It's one of the standard forms of human interaction - ask a question, give (or get) an answer. We do it thousands of times a day, but it can be deceptively simple for second language students. The best thing to help students learn how to ask and answer questions is practice. Repetition. Lots and lots … Continue reading
This blog post was originally going to be part of a longer one in which I was writing about a number of ways I have used poetry in my classes. However, it turned out that I had a lot more to say about that topic than I initially thought, and so I've decided to divide … Continue reading
This post is about a resource I developed in about 2017, and it allowed me to align the way that I teach reading in my second language classes with a series of beliefs that I've held for a long time: Reading is NOT translation. For years, every time I asked students to read something in … Continue reading
When language learning is divided into its four core skill areas of speaking, listening, reading and writing, listening is often an area where students struggle the most. Listening to an authentic speaker or watching a video in the target language feel overwhelming to them, and they need specific instruction in how to do it. If … Continue reading
For the past 4 years, I have been part of a committee in my school district looking at a range of programs from publishers, with a goal of finding a new program for our schools to adopt in our French as a Second Language (FSL) classes. One of the biggest objections to the old programs … Continue reading
I've been making a big effort to integrate more non-textbook style reading into my French as a second language classes over the past few years. I vividly remember the moment at which I started to understand French books on my own without translating, and the excitement of having access to new ways of expressing thinking … Continue reading
I vividly remember what it was like to participate in my first university level French class. It seemed like everyone else was talking easily, having conversations and responding to the professor's questions in French. I, on the other hand, felt totally inadequate. Nothing in my high school French experience had prepared me for this. We … Continue reading
I'm in the middle of reading "Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters," by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst. This is a book that I've been looking forward to, and I'm excited to adapt the ideas for second language reading with my students. Here's the problem I'm working on solving: second language reading … Continue reading
This blog post is a little sample of how I'm changing my instructional strategies for September of the coming school year. I'm working on integrating curricular strategies on a wider scale, because (a) they're the basis of the curriculum, (b) I'm moving to a school that is structured around cross-curricular competencies, and (c) this gets … Continue reading
Full confession - while there is no actual holiday during which everyone gets together and celebrates cheese and chocolate (although... wouldn't that be amazing?), planning a classroom experience like this is an opportunity to showcase certain aspects of French culture that are fun, interesting, easy to compare to others, and very popular with my high … Continue reading
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