Bernard

Posted on 8/26/09

The best justification for keeping any program is demand. If kids
are breaking down the doors tryng to sign up for German, then
German won't be phased out. If kids want it, parents will demand
it... and we all know what happens if parents demand it.

So the question is, how do we get students to break down our doors
trying to get in? We create demand. When I first began teaching
German in a part time position - which was only offered at the high
school level in my district, unlike French & Spanish - I tried
taking my third year students down to the feeder middle school to
promote awareness. I also met with the guidance counselors at both
schools to let them know how eager I was to grow the program and
that I was willing to take any and all students looking for
electives. I then met with the principals to let them know how
much I wanted to help students be successful. While these efforts
may have met with minimal success initially, I found over the years
that the best advertising was word of mouth. The more German we
used in class, the more fun the students had. The more fun the
students had, the more they learned. The more they learned, the
more success they experienced. The more success they experienced,
the more they told their friends and families - and then their
friends and younger siblings signed up. In seven years, we went
from one part time German position (3 classes), to two full time
German positions at our high school of about 1,400 students. It
can be done.

It just takes a lot of hard work and ingenuity to keep things
fresh. Avoid the workbooks and tedious textbook drills. Try to
only teach grammar in context. (When we were learning to speak
English, did our mothers take us through verb conjugations and have
us fill in the blanks with the right endings? - of course not.)
Remember, the textbook is only a resource - it's not supposed to
replace the teacher. We don't have to use it every day or even
every week for that matter. Focus on real communication and lots of
student interaction. Try to use German as much as you can right
from day one. Shoot for 100% German usage and be thrilled if you
hit 90%. If you're not already using them, experiment with various
methods like TPR Storytelling, the Natural Approach and so on.
Make use of the Web. In order to keep yourself from burning out,
have students complete tasks that you used to do yourself - where
ever appropriate. Use their talents and willingness to help out.
If you aren't already a member, join the AATG which provides many
resources. Viel Spass und viel Erfolg!

On 6/29/09, John wrote:
> On 6/15/09, Ich kann Deutsch wrote:
>> On 3/30/09, Pat wrote:
>>> Our school has decided to phase out German from the
>>> curriculum. Instead virtual Chinese and Arabic will be
>>> taught in the middle and high school levels along with
>>> Spanish. In PA there are minimal language requirements for
>>> school districts, and they are within the requirements. I
>>> have been asked to find rationale as to why we need to keep
>>> the German program. If you have any sites that will lead me
>>> to information or can give me any rationale that you may
>>> have needed in your own districts, please help me to save
>>> our German program. Thank you in advance.
>>
>> Why is one language more important than another? The question
>> is - do you still have students interested in taking German? If
>> not, how can you keep it? If so, how can they abolish it?
>>
>> I took German from the 3rd grade through the 12th - at the
>> time, German was the language of all scientific endeavor.
>> English has replaced it but the German language remains a
>> wonderful challenge for the mind. You might point out to your
>> administration that language has been treated in a very faddish
>> way. German, French and Latin in the 1950s - Russian was
>> introduced in the 60s during the Cold War. Spanish in the 70s.
>> Japanese kicked out Russian and then Chinese kicked out
>> Japanese. Now Arabic.
>>
>> We treat language in a very faddish way - French teachers are
>> struggling to find jobs unless they can also speak Spanish.
>> What other languages has your district abolished? Do we study
>> language to use it or for the academic endeavor that it is?
>> If German isn't useful, why ever do we have kids learning
>> algebra? I don't use Any of the algebra I learned and I don't
>> even remember the calculus.
>> Are they still teaching cursive? They'll defend that as useful
>> but German's not?
>> Viel Gluck.
>
> Germany has one of the strongest economies in the world;
> recently dropped to number 4 because China has gotte stronger,
> but only beaten otherwise by the U.S. and Japan. For this
> reason, there a lot of German companies doing business in the
> U.S., and a lot of American companies in Germany. This often
> means that if you want to get high level jobs in business,
> German on the resume is a must! They actually look for it
> often. Viel Glück!

Share This Post | Report This Post

Next Post >>

Posts on this thread, including this one