textbook
March 14, 2017
You want to include more authentic videos in your class. The question becomes, what do you do with a TL video? Now, there have been several great posts offering options of activities to use with authentic video, like this one from Spanish Playground or this one from Bryan Kandel. My post, in particular, along with my […]
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December 6, 2016
I tell you what, I’ll not be terribly sad to see 2016 go. It’s been a tough one. How would I label this year? It’s been- The Year of Confused– about my teacher and professional identity. The Year of Bridges Burned– when I stopped being an island I discovered this: When people discover I get it […]
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November 19, 2016
News flash: Textbooks are not the enemy. Faulty reasoning for evaluating the universe of language teaching activities that are out there, in print, online, passed out in sessions- that is the enemy. So whether you’re evaluating an activity I’ve shared or one you’ve seen on the authentic resources activity collaboration or one in your textbook, see if […]
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November 16, 2015
Love the textbook or hate it? Convinced you can’t teach well unless you pitch that textbook in the trash? Convinced you can’t teach without it or you’ll lose your sanity? Wherever you fall, if a textbook is a tool in your classroom, this post is for you. Note that I believe a textbook is just […]
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October 16, 2015
Here at TFLA, as I do at many workshops and sessions, I’ll be asking participants to share their ideas, creativity, and lessons learned with those who aren’t able to be here. Most frequently I invite them to do that via Google Drive. I have discovered, however, that not everyone is familiar with how to share […]
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April 6, 2015
What do you do when you’re being forced into a textbook adoption that’s stifling the creative community in your school? Sometimes you turn to someone with a generally poor opinion of textbooks for advice. One of my favorite parts of doing what I do is the conversations I get to watch and sometimes even facilitate. […]
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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 9, 2014
It’s time for the 8th most popular post of 2014, which was the second in a two-part series, and it just so happens that the 4th most popular post of the year was the first part in the series. Since it makes sense to read them in order, I’m offering them both to you here. […]
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April 9, 2014
Textbooks can be really helpful. Yes, I did say that. They can give you structure and ideas. They can facilitate communication among you, parents, and schools. They can provide you with assessments, sometimes good ones. Sorry, I still don’t like them. I don’t like doing extra work any more than you do, but I still […]
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March 20, 2014
I’ve been told several times recently that the concept of planning your own curriculum is all well and good, but where do you start? What steps do you take? Now that I’ve been textbook-free for five years, I’ve refined my own process to the following steps. Before school starts If you think you have to […]
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January 7, 2014
If you’ve read me long, you’ve heard it before – no matter how good the textbook is, at least in my experience, it’s never motivated students past September, and it’s out of date as soon as it’s printed. Of course there are lots of other arguments – artificial order, ridiculously expensive supplements, faulty companion assessments, […]
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May 7, 2013
Once upon a time there was a teacher who knew that the textbook just wasn’t fostering proficiency in her students but she didn’t know what to do differently. One day, she attended a short workshop on storytelling that changed her life. Jeffrey the martian penguin and Garfield and Paco the cowboy who bought the horse […]
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