The best reason to present at conferences is that people with great ideas come to you. I mean, sure, you get to gather your thoughts on your own work, maybe show off a little, but if you are presenting something, people who are interested in what you’re interested have a Read more…
Sometimes I do very academic, very Englishy things with my students. Overall, I want to engage students in the work of the real world, tasks with immediate relevance. Sometimes, though, I want to to make sure they are prepared for the academics-for-their-own-sake literary style of analysis that will be required Read more…
Absolutely everything students do for Genius Hour, beginning to end, goes on our class passion blog. Now they’re not writing blog posts from the start, unless of course you count making a list of words related to their topic. At the beginning, we are in research mode–or the “collect” phase of the Genius Hour Read more…
Since I decided to start with passion this year, I’ve been approaching Genius Hour a little differently and rethinking the process and the order of the whole thing. Presenting Genius Hour to non-language-teacher colleagues at our district conference this summer also led to reexamining the stages of the process and Read more…
How do you curate student work–or help them do it themselves? Well, it all starts with Google. Or rather, a combination of a cart full of chromebooks (or PC laptops), a small stash of iPads, a modest display of class desktops, and smartphones–students’ and mine–and Google. And this year, a Read more…
In my Spanish classes, Genius Hour starts off as a weekly exploration of individual student interests in the target language, where I guide students through different resources and strategies for resource analysis. The purpose is still discovery and exploration, pursuing individual student passions, but I’ve found that if I simply Read more…
I missed the memo that Google had added rules to 20 Time, but I’m totally okay with it. In fact, a little additional structure and scaffolding suits me fine. @SECottrell of Musicuentos directed me to the Forbes post linked above with her post on Genius Hour, and I’d like to take Read more…
I missed the memo that Google had added rules to 20 Time, but I’m totally okay with it. In fact, a little additional structure and scaffolding suits me fine. @SECottrell of Musicuentos directed me to the Forbes post linked above with her post on Genius Hour, and I’d like to take Read more…
I am determined to prove that Genius Hour is possible at the novice level in world language classes, without completely sacrificing target language time. I believe that the proper scaffolding allows students to pursue their passions in the target language at whatever level. Now, students won’t necessarily be making Earth-shattering Read more…
I feel like I progressed a lot as an educator in 2013, especially in the fields of Project-Based Learning and sticking to the target language. I’m also still basking in the support from colleagues around the world, both online and at my first ACTFL convention. If I were really smart, Read more…