Search Results for "novice"
August 5, 2016
Have you thought about adding student choice to spice up your concept of homework and increase student motivation? Have you already been using student choice in homework for years but could use a few new options or a change in assessment system? Here is my kind of prerequisite annual post on options for homework choice. […]
August 3, 2016
For those of you who are still avoiding Twitter to streamline your social media life or for whatever reason (I know you’re out there!) I have good news – you don’t have to join Twitter to leverage it as a resource for your teaching, and WOW what a resource it is. Twitter is tailor-made for comprehensible authentic […]
July 11, 2016
Quiz for you: What percentage of target language use does the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages recommend teachers and students use in the classroom? Almost every teacher I know and work with can answer this question. How could we not when it becomes such a torment for so many? Answer: 90% or higher. […]
June 13, 2016
Here’s a question for your summer: Can you dare to go YONG? At the end of the 2013-2014 school year, I was finishing a seven-year stint at a particular school. In a nutshell, the school had a new administrator that year and had swung from what some might call a little too much chaotic familiarity […]
May 25, 2016
The internet and the calendar (and Allison, Maris, Wendy, Melanie, Valerie, and Megan) say it’s time to confess and reflect. Inspired by a summary of an old #langchat, and then having that inspiration reinforced by these reflective teachers sharing their journey, here is a post more for me than for you. What will – or […]
April 1, 2016
Not for novices, anyway. It’s too hard for them. I’m giving up. They simply cannot navigate them in a meaningful way to provide the comprehensible input necessary for language acquisition, so why even try? I’m buying into what a teacher trainer told me this week: “Authentic language isn’t comprehensible for beginners.” Take this, for example. […]
March 15, 2016
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 used to. They often use bite-sized portions of language and lots of numbers that make them extra comprehensible. And because they are intended for […]
March 12, 2016
A year passing between two versions of the same presentation changes things. That’s even more true when your teaching situation changes. Last year I presented at Central States a session about helping students face a world of incomprehensible input and turn it into the comprehensible input they need for acquisition by teaching circumlocution early and often. […]
February 26, 2016
CAMP MUSICUENTOS IS A WRAP FOR 2016! Thanks everyone for all the learning! Seven days. Three locations. It’s a new year and an all-new format for the collaborative, intense curriculum planning workshop that is Camp Musicuentos. I can’t wait! What’s this about? Camp Musicuentos is a workshop I hold with a limited number of teachers […]
February 24, 2016
In eleven years of lesson planning, I’ve learned to have a healthy fear of one particular word in that process: and. Picture this: Recently I’m working on a lesson plan, and because I’m “behind” and trying to catch up on the syllabus (which I wrote, and can really change anytime I want), here’s what I end […]