Language Sensei

A Language Teacher's Journey

March 21, 2016
by leesensei
3 Comments

The Song Lyric “English First” Reading Activity

We use songs a lot in our world language classes – they are an amazingly authentic resource – and often just downright fun to listen to. #Langchat has done more than one chat on this subject and I have written … Continue reading

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

March 18, 2016
by leesensei
0 comments

Encouraging Risk/Rewarding Growth with “Checks And A Smile”

How do we encourage students to risk? How to we encourage them to ‘stretch’ and try something new? It’s a big challenge in the world language classroom. I have been using rubrics a lot to find out about how something … Continue reading

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

March 10, 2016
by leesensei
0 comments

Mash-Up: Interpretive Reading Meets Interpersonal Activity!

Interpretive reading is a new ‘push’ of mine and I’ve been making full use of my supply of graded readers for this. My Yr4’s are currently working in a food unit and I tapped the “Sushi” reading for this purpose. … Continue reading

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

March 2, 2016
by leesensei
3 Comments

The “New” Feedback Rubrics – Part 1: Presentational Writing

My rubric journey has been a long and winding one. What started with rubrics modified off the French DELF program have now come a long way. Gone are the number descriptors – and now in their place – words to … Continue reading

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

February 13, 2016
by leesensei
1 Comment

The “Class Reads A Story” Process

In a bid for more authentic reading I’ve begun to expand my use of stories with my classes. There are many ways to use them and this post highlights one way to use/support reading in your target language. This post … Continue reading

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

January 20, 2016
by leesensei
4 Comments

“How Am I Doing? I Know How!” Improving Formative Feedback

One of the reasons I am making a big shift from numbers to proficiency/expectation descriptors is to ensure that students don’t wait for me to tell them how they are doing – but rather that they will know and be … Continue reading

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

January 4, 2016
by leesensei
2 Comments

The #authres Infographic & Digging for Information On Cultural Practices/Attitudes

  It starts with an authentic resource…and this one from Yahoo Japan about the top 20 Keyword searches related to Christmas via infographic.jp (an awesome source for Japanese language infographics!). Yes we have touched on the typical “holiday in (fill … Continue reading

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

January 1, 2016
by leesensei
0 comments

My 2016 #OneWord – “Acceptance”

Every year I like to think of a key word that will guide my teaching practice. Two of my past words have been ‘Applicable‘ and ‘Opportunity‘. But in light of personal and professional changes this year I have decided that … Continue reading

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

October 24, 2015
by leesensei
0 comments

A “New” Cultural/Target Language Station Activity Day…

This post seems at first just to be for Japanese teachers – but I believe that the ideas – not the content – make it useful for anyone contemplating adding more ‘station’ work in their classes. I have written before … Continue reading

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

December 27, 2014
by leesensei
1 Comment

Best of 2014: No. 1 “How Did That Go?” An Oral Activity Feedback Rubric

We talk a lot in the #langchat community about evaluation and feedback for students. One of my focus areas has been in developing a more reflective classroom – and for that purpose I began to work with a self-evaluation rubric … Continue reading

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Skip to toolbar