The standards-based e-portfolio I use for evaluation has been a little rocky since I started experimenting with it last year. North Carolina’s eLinguafolio has been on the fritz, and I’ve tried a few different methods for curation–mostly Google Sites and Blogger–and I’ve not been totally satisfied with the results yet. Read more…
You keep getting the same problems over and over again. You wish you had a stamp made so you wouldn’t have to keep writing the same thing over and over. Maybe you’ve developed a highlighter color code for types of errors. Maybe you have a document of all the comments Read more…
The North Carolina “Measures of Student Learning” for world languages have not come down the pike yet (in fact, I’m in on the project that is assiduously gallumphing toward their development). However, in the spirit of egalitarianism or something, we still must give “pencil-paper tests” like everyone else. Mind you, Read more…
Spanish II has almost finished putting together their apps for EMT’s, so now it is time to test them out. But how to test products designed for emergency situations without…death? In the words of Jon Lovitz, “…aaaacting!” Now, the apps will not be officially published on the due date, as they Read more…
Forty-five minutes a day, four days a week, I get to teach a class that is not a class! I will be preparing students to pass the reading and writing portions of the COMPASS test for entry and success in college courses.It is how my new school is dealing with Read more…
If teachers are safecrackers, each assessment is a number in the combination that helps us unlock the treasure. Assessments are not whole combinations unto themselves, if done correctly. We should have to listen carefully, find the right tools to detect when we hit the number we need next. If the Read more…
When I started teaching Spanish, most of my classes were in the neighborhood of 25 students apiece. The last 3 years of my career, to have a class of 20 was to be bursting at the seams. Imagine my dismay at having a class of 25, predominantly freshman, the last Read more…
Q: What do a Chilean reality show and Honduran tourism have in common? How about a recipe for croquetas de pollo and a wikipedia article about a Mexican sitcom? A: Interpretation review for Spanish I, of course! Interpretation is but one part of the final project I’m planning for both Read more…
So I had grand plans of orchestrating a comprehensive, super-intensive, especially creative final over spring break. Instead, I rested. A lot. So now I have to finalize finals, though I’ve barely started envisioning how to make them comprehensive, much less intensive and creative. I want to cover at least the Read more…
Spanish I: Clothing Notes on clipart of different outfits Magazine collage of at least 20 words from list Voicethread commenting on famous músicos latinos’ outfits Random outfit interviews with flip cameras Scavenger hunt on Zara’s website Journal on outfits by weather Event invitations with clothing suggestions Interview/voicethread reflection Quiz (left) Read more…