My house is so much neater since I discovered Learning Management Systems. Well, I mean, it would be if it weren’t for the first grader and pre-schooler I share it with. But you get my point: no more piles of papers sliding off various surfaces, and my little paperclip stash is […]
Each of my students gets his or her very own personally tailored final exam this year. Students have spent the last three weeks prior to exams rounding up resources (infographs, articles, videos, and contacts–to say nothing of the Pinterest pins and Diigo list from earlier in the Genius Hour process) and […]
On the one hand, I want students to enjoy the festival experience and to be able to focus on giving a successful performance. On the other, there are SO many opportunities for meaningful target language interaction when we go to the festival! Why not do some really AUTHENTIC authentic assessment? […]
Personalized Learning is not quite what I thought it was. I mean, I get the meaning of the word “personalize,” and I’d heard about playlists and pathways at EdcampQC when Jill Thompson first mentioned the program they’re piloting in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools–not to mention their inaugural school tour (less than an […]
Spanish II can almost taste their trophies! The skit group has been running lines and building props (the campfire looks awesome), and they’ve started blocking. The music group finally came to a decision pretty much everyone feels happy and confident with (we’re going with one song off of Kalimba’s latest […]
#1 – My kids are amazing. They can do so much with the language in Spanish II!#2 – My tasks are a little off level-wise. But my kids are amazing anyway.#3 – AAPPL rubrics are also amazing. I have been extremely satisfied with my decision to switch to Integrated Performance Assessment format […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
My first EDPuzzle IPA mashup went pretty smoothly this week. I think it really helped students break down the listening into manageable chunks to make the overall task approachable. I’m also really glad that I chose to add in my little summary audio commentary at various intervals because students were still […]