He had been looking forward to the French language lab at iFLT for months, poring over French for Dummies to keep out of trouble at school, quizzing the Google Home on phrases he could repeat before bed…but I was eager to see how a master handled his “enthusiasm”…
When I saw this session with La Maestra Loca, I KNEW it would be my raison d’être this time. I knew from Annabelle’s April workshop that she had faced comparable management issues to those I confronted this year–WITH a new baby to boot!–so that she was presenting on equity from that perspective? I knew I was in the right place.
Brain breaks have been on my wishlist for years. I read, I watched videos, and…I ran away. Finally I broke down and went to a Maestra Loca workshop in April, and I left ready to try a couple. I am leaving #iFLT with five MORE I feel I could totally Read more…
So you’ve got an authentic audience: real live native speakers in the same room with your students. Maybe you’re lucky like me and have a thriving Sister Cities exchange program. Maybe they’re some or your fourth period heritage speakers’ moms. Maybe they’re local business owners or the ELL class from Read more…
Going to iFLT last year was one of the most revolutionary professional experiences I have had–right up there with three years of grad school! However, after a year of lots and lots of traveling, I decided I needed the summer to stay put and process…after one more trip across the Read more…
I’ve been on a bit of a CI roller coaster since iFLT last summer. I kicked off the year with some kickin’ PQA that kids really seemed to get into, a little of the ol’ “persona especial“–which they got into less–but which still had some positive effects. Then I was Read more…
This year has been a year of growth, without a doubt. After the single most successful semester of my teaching career, I decided to start from scratch on almost everything. I blame iFLT. Since I’m also on an early college schedule, I only got a week or two to process Read more…
I was just innocently searching for videos to give my students a feel for Sainte Chapelle, one of the heroes’ destinations in Agentes Secretos, when I happened upon one of their favorite games! (The students’–not the protagonists’…) Pokemon or no, my babies this year are big into video games, and Read more…
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…
There is only one thing I really have to do as a language teacher: Make my students feel good. As my CSCTFL amiga and unofficial coach for the day, Michelle, said, it’s simple, but it ain’t easy. So many things go into making a student feel good! Before I start enumerating the many, Read more…