Become a more confident language teacher.
Communication is the interpretation, expression, and/or negotiation of meaning in a given context (Bill VanPatten). Especially in the early days of a new language class, interpretation is king. Yet, developing novel tasks and activities that students can complete without trying to produce or pronounce language that they haven’t yet acquired is a challenge! As we…
Read More
A new approach to instruction requires a new approach to assessment, and many teachers that are focused on teaching language with a focus on acquisition have chosen to adopt a standards-based approach to assessment. Instead of grading students on their performance on classwork, homework, and quizzes and tests of knowledge, a standards-based approach to assessment…
Read More
Get trained in Teaching for Acquisition this this August! Join The Comprehensible Classroom for online professional development on Teaching and Assessing for Acquisition! If you are seeking to learn the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of Teaching for Acquisition, The Comprehensible Classroom is the best place for you to get started. Working with individuals and districts around the country, we have…
Read More
New York State (NYS) revised their learning standards for Modern and Classical World Languages in 2021, and many NYS teachers are now wondering whether they need to make changes in their teaching in order to meet the new standards. As a team, we have spent a great deal of time pouring over the resources that…
Read More
As winter begins to melt into early signs of Spring, teachers and students alike are exhausted. The end of our homeschool year is in sight, and we are feeling wholly unmotivated to attack the last few hurdles before summer break and freedom. Perhaps you can relate! Last May, I created and shared a fun “Believe…
Read More
March is Women’s History Month, and we have the BEST resource for language teachers looking to celebrate amazing women in their language classes! We have paperless, printable, projectable, multi-version biographical texts about 31 inspiring women from throughout history that represent many different cultures and career fields. Here are 10 ways to use our Women’s History…
Read More
By now, we’ve all seen it: someone’s district has been hacked, and they must now teach with zero technology for an indefinite time period. In some cases, the school is back online within a few days; more likely, though, it will be several weeks or even longer before teachers can return to teaching with technology.…
Read More
Pop-up Grammar is a core strategy used by teachers that have been trained in Acquisition Driven Instruction (ADI) with a focus on making input comprehensible. Whereas grammar has traditionally been a major focus of instruction and therefore instructional minutes in language courses, Pop-Up Grammar flips the traditional, explicit grammar instruction model on its head. Pop-Up…
Read More
We are thrilled to announce a NEW workshop open to the public: Acquisition Academy! Join us for the inaugural event from June 22-24 in Dallas, Texas. Led by Director of Training Elicia Cárdenas and a team of instructional coaches, this three-day workshop on Acquisition Driven Instruction is designed to get you up and running with…
Read More
