Author Archives: jos76

Create Time Capsule by Language Proficiency Level

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If you teach multiple grade levels, or various proficiency levels, you probably like to find an activity or project that can be used across levels.  I would like to share a project with you that you can use with novice and intermediate learners.  It is essentially the same concept. It differs only in how students engage with the content that they produce.

Students Create Time Capsule by Foreign Language Proficiency Level (french, Spanish)

Students create a time capsule that is a snapshot of their life over the past year.  I typically do this as the school year, so you will see 2019-2020 in the examples.  I have students do this digitally in Google slides.  I have seen in done in a journal as well with pictures and writing glued to the pages.  While the tactile nature and opportunities for creative design are more apparent with the physical product I find that that it is logistically easier to manage when it is digital.

Students begin by responding to prompts in the target language.

  • Name:
  • Town/City:
  • Birthday:
  • Age:
  • Personal adjectives (3) to describe yourself:
  • Family (name, age, relation):
  • Gratitude (3 things you are thankful for or appreciate):
  • School:
  • Teachers and Subjects:
  • Friends :
  • Activity :
    • Where?:
    • When?:
    • With whom?:
  • Activity :
    • Where?:
    • When?:
    • With whom?:
  • Activity :
    • Where?:
    • When?:
    • With whom?:
  • Music:
    •  Song:
    • Singer:
  • Film/TV/Netflix/Amazon :
    • Favorite Move or TV Program:
    • Favorite Actress or Actor:
  • Reading
    • Favorite Book:
    • Favorite Writer:

Once these are done students find pictures to go along with each of these topics and put them in google slides.  I provide the template and they fill it in.

Students Create Time Capsule by Foreign Language Proficiency Level (French, Spanish)

The final step is where the projected is differentiated by proficiency level. You can see a review of proficiency levels here.

Novice mid to novice high students write about what is “in” their time capsule and these sentences go on each slide with the images.  At this level I usually provide sentence starters as well, such as “My favorite actress is…” or ” My math teacher is…”  At this proficiency level the work is done in the present.Students Create Time Capsule by Foreign Language Proficiency Level (French, Spanish)

Novice high to intermediate low students write as if they were opening the time capsule in five years and write about they did, what they liked, who their teachers were, etc. five years ago. For languages with preterite and imperfect tenses, this lends itself to distinguishing between the preterite and imperfect.  Students at this level tend (in my experience) to be better with the preterite. For the sentences that would require the imperfect I typically provide sentence starters. 
Students Create Time Capsule by Foreign Language Proficiency Level (French, Spanish)Intermediate low to intermediate mid students write as if they were opening the time capsule in fifty years and writing about they used to do, what they liked, who their teachers were, etc. fifty years ago. For language with preterite and imperfect tenses, this lends itself to using the preterite and imperfect accurately, and it provides an effective way to contextualize the tenses.

Students Create Time Capsule by Foreign Language Proficiency Level (French, Spanish)

I also include a speaking component.  Once students are done with the time capsule, and are very familiar with all of the content, I set up time for them to have a 5-minute discussion with me about their time capsule.

 

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Keep Track of Virtual Group Work in the Language Classroom

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As I write this post many of us are teaching remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  I have been using Zoom to teach and communicate with students.  One of the features is breakout rooms where students can be put into small groups. Other platforms offer similar possibilities.  I was trying to find a way to see what groups are doing in real time in addition to popping in and out of each group.

Keep Track of Virtual Group Work in the Language Classroom

I saw on Twitter that Rebecca Blouwolf, ACTFL Teacher of the Year, was trying out using shared Google docs during breakout group time.  I have known Rebecca for over 20 years and I respect her so much.  We started our teaching career together and I have been very impressed with all that she has accomplished.  When I saw what she was doing with Google docs I knew that I had to look into it.

My first iteration looked like this.

Keep Track of Virtual Group Work in the Language Classroom

I shared the doc (I used Google sheets) with all students and groups worked collectively in the same document.  I was able to see what they were entering in real time and could write a message to all of the groups (broadcast message in Zoom) when I saw saw some common inaccuracies or I could go into an individual group when I wanted to support them verbally.  There was one problem with this, they were all doing the same questions and could see each other’s responses.  It didn’t seem to be much of an issue, but I wanted to give each group different prompts while all working in the same shared document.  I could have shared different documents with each group, but that would mean looking at different documents.  I wanted the individual group work all together so that I could  see what all groups are doing at once.

So, I got back to work. This is the second iteration and the version that I have been using successfully.

Keep Track of Virtual Group Work in the Language Classroom

This allows for different prompts for each group (blue column), while being able to see all responses in real time. Atelier means “workshop” in French and the is the word I use with students for “breakout room.”  They type their group responses to the right of the prompts in blue.  In addition to text, groups can insert images in response to a prompt or a link to audio or a video that that they record or through search.  My initial intent was to use this to see work done in real time in Zoom breakout rooms, but I’m envisioning using this for asynchronous (not in real time) student work as well. Though this is a work-around during a crisis, I plan to continue using it when we are back in the physical classroom.

If you would like to us this with your students, make sure that you share one document with the entire class and allow editing when sharing a Google doc. For ease of formatting I use a Google Sheet, but you can do this with any of the Google doc options.  I tell students that they can delete  it out of their Google account when done so that it is not yet another document taking up space.  I have the original with all of their responses….another benefit of having it all in one place.  You can also have a spot for groups to put their names in  next to the the breakout room.  I keep track on my own.

This link will make a copy of the breakout room document in your Google Drive (just like assigning  to students in Google Classroom)  and you can modify it for your own personal use.  This is a work in progress for me.  I’d love to see and hear about what works for you.

 

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What If the Next Teacher Doesn’t Embrace Proficiency-Based Teaching?

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We are getting there.  More and more teachers are embracing proficiency-based language teaching.  There are increasing amounts of research that support an approach to language teaching that focusing on communication.  Along with Communicative language teaching we use proficiency levels and ACTFL Performance Descriptors that provide concrete benchmarks.  Simply put, proficiency is not what students know about the language, what rather what they can do with it.  Resources, such as Can-Do statements, help to keep our teaching (and student learning/acquisition) focused on what students are able to communicate.

What If the Next Teacher Doesn't Embrace Proficiency-Based Teaching (French, Spanish(

As happy as I am to see so many teachers adopt this approach, I am often reminded of how much more work we have to do.  I find that individual teachers tend to implement communicative activities in their classrooms, but language departments and districts are slower to get there.  In May of each year I often get a reminder of the work that is to be done when my 8th graders ask me to fill out a form to recommend them for their high school language level.  I teach in a school that ends in 8th grade.  Our students go to numerous high schools after, so I get a look at what is expected and what programs look like when I receive the recommendation forms.

Here is one that I got this year, but it is a typical of many of these forms that I get from studentsWhat If the Next Teacher Doesn't Embrace Proficiency-Based Teaching (French, Spanish(

As you can see, it is just a list of grammar topics.  They place students in a language level based on what grammar topics they have studied.  There is no place to speak to what the student is actually able to communicate in the target language.  These types of lists are the opposite of proficiency, with a request to know what the student knows about the language and not what they can do with it.

The reaction when I put this on Twitter and Facebook was reassuring that there are many language teachers who are fighting the good fight.

What If the Next Teacher Doesn't Embrace Proficiency-Based Teaching (French, Spanish( What If the Next Teacher Doesn't Embrace Proficiency-Based Teaching (French, Spanish(

So, how do we respond?  I usually use it as an opportunity to educate about the ACTFL Core Practices and Proficiency Levels with a description of the students proficiency level.  I provide examples of what the student is able to do with the language at their particular proficiency level. Hopefully this creates some interest in learning more.  Just planting the seed, and hoping they will water it.

“Ben performs consistently at the Intermediate Low ACTFL Proficiency Level for Interpersonal Communication and at the Intermediate Mid Level for Presentational Writing and Interpretive Listening and Reading.  At the IL level Ben can confidently and consistently speak in discrete sentence that he creates on his own without resorting to memoized chunks.  At the IM Level he consistently writes, reads and listens at a slightly higher level with strings of 2-3 connected sentences.”

I would imagine that this is more useful than “Ben can conjugate regular verbs in the present tense.”  Even if Ben can talk about the verb forms how does that indicate that he can actually use them to communicate?  This is a frustrating situation at time, but hopefully the more often we use this as an opportunity to educate our colleagues the more the entire language teaching community will move toward proficiency.

One final point that I want to make.  I fully understand that there are teachers, departments and districts that firmly believe that that a focus on grammar and structures is the most effective way to teach a language.  I am always happy to have the conversation.  I usually have several of these conversations each time I do a workshop in a school.  I like to be challenged and appreciate the opportunity to show the benefits of a proficiency-based program.  The only thing that I ask is that those who disagree have empirical evidence to support their argument and beliefs, because that is what I am bringing to the conversation.

 

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Flip Grid in the Foreign Language Classroom

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I’m writing this post during the Covid-19 quarantine and distance learning.   Many teachers have had to figure out this new world of distance learning in a very short amount of time.  Though not ideal in many ways, I have had to discover new ways to keep language learning moving forward, or at the very least not regressing.  Thanks to social media and the many generous and insightful language teachers out there I have a long and inspiring list of apps, Websites and ideas to try.  There just doesn’t seem to be enough time to get to them all.  Until now.  Flip Grid in the Foreign Language Classroom

I am using this time of reinvention to look into and implement these ideas that I have come across, but have not had the chance to implement.  One of these is Flip Grid.  Now that I am using it regularly to keep students engaged in all of the communication modes I can’t imagine not continuing to use it when we get back to the classroom.  Dare I say that I appreciate the opportunity to try out new things during this time.

Flip Grid in the Foreign Language Classroom

Flip Grid allows teachers to post a prompt, such as written questions, videos or images.  Students then simply click a record button and then begin recording a video response.

Flip Grid in the Foreign Language Classroom

When done, they can edit, work with filters and then submit.  The teacher can decide which of these functions to make available.  The teacher can then choose to make the videos viewable by the entire class or to keep them private and only viewable by the teacher.  Personally, I have used it both ways.  When only viewable by me I use the platform for an assessment (formative or summative) and make the videos available to the class when I want students to interact with each other.

There are lots of things that can be done directly on the Flip Grid Website, such as students leaving video comment or reactions to each other, leaving feedback on student videos and following student interactions.  Many of these features require students setting up an account.  That may be something that you are interested in doing.  I only use the video response feature and created unique usernames for each student in the class.  You can send them direct link to the grid (prompt) either through email or directly on Google Classroom.  Students just simply enter their username and they go right to the prompt.

Flip Grid in the Foreign Language Classroom

I’m also having students watch each others videos and answering questions that I create based on each individual video.  This is a way of keeping the communication modes alive.  Sometimes the videos are spontaneous responses and I have also had students read something that they wrote. These are the videos with more accurate language that I use for follow-up questions for the rest of the class to engage with.

Flip Grid in the Foreign Language Classroom

Flip Grid in the Foreign Language Classroom

 

Flip Grid in the Foreign Language Classroom

Also… “Flip Grid, which has 20 million users from all over the world, will now be completely free for schools; previously, the service cost $1,000 a year per school. The purchase will help Microsoft in its push against Google and Apple in the classroom.”

Worth a try at that price!

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French and Spanish Speaking Activities (Zut, Caramba)

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I’m always a fan of resources that can be easily modified to fit different proficiency levels.  I love it when I find an activity or resource that I can pull out at any proficiency level and just get students speaking or writing by simply changing the output prompt.

Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)

French and Spanish Speaking Activities (Zut, Caramba)

I have been creating these Zut and Caramba cards for several years.  Sometimes I used index cards and a marker, sometimes I just printed out a bunch of pictures.  While students were able to produce language rather well with this on-the-fly type resources I wanted to up my game a little with this activity.  So, I got to work on a template and used it to create Zut and Caramba cards on lots of vocabulary and language structure topics.  As I said above I like resources that can be used at any proficiency level.  These Zut and Caramaba cards a perfect fit.Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)

They can be used in 4 ways:

Zut (French) and Caramba (Spanish):

Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)

  • This activity  can be done in small groups of 4-5 or with the entire class playing in teams.
  • Students (or teams) take turns choosing a card out of a bag.
  • Once chosen, the player (or team) can do various things to keep the card depending on the proficiency level of the students. They can identify the picture, use it in a sentence or even ask a question about it.
  • If they choose a Zut or Caramba card they must put all their cards back in the bag, including the Zut or Caramba card.
  • Play continues between the players or teams and the cards/points change often because of the Zut or Caramba cards.
  • If a player (or team) doesn’t know a form or meaning it goes back in the bag.  Play continues with the next student.
  • After a certain number of turns or a specified amount of time, the player (or team) with the most cards wins.

Card Find:

Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)

  • Place cards (#1-40) in various places around the classroom or another space. Pair students up and give them 5 numbers (between 1-40) and the pairs set out to find the cards with their numbers.
  • When they find the cards that respond to a pre-determined prompt based on their proficiency level. Students can the picture in writing or use it in a sentence. There are question words to help inspire a sentence.  They can do this on a slip of paper or a small white board.
  • When they have all five they return to teacher for verification and get another set of numbers and repeat the process.
  • Each pair gets a point for each set of 5 that they complete.  You may want to make it 3 if this moves things along better in your class.
  • After a specified amount of time the pair with the most points is the winner

Do Now:Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)

  • When they enter the room, students choose 2 or 3 cards and complete a prompt based on the card. Depending on the proficiency level of the students the teacher can have students identify the word in writing or use it in a sentence.

Exit Ticket:Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)

  • Just before the end of class hand out a card to each student and they respond to the prompt and hand it to the teacher (who verifies the answer) as they leave the room. Depending on the proficiency level of the students the teacher can have students identify the word in writing or use it in a sentence.

These activities can also be done with language structures such verb tenses, demonstrative and possessive adjectives, direct and indirect object pronouns, adjectives and even comparisons.  Rather than identify images the prompts require uses these various language structures.

Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)

Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)

Foreign Language Speaking and Writing Activities that are Easily Adapted to Various Proficiency Levels. (French, Spanish)

 

 

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Foreign Language Digital Task Cards (Boom)

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A few years back the concept of task cards entered into education, and, more specifically, into the foreign language classroom.  Typically task cards are individual cards that offer students opportunities to engage with a particular topic in various forms.  Each one usually has a prompt or activity that students complete either individually or in pairs or small groups at different challenge levels.  They are particularly useful because they provide opportunities for increased engagement and differentiation. For a refresher you can read my post on 1o ways to use task cards in the foreign language classroom.

I recently learned about digital task cards and once I saw how effective they are with students I jumped right it.  Though I like the tactile aspect of the more traditional physical task cards, digital cards are more sustainable and they provide instant feedback to students.

Foreign Language Digital Task Cards (Boom) French, Spanish

Watch these videos where I take you through a “deck” of digital task cards on the Boom Learning Website.

Spanish Digital Task Cards.

French Digital Task Cards

No printing, cutting, or laminating, just assign the decks to your students and you are ready to go. Students can get immediate feedback on their progress and you get several teacher reporting tools. A fun, effective, and engaging way for students to engage with the language.

Spanish Digital Task Cards.

French Digital Task Cards

You can create your own decks when you set up an account.  There is a limited number with the free account.  You’ll have to upgrade if you want to create more.  You can also purchase decks that are already made on the Boom Learning Website.  I am all in with these right now and I am making more decks every week. You can get them on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Users new to Boom Learning get a three-month free trial of student progress reporting for up to 150 students. Your trial includes the ability to make up to 5 free DIY decks. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (released in the last three years), on interactive whiteboards, computers and tablets. Boom Cards apps are also available.  If you do not subscribe at the end of your trial, you will be able to continue using Boom Cards with the Fast Play feature. 

Spanish Digital Task Cards.

French Digital Task Cards

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How Can Teachers Use Research to Guide Their Language Teaching?

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I like a good story.  Stories are interesting, intriguing and often capture and maintain our interest.  While I enjoy a good story or pleasant anecdote, I need more than a story of success and suggestion based on experience when I’m looking introspectively at my practice as a language teacher.

I actually like reading research that is conducted in applied linguistics and, more specifically, in the field of second language acquisition (SLA).  I quite enjoyed my graduate school days when we dove deep into empirical research and used it to inform our understanding of the cognition and social dynamics that govern learning a first or second language.  Who doesn’t like spending a little quality time with Krashen, Vygotsky, Swain, VanPatten or Asher?

While I do enjoy a good, quality, peer-reviewed, empirically sound research project I don’t always have the time, and, let’s be honest, the  focus, to read all about it.

How Can Teachers Use Research to Guide Their Language Teaching? (French, Spanish)

OK.  Get ready for it.  This is the the type of thing that I get incredibly excited about….On an episode of Bill Van Patten’s podcast, Talkin’ L2 with BVP, a guest mentioned the Website OASIS .  It is quite remarkable what they provide and are able to produce.

How Can Teachers Use Research to Guide Their Language Teaching? (French, Spanish)

OASIS summaries are one-page descriptions of research articles on language learning, language teaching, and multilingualism that have been published in peer-reviewed journals. The summaries provide information in accessible, non-technical language about each study’s goals, how it was conducted ,and what was found.  There are often ideas for using the information to inform classroom teaching as well.

Just use the search bar on the OASIS  Webiste to look for articles any topic of language acquisition of interest to you and you will soon have accessible research findings that allow you to move beyond anecdotal evidence.  Enjoy, and try not to fall down the rabbit hole.  I always do.

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What is Communicative Language Teaching?

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There are often buzz words that come up in education. For the past ten years or so we have been talking about, exploring, redefining and doing our best to implement communicative language teaching. If you were asked to define what this is exactly, what would you say? It’s a methodology that we tend to understand best when we see it, and we are often very capable of pointing out what is not communicative language teaching.

What is Communicative Language Teaching? (French, Spanish) Bill Van Patten

Bill Van Patten was instrumental in my graduate education in applied linguistics and second language acquisition. We often cited his research and used his books in a several classes. I’ve continued to follow his research, publications, and now, his weekly podcast Talkin’ L2 with BVP.

He continues to explore the nature of language and the most effective and efficient ways to teach and learn a second language. On a recent episode of the podcast he talked about recent, short, concise and rather concrete piece that he wrote in response to teachers’ requests for an approachable, understandable and actionable definition of communicative language teaching. He discussed and provided that he titled Tenets of Comprehension-based Language Teaching with a Focus on Communicative Ability.

In this Communicative Language Teaching “manifesto” BVP lays out five facts about language acquisition based on empirical research. He then provides five principles that should underlie contemporary language teaching where the focus is on communicative ability. This is the most useful resource that I have come across that defines communicative language teaching, what it is, why it exists and how these factors should drive our lesson planing, curriculum and goals.

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“Who is it?” Guess Who Activity for Level 1 Language Students

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I put a few pictures of an activity that I did with my students on Facebook and Twitter.  There was a lot of interest and several teachers asked for the template so that they could do the activity with their students.  So, I figured it would be helpful to write a blog post about the activity and include the template.

"Who is it?" Guess Who Activity for Level 1 Foreign Language Students (French, Spanish)

This activity is what I call “Who is it?” or “Guess who? ”  It is particularly useful for level 1 students who are in the novice mid-novice high range.  At this proficiency level students are typically using chunked language and are at the beginning stages of creating some language on their own as they swap out some details of the memorized language that they have acquired.  As a way to provide students with an opportunity to use this language authentically in reading and writing I created these “Who is it?” mini books.

 

Download a template for designing communicative activities with an example lesson.

The PDF includes directions for folding the paper along with templates to do the activity in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Chinese.

Students write in information about themselves on the topics of age, birthday, origin/ethnicity, preferences, free time activities and family.  What is not included is their name.  Once done classmates read the mini books of their classmates and try to guess who it is based on the information.  This adds authentic reading to the activity as well.  We also put the mini books on a bulletin board for other classes to engage with as well.

"Who is it?" Guess Who Activity for Level 1 Foreign Language Students (French, Spanish)

On the back of the mini book students put a selfie so that readers can confirm their guess of who it is.  The addition of the selfie is a fun way to really get students excited.  We took the pictures in class and I just printed them out and students glued them to the back of the book.

 

The great thing about this project, besides the effective use of novice level language, is that it can all be done with one piece of paper that is folded to make the mini book.  This tactile part of the activity is also very motivating because students enjoy seeing the transformation of the paper into a mini book.

"Who is it?" Guess Who Activity for Level 1 Foreign Language Students (French, Spanish)

The PDF includes directions for folding the paper along with templates to do the activity in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Chinese.

Download a template for designing communicative activities with an example lesson.

 

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Teaching Millennials and Gez Z in the Language Classroom

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What comes to mind when you hear “Millennial” or “Gen Z?”  We all know that they get a bad rap.   Generations are different, and just like the Baby Boomers had to figure out how to teach the Gen Xers we need to look carefully at what we need to do to reach Millennials and Gen Zers.  Basically, it comes down to knowing that these generations want to know the value and use of what they are learning.  Let’s take a look at how to approach teaching languages to these generations and understand all they have to offer.

Teaching Millennials and Gez Z in the Language Classroom (French, Spanish)

A quick review of the names of the generations over the past 70 years:

Baby Boomers

Born: 1946-1964

Age in 2018: 54-72

Gen X

Born: 965-1985

Age in 2018: 33-53

Millennials

Born: 1986-1995

Age in 2018: 23-32

Gen Z

Born: 1996- present

Age in 2018: 0-22

I learned a lot about the Millennials and Gen Z from the Millennial Impact Project (2015) & The Business of Good (Haber, 2016).  Haber’s book is about social entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs who want to make a social difference with profits from their companies.  Looks like the Millennials and the Gen Z are approaching their employment with this goal.

Here are a few things that Haber writes about these these younger generations in The Business of Good:

“They don’t wait for taxis, they take Uber. They don’t wait for emails, they text. They don’t wait to work up the corporate ladder, they start their own business. It should come as no surprise that they have no interest in waiting to make a difference. It’s as if the generation has been hardwired to believe in the fierce urgency of now.”

OK, now that I’ve made the case for not giving them the bad rap that they get, let’s look at how we go about teaching this generation of elementary, middle and high school students as well as college students.

Let’s start by looking at the the brain and cognition.  Some of this data is adapted from the work of Dr. Bobb Darnell of Achievement Strategies, Inc. (www.achievementstrategies.org)  

Before the arrival of technology, Baby Boomer and Gen Xer brains :

  • were good at single-tasking
  • were able to sustain focus for long periods of time
  • were adept on concentrating for long periods of time

After the arrival of technology, Millennial and Gen Z brains:

  • are good at multi-tasking
  • can effectively navigate multiple input streams

It is through no fault of their own, but rather the reality of how their  brains are being wired for a certain kind of learning, that Millennials and Gen Zs have/are:

  • Shorter Attention Spans
  • Uncomfortable With Boredom
  • That Fierce Urgency of Now
  • Visually Preferred
  • Interactive and Hands-On
  • Love Challenge
  • Curious
  • Success Trough Strategy

So…what we do?  What are some ways to adapt our teaching, instruction, class routines, curriculum and relationships to the reality of the Millennial and Gen Z brain?Teaching Millennials and Gez Z in the Language Classroom (French, Spanish)

The PDF download includes tips and suggestions for…

  • dealing with shorter attention spans and being uncomfortable with boredomTeaching Millennials and Gez Z in the Language Classroom (French, Spanish)
  • responding to the fierce urgency of now

Teaching Millennials and Gez Z in the Language Classroom (French, Spanish)

  • preparing lessons and activities for students who are visually preferred

Teaching Millennials and Gez Z in the Language Classroom (French, Spanish)

  • creating opportunities for interactive and hands-on learning experiences

Teaching Millennials and Gez Z in the Language Classroom (French, Spanish)

  • adding challenge and elements of curiosity to classroom instruction

Teaching Millennials and Gez Z in the Language Classroom (French, Spanish)

  • guiding students toward success through strategies

Teaching Millennials and Gez Z in the Language Classroom (French, Spanish) One other thing to consider….Are we, in fact,  listening to our students and providing what they need to be successful and proficiency speakers of the language that we teach?  If they were aware of what their brain needs (or read this post), they would say to us:

  • Challenge me.
  • Let me work with others.
  • Let’s have fun.
  • Be flexible.
  • Encourage me.
  • Make me curious.
  • Give me feedback.
  • Learn from me too.
  • Let me give you my ideas.
  • I need to know the goal.

It is never easy to understand the experience and lens of a generation that is seemingly so different from our own.  Our parents thought that we were going to be the demise of the world because we did things differently.  Many of us are repeating the same behavior with the younger generations that we teach.  Let’s break the cycle and celebrate all that our students have to offer.

Teaching Millennials and Gez Z in the Language Classroom (French, Spanish)

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