Whether you are a new IB Spanish teacher or a veteran, you can relate to the stress that the IB Spanish IO brings to your planning. As an internal assessment, the planning, execution, and grading of this assignment falls on us, the teachers. It’s no easy task so I am sharing some tricks/tips to help you minimize your IB Spanish IO prep stress. Practice “exam-like” situations I know, who really has time to do this? With classes of 30 (or more) it can be near impossible to practice Individual Orals with each of your students. For many years, I struggled to do this. I either practiced with eac ..read more

Have you been wanting to set up a library in your Spanish class but don’t know where to start? This post is for you! One of the best ways to provide comprehensible input for our students is reading. We know this. We’ve done this (ourselves in elementary school) but many times we skip this step because our students are older and we have other things on the to-do list. It’s so important to include this in your class and starting is not as hard as you think! 1-Finding level-appropriate books for your library in your Spanish class If you’re teaching multiple levels it will be hard to get books f ..read more

As the summer flies by WAY too quickly, you might find yourself panicking about what activities are you going to do in your Spanish class that first week back. That last month of summer can feel like one long Sunday Scary as you count down how many days before you are back at school.  I get it! That’s why the last few years I have tried to have a couple of activities ready to go so that my first week back is planned and I can really enjoy every second of my summer. I am all about simplicity so although I teach a variety of levels at the high school, I just level up or down the resource as ..read more

Addressing the needs of all learners in your Spanish class may feel near impossible on most days. Our students come to us with a wide range of proficiency levels and we have to take on the (what feels like an impossible) task of getting them all to the same place (more or less). So how can we offer our students the right support in our Spanish class? How can we support all of our students when we have so much going on in our class? Whether your course ends in an exam or not, there is an expectation as to where your students should be on their language learning journey. We use the terms novice ..read more

If you’re a Spanish teacher, your dream is to hear your students speaking Spanish in your class. If you’re actually a Spanish teacher, you know that sometimes that dream seems FAR from reality. I’ve written about these before, but I am back and adding a few more activities to the list! It doesn’t have to feel this way! I am going to be totally honest here- my students do not speak Spanish 100% of the time in my classroom. Why? Because when they are having side conversations with their classmates, they fall into their normal practice of speaking English. I can become frustrated by this and fee ..read more

Are you using the activity turn and talk in your Spanish class? Turn and talks are one of the easiest activities to incorporate into your Spanish class.  You may find that you’ve tried it and are feeling underwhelmed with the results or maybe your students are bored of the activity and you’re at a loss. No worries- keep reading for ideas on making your turn and talks FUN in your Spanish class. What is a Turn and Talk? Let’s back it up…what exactly is a turn and talk? It’s exactly what it sounds like. Your students have a prompt, and then they turn to a partner and talk.  Easy breezy ..read more

What are you doing in the first week of your Spanish class? The lingering summer question that haunts all teachers… One of the best things about teaching is that you get a fresh start every year. Want to try something new? Want to set up your room in a completely different way? Go for it! A new school year brings endless possibilities to your Spanish class. Keep reading for 5 ideas to try in the first week of Spanish class and have your best year yet! All of the options can seem overwhelming sometimes. Social media doesn’t help because we are flooded with every amazing idea and feel pressure ..read more

Whether this is your first year administering the IB Spanish IO (Individual Oral) or your tenth year, you may feel nervous and uncertain. That’s totally normal! There are a lot of moving parts with the IB Language B exam so I am sharing some of my tips and tricks for helping your students (and yourself!) to prepare. 1-Are your students prepared? A huge part of success on the IB Spanish IO is preparation. Your students should feel 100% confident that they know exactly what to expect on the day of their IO.  The IO is broken down into 3 parts but really consists of 2 skills. Describing and ..read more

Addressing the needs of all learners in your Spanish class may feel near impossible on most days. Our students come to us with a wide range of proficiency levels and we have to take on the (what feels like an impossible) task of getting them all to the same place (more or less). So how can we offer our students the right support in our Spanish class? How can we support all of our students when we have so much going on in our class? Whether your course ends in an exam or not, there is an expectation as to where your students should be on their language learning journey. We use the terms novice ..read more

Is speaking the biggest challenge you face in your Spanish Class? Do you always feel like you are doing all of the talking and your students are just grumbling one or two words answers “en español” because you forced them?! Let’s change that with some FUN activities to get students speaking Spanish in your Spanish class. In this post, I am going to run down my top three activities that you can use in your Spanish class to get your students speaking. These activities can be leveled up or down for any class and are always in my back pocket for when I need to switch things up. 1- You Describe I ..read more