February 9, 2015
Preservice world language teachers are asking experienced teachers questions they’d like to hear about from the trenches. To find out more about what #Teach2Teach is, see here for an explanation of how it came about, and what the questions are, or how to submit your own question if you’re a teacher in training or a […]
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February 3, 2015
Pronunciation gold: Forvo.com
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If you haven’t found this resource yet, let me introduce you to Forvo, where you and your students will find close to three million pronunciations of almost as many words in 324 languages. I’m a teacher of a language with very specific pronunciation rules (Spanish) and I have a pretty deep knowledge of how (and […]
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January 30, 2015
For the original myths post, click here. You can also view all of the myths posts. This, my eleventh post on myths I believe make us ineffective in the world language classroom, is about saying we’re assessing something without actually asking students to do it. 11. A multiple-choice question counts as a valid assessment of […]
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January 27, 2015
If you love to incorporate authentic resources into all levels, you know that there are two major problems with doing so. 1) It takes a lot of time to find the right resource. 2) Using many resources in novice classes can be problematic because of how much scaffolding you may have to do to make […]
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January 22, 2015
What’s the number one problem in world language teaching? I’d be super interested to hear your answer. After careful thought, here’s mine: Teacher Training Programs I have the great privilege of communicating with a lot of world language teachers, which is a huge change from where I was just ten years ago, where I’m not […]
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January 19, 2015
It’s always exciting for me to announce a resource release! Today on the blog and on my Teachers Pay Teachers store I’m releasing a new FREE resource as I explore developing communicative games. My students enjoyed using a Battleship game format to practice accurate repetitions of forms of ser and estar, so I decided to […]
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January 14, 2015
My first two suggestions for resolutions for 2015 were intended to push for a more positive note in world language teaching in 2015: for us to stop beating ourselves up when things don’t go exactly according to plan, and for us to act like we’re on the same team with the same goals, instead of […]
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January 10, 2015
Here’s another trend I’d like us all to resolve to change this year (the first was to stop beating ourselves up thinking our students’ learning is entirely up to us). If you don’t participate in a listserv (which is like being on an email list with a bunch of other teachers) or a Twitter chat (WHY NOT?!?!) […]
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January 5, 2015
Happy New Year, Musicuentos readers and language teachers everywhere! It’s that time of year we all like to step back and think about areas we can change or improve in the year ahead. I’ve been enjoying the #oneword posts I’ve seen (especially Laura’s one on less) from teachers choosing a word to guide their 2015. […]
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December 31, 2014
And so we end the 2014 Musicuentos Book Club with a biography and an autobiography, both carrying a challenge: What do you believe, and what will you do with it? George Müller: Delighted in God We throw around phrases like “my prayers are with you” and “you’re in my thoughts and prayers.” What are your […]
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December 30, 2014
It wasn’t even close. My post on the biggest mistake we make (and are pushed in so many ways to make) as language teachers was hit more than 40% more than the #2 post. We know we’re covering too much content, and we’re tired of being told that’s the right thing to do. Oh- and HAPPY […]
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December 28, 2014
Still going out of order, here’s the final installment in the TPRS trilogy that forms three of the top ten posts of 2014. After this post you’ll see the top post of 2014 and that will wrap up the year for Musicuentos. This one hit at #6, but was the last of the three TPRS […]
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