Decluttering Your Mind

During the summer, it is important to take some time to detach and unplug. While ideally there would be several hours or even days when you can be unplugged from all devices, even spending an hour or two away can be a great way to recharge.

Teachers all over the world face a similar dilemma: how to regroup during the summer while still taking small steps to prepare for the new school year?

If you are like me, it takes at least a month to get into the non-teaching frame of mind at the end of the school year. We go from a hectic state of mind to a state of calm. But with that comes that uneasy feeling that something remains undone.

On social media #goals is usually shorthand for: “Wow, I’d really like to do that, too.”

We teachers often put so much pressure on ourselves to do more. On top of managing our teaching jobs and personal lives, we are frequently given extra duties and responsibilities at school outside of teaching.

Teachers are leaders within their own classrooms, but we look to our respective leadership figures for inspiration, motivation, and support. Our leaders have the potential to ensure the school culture is a positive, upbeat one in which everyone is given the opportunity to thrive. I have spoken with many educators over the years, and one of the main qualities they look for in their leaders is approachability.

When I started teaching, I used very little target language in my classroom. I struggled with classroom management and the only way I knew to handle it was to speak in English, try to keep students busy with work that I explained in English, and teach vocabulary and structures using English. I was in survival mode and, frankly, I didn’t know any better.

What is the difference between performance and proficiency? There is so much information floating around about proficiency levels and performance descriptors that it can be hard to sort out.

Second language acquisition researchers and world language educators alike agree that providing input in the target language is essential for language learners to be able to produce output in the target language. ACTFL agrees by recommending that 90%+ of classroom instruction takes place in the target language! But what does input look like?

If you are striving to create a proficiency-based classroom this year but are not sure where to start, we are here to help! These quick, low-prep tips will help you embark on your journey to proficiency-based teaching starting on the first day of school.

Between September 15 and October 15, the United States celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, honoring the people of Hispanic origin within the United States.

This month, CASEL and SEL4US (Social Emotional Learning Alliance for the United States) have jointly kicked off their 2021-22 school year SEL Showcase Challenge. The challenge includes monthly goals to inspire educators to make connections between SEL best practices and the tactics they implement in their classrooms.

This past year was one marked by change, loss, and unimaginable hardship. For teachers and students, the ordinary school year as we knew it quickly became a distant memory. Even the classroom looked like an unknown space, with desks and chairs spread far apart.

The demographics of French learners in the United States continue to evolve as we welcome newcomers from around the globe and our population grows more diverse. According to Statista, in 2019 there were over 1.2 million people in the U.S. who speak French at home, and francophone families must make important decisions regarding balancing language use at home and at school.

When I was 18 years old, my mother fell on the ice and developed a brain hemorrhage. As a result, she lost her speech and had to start over again; luckily, it was much quicker to learn the second time around. The doctors described it as the signals from the brain, which usually take the highways to get to their destination, now needed to take the back roads and figure it all out. This analogy helped me understand the situation I found myself in five years later when I became a Latin teacher.

Want to get your students excited to start class? Start by having them join a Jam of the day! When I first started using Jamboard, it felt much clunkier and lagged more than Slides, so I did not use it very often. However, Jamboard has received some significant updates the past few months which has made it more functional than ever.

I have a two-year-old son, and watching him grow, I have discovered there is nothing more fundamental than the process of a child learning to walk. I see four stages to this process, namely supported standing, cruising, staggering, and finally, walking.

Would you rather conjugate verbs in another language or have a conversation with someone who speaks another language? Unless you are a true grammar geek, you prefer communicating.