Feedback

from my Students

How do you feel having access to your peers but also have access to other people?
“I feel it was easier to learn, as me, because you don’t just have the people in class but also those outside. It helped me learn what I wanted to learn and that helped me want to speak to many different people- not just the people in the class….  I mean the way Sr. Pennington, teaches it is like what we want to get out of the course and that technology helped me get what I wanted. And I think a lot of other people in the class got personally what they wanted too.”
- Dom(Spanish 4, Fall 2009)

How is this different than other language courses with a different instructor?
“With the other Spanish classes I’ve taken you only speak with other kids in your class and for me, I never really get a sense of whether what I’m saying would right if I was talking to a native speaker.  So when you actually talk with people and they correct you or its right then it gives you a sense that you are doing it right, you are not being misled or anything. You are actually getting something out of it.”
-Billy (Spanish 4, Fall 2009)

“Everybody in the class is at different levels of Spanish and where they are at in terms of their progression of their work…” “At central I have taken 4 other semester classes and this class is only a quarter class but it has been my most beneficial.  Once your semester class is over with Spanish its done, but with this, it will continue and you can still use it.” (In reference to the personal learning network of native speakers she developed during the class)
-Jordan (Spanish 4, Fall 2009)

“On my history project I had to so something on Mexico and I used the internet and what we do in this class to help me with my project.  It was about music and stuff so I asked people what kind of music they like now and in the past and it helped my grade in my other class.”
-Nicole (Spanish 4, Fall 2009)

And its more real, more real than anything you can find in a book, because is coming from that person living there today.
-Nicole (Spanish 4, Fall 2009)

“One main difference between this class and other classes is that you have alot more freedom because you are allowed to go wherever you want to go… as far as your Spanish will go.  With homework you have to have conversations and evaluate them but then you need to se  what YOU need to improve on. With other classes you have to learn this that everyone needs to know but with this class its more like : You use your Spanish to do whatever YOU want.”
-Lucas (Spanish 4, Fall 2009)

The teacher, Sr. Pennington, just speaking spanish constantly in class.. even if you don’t know what he is saying sometime you really go alot way getting more comfortable being around the language.
-Lucas (Spanish 4, Fall 2009)

Mr. Pennington, as much as he has to stick to the curriculum, likes to try he likes to try to keep it within what we are interested in and lets us do a lot of things that lets us explore things what we are interested in instead of just what the school wants you to learn which I find obviously much more interesting.
-Sean (Spanish 1, Fall 2009)

Last year I didn’t learn any of the stuff I learned now because we didn’t have conversations with Spanish people.
-Allie (Spanish 1, Fall 2009)

We have a group on there (Twitter) and some people from other countries have joined it, and we use it to basically express ourselves in Spanish. Which we do 4 times a week and reply to 4 other people. Its pretty good cause like we just do it throughout the week whenever we have time and there aren’t really any restrictions you can say- whatever is on your mind or what ever you are doing.
-Jake (Spanish 1, Fall 2009)

In the beginning of class, in the first week we set short term, midterm, and long term goals. And most of us have already accomplished our short term goals.
-Allie (Spanish 1, Fall 2009)

As I continue in this class, even the goals that I set when I knew what this class was like are changing. I never imagined going to someone else’s blog and making a contact through that.
-Jill (Spanish 1, Fall 2009)

What’s the homework like compared to other classes?
“Every teacher will say that you do homework to better understand the topics.   Every homework assignment in this class we did was to better enhance our personal experience and preparation for what we wanted to do in the future. So.. whether we were coming up with a list that you might want to ask someone or coming up with a set goals for yourself… the real life application that goes on in the class.   I’ve taken a lot of classes that are more difficult to work in (real life application) to what we are studying…. BUT in those classes, I studied for that particular test and then after that I just empty my brain clear of what I had to remember.  Here I really understood and took the information that I learned with me.”
-Joe (Spanish 4, Fall 2009)

I think a lot of classes give a lot of busy work because it takes longer to do, for this class and the homework you do you feel like you are actually getting something out of it.
- Katelyn (Spanish 4, Fall 2009)

Yesterday we had to find blogs about things we were interested in, and so I found a fashion blog of someone from Spain and I commented on it and told her about my blog and she commented on my blog last night.  So its really cool and I’m going to ask her for her Skype name so we can talk about fashion stuff.  Its really interesting that you can connect with other people just by looking at their blogs and commenting on them.
-Carly (Spanish 1, Fall 2009)