Facilitating Feedback
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Facilitating Feedback

I have been judicious about planning what virtual learning that I take part in this summer.  It is so important that teachers make sure they take time to recharge especially after such a hectic spring and an unknown fall.  However, I did know that I wanted to set aside some time for the NFLC Virtual […]

Keeping the ¡Fácil! in Facilitate: Classroom Discourse and Proficiency Culture
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Keeping the ¡Fácil! in Facilitate: Classroom Discourse and Proficiency Culture

“Is this for a grade?”  “Are we turning this in?”  “I was gone, did we do anything important yesterday?”  Sigh. These student utterances are a tale as old as time for teachers. And, while they may be frustrating, they’re also indicative of other things happening (or missing) in the classroom culture and/or discourse. Expressing the […]

My To-Don’t List
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My To-Don’t List

Whew. Fall semester is over, and it has officially been zero days since I showered and changed into real clothes clean pajamas. The stuff of teacher vacation dreams, right? Besides chugging hot chocolate, only eating food that should come with a side of Lipitor, and bingeing Netflix, I’ve also been coming back to the same […]

The Joneses Get a Bad Name
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The Joneses Get a Bad Name

Usually, when someone mentions that someone else is “keeping up with the Joneses!” they’re implying that someone else is only doing something for the sake of impressing others, saving face, putting on airs, etc. My father tells the story, as it was told to him by my great grandparents, of them passing their neighbors’ house […]

Implementing a “Gradebook à la Mode”…..Lessons Learned In The Change
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Implementing a “Gradebook à la Mode”…..Lessons Learned In The Change

I took a look at my gradebook at the end of last year. My tasks were all jumbled together and still classified in the traditional  4 language skills: reading, writing, listening. I had evolved to using descriptors instead of numbers, but nothing else had changed. I couldn’t easily tell you how proficient a student was […]

New Year’s Revolutions
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New Year’s Revolutions

Whew, here comes 2018! Can you believe it? New year, new you? New students? New routines? For some, all of the above; for others perhaps none, or one. I teach on block schedule, so when we come back to school in January, I have all new students, a new prep, and a new schedule. I […]