Plans for the future

-

In the future I plan to post reflections on my teaching experience. I will explore the growth I've experienced in the craft of teaching and areas I would like to continue to grow in. I will share resources and tools I use in the classroom. This a place for me to focus on continually becoming a better language educator and explorer of the cultures, histories, and people of the language I teach.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life-long learning

-
Image
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash   An essential skill in our modern ever changing world is curiosity, the desire to learn and the willingness to adapt. When I was growing up, books and school were my literal windows to the big world outside of my small town. Now our students have the whole wide world quite literally at their fingertips with their phones. If we are able to help foster in them a desire for continual learning and adaptability, we are setting them up for success in a world that is ever changing at a rapid rate.      This week I invited my friend Rachael W. to contribute to my blog and give her personal review of learning Spanish using Duolingo. I invited her because she has been a life-long learner of languages. She might not exactly see it from this perspective if asked but I thought she would have a great perspective on learning languages independently. Throughout her life she has studied a variety of languages, some for school and some for persona...
Read more

Digital Citizenship and Language Learning

-
     As Spanish language teachers, we not only teach linguistic skills but also shape the global citizens of the future. Digital literacy should be considered as crucial as language proficiency. ( Use the link to read more about digital literacy.) Our students are in a unique position of being “digital natives”, we must not only teach them Spanish, but also how to function appropriately and professionally in the digital world they have grown up in. For many students they view this online world as a playground. We must teach them how to foster their digital presence for the betterment of their future. Here are some reasons why it is essential and a few ideas of how we can incorporate it into our classrooms.   Why does it matter? Responsible Digital Citizen      We must cultivate responsible digital citizens . (Use the link to review ITSE's standards for digital citizenship.) We must teach students to respect others' privacy, avoid plagiarism, avoid o...
Read more

About me

-
Image
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash  I have taught Spanish at the High School level for going on 19 years. 18 of those years have been in the same small rural school district where I am 1 of 2 foreign language teachers. I started out very traditional following a textbook and grammar focused. I still remain a grammar lover at heart. I love the patterns and the decoding- the language comparisons of the rules. Over the years I had repeatedly heard my students express their desires to be able to produce and use more of the Spanish language. This lead me to learning more about Comprehensible Input and Acquisition based instruction. I have the continual desire to learn and grow in my craft of education. My goal for my students is the widen their cultural awareness, facilitate growth in their language abilities, and above all else create a safe educational environment without judgement. It can be scary to learn a foreign language and uncomfortable. It is a risk to try pronounce words i...
Read more