1 year.
285 posts.
82,897 typos. 24 invalid links. 3 accidental posts. 1 pocket tweet. (ha! Probably more!)
1,056 followers. 2,500 comments.
We simply want to tell you…
This blog was born out of a desire to connect with other language teachers. We wanted a place to share ideas and inspiration with those who were also doing creative things in their classrooms. Kara and I both know how it feels to need a little spark of creativity to add a fresh spin to a lesson. Monthly meetings and annual conferences are great – but what about my lesson tomorrow!?!
We are so happy to be a part of a community of positive people who work so hard to inspire our students to love languages like we do! Thanks to all who have commented and shared some of your resources, ideas, and enthusiasm. You all have made us better teachers and given us tons of ideas to shake up our classrooms even more!
At this one year mark, I realized that I am back teaching some of the same units I was teaching when the blog first started. In a year’s time, I feel like I have 10x the resources I had then. I’ve met some of you in person at KWLA and ACTFL, I’m now following some of you on Twitter, I follow some of you other bloggers out there, and I devour all the great resources you all pin to Pinterest! (Rebecca P. – I use something you pin almost every week!) I am so grateful for what you all have shared! Thanks for being a part of our little online community!
Raise your coffee mug…
Here’s to another year of new friendships and great ideas!!
As I look forward to another year I have to think… How can I make this my best year yet? What can I do to promote learning? How can we be better, together?
Even if it’s not the start of a new school year, it’s a great time of year to give yourself a fresh start mentally! My New Year’s resolution is a simple one. Enjoy Mondays. Life is to short to dread 1/7 of it. I am working to make Mondays a fun day!
(WARNING: You may see more posts about this soon!)
Your turn! Share your inspiration! What has been the best part about teaching in 2012? What are you looking forward to trying in 2013? What’s your teaching resolution?
I want to thank you because I have gathered some great ideas from all of you here. I am in the process of rewriting my curriculum with my department. I am using so many ideas from you. I love love love the unit stamp sheets. I am now using them on my 4th unit. I am also working on adding in the Real Homework. While setting all of it up is taking a bit of work, it is so worth it because the kids are much more engaged than when I stuck to just the textbook. I was dreading my job because of the textbook. My colleagues at the high school are very textbook driven and it makes me insane. So thank you!
Thank you to both of you and to everyone who has left “something” for us on this blog! What a great way to collaborate! It is such a relief to know that we can post something and have a response, comment, answer or what not to it within a day…or minutes!
You gals have really helped me professionally–I salute you both….here’s to your hard work, innovative ideas and stimulating content! Cheers! Salud!!!
Stephanie, DeWitt High School–DeWitt, Michgan.
Thank YOU GUYS for all of the amazing ideas! My resolution is to be more organized in grading/returning papers! I’m horrible at that! If anyone has any ideas or techniques, I’d love the feedback!
Thank YOU so much for organizing all of this and generously sharing your great ideas! I especially love the games and real-life applications of second language learning — it is so much more engaging than most topics in the textbooks and workbooks 🙂
Bonne et heureuse année! And for the Spanish teachers out there Feliz Ano Nuevo! 🙂
Dear Megan, Kara, and Rachel,
THANK YOU! for your collaborative spirit, your fun and innovative ideas, and your dedication to your profession (or should I say passion?). I am a district coordinator and I have to tell you that your ideas are shared constantly with all of my district teachers. I forward your posts constantly and I encourage my teachers to follow you at almost every meeting. My teachers know you as “the ladies in Louisville”. I took your stamps idea and created documents for each of our units that I am calling Target Language Tasks. You have been an inspiration to so many in my district and I have to tell you that you make me want to be back in the classroom! You are a blessing to so many people.
I hope 2013 is the best ever for you in every part of your lives. Thanks for everything that you do!
Blessings,
Sandy Harvey
Thank you for all that you do!! I appreciate you taking the time to share. I’m new to pinterest. How can I follow you and Rebecca P. (whoever that is)? Is there something I can search that you have posted and then follow that way?
I’m Kara Parker on Pinterest and Rebecca Payton is the other teacher from our district that posts great stuff.
As a first year Spanish teacher, who happens to be the only language teacher in my small district, this blog is a blessing! I could not have made it through this first semester without the creative ideas from this blog. We start our day with a Bienvenida, end the week with a Friday cheer! Muchas Gracias and I can not wait for future ideas!
All of your ideas are great!! Thank you and Congratulations! Your ideas make my class more engaging for my students. What more can I say! Cheers!!
¡Felicidades! Here’s to another wonderful year of blogging!
You all are amazing! Thank You for sharing your thoughts. I feel completely re-charged and ready to share some new ideas! I’ve been playing with some “new-to-me techniques”. 🙂
Ciao for now!
I would LOVE to redesign my classroom relative to how you ladies have designed yours. I sent an email via TpT, but I am not sure if that actually goes to y’all (oops, I’m from Texas. :)…
I am an “out of the box” teacher, but my assessments are so “in the box.” That just doesn’t make any sense. I have read almost all your posts in the last week 🙂 [perfectionist!} and have seen the Steps 1-5…Could you give any more pointers on how to convert a classroom to follow this model?
Count me in with all the teachers who are so thankful for you all! There’s a verse in the Bible that says, “A person’s anxiety will weigh him down, but an encouraging word makes him joyful.” This blog offers an ‘encouraging word’ when we are weighed down with the anxiety of teaching. Thank you for encouraging us!
Thank you so much for creating this blog! Your ideas have been so inspiring to me and I look forward to implementing more of them in my classes. My goal for this year is to create more meaningful communicative activities and give my students more feedback on their progress — gracias!