After iFLT this summer, I was ready to sprint back to the drawing board. I needed a good solid month to just sketch, doodle, redraw EVERYTYHING. I got a week. And two completely new preps complete with two completely new LMS platforms. So this year has been a bit of Read more…
I came to ACTFL 2016 with a conference path set for Everything Interpersonal, having had various students freeze up, blank out, and even two start crying during the interpersonal part of the most recent IPA–in spite of low-stress strategies that worked the last two IPAs–just hours before I boarded the plane to Boston. Perhaps Read more…
Whether you’re going to a Mexican restaurant (we are) or participating in a foreign language competition (that too) or taking your kids on a mile-long walk with water jugs (#squadgoals), students can always engage in a little interpersonal exchange, as well as a little presentational reflection. Last year I tried Read more…
I am going to be SUPER busy this summer. Mexico, conferences, eight-year-old’s Shakespeare Camp. I don’t think I can pull off another Google Hangout series like I did last year for #LangCamp Online. Here’s what I can offer, though: an online book study and a FACE-TO-FACE PLANNING! Book Study The LangCamp Read more…
Teaching with interactive notebooks has made me very intentional about how and what I teach. It makes me consider what belongs in a reference resource for a class with no textbook. It makes me break down information into one-page bites and figure out the most direct ways to represent that information. Read more…
Storytime is the second step in my Alphabet Soup unit model, which combines Project-Based Learning (PBL), Target Language instruction (TL), Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS), Integrated Performance Asessments (IPA), ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL), and Teaching Like a Pirate (TLAP).This process gives my units a clearer Read more…
When students leave my class, they should have a record of what they’ve accomplished, tangible evidence of their proficiency. I want them to have that evidence at their fingertips when they’re applying for jobs or looking to skip some college Spanish courses down the road. A portfolio is a useful tool. Read more…
ForAllRubrics has helped refocus students’ attention on proficiency and learning. Sure, there’s still a little grade grubbing here and there, but now instead of requests for extra credit, I get requests to redo and fix–to demonstrate proficiency! Now students talk in terms of Novice Mid and Intermediate Low instead of ABC or 9/10 Read more…
I’ve been assigning students to assign themselves their own weekly homework assignments based on ACTFL Can-Do Statments this year. My goal was for students to get some extra practice with the language, maybe find some enjoyable real-world application, and feel better about their skills, all while creating something they could stick in their Read more…
#1 – My kids are amazing. They can do so much with the language in Spanish II!#2 – My tasks are a little off level-wise. But my kids are amazing anyway.#3 – AAPPL rubrics are also amazing. I have been extremely satisfied with my decision to switch to Integrated Performance Assessment format Read more…