Become a more confident language teacher.
La paz empieza conmigo. Say it! This article about today’s terrorist attack in Barcelona is written in super simple Spanish–almost entirely cognates–so that you can use it with students that just began their Spanish study. Even still, it will not be ‘highly comprehensible’ to fresh Spanish students because it is lengthy. It is up to you…
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“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” –L.M. Montgomery 2016 was hard for many people. Many of us experienced great joy this year, but that joy was often overshadowed by suffering, sadness, loss, and hopelessness. The same is true of any year, but for whatever reason it seems…
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Faith Laux shared with me a summary that she wrote about the story of a brave rescue dog that gave his life to earthquake relief efforts in Ecuador. She gave me permission to share the story here, and I’ve written a second, even more simplified summary so that more teachers can use it in their classes. Thank you…
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On Saturday, April 16, 2016, Ecuador was devastated by the worst earthquake to shake its shores in nearly seven decades. One week later, the death toll is at 650, more than 12,000 people are injured, and hundreds are missing. Carol Kovatch’s middle school Spanish class in Santa Rosa, California read last week’s special edition of EL MUNDO…
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Katie Sevilla just sent me the super fun story that her class created during a story asking session with the script “El amigo simpático“. (Click here to learn how to ask a story using my Matava-style scripts.) As you can see by comparing the story that her class created with the original story shared in…
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As most of you know, I’m not teaching at this phase of my life..although I will be teaching for a few hours on one day in a couple weeks for the annual Kids 2 College program…I’m saving up my energy already! Teaching is exhausting!! Since Millie joined the family six weeks ago, time for me to work…
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Whether or not your students are reading Brandon Brown versus Yucatán, I’m sure that you can find a use for this current event! Last week, Justin Bieber visited the ruins in Tulum with his entourage, and they climbed some monuments that are off-limits to tourists. Sound familiar? Brandon Brown, under the influence of his mischievous friend Justin, did…
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As luck would have it, mice began to seek shelter from the harsh Alaska winter just a few weeks before midterms back in 2012. I saw them everywhere! Running across my kitchen counters, scampering along the walls of my living room, and dashing under the shelves each time that I opened my garage door. My…
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Hello, world, from the great city of Winnipeg! I am having so much fun on vacation exploring Winnipeg working here in Manitoba with a group of German teachers. Different than in the U.S., Spanish is not the most commonly taught world language in Canada, and so I was able to do a demo IN SPANISH and still give…
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