Studies suggest that students do better on tests with familiar formats. I’m afraid I was remiss in preparing my students for the AAPPL test, for even though I have been kind of obsessed with AAPPL rubrics for the past couple of years, and my kiddos know their scoring criteria better Read more…
So throwing a bunch of ideas into Common Curriculum and then sorting them out as I went, it worked super well today! I managed to connect grammar, music, and project goals as if I weren’t kind of mentally checked out before Spring Break Part 2 already. I could have been a little Read more…
It’s 2017, but these tools served me well through 2016. No, these are not the cool new tools that came out in 2016: these are the tools that I relied on to survive 2016. Maybe they can make 2017 smoother for you too! 1. Google Classroom Where would I be without Read more…
Badges help my students keep up with their progress–and they like them. But keeping up with badges usually means extra work for me: I’ve made spreadsheets and rubrics, had students submit evidence to earn badges on Google Sites, Livebinders, and Blogger, with links on ForAllRubrics, Seesaw, and Google Classroom. I needed to simplify. So Read more…
The linguistic world is a-changing. We all have pretty awesome translators in our pockets–some even say the Babelfish of Hitchhiker’s fame is already here! I mean, my students don’t have it, and I doubt they will for years to come (I suspect it’ll be a luxury item for the duration Read more…
I want students to be able to show me what they understand, and I want it to look nice when they do. So I’ve been putting the text on a Google Drawing and having them add their interpretations straight onto it. Why Google Drawing? For one Docs won’t let Read more…
Engaging discussions in Spanish? On the second day of Spanish ONE? How is this possible?? I’ll tell you: * clear expectations and support * functional chunks * Google Apps * and three magic words Preparation We spent most of the first day of class talking about the HOW and Read more…
Señora! How will you get your kids to use Spanish this summer? I mean, sure, in December, they all seemed to think it was reasonable to get 4 portfolio sections completed in the calendar YEAR they were going to have between Spanish I ending and Spanish II beginning. (There are 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…
I went the semi-scripted route for this IPA: native speakers responding to familiar-ish questions crafted with my burgeoning intermediates in mind. Basically I wanted to see how they would do with someone other than me, but without unleashing the full force of videos like those that frustrated them so in Read more…