Isaac took a good chunk of time to talk with me after lunch during the afternoon break, getting me ready for the four simultaneous afternoon classes called Materias Elegidas. Students who are taking the four-week summer course for a year of high school credit attend these electives – an hour a day.

I might not be able to see all four classes during the hour, we’ll see how far I get. I’m starting with art.

Pintura latina

The students sit around two long tables that, pushed together, make a square. The leader arrives and gives a bit of context for everyone, drawing a map of the Americas and, across the ocean, Spain. They are going to study art from Latinoamerica y España. The period that they will study, she explains, is from a time when the sense of identity came from Spain, when there wasn’t yet a great sense of independent identity outside of Spain. An interesting concept, the need to grow one’s identity, or in this case, the collective identity of an entire region or country.

The levels here are mixed, so Valeria lets the students know they can respond in English, too. This elicits quicker responses. It also makes for an interesting bilingual feel. One of the students answers first in English but then continues in Spanish. It’s not so easy to shut off the effort to stay in Spanish when it is emphasized all day long. I’ve had the same feeling today as I try to squeeze every ounce of Spanish I’ve got from my English-centric thoughts. 

Escritura artística

I scoot next door, tripping over a backpack, and join the creative writing class. They are also sitting around two long tables forming a square, but the teacher here is sitting with them, letting them write. And write they do. Every now and then someone asks a question, but Valen is particularly good here at staying out of their way. The teacher is here and ready, but letting them write. 

“¿Quién necesitas más tiempo?,” Valen asks, then adds, “OK, un minuto.”

After that minute is up a volunteer, Tomás, reads in Spanish and the others snap their fingers in quiet appreciation. It doesn’t matter if it’s right or wrong, grammatical mistakes are okay, the students are at various levels here. 

I guess that is the opportunity creative writing brings to a language learning experience. The right to write, the right not to worry too much. It feels good to hear the snapping fingers after each student reads. Positivity. And the teacher simply nods a bit each time. She’s here, she’s still supportive, she doesn’t overdo it, it’s not effusive praise or effusive anything else, just calm nods.

After they’ve all read she asks a few questions to the whole group. The students get a chance to talk about the writing as a whole or to answer something specific about a particular student’s writing. It’s a writers workshop, in Spanish, the class focus is on the content. Any mistakes in the language will iron themselves out with time, no doubt. That’s a big part of how language learning works. Communicate, then with a bit of focus on structure, when the time is right, crooked grammar is straightened out. 

I get ready to leave as the teacher provides a few reminders on the board. The students did their thing, they got cooking, as I like to say, right from the start. Then, using their own writing and reading, the teacher is pulling a little bit more out of them. Creating teachable moments. 

I hear her turning the class back to the students as I close the door quietly behind me. This class is theirs. 

Música latina

Music is in the room called Madrid. The previous rooms were Sevilla and Pamplona. It’s a small thing, I suppose, but having rooms that reflect the culture sort of keeps the immersion game going. I pictured rowing a boat in the park in Sevilla as I walked into that room, and of course the running of the bulls when I entered Pamplona. Now in Madrid I think of Guernica, the fantastic facades of the old buildings, and the metro with its overtaxed air conditioning. 

This room has a fan, a dozen students, and a patient teacher writing music adjectives on the board. Energetico, triste, lento, bailable. I like that word the best, bailable. Dance-able. I haven’t seen it before, but of course it belongs in a Spanish language program. Just after lunch a couple of students asked me, because I was sitting with my computer next to a speaker, if I couldn’t put on some music for them. They wanted to dance. 

I write that the teacher, Xime, is patient, because this class is the largest collection of boys I’ve run into in these Spanish classes, and as one would predict with late middle school and early high school, they have an undeniable boy sort of energy. You can feel things bubbling. The teacher is so on it. Keeping things going, ignoring the right things, not letting herself get distracted. Some of these boys will learn despite it all! And the girls, well, I sort of wish I could apologize to them on behalf of the boy energy. Looks like they are holding their own, though. 

And now comes the music. She’s got a prepared sheet for them to focus their attention. She goes over a few ground rules. Me gusta and No me gusta … expressing their opinions about the music she’s got cued up. The papers get passed around the table, we are ready to go. “Do you have a pen or pencil?” They do, they are in fact ready. 

And the first song is … a mariachi band! So cool. I remember the first time I encountered a real mariachi band, in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. It was like verification that they really existed. In the flesh! Coordinated outfits! Wide wide brims on those mariachi hats. And singing with bursting, genuine joy.

I have enough time to hear what the next type of music is. I’m guessing it is going to be flamenco. Maybe that’s the only other specifically latino genre I know. I can let you know if I’m right, very soon, the students just have to take a few mariachi notes first, and answer a few summary questions.

Oops! The next genre is Cumbia, from Colombia. I’ll have to listen to a bit of Cumbia tonight, I think to myself. It’s time to move to the last class, I’m going to get to all four.

Vida Saludable

The last classroom is named Granada. Reminds me of the Alhambra. I chaperoned a trip there once, high school students. And attended their morning Spanish class with them. That was a humbling experience.

This class is about healthy living. There is an objective on the board, the first time I’ve seen that today. There are two objectives: understanding the importance of drinking water and not other drinks, and when it is most important during the day to hydrate. Hidratarse in Spanish, I love words. That’s a really good one.

The teacher, Orlando, is clearly interested in healthy living and in sharing about healthy living with the students. What a nice example of teaching what you are interested in. There’s a guarantee of sorts when we set things up like this – a guarantee that that teacher will be motivated to be prepared, a guarantee that the teacher will be passionate. Things that matter A LOT for a successful class. 

The class is also a nice example, like in all four I’ve visited now, of focusing first and foremost on the subject matter. Content based learning, it’s called. It’s a version of immersion, hearing everything in Spanish, answering in Spanish (as one is able, there isn’t a prohibition of English as far as I know). When Orlando gets the pairs of students finalized, as he is now doing, I’m sure there will be a mix of English and Spanish among the students. I’m also sure they will continue to focus on the content of his class – healthy living – and in so doing, advance their ability to truly use Spanish as a functional language – creating new understanding and communicating with each other.

Orlando has a chance to talk to me a bit as the students are working. He catches me up since I’ve come into the class after it was in session for a while. He shares about the class, tells me he is originally from Puerto Rico. He’s all energy and preparedness. 

I’m sorry that I had to duck out of each class so quickly, but happy that I made it to all four! Teachers teaching the subjects that bring them joy, that’s joy itself.