World Language Classroom

#152
This is episode 1 in my 2024 summer headspace series. This is a chance to revisit episodes from the previous school year during the summer months when you may have a little extra time. Beginning …

#151
Now that the school year is over hopefully you have a little less on your mind and have a little extra time. This is the perfect time to get into your summer headspace.  What do I mean by that?  …

#150
How often do we stop to reflect on our teaching?  Hopefully we take the time and opportunity to do it regularly so that we are teaching our students as effectively as possible.  In this episode I…

#149
As teachers, and proficient second language speakers,  we have figured out ways to communicate words that we don’t know. We can teach this skill to students early on so that they can begin doing …

#148
What is your understanding of the word proficiency? This is a concept that we use all the time in our language classrooms. How about the word performance? This concept is also becoming more commo…

#147
Throughout the school year I published Leveling Up Coaching episodes with language teachers who are taking on a challenge area in their teaching or simply wanted to improve in a particular area. …

#146
When it comes to providing comprehensible input, is it possible to use authentic resources? In this episode, we explore how to use authentic listening resources as a form of comprehensible input …

#145
In this episode I’m taking on the question of leveling up.  We often talk about proficiency levels and the output that goes along with each level.  We’ll take a look at some concrete examples of …

#144
What do you do with the information that you learn from the assessments that you give students? Even if we are talking about end–of-unit summative assessments we should look at the overall result…

#143
If you’re not a native speaker, how do you maintain your proficiency and confidence in speaking the language that you teach? Today’s episode is a Leveling Up episode, where I coach Stephanie, a m…

#142
How do you address current events with your students? In this episode we take on the topic of current events in the language classroom with Ben Tinsley, a French teacher in Pennsylvania. This is …

#141
What have you heard about language functions? I see this as the idea of using the target language to communicate or convey a message rather than only being able to describe the grammatical struct…

#140
Have you heard of the term “Translanguaging?” In this episode, we are going to explore this emerging concept in language teaching with Dr. Uju Ayna,  an Associate Professor of Second Language Acq…

#139
Do you feel that you provide comprehensible input to your students?  Do you have a solid understanding of how beneficial this is to their language learning? Hopefully you are thinking, yes indeed…

#138
How do you take a unit plan and translate that into daily lessons? Today’s episode is a Leveling Up episode, where I coach Liz, a Spanish teacher in the Northeast of the US. Translating a unit pl…

#137
Are your students confident when speaking the target language in your classroom and with speakers of the language? This is not always easy for students. Building speaking confidence in language l…

#136
Have you ever found yourself in a classroom where the atmosphere was so positive and engaging that you couldn’t help but feel excited about learning? Have you wondered how some language teachers …

#135
In this episode, we talk about pacing in our language classrooms.  How do we determine the amount of time that students should spend on particular activities? Part of this involves when and how t…

#134
Are your speaking activities as communicative as they could be? Are students creating language spontaneously? Today’s episode is a Leveling Up episode, where I coach Stephanie, a Spanish teacher …

#133
How much do you connect the language that you teach with the culture where that language is used? Today, Rabbi Daniel Atwood, a Hebrew teacher in Chicago, joins me to explore this idea in depth. …