Teachers That Teach Podcast

Welcome new listeners to the podcast! Thank you so much for joining in. This week, students were convinced that someone was planning a school shooting. Both the parents and students were very worried about this event taking place, but thankfully, it was just a rumor. There's never a dull moment in class.   Key Takeaways: [:45] Welcome new listeners. Louisa fills you in on who she is and what she does! [2:40] Louisa needs a lot of different activities to help keep the students engaged. [4:45] No matter how fantastic CI is, you will always get some trouble-makers. Louisa shares an example. [6:00] There's going to be a shooting in the school...? [8:15] Both the parents and students were worried about going to the assembly due to this rumor. [8:45] Next week is the week before spring break. What does Louisa have planned for the students?   Mentioned in This Episode: TeachersThatTeach.com Senorwooly.com

It's two weeks before spring break and the students always get a bit angsty around this time of year. Louisa loves to play a game from one of Señor Wooly's videos, called 'El Banco,' to help the students get completely immersed in the material and temporarily forget about the soon-to-be break. In this episode, Louisa explains how it's done!   Key Takeaways: [:30] Feel free to send Louisa an email! She'd love your feedback and questions. [:40] Please don't forget to review this podcast on iTunes! [1:00] Monday's coming up and Louisa loves to turn to Señor Wooly for lessons. [2:15] Everyone is waiting for spring break, and classes can become a bit of a drag for the students. [2:25] During this time of year, Louisa likes to use the video 'El Banco,' from Señor Wooly. [4:00] The students begin to interrogate the two 'robbers' in Spanish. [5:40] There's a good cop/bad cop in this game as well. [7:45] Louisa sometimes gets the campus assistant involved! [9:45] This game helps set the students up for Señor Wool

Louisa invites three students on to the show, two of whom have been through Louisa's class. Sonya describes the experience of working via textbook and the other two students, Dulce and Nana, describe what benefits they've received long after attending Louisa's class.   Key Takeaways: [:40] Louisa interviews two of her students that took her class a couple of years ago. [:45] Sonya discusses what her Spanish class was like without Louisa. [1:40] One of Louisa's students never used a textbook. What was her experience like? [2:30] How did Dulce learn vocabulary? [3:15] Dulce found it very helpful that you could speak the words as well as read it on text. [3:30] What were Dulce/Nana's thoughts about a deskless classroom? [4:40] The students still use their Spanish! [5:50] How did Louisa's class prepare her students in Spanish? [7:30] Louisa does not do a lot of error corrections on her students.   Mentioned in This Episode: TeachersThatTeach.com

Louisa continues her discussion on the various jobs she assigns her students in the classroom. Giving students jobs is an excellent way to keep them engaged and interactive while you're teaching!   Key Takeaways: [:50] Every other Monday, students are assigned new jobs! [1:10] Louisa asks the students what jobs they had last week in the target language. [2:10] These job introductions should go quickly. [2:55] Louisa breaks down what a typical day looks like with these jobs assigned. [3:55] Every student can be tasked a job, from papers to pens. [5:20] None of the students are allowed to have their backpacks underneath their seats. [6:20] Louisa is incorporating more visuals in the classroom, now that she has a projector! [8:15] The Spanish vocabulary that Louisa uses in the classroom can easily be used outside of the classroom. [9:55] Add jobs into your classes, and see the different it'll make!   Mentioned in This Episode: TeachersThatTeach.com Fluencymatters.com/conference Fluencyfast.com Ntprs.in

Today's tip is brought you by Dave! Dave's CI journey started 2.5 years ago. When he read the material online, he knew there were a number of ways to apply it in the classroom. Not sure where to start, Dave dived head first, and started attending CI conferences around the country. Today, he discusses what he learned with Ben Slavic.   Key Takeaways: [:30] Who is Dave? [1:00] Dave learned CI about 2.5 years ago. [3:20] Dave discusses Ben Slavic's conference that he attended. [5:25] When attending Ben's event for the first time, he learned a lot of philosophy about CI, but still didn't quite understand how to apply it in the classroom. [9:30] If you don't have the funds to go to various conferences, just attend the one that's nearest to you. [12:40] Dave is getting ready to attend a Portland conference.   Mentioned in This Episode: TeachersThatTeach.com Fluencymatters.com/conference Fluencyfast.com Ntprs.info Benslavic.com

Louisa discusses why it's important that certain students are assigned jobs while she is teaching in the classroom. There are several different positions Louisa needs filled when a class is in session and she details the process in this week's episode!   Key Takeaways: [:45] What kind of students does Louisa have in her classroom? [1:15] Louisa has 36-38 students seated in groups of 4-5 around the classroom. [1:35] Louisa has a student play doorkeeper to keep distractions down to a minimum. [2:00] One student can also get to be the 'guest greeter' for the classroom. [3:30] So, what does Louisa do with the other students in the room? Well, she has about 20 jobs for them to do! [5:30] These job ideas, that came from teachers all over the world, Louisa has adopted over time. [6:45] Louisa has a student that calls on the students. The person who gets called will have to stand and answer the question. [8:15] After a question has been answered, the class celebrates. This is a great way to keep the students eng

Louisa talks with a fellow Spanish-speaking colleague who teaches at a different high school in her district — Maylen! Maylen knows three different languages, Spanish, English, and French, and at her school, she teaches French to her students. Today, we find out how Maylen discovered CI techniques, and what her educational journey has been like thus far!   Key Takeaways: [1:30] When was Maylen first introduced to CI methods? [2:15] Maylen recently attended a CI workshop and it was incredibly engaging! [2:50] When it comes to the research, Maylen became convinced, when she saw the results by Niko Mason. [3:40] Maylen has had pretty limited success with teaching via textbook. [4:30] Another reason why Maylen likes CI techniques, is because of the reading factor. [6:00] Maylen recommends you buy books, and develop a unit around the story of that book. [8:15] How has the CI method changed the way Maylen teaches? [9:50] Should a teacher wait till next year, to begin incorporating these new CI techniques? [10:

Louisa shares a quick, ten-minute audio clip of Carol Gaab, from Fluency Matters, discussing ways you can teach the same word 100-250 times without the student getting bored. The key here is to introduce the word in a different context each time so that the brain can naturally pick up the usefulness of the word!   Key Takeaways: [:35] What are some of the challenges today's teachers face? [1:35] You can't really, and consciously, practice a language. Carol explains further. [2:40] Instead of providing more vocabulary, teachers first need to provide more exposure by mixing up the context of the same basic and simple words. [3:30] How can you repeat the same word that many times? [6:00] You can search for videos using your target word to teach the students the same word in different contexts. [8:20] Carol won't pick a video that's more than 30 seconds for a beginner. Commercials tend to be perfect for this example.   Mentioned in This Episode: TeachersThatTeach.com Fluencymatters.com  

Louisa discusses how she uses the JGR (Jenn's Great Rubric) method in her classroom, and some of the modifications she's added to it that differ from Ben Slavic's way of teaching the JGR. Louisa explains how she breaks down her grading system, and what she does to help her students reach high marks in interpersonal communication for the end of the day, each day.   Key Takeaways: [:35] Let's talk about JGR, aka Jenn's Great Rubric. [1:55] Some districts do not allow you to put behavior in academic grade. [2:00] Louisa has been teaching this way for the last ten years. [2:45] For the first year, Louisa focuses on interpersonal communication skills. [3:15] Louisa grades her students on interpersonal communication every ten hours, which comes out to about every two weeks. [3:50] Interpersonal communication is 40% of the student's' overall grade in Louisa's classroom. Though, in other places, this can sometimes be 65% of the grade. [4:30] What does a student need to do in order to get 10/10 points in interper

Louisa was able to catch up with Dustin Williamson, who teaches Spanish and French, and get his take on how he teaches movie talk in the classroom. He shares tips and walks us through what he does before movie talk, during, and after! Don't forget to check out Dustin's website for more great tips!   Key Takeaways: [:40] Dustin loves hosting movie talk in his classroom. [1:20] Movie talk can be applied at all levels. [1:40] Oftentimes Dustin will do movie talk just before an upcoming vacation. [2:20] What does Dustin like to do before movie talk? [3:30] The video is not always the focus, the target language is. [5:20] Does Dustin have any examples of what a typical movie talk class looks like? [7:20] What ties a movie talk together? The post viewing sessions! Dustin explains further. [9:00] Dustin believes he could do a movie talk all year long and his class will still be successful. It is extremely powerful.   Mentioned in This Episode: TeachersThatTeach.com Williamsonci.com

When using CI techniques in the classroom, there is no right or wrong way to grade students. But to give teachers who are new to the technique some background, Louisa shares what she does in her particular classroom and what works for her when it comes to grading her students. There are four categories a student can perform well on. These are: homework, speaking, quizzes & classwork, and interpersonal communication. Find out more in this quick 9-minute episode!   Key Takeaways: [0:35] How does Louisa grade students? [1:00] This grading method seems to have worked the best for Louisa after making some tweaks. [2:25] Louisa has a wide range of academically-prepared students. [2:30] All students are welcomed to take Louisa's class. [3:10] So, how does Louisa grade students? She has four categories. [3:40] What does the ''interpersonal communication' category consist of? [4:50] Louisa believes this category is essential! [5:45] Louisa admits that her speaking category is a bit controversial, especially b

Carrie Toth and Kristy Placido discuss why they felt the need to write their own novels in order to create engaging content for their students. Both teachers were having a hard time finding novels that their students 'simply couldn't put down'. Carrie and Kirsty felt as though if the students developed stronger connections with the target cultures, then they'd have more reasons to use their new language outside of the classroom.   Key Takeaways: [:30] Why did Carrie and Kristy decide to write a novel? [2:00] The goal is to make your students forget that they're reading in another language. [2:35] Trying to connect your students in new and engaging ways, makes them want to use their new language outside of the classroom. [3:20] When writing a novel for the classroom, it's also important to ask the students for feedback. [4:30] What's Kristy's new novel about? [6:30] Why did Carrie write Vector? [8:05] How does Carrie use novels in her classroom? [8:55] Kristy writes four novels a year.   Mentioned in

How does Louisa plan for a unit or topic for her classroom? The good thing about Louisa's school is that it is flexible, so Louisa is able to play with some very interesting topics to help get her students engaged. Find out how her students learn about the Camino in Spain, in this quick 10-minute episode!   Key Takeaways: [:30] How does Louisa plan a unit? [1:10] Louisa's classroom topics are pretty flexible. [2:20] But! There's a method to Louisa's madness! [2:30] Louisa breaks down what this year's semester looks like. [3:45] Louisa has walked the Camino in Spain every year for the last five years. [6:00] There are 35 stages in the Camino; each of Louisa's students are in charge of one of those stages. [7:50] Louisa tries to keep this topic fresh for the students. [9:50] After taking Louisa's class, some students even find themselves going to Spain and walking the Camino! [10:00] This is an excellent way to introduce the students to the target language culture.   Mentioned in This Episode: Teacher

Louisa is currently at a Portland teacher conference and sits down with Craig to get an inside view of how he designs his classes during the week. In this quick interview, Craig discusses how he starts and ends his classes, and how he incorporates CI techniques into his teachings.   Key Takeaways: [:40] What does a regular week look like in Craig's classroom? [1:25] Craig's classroom lasts around 90 minutes. [1:30] The class begins by establishing meaning for a select number of words. [2:15] Craig then asks for hand gestures. [4:15] Craig tries not to embarrass the students when they don't know how to respond in the target language. [5:15] Craig tries to use gestures for each new word. [6:00] Every time you teach a new word, it sends the student back to the basics where they don't feel confident in their abilities. [7:15] Craig tries to keep going until the students look bored. [9:10] You want to get the student to re-read the new words in new and engaging ways. [10:25] Craig has been a teacher for the l

Louisa uses this quick 11 minute podcast to discuss how she manages her students in a deskless classroom. Louisa sees about 176 students throughout the day, and it can get tough to manage if you do not have the right systems in place. Listen in to hear Louisa's quick classroom management tips!   Key Takeaways: [0:40] How do you manage a deskless classroom? [0:43] Louisa has 176 students throughout the day. [1:00] How does a deskless classroom work? [2:30] It's been roughly four years since Louisa hasn't had desks in her classroom. [2:45] After the fourth week, students are usually past the honeymoon phase. [4:05] Louisa discusses how she arranges the seats. [5:20] Everybody has students who are not quite ready for a different style of classroom. [6:15] Louisa estimates that half of her students did not have a CI class last year. These students take a little more time to get used to how things work. [8:05] Louisa takes about 30 seconds to welcome parents into the classroom, in Spanish. [10:35] Tune in nex

Karen Rowan is an author and speaker on TPRS® (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling). Karen has been training and coaching teachers on how to efficiently use TPRS® techniques since 1996, and has a lot to share on this week's episode. Karen's biggest takeaway is to always focus on your students, and aim to make the material fun and engaging for them. Everybody wins when you and your students are having fun!   Key Takeaways: [1:20] After teaching CI techniques for a long time, one of the things teachers forget is how hard it was, at first, to learn how to do it. [2:25] Teachers get excited about the new techniques available, but Karen reminds them that they have to focus on one thing at a time. [3:10] Focus on the students, not the book. [5:05] We only need about 500 words to communicate. [6:55] How do you know what your students don't know yet? [8:15] Figure out what you want your students to know, and then plan backwards. [9:50] You want to be sure the material you're teaching is compell

Last week Louisa explained what she does with her students when it comes to running dictation. This week Louisa discusses how she does individual dictation and sets her students up for an engaging quiz session. Most of her students get a B-range grade in her classroom and Louisa's process to grade each student's quiz is made incredibly easy.   Key Takeaways: [1:00] Louisa discusses how she makes this actively a little more challenging for students who know a bit more Spanish. [3:45] How does Louisa position 35-38 students in a classroom? How do they sit? [5:35] Be sure to have enough pens that are black or blue, green and red ink. [6:50] At the end of this activity, every student has a clipboard, a blue or black pen, and a piece of paper. [7:20] Make sure the students number their paper! Louisa explains further. [8:05] Students will have to write what Louisa says on line number one. [9:50] Students will then do self-corrections on line number two with their red pen. [11:55] This does take a little bit of

For this quick 7-minute episode, Stephen Krashen and Tina Hargaden join Louisa to discuss the fundamentals of how a child acquires a language. Stephen goes into depth as to why the introduction of stories and storytelling is so important towards acquiring a language for a child. It is both Stephen and Tina's goal to get children more interested and excited about reading books, as this will help them learn a new language quicker.   Key Takeaways: [0:40] What does the research tell us about language acquisition? [1:35] Anyone can be successful with language acquisition. [1:50] We can all do it. There's no such thing as a 'language skill'. [2:00] So, how do we acquire language? [2:55] To define it simply, we acquire language when we begin to understand what people are saying in a foreign language. [3:20] At the beginner's level of acquiring a language, it's based off stories. Children love stories. [4:30] Even President Obama has been quoted to say that fictional stories make him a more understanding person

In this week's episode, Louisa explains a fun way to incorporate a group activity with students in the classroom through the use of running dictation. Her 10 minute tip includes a breakdown of how running dictation works and why the kids love to play this game!   Key Takeaways: [0:25] How does Louisa use running dictation in the classroom? [2:05] Running dictation combines reading, writing, listening, and speaking. [2:20] This is a great activity for students to work together in the classroom. [2:30] How running dictation is similar to the "Telephone" game. [2:40] Louisa shares an example of what running dictation looks like in her classroom. [4:45] Louisa does not like partners of two because it means there are too many students running around at the same time. [8:00] Everyone in the classroom will be able to write once, run once, and be a helper once. [8:30] What is the most important rule of running dictation? You cannot run into other people! [11:10] For some reason the students think this game is a

Diana Castro, of Centennial High School, located in Corona, CA, sits down with Louisa to discuss some of the key topics she's learned on the first day of a 2-day professional training with Carol Gaab, of TPRS Publishing, now known as Fluency Matters. Carol showed the teachers how to expose students to new and novel ways, to keep simple language structures, which can sometimes be boring or 'too easy', engaging. Carol taught these principles in Hebrew, a language the majority of the teachers was unfamiliar with.   Key Takeaways: [0:55] What was it about today's training that Diana really enjoyed? [1:25] Sometimes veteran teachers get bored with what they think is too easy, but Carol showed examples of how to keep things engaging. [2:00] Carol provides repeated exposure to the students for 60 minutes in Hebrew, a language the audience at the workshop was not familiar with. [5:15] How do we grade in a CI classroom? Hopefully, Carol will address this in tomorrow's session. [5:35] Diana explains the chain reac