Easing into Technology Integration
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Easing into Technology Integration

My district is working its way to 1:1 technology integration district wide.  We call it TEConnect.  Instead of rolling it out all at once, they determined it would be best to have a few cohorts work this model into their classroom and year by year they’ll add more 1:1 classrooms.  As a TEConnect educator this […]

Grammar and the Airport
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Grammar and the Airport

Here is the continuing saga of the travel unit…as promised. Would you like to jump into my classroom experience for a moment? “Sra. Rhodes, I’ve never even been to an airport…how am I supposed to know what happens there?”  So….The students have to learn all the different places in the airport, the people they need […]

A Department Divided
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A Department Divided

There you are in a professional development session on proficiency. The light bulb goes off! “Why have I not been doing this all along?” you think to yourself. You find yourself looking for more information to help you make the shift to a proficiency-based practice. You find yourself reading blogs, participating religiously in Langchat, surfing […]

On their own path this week (01/30/16)
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On their own path this week (01/30/16)

I keep getting the same question: how do you make time to read all these blogs? Well, here is the secret I don’t read all of them all the time. Thanks to great apps like Feedbin however, I can check in on these blogs  when I have a free moment: in the TSA line at the airport, […]

Take a Trip with Us!
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Take a Trip with Us!

You know that unit in your curriculum that should be so amazing and interesting and chock full of culture, but ends up being kind of surface and overwhelming?  Well, for me, that’s the travel unit at the end of Level 2.  They have to revisit how to pack for a trip, and read weather forecasts, […]

Product v. Process
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Product v. Process

I have been told at times how much people love our curriculum in Shelby County Schools (SCS). It is really flattering to see that your hard work has received some praise or acceptance outside of your context. At the same time I have also been asked, if it’s good why do we keep revising it? […]

On their own path this week (01/23/16)
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On their own path this week (01/23/16)

Reading teachers’ reflections on what works or doesn’t work in their classrooms is not only a favorite hobby of mine, but also an opportunity for professional growth. Last Saturday, I decided to start sharing some of my favorite posts each week. While a majority of the blogs I read are written by world language educators, I’ll […]

Dream Team
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Dream Team

If there is one thing I would want a new(er) teacher to take away from my blog, and especially this post, it would be to create your Dream Team.  Do you remember the 1992 Olympics with the Dream Team?  This was such a big deal for the United States.  The team was comprised of some […]

On their own path this week (01/16/2016)
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On their own path this week (01/16/2016)

It’s not a secret that reading blogs is one of my favorite hobbies and many mornings my Feedbin (RSS Reader) is the first thing I open when getting online. Over the years, I have been able to create the ultimate curated newspaper for myself through hundreds of subscriptions to a wide variety of blogs. Everything […]

Taking ownership of their proficiency path
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Taking ownership of their proficiency path

Coming back to school after the winter break was a fulfilling time for me this year! We revisited the proficiency guidelines, and students reflected on their progress on the path to proficiency infographic. What more could they do now that they couldn’t in October or even in August? As I teach students in Spanish 3, 4 […]