Your Spanish Students Will Never Be Bored Again During Block Schedule
A typical block schedule is anywhere from 80-90 minutes. During my first year of teaching, I started in a traditional 8-period per day schedule. Classes were roughly 40 minutes; so when I transitioned to a block schedule for my second year, I was not sure how I would keep my students engaged for double that […]
How to Teach 180 Daily Facts About Countries in One School Year
There are 180 days of school. There are 21 Spanish-speaking countries. Can you share one fact a day about these countries, so by the end of the school year, your students have learned 180 fun, cultural daily facts? I’m here to show you that you CAN! Are you up for the challenge? There is no […]
Invaluable World Language Teacher Tips and Advice From Fellow Teachers
During my first year of teaching in 2016, I received so many teacher tips and advice from my mentor, colleagues, and supervisors. I was fortunate enough to teach in districts that had model world language programs in the state of NJ. Needless to say, I learned so much from these positions, and I wanted to […]
11 Activities for Fast Finishers to Keep Students Busy and Happy
We all have them… fast finishers. Those students that work through a task or exam so quickly that they have to sit and twiddle their thumbs for 20 minutes. My fear was that during an observation, administration would see a few students who completed their work and were “bored.” So, to keep these fast finishers […]
10 Sub Plans for a Sub that Doesn’t Speak Spanish (that aren’t showing a movie)
Does creating sub plans cause more stress and anxiety than if you had just gone to school instead of enjoying that personal day with your family? Or is your administration requesting a week’s worth of emergency sub plans, because hey you never know when you’ll need to use them? Maybe it is 8pm and you […]
How World Language Teachers Can Use Pinterest to Find Authentic Resources
I first discovered the power of Pinterest to find authentic texts in the target language in 2016. It was my first year of teaching Spanish. I was a middle school teacher, and my mentor signed us up to attend a FLENJ (Foreign Language Teachers of NJ) conference. At first, I was hesitant to go, as […]
How to Easily Survive Back to School Night as a Teacher
Do you dread Back to School Night or Meet the Teacher Night as much as I do? After a long day of teaching, you need to go back to your classroom and share your expectations, rules, syllabus, and more all in about 10 minutes to a group of parents. Back to School Night can be […]
11 Valuable Classroom Organization Tips for a Crazy School Year
It’s summer. You have your classroom organization strategies in mind, and you are envisioning a beautifully-inspired Pinterest classroom. You purchase the cute new cactus theme bulletin board; you display your classroom library with the latest books on the top shelf, and you have your monthly calendar color-coded. Fast forward to October. Your desk is covered […]
Why You Must Try These Strategies for Close Reading in Spanish Class
How many times do you find your students reading a text just to skim it and find the answers to the comprehension questions? Or maybe you see them sneaking their phone out to Google Translate sentences in the text? If you’re ready to get your students diving deep into interpretive tasks, then close reading is […]
The Complete Collection of Task Cards Activities that Every Teacher Needs
You’ve probably heard of task cards being used in classrooms before, but maybe you’ve never used them, or you’re tired of using task cards the same way over and over again. Task cards are one of my favorite types of activities to do with my students because every time I use them, I can come […]