I am a Latin teacher in my second year of teaching; I came to teaching Latin as a second career in my 50s. I empathize with much of what you say on your blog, and have several thoughts to share.
1. I never give multiple choice on tests. This is for a couple of reasons. First, I was educated in England in the 60s - no multiple choice. I'm just not comfortable with it. Second, multiple choice answers do not give the teacher reasonable insight into each student's thinking in the way that open responses do. I want to understand my students' strengths and weaknesses. Yes, open response makes for more work, but it's worth it to me. Yes, my students beg for multiple choice - that's a great reason NOT to do it! And they always surprise themselves with their achievement.
2. Oral Latin - I have a tough time with this. I know that it is the current fashion, and do try, but I have a hard time with it beyond the usual greetings, questions about homework, and requests to go to the bathroom! I want students to be able to read Latin authors, and spending a lot of time on "modern" Latin tends to bug me. I'd rather they read bits of Catullus or Martial. But I intend to remain open and attend a convention at UMass Boston next summer.
3. Macrons - I don't remember ever seeing a macron when I was learning Latin in school. We learned from the teacher's pronunciation. But I understand your frustration: macrons do make things easier.
4. Culture - I teach Middle School right now, and culture is important to me. We spend time on the cultural materials at every Stage - I'm always behind where I should be! I want my students to have some sort of "authentic experience" - a slave auction, an election, a cena, a glimpse into the life of a Roman soldier in Britain.... These are always good topics for performance assessment in my school system, and a way into my students' visualizing the "alien" lifestyle of the Romans (vs. the sanitized version which emphasizes the similarities.
5. Conjugations & Declensions - I do teach students to conjugate and decline. This is part of an overall holistic program - some students love it and some less so. Those who don't, I teach in other ways. To learn conjugations, for instance, we use reciting + hand gestures + Barnum and Bailey exhibitionism + ample rewards for performing. We back up this learning with the program "Revise Latin." which tests and reinforces verb learning.
I'm putting out to you my comments on things about which you have posted recently. Please feel free to comment when you hve time. I am always ready to learn from teachers like you who have experience and are ready to question themselves!!
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rosecarmine
Multipe Choice, etc
Date: 2009-11-10 11:22 pm (UTC)1. I never give multiple choice on tests. This is for a couple of reasons. First, I was educated in England in the 60s - no multiple choice. I'm just not comfortable with it. Second, multiple choice answers do not give the teacher reasonable insight into each student's thinking in the way that open responses do. I want to understand my students' strengths and weaknesses. Yes, open response makes for more work, but it's worth it to me. Yes, my students beg for multiple choice - that's a great reason NOT to do it! And they always surprise themselves with their achievement.
2. Oral Latin - I have a tough time with this. I know that it is the current fashion, and do try, but I have a hard time with it beyond the usual greetings, questions about homework, and requests to go to the bathroom! I want students to be able to read Latin authors, and spending a lot of time on "modern" Latin tends to bug me. I'd rather they read bits of Catullus or Martial. But I intend to remain open and attend a convention at UMass Boston next summer.
3. Macrons - I don't remember ever seeing a macron when I was learning Latin in school. We learned from the teacher's pronunciation. But I understand your frustration: macrons do make things easier.
4. Culture - I teach Middle School right now, and culture is important to me. We spend time on the cultural materials at every Stage - I'm always behind where I should be! I want my students to have some sort of "authentic experience" - a slave auction, an election, a cena, a glimpse into the life of a Roman soldier in Britain.... These are always good topics for performance assessment in my school system, and a way into my students' visualizing the "alien" lifestyle of the Romans (vs. the sanitized version which emphasizes the similarities.
5. Conjugations & Declensions - I do teach students to conjugate and decline. This is part of an overall holistic program - some students love it and some less so. Those who don't, I teach in other ways. To learn conjugations, for instance, we use reciting + hand gestures + Barnum and Bailey exhibitionism + ample rewards for performing. We back up this learning with the program "Revise Latin." which tests and reinforces verb learning.
I'm putting out to you my comments on things about which you have posted recently. Please feel free to comment when you hve time. I am always ready to learn from teachers like you who have experience and are ready to question themselves!!
Maria