#184

Are you always on the lookout for new and inventive ideas to bring to our classrooms. I have one simple, yet powerful, tool. A mini-folding book is a compact, 8-page book made from a single sheet of paper. They are easy to create and can be customized for a wide range of classroom activities. In this episode I’ll tell you how to create the book and then I’ll share 10 Ways to use Mini-Folding Books.

Blog post with instructions for folding the paper and the 10 ideas for using mini-folding books.

Topics in this Episode:

• what mini-bolding books are
• how to create a mini-folding book
• 10 ways to use mini-folding books in the classroom
  1. Personal Information Books
  2. Vocabulary Books
  3. Story Books
  4. Cultural Books
  5. Grammar Practice Books
  6. Dialogue Books
  7. Travel Guide Books
  8. Recipe Books
  9. Pen Pal Introductions
  10. Review Books

Connect with Joshua and the World Language Classroom Community:

• wlclassrom.com
• X (aka Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• WLClassroom Facebook Group

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#183

Are you getting more comfortable with AI tools? Are you finding ways to use them to enhance your teaching? Last year, Noemi Rodriguez joined me on episode 116 when AI felt so new and emerging. Noemi is back to talk through advances in AI, new resources for language teachers and getting over some common hurdles. We specifically focus on leveraging AI tools to support students, particularly around providing feedback and differentiating lessons and activities.

Topics in this Episode:

• how AI tools can be used to support students in world language classes
• how AI tools enhance language learning and make it more engaging for students
• specific AI tools and applications that are particularly effective for supporting students, differentiating and providing feedback
• examples of AI tools being used to support students that enhance or improve students' language proficiency
• practical steps and strategies teachers can take to effectively implement AI tools to support students

Connect with Erin Coleman:

• Instagram: @team_lologramos
• Website: www.ologramosconsulting.com

Connect with Joshua and the World Language Classroom Community:

• wlclassrom.com
• X (aka Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• WLClassroom Facebook Group

__________________________
Interested in having Joshua work directly with your department, school or district? Look at options for collaborating in person or remotely.
______________________________
Sign up for Talking Points to get tips, tools and resources for your language teaching.
______________________________
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#182

Calendar talk is a CI (Comprehensible Input) activity that is part of many teachers' routines in the classroom. It is essentially just that, talking about the calendar. What began as simply saying the date has grown into much more than that. In this episode I will share with you my own process of doing a calendar talk activity that engages students on a wide variety of topics as we begin the class. Lots of language and culture is embedded in activity very organically. Sometimes the slides and materials can take quite a bit of time to create. I don’t want that to hold you back, so you can make a copy of my Google Slides with all of the embedded links right in the show notes.

Topics in this Episode:

• The evolution of Calendar Talk in my classroom – from a simple "Today is [date]" to a dynamic, engaging discussion that students look forward to.
• The benefits of Calendar Talk
• The process and routine: Date, Time. Weather with visuals
• Engaging students in specific details about the date, weather and time in their own lives.
• Moving toward these details in a target language country and leading students in discussions where they compare to their own responses in the previous activity.
• Practical Tips for doing a calendar talk along with the country comparisons
• Episode #170 with John Sifert
• Be sure to Copy the Google Slides that I use will all of the embedded links to your Google Drive.

Connect with Joshua and the World Language Classroom Community:

• wlclassrom.com
• X (aka Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• WLClassroom Facebook Group

__________________________
Interested in having Joshua work directly with your department, school or district? Look at options for collaborating in person or remotely.
______________________________
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______________________________
Join Joshua as a guest on the podcast.
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#181
Have you seen teachers posting on social media about their hexagonal grouping activities? I certainly have and I got curious about how it works and how teachers are using it in their world language classes. I’ve seen Erin Coleman posting and presenting workshops on the topic, so I invited her onto the podcast to share with all of us how she uses hexagonal grouping with her students. Erin shares lots of ideas and pro tips so that you can start using hexagonal grouping with your students.

Topics in this Episode:

• what Hexagonal Grouping is and how it works in classrooms
• how can Hexagonal Grouping can be particularly beneficial in world language classes
• what preparation is involved, creating templates and follow-up activities
• specific examples where Erin has successfully used Hexagonal Grouping in her language classroom
• practical tips and strategies for implementing Hexagonal Grouping

Connect with Erin Coleman:

• Instagram: @theengagedspanishclassroom
• Website: theengagedspanishclassroom.com

Connect with Joshua and the World Language Classroom Community:

• wlclassrom.com
• X (aka Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• WLClassroom Facebook Group

__________________________
Interested in having Joshua work directly with your department, school or district? Look at options for collaborating in person or remotely.
______________________________
Sign up for Talking Points to get tips, tools and resources for your language teaching.
______________________________
Join Joshua as a guest on the podcast.
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Send me a text and let me know your thoughts on this episode or the podcast.

#180
Do you have particular activities and procedures that you use to engage students in your classroom? Many of us have these tried-and-true go-to CI (Comprehensible Input) activities. They get talked about a lot on social media, in language teacher circles and even on this podcast. In this episode I’m going to walk you through 15 CI activities. Be sure to download the free CI Toolbox that includes all 15 Comprehensible Input (CI) activities with descriptions, suggestions and tips.

Topics in this Episode:

• what CI (Comprehensible Input) is
• how to make language comprehensible
• though CI is input-focused, authentic student engagement with the input provides opportunities for comprehension checks and supports acquisition
• 3 categories of CI activities:
  • Interaction and Discussion: These activities focus on fostering interactive communication in the classroom, allowing students to engage with the language in meaningful and personalized ways.
  • Storytelling and Narrative: These activities involve students in storytelling and narratives, offering a rich context for language acquisition through listening and speaking.
  • Reading and Writing: These activities are designed to reinforce comprehension and writing skills through structured and interactive tasks
• Previous episodes referenced in this episode to dive deeper on particular topics and activities:
  • Episode #31 with Sarah Moghtader
  • Episode #86 with Ashley Mikkelsen
  • Episode #79 with Ben Fisher Rodriguez
  • Episode #91 with Margarita Pérez Garcia
  • Episode #170 with John Sifert (Padre de cinco)
  • Episode #179 with Bryce Hedstrom

Be sure to download the free CI Toolbox that includes all 15 Comprehensible Input (CI) activities with descriptions, suggestions and tips.

Connect with Joshua and the World Language Classroom Community:

• wlclassrom.com
• X (aka Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• WLClassroom Facebook Group

__________________________
Interested in having Joshua work directly with your department, school or district? Look at options for collaborating in person or remotely.
______________________________
Sign up for Talking Points to get tips, tools and resources for your language teaching.
______________________________
Join Joshua as a guest on the podcast.
______________________________
Join Joshua for a Leveling Up Coaching Episode on the podcast.

Send me a text and let me know your thoughts on this episode or the podcast.

#179
What have you heard about special person interviews in world language classes? Maybe you have tried them yourself. In today’s episode I speak with Bryce Hedstrom, a Spanish and Latin teacher in Colorado. He also does quite a bit of professional development with language teachers. Bryce walks us through the benefits of special person interviews, along with actionable suggestions for implementing in our classrooms. Whether special person interviews are new to you, or if you're looking for some ways to enhance how you are already using them, you will walk away from this episode inspired.

Topics in this Episode:

• what a special person Interview is and how does it fit into a Comprehensible Input (CI) approach
• the key benefits of conducting special person interviews for both students and teachers
• what a special person interview looks like in practice; what the teacher does and what students do
• selecting students for the interviews and preparation involved
• examples of questions and topics to use during these interviews to keep students engaged
• follow up activities

Connect with Bryce Hedstrom:

• Instagram: @brycehedstrom.com3254
• Facebook: /BryceHedstrom
• Website: www.brycehedstrom.com

Connect with Joshua and the World Language Classroom Community:

• wlclassrom.com
• X (aka Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• WLClassroom Facebook Group

__________________________
Interested in having Joshua work directly with your department, school or district? Look at options for collaborating in person or remotely.
______________________________
Sign up for Talking Points to get tips, tools and resources for your language teaching.
______________________________
Join Joshua as a guest on the podcast.
______________________________
Join Joshua for a Leveling Up Coaching Episode on the podcast.

Send me a text and let me know your thoughts on this episode or the podcast.

#178
How many preps do you have? If you have 3, 4 or more, or know someone who does, stick around for this episode. Oftentimes we equate 3 or more preps with 3 or 4 times the work. In this episode Sophie Forker, a French and Spanish teacher in New York City, joins me for a conversation about managing our teacher workload. We talk specifically about navigating a large number of preps, but it ultimately comes down to useful and actionable ways to streamline your lesson planning, whether you have 1 prep or 6.

Topics in this Episode:

• Sophie's personal experience of having multiple preps
• effective strategies for planning and organizing multiple language preps to ensure you stay on top of your workload
• how to prioritize planning and ensure that each class receives the attention it needs without becoming overwhelmed
• tools, resources and systems to streamline your preparation process and make it more efficient
• practical strategies for effectively managing multiple world language preps in your own classrooms and maintaining a balanced workload
• Episode #79: How to do a Write and Discuss with Ben Fisher-Rodriguez

Connect with Sophie Forker:

• Instagram: @mmeforker

Connect with Joshua and the World Language Classroom Community:

• wlclassrom.com
• X (aka Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• WLClassroom Facebook Group

__________________________
Interested in having Joshua work directly with your department, school or district? Look at options for collaborating in person or remotely.
______________________________
Sign up for Talking Points to get tips, tools and resources for your language teaching.
______________________________
Join Joshua as a guest on the podcast.
______________________________
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Send me a text and let me know your thoughts on this episode or the podcast.

#177
The most popular episode of 2024 was the one where I talked about moving from grammar to language functions. I begin this last episode of 2024 with some podcast stats from 2024 and then you have the replay of episode #141: Shifting the Focus from Grammar to Function.

2024 World Language Classroom Podcast Stats :

• top 10% of all podcast downloads
• 52 episodes
• Most popular cities with listeners: Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Sydney
• Most popular countries with listeners: United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom
• Most downloaded episode: #141: Shifting the Focus from Grammar to Function.
• Total 2024 downloads: 65,000
• Total minutes of audio published: 1,200

Replay of episode #141: Shifting the Focus from Grammar to Function.

What have you heard about language functions? I see this as the idea of using the target language to communicate or convey a message rather than only being able to describe the grammatical structures, patterns and vocabulary. In this episode we are going to take a look at this shift in focus, and sometimes mindset, from a primary focus on grammatical forms to language functions with examples and practical strategies.

Topics In This Episode:

• 3 aspects of communicative language teaching:
  • 1. goal is on communicating and doing something with the language
  • 2. student-centered
  • 3. focused on understanding the message being conveyed by students despite inaccuracy in language form.
• language functions
  • focus is on communicating, student-centered, understanding the message being conveyed by students despite inaccuracy in language form
• practical strategies and examples to support our focus on language functions
  • Novice Levels: Making Language Practical
  • Intermediate Levels: Expanding Communication
• Embrace the Shift
  • not an either/or when it comes to grammar
  • it’s essential that we embrace this paradigm shift from a focus on grammar and accuracy to a broader emphasis on language functions and authentic communication.
  • ensures that language learning is not just a theoretical exercise, but one that builds proficiency and communicative competence.
• Blog post on Shifting the Focus from Grammar to Function

Connect with Joshua and the World Language Classroom Community:

• wlclassrom.com
• X (aka Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• WLClassroom Facebook Group

__________________________
Interested in having Joshua work directly with your department, school or district? Look at options for collaborating in person or remotely.
______________________________
Sign up for Talking Points to get tips, tools and resources for your language teaching.
______________________________
Join Joshua as a guest on the podcast.
______________________________
Join Joshua for a

Send me a text and let me know your thoughts on this episode or the podcast.