Do they honestly believe we don’t know the difference? Do they think we can’t tell? The truth is that they are they’re probably just kind of doing and not really thinking about you at all. But they do have reasons: Not enough time – at times we truly expect them to do too much too fast, either because it’s been so long since we were novices that we just plain guess wrong or because we got in a time crunch ourselves #ithappens And impossible though it may seem, they MAY have other perfectly valid priorities consuming their time that they would otherwise allot to language learning. Insecurity ..read more

It may be the most dangerous option outside of 100% business-as-usual. My daughter’s school may have called the FIRST DAY to let us know 2 employees had tested positive. But overall, the first week was not nearly the horror show I expected. In fact, I think this could end up a step toward the way schooling should be. Here’s why. The class sizes are finally small enough that we can chat and get to know each other quickly, and well. It’s only been 2 days with each set of my kids, but I can pretty much put a face with every name. Two years after that year with A/B classes alternating daily and u ..read more

A thread is a clear connection between a main theme and every conversation that follows. Matthew R. Kay, Not Light, but Fire When I asked my AP what we could do to promote anti-racism this year in our school, she thought a book club on a book specifically geared toward teaching was the answer. Not Light, but Fire by Matthew R. Kay was the one that drew me in and actually felt meaningful, applicable. Kay does not go for the throat immediately. He establishes very thoroughly his own mistakes and his reasoning behind his suggestions. He firmly anchors everything–EVERYTHING–in the context of rel ..read more

Alternate title: “Data Nerd Stuff.” Brace yourselves. So shortly before the official decision to go hybrid, my district sent out a survey for all Spanish teachers to list their Top 10 content/skills/standards for the level(s) they teach in order to prepare learning plans for the district. I thought it was brilliant to narrow the focus for potential online scenarios, because frankly, the level of input possible without regular, mandatory face time in the same place, is…disappointing. What’s more, even with face time, our faces will barely be visible, so there goes that whole set of contextual c ..read more

It may have been THE most fulfilling professional development I have ever participated in. The language teachers of Flex Tech Schools in Michigan invited me to set up a webinar for a deep dive into Project-Based Language Learning, and not only did we get to address real, daily problems, but I feel like the process helped me refine my strategies and my instructional reasoning. We dug into topics like: The PBL process and the modes of communication (shout out to SECottrell and our #ACTFL19 session on PBLL + TCI!) Notes & vocabulary Unit plans & daily agendas AAPPL & single-point ru ..read more

One of the most popular choices on the remote learning choice board is the Instagram post. I purposefully made it half as much writing as the journal, because I want an excuse to get them to share! One or two have actually posted to Instagram, screenshotted, and then, of course, deleted it. Really, all they had to do, though, was insert a photo they already had–either that they took or one that included them (not a random screenshot)–and write something, ANYTHING, in 5 sentences about it! Oh, and hashtags, of course. Think of it as semi-voluntary show-and-tell. I have been making videos with ..read more

I’m not gonna lie, this remote learning situation took me all the WAY back to the drawing board. I couldn’t think of a single thing that I was going to do that would actually be worth trying to do with up-in-the-air, potentially-permanently-ungraded online lessons. So rather than trying to replicate my classroom experience without the assurance that anyone would even be virtually present for it, I decided to make it as simple, yet as flexible as it could be (with a half hour per day cap). I actually spent the days during “Phase I,” where the district forbade any work but review materials stra ..read more

I knew Duolingo would be the winner in my Google Classroom poll, but a surprisingly close second was the option with a choice of Duolingo or Señor Wooly PLUS an optional daily video/reading. (No one, literally NO ONE picked “optional daily reading” by itself. Go fig.) Ultimately, since we’re officially online for at least six weeks, I decided weekly assignments would include my (free) Instagram worksheets plus choice boards, but I figured the daily videos could be the bonus for the go-getters, and sort of a daily reminder that, you know, they have Spanish work to do while we’re out. Of course ..read more

During this quarantine, I am exploring ways to marry my two professional passions: art and español. I have long been combining them on my Instagram (with which I have also made a free set of worksheets that you can post for your kiddos on Classroom like I am), but I have been wondering if Tiktok might be an even more effective tool for connecting–not only language with the visual, but also with the students who almost unanimously voted this app their favorite at the beginning of the year. So, here are some ideas I had as I start to experiment. Templates Starting off, I found I could just add s ..read more

Y’all. I stopped reading For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood when I took the job in suburbia. My new school is the ethnic inverse of the Charlotte magnet school where I taught for one measly year. Honestly, Suburbia IS easier, if only for the numbers game (85 vs 180 to keep track of at one time). If I’m honest, having a more-or-less similar cultural background to those in my class–and very few freshmen–has made me downright suspicious of how easy the transition has been. But then I heard Dr. Emdin preach. See part 1 and part 2 of @chrisemdin‘s keynote on La Maestra Loca’s YT channel! Y’all ..read more