April 2, 2016
by leesensei
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The ideas in this post deals with oral interpersonal activities in my classes. However I think many of them can be used for presentational and interpretive activities as well. One of the big things that I have learned, and continue … Continue reading
March 18, 2016
by leesensei
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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
February 2, 2015
by leesensei
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This may be controversial, and I am really open to hearing back on this…you see – it’s about ‘the list’. The what? Not a prescribed vocabulary list (breathe Amy Lenord breathe!) but a reminder list. I work hard with my … Continue reading
March 10, 2014
by leesensei
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We often tell students what we value in the classroom but how do we know the message is getting through? How do they interpret what I am trying to get them to be: risk-takers, supportive classmates, inquisitive learners? I … Continue reading
March 3, 2014
by leesensei
4 Comments
I’ve always asked students to work in pairs, or small groups in class. But only lately have I started to ask for their feedback as to how it went. I’ve worked for a while on a quick feedback rubric – … Continue reading
November 20, 2013
by leesensei
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“Have you mastered what we are working on?” I am trying to balance the need to know that they ‘have it’ with the practical realities of a modern language class. For that reason I have been looking at more and … Continue reading
September 17, 2013
by leesensei
6 Comments
If I told a student that I expected 45-50 minutes of sustained discussion in the target language they’d laugh and say no way. But I watched it today in my Grade 12 class – as students used the pretext of … Continue reading
June 18, 2013
by leesensei
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Too often in the past a student would complete an oral, turn to me and ask “How did I do?”. Didn’t they know? Weren’t they aware of how it was going? Gradually I saw the need to change my focus … Continue reading
June 4, 2013
by leesensei
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When I began my language teaching career, I really struggled with orals. Skits? Conversations? I quickly found them overused and underwhelming for ‘authentic’ use. A conversation with an amazing French teacher sparked my interest in “tâche finale” (a summative final … Continue reading
May 14, 2013
by leesensei
3 Comments
I use rubrics a lot in my classes as I feel they allow the student to really ‘see’ what they have achieved and where they might improve. Increasingly I have moved to self-evaluation of some of my oral activities – … Continue reading