Category Archives: Karina Thor

Learning Happens Everywhere!

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I wanted to reflect on my classes that I had this past week and the awe and amazement that I experienced after thinking about my classes. Learning truly can happen anywhere. 

These have been some insane months lately: pandemics, protests, elections, illness, online learning, hybrid learning, fires, remember murder hornets??? I admit, when we made the move to online learning, I was stressed, reluctant, and longed for the times when I was in a classroom, with my students, in person and I was teaching and they were learning. I feared that with the online move, my students’ learning and progress would suffer. I feared that my students would not bother to log in the Zoom, and we would all be completely disconnected. Maybe this is the case for some, but as I’ve recently discovered, I am having quite a different experience…

This is a video of one of my Zoom classes where we were practicing prepositions and location with stuffed animals (and a Buddha) 

Last Thursday, I conducted my Zoom class as I normally do, only to see that one of my students was participating in the Zoom from her car, and another student was participating while she was in Tahoe with her family. The week before, another student was in my “class” while she was in the passenger seat of her car en route to who knows where…I have had many students engage in my class from areas that I would not deem a traditional classroom or even from the rooms or a desk. At first, I was a little bit annoyed that these students were not participating from home or at a desk, and I worried that they would be distracted, or not really be involved in the lesson of the day. These students not only participated for the entire duration of the class, but they were active, and engaged, and volunteered answers to questions, more than they had in a traditional setting. Recently, I also had another student email me and say that she was not feeling well, but I encouraged her to at least have the Zoom open so that she could listen to the lesson and get the instruction, even if she didn’t feel well enough to participate. She attended the class and thanked me later for still being able to participate in the lesson even though she wasn’t feeling well. Instead of focusing on the negative that they were not following “protocols” I decided to take this as a positive, and here are some of my takeaways:

  • Students can attend class from any place. They don’t have to be limited by vacations, or sports tournaments that are far away. 
  • Students can still attend class even if they don’t feel well enough to participate. In an in person setting, students would typically miss school, and have to make up all of the lectures and assignments and come to office hours to catch up. With online learning, students don’t have to miss the entire lesson, and still remain in the comfort of their homes. 
  • Parents who are near their children (in this case, my student’s mom was driving the car) can witness all of the magic and dynamic lessons that are happening in their child’s classes. I don’t mind parents seeing what cool things we’re doing in class so that there is some transparency. This might be intimidating for some, and I agree, but I think that having a glimpse into what is happening in their child’s class is beneficial. So often parents ask their child: “what did you learn in school today?” and the kid typically responds with: “nothing.” This opportunity gives parents a window into what is happening in their child’s school day. 
  • Teachers can collaborate and observe classes a lot easier, and less intrusively. I have had the opportunity to observe some colleagues on Zoom, and I find that it’s efficient, beneficial, quick, and perhaps not as intimidating as having a person sitting in a chair in the back of the room. I can unobtrusively observe a colleague and cause little disruption.
I was truly amazed to see how engaged my students are in my Zoom classes from literally EVERYWHERE. Learning is not confined to the classroom, nor the traditional environments from long ago; good education can happen in Tahoe, in the car, a dining room, classroom, Innovation Center, you name it. Some may disagree, and I still prefer to teach in a classroom and in person, however I think that online education opens the doors for so many students and families and teachers that a new way of learning is continuing to expand. 
I will add this caveat: not all students have the same access to reliable internet and the online tools that other students have, however perhaps the roads will be paved so that more students have more access to quality education from anywhere.
You know what they say about lemons and lemonade…

Pandemics, Emotional Roller Coasters, and Edwige Simon

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Way back in March when this pandemic became a significant part of our reality, I innocently thought that it would last one to two months, maximum. I thought to myself “okay, it’s no big deal (it was a big deal) don’t panic (I panicked), we’ll stay in our houses and after shelter in place, everything will be fine” (it wasn’t fine.)
And now, here we are, nearly five months later and not much has changed…back in March I truly didn’t fathom that we would continue to plan for having online classes, and hybrid classes in the better case scenario. When the months passed, and I came to the harsh reality that I wasn’t going to be able to teach how I naturally teach and how I’ve always thrived and was comfortable and I was going to return to the chaotic dumpster fire that was remote distance learning (I’m being dramatic), I was definitely in denial and disbelief…

I wallowed, and had a minor pity party and after I collected my thoughts, I did what any normal person would do in a time of emotional crisis: I went to ALLUDO! And I saw how many tasks there were to do, and I closed my computer immediately and watched Netflix instead.  🙂

But when I finally decided to be productive, I chose to take some online courses that were offered through Coursera. (And I became overwhelmed again…this was really an emotional roller coaster for me). I chose to take the Blended Language Learning through University of Boulder Colorado. Let me tell you: THIS COURSE WAS FANTASTIC (in my opinion). The course was taught by Edwige Simon, and I’m assuming she designed the course, and I’ve got to say, her teaching online style really appealed to me:

Edwige Simon
My takeaways from this course that I have and will continue to apply to my online classes are:
  • Divide the class into 3 parts: teacher presence, social presence (where students interact with each other) and cognitive presence (where students interact with the material and their own thinking). I took this another step and decided I’m going to organize my classes in that order and students will have the last bit of class be autonomous where they have the freedom to work on the assignment individually right in that moment, or take a break and continue to it that night or in a few days. Breaks from the screen and brain breaks are so essential (as I’ve come to find out after Zoom after Zoom on PD days)
  • Backwards planning is important for online courses. What do you want the student to eventually know at the end of the lesson? What is the culminating (summative) idea and lessons you want the students to learn? Then you start planning what activities and assignments will help achieve that objective.
  • The way the class itself was structured gave me a phenomenal example of how organized, clear and structured the class was: It was composed of a short video, followed by a short powerpoint, a small formative quiz (which gave feedback and multiple tries), a discussion board, a reading assignment, a written assignment, a few more videos and quizzes, followed by a summative test at the end. There was immediate feedback, and the structure was routine, clear, and consistent. I loved the seamless transitions and routine that I knew what to expect for every assignment and there were no surprises and no pressure. 
  • There was an “integrity” portion where students had to click a box agreeing to academic integrity and sign their name that they would use their own words and no outside resources otherwise there would be consequences. I’m not sure how I would’ve gotten caught, however just that reminder definitely was on my conscience and I didn’t use outside resources, even though I was tempted. I liked this feature a lot.
  • There was an approximate time slot for how long assignments should take. I found these time approximations to be overestimated, and assignments that took me 2 minutes were estimated to take up to 20 minutes. I liked this feature, however because it allowed me to budget my time and prioritize assignments. In my classes, I will give a more general time frame like “short, medium, and long” so that students are able to budget their time. 
I will try to emulate this structure as much as I can, because I really enjoyed how the class was structured and delivered. I felt no pressure to perform, and it was a relaxed learning atmosphere. I was eager to write this blog post despite not having put the strategies to practice, because I was afraid I’d forget, however I think it’s important in building my course right now. I may update this post to see how it all goes with students, but I’m optimistic. 

ÂżCĂłmo Se Dice, “Maths” en Español?: A Collaborative Vlog

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WATCH THIS VIDEO, YOUR WORLD WILL CHANGE….(probably not, but just watch because I put work into it) 🙂


So I don’t like math. 
I never have. I like being competitive and getting points on Alludo though,
which is why I ended up signing myself up for an online maths course for math
teachers. (Yes, I said “maths”). I really didn’t have any intention of getting anything out of this
course and I really did just take it to get more Alludo points, because who
needs sleep? I also wanted to know what my students go through on a regular
basis to see if I can adjust my curriculum according to their needs and how
they learn, so I gave maths a whirl.


 Much to my surprise, it wasn’t really a course about math,
(maths) in the videos that I watched (on double speed to save time), but rather
a philosophy on teaching and learning that can be applied to various realms and
curricula. While I watched the videos I noticed language pertaining to “fixed
mindset” and “growth mindset”, and the concept of “yet.”
 Students in these
videos stated “I’m not good at math” “I’m just not a math person” “This isn’t
how my brain works”, and I began to make some connections: I noticed many of my
own students in Spanish saying similar things “I’m just no good at languages” “My
parents weren’t good at language, so neither am I” “I had bad teachers in middle
school, so I’m not very good”. I started to create a correlation between
Spanish teaching and learning and math, and when I approached Lesley Schooler
about this connection, she agreed that there might be some similarities. Like
math, students in Spanish are afraid to make mistakes, they put an obtrusive
filter on producing and speaking the language because they’re afraid they will
make mistakes and not be precise, so they just don’t speak. I found the
neurological studies in the math online course through Stanford to be
fascinating with the connections that I could make with my students in Spanish
class. I realized that the material needs to be slower and more attainable for
students, and not penalize mistakes, but point out mistakes, and allow students
to correct them (this is where the brain grows) and they shouldn’t be marked
down for making mistakes, but they should fix them so that they enjoy the process
of learning. The videos present the idea of the journey and process in learning. Students try and think aloud and defend and explain their findings rather than simply right and wrong and they move on. I am inspired to incorporate more of this style into my classes. The conundrum that I’m having is, while this is a great way to encourage learning and brain growth, I want to know that I am preparing students for college, and upper level learning where there might still be an institutionalized, systematic fixed mindset that they also need to be able to navigate. Would I be doing my students a disservice if I don’t require precision as well? I’m not sure. 
I shared these thoughts with Lesley and we made other
insights and connections as well. I think this is a good course to take, even
if you don’t teach math because a lot of the principles can be applied in many
fields of study. Also I actually learned some math, and I don’t hate it as much
as before. Yay!

ÂĄConduzcamos por la Ciudad!

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I have been taking a course at UC Berkeley for six Saturdays since September, and I finally finished my last course this past Saturday. During these courses, I have begun to move even more away from simply memorizing vocabulary and grammar and truly incorporating the material into real-world applications. 

In Spanish 2, which is a combined Sophomore and Freshman class, students are learning about city vocabulary: streets, signs, turn, go straight, keep going, and also store names: fish market, fruit stand, park, supermarket, bakery, bank etc. I have also heard several of my students chatting about getting their licenses, or taking their permit tests…or failing their license tests.. 🙁 
AND THEN I HAD AN EPIPHANY:
I wanted to make city vocabulary as real as possible for my students.
 In groups of 3-5, I had my students open Google Earth and investigate a city in Latin America that they had heard of, or that they were interested in. They basically virtually traveled through all of Latin America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Spain and were able to see street names and people’s houses, and a lot of trees. They also got side tracked and searched for their own houses and Carondelet as well…but back to the assignment. 

Once students became excited about looking at cities through Google Earth, I had them pick a city and try to replicate it in the most basic from onto butcher paper. Some students drew Cartagena in Colombia, others drew cities in Mexico and Puerto Rico. 
They drew streets, and labeled the street names and round abouts etc.
Next, they researched common shops based on the vocabulary that they could find in or around the city. They were able to make cultural comparisons and realize that there is a CROCS store here in the US, but also in Colombia,  and the students were surprised to see this. They labeled their stores with the Spanish word, for example: pescaderĂ­a for fish market, and they labeled the name of the market. 
Next students, learned the “nosotros” commands “Let’s drive” “Let’s go” and they also practiced their informal commands as well. Once they were relatively comfortable with their commands, students finished coloring their maps.
When the maps were complete, each group received a “Hot Wheels” car that I had gone out and purchased. They got to pick their cars: the truck, the garbage truck, the race car, and they were excited to drive their cars.
Students took turns filming each other giving one another directions using commands and listening and “driving” their cars according to the directions their peer was giving them to get from one place to another. Students had a blast doing this activity and they were able to integrate culture, grammar, and vocabulary into a fun, innovative, creative project in a group.
What surprised me the most, is that students went completely off script and started to spontaneously incorporate vocabulary from earlier chapters. They decided to make their cars have accidents and they needed to go to the hospital because the driver had an injury. Hospital and injury vocabulary happened way back in chapter 1, however students were still able to recollect the information and use it in an unrehearsed in a spontaneous way to make a story with their maps. This is what pleased me the most. As a language teacher, my goal is to have my students produce the language as spontaneously and unscripted as possible, and they became excited to create their own individual scenarios spontaneously.
Overall, I enjoyed this assignment, and so did my students. I got a lot of great feedback that they were able to use real-world applications in class. 1 week later, I quickly quizzed students on the vocabulary and the commands, and they were all able to produce accurate answers without having studied before.
Here is a sample video:

Surgeries in Spanish

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In Spanish 2 one of the chapters focuses on health and hospital and body part vocabulary. We had practiced a lot of the vocabulary and my students became quite familiar with the material. I played clips from Grey’s Anatomy (everybody’s favorite show) and muted the dialog, and students were to narrate in Spanish what was happening using their own vocabulary. The students seemed to enjoy this activity (did I mention that they love Grey’s Anatomy?) I decided I wanted to make the vocabulary even more useful and interesting and perhaps appealing to students who were interested in STEM…

I investigated “surgery games in Spanish” and I was so excited with what I discovered!

Students read about a case in Spanish, whether it pertains to epilepsy, cataracts, brain surgery, or rhinoplasty (there are more scenarios). They they follow instructions in Spanish to complete a surgery. Not only did they recognize a lot of the vocabulary from the chapter, but they also were being exposed to commands and new vocabulary pertaining to surgical tools.

My students ask me every day if we can do “cirugĂ­as” in class. We’re not even on the medical chapter anymore…we’re focusing on technology vocabulary, so now I have to research more fun activities pertaining to BLOG vocabulary 😉

Here’s a link, if anyone wants to try out their Spanish knowledge and surgery skills (the site could be better, sometimes it doesn’t work and can be glitchy, so patience is required):

http://www.juegos.com/juego/operate-now-eye-surgery

Monster Storybooks in Spanish 2

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My Spanish 2 students are practicing body and hospital vocabulary and also the different past tenses and uses. To practice body vocabulary, I engaged students in a whole TPRS body part identification game, and ultimately playing “Simon Says”. The next activity was for students to take out their ipads and I described a “monster” to them. I described the monster saying “the monster has four arms, and six eyes, and three eyes are red” (in Spanish). Students then drew what they heard on their ipads for listening comprehension practice.  Once that was finished, students were to create their own monsters at home, and draw and describe in sentences “My monster has five legs…” etc.

Once all of the students created their monsters, I divided them up into their family groups of four, and they worked together to create a story, with their original monsters, and other vocabulary from the chapter. The results were entertaining, and the girls had a great time creating their stories and drawing their monsters. Interestingly, I found that many of their stories were based on monsters feeling “alone” and that they didn’t have any friends. It’s definitely something to consider and how some of my students may be feeling trying to navigate through high school.

This was a great activity for kinesthetic fully body response, listening comprehension, creativity, artistic skills, practicing vocabulary and collaborating with classmates.

Here are some of the pages taken from their stories: