Group items tagged

A few weeks ago, I attended a retirement luncheon for a close teacher friend of mine whose daughter recently accepted her first teaching position. As you might imagine, this dynamic inspired quite a bit of reminiscing among the attendees, and soon enough, every veteran teacher in the room was sharing memories of his or her first year on the job.

This month I am celebrating my first year anniversary using Integrated Performance Assessments (IPA) in my classroom. This kind of assessment has simply transformed the way I teach. I just finished re-reading my posts about my first IPA and my second IPA. I cannot believe how much I have grown since then!

Forgive me while I brainstorm in public a moment. Almost four years ago I created this rubric, based on the ACTFL guidelines and the Jefferson County (KY) Public Schools' world language rubric. I loved it. It's one of my most requested resources. I used it for years.

If you didn't study any foreign languages in school, picking one up as an adult can be challenging, since the human brain is best-equipped to absorb a new language in the early childhood years.

Recent History of Our Struggle to Make Foreign Languages Core Foreign language study is in the national education Goals 2000, which states: "By the year 2000 all American students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, science, foreign language, civics and government, arts, history, and geography..."

Joshua Block Humanities teacher at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia Over the summer, I offered to help some friends convert their dining room light fixture into a ceiling fan. Once the electricity was off, the old fixture was down, and I'd opened the large cardboard box, my goal was clear and pressing.

In recent years, research has confirmed what most teachers already knew: providing students with meaningful feedback can greatly enhance learning and improve student achievement. Professor James Pennebaker from the University of Texas at Austin has been researching the benefits of frequent testing and the feedback it leads to.

The first few days of school are a vital time to set the right tone for the rest of the year. Many teachers focus on important things like getting to know their students, building relationships and making sure students know what the classroom procedures will be.