Improve Your Spanish Students’ Interpersonal Communication Skills with These Tips
Developing interpersonal communication skills is probably the skill our students dread most about Spanish class. Speaking spontaneously in the language without prep time can be nerve-wracking. So, let’s learn how we can make interpersonal communication easier and less stressful while increasing proficiency. This is blog 4 of 5 in a 5-part blog series on teaching […]
How to Easily Teach and Assess Presentational Communication in World Languages
Presentational communication is just one of the three modes of communication that world language teachers must teach and assess. We are also responsible for teaching interpretive and interpersonal communication skills. This is part 3 of the 5 part blog series on “The 3 Modes of Communication” where I explain in-depth each of the modes of […]
How to Find and Create Authentic Interpretive Tasks for Spanish Class
This is part two of a five part blog series teaching you all about the three modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentation. Interpretive tasks assess a student’s ability to interpret and understand a written text or audio. Finding authentic and comprehensible interpretive resources in the target language can be challenging. Keep reading to learn […]
How to Teach Spanish with the 3 Modes of Communication
We all hear so much about the “communicative method” of second language teaching. The 3 modes of communication: Interpretive, Presentational, and Interpersonal are three words that are constantly used in the world language field. They are the basis of our standards from ACTFL. But what exactly are they and more importantly how do we incorporate […]
Reduce Student Stress and Anxiety in Spanish Class
Learning a second language can be very scary. The pressure of having the perfect accent, using the right verb tense, thinking on the spot. These are all very hard to do, especially in the beginning stages. With a classroom full of eyes judging you, students can become very self-conscious and anxious during Spanish class. We […]
Using Can-Do Statements in World Language Class
When learning, students are not often aware of how they are learning, what they are learning, or even the progress they are making. It is important that they understand and are aware of all three of these things. We are lucky in the world language field because ACTFL has made “Can-Do statements.” Do your students […]
Why I Love Using Google in Spanish Class
I LOVE Google. I cannot express this enough. Everything I do at school on the computer is connected to Google. I would be lost without it; the more I use it, the more I love it. Read below to see how you can implement it into your classroom. Google Slides I use this to make […]
How to Keep Students in the Target Language
One of the hardest parts of a world language teacher’s job is keeping the students in the target language. There are always side conversations and answers shouted aloud in the first language (L1). Some days I want to give up and just allow it, but that is one of the worst things you can do. […]
My Favorite Lessons and Activities to Teach Art in Spanish Class
If I could design my perfect Spanish course to teach, it would be to teach art in Spanish. Ever since I first started teaching a Beauty and Aesthetics unit in a Spanish 3 course, I realized that when I teach art is when I am happiest and when I feel like I am the best […]
Strategies for Teaching Preschool Spanish
I am a high school teacher during the school year, but in the summers, I teach Spanish classes at a preschool summer camp. As you can imagine, the differences are astounding. As a teacher, you have to change your way of thinking and teaching dramatically. At the younger levels, it requires much more energy on […]