My students have not personally approved every song on this list. But these are the songs I have found since last year that hit the two main requirements: Language they can use Lyrics they can’t forget High-frequency ear worms, tat’s the name of the game. Now routine has become sort of Read more…
I start my class with “Puedos” almost every single day. It makes for an active start to class that also gives me a little time to take attendance and get situated while making sure students can do some basics like pronounce tricky vocabulary, conjugate some essential verb forms, and answer relevant Read more…
This year I shared some of my favorite resources: from music to social media, authentic texts to tech tools. I also shared some strategies that have worked really–I mean REALLY–well for me, as well as some that are still evolving. I’ve also shared posts about what NOT to worry about, Read more…
David Bisbal, I still love you, but it was time to retire “Te mueves tú” last year. Last year, Nicky Jam took my pop latino novio‘s place (I am eternally grateful to Sra. Whisenhunt for the suggestion!) It was the perfect attention-getter all semester and beyond–they physically COULD NOT resist the call and response that 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…
These are not resolutions–I’m still working on my #OneWord for next year. But I am trying to organize what it is I want to accomplish so I don’t end up stuck at the drawing board again. So these are a few goals that I want to start shaping up in Read more…
I originally set up daily chorus bellringers based on a strategy designed to improve reading fluency. I had assumed that listening and speaking skills would naturally follow, too, and results from last year’s final IPAs suggested I may have been right…on everything but listening. Enter Gianfranco Conti and The Language Gym. Since those IPA results–and Read more…
My students will be singing songs from our coro starters for years to come (some proved today they still have “1977” stuck in their head from over a year ago!) The activity has proven to be hands-down THE most popular part of Spanish class, but it needed a little reworking to Read more…
The daily chorus bellringer is hands down the most popular activity I have ever done. It’s the ideal way to get Spanish language stuck in kids’ heads and build skills. It’s also a little lame. Novices need to learn to follow along with something they read. They need to get a catchy chorus Read more…
In case you haven’t seen it, my guide to becoming a 21st Century world language teacher is THE SINGLE MOST POPULAR THING I HAVE EVER POSTED. I collected resources from a lot of the big brains around our little Twitter PLN for this page. It’s not a “post” per se, but Read more…