It almost didn’t even matter that my SMARTboard speakers wouldn’t work and that the broken air conditioning made my room so humid that I was literally slipping and sliding by the end of the day. And working on revisions to my syllabus up until the bell (if we had one) before my first Read more…
Each week of the ASU Summer Institute 2016, I have featured ideas from amigos I met through Summer Institute in years past. This week, Linda Carrillo helps answer the question, “How do I start an after-school club focused on cultural exploration?“ I wanted to start a middle school club. My Read more…
Each week of the ASU Summer Institute 2016, I’ll be featuring ideas from amigos I met through Summer Institute in years past. This week, Jeff Pageau helps answer the question, “How do I develop a student immersion weekend?“ In spite of our efforts to create authentic language experiences to engage our Read more…
Each week of the ASU Summer Institute 2016, I’ll be featuring ideas from amigos I met through Summer Institute in years past. This week, Stephanie Schenck helps answer the question, “How do I start a summer language camp run by my students?“ One of the very best things I’ve done as Read more…
Between the #LangCamp book study of Keys to Planning for Learning and local curriculum redesign projects, this summer is about instructional overhaul for me. Thank goodness I had Camp Musicuentos to help make that overhaul worthwhile! The Musicuentos blog has been integral to my development as a language educator. Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell‘s insights have really Read more…
I owe a lot of my success as a Spanish teacher to an excellent MA program in the mountains of North Carolina. I took some hybrid courses during the school year, but I earned most of my MA in Romance Languages (Spanish, K-12) over three summers at the Summer Graduate Read more…
I know homework can be a dirty word in this day and age, but with languages, to confine interaction to the classroom is to kill the very purpose for the learning. Languages are not just a secret code confined to certain hours and certain spaces in one certain building. Our classroom is the Read more…
Portfolios have been working really well this year. Blogs have also been working really well. After TELLcollab, though, I think they can work even better together. Think about it: no need for a whole separate Google Site. No need to create a class blog for each project. No need to Read more…
An IPA can be an important part of the planning process for group PBL projects. Take for example our mission to keep our school’s winning streak going at a nearby language competition. Students need to stop and think about what it takes to win, what steps they need to plan Read more…
You know, if you can’t make it to ACTFL, CSCTFL is definitely a solid substitute. So many of the brightest minds in language education were there to talk with and learn from, that I almost couldn’t tell it wasn’t the national conference! Not that all of us SCOLT, SWCOLT, and Read more…