#LangChat is dedicated to the discussion of topics associated with issues and trends in world language instruction and learning. Educators, administrators, learners, and aficionados of world languages are encouraged to participate and share their experiences and input on various topics such as new ways to teach vocabulary, using music in the language classroom, and making standards-based grading valid. This chat is also unique in that it brings together language educators worldwide and from different contexts (elementary, secondary, higher education, etc.) and languages.
Good evening, #langchat! Ready for our last chat of the calendar year? Let us know who you are, where you are, what you teach, and one (non-break) thing you're excited for in the next week!
I’m Lindsey. I live in NC. I teach 6th exploratory and Spanish 1 for HS credit. I’m looking forward to some holiday culture related activities! #langchat
Students are posting mystery outfits on @Padlet that combine elements of local styles & those in a Swiss video we watched. Tomorrow they'll try to match them to students' written directions. Directions here: https://t.co/UcQ0iJg7IB#langchat
Hi all! I’m Heidi and I teach French in Virginia. One thing I’m really looking forward to in the coming week is Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts #langchat
Hey #langchat -ers! Julia here, French from northern NJ! I'm excited for the Christmas cookie baking marathon that will ensue chez moi over the next few days!
Chris, Latin, Buffalo, NY - looking forward to reading the next chapter of my Latin 2 class story next week (and maybe tomorrow) about Saturnalia! #langchat
Wendy here, teaching French 1 and AP in NE Ohio. Excited that my grad class is OVER for the semester I can spend my time next week doing fun things! #langchat
Hey #langchat! I'll be in & out. Rose from NY, French & Spanish. Super psyched for buches de noel in my French class for the first time in *six* years!
A1: I have been impressed with my students' interpersonal skills so far in our chats/assessments! I like @karacjacobs BVP tasks to try to keep working on it! #langchat
#langchat A1 I made legit progress in my #teach4ic goals--much more intercultural competence-oriented activities in my French 1 and 2 classes! Looking forward to sharing them at @NECTFL1 this year :)
#langchat Ashley from NH (teach in MA). I’m mostly lurking tonight but wanted to say hi! I teach middle school Spanish and I have a WL teacher podcast 😊 👋
A1 Independent presentational speaking by my 5th graders, who have studied Spanish since kindergarten. Super proud of them. Persona Especial finally worked. Looking to build on this for future work with them & other Ss. #langchat
A1: my best moment this semester was when my 5th hr and I FINALLY clicked. We finally came to a point where we could laugh together, and just enjoy class. #langchat
A1 All of my favorite moments of the year have nothing to do with my ability to teach French and everything to do with how my class is a space where students feel safe, respected, and loved. It's about balance. #langchat
A1 #langchat I can't pinpoint a moment, but I have been trying to focus more on the positive and less on the negative this year and that has led to a happier me and (hopefully) students that are enjoying happier Madame
My best moment this semester was after giving my students an assessment (crazy, I know) and showing them how much they do know! They’re hesitant and I want to keep encouraging them in their growth. They blew it out of the water. #langchat
A1 My best moment this semester was getting thank you notes & such after Teacher of the Year for my school. We can’t win with every student but damn if we can’t try, & I really really loved reading students’ words, especially if sometimes we arent feeling our best. #langchat
A1: Seeing my French 1 Ss create tours of their hometowns and sharing them with our partner school in France @lyceebazin . These Ss have grown so much this semester. I’m so proud of them 💗🇫🇷💗#langchat
A1: My best moment this semester was after giving my students an assessment (crazy, I know) and showing them how much they do know! They’re hesitant and I want to keep encouraging them in their growth. They blew it out of the water. #langchat
Best moment this year was being observed while doing a 100 CI lesson with 7 min timed stand-ups and points. Best observation I have ever had! Total class (68 min) was entirely in Spanish! #langchat
A1 Creating two stories this year with classes, one in Latin 1, one in Latin 2 - but the Latin 2 one, "Diocles et Flora," that one is something truly amazing. Gotta keep the momentum going all year. The kids absolutely love creating plot twists & storylines! #langchat
A1: It wasn't just one moment, but the auth res based, mini PBLs I had students do with trip planning, restaurant choices (level 1) and endangered animals (level 3) had super high engagement. Reinforces value of authentic tasks #langchat
I’m Jessica and I teach French. Be in & out as i have bedtime duty. Needing to find time to finish shopping and then I can get out and skate on our pond!#langchat
And I will say the "Aluna et Caelius" story in Latin 1... that one is equally awesome. It has a giant evil snail in it! That's all I gotta say. #langchat
A1 Creating two stories this year with classes, one in Latin 1, one in Latin 2 - but the Latin 2 one, "Diocles et Flora," that one is something truly amazing. Gotta keep the momentum going all year. The kids absolutely love creating plot twists & storylines! #langchat
A1 Just having a classroom where students know their voice is heard. Everyone works together. We all contribute for the common good. We are a Latin community. #langchat
A1.b: Another amazing moment was representing @SCOLT as one of the @actfl Teacher of the Year finalists. I learned so much about myself and became a better and more reflective teacher as a result of the process #langchat
A1 and hilarious moments like yesterday, “Señora, he got novice low? More like novice slow!” 😂 They’re using proficiency jargon to insult each other, #soproud#langchat
I plan to use these ideas in my #blendedlearning station rotations next semester. Teaching through Comprehensible Input IS compatible with Blended Learning! #smmblend#langchat
Quick plot summary so far: girl wants giraffe, friend gives her one, the giraffe goes missing, they find him in Egypt where the giant snail is attacking the people; they save the Egyptians from the snail but now he's coming to Rome... and it goes on. #langchat
A2 #langchat I have a class of easily distracted lvl 2s. We have to do EVERYTHING with a timer or they'll never get anything done. The class was esp challenging before I figured that part out.
#langchat A2: had a kit tell me that French was not a priority and he didn't care if he failed my class. I kept my cool, but I was so angry I was shaking. Trying to break the "why can't you be more like me" curse.
A2 Most of my frustrations have to do with behaviors. They're still kids learning to regulate themselves, & Spanish is another transition, another unfamiliar territory, & another crazy white lady. #langchat
A2 Keeping lesson plans fresh and different every week. We have our favorite activities but the brain craves novelty so finding new ideas is tough sometimes. Thankfully we have lots of blogs and online discussion groups and Twitter for those moments! #langchat
A2 - AP. I feel like every moment in AP has been a catastrophic failure, and I need to advocate for an extra year/learn how to meet my kids where they are. #langchat
A1 One of my best moments of the year was when my Spanish 1 Ss broke into spontaneous applause for themselves when we finished our first novel. #LangChat
A2 Keeping a good balance in my Latin 3 class between teaching the grammar they need to know for the state checkpoint exam and giving them enough CI. #langchat
A1 and hilarious moments like yesterday, “Señora, he got novice low? More like novice slow!” 😂 They’re using proficiency jargon to insult each other, #soproud#langchat
A2 my frustration is usually around behavior, like yesterday, but then I go home, do something I enjoy and then reset so I can problem solve with the student the next day. #langchat
A2.2: We had an inservice earlier this year where we were encouraged to love on the kids who would otherwise get under our skin and in most cases, it's working really well. #langchat
#langchat boy do I feel you on that! I've started in some classes having to do awards "most time spent in the seat in class" or "didn't talk during inappropriate times" they win 5 mins of device time at the end of class
A1: Best moment? My kids now start their morning with the pledge en Español (the best part is because they WANT to...not because I require them to) #langchat
A2: One of the challenges, I’ve had to deal with this semester is the lack of motivation in one class. No matter what I do, they are not motivated to do the work. I don’t know what I can do differently as some Ss in the class are engaged learners. #langchat
A2 #langchat My most challenging has been going deskfree and realizing, “Wow, this is stale, I’m still talking...” Over break I’m hitting the books to grt refreshed on new activities that justify going deal-free!
A1 #langchat Professionally my best moments this year have been being able to share with colleagues via #inspiredproficiency podcast, and working with #langbook crew
A2 My biggest success with behavior has been a combination of @HargadenTina strategies and the point system I learned from @coxon_mike. My Spanish 3s LOVE it and it keeps me sane in Sp 1!🤣#langchat
#langchat A3 I. Hate. Grading. It takes me so long to do because I procrastinate on it that my students don't get timely feedback. I've got to do better. As for how to overcome...do better?
A3: Lack of time and physical wherewithal to handle 4 preps and create materials and grade. There is no solution but granting myself grace. Work in progress. #langchat
A3: Time involved in learning about new strategies and redesigning new units. I work with young children and have to reinvent the wheel many times #langchat
A3 Currently, I don't have a room. The more I learn, the more I understand the importance of word walls and visuals. Overcoming it? Lots of laminating, and magnets up to my eyeballs. #langchat
A3: I think I try to do too much. I've always been like that and tried to fit so much in. I need to take a step back, remember LESS IS MORE and let the semester flow better. I'm just bound to a curriculum & it's tough to stay true to me and do what I HAVE to do #langchat
A3: I always want to try out new ideas that I learn from conferences, Twitter, or PD workshop; however I feel like time can be my biggest obstacle as there is so much to cover so Ss are prepared for the district assessments. I want to allow myself to try more new ideas. #langchat
A3 Maybe seeing students only 3-4 times a week because of the block schedule. I get a rhythm going and then it's our off day. Keeping the kids engaged in Latin on those off days with some form of CI. That is the key. #langchat
It has changed the GAME for me. I will put off a whole stack, but 5? I got this? 10? That's easy. See also: setting a timer and grading until it goes off, a few times a day! #langchat
#langchat A2 My most challenging moment(s) have been a group of students who are in my class, and made it clear not their first language choice. I'm not handling it as well as I would like. Patience. Wearing. Thin.
A3 #langchat TIME. Always time. With 4 preps it's a beast. I know I can't be great in all levels all the time so I choose one level a week to try new things then focus on another level the next week.
Highlight for me was December interviews with my 8th graders. They’ve come so far in 2.5 years and it’s a validation that what we are doing is good. #langchat
A2: One of my most challenging moments was dealing with a situation where students seemed to have given up. They needed some extra attention, encouragement,they just tuned out. In the future I’m going to do some more regular check-ins with them. #langchat
A3: I think one of my biggest obstacles is finding time outside of a lot of school responsibilities to set aside for intentional personal/professional growth. I’m making it an intentional goal for next year in 2019! #langchat
A3: my most challenging thing lately has been to say no to new responsibilities. I stepped back from an extra role at my school and haven’t taken on anything else new, so going in the right direction. #langchat
A1: joining Twitter and learning how to make the most of this PLC. Can’t wait to grow as an educator and have my students see a difference from my work here on the Twitter. #langchat
A3 I realized thanks to a lot of YouTube channels and podcasts, that there are things I've been doing that need improved. Solution: gonna start my OWN YouTube channel! #langchat
I can't give it back to keep until everyone has taken it including make-ups. So I hand it back then collect it, then forget to re return it once everyone is done. #langchat
#langchat it was a system I designed the year I was teaching 6 preps. I was spending HOURS daily and told myself there had to be a better-more reasonable way
A2: grappling with CI research, teaching methods, mixing traditional classroom structures with input-based strategies. It’s not easy changing and figuring out how things work, but boy is it fun and exciting! #langchat
A3 #langchat Besides time??? Not letting certain kids get under my skin and derail my belief in the entire class. Trying hard to use the 10:2 principle I learned with @Angela_Watson Spending 2 minutes a day for 10 days with these kids to build rapport. I think they need 30:30
A3 Just reminding myself that big change takes time. I’m also trying to get input from multiple people and make sure that what I do has purpose and leads to the end goal. #langchat
A3: again, CI and all the new research about language acquisition. I keep reading, listening to BVP, connecting with other educators, talking with colleagues. #langchat
Gosh yes! The wait until everyone has taken it beast gets me too! My other content teachers laugh and say "just design another assessment" and I'm like 😩😩it's not that easy!! #langchat
A4 My kiddos are engaged if it's compelling and comprehensible. I'm really working hard to learn what is compelling to my (hundreds) of Ss with wildly different interests & temperaments. #langchat
A3 part 2: doing my first PBL unit. Again, figuring out how #PBL works in a language-acquisitioned oriented classroom drives me wild, but oh how I can feel the dendrites growing. I’m going to fight to get @BIEpbl to get languages a book on how PBL looks in Lang class. #langchat
#langchat A4: Best engagement activities challenged Ss' cultural lenses as well as their linguistic abilities--my 1s were still talking about our Mercator projection lesson as they left the room!
A4: I can't even with this because cell phones/Instagram/Snapchat. Many times, yes, engaged with authentic tasks. But the addiction to the social media is real. #langchat
A4: I am constantly trying to discover more topics of interest to my students to encourage maximum engagment! Interesting topics = increased language production....for ALL learners! #langchat
A4: I have found students most engaged when they can work with a partner or when involved in PQA type activities. I think I’d like to continue this and add ideas like some game card challenges for staying in the TL. #langchat
A4 In a class of five (Latin 2) they always stay engaged because they all work together and support each other. In Latin 3, my biggest class (still only 15), keeping activities student-centered is the key because they can get lively. Focus all the energy on the language #langchat
#langchat#judgementfreezone I was doing some organizing in my classroom the other day and found a stack of papers from last years kids! I need a system for returning papers that actually works
Agreed! @Angela_Watson made me realize that I should be intentional on saying “yes” and I don’t feel bad (usually) when I say no because I know I can’t do it all. #langchat#40hourteacherworkweek
A3 #langchat | My biggest obstacles are the end of semester testS (multiple choice) that undo the proficiency-based language and proficiency-based teaching that students have come to trust me to deliver all semester. GULP.
A4 - My students love talking about themselves and learning about me. We go off-roading in Spanish and they think they are tricking me. Haha I'm tricking them into compelling Spanish! #langchat
A4: I feel for the most part my Ss have been engaged. I have found that they love communicating with our partner school. I also learned that they love having choices in how they demonstrate their learning. They also love competition. Maybe I’ll try more gamification. #langchat
A4 #langchat We start every class in a circle and spend at least 10-20 minutes working this way. No desks, not sitting, no way to hide. Must participate. Hoping it is truly engagement and not just compliance. They SEEM engaged. LOL
I have a Latin 3 statewide comprehensive exam that I have to give at the end of the year that is very grammar-focused. Thankfully, I am writing part of it this year (one of the reading passages) so I will write it comprehensibly while addressing Checkpoint B goals! #langchat
A4 Engaging fun of the week: A student went to Wendy's over the weekend (no pun intended) and we had an impromptu chat where we ranked favorite fast food restaurants. #langchat
Yes! I’m have to have a chat with my students when we get back from break. It’s so hard too when you plan something so cool, but don’t hold them accountable because you want them to enjoy it, and they slowly get out their phones #langchat
They are truly some of the best students I have ever taught. It's their story that we learn from. I just write the Latin. It's all about how they want to see it progress. And they're learning higher-level language without even realizing it. #langchat
I know what you mean! I’m dealing with the same thing. I add my own assessments on to it because my students can do so much more than MC questions. #langchat
A4 I try to give my students choice, but I’m also trying to make leveled activities so that students can still participate where they feel comfortable, but also give them ways to level up. #langchat
A4 #langchat | For engagement purposes, especially in novice levels, we try to sexy up the topic as much as possible. House and family? Let's talk energy consumption, yelling/spanking/family dynamics, and more. They are novice language learners, not novice thinkers!
A5 I took on a new challenge because (1) it was available & (2) I am a French AND Spanish teacher. I couldn't imagine my professional or personal life without interacting with Francophone cultures. #langchat
Q5 #langchat 1/2 I started taking Fridays as me time days. I leave school right after the students and spend the evening doing stuff for me. It's all about balance which is something I struggle with greatly.
Q5: Given myself permission to try new things, which sometimes is a messy process. But....If we are going to expect our students to be risk takers, then we better model it! #langchat
A5 I put my health and my child first ALWAYS. I am committed to doing a good job and helping my students but being alive, healthy and sane for my son is more important. Only took me to age 50 to get here. 😬 #langchat
A5: A year ago for my bday I bought a monthly massage package. I get a 90 min massage and a 60 min facial each month (alternate every 2 weeks). Best. gift. ever. #langchat
Q5 #langchat 2/2 It all goes back to the "you can't fill someone's bucket when your's is empty" I am less caring and compassionate towards my Ss when i'm running on fumes
Q5 Meditation. Sleepcasting. Yoga. Reading for pleasure. Singing at the top of my lungs while home alone. This is important because it fills my cup and keeps me functioning, happy, and positive. #langchat
#langchat A5 | I reflected often, and make a conscious decision as to when I was going to say "yes" and when I was going to say "no" and how I'd know. That was HUGE, because I'm a "yes" person!
A5 Meditation. Sleepcasting. Yoga. Reading for pleasure. Singing at the top of my lungs while home alone. This is important because it fills my cup and keeps me functioning, happy, and positive. #langchat
A5 #langchat I will also recommend if you have a float spa near you taking advantage of that. Best $45 ever spent and I'll be doing them once a nine weeks now!
A5 I work at work so that I can enjoy your time away. Teaching is hard work and I know I could spend hours at home planning, but then I get burned out. I am more focused and have a new mindset thanks to the #40hourteacherworkweek#langchat
A5: I spent a lot of this semester preparing for @actfl and giving a lot of presentations and workshops. I love meeting and connectingwith WL Ts. Next semester, I plan to slow down (it will be hard), but I need to find some me time and create a good balance in my life. #langchat
#langchat A5 I kept teaching (and taking) kickboxing because feeling like a BAMF a few times a week is just the confidence boost I need. Also, therapy. Never leave home without it.
A5 #langchat | Take back whatever day or time you want, for the gym or for family or whatever, it doesn't have to be Sunday, per se: https://t.co/1wMt6EpQYr
Q1: My best moment this year is seeing how much my juniors have grown... a lot less groaning, a lot more attempts to communicate, and a pure genuine interest to learn the language and culture. It takes time, but it’s so worth it #langchat
Hey #langchat-Better late to the party than never! I'm Heather- HS Span teacher in SC.
A5 This sem I have focused more on my own practice than I have in a while... fewer responsibilities outside of class has allowed me to breathe, ruminate, and brainstorm.🙌
#langchat takeaways: I'm doing good things, I can do some things better, and this community helps me recognize the good and improve on the not-so-good. So grateful for #langfam (which might now be a thing?)
TA: In order to give our Ss our best everyday, we need to make sure we take time to take care of ourselves. Do something that makes you happy. Don’t feel you have to add more to your already busy life. #langchat
TA: I don’t need to reinvent the wheel all the time, take what I have and see how to improve it, have time for myself to be happy. If I am well, my family and students will be as well :) #langchat
