Be The Spark

Joy and passion are contagious. The sincerity found within them spreads like wildfire. Those around you can feel it. Family and friends benefit from it. Students in the classroom experience it and can spot it a mile away. Being on the receiving end of it ignites something within.

I have experienced so many of those sparks this past year and they just keep coming. They remind you that anything is possible. One of my favorite sparks came from a colleague and friend of mine; someone whom I affectionately call my "chicken coach." What? You don't have a chicken coach? You're missing out. But it's not too late for you. Read on to make your dreams come true.

My friend, Kenny, is a poultry farmer and he is one of the best. Is he the largest egg distributor in the land? No. He has a small flock that he tends to on his little piece of heaven out in the country. He is one of the best because it brings him pure joy to care for his "girls," to spoil them with veggies and fruits from the kitchen, hold them and love them, and collect those gorgeous, colorful eggs that they happily lay. His chickens know he cares for and loves them. His excitement is contagious. So much so, that as a result, I can now proudly call myself a poultry farmer. Yep. You read that correctly.

Helena, aka, The Grey Lady

One of my favorite questions that people ask me is, "You have chickens?" A satisfying grin stretches across my face as I say, "Yep. I have chickens!" Kenny used to bring me eggs at work. I would wait with bated breath as he opened the carton to show me the pastel treasures inside. Then I would inevitably say, "Oh, I want chickens!" He would invite us out to "the farm" to let the kids feed the animals. This only fanned the flames more. Fast forward a year. My husband and I moved with our two small children to a new home. Our district passed an ordinance allowing backyard chickens. Now the tiny spark has become a roaring fire. After planning, dreaming, and a lot of hard work by my talented husband on our custom coop, we now have our very own chickens, our very own dreamy, pastel eggs. Our family bonds over the time we spend with them, feeding them, caring for them, playing around them, and truly enjoying their presence. Our children are learning what it means to care for these animals and the rewards that come from being responsible for something that we consume (for clarification, we eat the eggs, not the chickens). We enjoy the outdoors with the added excitement of letting the girls out to peck and scratch and make their eerie, velociraptor-like noises. You mean you thought they said "bok bok bok"? Not ours. This new passion of mine has spilled over into my classroom, naturally.

Aren't they brilliant? Don't you want chickens?!

But what could chickens possibly have to do with my classroom? I'm a German teacher. This year, I've been trying new things. I have been learning more about Comprehensible Input, as you saw on my list from last time. (Wait, weren't we talking about chickens? Yes. We still are!) My incredibly talented friend and fellow World Language teacher, Kayla (@kfrench4415), uses this in her classes and has kindly allowed me to come observe, ask questions, and get ideas and resources from her in order to get the ball rolling. I decided to try this method of instructional delivery out with my level two German class for our "Gute Besserung" unit (sickness, ailments, etc.). I love an excuse to talk about my chickens. I took this as an opportunity to incorporate one of the things I'm passionate about into my lesson. Kayla usually starts out her CI lessons with a story. My introductory lesson started out with a google slides presentation (check it out here if you like!) about how three of my chickens were sick. Students had an accompanying sheet where they had to check off symptoms that they heard about the chickens' problems as they listened to me tell the story. There were images of the symptoms on the screen along with pictures of three of our beautiful, fluffy chickens; Helena, Professor McGonagall, and Fawkes. Next, they were given space to sketch the chickens in a way that showed what was wrong with them. Lastly, they had to listen to a description of one of the three chickens who had to go to the vet immediately and decide who that chicken was, based on my previous descriptions. All of this was done in the target language. We followed this up with TPR (Total Physical Response) of the new words we learned in the story. They see an image of the new word on the screen along with the word, hear me say it, repeat it, and we add a motion to it. I take away the image and we do the same thing. We do it in partners, together, with games, and in consecutive class periods. It's been incredible to see how well this method works and how much more easily they are able to recall these words and then use them.

Choosing a medium that I loved fueled the fire to create this lesson. The elation my students see in me as I talk about my chickens provides that hook for them. Does it mean that they all will love chickens? No. It means that they see that I believe in what I'm doing and having fun with it. It means that I can blend worlds together to create something new. By personalizing my lesson I can help them personalize their learning. We took this one step further on Twitter. I created the hashtag #Hühnerprobs. Students had to tweet as if they were one of the sick chickens who'd been "cooped up" and tell their Twitter audience what was wrong with them. Their tweets aren't perfect language construction yet, but they looked up new words and tried new things. Creating an environment in which students feel they can take risks is key for language acquisition and learning in general. I was very proud of them for taking that step. I also learned a few new words myself that day because I was willing to take a risk.

What are some things you're passionate about? What brings you joy in life? Have you shared that with your students yet? Or the people you love? Our world needs all the joy it can get. Be the spark. 


Wishing you an inspiring weekend,


Robyn