Become a more confident language teacher.
The most successful synchronous lessons are often game-based. As a parent, I have been spying on my own kids’ synchronous classes. As a curriculum coach, I’ve been debriefing synchronous lesson plans with SOMOS teachers. GAMES make online classes feel less like a chore, and they allow us to do what we miss most about being…
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If you’re anything like me, you love a good manipulative activity. Here are some common manipulative activities used by language teachers: sequencing events from a story that are printed on strips of paper matching chunks of authentic texts to paraphrased summaries sorting quotes into groups based on who said or would have said each one…
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Yesterday was Earth Day 2020, and I celebrated with a romp through the woods and a spontaneous interview with Elicia Cárdenas during our #SOMOSathome launch party. The three big questions were: What have you REDUCED in your teaching in recent years? What activities do you REUSE over and over again? How do you RECYCLE content…
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Many school districts have asked their teachers to provide up to two-weeks of printable lesson plans for students to be able to complete at home in case of emergency school closure in relation with the containment of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). Creating a single sub plan is a big enough task, but creating multiple weeks’ worth of…
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After a lifetime of not really dating, my brother signed up for a speed dating event. Terrified from the moment he made the decision, I think that he would have considered “survival” a success. Lo and behold, he left with requests for a follow-up date from every person that he speed dated that evening, and…
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My parents were the first African-Americans to speak Spanish to me. When they did, I thought, Wow! That’s cool. They know how to speak another language. Their knowledge of the language came from their professional experiences. Little did I know at the time, this would have an impact on my life. The Importance of Incorporating Afro-Latin Content Into…
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This Tuesday and Wednesday, save up to 25% off ALL teaching resources from The Comprehensible Classroom– including the complete SOMOS Curriculum and El mundo en tus manos subscription – The first huge sale for 2020! 25% off is the largest discount that we can provide, so now is the time to stock up on materials to…
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It’s January– you’re tired, they’re tired. Routines have started feeling…routine…and the same old challenges that you’ve been dealing with since the fall are starting to feel really old. Now is a particularly great time of year to be predictable in expectations but unpredictable in planning. Instead of starting the next unit or chapter and working…
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I’ve always struggled with writing year-in-review posts. None of the standard metrics ever seem to capture a true representation of the fading year– and this is the end of the decade! My top posts are never the posts that I consider to be the most valuable. My blog “by the numbers” fails to capture the…
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