RHS, N.H. classes share lessons
|
|
Rutland High School Spanish teacher Patricia Alonso (second from left) looks over notes and faxes being exchanged between RHS students and students at Rivendell High School in Orford, N.H. The students from left are Mattie Sowards, Mike Howe, Alix Cohen, Troy Davine and Megan Wilberg. Albert J. Marro / Rutland Herald |
Toolbox
By Cristina Kumka STAFF WRITER - Published: November 23, 2009
Most of the students in Patricia Alonso's advanced Spanish 4 honors class at Rutland High School have never had a conversation with someone who speaks Spanish in Rutland.
There aren't many native speakers living here and, traditionally, cultural interactions are minimal and ethnic diversity is lacking inside the classroom and out, Alonso said.
So Alonso and her class of 10 decided to change things.
Last school year, Alonso reached out to her daughter, Natalie White, also an honors Spanish teacher, at Rivendell Academy High School in Orford, N.H., and asked her to do something new for their students — have students teach each other by writing letters back and forth, sharing their personal stories.
White, a teacher in her third year struggling to inspire an upper-level Spanish class, agreed.
The partnership resulted in a learning style that flew in the face of the cultural and linguistic diversity that lacks in both schools and in both classrooms.
It also formed a rare mother-daughter bond – White was teaching the subject her mother taught her in the same school from which her mother graduated.
"She's an incredible help for me," White said.
"Anytime I say, 'Mom, I have this lesson I'm trying to teach,' she always has a solution … she helps me a lot."
But the connection they made is more than helping them improve their teaching — the students are becoming better speakers and Spanish writers.
Students regularly write letters to the Rivendell student they are paired with, faxing them to the classroom a state away.
And they're thrilled to get the faxes back — an "easy but unique" approach to teaching and learning a foreign language, Alonso said.
"I've never met someone I talked to outside the classroom in Spanish," said 17-year-old Mike Howe of the Rutland class. "It's more exciting and it's actually communicating in the real world."
Rutland student Megan Wilberg said, "By doing this, you're breaking the first barriers of a comfort zone … we'll be more at ease when you do go study abroad."
"It gives you more confidence, too," said 17-year-old Alix Cohen.
Students in the class have become friends on Facebook and next week, the two classes will meet in person for the first time over Mexican food at the Lebanon, N.H., restaurant Tio Juan's Margaritas.
In the future, the teachers plan to use Skype, an online phone service, to connect the two classes, live.
"We view this as making a connection with another school, like a sports team," said Alonso, a teacher for 25 years. "It gives us that competitive edge … we play with another team."
And it's more than just spelling and conjugations — students talk to other students in Spanish about how they feel.
"It's not how blue the sky is, but how the day affected me," Alonso said.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
48