The first three-ring circus of grades is done for this semester. Three rings, because this was my first attempt at incorporating Integrated Performance Assessments as tests instead of portfolios, and I’m trying to make use of badges in a meaningful way now too. As you can imagine, though, managing all Read more…
They say less is more, and it is: more accessible, more manageable, and more effective. So my word for 2015 is LESS. It took me years to accept and embrace this concept when it comes to my teaching. I always wanted to COVER everything. I was not necessarily as obsessive 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…
One of my classes achieved OVER 90% in the target language during group work today! And all I did was watch! Well, watch and poke their monsters. With a Project-Based Learning approach, you have to build in times for small groups to collaborate, and there’s not a whole lot of 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…
This summer, I want to establish some healthy habits, for me and my own kiddos. My plan is to twofold: menus and exercise plans. I want to start making weekly menus to do a better job incorporating the neglected food groups and start cooking at home more. The idea is Read more…
I’m not really assigning homework this semester. My students are setting their own language goals and figuring out how to accomplish them. It’s an idea I got from Jeorg Ellen Sauer at #ACTFL13, but I’ve had to tweak it a little bit for the high school level, scaffolding a bit Read more…
Maybe it’s the honeymoon phase talking…or the small classes…or the weather delays. Still, I feel like I’ve discovered the cure for the common class! Well, for my common class. I finally feel like I’m headed in the right direction and pointing my kids that way too! I attribute this honeymoon high to Read more…
The standards-based e-portfolio I use for evaluation has been a little rocky since I started experimenting with it last year. North Carolina’s eLinguafolio has been on the fritz, and I’ve tried a few different methods for curation–mostly Google Sites and Blogger–and I’ve not been totally satisfied with the results yet. Read more…