The more we learn about different languages in the classroom, whether it is L1 or L2, I can't help but think about my experience at Averill Elementary last Spring. For one of my classes I was assigned a 2-3 grade split Spanish Immersion classroom to observe. being that I am a Spanish minor I was so excited to see what immersion was all about. After observing once a week for a couple of months I decided that I have mixed feelings about the program.
   
     For the most part, I loved Spanish Immersion! A classroom setting where I can use my Spanish, but still teach the core area content is right up my ally. I have always been interested in Spanish, but I thought to teach it I would have to be a Spanish teacher in a pull-out classroom like I had in elementary school. I loved the broken Spanglish that the students spoke and how well some of them understood what the teacher was saying even though they are so young. I also loved that since there is only one Spanish Immersion class in the school, these kids had been together since Kindergarten and were comfortable speaking in front of one another.

     There were some things I didn't like though. The teacher seemed too laid back for my liking. She often spoke in English which made the students aware that they had their L1 to fall back on if necessary. Like we saw in the video in class, it is much better if the students only think that you understand the target language. Another thing that bothered me was the lack of extra activities for students to do. As we learned in Lesson Planning, it is a good idea to have back up things for students to do if they finish in time and every time I went into the classroom some students were working while others were playing with toys, talking, coloring, or just sitting there bored.

     If done correctly, I think that Spanish Immersion can be an extremely valuable way to learn a language while acquiring knowledge in core content areas.