check in questionnaire can go a long way for students.
Check Out Some Great SEL Checks Here!
4. Encourage Output
We have to use the valuable time with our students in front of us to get them practicing the language. There should be no wasted time or class periods doing things that can be done independently. When our students are with us, we need to be thoughtful about our lessons and give them opportunities to produce the language and interact (from a social distance) with each other.
Here are some activities that you can do in any classroom setting:
This or That – Grab a FREE copy of one of my favorite community building activities ¿cuál prefieres? It’s a great way to get to know your students while also encouraging them to speak in Spanish. Students will share their preference when presented with two options and you can ask follow up questions for more details.
Guess Who- I created this fun COVID style game to encourage students to use Spanish in class while reviewing basic questions and introducing them to famous Hispanic celebrities. It’s a fun twist on the basic Guess Who game where students are working together to reveal a Hispanic celebrity. My students really enjoyed this one!
Socratic Seminar- These can be done in person, virtually or in the hybrid classroom (I have personally tried all three!). Students lead a class discussion based on some kind of prompt that they are given in advance. For more information on how to have a Socratic Seminar in your class, check out this blog post.
Calendar Talk- Claudia Elliot recently shared access to her Back to School Folder. In there, you can find some great resources for your classes. One of my favorites is her Calendar Talk. I love how she uses this at the beginning of every class period (in every level class) to engage her students and also give them the opportunity to use Spanish.
5. Keep It Simple
When it all feels overwhelming and you start to question how you’re ever going to do this for a full academic year, take a step back. I have had to do this a few times. It’s ok to simplify. You do NOT have to do all of the shiny things.
This also stems from seeing a lot of “perfect” classrooms on social media. Social media is a great space to collaborate and learn from colleagues BUT it can also make you feel like you’re not doing enough because of all the amazing things other people are doing.
We have to face so many unique challenges and changes this year. It’s ok to keep your lessons simple for you and for your students.
How can you do this?
Spend more time than you normally would on an activity. Slow down and allow for conversation of questions and answers (in TL is even better!). Use materials you already have-you do not have to reinvent the wheel.
The bottom line is, our students are missing the connections with their peers and with their teachers. When they are in our classes they want to feel as normal as possible so let’s play a game, let’s take some time to get to know each other and let’s build a really strong classroom community to support us through the rest of this crazy year.
Let me know what’s working well for you in your hybrid classes- shoot me a DM over on Instagram, I’d love to chat!
