#188 We are always taking on new vocabulary themes and language structures in our language classroom. How do you make sure that your students are engaging with these new topics, particularly when it comes to speaking? In this episode, I speak with Jessica Hall, AKA Miss Señorita, who is a Spanish teacher in Connecticut. Jessica shares 3 speaking ac…

#187 What do your grades look like? Do the grades that your students earn reflect their mastery and what they can do with and in the target language? In this episode, I speak with Jude Krushnowski, the Director of the World Language Teacher Education Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He walks us through a framework for compete…

#186 How do we ensure our students know exactly what they’re working toward in their language learning journey? In this episode, we’re diving into Writing Can Do Statements—how to make them concrete, student-friendly, and aligned with proficiency levels and ACTFL’s communication modes. We’ll explore both yearly and unit-specific Can Do Statements, …

#185 What have you learned about your teaching throughout your years of experience? Do you take time to look introspectively at what works well for you and why so that you can replicate it? In this episode, Carmen Scoggins, a Spanish teacher in North Carolina, joins me to talk us through her 5 universal truths about teaching. Though our personal ex…

#184 Are you always on the lookout for new and inventive ideas to bring to our classrooms. I have one simple, yet powerful, tool. A mini-folding book is a compact, 8-page book made from a single sheet of paper. They are easy to create and can be customized for a wide range of classroom activities. In this episode I’ll tell you how to create the boo…

#183 Are you getting more comfortable with AI tools? Are you finding ways to use them to enhance your teaching? Last year, Noemi Rodriguez joined me on episode 116 when AI felt so new and emerging. Noemi is back to talk through advances in AI, new resources for language teachers and getting over some common hurdles. We specifically focus on leverag…

#182 Calendar talk is a CI (Comprehensible Input) activity that is part of many teachers' routines in the classroom. It is essentially just that, talking about the calendar. What began as simply saying the date has grown into much more than that. In this episode I will share with you my own process of doing a calendar talk activity that engages stu…

#181 Have you seen teachers posting on social media about their hexagonal grouping activities? I certainly have and I got curious about how it works and how teachers are using it in their world language classes. I’ve seen Erin Coleman posting and presenting workshops on the topic, so I invited her onto the podcast to share with all of us how she us…

#180 Do you have particular activities and procedures that you use to engage students in your classroom? Many of us have these tried-and-true go-to CI (Comprehensible Input) activities. They get talked about a lot on social media, in language teacher circles and even on this podcast. In this episode I’m going to walk you through 15 CI activities. B…

#179 What have you heard about special person interviews in world language classes? Maybe you have tried them yourself. In today’s episode I speak with Bryce Hedstrom, a Spanish and Latin teacher in Colorado. He also does quite a bit of professional development with language teachers. Bryce walks us through the benefits of special person interviews…

#178 How many preps do you have? If you have 3, 4 or more, or know someone who does, stick around for this episode. Oftentimes we equate 3 or more preps with 3 or 4 times the work. In this episode Sophie Forker, a French and Spanish teacher in New York City, joins me for a conversation about managing our teacher workload. We talk specifically about…

#177 The most popular episode of 2024 was the one where I talked about moving from grammar to language functions. I begin this last episode of 2024 with some podcast stats from 2024 and then you have the replay of episode #141: Shifting the Focus from Grammar to Function. 2024 World Language Classroom Podcast Stats : top 10% of all podcast download…

#176 How do you address your students’ mistakes or errors when speaking in the classroom? Should you address them? Is it useful, and if so, how do you do it? In this episode we are taking on the last of the High Leverage Teaching Practices, Providing Oral Corrective Feedback to Improve Learner Performance. My personal graduate thesis was on feedbac…

#175 Do students read in your classroom? What do they do with the reading? In this episode I speak with Jennifer Degenhardt and Theresa Marrama. They are both authors of CI Novels that I have personally used in my French and Spanish classrooms. I thought I’d go right to the source when thinking about the many ways that we can engage our students in…

#174 How cohesive are your lessons? Do you feel that activities flow and connect to each other in meaningful ways, or do they sometimes seem disconnected? Today’s episode is a Leveling Up episode, where I coach Cyndi, a German teacher in Idaho. Planning more cohesive lessons that flow more naturally and are connected to each other is the area where…

#173 This is an exciting episode that I recorded live at the 2024 ACTFL Convention and Language Expo in Philadelphia! This year’s ACTFL theme, “Connect for the Love of Languages!”, highlights the importance of building meaningful connections in every aspect of language teaching. In this episode, you'll hear from inspiring educators and leaders who …

#172 Do you have a World Language Honor Society in your school? Have you thought about bringing one to your school? In this episode, Regina Symonds, a French teacher in Massachusetts, joins me to talk about the benefits of having a language honor society in your school. She shares the details for starting and maintaining a chapter along with cultur…

#171 How do your students engage with culture in your classroom? One way to approach cultural topics is to look specifically at Cultural Products, Practices and Perspectives. Focusing on these cultural aspects helps students develop intercultural competence, which will then make language learning more meaningful and relevant to them. It also allows…

#170 What do you know about calendar talks? Maybe you have tried them yourself and maybe you’re hearing about them for the first time. In today’s episode I speak with John Sifert, a Spanish teacher in Iowa. John, aka Padre de Cinco, walks us through the many benefits of using calendar talk activities, along with actionable suggestions for engaging …

#169 What role does student choice have in your classroom? We know that when students have some ownership over their learning that they are more intrinsically motivated and this leads to real agency in their learning. Today’s episode is a Leveling Up episode, where I coach Jen, a Spanish teacher in Missouri. Providing students with regular and auth…

#168 How well do you navigate change? Are you open to it? What do you need to reduce any resistance that you might have? How do you support colleagues through the process? In our ever-evolving world of language teaching and learning there are opportunities for change in our practice. But, is it easy? In this episode, I speak with Tim Eagan and Mike…

#167 Do you use authentic texts in your language classroom? To make sure that we are all on the same page with the concept, the simple definition is materials created by and for native speakers not for the purpose of language learning. These materials reflect real-life language use and cultural contexts. They expose students to natural language and…

#166 Community. Is this a word that you would use to describe your classroom? Do you and your students feel like you are a part of a supporting and encouraging community each time you and they walk in your classroom? How do you create this type of learning environment? Today, Elodie Channa, a French teacher in British Columbia, Canada, joins me to …

#165 How much of the target language is used in your classroom, by both you and your students? I’m talking about truly communicative language. Today’s episode is a Leveling Up episode, where I coach Helen, a German teacher in Wisconsin. Using the target language more regularly and authentically is the area where she wants to level up her teaching p…

#164 The topic of grammar is always up for discussion. Does the question of teaching grammar have a simple yes or no answer? Is it an either or? Is there a place for a both/and? I will suggest that there is this episode by focusing on form. Focusing on form involves drawing students’ attention to linguistic elements within a communicative context. …

#163 We’ve heard this idea of working smarter and not harder. Does that sound like something that is easier said than done? Do you feel that efficiency might sometimes compromise your teaching and how and what students are learning. In this episode I take on this idea with Amy Marshal, Spanish teacher in Massachusetts. Amy offers lots of tips, insi…

#162 We talk a lot about making language comprehensible in our language classroom. This is essential now that we understand how critical this is to language acquisition. When students understand what they hear and read, they begin the acquisition process. It also boosts their confidence, making them more willing to participate and take risks in usi…

#161 Is your world language classroom a welcoming space for students? Would you describe it as warm and welcoming? Can it be? Should it be? Is it helpful for learning? My guest today, Allison Perryman, sure believes that it is. Allison joins me to discuss how she makes her Spanish classroom a warm and welcoming community where students feel recogni…

#160 What is a discourse community? Essentially, it’s a learning environment where students actively engage in meaningful communication, using the target language to interact, collaborate, and build relationships. It’s a space where every student’s voice is valued and encouraged. Is that what you would like to see in your classroom? I’m guessing yo…

#159 I have something that I want to share with you as we go into this new school year. If you know me you know that I have talked a lot about my experiences in Nicaragua and I have been there this summer. I had an opportunity to sit down with Paulette Goudge and talk about what this Mariposa experience is and to bring it to you on this episode of …

#158 This is episode 7 in my 2024 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 26th, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at episodes 119 and 132, which were teache…

#157 This is episode 6 in my 2024 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 26th, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at episode 141 where I talk about transiti…

#156 This is episode 5 in my 2024 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 26th, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at episodes 117 where Jamie Rodriguez talk…

#155 This is episode 4 in my 2024 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 26th, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at the Leveling Coach episodes where I coa…

#154 This is episode 3 in my 2024 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 26th, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at episode 135 where Fadi Aboughoush talks…

#153 This is episode 2 in my 2024 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 26th, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at episodes 124 and 125 where I talk about…

#152 This is episode 1 in my 2024 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 26th, you will see new episodes with exciting new topics every Monday. For today we take a look back at my episodes about the book Honing Our C…

#151 Now that the school year is over hopefully you have a little less on your mind and have a little extra time. This is the perfect time to get into your summer headspace. What do I mean by that? You’ll soon understand. Let’s jump in. time to reflect without other pressing priorities and issues opportunity to revisit themes and episodes with a fr…

#150 How often do we stop to reflect on our teaching? Hopefully we take the time and opportunity to do it regularly so that we are teaching our students as effectively as possible. In this episode I’m going to talk about reflective practice and how we can use this as language teachers. I’ll also include a discussion of success criteria and how this…

#149 As teachers, and proficient second language speakers, we have figured out ways to communicate words that we don’t know. We can teach this skill to students early on so that they can begin doing it right away. Circumlocution is a strategy for describing or defining a concept instead of saying or writing the specific words (when we don’t know it…

#148 What is your understanding of the word proficiency? This is a concept that we use all the time in our language classrooms. How about the word performance? This concept is also becoming more commonplace in our teaching vernacular. When we say that we are proficiency-oriented or teach toward proficiency, are we also able to assess proficiency in…

#147 Throughout the school year I published Leveling Up Coaching episodes with language teachers who are taking on a challenge area in their teaching or simply wanted to improve in a particular area. As part of this collaborative relationship we talk through some possibilities and come up with an action plan. After some time implementing I check ba…

#146 When it comes to providing comprehensible input, is it possible to use authentic resources? In this episode, we explore how to use authentic listening resources as a form of comprehensible input with Steven Lopez, a Spanish teacher in New York. Steven shares his process for preparing and scaffolding listening tasks so that students are able to…

#145 In this episode I’m taking on the question of leveling up. We often talk about proficiency levels and the output that goes along with each level. We’ll take a look at some concrete examples of language produced at each level and I’ll share some suggestions for how we can support students in leveling up their language. Topics In This Episode: T…

#144 What do you do with the information that you learn from the assessments that you give students? Even if we are talking about end–of-unit summative assessments we should look at the overall results and see if there are any changes we should make to instruction. This is our own consistent way of doing action research in our classrooms. In this e…

#143 If you’re not a native speaker, how do you maintain your proficiency and confidence in speaking the language that you teach? Today’s episode is a Leveling Up episode, where I coach Stephanie, a middle school teacher in Maine. Maintaining and improving her personal confidence and proficiency is the area where she wants to level up. Suggestions:…

#142 How do you address current events with your students? In this episode we take on the topic of current events in the language classroom with Ben Tinsley, a French teacher in Pennsylvania. This is Ben’s third time on the podcast and he is here again to share his practical insights for discussing current events in the target language and using th…

#141 What have you heard about language functions? I see this as the idea of using the target language to communicate or convey a message rather than only being able to describe the grammatical structures, patterns and vocabulary. In this episode we are going to take a look at this shift in focus, and sometimes mindset, from a primary focus on gram…

#140 Have you heard of the term “Translanguaging?” In this episode, we are going to explore this emerging concept in language teaching with Dr. Uju Ayna, an Associate Professor of Second Language Acquisition at Carnegie Mellon University. She helps us to understand exactly what Translanguaging is and how beneficial it can be in the process of acqui…

#139 Do you feel that you provide comprehensible input to your students? Do you have a solid understanding of how beneficial this is to their language learning? Hopefully you are thinking, yes indeed. An important part of this process is checking that students do, in fact understand. In this episode we are going to look at effective strategies and …