Reflexiones de Sala63

I am blogging about this because writing helps me think.

My school has decided to get rid of Honors level courses for Spanish and French I for the coming school year. (2012-13)   In lieu of these classes, we are to develop  an honor challenges that students in any level one class can take.    If a student completes enough Honors Challenges then she will get Honors (weighted) credit for Spanish One.  She will also be qualified to take Spanish Two Honors.

There are several rationales for this move.  Included in these rationales is the idea of equity.  All students should be able to access the Honors curriculum, if they so chose.  Another, rationale is based on a more realistic assessment of our current schedule.  We are a small school and as such have a lot of singletons—our name for classes that have only one section.   Student have to make some hard choices regarding the schedules.   This year I have about 11 kids who are scattered through out my “regular”  level one classes who should be in Honors but cannot work it into their schedule.   The Honors Challenge would be a great way to keep them engaged.

I have decided to start planning for this change now.  I have started looking for ideas on line but many of those appear to be “busy-work” activities.   I am trying to find that perfect activity that is rigorous enough to be honors level but not so hard that it  turns into a task.  (¿ me entiendes ? )

What I envision at this point is my students preparing a portfolio of work that demonstrates a deeper understanding of  the material covered.   My challenge now is to decide what that is going to look like.

I would love constructive input and  examples … as I start working on this.