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In My Class, I Am Judge, Jury, and Executioner
I'm not here to find fault with students.I am not here to sentence them for their crimes--against me, the school, Society, or the preterite tense.I am not here to make them suffer and regret their...
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International Spy Reports: Elementary International Festival
My son's school has gone global! In fact, they're converting to dual immersion, starting with this year's kindergarten class. Two years too late for him, alas (but in plenty of time for Sister)!Paolo...
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Super Spanish Portfolio Blog Setup
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...
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EPIC Telenovela PBL Unit & Final Exam
Every language teacher should attend an unconference. Better yet, every language teacher should attend an unconference with other language teachers.First of all, just being around people who are...
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Self-Selected Spanish Homework
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...
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It's true that I have over 200 blog post drafts that may never see the light of day. Some of them, well, they certainly reflect how far I've come. Some are actually pretty good ideas, though I haven't...
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Love is
Love is a desire. A genuine, conscious, consistent, active desire.I have decided that love is a genuine desire, not only for someone else's happiness, but the desire to actively help that someone...
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Netflix and Grill: Watching telenovelas in class
What could be better than binge watching on Netflix for class? Maybe actually learning something in the process?The idea for this unit began when I overheard my students obsessing over their latest...
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Personal Vocabulary Blogs
Vocabulary can make my students feel insecure. Though I have abandoned textbooks, I have not entirely abandoned vocabulary lists. I tend to present them more in semantic groups with visuals or in...
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5 Big Reasons I'm a Big Fat Cheater
I've had a very good year.Students who used to hate, HATE Spanish class--MY Spanish class--are begging for Spanish III. Every single one of my students improved in at least two of the communication...
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Try It! Interactive Notebooks for World Languages
Interactive Notebooks were a disaster my first year. It was mostly because I jumped in feet first and just made it up as I went.And that's okay. As Thomas Sauer is fond of saying, no one ever died of...
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REFRESH! Portfolios over the Summer
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...
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Back from Mexico! New cultural and interpretive resources
Just flew back from Mexico, and boy are my arms tired!Must be from holding up my phone for all of those pictures and videos I took.Before I went to Peru on a Sister Cities exchange trip last year, I...
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ADHD and How My Son Made Me a Better Teacher
It started with potty training. My mom gave me a book on potty training in 24 hours that "really worked" with both me and my brother. I tried potty dolls, juice boxes, M&M and sticker bribes--even...
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Top 10 Reasons You Should Go to ASU Summer Institute
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...
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Proficiency & PBL: My top 5 transition mistakes
How the tables have turned! A few short years ago, I was in grad school, devouring every single word published on Musicuentos, treading water and questioning every move I made. I struggled to break...
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#CampMusicuentos Takeaways
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...
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GUEST POST: Kids Teaching Kids - Start a summer language camp
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...
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Seeing Is Believing: #iFLT16 goals
I don't get TPRS. But I really want to.I've pored over blogs from Carrie Toth, Kristy Placido, Cynthia Hitz, Justin Slocum Bailey, Keith Toda, and Bryce Hedstrom for years.I've tried writing stories a...
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Big Questions - #iFLT16 Day 1
As expected, I've come out of the first day with big ideas, but also big questions (which you might be able to help me out with at the end of the post).As of today, I'd say I'm pretty firmly in the...
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