Assignment 21 - Gloria

Where classes are involved, I didn't have much trouble, till this year.  I've never been amazing at foreign language.  I can memorize the vocabulary and the grammar, but on-the-go speaking, comprehending fast accented speech, and trying to understand words used in different contexts are completely different stories.  I was virtually unexposed to all of the above when entering my Spanish 4 class.  Suddenly, there were millions of words and phrases I was expected to already know and no real way to learn them.  There wasn’t a list of words to memorize or a teacher gently guiding me through the shallows of Spanish.  I was dropped right into the deep and told that I should already know how to swim.  The beginning of first semester was a nightmare—I was getting the lowest grades of my life, and they were in my only non-AP class.  I needed to solve this problem and fast.  It was evident many people were having the same problem as seen by my slowly shrinking class (that started around 30 and is now at 12).  I seriously thought about switching out—I talked to my counselor, I emailed the principle, and next was the parent-teacher conference, but before the conference could occur, I cancelled it.  Now, it wasn’t because I thought the switching out was unjustified—because believe me it was—, but the real underlying issue was that switching out felt too much like giving up. 

I, instead, decided to view Spanish 4 as a challenge.  I went on Duolingo and I practiced constantly until I finished the course.  I tried to talk to my Hispanic friend in Spanish more to help improve my speaking.  I went over my quizzes with another Spanish teacher to try understand my mistakes and get more of an answer than “it’s the right answer because it’s the right answer,” which was often the summary of my Spanish teacher’s response when I asked why a certain thing was wrong.  I also always asked my Spanish teacher what was happening ahead of time and I always asked for more explanation when I didn’t understand.  As a result, I made myself a better Spanish student and I like to think, I made my teacher a better teacher.  I learned a lot more vocabulary, got a little better at conversation, and did a little better in class.  I finished first semester with an A, despite the odds.  As for my teacher, my incessant (and maybe sometimes a little over the line) criticism and questioning made him a better teacher.  My repeated questions about our test formats made him start to create some of our tests earlier than the night before (which has also reduced the mistakes in his tests) and now he’ll at least tell us the format the day before.  He also gives us outside print resources  about the grammar, because he knows I’ll ask about specific details.  I like to think I hold him accountable for his teaching.  Even though the class still has much missing, I’ve adjusted my expectations and caused some change.  I’ve made it a place where I am able to learn, even if my grades aren’t as good as I’d like them to be.  I now understand that I won’t always be able to have the exact learning environment I want, but at least I can learn to adjust to the one I have and maybe even cause some change.  If I had left that class and not taken the initiative I did, maybe I’d have a better grade, but struggling in my current class has taught me how to adapt and has given me more knowledge (through my self-study) than I would’ve learned in the other class.