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Seeking the future of world language learning at the intersection of comprehensible input, project-based learning, global education, and love.
Personal development

Book review: Teach Like A Pirate

Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell October 2, 2013 5 Comments
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Foto: Rufus Gefangenen

Honestly, I feel apprehensive about reviewing Dave Burgess‘s hit new book Teach Like a Pirate.  I know the book and the author and his consulting group are terrifically popular with education professionals everywhere, including many teachers I respect and regularly interact with.  If the masses say yay and I have a bit of a different opinion, you can decide which one of us is wrong, but I was less than impressed with TLAP.

There are many positive aspects of the book and I want to give a balanced view, so here goes.  My goal is to leave you with my honest impression of the book that will help you evaluate if you should read it.

 Why PIRATE?

Burgess adopts the pirate as his “mascot” because, as he says, “pirates are daring, adventurous, and willing to set forth into uncharted territories with no guarantee of success.”  Wouldn’t you love to see some more “daring” and “adventurous” in American classrooms?  But PIRATE is also an acronym for Burgess, referring to the essential ingredients for this type of teacher.

Passion

Passion is key to success at any job, and Burgess believes, as do I, that you can be excited about teaching, every day.  Too much, you say?  Well, Burgess identifies three types of passion and says you can hit at least one of them every day: content (what you’re teaching), professional (for being a teacher), and personal (hobbies).  I have to admit, though, that I am one of the people that Burgess labels “freaks”: I honestly am passionate about everything in the subject I teach.

Immersion

I’m so guilty of not doing this one – especially the last two school years being pregnant the entire school year, and whenever I’m working on a big consulting project.  But as Burgess says, if you’re completely present and with your students while you’re teaching, regardless of activity, you’ll be more effective, and students will recognize it, and it will create an amazing…

Rapport

In my opinion, this is one of the most prevalent characteristics in effective teachers.  Developing a relationship with your students will motivate them, control behavior problems, and really, change their lives by showing them that someone truly cares.

Ask and Analyze

I love this one – Burgess tells you (and I second it!) that everyone can be creative.  If you think my ideas are amazing and I’m some sort of talented super exception, you’re wrong.  I promise you have creative ideas in you too – and Burgess helps you ask the questions that get you using them.

Transformation

Do you lack a sense of direction?  Have a vision of what your ideal classroom looks like; then you can start creating it.  Position your content as if it’s amazing (and in world languages, it is!).  Reframe your content to show how it’s relevant and valuable.  Indeed, the human brain is efficient; what it doesn’t find relevant, it will get rid of.

Enthusiasm

Banish negative thoughts from your classroom.  Shake off the bad days and talk to yourself and your students in such a way that you are creating an enthusiastic, energetic, positive environment.

The explanations of the PIRATE system are followed by a section designed to give you a “toolbox” to teach well– like Burgess says, “it doesn’t matter how much content you teach, it only matters how much is received.”  He offers series after series of questions, well presented by themes, to get you thinking about how we can “hook” student attention and keep it (really, I’m surprised he didn’t relate the word “hook” to pirates- it’s a good pun).  As a quick example, one question has to do with what you can be showing or write on the board for students to see when they come in, before class starts.  I used this “hook” the other day as my lesson plan called for our first nerve-wracking practice on the difficult AP interpersonal conversation task.  The interviewer we were supposed to respond to was asking about reincarnation.  So, I had this displayed before the lesson and students found it intriguing and funny – and engaging, the point of a “hook.”

reencarnacion

Shaky presentation, shaky foundations

BUT… and here’s the but.  Dave Burgess tries really hard to maintain a positive note of “I believe in teachers,” but I was really bothered by his off-and-on commentary on teachers who may be less passionate or those he calls “misguided and ill-informed critics [who] steal your enthusiasm.” (Or those who are good professional speakers but he’s sure they’d “get their ass kicked” in a real classroom; “sorry to say it, but you know I’m right,” “I know I’m being harsh, but I’m trying to make an important point.” But, of course, “we are all on the same team.” )

I don’t know Mr. Burgess, but I found his writing, as a professional education book, at times unnecessarily brutal, frequently arrogant, and almost always shallower than my preference in the genre.

Lacking in professionalism

I won’t go on at length, but my chief complaints here:

  • You should hint that things in your content are inappropriate in order to grab and maintain attention (though, of course, the content would never be so).
  • Twice Burgess brings up the subject of faking passion and both times his most appropriate illustration is Meg Ryan’s “faking” scene from When Harry Met Sally.  He starts out an early chapter by promising you the secret to becoming a better lover – and often uses this “hook” on a sign outside his professional development seminars.
  • All examples of games involve students pretending to kill each other.
  • I’m old-fashioned.  I don’t pick up a professional development book to hear about someone who may “get their ass kicked,”  “I pride myself on flat out bringing it” [emphasis his], “they should have told the students to get it out before starting the damn story,” “don’t buy into this B.S.” and so on.

Lacking in humility

Dave Burgess writes, “My list of inadequacies in the classroom could go on to… embarrassing lengths,” but reading TLAP, you will have no doubt that Dave Burgess believes he is a great teacher.  I’m sure he is.  I’m sure I’d like to have my children in his class.  But in my experience, truly great people don’t have to talk about it quite so much.  I found his descriptions of his seminar performances particularly tedious and manipulative.  And I disliked the presentation of the letter he wrote himself describing his class the way he wanted students to talk about it.

 

Lacking in support in the field

If you’ve read me for long you know that I revel in research. Maybe it’s from my SLA background in grad school where every article and paper had to start with a thorough review of the literature in the topic.  I love to read the great stuff researchers are finding out about how the brain learns and how people learn language and how I can use that to make my teaching pack a real brain-based punch.  I love John Medina‘s Brain Rules and Brain Rules for Baby and Daniel Pink’s Drive and Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code.  And wow, Alfie Kohn.  If you have ever read Alfie Kohn you know that the bibliography is a significant portion of the book.  Why?  Because I can give you all the anecdotes I want but if they don’t align with the way brains actually work and kids actually learn, it’s not going to work for you.

Burgess’s support comes from self-help and marketing books.  Otherwise, the book is almost completely anecdotal, so much so it reads like a memoir.  Like an Amazon reviewer said, “It really reads like a self-help book for fragile and discouraged teachers,”  and I agree, e.g.:

Don’t hang around negative people; they will sap your super powers.

The best way to overcome the obstacles on your path to greatness is build up enough momentum through action that you can roll right over them.

Really, the lack of substantiating support in the book is my primary concern.

You can do it, They can do it

Enough negativity.  I’m supposed to be thinking positive here.  Burgess echoes a lot of the tenets you’ll hear repeated on Musicuentos: “Increase the fun factor,” and of course I latched onto the encouragement to “provide opportunities for autonomy and choice.”  Take advantage of opportunities to teach media literacy and critical thinking.  “An effectively told story might become the most powerful thing you do in front of any audience.”  He echoes my sentiment that there’s a problem with teachers going “too far towards a love affair with technology just for the sake of technology.”

You’ll remember the end of this review better than the rest so I’ll end with what I believe is the big, big message all of us need to hear and say.  Burgess is a teacher who believes what every teacher in every classroom should believe: Every student can succeed.  I’m afraid, somewhere along the way, we started to think that kids without the right IQ or the right home life or the right amount of money in the bank just can’t succeed.  Maybe the statistics say they probably won’t.  But that doesn’t change the fact that they can.  Show your students that all their gifts and talents are valued.  You respect and honor their individuality.  The Great American Classroom has become a place that kills creativity in the name of Every Child Is The Same, but conformity is not your goal.  You respect and honor your students’ individuality and show them how using it makes them more successful.  Foster their strength of character and courage (I’m currently reading How Children Succeed, which cites a whole lot of research indicating these traits have more to do with children’s ultimate  success than cognitive skills).  Encouragingly, he at least claims to believe this about teachers too:

Today I am thoroughly convinced that any teacher who is willing to put in the time, care, and effort can transform their classroom and their life as an educator using these methods.

Good reminders for good teachers

As a few reviews on Amazon point out, you may find the book validates what you’re already trying, or simply reminds you to be enthusiastic and have rapport with students.  I know that when I don’t get my technology ready ahead of time I lose my students while I do it in the middle of class and I have to regain attention and momentum, but it’s a good reminder for me.  Like Burgess says, there is no single answer for how to fix your classroom, and TLAP is no exception, but if you are a passionate teacher who strives for creativity and wants to reach every student, you will find some validation and some good ideas you  may not have thought of in TLAP.  If you are burned out and frustrated with a school system that wants you to be the opposite, you will enjoy Burgess’s encouragement and suggestions.  Research-based or not, we could sure use some more adventure and passion in our classrooms, so why not go teach like a pirate?

This review was significantly edited in April 2017 as part of my positive path.  I still feel most teachers could better spend their reading time with something else, but I wanted to be sure I was presenting my opinion in a professional way.

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Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell
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5 Comments

  1. Logan says:
    October 2, 2013 at 9:27 pm

    Thank you so much for this review! I appreciate your candor and honestly.

  2. Nina says:
    October 3, 2013 at 8:56 am

    Tell it like it is!!! That took guts.

  3. Dave Burgess says:
    October 3, 2013 at 11:35 am

    Hi. Thank you for reading Teach Like a PIRATE and taking the time to write your thoughts about it. The positive reception it has received in the World Languages community has been very gratifying. #WLtlap has become a vibrant and positive online community with many fantastic contributions and a positive and uplifting vibe. I’m proud of them for what they have built and encourage world language teachers to check it out.

    There is actually little I would argue with in your review with the exception of the personal attacks of arrogance, unprofessionalism, and shallowness. Much of the rest seems to be an honest difference of opinion and expectation. A big part of the appeal of the book and one of the main reasons it has resonated widely lies in its tone and anecdotal nature. I worked hard to make sure it did not read like a typical PD book. I also love many of the books you mention which have strong research to back them and are filled with multiple professional references. That’s just not the book I set out to write. It is, as you correctly note, a much more personal book based on my experiences of working with challenging classes for the last 17 years.

    Thanks for also noting where you agree with the book and where it validates some of your own work, as well. For what it’s worth, it also bothers me that the double reference to When Harry Met Sally slipped in…unintentional. Another small point, the Betty Friedan reference you mention has nothing to do with sex or sexual dissatisfaction, which you seem to imply.

    Thanks again for writing about #tlap. Have a great school year.

    Dave

    1. Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell says:
      October 3, 2013 at 12:27 pm

      Thanks for commenting on the review, Dave. You’re right, the #wltlap network is filled with great teachers, many of them personal friends, talking about ways to really engage learners. If my evenings weren’t consumed with baby care I’d probably be joining them often.
      I tried to avoid a “personal” attack by making sure I mentioned this was my opinion about you as a writer (not as a teacher, being that I have never seen you teach, or present for that matter) and coming from my personal preference in reading professional books. So, I made that clause bold and underlined above to emphasize it.
      You’re right, I was misled by the Friedan reference, but I doubt that was unintentional and I think most people unfamiliar with her book would be as well, because the reference itself is faulty. I edited to explain this further above.
      I also added an example of how your “hook” suggestions helped me engage students last week (you’ve already seen it on Twitter).

  4. Joan Hampton says:
    November 11, 2013 at 2:21 pm

    This year, students began their rough drafts by hand and have transfered their rough drafts onto the computer using Google Docs. In previous years, students had typed up their stories using Microsoft Word or Power Point. Change can be good. Today, most of my students had never experienced the power behind Google Docs and how all of their ideas can be simultaneously written in the same document. While the students were typing, I was able to go into the document and make some helpful remarks, questions or changes right as they were typing. Interestingly enough, Google Docs has also incorporated “voice comment” capabilities- so you can leave voice commentary or feedback for your students on the document that has been shared with you. After school, I proceeded to continue with editing and found that students were logged in from home, using the ‘chat” feature to ask me questions about their writing. We collaborated about Spanish narrative writing both in school and out of school, thanks to technology.

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      • Best of 2014 #6: Carol Gaab's rebuttal to my TPRS critique
      • Book Club '14: Creating Innovators
      • Best of 2014 #2: Where I depart from classic TPRS
      • Book Club '14: Stella Bain, Gemma Hardy, & a bittersweet hotel
      • Best of 2014 #7: What I love about TPRS
      • Book Club '14: Monuments Men, With the Old Breed, In Pharaoh's Army
      • Book Club '14: The Kite Runner
      • Best of 2014 #3: Sample homework choice systems
      • Book Club '14: Crazy Busy
      • Book Club '14: The Hobbit & The Scarlet Pimpernel
      • Best of 2014 #5: How I use verb charts
      • Book Club 2014: Amazing Grace (Kozol)
      • Book Club '14: A Step of Faith & Walking on Water (The Walk series)
      • Best of 2014 #4 & #8: Curriculum planning outside the textbook
      • Book Club '14: Five Days at Memorial & Men We Reaped
      • Best of 2014 #9: Genius hour isn't a great idea for novice classes
      • Book Club '14: The Painted Veil & Life After Life
      • Best of 2014 #10: The new JCPS curriculum documents
      • Happy Cyber Week! Resource sale Dec. 1-3
      • Musicuentos Book Club 2014
    •  November (4)
      • Lessons from ACTFL '14: if they have all the answers, they're trying to sell you something
      • What's ahead: ACTFL, best of '14, and the book club
      • Linguacafé: The idea that rocked my interpersonal world
      • What we learned at IFLTA '14: Everyone struggles, Culture leads
    •  October (5)
      • Communicative teaching in the shadow of [grammar-focused] common assessment
      • More multi-tasking children's lit
      • Next on my PD list: New proficiency videos
      • What we learned at KWLA: share, think, respect
      • The game-changing authentic resource guide for Spanish 3+: it's here!
    •  September (4)
      • Three days and then...
      • The technology that's making us irrelevant...and more relevant
      • Thank you, reflective teachers
      • See you this year? Conferences & Camp Musicuentos
    •  August (6)
      • How I teach La ciudad de las bestias
      • Putting homework in their hands: Sample systems
      • The First Day Story: Empowering with CI
      • Keeping games communicative
      • Let's talk tacos: Informing parents & students on proficiency
      • Regreso a clases! Ciudad on sale
    •  July (2)
      • Oso de Mantequilla: A tribute
      • It's coming!
    •  June (8)
      • What we learned at Camp Musicuentos
      • Lesson plan: Indirect objects and celebrations (template too)
      • New Podcast: What kind of corrective feedback works?
      • New resource: Educating parents and students on proficiency
      • Another resource: JCPS new curriculum documents (K-12)
      • Introducing the past tenses together
      • Time for you to get feedback?
      • Product launch: Calico Spanish homeschool learning series
    •  May (9)
      • Upcoming workshop (IN): Proficiency-based lesson planning
      • Stop calling this easy & fast
      • Revisiting Photopeach for the AP Final
      • Stop stressing: It's wrong to do the best you can
      • Three tasks for crafting an effective message: Black Box Podcast episode 4
      • A Year in a Day: Camp Musicuentos 2014
      • Taking care of business: Summer collaboration for a successful year
      • 4 ways to tweak the exit ticket
      • Black Box Podcast episode 3: To Sell Is Human, part 1
    •  April (9)
      • Top 25 Spanish novels
      • Let's play
      • New activity resource: Tweetfest!
      • Black Box Podcast episode 2: Circumlocution
      • An impromptu "langcamp"
      • See you at ACTFL '14
      • 4 ways to keep curriculum relevant
      • Tutorial on the best free PD you'll find in your own home
      • The Musicuentos Black Box Podcast: IT'S HERE!
    •  March (11)
      • Authentic visual illustrations of proficiency (Spanish)
      • Curriculum planning outside the textbook, Part 2
      • A week or more of working with Vivir mi vida
      • Resource release: Complete verb pack
      • Curriculum planning outside the textbook: Part 1
      • Corrections to simple verb pack
      • Musicuentos is on Pinterest!
      • Is this the best we can do?
      • Writing a restaurant review: Activity from Bethanie Drew
      • Putting a number grade on proficiency-based assessment
      • Resource release: Simple verb pack
    •  February (7)
      • My favorite source for restaurant (and other) reviews
      • Guest post: A TPRS rebuttal by Carol Gaab
      • TPRS strategies I don't put in my toolbox
      • What I love about TPRS
      • Repost: Valentine's #authres from Twitter
      • How I use verb charts
      • Guest post: What students need- A leader (David Seibel)
    •  January (10)
      • Every language teacher's biggest mistake
      • My new favorite digital storytelling app
      • Why Genius Hour can't work in a novice classroom
      • Website review: Geoguessr
      • 2014 resolutions #5: Use more authentic sources.
      • 2014 Resolutions #4: Take a step outside the textbook
      • Reviewing 2013: Five blogs to watch
      • 2014 Resolutions #3: Survey your students.
      • 2014 Resolutions #2: Collaborate with someone
      • 2014 Resolutions #1: Read a book
  •  2013 (110)
    •  December (13)
      • The #1 Musicuentos post of 2013 (and the six years before that)
      • Best of 2013: #2 - Tips for the new AP
      • Best of 2013: #3 - Choice in homework, updated
      • Best of 2013: #4 - Novice song for Spanish Class Idol
      • Best of 2013: #5 - Can you control vocabulary?
      • Best of 2013: #6 - Is your lesson plan out of whack?
      • Best of 2013: #7 - Four habits that enrich vocabulary
      • AP Spanish final exam: Controversia navideña y Vacunas para niños
      • Best of 2013: #8 - Novice high vs. Intermediate low
      • Best of 2013: #9 - Using assessment to inform your teaching
      • Best of 2013: #10 - Spot-checking conversations
      • First-ever Musicuentos ebook: Reader's Guide to Ciudad de las bestias
      • Happy December!
    •  November (8)
      • AP Spanish essay - Obamacare
      • Vote: Musicuentos proposal for ACTFL '14
      • Setting goals
      • Don't go to ACTFL '13 without TELLing
      • Repost: A story for demonstratives
      • Listen to some Grammy music
      • Caring about the Really Big Deal
      • Calm before the excitement!
    •  October (4)
      • Using assessment to inform your teaching
      • Just some fluff: Makeup for busy mom teachers
      • Top 3 mistakes teachers of novices make
      • Book review: Teach Like A Pirate
    •  September (7)
      • Interacting with authentic materials: a guide
      • Using audio-lingua
      • Seven keys to a great story
      • Stations: Exploring music
      • It's a myth: Equipping students to communicate with... themselves
      • Turn a Novice Song into "Spanish Class Idol"
      • Is your lesson plan out of whack?
    •  August (12)
      • Children's literature for the world language class (Helena Curtain)
      • App review & Giveaway! High School Spanish
      • Choice in homework, updated
      • Back to school: Proficiency posts
      • App Review: Storykit (bonus - meet my family!)
      • Back to school: Evaluate traditions
      • Back to school: Blogs with great ideas
      • App review & giveaway: Word Magic dictionary and thesaurus
      • My authorized AP syllabus
      • Back to school: Musicuentos "first days" posts
      • Back to school: Give them signals
      • Going back to school with Musicuentos
    •  July (6)
      • Tips for the New AP
      • Don't be fooled! What the AP does and doesn't measure
      • Illustrating proficiency with a laugh
      • Snag some free apps while you can!
      • Stop asking for unnatural language
      • Fun video: Animals, present, feelings
    •  June (9)
      • Targeting problems with a pop quiz
      • Song, irregular present, part 4: Tengo tu love
      • It's my birthday - check out our presents!
      • A meaningful approach to grammar
      • Websites for creating online magazines
      • A world with no magazines
      • Guest post: Coaching with choice
      • Screencast: Photopeach
      • Communicative grading made easier
    •  May (10)
      • Health infographic: Novice - Intermediate Activity
      • A lesson in finding authentic sources easily
      • Tips and songs for past participles
      • Foster higher-level thinking from the beginning
      • Summer: Language for the fun of it
      • Novice high vs. intermediate low
      • E-magazines with learner appeal
      • Step outside the textbook: Tell a story
      • Repost: Novice description with Jengibre and Pin Pon
      • Interpersonal communication by choice
    •  April (11)
      • Novice speaking: Describing self with Sie7e
      • Can you control vocabulary?
      • Activities from authentic resources: Future tense
      • Why I love mistakes
      • Maternity leave!
      • Lots of your class gone? Pick up a book.
      • Abandon the multiple-choice question
      • Songs for future tense
      • I choose béisbol: sample "homework" report
      • 300 times thank you
      • Reporting like kindergarten
    •  March (11)
      • Training in circumlocution: Ban the dictionary
      • Fun activity #9: A leer
      • Last tips on avoiding burnout
      • Cortometraje for narration
      • Make developing curriculum even easier
      • Even more tips on avoiding burnout
      • Authentic resource: trivia games
      • Still more tips on avoiding burnout
      • Two more ways to ease into developing curriculum
      • Song, irregular present, part 3: Carmelina
      • More tips on avoiding burnout
    •  February (10)
      • Intermediate news activity for all three modes
      • Easing into developing curriculum
      • If you don't pay attention to comprehensibility...
      • Burning out or burning bright?
      • Keeping the class engaged: Change activities
      • Fun activity #8: A cantar
      • Twitter/relationships activity, just in time for Valentine's
      • Tech tools gone wrong
      • Grading regular free-topic writing
      • Add more music to homework choices
    •  January (9)
      • Spot-checking conversations
      • Song, irregular present, part 2: Hace tiempo
      • Four habits that enrich vocabulary
      • Paragraph form
      • Myths 8 & 9: I don't do it because they can't handle it.
      • Assigning homework
      • Song, irregular present, part 1: Sigo con ella
      • More choice every day
      • A novice cross-curricular activity from authentic materials
  •  2012 (39)
    •  December (2)
      • 5 New Year's resolutions for every WL teacher
      • It pays to have a focus
    •  October (2)
      • Best and worst games I've seen
      • Example: authentic text for novices
    •  September (7)
      • Success with Stations
      • More student choice in homework
      • Prezi: The Choice is Theirs (KWLA 2012)
      • Prezi: Kick the Vocab Quiz (KWLA 2012)
      • Take the leap to standards-based assessment
      • Fun activity #7: Conecta cuatro
      • A song for feelings
    •  August (11)
      • Screencast: Edmodo
      • Myth #7: Spanish Mike is a taco.
      • A study in motivation, part 2: Self-assessing abilities
      • It's my blogiversary - but you get the gift
      • Menus
      • Reading guides: Cajas de cartón & Esperanza renace
      • A re-post for your first days back: Abecedario
      • Screencast: Finding authentic sources for prompts
      • Maintaining personal proficiency
      • Ideas for the first days of school
      • AP redesign: Units & EQ's
    •  July (9)
      • A study in motivation
      • Advice for teachers in training
      • More uses for Amor de mi tierra
      • Book review: The Talent Code
      • Songs for 'duele'
      • The Case for Commands
      • Got idioms?
      • Like Musicuentos? Like it on Facebook.
      • Very short times with very young kids
    •  June (1)
      • 5...4...3...2...1... LAUNCH!
    •  March (4)
      • Another change: Survey says...
      • Design your own final exam
      • What I'm changing this week
      • Repost for CSC12: Increasing target language
    •  February (1)
      • A storytelling success story
    •  January (2)
      • Not going to ACTFL again, but for the best reason ever
      • Free Ebook for WL educators
  •  2011 (57)
    •  November (1)
      • Dear novice-learner teacher - love, an AP teacher
    •  October (3)
      • Learning from #langchat
      • Not your average health unit
      • Presentation: Target Language: Expect More, Say Less
    •  September (6)
      • Spanish 3 assessment documents
      • For KWLA 2011: Media from Reel to Real
      • Accuracy vs. proficiency: an illustration
      • Fun activity #6: A escribir
      • App review: Tour Wrist
      • Myth #6: Memorizing vocabulary
    •  August (5)
      • Trending topic = authentic comprehensible input
      • Got the rubric!
      • New year, new units, new assessments
      • Jumping on the Animoto bandwagon
      • Rethinking "late" work
    •  July (1)
      • A song made for early Spanish 1
    •  June (9)
      • Proficiency & tacos
      • Proficiency levels shouldn't be a secret
      • Flipbook illustration
      • Ethics in the language class - we aren't their parents
      • Activity #5: Gira la botella
      • Symbol Illustration
      • Connecting your classroom
      • Myth #5: The textbook is all I need
      • Taking paperless to the blog
    •  May (2)
      • Combat the 'este tiempo' monster
      • Children's DVD giveaway!
    •  April (6)
      • Activity #4: Drama Inmóvil
      • Myth #4: The Time Whine
      • Have you used PhotoPeach?
      • The myths aren't going to ACTFL
      • Fun activity #3: ¡Arriésgate!
      • Fun activity #2: A conversar
    •  March (3)
      • Dismantling Myths 2 and 3: Learning about language and its cousin, Grammatical Terms
      • Activity 1: Cuento poco a poco
      • (Trying to) Make learning fun
    •  February (10)
      • Two new options for out-of-class fluency
      • Great resource from la Sra. Birch
      • Dismantling Myth #1: What's a qualified teacher?
      • Keep singing: 189 pages of Spanish lyrics
      • #Charlando para aprender
      • Vote for this week's #langchat topic
      • It's time for them to use their time
      • For tonight's #langchat: A game for description
      • Short listening activity tailor-made for beginners
      • Ciudad de las bestias: Guides public & streamlined
    •  January (11)
      • Instead of the vocab quiz
      • Best songs for stem changing irreg. present
      • Do something drastic - kick the vocab quiz
      • Topic for #LangChat 1/27
      • Topic for the first #LangChat 1/20
      • Low-level learners can't understand authentic media, what?
      • They can't speak, and it's our fault: Dismantling the myths
      • Don't teach a health unit without this song
      • New: A language teachers' weekly chat on Twitter - choose our first topic!
      • Since I stopped teaching to the [AP] test
      • Faith and Culture: help me decide our AP topic
  •  2010 (38)
    •  December (4)
      • 9 ways to increase students' TL use
      • I love collaboration
      • The problem with translation (from a student)
      • Why music is more powerful than anything (& how to use it)
    •  November (2)
      • iPad giveaway!
      • A collaborative project for our Spanish-teacher PLN
    •  October (2)
      • And the winner is...
      • In the spirit of open source: Ciudad de las bestias
    •  September (10)
      • Books recommended as 'easy'
      • Pure present tense & at least 22 repetitions of 'ya no'
      • For a conference attendee: resources in math
      • Searching BBC Mundo
      • Prompts with Power: writing/speaking prompts
      • Prompts with Power: Prezi
      • Prompts with Power: German & French resources
      • Prompts with Power: Dating in high school
      • KWLA Presentation: PLN-ology
      • Tweet with double objects
    •  August (6)
      • Interactive comic creator using Maya & Miguel
      • Ads of the World | Creative Advertising Archive & Community
      • Added some great new links
      • First 12 days of Spanish 1
      • My supply list
      • Scope & sequence, word list for Spanish 1
    •  July (4)
      • 5 tips for increasing (your own) target language use
      • A warm-up from @samocamila: por vs. para
      • Camila's all on board! (well, on Twitter)
      • Getting vocabulary from a tweet
    •  April (3)
      • Huge toy giveaway from SpanglishBaby
      • A case for avoiding "pet" grammar
      • Authentic audio with future tense
    •  March (2)
      • Interesting blog post about iPod as language lab
      • News article: appeal + subjunctive for influence
    •  January (5)
      • A high-interest exercise for imperfect/pasado continuo
      • A song with 17 verbs in past subjunctive
      • My corporate Spanish links, all in one place
      • "Adora la Exploradora"-the week we didn't feel like a boring past-tense review
      • My level 1 and 2 stories (for Bethanie, and whomever else)
  •  2009 (80)
    •  December (2)
      • A song with 37 repetitions of "más que"
      • Switch to a communicative set-up
    •  November (10)
      • Print & audio sources for AP synthesis essay re: efficient energy
      • Two songs for voy + a + infinitive
      • A case for free-topic blogging
      • It's 19 de noviembre!
      • Camila's new single: "Mientes" (release date 11/24!)
      • A case for pleasure reading
      • Noviembre - a popular month for songs
      • Zachary Jones's "Clozeline"
      • Two songs + resources for Ojalá + subjunctive
      • A song just for @mamitati
    •  October (13)
      • You can't buy this in a textbook
      • Cultural connections: Four songs to explore using Google Earth
      • David Bisbal's YouTube channel
      • Correction on Pin Pon in Shrek
      • Four songs for contrasting que & lo que
      • Nominados en la 10a entrega de los Latin Grammy
      • Story and songs for subjunctive: indefinite/negative antecedent
      • AP sythesis essay sources: Los indocumentados y el sistema de salud
      • Blog that does what I do, only better
      • My October playlist
      • We must not ignore the Paz Sin Fronteras (video)
      • Build your perfect tenis (en español)
      • Video with por, haber, past participles, commands, from Coca Cola
    •  September (10)
      • Latin Grammy website gets a cool makeover... and nominations!
      • Songs for the elusive 3rd pers. sing. preterite
      • I just made my first Yodio
      • KWLA Fall 09 Conference presentation
      • Found Juanes on Twitter
      • For you French teachers
      • Bilingual toy giveaway, gracias a @mamitati
      • Keeping your eyes open for gold nuggets
      • CNN launches Latino in America
      • Bob Esponja on Mundonick
    •  August (4)
      • A correction on the correction of La Frase Tonta
      • I am in technology heaven
      • An AP oral presentation, with past tense: "Consecuencias"
      • I love crossover songs
    •  July (2)
      • Raimundo, the bilingual Latin American snail
      • A song for object/refl pronoun 'te'
    •  June (6)
      • A song for your hip-hop fans
      • Developing world citizens
      • Follow me on Twitter
      • Aquí Estoy Yo: video oficial
      • A new group on my radar
      • Two months later, back to the blogosphere (with a companion)
    •  April (5)
      • A most fantastic performance at Premio Lo Nuestro
      • The heroes speak Español
      • A brilliant pair of songs contrasting por/para
      • Useless grammar I used to teach
      • Adding some links--check 'em out
    •  March (7)
      • Negative commands + culture
      • Winds of change
      • Our students aren't the only ones who have speaking problems!
      • Activity: News interaction (present perfect)
      • A new smash hit with a subjunctive benefit
      • A shout out for Jacob & Joshua
      • El campesino y la princesa (a Spanish 3 story test, with a bit of subjunctive)
    •  February (15)
      • More interactive websites, courtesy of my students
      • A product I love
      • Good stories for commands
      • a story for imperf. vs. pret. and subjunctive influence
      • Interactive websites: practicing house/location/color vocab
      • Subjunctive for doubt: Story, song, activity
      • A good story for 'tiene'
      • A song for subjunctive/nosotros commands
      • A story for demonstratives
      • Rules in a communicative class
      • Cause and effect
      • Relating everything to English
      • A correction on La Frase Tonta
      • Equipping and informing, for free
      • A project based on motivation
    •  January (6)
      • "How much is estuvo de pie?"
      • One more song for subjunctive
      • A couple more subjunctive songs
      • An example of vocab
      • Internet scavenger hunts
      • A Spanish 2 story test
  •  2008 (51)
    •  December (7)
      • Videos from Jesús Adrian Romero
      • Alex Campos's YouTube channel
      • A story test
      • A video for Navidad
      • Great new song for subjunctive
      • ¡Nueva música!
      • A fantastic blog post
    •  November (14)
      • Ever heard of Patito feo?
      • Two groups you just can't go wrong with
      • Things to be thankful for
      • Grammar learning vs. acquisition
      • Forced to give grammar tests?
      • High aptitude is a beautiful thing
      • Another Spanish 1 reading
      • New media list!
      • At the ACSI conference in Dayton
      • Story success: Huevos verdes con jamón
      • Another story source!
      • Words we don't use
      • Song success: Hace tiempo
      • El carro de sus sueños
    •  October (12)
      • Overgeneralizing, again
      • Spanish 2 Story: La llama se llama...
      • Song success: Me voy
      • Not posting lately
      • overgeneralizing
      • The outcome of Pin Pon
      • Pin Pon in Shrek?
      • Best practices
      • Reading in Spanish 3
      • SCORE!
      • My media list
      • Awesome YouTube video
    •  September (18)
      • KWLA '08: Assessing comprehension without English
      • Song success: La llave de mi corazón
      • Spanish 1 Story: Insectos grises para el almuerzo
      • Finding stories
      • How do I find the music?
      • Modeling the billingual lexicon
      • Summaries of some classroom SLA articles
      • Love/Hate Krashen
      • Another article that rocked my world
      • More sunshine
      • When it's not all coming up roses
      • What on earth is going on here?
      • So, what are the cuentos?
      • The verdict on pop test 1
      • People I love
      • A pop test
      • Some assumptions
      • Starting to share my journey

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