Search Results for "novice"
August 22, 2017
Got a travel unit planned this year? (Who doesn’t?) I love travel, and I love travel units. I don’t care what statistics say about how many of our students will travel. It’s a globalized world, and they should. Getting some language skills before traveling has so many benefits. It shows the world we’re traveling in that we care […]
August 12, 2017
Meet Marisa. She’s a really smart Spanish teacher… at a language school in Madrid. Her blog goes back several years, but it just came on my radar in the past year. It’s called “Aprendiendo español callejeando por Madrid,” y de veras, es una joya. Here in the first resource I’m sharing for #AuthresAugust I present […]
August 5, 2017
Sound off: authentic resources or learner materials? Uau, that’s a can of worms. Most teachers I know would say that the answer is a resounding yes. That is, we use both, and we talk about it, a lot. In fact, in the same week (long ago) that I started drafting this post, Carrie Toth blogged a […]
March 28, 2017
Subtitle: The sheer, incomparable power of making meaning. Other subtitle: Anecdotes from my Russian journey. When I tell people that I’m learning Russian, I get two reactions, one right after the other. First, Wow, that’s neat! Then, Why? I don’t really know how to answer this. Before I started learning it (this time), I didn’t […]
December 30, 2016
Revealing that some themes consistently speak to what we need to hear and want to use, the top Musicuentos post of 2016 was a simple repost of the previous year’s homework choice systems update. The post explains how I incorporate a homework choice system and offers links to see what other teachers do as well. […]
December 28, 2016
Merry day-after-Christmas! We’re almost to the end! The second most popular post of 2016 was also about music – this time, the top 20 songs that have stood the test of time in my class (some more time than others). My students love them! Will yours? Top 20 Songs for Spanish Class I just posted […]
December 21, 2016
We’re up to the third most popular post on Musicuentos for 2016. It’s a post on Five ways to use infographics in language class I’ve often said that infographics are a go-to authentic resource, particularly in novice classes. They are ready-made materials that help you provide input in the visual ways students are increasingly becoming […]
December 8, 2016
It’s December and time to look back at the best of 2016 on the Musicuentos blog! If you missed some posts, never fear – here we begin the top five of what posts people found worthy to read this year. The fifth most popular post of 2016 was published as part of #Authres August and […]
October 28, 2016
What is your all-time favorite, most-used school supply? Your computer? Projector? YouTube? White-board markers? Mine is quite low-tech: sticky notes. I love sticky notes because they come in a ton of colors. Because they come in a ton of sizes. Because they can have lines or no lines, shapes, full sticky back or not. I love sticky notes […]
September 16, 2016
Sometimes, a mildly interesting idea takes root and then morphs into something you never expected. That has happened to me this year, and I cannot contain how excited I am about it. A toe in the PBLL waters At the beginning of this past summer, I was planning for Camp Musicuentos, deciding on what unit […]
August 22, 2016
I just posted about some great newish songs I’ve found, but the majority of songs I use in my classroom are tried-and-true successes from the last 12 years of teaching. The fact is, most new music that comes out, however engaging it might be, is not comprehensible and does not repeat enough to be useful […]
August 15, 2016
My first summer out of grad school, I went to an AP Spanish Language workshop that was generally uninspiring except in one respect: the leader was the first person who connected pop music and pedagogy for me. Now, I wouldn’t be Musicuentos without the música, so let’s go with a music version of #AuthResAugust! Las recientes que […]