Pack up, Prepare and Play
17May 27, 2012 by Kara
Megan and I are going to take a small break to finish all of the tasks we teachers do to wrap up the end of the year. She needs to pack up a room and I need to hunt down everything I’ve left behind in my classrooms. Luckily a cart doesn’t take long to pack up. 2 boxes please!
Take this time to get rid of unused resources and order new ones so they are there when you come back. start looking at conferences (like ACTFL) and PD that would be beneficial to your teaching goals. Ask if there is money to help you attend. What else do you do to prepare for next year?
When we come back, we will be going over a theme a week to help you gather resources. So some light lesson planning! Let us know if there is something specific you’d like to see more of. Also we will throw up any fresh ideas we find. Megan is doing some traveling and I’m taking an ESL class.
So just curious, what are you doing during summer??
Megan
rachel573
Kara
I have *huge* plans for the summer. I plan to get all of my units (which I’ll be creating) organized and outlined. I want to organize all of my supplies, too. I don’t know what I’ll be teaching yet, so I’ll be organizing Spanish I-IV, just in case.
Have a great end of year, thank you so much for all of the help and ideas you two have given me!!!!
Your blog is my newest obsession. Thank you both for all the work you put into it and the sharing! I would love to see how you guys teach geography.
Thanks Rebecca! Glad you’ve found some ideas you can use! We’ll add some geography plans this summer!
I am obsessed as well with this blog…you have no idea how great this is to wake up and find a post everyday! I, too, need to get “thematically organized” and gather the resources and plans to get these units to be thorough and solid.
I will be going to Spain, as I told Kara, and will be happy to get something if you need it–my perspective will be surely different on what I am looking for now! Thanks for the super work….I’ll be in touch!
What part of Spain are you visiting? Have you been there before? I studied abroad there and fell in love! I’d love to hear about your trip when you gt back!
Good for you, Megan! I’m going to do some organizing too. When do you normally find out what you’ll be teaching?
I’m going to learn to be a wonderful Spanish teacher with my mentor, Kara! LOL! I’ll also be taking a PD on teaching grammar in English. (Don’t ask!)
You’re lucky! She’s a great mentor!
I love your blog too! I’d appreciate another post on proficiency grading – I’d like to drop the vocab & grammar test system and adopt something more like what y’all do!
Cool! We can def do tht soon! Have you see our proficiency rubric?
Going to re-read your great blog ideas & organize this last year’s work. I’m sooooo thankful that I found your blog. I’ve been teaching a while, but you two ladies have really inspired me to rethink Spanish Language education. Lucky enough to attend an IB conference in N Mexico. Thanks again & enjoy your summer!
cris It looks like my school will become an IB school soon. What can you tell me about it in regard to a World Language class? Sherry
IB is great! I taught preIB classes long ago. It is very proficiency and real world based. I suggest that they get subscriptions to a magazine in Spanish or just use websites.
I too am very grateful that I found your blog! It is filled with fantastic ideas/activities! Our middle school is also starting the International Baccaluareate (IB MYP) program and I’d be curious how others form their lessons accordingly. Does anyone recommend a particular textbook(s) that you used during your teaching foreign language classes in college? Teresa
You are the second to ask about IB. I think it calls for a post of its own. I did it ages ago and loved it. We used magazines and as much real stuff as we could. I remember we used En el mundo hispanico http://mobile.usablenet.com/mt/www.textbooks.com/BooksDescription.php?CSID=DZ3ZAUCZM3KTMQ2Q2TKMTD2S&i=9780821923245 and Aprendizaje.
What am I doing? A LOT!!!
1. Attending a workshop @ Columbia U. Re: Progressive Education and FL Teaching
2. Learning how to flip my classes.
3. Playing around with my iPad and Apple TV.
4. Participating in group research project re: the achievement gap amongst Black males in independent schools. Presenting at a conference in October
5. Working with a new textbook series, planning new lessons.
On the personal side:
1. Gardening.
2. Cooking, esp. grilling and baking.
3. Reading.
4. Photography.
5. Visiting with family and friends, and, hopefully, get a bit of travel in.
Busy! I’d love to learn anything you find out about the Apple TV.