Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell
September 19, 2019
One thing at a time: Step Two
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So you want to become a better language teacher, and that’s awesome! You’ve laid a good foundation in getting to know some sound research principles involving how people acquire and learn languages thanks to Steve Smith. Now, it’s time for Step 2. Is the foundation important? Absolutely, it’s critical. But to build on that foundation […]
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September 16, 2019
One thing at a time: Step One
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It’s happened at my Camp Musicuentos workshops. It’s happened in inservice sessions. It’s happened in conference presentations and workshops and on Twitter and in blog comments. It’s the big question that many preservice, new, and second-profession teachers ask: I want to be a great language teacher and do all this curriculum stuff and teach all […]
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September 2, 2019
What’s the most powerful use of your voice in the classroom? That’s a question that Justin Slocum Bailey (BlackBox videocast creator extraordinaire!) asked and answered on the most recent episode of WeTeachLang, an excellent podcast for hearing diverse perspectives of language teachers. I highly recommend you listen to it, but I was inspired to blog […]
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August 27, 2019
Can novice Spanish learners understand authentic poems? That was the question asked, quite appropriately, through the Ñandutí listserv, an email list from the Center for Applied Linguistics that serves primarily educators working with elementary learners. The answers were so helpful that I wanted to share them here. First, check out the very rich list of poems […]
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August 22, 2019
Sometimes, our brains don’t just need a break, we need physical movement to wake us up and get us thinking. Says who? Well, John Medina says it’s Rule #1. So let’s get moving. Dance to “In the Jungle” It turns out the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” really does have its roots in Africa, and […]
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August 19, 2019
Supercharge a “News” unit
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And now, for the nightly news. For students approaching or solidly sitting in Intermediate Land, a unit focused on news reporting can add some real power to world language class. Consider what pops up in the news: high-interest stories (engagement!) narration interviews (multiple voices!) culture (practices + perspectives!) the perfect tenses (“17 people have gotten sick […]
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August 6, 2019
If you asked me about the most frequent dilemma questions I get/see in professional interactions, including teacher development communities, workshops, social media, and email, this would have to be way up there: What am I supposed to do about this PBL thing? Rewind please… You probably know this, but for clarity’s sake, let’s do a […]
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August 3, 2019
Brain Break: Play 5 Second Rule!
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Given the wall of text that was my reflections on myself as beginning teacher, I thought I’d follow up with a quick idea you can take and use right away. I love the ideas flying around everywhere for brain breaks over the last couple of years. I even attended part of a conference session last year […]
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August 1, 2019
For a teacher, opening old files is like opening an old photo album. You’re flooded with memories, and also reflections on what went wrong and what went right: Why did I let my mom talk me into that perm? Stirrup pants with winter boots! When are those coming back? If I had real friends, they […]
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June 1, 2019
The assessments are given and graded, the farewells made, the photographs taken, the materials packed away, and it’s time to sign off, from school, yes – but from what else? This will be my third summer (mostly) taking the months of June and July as an opportunity to go quiet on the blog, to prepare […]
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May 30, 2019
I’m about to let you in on a well-kept secret. (clears throat) I love textbooks. You read that right- I truly do. And the more worksheets, the better. I love grammar exercises, finding the patterns and replicating them, filling in all the blanks. That is, I love them for me. Because I’m a grammarian, a linguist, an analytic learner […]
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May 21, 2019
You teach, you input, you provide experiences, you assess, you re-assess, you plan and prepare and teach again. At some point, I think we all wonder deep down – what if someone else were assessing them? What would the results be? Not here to #showyoumine I’m adamantly against such middle school showmanship reflected in tactics […]
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