Category: Teaching Strategies

Interactive Presentations in Spanish IV/4 and a “Short” Reflection 

On By GaryDibiancaIn Assessments, Semester Reflection, Spanish III, Spanish IV, Teaching Strategies1 Comment

Here is a “short” reflection about the year in my Spanish IV/4 Honors class, and probably of more importance to you, the details about Interactive Presentations. Of course the year was not “perfect” and every decision I made for student learning and my teaching was not flawless - but it was a pretty fantastic year. …

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Spanish 2 Reflection School Year 25-26 ~ Let’s Go 26-27

On By GaryDibiancaIn Beginning of the Year, Semester Reflection, Spanish II, Teaching Strategies2 Comments

Honestly, I woke up on July 1 with a flood of ideas going through my head about the school year and I thought I was going to write about it - well alas, it is now August 11, and I still have yet to write about anything from last school year. It must be something …

Continue reading Spanish 2 Reflection School Year 25-26 ~ Let’s Go 26-27

Updates for Video Clip Chat: the Coffee Run and A New Class Extension Writing Game

On By GaryDibiancaIn Assessments, Classroom Routines, Curriculum, Spanish I, Spanish II, Spanish III, Spanish IV, Teaching Strategies, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I am happy to report that the coffee commercial that I wrote about last week has been a great source of Input for my students as we continue to follow this year’s Winter Olympics.  I wanted to say that I have updated the resources. I published last week’s post/resources quickly because I wanted us all …

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How to Quickly Create a Clip Chat and a New Resource: The Coffee Run 

On By GaryDibiancaIn Curriculum, Spanish I, Spanish II, Spanish III, Spanish IV, Teaching Strategies1 Comment

Sometimes I really hate being inspired. It means that I have to work more and fit something else into an already packed week of lessons. On Friday night while watching the Olympics, I quickly realized that my Spanish 2 structures from last week could all apply to the Olympic Games (and I didn’t even do …

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Games can be both Jekyll and Hyde  

On By GaryDibiancaIn Classroom Routines, Spanish I, Spanish II, Spanish III, Spanish IV, Teaching Strategies1 Comment

What can I say, I dislike how the competitive nature of games can turn so nasty in the classroom. In one class period, we can have both Jekyll and Hyde, and when I see too much Hyde, I get stressed out. But I also know from the results of my student surveys that next to story-telling and story-asking, games are the highest-rated classroom activities that my students enjoy and they feel that they help them learn (I suppose some games do). Of course, the key to making games work is to set clear expectations, especially with regard to behavior and sportsmanship, so that nasty competitiveness of Hyde does not occur. 

525,600 Minutes, 525,000 Moments so Dear – Part 2: This year in Spanish IV and a bit more from the CI SUMMIT

On By GaryDibiancaIn AP World Language, Assessments, Beginning of the Year, Classroom Routines, Conferences and Training, Semester Reflection, Teaching Strategies4 Comments

It is now time to reflect a bit on my Spanish IV Honors course and a few more take away moments from this year’s CI SUMMIT, which was hosted and sponsored by http://www.vocesdigital.com and http://www.teachersdiscovery.com and AnneMarie Chase’s three hour Assessment Spotlight Session. As my last post mentioned, the 24-25 school year was “pretty great” in terms of Spanish classes.  

How Do You Measure, Measure a Year? – Part 1: Spanish I & II and the new from the CI SUMMIT 

On By GaryDibiancaIn Beginning of the Year, Classroom Routines, Conferences and Training, Semester Reflection, Spanish I, Spanish II, Teaching Strategies, Uncategorized2 Comments

So How Do You Measure, Measure a Year? In this post, I will reflect on last year’s Spanish I and II classes and incorporate my newest learning and connections taken from the CI SUMMIT as I prepare for next year. I will follow up with a second post with more details about my Spanish IV class and again some take aways from the CI SUMMIT. 

Running Reflection Series 2: My Experience with Mike Peto’s Brazilian Portuguese Classes ~ Post #6 – My Final One 

On By GaryDibiancaIn Beginning of the Year, Classroom Routines, Conferences and Training, Curriculum, Learning Portuguese, My Philosophy, Semester Reflection, Spanish I, Spanish II, Spanish III, Spanish IV, Teaching Strategies, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I must thank Mike Peto for the amazing experience this summer learning another language. As I posted in my first post about this class, I have been waiting for an opportunity like this for quite some time. This was a perfect summer experience for me and I am going back to the classroom re-energized and recharged for a great school year. Thanks again Mike for being such a wonderful teacher and inspiration. Now for One Post More!  

Running Reflection Series 2: My Experience with Mike Peto’s Brazilian Portuguese Classes ~ Post #5 

On By GaryDibiancaIn Beginning of the Year, Classroom Routines, Conferences and Training, Learning Portuguese, My Philosophy, Semester Reflection, Spanish I, Spanish II, Spanish III, Spanish IV, Teaching Strategies, UncategorizedLeave a comment

These five+ “AHA” Moments and Teaching Tips from my Portuguese classes this summer are helping get me mentally prepared for this school year. Check out my other posts for this series