Students have tons of language—but when it comes to writing, they need help leveling up and organizing their ideas. At the same time, some don’t feel like they’re learning, and giving meaningful feedback on multi-paragraph writing can be exhausting. Enter: The GREAT Paragraph Project. What started with STAMP ADVANCE training turned into a practical, sustainable shift in how I teach writing—focusing on one strong paragraph, visible growth, and the kind of scaffolding that actually sticks.

Every year I get better at helping students feel safe enough to say, “I don’t get it.” But this year, I’m going even harder—I’m being aggressively supportive. That means making sure students know I will not leave them behind, but they’ve got to speak up, too. From daily reminders to whole-class thank-yous when someone asks for clarification, I’m building a classroom where questions are expected, welcomed, and celebrated.

Faced with a tricky exam schedule and end-of-year chaos, I needed a flexible, meaningful assessment. Inspired by Bertha Delgadillo’s Hexagonal Thinking, I swapped Lit Circles for Lit Hexagons—students created visual webs connecting characters, themes, and concepts from their novels, then used them to present and write about their book. Creative, engaging, and just the right amount of chaos.

In Spanish 4, we’ve been working through the Música Originaria unit from Huellas—and it’s been a total game-changer for how I use video in class. The activities are super easy to implement, but also incredibly effective. I’ve been rethinking old tools (like whiteboards!) and trying out new listening strategies like “7 of 10,” “Which Do You Hear?” and “The Splits.” These quick tweaks have led to deeper listening, better engagement, and some solid language gains—all without reinventing the wheel.

This year, I joined a Peer Observation and Coaching PLC—and even after just one meeting, I’m fired up about what’s possible. We’re exploring what it means to observe not to evaluate, but to learn. Inspired by models like Coaching Circles and guided by the mindset of “Observers as Learners,” our goal is to build trust, share strategies, and grow together. If we can shift school culture toward curiosity and collaboration, observations could become one of the most powerful tools we have for teacher growth.

This year, I’ve had one of the smoothest classes behavior-wise—and while there are lots of reasons for that, I’ve made some intentional changes that I think have helped. From clearer expectations and more structured accountability, to explaining why we do what we do in a comprehension-based classroom, I’m seeing students engage more thoughtfully. In this post, I share how refining my classroom norms, adding content-based assessments (and rethinking them), and breaking down how acquisition works has made my Spanish 4 class feel more focused, more collaborative, and more like school—in the best way.

This morning called for a no-prep miracle, and thankfully, Team Connect 4 came to the rescue. A colleague had sent me a TikTok ages ago, and I finally put it to use: students competed in teams to answer questions and earn spots on a projected Connect 4 board—classic rules, high engagement. With no time to prep questions, I used my go-to trick: “Find the Spanish.” I gave prompts in English, students raced to find the exact Spanish phrase from a past reading (accents and all). Low prep, high payoff.

In Part 3 of my Structured Input series, I’m sharing how I’ve actually used SI principles in my Spanish 4 class—what worked, what I’d change, and how it’s helped me design better multiple choice assessments that still prioritize input. From tweaking test questions to reflect both grammar and meaning, to thinking about how SI can support classrooms tied to textbooks or common assessments, this post is all about bridging theory and practice in a way that feels doable and effective.

In Part 1, I broke down the principles of Input Processing. Now, in Part 2, I’m diving into Structured Input—what it is, how it works, and how to design your own activities that actually get students to process form and meaning. I share examples from my Spanish 4 unit on chocolate (yes, it’s as fun as it sounds), plus tips I’ve picked up from Common Ground and experience—like how to keep meaning at the center, avoid giving away answers, and move from sentence-level input to longer discourse.

After diving deep into Eric Herman’s sessions at the CI Summit, I couldn’t stop thinking about how students can comprehend input without actually processing it. That realization pushed me to explore Structured Input and Input Processing, especially through Common Ground, Farley’s Structured Input, and Herman’s resources. In this post, I break down my current understanding of VanPatten’s Input Processing model—two core principles and their sub-principles—and how they help us design language input that students are more likely to notice and process. Next up: what this looks like in the classroom.

This one’s for the new teachers—and for anyone who still gets nervous about caretaker contact. I used to stress over every email and phone call, but over time, I’ve built a system that sets a positive tone early and keeps the focus where it should be: on student learning. From a start-of-year expectations email (yes, I CC the students!) to asking students to reflect and communicate when they miss the mark, my goal is to make these conversations easier, more collaborative, and centered on growth.

Traditional grammar instruction often follows the PPP model—Present, Practice, Produce—but in a communicative classroom, that sequence can take away from the real goal: understanding and using language meaningfully. That’s where pop-up grammar comes in. Rooted in comprehension and driven by student need, pop-up grammar gives quick, in-the-moment explanations that support meaning without derailing input. In this post, I share how I use it, when to check for understanding, and why it’s helped my students make stronger form-meaning connections—without turning class into a grammar grind.

It’s not a BLT with extra tomato—it’s Task-Based Language Teaching. While I’m no expert, learning from folks like Bill VanPatten and Claudia Fernández has helped me rethink how to make classroom communication purposeful. In this post, I break down what makes something a task (hint: it’s more than just talking), why tasks can boost engagement and input processing, and how I’m starting to weave them into my curriculum—from museum decisions to comment-section debates.

The 2022 ACTFL Convention in Boston was a whirlwind of ideas, inspiration, and connecting with teacher friends—old, new, and formerly-only-online. From unpacking Task-Based Language Teaching with Claudia Fernández to diving into the “why” behind Comprehension-Based Communicative Language Teaching in our SIG meeting, I walked away with more than a few aha moments. This post recaps the sessions that sparked my thinking and the practical takeaways I’m bringing back to my classroom—and maybe yours too.

PQA is a powerful tool for front-loading vocabulary and connecting with students—but keeping everyone engaged can be tricky. Lately, I’ve added a simple shift that’s made a big difference: after asking a few students the same personalized question, I have everyone write down what someone else said. It adds just enough accountability to keep the whole class tuned in and gives me a natural way to recycle input, switch up verb forms, and check for comprehension—all while keeping the vibe personal and purposeful.

Inspired by Eric Richard’s Grafted Writing, I tried a low-prep, high-impact activity that got students reading carefully and writing accurately—with a little competitive twist. Instead of summarizing, students copied specific sentences from a text based on chosen criteria (emotion words, dialogue, etc.). Then, they mingled to see how many classmates picked the same lines—earning a point for each match. It’s a quick way to reinforce form and meaning, and it brought a surprising amount of energy to class.

You know the game Spoons—now imagine it with a Comprehension-Based twist. After hearing students talk about playing Spoons, I started wondering how to adapt it for more meaningful input. The result? Text-Based Spoons. Students pass around cards with questions, vocabulary, or story details—only grabbing a spoon when they’ve found four that are answered by the class text. It’s fast-paced, comprehension-focused, and surprisingly easy to differentiate. Plus, there are already awesome variations from Martina Bex and fellow teachers like Emily—this one’s got legs!

Wednesdays at my new school follow an alternating schedule, which means I needed something flexible—something that keeps the unit momentum going without leaving students behind. Enter: Podcast Wednesdays, inspired by my new department chair. I adapted his approach to include scaffolded listening, class discussion, vocabulary discovery, cultural comparisons, and a wrap-up game using student-generated true/false questions. It’s independent, engaging, and just structured enough to work across staggered sections.

Embedded Readings—texts that build in length and complexity—are a great way to scaffold comprehension, but they also make for an excellent reading assessment tool. By pairing each version of a text with a task aligned to a different proficiency level (Novice Low to Novice High), I can see how far students can stretch. Whether it’s identifying keywords, translating full sentences, or making inferences with text evidence, students show what they understand—and I assess them based on the highest level task they complete successfully.

CardTalk is one of my favorite no-prep ways to get students talking—but there’s rarely enough time to feature everyone’s drawing. This time, I added a simple twist: while students drew, I checked in with each of them to clarify vocabulary, jot down new words on sticky notes, and ensure they’d be ready to share. By the time we regrouped, every student had the language they needed to respond—and every single one answered in Spanish. Personalizing vocab on the fly made all the difference.