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Content Type: 1
Title: Brain Break Activities
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From http://todallycomprehensiblelatin.blogspot.com
Here are a few no- to low-prep brain break activities that can be used for any language: http://todallycomprehensiblelatin.blogspot.com/2018/10/more-brain-breaks-truefalse-headstails.html
Source: Todally Comprehensible Latin
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Content Type: 1
Title: The Etymology of Words and Their Surprising Histories
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From https://www.thoughtco.com
In this article you will read about the differences between a definition and an etymology and the reasons why we should care about the history of words and how it could help us deduce the meanings of unfamiliar words, thereby enriching our vocabularies. You will also read about the different processes of word formation.
To read the full article visit https://www.thoughtco.com/etymology-word-stories-1692654
Source: ThoughtCo
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Content Type: 1
Title: 17 Reps to Build Vocabulary Muscles
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From https://www.thoughtco.com
In this article read how teachers can help students build vocabulary muscles through repetitions. However, doing the same activity over and over will not help the brain develop the necessary new neural connections. Teachers should expose students to the same vocabulary words in a variety of ways: visual, audio, tactile, kinesthetic, graphically, and orally.
To read more about the seventeen ways of building vocabulary visit https://www.thoughtco.com/vocabulary-reps-4135612
Source: ThoughtCo
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Content Type: 1
Title: What Not to Say to Someone Who Stammers
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From https://elt-resourceful.com
In this article read about a lesson plan designed by Rachel Roberts especially for teaching students what to say and not to say to someone who stammers (stutters).
To read more about the lesson plan and to access it visit https://elt-resourceful.com/2018/10/22/what-not-to-say-to-someone-who-stammers/
Source: elt-resourceful
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Content Type: 1
Title: Bilingual Education Prepares Children for a Multicultural World
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From https://www.educationdive.com
In this article by Jeannette Acevedo-Isenberg, read about the benefits of early second language learning and how bilingualism broadens a child’s cognitive control, allowing for improvements in subjects like science, enhancements in problem-solving skills and increases in spatial abilities. In this article you will also read why schools should recognize the importance of bilingual education and strive to be a place where students can fully comprehend and enjoy the languages they are studying.
To read the full article visit https://www.educationdive.com/news/bilingual-education-prepares-children-for-a-multicultural-world/539779/
Source: Education DIVE
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Content Type: 1
Title: Halloween Monsters!
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From https://senorfernie.wordpress.com
Since Halloween is close, one fun activity teachers can do in their classes is creating class monsters. In this article read how this teacher is engaging his younger elementary students creating class monsters. You can adapt this idea in your language classroom to discuss how a Halloween monster might look.
For more information visit https://senorfernie.wordpress.com/2018/10/24/halloween-monsters/
Source: Senor Fernie
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Content Type: 1
Title: A French Teacher’s Favorite Tools So Far This Year
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From http://www.thefrenchcorner.net
In this article by Samantha Decker, read about her experience using technology in the classroom, and how she uses online tools for assessing her students such as GimKit, Quizlet Live, and Canvas.
To read the full article visit http://www.thefrenchcorner.net/2018/10/what-im-loving-so-far-this-year.html
Source: The French Corner
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Title: Blind Drawing to Assess Students’ Listening Comprehension
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From https://cecilelaine.wordpress.com
Blind drawing is a fun activity to assess students’ listening comprehension. In this article, read how this French teacher enjoys a good blind drawing session with language learners, and also have access to a blind drawing activity about Halloween.
To read how it’s done visit https://cecilelaine.wordpress.com/2018/10/25/blind-drawing-a-fun-activity-to-assess-students-listening-comprehension/
Source: Cecile Laine
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Content Type: 4
Title: Developing a Peer Observation Tool that Celebrates Strength and Promotes Growth
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This week’s Activity of the Week provides guidance to teachers and departments wishing to develop a peer observation tool, either to engage in a critical friends protocol or to facilitate interactions in a Professional Learning Community (PLC).
Procedure
- Meet as a pair or team, whichever is relevant to your context, to establish goals and expectations for your peer observations (frequency, duration, deliverables). For each round of observations, we recommend that each person involved be observed a minimum of two times, that each observation last a minimum of twenty minutes, and that you follow up each observation with a meeting to debrief.
- Identify positive characteristics you wish to look for while you are observing one another. These characteristics will likely be chosen as you engage in Step 1. You may want to work within the 23 Artisan Teacher Themes, a state or department evaluation system that already exists, or within a national set of practices such as the ACTFL Core Practices for World Language Learning.
- Develop a three-part handout. In the first section, make a check list of all of the themes and practices you want to observe within the framework you have selected.
- In the second section, make a space to list the observations that you have related to the practices. Be sure that they are entirely objective (e.g., You used the L1 10 times during the 30 minutes I observed) instead of judgement-bearing (e.g., You aren’t using the L2 frequently enough).
- In the third section, devote space to 1) articulate the teacher’s strengths and 2) make a suggestion regarding how the strength could be applied to another area of teaching.
- After using the peer observation tool for at least one round of observations, meet as a team to discuss if there are any adjustments that you would like to make for the tool.
Notes
- When you and your colleagues meet to debrief your observations, avoid passing judgement and opt for inquiry. In other words, instead of pointing out an observation like You aren’t using the L2 frequently enough, try to ask a question like, I noticed you used the L1 10 times while I was in the classroom. Could you talk to me a little about why you chose to do that? When you ask such questions, you are inviting a forward-moving discussion and a deeper understanding of the many factors at play in the classroom while you were there. This should prompt intentional problem solving to the extent that it is needed.
- If timing prohibits you from observing another teacher, consider video recording lessons and sharing the video files. While such recordings limit your capacity to observe the entire classroom environment, you will be able to see enough details to engage in a meaningful observation and discussion to debrief the lesson’s happenings.
Source: CASLS Activity of the Week
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Content Type: 3
Title: Developing Proficiencies and Managing Deficiencies
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By Stephanie Knight, CASLS Assisstant Director
Clouds ooze their way over the rising sun and darkness fills the room. The once dancing pinks and reds are muted by an ominous shadow. It is 7:05 AM on Valentine’s Day, and you are delivering a review lesson to more than 30 high school seniors, students who are already buzzing with sugar and love. The door creaks as your principal walks in to evaluate you, and he begins to multiply. Before you know it, 20 principals armed with clipboards and pens are lining the perimeter of your classroom, furiously taking notes. You gulp, a bit dizzy from either the intimidation, the overwhelming smell of candy and body spray that has filled your room, or both. You open your mouth to speak, and you begin speaking a language that none of the principals understand.
To educators, this story may feel like a scene from a recurring nightmare, or at the very least, the beginning of a low-budget horror film. However, it was precisely how the most transformational day of my career began. I got myself into the situation innocently enough; I asked my principal for feedback after he popped into my classroom for about 10 minutes, and he said I would get plenty of feedback if I would “just” allow a group of principals training in teacher evaluation to observe my class. I consented, dealt with the immediate panic, and prepared for the next day.
As I approached the group of principals for my evaluation during my planning period, I began to brace myself for an in-depth discussion of my faults. I glanced at the chart paper with my name scrawled across the top and agreed to document the feedback with some trepidation. Then I heard the question that would melt my fears: What are Stephanie’s most obvious strengths?
The principals were training in the 23 Artisan Teacher Themes as identified by the Mike Rutherford Group after a series of classroom observations of highly effective teachers. The central crux of the training I was participating in is that “artisan themes” (e.g., clear learning goals, chunking, and delight) are apparent in the craft of all great teachers. However, most only exhibit one or two of the 23 identified themes (and might even be considered to be horrific practitioners were they to only be evaluated on the themes that they don’t naturally demonstrate). The principals training at my school that day were learning how to identify teachers’ artisan themes as a vehicle to mentor professional growth, and it was a breath of fresh air for me. As a perfectionist someone who was accustomed to the frustration of evaluation centered on highlighting deficiencies, I was excited to refocus my plan for professional growth on exploring the potential of my strengths.
The almost axiomatic, yet unnatural (to me, at least), notion that focusing on one’s abilities is more facilitative of growth than lamenting deficiencies changed how I approached my self-evaluation, the evaluation of my students, and the peer evaluations I was engaging in as part of my professional learning community (PLC). I began to be more objective and less judgmental in my feedback (e.g., Three students were looking at their phones instead of Three students were obviously bored), and that shift made conversations, even those centered around relative failures, take on a positive, growth-oriented tenor. Additionally, I began to listen more, talk less, and collaborate with people with how our strengths could lead to improvement. Indeed, my most critical roles as a (self-)evaluator were to 1) identify strengths and 2) think about how to use those strengths in distinct contexts so that weaknesses became less problematic. In other words, my role was to use a conceptualization of one’s best self to bring about more positive iterations of that self.
This shift from a deficiency mindset to a proficiency mindset requires continual, intentional focus, and I can admit that eight years later, I still have to suppress my natural tendency to highlight faults. This week’s Activity of the Week seeks to address that tendency directly and provides guidance to educators wishing to develop peer observation tools to use to engage one another in positive, proficiency-oriented PLCs that identify, celebrate, and build upon the strengths of their members. Happy growing!
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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