My final post from this reflection series is about my 2021-22 year in Spanish IV with my intermediate students. The post talks about the Ohio Seal of Biliteracy, using student data, developing thought, my core classroom values, discussion days, honing communication based on novice topics, and finding a happy balance. Thanks for reading. Gary
Category: Teaching Strategies
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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Reflection 2021-22 Spanish Level II 
I am finally sitting down to write this important reflection of my Spanish level II classes this past year (even if it is in July and not June or any other month throughout the school year).
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 …
Nothing Is as Revolutionary Here as Hamilton, But These Four Things Are Making My Virtual Classes Work (So Far)
As teachers in 2020, we are all learning a new normal - whether it is 100% virtual teaching or a hybrid model, all changing how we interact with students and our subject matter. In my environment, I am teaching Spanish remotely from home with my students “zooming in” three times a week. And even though …
Webinar Online Now: Keeping CI Simple for Students
As the end of Quarter 1 is around the corner, I wanted to post this webinar that I did for Teacher’s Discovery last month on Facebook Live. For this webinar I wanted to focus on Simple CI in the classroom. I always have to remind myself how challenging it might be for students to focus …
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An Easy and Effective Listening Assessment
Short and sweet is the goal of this post. If you have followed me in the past, you know that brevity is not my strongest suit but today let’s hope. I wanted to share an easy and effective way to test listening comprehension using a simple Quizlet derived “Test.” This means there is very little …
Giving Thanks for my Local PLC during the Winter Blues & 10 Mini-Flashcard Activities
Wow, two months have flown by and teaching three preps, certainly keeps me on my toes. There are few moments of my life that I am not thinking about my classes and what I could possibly do to help students or better engage them in class. For me, this has been even more important during …
Some Positives as We All See Growth
It is amazing how much we as teachers do in a short amount of time and in any one day – I mean think about how much planning goes into setting up a classroom environment and just one day’s lesson. In trying to meet my goal of a monthly blog post, I had to let …
My Mosaic of World Language Teaching 