Preaching to Acquire

The honeymoon phase is over. At least for me, in my classes.  The excitement of the new school year has worn off, the cooler temperatures and gray skies of winter are becoming more frequent, and we are definitely in the thick of the DEVOLSON (Dark Evil Vortex Of Late September, October, November) season.   I just want to take a moment to encourage those of you that are trying new things or trying to become better teachers for your kids to NOT GIVE UP.   I say this all the time, but I think it bears repeating.  Almost every single time anyone tries anything new, they're going to suck at it. (I mean... there are a few prodigies out there rockin' it on the first try, but for the rest of us, it's just not the case).  The first time Aaron Rodgers threw a football was most likely not a perfect pass.  The first time Michael Jordan shot a basket, it probably missed.  How did these INCREDIBLY talented athletes get to be where they are? BY PR...

I went live in the CI Liftoff Facebook group on Monday, June 10th (in case you want to search for my name and find the video) to talk about what exactly CI (comprehensible input) is. I really feel like we, as teachers, have a tendency to over complicate it.  There is information overload out there, and because of that, I hear from many teachers that are unsure if they are "doing CI" in their classrooms.  Let me blow your mind for a second here. What is CI? 1. Messages that are being understood by students in the target language (Spanish for me). via GIPHY Okay, there is more to it than that, but pretty much that's what it boils down to. Are your students reading in the target language? Are they understanding what they read? Are you students hearing (and listening to) the target language? Are they understanding what they hear? If you answer yes to those questions, then you are "doing CI"! Of course there is a lot more detail when it comes to sp...

Enough said, right? I want wine. Now this blog post can be done. Just kidding... about the blog post being done.  Not about the wine. I'm here to encourage you to keep going and finish strong if you are like me and still have YEARS of school left.  By years, I mean 14 days, but it will be the longest 14 days of my life.  Okay, that's probably a little dramatic, too. Here are a few reminders for you (and let's be honest...mostly for me so I don't take all of my sick days to finish the year) 1. Self care is not selfish.   If you have a routine that you follow (exercise, eating healthy, meditation, prayer, etc), don't let the long stretch to the end of the year throw off your routine.  Make time for you.  You deserve it.  Probably now more than ever. 2.  It's okay to give the children things to do independently.  Silent reading for a little (or a lot) longer than normal? WHY NOT! Book projects? GREAT! Illustrating storyboards?...