I think one of the biggest problems my students had with Genius Hour this past semester was choosing a topic that would drive them. Sure, they picked things they were mildly curious about, but as I’ve said before, if you don’t feel like you’re getting away with something during Genius Read more…
If I just push play to start the lesson, I think I can get the flamenco version of “Born This Way”* to teach ser for me. One of my favorite ways of explaining ser came from a student who said you use it for “how you were made.” This is slightly closer to Read more…
We are founding a new country with new laws, new leaders, and above all, a new language. No, this is not political commentary (however timely such a revolution might be), but an exercise I’m trying to flesh out to help kick off the new year. I would like to do Read more…
Questions about favorite foods, colors, animals, and classes only go so far in developing a real human connection. But get a handful of teenagers going on their favorite celebrities or pastimes, and they can go on and on. However, aside from language barriers, there is also the matter of being Read more…
I have to hook students from the start, and I have to do it without letting any English intrude if possible. I can phrase my driving questions in simple enough Spanish, with generous servings of cognates and such. I can even find authentic texts for maximum thematic contextual experiences. But Read more…
Driving Question: Is the person who other people see the person who you really are? The goal of the driving question is, in fact, to drive students, to impel students to desire to know MORE. I’ve finally gotten past the idea of organizing essential questions for the language classroom around vocabulary or Read more…
Spanish II has almost finished putting together their apps for EMT’s, so now it is time to test them out. But how to test products designed for emergency situations without…death? In the words of Jon Lovitz, “…aaaacting!” Now, the apps will not be officially published on the due date, as they Read more…
I called up a former student who is an EMT and for whom Spanish class did not quite go far enough: excerpts of our conversation can be found under “Los problemas” in the app I made on appsbar.com as an entry event for the First Aid unit. You can see, and use, a preview Read more…
Forty-five minutes a day, four days a week, I get to teach a class that is not a class! I will be preparing students to pass the reading and writing portions of the COMPASS test for entry and success in college courses.It is how my new school is dealing with Read more…
El tradicional teatro de papel japonés es narrado en Perú al estilo andino Fusion is the name of the game. Peruvian artist José Cabana combines the puppet theatre of Japan known as Kamishibai with the imagery of artisan arts of northern Peru. But why stop there? Students in an advanced Read more…