I have tried an failed over the years to incorporate a PAT(Preferred Activity Time) point system. In brief, a PAT point system awards a class with points to earn some sort of prize. I’ve tried giving points for staying in the Target Language, but that ended up being too much running back and forth withContinue reading “Developing a PAT system”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Cultural interaction!
I’m not sure if I’ve talked about it in detail or not, but I’m currently working on my Master’s through Michigan State. Currently I’m taking a class on teaching culture in the language classroom. We’ve covered some challenging concepts, and I’ve had to think a lot about the preconceived notions I have of people thatContinue reading “Cultural interaction!”
Observe, Support, Grow
In my PLCs we do a lot of teacher coaching. I was trained as a coach last year at iFLT (International Forum for Language Teaching) in Denver. It was a great experience, and I’ll be going to the training again this summer when iFLT is held in Cincinnati.
Basically our set up is: One teacher, one coach, a row of chairs for ‘students'(other teachers usually) and a row of observers. Teachers teach, students are the most perfect angels that they can be and are focused on learning, and the observers watch the teacher interact with the students.
Book Discussion: Social by Matthew D. Lieberman
I’ve been reading the book Social by Matthew D. Lieberman. It is a book recommended by the great Bryce Hedstrom. I’ve had the book on my bookshelf for a while and decided to dive back into it. General thoughts are that it is an enjoyable, easy read with a lot of anecdotal, and scientific evidenceContinue reading “Book Discussion: Social by Matthew D. Lieberman”
My Plan B
I got a lot of inspiration from Martina Bex’s Plan BÂ to do my own Plan B. But I also had to think about a lot to make sure that Plan B was still doing SOMETHING for students. I gotta give it to Martina, Plan B is a LOT of work. But I think I haveContinue reading “My Plan B”
Teaching Interculturally in All Classes
We live in a global society, almost every aspect of our lives have some international connection. Whether students realize it or not, they are part of something bigger than their own communities, and will be more so in the not too distant future.
Trying: A Support System
As educators we get to choose who we learn from and grow with. As Rita Pierson says “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like”. Same goes for educators, and thankfully I love these guys and the lessons they give me.
When the wild GooseChase pays off
So many ideas are running through my head! I was introduced to GooseChaseEDUÂ by the wonderful Leslie Philips of our Indiana TCI collaboration group back in December. I thought that it looked interesting when Leslie told us about it, but I hadn’t gotten around to actually trying it in class. But, Y’all. It was so muchContinue reading “When the wild GooseChase pays off”
Dictogloss+MovieTalk=?
Ok, so I’ve been playing around with this idea of mixing the idea of Dictogloss with MovieTalk to make a “cooperative” activity. But what’s Dictogloss? Dictogloss is a focus on form activity that goes something like this: 1. Teacher reads a short passage, about 200 words or so, to the students at a slower thanContinue reading “Dictogloss+MovieTalk=?”
Languageley 