If you’ve ever seen a demonstration of modified MovieTalk and fallen head over heels for it, tried it, and then wondered what to do next, this post is for you. But first, in case you’re new to the idea… What is a MovieTalk? Technically, as Elisabeth at SpanishMama writes in her excellent beginner’s guide to […]
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 […]
Rabbit trails aren’t always a bad thing. Sometimes they turn out to be the yellow brick road with the Emerald City at the end. Here’s the one I hit today: I subscribe to Richard Byrne’s Practical Ed Tech blog’s Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week. Weekly, I get Richard’s great tip of the week […]
I love networking with great people. Not only is it how I figure out answers to what I’m doing wrong, it’s also where I get the best tips on new tech tools that will simplify my life without further stressing me out. This tool is a great example. I was talking to Thomas Sauer at […]
Here’s a fun video that features an animal (gato), narration in present, and talking about wants and feelings. I don’t know the source of the song, but the video was made by a Spanish student who heard it in his class. Proficiency goals as you show this video: Narration in present Talking about feelings Talking […]
Every once in a while there comes along an authentic resource that’s the golden trifecta, the perfect mix of pop culture, TL culture, and usability for any level of language learning. The Pin Pon clip in Shrek is one of those. It’s so good that I feel inclined to repost it to give it to […]
This is what your students are hearing. Comprehensible input is the key! Make sure you’re giving your students lots of input, but it’s at least as important to make sure that they’re understanding what you’re saying.
Imperfect and preterite are terms you will almost never hear in my classroom. Instead, when we focus on narrating in the past, we use phrases like descriptive past and sudden past. In my opinion, that’s the best way in my opinion to contrast them. The trick with putting them together is to get students to use one when they’re […]
The word ojalá finds its roots in Arabic, meaning “May allah grant that.” In Spanish it’s always followed by subjunctive, and here are two songs to help work with that. The first is with present, Ojalá que llueva café, by Juan Luis Guerra. It’s one of those songs that can lead you in a hundred different […]
This is a special post out to Tati, amazing bilingual mami blogger at WannaJugarWithMigo. I caught this song just the other day and I LOVE it! It’s a Christian song (I teach at a Christian school). Well, most of my high-schoolers were not as impressed as I was, but it’ll be fun to teach to […]
David Bisbal is all over the music news lately for his whirlwind promotion of his new album, Sin Mirar Atrás (and it doesn’t hurt that his esposa Elena is expecting a little princesita). To stay up-to-date on what he’s doing these days, follow him on Twitter @davidbisbal and check out his muy chévere YouTube channel. […]