The kids are hooked and burning to learn more. It would be neat if we could just set them loose with questions as soon as we see enough smoke to tell us the fire’s lit, but world language teachers must first stock our little firebugs with communication kindling to make Read more…
Early in Teach Like a PIRATE, Dave Burgess asks three critical questions about the passions that drive us as teachers: content passion, professional passion, and personal passion. To be perfectly honest, I had a hard time coming up with anything remotely satisfactory for the content question: “of all of the Read more…
Driving Question: Is the person who other people see the person who you really are? The goal of the driving question is, in fact, to drive students, to impel students to desire to know MORE. I’ve finally gotten past the idea of organizing essential questions for the language classroom around vocabulary or Read more…
I once thought my training as an English teacher handicapped me as a Spanish teacher. Actual tears were shed over my inability to see what New Schools Project best practices like literature circles had to do with my grammar and vocabulary lessons. I was baffled by the prospect of calling Read more…
I’m on a roll! Not just workshops, but booths at my new district’s Teaching & Learning Conference have inspired still more driving questions. Plus I’ve been ruminating over how to phrase questions for materials I’ve used before (with minimal to moderate success but potential somewhere in there deep down). I Read more…
The first day, I’ll give students a survey to let them rate the which Driving Questions capture their interest the most on a scale of “Now that I know this is an option, I cannot enjoy class without exploring this” to “I could get into this” to “Please, I think Read more…
I’m getting some Problem-based learning (PBL) training straight from the Buck Institute less than 2 miles from my house! Free bonus: a longtime #langchat buddy is helping deliver the instruction! Speaking of delivery, we’re to come away from each of the 3 sessions with a “deliverable,” or a demonstration that Read more…
My unit on the Afrolatino Experience has evolved since last year. I have 4 distinct countries whose experiences we survey, a few key texts–of truly varied forms–for each, and essential questions that facilitate reflection, comparison, and contrast among the four countries. Essential questions: ¿Cómo se expresa la herencia africana en Read more…
Image from Shakespeare & the Players Just in time for National Poetry Month, we come to Touchstone‘s fabulous catalectic trochaic tetrameter: If a hart do lack a hind,Let him seek out Rosalind.If the cat will after kind,So, be sure, will Rosalind.Winter garments must be lined,So must slender Rosalind.Sweetest nut hath Read more…