Personal development
January 3, 2014
After you’ve decided which research-based book to read, how about resolving to collaborate with another teacher on something? My second suggestion for a 2014 resolution is: 2. Collaborate with another teacher on a project. One of my mottos is that collaboration is the 21st-century skill. Wow, what a wide world is opened to us now! My […]
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January 1, 2014
2014 Resolutions #1: Read a book
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Last year I blogged a popular post called 5 New Year’s Resolutions for Every WL Teacher and in it I suggested that WL teachers: Speak more target language in the classroom. Get students speaking more target language in the classroom. Target students’ particular needs. Try something new. Share what you’ve learned. The post earned such […]
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December 30, 2013
The reaction to my post titled Top 3 Mistakes Teachers of Novices Make startled me to say the least. The ACTFL TOY called it a “must read.” My blog traffic jumped 600% in one day. It’s been accessed twice as much as the next most popular post in the last six months. Something here resonated […]
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October 2, 2013
Book review: Teach Like A Pirate
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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 […]
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April 19, 2013
Why I love mistakes
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I love mistakes. Not because they give me a chance to point out the grammar. Not because I get to circle something in red pen. Not because I can recast it and see if they notice the correction. No, I love mistakes because I’m a second language acquisition nerd and mistakes give me a change […]
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April 13, 2013
This post is a comment that will be published in an upcoming article on 21st century skills and assessment in The Language Educator, the bimonthly publication of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Multiple choice was the death of critical thinking. Multiple choice questions train students to look at problems in one […]
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April 4, 2013
300 times thank you
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This may look like an ordinary post, but it’s not. Look closer. This is what 300 blog posts looks like! Not very long ago I tweeted my 10,000th tweet: “10,000 bricks down the yellow brick road and no Oz in sight. Turns out the journey IS Oz.” Who needs an audience? I remember when I first started […]
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March 22, 2013
Last tips on avoiding burnout
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This is the last set of tips to avoid burning out in communicative teaching. Check out “Burning out or burning bright?,” “More tips on avoiding burnout,” “Still more tips on avoiding burnout,” and “Even more tips on avoiding burnout” for more help on how to stay sane and effective at the same time. Stop looking […]
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March 15, 2013
This is the fourth set of tips to avoid burning out in communicative teaching. Check out “Burning out or burning bright?,” “More tips on avoiding burnout,” and “Still more tips on avoiding burnout” for more help on how to stay sane and effective at the same time. Organize your bookmarks. A few weeks ago our […]
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March 8, 2013
This is the third set of tips to avoid burning out in communicative teaching. Check out “Burning out or burning bright?” and “More tips on avoiding burnout” for more help on how to stay sane and effective at the same time. Develop a strong personal learning community. I can’t handle too much social networking. I’ve […]
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March 1, 2013
More tips on avoiding burnout
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This is the second post in a series on tips to avoid burnout. See “Burning out or burning bright?” and continue to check back on Fridays for more tips on how to stay sane and effective at the same time. Abandon perfectionism. I’ve found that teachers tend to have a perfectionist personality (raising my hand […]
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February 25, 2013
Recently the topic for the weekly Twitter chat addressing world language teaching issues, #langchat, was the role of the textbook in the classroom. Teachers on Twitter just seem naturally more progressive to me anyway, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how many teachers are working to break their chains to the textbook. What’s wrong […]
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