Lately, I've been employing a fun "game" that encourages students to use Spanish in my class and discourages them from using English. Here's how it works:
Everyone in the classroom (including me!) receives a card with 10 points at the beginning of the week. If students speak English without my permission (or if I speak in English without their permission) a point is taken away. However, if a student catches another student speaking English, they can say "¡Para!" ("Stop!) to let the other student know they should not be speaking in English. While this draws my attention to the student speaking in English, it also serves as a warning since I didn't catch them using English so they do not lose a point. At the end of the week, students receive a grade which reflects the number of points they have left - unless, of course, I loose all of my points. In that case, everyone gets 100%!
Students have enjoyed both stopping their friends by saying "¡Para!" and even trying to get me to catch a student who is speaking in English often. They also love holding me accountable and getting my points to disappear by the end of the week! Not only are they doing better, but I am spending more time in Spanish and have become very mindful and about when I speak in English, limiting it to only the most necessary times. I had students rate how much we use Spanish during class time as well as complete a self-evaluation of their Spanish skills before we started this game, and I'm excited to see how much our use of Spanish increases as well as the results of their self-evaluation at the end of the semester!
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