June recap

I am back from my vacation, and boy, did a lot of stuff happen!  My favorite PD- EdCampCIVa- just happened last Wednesday, and I am still feeling inspired!  I will be writing a recap of that event soon.  In the meantime, I wanted to share some of my favorite posts and news that happened these past few weeks.

First, did you see the announcement that Flipgrid is now free?!  Flipgrid was acquired by Microsoft, and so now ALL users can have all of the same features for free.  They are also rolling out some changes at their Flipgrid Live event later in the summer.  Next year, I plan on continuing the Flipgrids where all students can collaborate.

Stacey has kept producing amazing content with the We Teach Languages podcast.  If you haven’t listened to some of the most recent episodes, I encourage you to download some- especially before a long road trip!  Also, I have been helping Stacey make the mid week newsletter.  That has a lot of updates from previous guests and reactions from others.  Think of it as a modified Brillante Viernes post- but on Wednesday! 🙂

Also, if you didn’t see it, I wrote a post on Secondary Spanish Space about how to include authentic resources with novels this week!  When they contacted me to write it, I wanted to look around and say “who me?!”  But I guess if someone contacts you directly- they are talking to you.  As I start to find what my own voice sounds like in FL education, I know that I straddle both lines- using CI, authentic resources, and IPAs.  I feel that at times, they can be pitted against each other, but I don’t feel that has to be the case.  This post captures a lot of what I do in my classroom to manage both.

As far as other posts, make sure to check out:

• Rebecca’s recap on MOPI (I need to go to a MOPI training soon!)
• Emily’s bright spots post was wonderful!
• Check out Marc’s new blog (and one of my favorite posts that he has done!)
• And Laura’s post about community partners.  I loved her podcast on Inspired Proficiency and it made me think of ways to include more groups in our community.

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Brillante Viernes: June 8, 2018

Happy Friday!  It has been a busy week filled with graduation, grading final IPAs and packing up my room.  We are also working on EdCampCIVa which is at the end of the month!  There is still plenty of space, so sign up soon!  We still have a few new twists that we are adding to improve the experience for everyone attending.

With that being said, I am going to take some time off posting AS regularly on the summer.  I still have some projects that I want to work on over the summer.  I want to dedicate some time to those.  I will still pop up here with some brillante posts and reflections and revelations about what I am doing… but don’t worry if you don’t see a post from me in awhile!  I will definitely still be tweeting and on Facebook as well.  Here are some of my favorite end of the year posts:

• I love this post on how to plan for the summer to accomplish things and feel rejuvenated.
• Check out Sara-Elizabeth’s post for the year of the podcast!
• I love Señor Fernie’s reflection on micromanaging and his final projects.
• If you are still going strong, check out Kara’s post on La Copa Mundial and Zachary Jones’ Billetes activity.

And from me…

• Quizizz for exam review
• End of the year evaluation
• My summer list is still the same… (and four years later, my boy still naps!)

Brillante Viernes: June 1, 2018

Happy Friday!  Whew!  It has been a long week!  Yesterday was one of those feet swollen in my flats and driving home barefoot type of day!  My Spanish II class has their exam tomorrow, and my other classes are done with their IPAs.  We are done today except for exams (and they don’t have one in a FL!)  I look forward to some down time next week.  Many teachers are on break, but there are still some awesome blog posts coming out!

• If you are reading a novel now, check out Allison’s post on 20 activities for any book.
• Looking for a fun (and quiet!) activity at the end of the year?  Check out Teléfono!  (It can be used in any language!)
• Secondary Spanish Space has you covered for free PD this summer.
• This is a new to me blog and I am adding this idea to my novel study next year!

From my blog…

• My evolution to how I started using IPAs
• When I gave a more traditional exam, this is how I included options

Brillante Viernes: May 25, 2018

Happy Friday!!  (And perhaps last day of school for some teachers?!)  We still have two more weeks then a few days of teacher meetings. Even when I think I have everything under control, I feel like May seems even busier than all of the other months.  All of my classes are finishing up their IPAs.  Spanish I has been really great to reflect about how far they have come.  If you are out of school or still have a month left, here are some posts that will help you get through the month or plan for next year:

• Martina collected a great list of how to plan a weekend chat!  (Or to spice it up if you have tried some different ways already!  This was my students’ favorite this year!)
• Love this list of how to prepare for the exam!  Sometimes it can be hard to prepare to take an IPA, but students like to feel prepared.  This meets them in the middle!
• Next year, I want to do more flexible seating, so I appreciated this reflection.
• I love the honesty in this post by Cecile.

Flashback to all of my previous posts:

• How I help my own students prepare for an IPA
• 10 confessions that are still pretty much all true!
• Tic-tac-toe reading activity
• Prince Royce: Corazón sin cara  (my students loved that this year!)

Brillante Viernes: May 18, 2018

Happy Friday!  It has been a LONG week with a trip up to NYC to celebrate my husband’s graduation from Columbia!  (And he got to walk on stage with our son- picture above!  It was the cutest thing ever!)  However, it was wonderful and we are so proud of all of his work.  Now, I am back and trying to finish the year strong!  Here are some great posts to help you throughout the rest of the year:

• I love these ideas from Colleen on Sketch, Share, Listen and Repeat.
• Also, here are some ideas from Secondary Spanish Space to get you through the last weeks of class!
• Martina also has you covered for the end of the year!  (And check out her series with Mira about leveled novels- which is so important as especially Spanish teachers have so many choices now!)
• I am going to steal all of these ideas from Samara to build empathy in my class next year.

Also- here are my ideas from the past years:

• Evolution of how I use music in my class
• Authentic resource of a Chilean department store
• Sentence picture activity
• If you do not subscribe to CASLS Intercom, get on it!

Brillante Viernes: May 11, 2018

Happy Friday!  It has been a full week- and I was so lucky that the Flipgrid Bus Tour stopped at my school.  It was fascinating to meet them (and made me MORE obsessed with them than I was previously!)  Charlie discussed the importance of the Flipgrid community and how much time and love that they have poured into the Flipgrid teacher community.  I know that everyone who uses it agrees at how appreciated and supported that they feel by Flipgrid.

Also, this is the week that I start to get a little teary eyed.  It is the seniors’ last class on Monday, and this year, I was especially blessed to teach many of them as seniors.  For some of them, I taught them in 7th and 8th grade (when I was pregnant!) then got to teach them again as seniors.  I can’t express how much my heart swells when I think about their growth if I have taught them for one year or have known them for 6 years.  I continue to think of how blessed I have felt to be a part of their lives.

I still have a few weeks left with my underclassmen, and I am determined to make the most of them.  Here are some of my favorite posts to help me do so:

• Cynthia shared some great new ideas to use with novels.  I am going to use the first one tomorrow!
• Need a new way to play flyswatter?  Check out Sara-Elizabeth’s post!
• I have mentioned how much I love Google Forms– and now Google is adding some awesome features!
• And finally, we ALL need this reminder at the end of the year.  And it is TRUE!

 

Brillante Viernes: May 4, 2018

Whew!  Friday in May is exhausting for everyone!  I traveled to Lexington to the gorgeous campus of Washington and Lee to record an interactive webinar Thursday evening.  Thank you SO much to everyone who watched and I will share the video and some of my additional resources soon.  I am excited for the first Maryland CI meet-up on Saturday, and I am hoping to facilitate some more in the coming months.  And, I will need some naps after all of this!  In the meantime, here are some of my favorite posts from this week:

• Check out Martina’s list of brain breaks!
• Make sure you have time soon to listen to episode 7 of Inspired Proficiency.
• This looks like an amazing end of the year fiesta PBL!
• Also, World Cup songs are always some of my favorites (and I still use them in class!) Kara has already published some resources on them!
• And while we are getting ready for summer, check out Matt’s list of summer reading books.

And now… a flashback to my blog!

• Last year, I learned more about Lead with Languages.  Check out their website if you haven’t yet.
• Ironically, I am playing Goosechase again today!
• How I made audio QR codes
• Developing presentational writing
• Interpersonal speaking and presentational writing activity
• Reflecting on the fishbowl activity
• A fun end of class activity

Also, I wanted to publish my presentation from yesterday here, and add a few links that I had mentioned for everyone who attended:

I hope that I remember them all, so here we go!

• Here is my post on GimKit to explain how it works
• The Spanish EdPuzzle database
• The MovieTalk database (that can be used for all languages)
• And a longer explanation of MovieTalk if you want to know more!
• Spanish 2 Flipgrid and Spanish 1 Flipgrid
• Laura’s Flipgrid for novice listening
• I mentioned how I start my class with Story Listening which is completely non-tech (other than showing the video at the end!)  This is one way that I start class- story listening with scripts from Kara!
• More of an explanation why I ditched my bellringer and I discuss a bit more on the Inspired Proficiency podcast episode 6
• More of my tips on teaching with technology
• And also two other places where I blog: edcampCIVa (Which I hope people who watched the webinar will attend!) and Path2Proficiency

Whew!  I think that is it!  Let me know if I missed anything that I mentioned or you want to know more.

Brillante Viernes: April 27, 2018

Happy Friday!  Whew!  Spring is always so busy.  Martina made an exciting announcement that we are collaborating next year on El Mundo en Tus Manos!  (Also you have until the end of the month for a discounted price!)  Over on the edcampCIVa blog, I published a list of post reading activities to do with novels.  Also, this Saturday, I am so excited to present at GWATFL!  You can still sign up and check out my presentation if you missed it earlier this week.  I am also planning for my FLAVA webinar this coming Thursday.  In other news, here are some of the other blogs that have been inspiring me this week:

• Sara-Elizabeth talks about our obsession with high-frequency words and how to cure it.
• Over on Carrie’s blog, she has been blogging up a storm!  As many teachers turn away from traditional textbooks, it is helpful to see the scope and sequence of other schools.
• Bethanie shares some great ways to revamp the school unit!
• I just discovered this blog recently- but I love this post of center activities based around an authentic resource.
• Also, my friends and family know that I love my Sunday night power night from Ink and Volt, but this list post will probably also change my life!

And now previous posts from my own blog:

• My tech tools presentation from last year’s GWATFL conference!
• Reflections on presentational speaking
• Writing a technology story based on the vocabulary in our textbook
• Novice food authentic resources

Brillante Viernes: April 20, 2018

Happy Friday!  I hope that you have had a great week as spring is in full bloom and school is winding down.  I was so excited to be on Ashley’s Inspired Proficiency podcast this week!  I have been loving binge listening recently, and I am so excited about all of the new foreign language podcasts.  I have been discussing this fully on here and Twitter, but GimKit has been wonderful to play this year.  You should definitely check it out as it is perfect to use now to spice up your class.  Here are some of the other blog posts to help you continue:

• Check out Laura’s post on rubrics to reflect on your own rubrics.
• Retakes have been successful for me.  Read Elizabeth’s take on retakes in the standards based grading classroom.
• Tips and great resources from Carrie to finish the year strong!
• Also check out Sarah Breckley’s amazing new vlog to give you more ideas for your class!
• I have been prioritizing spending time on Sunday night to prepare for the upcoming week.  I love these ideas as well to inject into my routine.

And for my other blog posts from previous years:

• Triventy is another fun game to try to spice things up at the end of the year.
• My mentor teacher! (And what makes a great mentor teacher!)
• An eating and drinking question/answer match-up activity
• Reflection questions for students to answer to prepare for parent-teacher conferences

Brillante Viernes: April 13, 2018

Whew!  This was a week!  It had its fair share of highs- we had an amazing trip to the National Gallery of Art.  This year we arranged a Spanish-speaking tour guide and she asked our students a lot of questions.  I could see that some of the students were surprised that a native speaker- who was not their teacher- could understand them.  Also, we had an AMAZING speaker come on Thursday- Michelle Poler who faced her fears over 100 days.  Not only was she extremely motivational, I was so happy that we brought a strong Latina woman to talk to our students.  Also, my Spanish I students did a WONDERFUL job on their interpersonal speaking assessment.  Some of them are really starting to expand their answers.  (I think that Tina’s speaking game that she mentioned in CI Liftoff helped!)

However, I have been battling with allergies, so I wake up feeling a bit under the weather.  And I had some issues with my car battery, but I got to spend some time with a colleague that I haven’t spent time with before.  I may have even gotten a guest speaker for my class too!  (More on that later!)  With all of that being said, I am exhausted and looking forward to this weekend and spring weather!

Here are some of my favorite posts from the week:

• Every language teacher should read Martina’s musings on grammar instruction with Paul Toth.
• Share some #snapthoughts with Laura! I shared some on my Facebook page, and I think it will be fun to participate.
• I love this message from Becky Moulton for the end of the year.
• Check out this post for a unit on Colombia!

And now for previous posts from me:

• Some authres on YouTube
• My NOT to do when switching to proficiency
• An example of my interpretive reading activity
• Seven brain breaks for the classroom in the TL
• Write and pass warm-up or exit ticket