Spanish Before Class

Currently there are two things more than anything else that bother me when I'm teaching: students speaking English and being distracted my cellphones in class.  I actually would like to get to the point where I can integrate cellphones more into my class (example www.polleverywhere.com), but I have not gotten there yet.

Keeping It In Spanish: When students begin coming into class, they often begin talking to each other in English.  I like to have music, videos or something else playing for my students to help them make that transition from English to Spanish.  (I have also seen that it gets students excited for class, and in some cases helps them to arrive on time.)

I have been making a list of things I show to my students before class begins.  I keep the list handy so that it does not take a lot of time to prep before class.  Here are some of those items:

Songs With Good Music Videos:

• Camila - "Todo cambió"
• Reik - "Inolvidable"
• Chayanne - "Torero"
• Kevin Karla & La Banda - "Give Your Heart a Break" (Spanish Version)
• Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe"

Commercials:

• Marca Perú Spot 2032
• Comerciales Canal de las Estrellas Julio 2010
• Pan Bimbo
• Ford Focus
• Subway
• Celulares en México
• Supermercado Disco-Virtual
• Apoyo a la selección de Perú
• Los mejores comerciales de Perú

Videos:

• Marca Perú (Group of Peruvians who go to Peru, Nebraska to teach their culture)
• Los mejores momentos incomodos (This video and the next are by two Spaniards with hidden cameras)
• Coger de la mano a desconocidos 
• Extra español - La llegada de Juan (Show made for beginning language learners)
• La policía mexicana* (Created by Saturday Night Live)
• One Semester of Spanish - Love Song*
• ¿Qué hora es?*

*These videos use a mixture of Spanglish and nonsense words.  Many teachers would argue, and they were be exactly right, that these videos are poor Spanish models.  However, I feel that they help students to laugh, which in turn helps them to enjoy my classroom.