For me, this is definitely the most difficult thing to manage in my classroom. I always seem to have way too much planned for a single class period and so I wind up trying to rush through my material at the end of the period, trying to meet all my communicative goals. In my case, I only have 50 minutes per class to meet all my objectives, which means that any time lost on one activity will inevitably lead to the the reduction or the complete cutting of another. For this reason, it is essential to cut the fat, so to speak.

Personally, one area that I spend too much time on is grammar. In general, students that are a product of the American school system are severely lacking in understanding of grammar. From a teacher’s perspective, grammar is a very useful tool for understanding why a language functions the way it does. But for most students, learning the complex terms of metalanguage, the words we use to talk about a language’s structures, can be just as complicated (and much less useful in real life situations) as learning the language itself. Because of this, I suggest cutting down lengthy grammar explanations and making them as elegant—pleasingly ingenious and simple—as possible. Try not to avoid grammar completely, as it still can be useful in helping some students understand, but don’t make it the focus of your lessons because it will probably be completely lost on the majority.

Here are some other ways to help manage your classroom time:

• Schedule your activities on a written lesson plan. Stick to the plan.
• Build in time for transitions and questions
• Practice your transitions and explaining your activities before class begins
• Pay attention to your students’ body language and end activities early if most seem to be finished
• When recapping an activity, only answer a sample of questions
• Rather than wait for students to volunteer to answer a question or share a response, predetermine who you are going to call on or pick people at random

Without going into too much detail, the acronym WEIRD can be used to help students remember when they should use the subjunctive.* Acronyms are easy to remember and will help students to memorize when they need to use this somewhat “foreign” concept. As they practice it more and more in situations that produce a legitimate communicative need, the idea of the subjunctive will become less and less foreign.

Wishing
We use the subjunctive when we try to express our wishes or desires. Espero que tengas un buen fin de semana. Mi mamá quiere que yo vaya al mercado.

Emotions
We use the subjunctive after using words that express emotions. For example and note the use of subjunctive following the use of emotion: Me alegro que estés bien después del accidente.

Impersonal Expressions
These are the expressions that aren’t personal, but still trigger the subjunctive. Es importante que… regreses a casa. Other such expressions include es bueno que…, es urgente que…, es necesario que…, etc.

Recommendations
When we make recommendations to people, we also trigger the subjunctive. Take this sentence as an example: Tu médico te recomienda que hagas mucho ejercicio y que tomes 8 vasos de agua cada día.

Doubt
We also trigger the subjunctive when we use expressions of doubt. Here are a couple of examples:Dudo que los Yankees ganen la Serie Mundial. No creemos que el profesor sepa la respuesta.

This is just a brief overview of the subjunctive, but this acronym can help students easily memorize when they need to use the subjunctive in Spanish.

*For a more detailed explanation for each of these and the addition of ojalá, visit SpanishDict.

First, when selecting an audio clip in the target language, you should always choose one that is appropriate for the level of your students. If you have students in, say, Spanish 101, then you probably aren’t going to be throwing an actual Spanish language news audio clip at them, at least not with the expectations that they will understand everything the broadcaster says. In fact, I would argue that doing so could even be counterproductive, as students may become frustrated, lose interest, and stop paying attention. This is the last thing you want, mostly because students have very limited exposure to the target language and you want the little input they do receive to be good.**

So we want an audio clip that is appropriate for the leaners’ comprehension abilities. We also want something interesting. Please, for the love of all that is decent, we (and the students) want something interesting. Listening to Don Pancho talk about his imaginary plans with his imaginary students is really not interesting. I mean, you can make it interesting if it’s all you have to work with, and if you make it interesting the students will appreciate you for it. But typically the book materials aren’t the only ones you have to work with (see this little known website for more sources of audio). With a wealth of audio out there, engage the learner with something that will not bore him/her to tears, and in fact might actually stimulate his/her interest in the language.

So to this point, we have interesting, level-appropriate input. The next step is deciding what the students need to do with that input. Having them sit back passively is another good way to get them to zone out, which is the opposite of what they should be doing while practicing their listening. If they just have to answer true or false questions, then it might be a good idea to pick a slightly harder audio at a faster speed (i.e., the native speaker who talks a bit faster). If they have to answer an open ended question based on what they hear, then it might be a good idea make the clip be a little bit easier and be at a slower pace. But again, this can also vary based on the level of the students with whom you are working.

Finally, the decision on which audio clip you should use will also depend greatly on the situation. If your lesson goal is to stretch the learners, then a harder audio makes sense. If the goal is to test their comprehension on vocabulary from the lesson, then it makes more sense to find audio that fits that requirement. Maybe in this case it would be better to use the dreaded*** book audio clips, ones that are already designed to match what the students are learning.

Put all these things together, and you can begin to figure out what kinds of audio your students need at a given point in time. We should select interesting, level-appropriate clips that help us accomplish the language learning goals we have for our students.

*I don’t know if this is actual pedagogical theory or not, but it makes good, logical sense so I’m gonna roll with it.
**Good input is any exposure to the language that is both comprehensible to the listener and meaning-bearing.
***I dread them.

Of course, we foreign language teachers can’t just start the students out with full speed, authentic audio in the target language and expect them to have a great deal of success. And of course your selection of the language sample will vary greatly depending on what you want your students to do with that audio. For example, if you are trying to test understanding of specific grammar points, then maybe the cookie-cutter, cheesy audio is more suited for your purposes. But for more advanced students that you want to challenge in an “i + 1″ kind of way, I highly recommend that you use real-life audio.

You can use all kinds of different real-life audio. One specific kind that I plan to incorporate more frequently is sports broadcasts. Fútbol and béisbol broadcasts in the Spanish classroom are two examples of audio that will both challenge students to comprehend fast-paced, authentic speaking and expose them to a big part of culture in Latin America.

Of course, you can select other types of authentic audio that emphasize different aspects of the target language and culture. For instance, you might take a clip from a gameshow and have your students play along.

Whatever kind of audio you end up using, make sure it is appropriate for the level of your students. Real-life audio is a fun way to provide good input to students.

Activity
In groups of two, have the students ask each other what they are going to do next weekend. Give the students 3-5 minutes to talk, depending on how you sense they are doing. After the five minutes, get their attention and ask a few students to tell their weekend plans.

In Spanish, the question is simple: “¿Qué van a hacer el fin de semana?” What are ‘you guys’ going to do next weekend? In my experience, the construction “voy a” (I’m going to…) is introduced in the 101 level, and can help students start communicating almost from the very beginning. I like to use this activity on most Fridays, especially before a long weekend. It’s short, simple, communicative in nature, and is something students can easily accomplish.

Moving forward, this will be one of your go-to references for making your a foreign language lessons communicative in nature. Hopefully, we can help each other make our lessons more entertaining for our students and ourselves, and make them more effective in the process. Kudos, us, for getting started.