Where have I been?

As teachers, we all know that this time of year is a crazy one. To add to my usually insanity- four kids, two dogs, husband, teaching, preparing for vacation - I have been doing webinars and podcast interviews. Therefore, I am woefully behind on my flipped class musings. I have been reading some of the latest blogging....and some is making me crazy....such as the Flip is a Flop. I won't even begin to discuss how much I disagree with the Innovative Educator. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I know what is working for me and my students.

So, look forward to class updates and all of the great things the students have been doing in my classroom. It should come sometime next week as my kids are finishing finals!

While you are waiting, check out the recorded webinar from the Flipped Learning Network last week:

Flipped Learning Webinar Foreign Language

Here is a link to my podcast interview with Troy Cockrum (a great English flipper!)

Flipping foreign language podcast

Hope you all have a great finals and end of the semester!

Flipped for Fluency Webinar November 13

Thanks to everyone who attended the Flipped for Fluency webinar courtesy of www.sophia.org on November 13. As promised, here is the link to that webinar. If you missed it live, please check it out. I would love any feedback you could give me in the form below.

Thanks
Heather

Increase your World Language PLN today!

There are many things that make being a World Language teacher difficult, but I think the hardest part is a feeling of isolation. Often, World Language departments in schools are small, and like-minded collaboration is difficult. Additionally, there is little professional development for us at the school level. When schools have professional development, we often don't fit in. We aren't a core class, but we don't fit in with most electives either. So, for professional development, we head to local conferences as well as national conferences like ACTFL in the hopes of learning new techniques, gathering new materials and meeting new contacts to help us improve our classes.

Thankfully, we also have the magic of technology to allow us to find our own professional development. So, it is time to get out there and find your PLN (personal learning network) and get some great ideas to improve your class!

Blogs are great ways to learn new things. Best of all, they enable us to learn from the successes and mistakes of others to save us valuable time. I have a long list of blogs that I read (ok, sometimes I skim). The ideas on these blogs can save us hours of searching and writing our own plans. The teachers that write these blogs are always open to sharing ideas, making them a very valuable resource. (If you are a blogger, or know a great WL blog, please add it on the form at the end of this post!) Check out the list so far!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aob9qf9ypisidFMzLUxfNmF2b093OTNuc0YzMDNGdHc

Social media is another way to find great resources and other WL teachers to collaborate with. I know many people shudder at the thought of Twitter, I was always the same way. However, I have found that just with my small amount of activity, I have met some other great teachers, found some great resources and participated in some wonderful chats. If you are ready to give it a try, here are some great people to follow:

@SraSpanglish
@viajando_kj
@Riete
@espanoles2amigo
@SecCottrell
@Zjonesspanish

Great conversations happen quickly on Twitter. Here are some I like to try to participate in:

#flipchat is every Monday at 8EST
#edtech is every Sunday at 8EST
#langchat is every Thursday at 8EST

And of course, there are many webinars available. I have one on November 13, you can register here. I am also co-presenting in December 5th with French middle school teacher Ellen Dill, and you can register here. If you are interested in Project Based Learning, check out this one. You can find a webinar on just about anything if you look. Although I think it is best to do them live so you can ask questions, most are recorded so you can watch them when your schedule allows.

So, now that the weather is turning cooler (it snowed this week in Denver!) cuddle up to your computer and learn something new today!

Flipping for Fluency Webinar Follow Up

First, I wanted to begin by thanking Taylor Pettis and www.sophia.org for hosting the webinar on Tuesday. I think that the webinar went really well and hope that all of the participants got what they were looking for from it. I know some people were looking for more information about assessment and video creation, but I followed the poll from the blog to create the content. They have asked me to do another webinar, and maybe I will be able to focus more on those topics then.

I know there was some time confusion since the time was CST, and there were some of you interested that just couldn't make the webinar. Good news! Here is the link to the recorded webinar.

***I have just added some documents discussed in the webinar under the "Helpful Documents" tab above. This includes our unit planning document, and the assignments and project for Unit 1 - Challenges in Teen Life I use in my level 3 classes.

I am always interested in feedback, so if you attended the webinar live or if you view the recorded version, please fill out the following survey.




Thanks so much for you time!

Flipped for Fluency Webinar Update

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the webinar, scheduled for September 18th was sold out yesterday. Luckily, my friends at www.sophia.org were able to add 20 more seats. So, if you haven't registered yet, now is the time!  http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4078709530

I have received almost 70 responses to my survey for content for the webinar. By popular demand, I will be focusing on classroom structure and lesson planning. I will try to incorporate some assessment, but might have to just post a video to the blog to cover this topic. If you have any specific concerns, please feel free to email me, and I will do my best to address them. I have written to many people looking to implement the flip right away, and I am happy to answer any questions or concerns.

I am looking forward to "seeing" you in September!

Heather

****UPDATE - As of 8/30 the webinar is totally sold out and we can't add any more seats. Hopefully we can do another one in the near future!

Flipping for Fluency - The Webinar!

I received word today from my friends at Sophia.org confirming the date, September 18th at 7EST, for a foreign language flipped class webinar. This is something I have been working on since the Flipped Class Conference in Chicago, and I am glad that it is coming together. Register here!

I know that there are many language teachers interested in (and already) flipping their classrooms. I have many ideas for things that I think would be great in the presentation, but I really want to hear from you about what you would like to see in the webinar. Please fill out the following form and let me know what your interests are so that I can best meet your expectations.

Thanks in advance!