Remember the old days before classroom technology was a thing?
When I first started teaching Spanish, all I had was a textbook, a handful of transparencies and a few raggedy Spanish-English dictionaries.
Thankfully, the professional development I had at this …
Tweens, teens and screens.
They go together like bread, peanut butter and jelly.
I mean, what middle school teacher ever announced a movie day only to receive a chorus of groans?
Probably has never happened in the history of education.…
Who doesn’t love a good story?
As novelist Ken Kesey famously proclaimed, “To hell with facts! We need stories!”
I’ve never met a student of any age who couldn’t appreciate a well-told story, and when the story is a …
Want to add some zest to your Spanish lessons?
Imagine your students’ faces when you tell them “se me fueron las chivas” (“my goats got away from me”) as you explain how something slipped your mind.
Think of their …
Handouts hold a certain nostalgic appeal for me.
They remind me of my earliest days as a student, when I first delighted in writing legibly and storing papers in a sturdy folder, just like a grown-up would.
Growing up, we …
You know what’s amazing about teaching a foreign language to children?
It’s not the flexible hours and the ability to work internationally—although those things are pretty awesome too.
It’s the ability to turn anything into a lesson.
One day you’re …
When I was in high school, Spanish was really the only foreign language option for me.
I had maps of Spain and Cuba and all the countries of South America.
I was excited to go abroad and experience a world …
