In an effort to keep things as normal as possible for my Little Darlings and to figure out what to teach next week and the never-ending quest to embarrass my husband, Star of the Day sounded like a good plan. Star of the Day is one of our beloved Spanish 1 traditions and we’ve been doing all year long.
It took a bit of cajoling, but I convinced my hubby to be our Star of the Day. Are your kiddos familiar with the Star of the Day routine? Who’s at home you could interview? Or better yet…who could you interview via Zoom and record? Wouldn’t it be cool to introduce them to your friends who live in the target culture? Wouldn’t it be neat to ask them about their quarantine experiences? Even if your native speaker friends talk waaaay to fast to be comprehensible to your Little Darlings, you can summarize what they said in a way they will understand. Or you could ask your kiddos to interview someone in their family...Just so many options!
Anyway, here’s my hubby, who doesn’t speak Spanish, being a really good sport and eating Cheez-its:
My Little Darlings watched, then read a biography of el Señor Chase. Their instructions were to highlight in RED every FALSE statement and highlight in GREEN every TRUE statement. Here’s what a completed one looks like:
If you’re interested in Star of the Day, here’s the slideshow (a collaboration between myself and the fabulous Rita Barrett and thanks to generous teacher translators):
- Estrella del Día Slide Show
- Chinese Star of the Day Slide Show, thanks to Yu-Ming Cheng
- French L’étoile du jour Merci, Audrey Misiano
Pep Talk:
If you’re feeling like this QuarenTeaching is hard, you’re right. It is. If you feel like this is exhausting, you’re right. It is. If you feel like you’re on a wild emotional roller coaster, know you’re not alone. Some days I feel like I’m trying to do all the things, and doing none of them well. And I only have two needy dogs at home to care for, I can’t even imaging how you parents are juggling the teaching and the homeschooling and the house stuff and all the things on your plate. God bless you!
None of us are good at this because we just started. It’s like our first weeks of our 1st year of teaching: working like crazy, absolutely clueless, and just struggling to keep our heads above water, while pretending like we totally have this under control. Relax. We’re not supposed to be good at it, because we are just getting started. We certainly weren’t trained for QuarenTeaching and we haven’t had any time to practice. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself the same grace you’d lavish on the brand new teacher next door.
And if you read this post, and thought, yes, I should record a star of the day, and then your anxiety spiked and the teacher guilt started nagging, S T O P. Don’t do it. Walk away. Do what you’re doing for your kiddos. You don’t need to add anything. It’s enough. You’re enough.
God Bless you, my friends, in these crazy times and all the other ones too!
Señora Chase 
When I click on the “Estrella del día, con el Sr. Chase” link, it just takes me to the highlighted script. Is it supposed to go to a video of him?
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The highlighted script is a picture of what I gave students. They watched the video from that link, but it’s just a picture, so you can’t click on it. You can watch the YouTube video above.
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Ahhh, I spotted the link at the bottom of the page. ¡Muchas gracias! P. S. Your husband is a good sport! : )
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I am very blessed. He tolerates a lot 🙂
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¡You’re the best! Thank you for your raw honesty and compassion 💕You have always been a source of inspiration to me, but now more than ever, I am grateful for your open-hearted spirit, generosity, and kindness.
Keep doing you! God Bless you and your family, and your Little Darlings!
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Oh, thank you Laurie! Be safe!!
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Having family members who are good sports is a life-saver! I have been filming regular “Profe’s Daily Dose” videos of what’s going on in my household and my husband and 2 teenagers have been very accommodating about being part of the show. I also interviewed both of my kids (who do take Spanish) as “Estrellas del Día” – my students and I have been using your amazing deck all year.
I love the red-highlight/green-highlight activity! So far I’ve just been creating Google Forms and that’s getting kind of bring. I’m going to use this for my next video – helps to keep student interest high to change up how they’re processing the language!
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That’s fabulous!! I love that you’ve been interviewing your own kids!!
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Señora Chase，
Thank for sharing your lesson, slides, experiences, and feelings. I love to read your blog. It is so encouraging and helpful. What you are doing reminds me of Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV) in Bible:
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
I thank God for you.
Blessings,
Chung-Ching
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Oh Chung- Ching! You’re so sweet and thank you so much for your comment! It really touched my heart! God bless you and your family, stay safe!
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Hola! Any suggestions for how I could do this DURING class with my students online? Or does that sound like a disaster waiting to happen?
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Why not?! I think we’re at the point where we try anything and see if it works! It would be cool if you could invite someone from your target culture to interview. What if all the students were assigned a question and they took turns asking questions, then after your special guest answers, you recap the info comprehensibly. I think you should give it a shot and let me know how it went! Best of luck!
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Gracias, gracias, gracias!!! For sharing your so very talented ideas with us!!! I played the Scavenger hunt with my students and it was priceless to see them smile and have fun again!! I would have not been able to do this by myself. The generosity of so many teachers in sharing their ideas is amazing!
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¡Con mucho gusto! I’m so tickled that your kiddos loved the scavenger hunt. Take care of you and yours!!
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[…] Especial (aka Hot Seat, Star of the Day, Special Person) can still be done virtually. Señora Chase has a great post here! I also think now would be an EXCELLENT time to bring in a special […]
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I am a sign language teacher who took 4 years of BAD French in HS and ONE semester of Spanish in 7th grade.. Your videos are fantastic and I was cracking up at this one! Your husband is such a good sport! I love how I can always understand what’s happening in your videos. It inspires me to make sure I’m doing the same thing with my kiddos. Keep doing what you’re doing!
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Yeah, he is a really good sport! I am one blessed woman… and I put him through a lot!! Thanks for your comment!!
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I am starting Estrella del did this year for the first time. I love the idea of interviewing my husband for the first one. I will have some students face-to-face in my class to interview (easy), but I will also have students who elect for the remote learning route. How can I do Estrella del dia in this remote setting, especially if it’s asynchronous? What suggestions do you have?
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Hmmmm…..could you interview a kid a week over zoom/google meets and record the interview, then make a video for the rest of the class to watch? Maybe just take volunteers and make sure it’s ok with the kid’s parent to interview and record the video to use in class?
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