“01052016 Tea with Teachers” (CC BY 2.0) by US Department of Education Welcome back to #langchat! Last week, participants discussed conflict resolution and collaboration in world language departments. They reflected on what language instructors need and need not agree on, and also weighed in on how to meet common goals and collaborate when colleagues have different methods and […]
“2015-07_SC+_W4_Class_LL -135” (CC BY 2.0) by jencu Last week, Langchatters got (inter)personal! Participants considered how proficiency level affects interpersonal task design. Next, acknowledging that learner output is based on perceived need to produce language, they reflected on how to build a feeling of need into task design. Langchatters then discussed their thoughts on ideal group size and make-up […]
“Tomás” (CC BY-NC 2.0) by jcmejia_acera Happy New Year from #langchat! Langchatters started off 2016 by discussing how they plan to be an EPIC language teacher this year. Participants shared the goals they ENVISION for 2016, reflected on how they will PLAN a route to each of those goals, talked about how they will IMPLEMENT a goal timeline, […]
by Star Guitar Last week, Langchatters discussed how to motivate reluctant students to embrace the target language (TL). Participants brainstormed factors that cause students to shy away from the TL, and they considered ways to increase learners’ comfort. Instructors reflected on how group or audience size, task design, and assessment could be modified to support […]
by rhymeswithbombs Did you sing along to #langchat last week? Participants shared their thoughts on listening resources in the classroom. They discussed qualities to look for when selecting resources to build interpretive skills and talked about ways to differentiate tasks for students at different proficiency levels. Langchatters also mentioned sources that work best for their […]
Last week, Langchatters responded to the #ACTFL15 theme, thinking up ways to inspire, engage, and transform in the language classroom! Participants discussed what they want to inspire and who inspires them, and they also reflected on how to move from “inspiration” to changes in practice. Langchatters then shared what most engages them as a world […]
by Merrimack College   Last week, Langchatters were 100% ready to talk relationships in the 90%+ target language (TL) classroom. They started off the hour by discussing features of the best teacher-student relationships. Participants then reflected on factors that affect their decision not to use the TL when connecting with students. Langchatters also thought up […]
by mosaic36 Welcome back! Last week, #langchat focused on student engagement beyond the world language classroom! Participants discussed how to find target language (TL) communities for students to connect with, and they brainstormed tools (language skills aside) that enable students to interact with such communities on their own. Langchatters also shared their own observations about […]
Welcome back to #langchat! Last week, participants were ready to dive into a chat on flipped classrooms! They began by discussing what a ‘flipped classroom’ is and why it may be gaining momentum. Langchatters then considered what kind of world language content is appropriate to be flipped out of class time. Additionally, they shared their […]
by US Embassy Canada Last Thursday, #langchat was back in full force! Participants eagerly counted down the minutes to a chat on maintaining use of the target language during classroom management. Instructors started off the hour discussing factors that they consider part of classroom management. They then described a number of issues that tend to […]