Personal development
September 16, 2014
happy birthday, Musicuentos Whew, I’ve been blogging a long time. My blogging birthday passed unnoticed but Musicuentos turned SIX on the first of this month! A lot has changed in six years. My teaching scaled back. My blogging scaled up. A kid came… and another… and another. Whenever people talk about all that’s changed, the […]
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September 4, 2014
It’s been over a year and a half since the last time I attended a conference (and three years since I attended one neither pregnant nor nursing, haha!) but the maternity leave is over! I’m back on the conference schedule for this year and I hope to meet you at one of four conferences. Kentucky […]
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June 3, 2014
Time for you to get feedback?
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For many of you, especially in the southern U.S., this is coming a little too late, but some of you may still be in school and have a chance to do this. If you haven’t thought about surveying your students, it’s a great way for you to get feedback on the one thing that really […]
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May 28, 2014
The Merrillville (IN) High School is hosting me for a professional development workshop and is inviting teachers across the region. Here are the brief details, and you can view the description more in-depth in this flyer. Where: Merrillville High School, Merrillville, IN (near Gary in the greater Chicago region) When: Thursday, June 19, 8:00 A.M. – […]
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May 20, 2014
In the many tasks you’re trying to accomplish, are you doing the best you can? Perhaps a better question is, should you be? Recently someone made a comment to me that made me think about us as teachers, and parents, and coaches, and servants, and how we stress about not being able to do any […]
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May 14, 2014
What if a summer day changed your whole school year for the better? Come join me on Friday, June 27 and see how one day of intense, collaborative curriculum mapping will make your 2014-2015 school year feel easier and smoother and filled with proficiency-based teaching and assessments. I’ll warn you, it’s not going to be […]
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May 13, 2014
If you haven’t heard, you have many amazing professional development opportunities this summer. You can mix with the people who really know TPRS at NTPRS and iFLT. Also, if hands-on collaborative planning is your thing, you do not want to miss at least one of two opportunities to work with fellow teachers on proficiency-based curriculum planning […]
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April 25, 2014
Top 25 Spanish novels
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As a Spanish speaker, I know that if I don’t use the language I get rusty in it, and as a teacher/linguist, I know that after a certain point, most of a person’s new vocabulary is acquired through reading words in context. So I enjoy reading in Spanish for the fun of it and for […]
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April 11, 2014
See you at ACTFL ’14
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I’m pleased to announce that I’m participating in three sessions you’ll see at the annual conference by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Kick the Vocab Quiz This session will offer reasons and strategies for eliminating vocabulary quizzes from your classroom, in the interest of fostering real long-term memory and deep vocabulary […]
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April 4, 2014
If you’re interested in the kind of professional development where: you suggest the topics you vote on the topics it’s no big deal if you don’t show up it can be life-changing when you do show up it grows your personal learning network by leaps and bounds every time if you don’t like the topic […]
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March 13, 2014
Is this the best we can do?
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Last September Martin Lapworth wrote a blog post called “On CI, TPRS, Acquisition, etc. (I so want to believe…)“. As I read it and the comments on it (which, incidentally, include one authored by CI king Stephen Krashen), I found myself asking a question that I’ve felt for a long time is forefront in the […]
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January 6, 2014
If you haven’t subscribed to these blogs yet, get on it! These innovative teachers started blogging in 2013 (or not long before) and are generously sharing their great ideas and advice: 1. Maris Hawkins With Brillante Viernes and game and activity ideas, Maris Hawkins shares what’s shaking things up in her middle school classroom. 2. AmyLenord.net One […]
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