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Reflections of Student Understanding Travel journals are student-created "textbooks." Normal Park calls them travel journals because they chart the journey of students' learning. They are a great way for students to take ownership of their learning. Every student creates one, and every travel journal is unique to the student. Travel journals are a collection of the work students do for their science or social studies module. Teachers use travel journals on a daily basis; students create work and then add it to their journal throughout the quarter. Journals include writing and reflection pieces, graphic organizers, timelines, charts, drawings, diagrams, vocabulary, maps, pictures, and anything else that reflects students' learning and understanding of the module topic. Teachers also photocopy relevant articles and have students place those in their journals. During the course of one year, a student will create four journals for four different modules. Students take the journals home at the end of each quarter. Students love to show them off to their parents and keep them as a record of what they learned.

As most of you know, the uber gods of PBL are BIE. I was first introduced to the BIE PBL 'model' from mate Dean Groom who handed me over what I still refer to as my 'PBL Bible' - a ring-binder full of the BIE Freebies that help teachers plan effective projects and keep students on track as they move through the different phases of each project. The cool thing is that you can use as much or as little as you want … PBL is a very personal process that (like all good teaching) should be tailored to the expertise and needs of the teacher and students. However, there are 8 Elements of Project Based Learning that can be called the 'essential elements' of PBL … keeping an eye on these and 'testing' your project design based on them can help you determine if what you're creating isn't just a 'project'. I really like this statement from BIE contrasting PBL and traditional 'projects':

A typical unit with a "project" add-on begins by presenting students with knowledge and concepts and then, once gained, giving students the opportunity to apply them. Project Based Learning begins with the vision of an end product or presentation. This creates a context and reason to learn and understand the information and concepts.

"Traditional American classrooms tend to fit a particular mold: Students face the front of the class where teachers lecture. Students take notes, finish assignments at home, and hope to memorize enough information just long enough to pass a test. Engagement and passion are often in short supply - among students and teachers. The system does not necessarily accommodate all learning styles, and even those who fair well may be missing out on other important work-life lessons, like how to creatively solve problems, stay focused, work as part of a team, and organize their thoughts in a way others will understand. This is where project-based learning enters the equation."

Shake things up! Make language learning more engaging! My name is Megan Smith (just got married in July… Yeah!!) and this is my sixth year teaching Spanish in Louisville, Kentucky. I studied International Business and Spanish at Grand Valley State University in Michigan and am now finishing my master's in Education at Northern Kentucky University. I really love my job and what I get to do in the classroom. I'm lucky to have a school who gives me freedom to try new things, a friend and mentor (Kara) who challenges me as a teacher, and other hardworking teachers who are willing to collaborate with me! I am honored to have been the 2011 Kentucky New Teacher of the Year from the Kentucky World Language Association. In November 2013, Kara, Rachel, and I presented at ACTFL's national conference in Orlando. How awesome! And a big hello from me, Kara Parker! I'm the other collaborator on this blog. I'd say that I've been "around the block" when it comes to teaching. I've taught for 12 years total (6 at a private Catholic girls school, 2 at a large public school (with Megan), and now 4 years at an awesome alternative school). I have my National Board Certification in World Languages. I'm excited to share on this site. :) Hopefully you can take something from the ideas posted here to make your classroom better for your students and your workload a little lighter. Here's to sharing! If you'd like to reach us, send us an e-card, or invite us to your school… Here's an email both of us use! :) creativelanguageclass@gmail.com

Shake things up! Make language learning more engaging!

"What is it? Here's an article by BIE, updated from its original appearance in the September 2010 issue of Educational Leadership magazine from ASCD. Good for general audiences as well as educators, it explains the essential elements that make rigorous PBL different from "doing projects." Why do we like it? This article was written because some teachers say they "do projects" already (so why learn more about PBL) and some educators and members of the general public may have negative stereotypes of PBL as merely a "fun" or "hands-on" activity. How can you use it? Share this article with anyone, from teachers to parents to administrators, to explain PBL and provide a common framework for projects. The 8 Essential Elements are the basis of BIE's Project Design Rubric and PBL 101 Workshop."

At any given moment, the disciplines represent the most well-honed efforts of human beings to approach questions and concerns of importance in a systematic and reliable way. (Howard Gardner, The Disciplined Mind, p. 144)

What they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four and three, and two, and one. (Sandra Cisneros, "Eleven," from The House on Mango Street)

For the first thirteen years of my career, I did not know what the difference between language acquisition and language learning was. In fact, I'd dare say that I didn't really even know that there was a thing called "language acquisition" and I certainly had never heard of Dr. Stephen Krashen. I taught my students Spanish and French in a way where acquisition was unheard of. I used the textbook and taught long lists of thematic vocabulary. They were successful, yes. However, I'm afraid that most of them are destined to become one of those people who say "I forgot everything I learned in language class." I have heard this statement from dozens, possibly a hundred or more people who usually say this once they learn I'm a language teacher.

See also poster of reflection comments: http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el201811_takeaways.pdf

A list of excellent books every teacher should read.

In my Learning Through Projects series, I wrote about crafting questions that drive projects. Developing interesting, relevant, and meaningful driving questions is challenging. To help teachers with project based learning, Global Digital Citizenship Foundation has free publications with ideas and resource links. The publications are PDFs and are licensed under Creative Commons, so you may distribute or print them as long as you do not modify them in any way.

LEARNING GUIDE TO: A DRY WHITE SEASON SUBJECTS - World/South Africa;  SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING - Courage; Justice; Human Rights;         Grieving; Father/Son; Marriage; Families in Crisis;  MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS - Trustworthiness; Responsibility; Citizenship.  Age: 14+ Rated R for scenes of graphic violence; Drama; 1989; 107 minutes; Color; Available from Amazon.com.  Description:     The setting is South Africa during the Soweto uprisings of 1976. A white school teacher (Ben du Toit) investigates the death of his black gardener, a man he had known for 15 years. The gardener (Gordon Ngubene) had been searching for answers about his son's death while in police custody. This had brought Ngubene to the attention of the "Special Branch" of the South African Police. He suffered the same fate as his son: death during interrogation. Du Toit comes to realize not only the injustices of the apartheid legal system and the repressive policies that supported it, but the necessity of action as opposed to words or resignation to the inevitable. Backed by an African cabbie, a liberal lawyer and a persistent reporter, he is opposed by his family (except for his young son), his school and his community. The film is based on the novel by the acclaimed Afrikaaner writer, André Brink. The novel was banned by the apartheid government of South Africa. 

"Editor's note: John Larmer, Editor in Chief at the Buck Institute for Education (BIE), contributed to this post. The Common Core has embedded within it some Big Ideas that shift the role of teachers to curriculum designers and managers of an inquiry process. How can project-based learning (PBL) help with this shift? "

What do you think of when you think of your Target Language country/countries? While you may have spent some time there - and traveled to various spots - your students may have not. As a Japanese teacher it seems that Tokyo is the number 1 'want to go to' place for my students. However, as I spent my first 2 years in Japan in smaller more out of the way places, I want my students to learn that there's more to Japan than the big urban areas. And so the Year4 travel fair - a summative activity at the end of a 2-week unit - was born. It allows students to utilize key words they will need if/when they visit Japan - and also allows them to research and introduce key areas to their classmates during an interactive oral. For me the fair takes a week - with time spent planning/preparing for the 'fair', running the fair and then using the information for a written 'summative' evaluation. (My handout - for my Yr4 Japanese class including is here) The premise: Design an optional tour for a visitor to Japan - one that is outside major urban areas (I list the 'no go' places). This can be a 2 or 3 day tour.

AAPPL Measures and IPAS I think tests are stupid. A test can't tell you how well I do my job or live my life--or anything you really need to know about me. Now, I'm really good at taking tests, and if you were to look at various test scores I've accumulated in my life, I daresay you'd be impressed with me. But do you know how much bearing the ACT, SAT, or GRE has had on any of my roles since college or grad school application time? Do you know how much impact that Issues in Teaching Foreign Languages or  Masterpieces of Hispanic Art and Literature exam has had on me as a teacher, mother, wife, or friend--or even as a speaker of Spanish?