High Tech/Low Tech: Ideas for Every Classroom
Core Practices
By Andrea Behn
The Leadership Initiative for Language Learning (LILL) provided world language teachers with 6 Core Practices in 2015 and though some of the practices are not new to teachers, they do take some planning and effort to incorporate in teaching. For some teachers, the most challenging Core Practice to incorporate into their repertoire is using authentic resources. Yes, textbooks have a lot of information and activities already done for us. Yes, it’s nice to have a skeleton for units and lessons. Yes, they are pretty. However, consider this quote from Laura Terrill at the Central States Conference in 2016: “The kiss of death for the 21st century learner is ‘open your textbook’.” The 21st learner has access to unlimited amounts of knowledge; it’s our job to take them beyond knowledge and foster inquiry, problem-solving, and critical thinking, essential skills for this generation. Read more. |
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"Personal space" around the world
SOURCE: CSCTFL
If you've traveled even a little bit, you’ve surely had the experience of sharing a public space with someone (or many someones) who wants to stand closer to you than you’d allow your partner most of the time. (I often had this experience at the ATMs in Baku, Azerbaijan, where crowding has replaced queuing.) The Washington Post |
How "picting" is becoming a new literacy
SOURCE: ASCD SmartBrief
Let’s start with Snapchat, the social media service where pictures users send to each other disappear after being viewed for 10 seconds (though a "story" — made up of sequences of pictures — last 24 hours). Why do the pictures disappear on Snapchat? Just as verbal conversation disappears, so now picture conversations disappear. Snapchat embodies the ephemerality of conversing — but in pictures. T.H.E. Journal
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Engaging world languages students through social media
SOURCE: EdWeek Update
Effective integration of instructional technology in learning environments is the unicorn of successful curriculum design and implementation. Yet, one can almost hear the groans during discussions on the benefits of incorporating technology into lesson plans and curricula. Often times the pitch as to what technology could facilitate for learners and educators is aspirational while the actual execution of tech in the classroom is overwhelming, finicky, and unreliable. Indeed, classroom tech setups often appear to be on par with spaceship mission control for the uninitiated. Education Week's Global Learning Blog |
Is language learned subconsciously?
SOURCE: ACTFL SmartBrief
Subconscious language learning is a concept that leading language acquisition expert Stephen Krashen has demonstrated through extensive research, but is still challenged by many teachers. Though there is research to back up this theory that language is learned subconsciously, we are still not aware of how the language starts to stick in our brains. HuffPost Canada |
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