Tag Archives: spanish teacher

260: Revisit Classroom Routines

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This is episode 5 in my 2026 summer headspace series. This is a chance to revisit episodes from the previous school year during the summer months when you may have a little extra time. Beginning August 31st, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at Classroom Routines in episodes 224 and 233.

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259: Revisit CI Activities

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This is episode 4 in my 2026 summer headspace series. This is a chance to revisit episodes from the previous school year during the summer months when you may have a little extra time. Beginning August 31st, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at CI Activities in episodes 218, 222, 228, 231 and 232.

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258: Revisit ACTFL 2025

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This is episode 3 in my 2026 summer headspace series. This is a chance to revisit episodes from the previous school year during the summer months when you may have a little extra time. Beginning August 31st, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at ACTFL 2025 in episode 225.

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257: Revisit Sustainable Teaching

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This is episode 2 in my 2026 summer headspace series. This is a chance to revisit episodes from the previous school year during the summer months when you may have a little extra time. Beginning August 31st, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at Sustainable Teaching in episodes 230 and 250.

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256: Revisit Student Motivation

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This is episode 1 in my 2026 summer headspace series. This is a chance to revisit episodes from the previous school year during the summer months when you may have a little extra time. Beginning August 31st, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at Student Motivation in episodes 235 and 237.

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255: Get into Your 2026 Summer Headspace

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As the school year winds down and we go into summer mode, hopefully your schedule begins to open up a bit and you have an opportunity to reflect with a little more space and a little less urgency. This is the perfect time to get into what I call your “summer headspace.”  What do I mean by that?  It’s about taking some time to perhaps revisit episodes from the past year in a fresh way that can spark new insights. So, let’s jump in.

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254: 5 Things You Can Do This Summer to Be Ready for the New School Year

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When was the last time you had enough time to actually think about your teaching instead of just keeping up with it? If you’re like most language teachers, the school year is a constant cycle of planning lessons, grading, answering emails, attending meetings, and preparing for the next day. Summer offers something different: space. Space to reflect, learn, create, and prepare for the kind of teaching you want to do next year. But I also know that summer doesn’t look the same for everyone. In this episode, I’m sharing five ways language teachers can use whatever time they have this summer to grow professionally without sacrificing the rest and balance they deserve.

Topics in this Episode: 

  •  summer is one of the few opportunities teachers have to work on their teaching instead of simply surviving their teaching
  • five things language teachers can do during the summer that are genuinely difficult to find time for during the school year.
    • reflect on what actually worked this year
    • earn one new teaching skill deeply instead of ten superficially
    • explore ideas you’ve been curious about all year
    • start next year feeling prepared instead of panicked
  • Ready For Tomorrow Quick Win Course

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253: Global Connections and Partnerships in the Language Classroom

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What if your students could use the language they’re learning to build real relationships with peers across the globe? In this episode French teacher Heidi Trude joins me to explore how authentic global connections can transform language learning. Heidi shares how a partnership that began with a simple idea grew into meaningful collaborations that deepen students’ language proficiency, cultural understanding, and confidence. We talk about virtual exchanges, international partnerships, practical starting points, sustainability, and the role of technology in making it all possible.

Topics in this Episode:

  • Heidi’s initial spark for building global connections and moving from “this would be nice” to actually making it happen
  • the benefits of global connections for students and the teacher and some unexpected benefits that Heidi has seen
  • the various types of global connections (virtual connections, in-country visits) and what it looks like in practice
  • a few realistic entry points for a teacher who wants to create authentic global connections
  • making these connections sustainable
  • tech tools for global collaborations and ensuring the technology enhances communication rather than distract from it
  • Heidi’s Resource: Making The Global Connection

Connect with Heidi Trude

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252: Breaking Down Integrated Performance Assessments (IPAs)

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Have you ever wondered whether your tests, quizzes or assessments truly measure what your students can do with the language, or are they just looking at what students can memorize or explain about the language? In this episode we’re diving into Integrated Performance Assessments, or IPAs, an effective way to assess how students are actually able to use the grammar, vocabulary and cultural understanding. An IPA assesses how students engage with the language through the interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes. If you’ve been working toward proficiency-based instruction and looking for assessments that align with those goals, this episode will help you with that.

Topics in this Episode: 

  • Many teachers are moving toward proficiency-based instruction, but assessment often remains disconnected from communication goals.
  • If our goal is communication, then assessment should provide opportunities for students to communicate.
  • What is an Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA)? IPAs assess students through the three modes of communication: Interpretive, Interpersonal, Presentational
  • The three tasks are connected rather than separate activities.
  • Students move through a sequence that mirrors real-world communication: Receive information, Discuss information, Share information
  • An IPA focuses on what students can do with language rather than how many grammar rules they can identify.
  • Ready For Tomorrow Quick Win Course:  Integrated Performance Assessments.

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251: Balancing CI and Explicit Instruction

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Have you ever felt like you’re not allowed to say this out loud? That Comprehensible Input works beautifully with novices… but something feels different at Intermediate High and Advanced? That maybe your students plateau, avoid complex structures, or fossilize errors and you quietly wonder if you’re doing something wrong? What if the issue isn’t you… and it isn’t your students… but the choice we’ve created between CI or explicit instruction?

Topics in this Episode: 

  • The tension around CI and explicit instruction: CI has become dominant; Some spaces treat explicit instruction as regression; Teachers feel pressure to claim “pure CI;” Meanwhile, many quietly supplement.
  • Most SLA studies focus on novice/intermediate learners; there simply aren’t many rigorous studies examining how advanced learners.
  • When you attend CI workshops or read CI literature, the vast majority of examples, materials, and strategies target novice learners. This isn’t because CI can’t work at higher levels. It’s because we haven’t developed robust models for what it looks like there.
  • The ‘bandwagon effect’: CI has achieved near-ideological status in some circles. Teachers feel pressure to claim ‘pure CI’ success even when they’re supplementing with explicit instruction.
  • The research does NOT support abandoning CI at advanced levels. It DOES support integrating strategic explicit instruction, particularly for complex features that are infrequent or non-salient in input.
  • Blog Post with Cited Research: Balancing CI and Explicit Instruction Across Proficiency Levels

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