This one’s for my North Carolina peeps with “Essential Standards” to address. Those of you not from NC could also use a form of this process for whichever objectives you’re expected to stick in your plans, and in fact, my example includes the ACTFL standards as well as our Essential Read more…
Entry Events are the first 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 Read more…
Switching to proficiency-based evaluation, one of my biggest problems was understanding the breakdown of the different levels and what tasks are actually appropriate for each. Back in the day, I would require paragraphs on Spanish I tests because I thought that’s what rigor meant, not because students had demonstrated readiness Read more…
I think tests are stupid. A test can’t tell you how well I do my job or live my life–or anything you really need to know about me. Now, I’m really good at taking tests, and if you were to look at various test scores I’ve accumulated in my life, Read more…
They say you can’t hit a target you can’t see, so as we were setting up interactive notebooks today, page 3 (right after Table of Contents, First Day Fun Stations summaries, and an about me section with a lot of “soy”) became “Proficiency.” I stole the bicycle analogy from Srta. Read more…
To earn a slot on the Governor’s Teacher Network, I need to propose units I want to develop. This could be my big chance to promote projects that not only make language truly relevant but that make students lives better. So I took another look at the North Carolina Essential Standards (novice, Read more…
Does your district require justification for downloading any software to school computers? Convince them–no DAZZLE them–into adding Skype if they have not done so already. Feel free to take as much of the letter below as you need to make your case, filling in your own blanks–and/or links–as needed. Read more…