On their own path this week (02/06/16)

It was a rather quiet week in the world language blogging world, so I’m sharing a couple of other interesting reads that caught my attention. Oh, and then on Saturday, Dr. Gianfranco Conti released another powerful post that addresses so many things we should consider when teaching for proficiency. Can’t wait to hear what you think about this one. The final three posts came right from this site in case you missed them during a very busy week on the Path 2 Proficiency blog.

• The Truth About Millennial Teachers

  A very important read from the latest issue of the ASCD Education Update, that reminded me to consider the generational differences of teachers as they are on their own journey of teacher effectiveness. The author, Kristin Barker, describes the different needs and values of millennial teachers which also made me think about some of the issues that fellow Path 2 Proficiency Blogger, Alyssa Villarreal, discussed in her recent A Department Divided post. Wondering how millennial teachers feel about this article.  Read Kristin’s post –>

• Stop Second-Guessing Yourself!

  This isn’t an easy read, as the author, elementary school principal Sean Thom, undoubtedly is going through a tough time. But all educators go through these times at some point in their career and Sean provides us with some important advice that can apply to both the big tragic events in the life of a school, as well as every day teaching. “In order for us to grow instead of dwelling on our mistakes, we must shift our mindset from one of second-guessing to one of processing and analyzing. Start by changing the question of what did I do wrong to what could have been done differently in that situation.” Read Sean’s post –>

• 10 Commonly Made Mistakes in Vocabulary Instruction

  While I haven’t been a fan of French and Spanish teachers, Gianfranco Conti, provocative titles for his posts, they are often a very good read. This week’s post might be one of my favorites, as it provides despite the negative title a lot of very important suggestions for teaching vocabulary. Of course, that topic by itself doesn’t come without controversy in our field, so it is very interesting as the post outlines a compelling argument about what and what not to do. “Firstly, the bad habit of not contextualizing the teaching of lexis and wasting too much classroom time on discrete-word teaching. Secondly, the importance of getting the students to learn the words by using them orally or in interactional writing for real-life communication. Thirdly, the insufficient amount of listening practice devoted to modelling good pronunciation and the very limited focus devoted to decoding skills”.  Read Gianfranco’s post –>

• From the Path2Proficiency Blog:

  Grammar and the Airport:  Finally a post about the dreaded g-word. Rosalyn shares her embedded grammar lesson step-by-step and even provides a template for others to implement in their classroom.  Read Rosalyn’spost –>
  A Department Divided: Alyssa continues her process discussion and provides some advice for when you find yourself in such a department.  Read Alyssa’s post –> 
  Easing Into Technology Integration: When technology is more than just a tool. Jaime shares her reflections about implementing a 1:1 initiative in her school.  Read Jaime’s post –>