OWL in my CI classroom
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OWL in my CI classroom

OWL stands for Organic World Languages. Last spring, Darcy Rogers, who is the founder of OWL came to my school to do a workshop with our WL teachers. Up until that point, I had felt very alone in my department as far as how language should be acquired and taught. She was an outside voice…
January 18, 2017Posted inUncategorized
Brain Breaks Part 5: Brain Bursts!
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Brain Breaks Part 5: Brain Bursts!

Fluency Matters recently gave me the opportunity to do a webinar about Brain Breaks. I had so much fun! I always tell people who feel overwhelmed with the thought of Brain Breaks that they shouldn't be daunting and they can be as quick and short as you want them to be. (Teachers of EVERY content area…
January 5, 2017Posted inUncategorized
Brain Breaks Part 4: Hand jives
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Brain Breaks Part 4: Hand jives

Sara Broussard came to hang out in my class a couple of months ago and she introduced my sixth graders to an AWESOME new brain break that was a HUGE hit. She read about it on the Musicuentos blog. Click here to link to that blog. Basically, it is a version of the "collaborative hand-jive" (for…
November 8, 2016Posted inUncategorized
No Place for Politics
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No Place for Politics

Here we are.... the eve of the 2016 election.... One of the most highly anticipated elections in history! One with more heat, debate, disagreements, hatred, and controversy than most would like to discuss. Others however, LOVE the adrenaline of the "fight". I have a very strict NO POLITICS rule in my classroom. I have had…
November 8, 2016Posted inUncategorized
Dichos ROCK! Teaching idioms in a CI classroom.
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Dichos ROCK! Teaching idioms in a CI classroom.

Click here for a Google Slide Show which I will update as I add dichos throughout the year. This year I decided I would start including "dichos" in Spanish class. Dichos are idioms. They are often SO funny and SO different from English. The students find them hysterical, and they learn SO much new vocabulary…
September 24, 2016Posted inUncategorized
TPRS RULES: Making “Story Day” Count
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TPRS RULES: Making “Story Day” Count

One of my biggest frustrations is when teachers who are considering the big “switch” to using Comprehensible Input in their classrooms instead of text books, decide that they can’t because they are just not capable of silly, goofy, wacky TPRS. Storyasking is ONE piece of the GIANT and CI umbrella. It is NOT the only…
September 13, 2016Posted inUncategorized
Brain Breaks Part 3: Be the PRETZELS of the Teaching World!
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Brain Breaks Part 3: Be the PRETZELS of the Teaching World!

Teaching with Comprehensible Input means that we are automatically teaching in the world’s most “student-centered” classrooms. Often, when a teacher or administrator observes, that is NOT familiar with the TCI methodology, they see what they assume is a lot of teacher talk. They may not hear it for the student-centered, student-driven, compelling comprehensible input that…
September 9, 2016Posted inUncategorized
Movie Talk is the BEST THING EVER! WHY?!
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Movie Talk is the BEST THING EVER! WHY?!

Literally.... Movie Talk is the BEST thing ever in the HISTORY of all EVERDOM!!!.... I know that I say that frequently about many things, and that is because I am a passionate person. However, I must say that I really do feel that Movie Talk tops EVERYTHING.... I have spoken lots about how challenging it…
September 7, 2016Posted inUncategorized
Classroom Management: Part 2 Inflection is LIFE
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Classroom Management: Part 2 Inflection is LIFE

The title says it all. The greatest tool I have in my "management box" is my VOICE. Google's definition of inflection is: "the modulation of intonation or pitch in the voice." Some of my favorite comments from the students in my learning lab class at iFLT when asked about why they enjoyed learning with CI were,…
August 25, 2016Posted inUncategorized