Blogging is just the beginning. It gives students a starting point, a place to hash out what they can–and want to–say about their goals and progress. Their compañeros can check in on them too. But you may have noticed in your own learning experience: real collaboration doesn’t happen in the comment Read more…
If my students learn nothing else in my class, they will learn how to set a goal and how to follow through. Blogging is a pretty useful tool when it comes to goal setting. Blogs are a record of progress, a place for reflection, and an avenue for sharing–all important Read more…
So my master plan to improve listening through music and the coros bellringer pretty much fizzled. Music is still THE number one way to hook students right off, but it kind of loses its magic if I do it every day of every week, ALL. SEMESTER. LONG. As I’ve been going through this Read more…
It’s 2017, but these tools served me well through 2016. No, these are not the cool new tools that came out in 2016: these are the tools that I relied on to survive 2016. Maybe they can make 2017 smoother for you too! 1. Google Classroom Where would I be without Read more…
Personal vocabulary blogs have allowed me some unique insights into students’ approach to life so far. I especially enjoy what my little shutterbugs have shown me–even if it was only to avoid having to cite online images. Also seeing the kinds of words kiddos come up with when they’re under the Read more…
Vocabulary can make my students feel insecure. Though I have abandoned textbooks, I have not entirely abandoned vocabulary lists. I tend to present them more in semantic groups with visuals or in contextual situations now, however. My students kind of wish they had more, though, something they could refer to and refresh Read more…
It’s true that I have over 200 blog post drafts that may never see the light of day. Some of them, well, they certainly reflect how far I’ve come. Some are actually pretty good ideas, though I haven’t gotten around to developing them. So I went back in time and Read more…
I know homework can be a dirty word in this day and age, but with languages, to confine interaction to the classroom is to kill the very purpose for the learning. Languages are not just a secret code confined to certain hours and certain spaces in one certain building. Our classroom is the Read more…
Portfolios have been working really well this year. Blogs have also been working really well. After TELLcollab, though, I think they can work even better together. Think about it: no need for a whole separate Google Site. No need to create a class blog for each project. No need to Read more…
So you want to know how much students can interpret from a video, but you don’t have all day. EDPuzzle is cool because it lets students add voice or typed comments, but you know good and well they’re not going to understand the whole thing, and you don’t want to Read more…