Running Reflection Series 2: My Experience with Mike Peto’s Brazilian Portuguese Classes ~ Post #1

I have waited for this moment for a long time. I have always wanted to learn and/or acquire another language that went beyond a few lessons so I could “get by” while traveling to a new place. This summer has provided me the time and opportunity to start working toward this goal via on-demand Brazilian …

Continue reading Running Reflection Series 2: My Experience with Mike Peto’s Brazilian Portuguese Classes ~ Post #1

Running Reflection Series: My Experience with Mike Peto’s Approach, My Teacher Struggles, and Next School Year ~ Post 3

“AHA” Moment #3 from Mike Peto’s Guidebook: Write and Discuss Every Day I am going back to how I started 10 years ago in my school. I always wanted students to have a notebook and pencil, and somewhere along the way this became a problem for students. So again, I will require all students to …

Continue reading Running Reflection Series: My Experience with Mike Peto’s Approach, My Teacher Struggles, and Next School Year ~ Post 3

Running Reflection Series: My Experience with Mike Peto’s Approach, My Teacher Struggles, and Next School Year ~ Post 2

As teachers, I think we all have our favorite grades or courses to teach. For me, the consistency of teaching level 4/IV Spanish to juniors in high school for 21 of 22 years, is where I am most comfortable and, perhaps, happy. It is where I am helping students to grow and hone their skills …

Continue reading Running Reflection Series: My Experience with Mike Peto’s Approach, My Teacher Struggles, and Next School Year ~ Post 2

Running Reflection Series: My Experience with Mike Peto’s Approach, My Teacher Struggles, and Next School Year ~ Post 1

I have now been teaching for 23 years, and it is still amazing how I feel every year I continue to learn more as I hone my craft. This past school year was no different as there were some new “old” challenges thrown at me that have happened about every 3 years when I teach …

Continue reading Running Reflection Series: My Experience with Mike Peto’s Approach, My Teacher Struggles, and Next School Year ~ Post 1

Being in a New World Language Class is like a TRIP 

While traveling this summer in Rome, Italy I had an “AHA Moment:” the student experience in my world language classroom is like a trip in a big city that is foreign to someone. Let’s delve into this crazy metaphor that I thought about while walking through the “_________” neighborhood in search of a market that bears that same name (umm, I cannot remember its name for the life of me as I am writing this), and frankly that is perfect because it really makes this metaphor even better. Here are my 10 reasons why I am making this claim.

Some Food for Thought from April 2023 

Written April, 16 2023  This was a post I wrote on Facebook that I feel should be on my Blog too. (No musical theatre references). This was a commentary I had after reading an opinion piece on April 16, 2023.  I just wanted to post about what a joy it was to present with my …

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MASTERY LEARNING using High-Frequency Verb Quizzes 

The 2021-22 school year provided me a chance to try out ideas with MASTERY LEARNING and a policy about retaking assessments until an 80% average was reached. I used this idea consistently throughout the whole year with both my Spanish II and IV classes, and I am very pleased with the results. One of the …

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Aha! Moments from IFLT 2022

Aha! Moments from IFLT 2022 I am so grateful to have returned to an in-person training conference. IFLT 2022 in Saline, Michigan gave us all an opportunity to get refreshed and ready for a fantastic 2022-23 school year. Over the past 6 years, IFLT has implemented a trifecta training model where teachers observe other teachers …

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