The BEST Way to Minimize Prep Time as a World Language Teacher
Do you struggle with time management? Do you feel like your prep periods pass by in the blink of an eye, and you're left feeling stressed and overwhelmed because you still have SO MUCH work on your plate? In this blog post, I’m going to share the BEST tip that I have for minimizing prep time. This tip will save you a TON of time in your lesson planning, which will free up time for you to complete other tasks (e.g. grading papers, inputting grades, attending meetings, completing paperwork, etc.) and hopefully reduce (or eliminate) your need for taking work home with you on evenings and weekends.
Get Your World Language Students Reading with a Free Voluntary Reading Practice!
Are you ready to unlock your students’ innate capacity for acquiring language? If you’re looking for an instructional practice that will move the needle forward in your students’ comprehension of the target language, you’re going to love this post! In it, I talk about Free Voluntary Reading, a practice in which students select a book from your classroom library and read silently and independently for 5-10 minutes. In this post, I’ll walk you through the research showing the benefits of FVR and give concrete tips, tricks, and strategies for how you can get started implementing FVR in your World Language class today!
Using Storytelling to Skyrocket Student Proficiency
Are you just beginning your journey using comprehensible input in your French, Spanish, or Italian World Language classes? I remember when I “got bit” by the CI bug over 5 years ago: I quickly became obsessed! I couldn’t stop reading blogs, watching videos, and reaching out to seasoned CI teachers to pick their brains about the best ways to implement CI strategies in my World Language classroom. In this post, I’m going to share the benefits of using storytelling to increase student comprehension and engagement, walk you through what a typical CI/TPRS lesson looks like, and share some resources that will help you begin (or continue!) your journey as a target language storyteller!
The Importance of Teaching Verb Conjugations
Looking for some fresh resources and ideas to help your students practice verb conjugations? In this post, I’m going to talk about the importance of direct grammar instruction in the World Language classroom, share my methodology for teaching verbs, give ideas for how you can help your students practice and master conjugations, and share links to already-prepared practice worksheets that will save you tons of time and energy!
French, Spanish, and Italian Clothing Unit Lesson Planning
Are you in search of some ideas for how to plan your French, Spanish, or Italian Clothing Unit? In this post, I walk you through how to plan for this unit. I include all of the instructional, practice, and assessment materials that you’ll need, and I give tips and strategies for how to pace your unit, what activities to implement and how, and ideas for assessing student learning.
Effective Interpersonal Speaking Activities to Get Your French, Spanish, Italian Students Speaking in Class!
Getting our students to speak in the target language more regularly is a challenge, especially at the lower levels. Speaking is the proficiency domain that is the last and usually slowest to develop, and so it’s no wonder that students find it challenging and seek to avoid it at all costs. In this post, you will learn three speaking activities to help motivate and engage your students in the intepersonal speaking domain.
Mindset shifts for a happier and more sustainable school year
Teaching is a hard job, and there are so many ways in which our mindset can negatively impact our sense of fulfillment and enjoyment in our careers. In this blog post, I talk about some of the mindset shifts I’ve made over the years which have led me to feeling happier and less stressed in my job. These are not meant to be a panacea for all of your teaching woes, of course, but they can certainly be helpful tools in reframing your teaching experience in a more positive way.
World Language Back to School Tips & Resources
Last summer, when I was beginning this blog, I wrote several blog posts for French, Spanish, and Italian World Language Teachers to help them prepare for the 2023-2024 school year. But given the novelty of my blog at the time, I don’t think those posts got as much traction as they could have! Therefore, I decided to create a new post this summer to highlight blog posts and resources that I think will be super helpful as you begin preparing for the 2024-2025 school year! Consider this a sort of back to school repository of content that will help you start the school year off on the right foot!
Back to School Unit & Lesson Planning for the First Month of French, Spanish, & Italian Class
Need some ideas for how to plan for the First Month of French, Spanish, or Italian Class? In this post, I walk you through how to plan engaging and fun lessons for the first few weeks of the school year in your introductory World Language classes. I include all of the instructional, practice, and assessment materials that you’ll need, and I give tips and strategies for how to pace your unit, what activities to implement and how, and ideas for assessing student learning.
Tips for Starting a French, Spanish, or Italian Club
If you’re thinking of starting a World Language and/or Culture Club at your school, this blog post is for you! I’m going to share some tips for how to get started, including things you may want to consider before proposing the idea to your supervisor or building principal. And if you’ve never considered starting a language club at your school, maybe you’ll find some inspiration here that will make you reconsider!